Turkey Time

{ November 23, 2008 @ 10:26 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Comments (1) }

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, many people are beginning to plan their. Before you cook your meals, make sure you are aware of some safety precautions you should take when cooking a turkey.

I tripped over a turkey safety video that brings up some good points about preparing it.  After all you don’t want the 20 people sitting at your Thanksgiving dinner table to end up getting sick because you accidentally cross-contaminated other food with raw turkey juices because you forgot to clean the counter off.

You also don’t want an undercooked turkey. The guests should be only thing gobbling at your table. The proper temperature to cook your bird is 165 degrees to 180 degrees (for those of you who like your bird a little more well-done).

Most importantly, you don’t want to cook stuffing in the turkey. You don’t want any of the raw turkey juices to seep into the stuffing

 With these few safety tips, you’ll be on your way to a safe, healthy and hopefully delicious Thanksgiving feast!

Election Overload

{ November 3, 2008 @ 6:27 pm } · { election }
{ Tags: } · { Comments (1) }

I don’t know about you, but I am sick of the election. I know that’s not very patriotic of me, but I’ve had enough. From over a year ago when we were following the race to see who would be running, until now when we are just the night before the election, it has gone too long. All the coverage almost makes me want to skip voting all together, just so I don’t have to deal with it anymore. (Don’t worry, I am still voting).

The bashing on both sides has been tiring. The debates-exhausting. The Sarah Palin knocks-annoying. I realize that it is the media’s job to cover the election, but it seems to have taken over life. I could use a day where I don’t hear about who said what about who, who’s ahead in the national poll, or who appeared on Saturday Night Live.

I’ve also felt like the media has been too opinionated. I don’t like being told who I should be voting for. I can form my own opinions. I would rather all media about the election stay neutral. I don’t like the cheap shots, an election should be fought fair, though they never will be.

I will be happy to see Wednesday, November 5th come. The election will be over, and the media will slowly turn back to normalcy.

Incase you haven’t had enough election news, here’s a final wrap-up of last minute efforts in the election: Last-minute election efforts

Photo Galleries

{ October 19, 2008 @ 11:06 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ } · { Comments (1) }

Here are three websites that have photo galleries I enjoy.

MSNBC animal photo gallery

I like this gallery because it’s fun. I enjoy animals, as most people do, and they are easy to look at. They aren’t pictures of terrible events happening around the world, that depress you. They are light-hearted pictures of animals that most of us don’t get to see in person. They are enjoyable and cute, and they provide a nice break from the reality of today’s not-so-great news.

Peeking at Pumpkins-Washington Post Gallery

This is another gallery I enjoyed. I love the different ways pumpkins were viewed and used in these pictures. It is perfectly fitting for this time of year. It was interesting to see some of the events and different things that people do with pumpkins, rather than just a plain ‘ol pumpkin patch, or a jack-o-lantern on someone’s front steps. These pictures were creative and diverse, which made them that more enjoyable and interesting. As someone who enjoys holidays, this was a fun gallery to look at and very season-appropriate.

Sports Gallery

Lastly, I like the galleries at Sports Illustrated by CNN. I like sports a lot, so this is a fun gallery to look at. They had a lot of albums to choose from in their gallery. The specific one I looked at was “Did you see that?” which included things that happen in sports besides necessarily the actual game. It showed the lighter funnier side to sports, things you probably won’t see watching a game.

Lights out for good in Yankee Stadium

{ September 30, 2008 @ 3:45 am } · { Sports, Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , } · { Comments (1) }

Sunday September 21, 2008 was a tear-filled day for Yankee fans. After 85 years of ball games, hot dogs and beer, the lights were turned off for one last time.

The stadium was opened to fans early that day, so they could have a chance to walk on the warning track. Handprints formed a collage on the outfield wall from these eager fans touching the dirt, getting the most out of this once in a life time opportunity as they could.

A ceremony preceded the final game, with some of baseball’s greats gracing the field with their presence one last time. Perfect game pitchers David Wells, and David Cone were reminisent of their rare acheivements.Willie Randolph trotted out on the field and slid into second base. David Mantle, son of the legendary Mickey Mantle, took center field in honor of his father. Yogi Berra made his way to home plate, while fans erupted into applause for the witty catcher. And to close down the house that her father built, Julia Ruth Stevens threw out the first pitch, bringing the stadium’s history back to where it all began.

One of the greatest moments of the opening cermony was the welcoming back of a true Yankee. A touched Bernie Williams jogged out to center field, the last player to be announced. And easily cheered for the loudest. “BERNIE! BERNIE! BERNIE!” echoed thoughout the cathedral of baseball. Fans happy to give Bernie the “goodbye” and “thank you” they never got to give him.

The Yankees added to the already special night with a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

After the game, Yankee Captain, Derek Jeter’s voice boomed over the P.A. system. Standing on the mound, with his teammates surrounding him, he gave a heartfelt speech to the fans in attendance, and to the fans watching at home.

“For all of us up here, it’s a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and come out here and play,” he said. “And every member of this organization, past and present, has been calling this place home for 85 years. There’s a lot of tradition, a lot of history, and a lot of memories. Now the great thing about memories is you’re able to pass it along from generation to generation. And although things are going to change next year, we’re going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change — it’s pride, it’s tradition, and most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world.

“We’re relying on you to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories that come to the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. On behalf of this entire organization, we want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world.”

A perfect ending to one of the most memorable and touching moments for Yankee fans. Fans continued to applaud their beloved ballplayers, and one of the greatest sports venues, as Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” flowed through the Bronx stadium one last time.

Balloon Festival a Traffic Nightmare

{ September 21, 2008 @ 7:16 pm } · { Local News }
{ } · { Comments (1) }

With so many events happening this weekend, it was hard to chose. Lark fest, chowderfest, Irish Fest, they all seemed like great ideas. But too typical for me. Instead I headed up to Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning to attend the 36th Annual Balloon Festival.

The trip was smooth sailing until Quaker Road, were traffic was at a standstill. Patient mothers, frustrated fathers, and sleeping children nestled in the backseat, sat in their cars, heat blasting on this 42 degree morning. Cars got out of the line to take a left down Ridge Road, and sped down the shoulder in hopes of finding another way. Some cars got out of line, drove up to the front, and tried to weasel their way in. After a couple minutes they left, defeated.

At 6:20 a.m. the traffic had barely moved, and the fesitval started in 10 minutes. At this point, we got out of line to find another way. After driving a few more minutes down Quaker Road, we turned down Queensbury Road where a shorter line of cars was actually moving. We waited about two minutes, then parked on the grass along the fence to the airport. Just in time to see the first balloon take-off.

You could see the traffic coming from the other direction still idle. Being a free event, it’s not a huge concern to the event staff if people get there in time or not. And this was quite apparent. No one was directing traffic, no one directing parking, therefore nothing was getting accomplished. These people who woke up in the wee-hours of the morning were now watching the balloons from their car windows. Yes, this is certainly a warmer way to watch, but very limited as well.

The traffic may not have been so bad if they had opened the three other entrances to the airport, that were conveinently closed. One sign on an entrance stating it was “RV’er’s parking, yet hundreds of cars sat in there, without the entrance they came in in sight.

It’s nice that this event is free, but I doubt people would really want to watch it from their cars. Especially if you can actually get in the airport in time, you can walk right up to each balloon, and even be a volunteer to help them spread it out, and blow it up. You can’t really get that experience from your car.

So as I think this is a great thing to do, especially right on the brink of fall in the Adirondacks, it would be nice if the traffic situation could be somewhat controlled so that more people could enjoy the entire event.

Beijing’s Olympic facilities still bustling

{ September 14, 2008 @ 9:08 pm } · { World News }
{ } · { Comments (1) }

You won’t find the Olympic stadiums in Beijing empty quite yet. In fact they may be even more crowded than when the world’s most elite althetes competed in August. Though the facilities are still filled with elite athletes, they are athletes competing in the Paralympics, for disabled people.

People have been waiting in lines for tickets, and filling nearly every seat in the Bird’s Nest, which didn’t even happen during the events the stadium was initially built for. Tickets are being sold for less than they were for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, some only costing 30 yuan (which is roughly $4), and some are even being given away.

This is great that these athletes are getting support, and it also shows that China may be becoming more open-minded. China is known for not treating nor respecting their disabled people very well. The number of disabled people in China is about 83 million, which is about the number of people who live in Germany. These 83 million people are almost never seen in public as the Chinese see them as being cursed, causing them to be socially unaccepted.

Along with the great attendance China has had for the Paralympics, the National People’s Congress passed a law in April that states, “Persons with disabilites shall enjoy equal rights with other citizens in political, economic, cultural and social respects and in family life as well.” This is a big step for China whose term for disabled people used to be “can fei” meaning “useless cripple.

There has been a great turnout so far for the Paralympics no matter what the reason is. Wheelchair basketball has drawn an incredible crowd, that erupted into applause as China scored the winning basket. On the tennis court, disabled children learned how to hit a ball from Paralympians for Nigeria.
Beijing holding the Paralympics seems to have had quite the impact on its people.

Too realistic for a Prince Charming

{ August 30, 2008 @ 12:18 am } · { Entertainment }
{ } · { Comments (2) }

Being a teenager seems to be getting more difficult, even since the few years since I, myself, have been one. It has been refreshing to see ABC family bring a series to television that is real, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

 Amy, the 15-year-old main character, had a “this one time at band camp…” moment, and ended up getting pregnant. Nowadays this is happening more frequently.  With every episode the audience tuning in is faced with true emotions and situations. 

What makes it believeable is the fact that Amy hadn’t had sex before the one time that made her pregnant. She wasn’t a bad kid. She was a straight-A student. Played French Horn in the marching band. She wasn’t the girl standing outside of school smoking cigarettes. She wasn’t the girl skipping class to be with her boyfriend. She went to school to learn, not to meet boys. She doesn’t fit the stereotypical girl that America thinks is likely to get pregnant.

Not only is this newcoming baby ripping at the seams of what holds this family together, but Amy’s father had been committing adultery. As if they needed another hardship. I feel this helps add to the reality factor of the situation. Not to say that any teenage girl who gets pregnant is going to find out her dad has been cheating, but that more than one bad thing happens at once, that’s just how life is.

There are a few different side-stories, such as the adultery, that help to form the vibe of reality. A young girl, Adrian, looking for her biological father, Amy’s friends not being able to see her because she is pregnant, rumors flying around about Amy, and the “player” who is the father of the baby. All these stories fit together nicely by a common thread, they all contain the same people. The connections they make between characters is very life like, and brings meaning to the saying “it’s a small world,” because after all it is.

Although I applaud the eye-opening reality this show brings to its’ audience there is one thing that is completely out of a fairy-tale. Ben. He is Amy’s boyfriend, who instantly fell in love with her. They met days after she found out she was pregnant. Then once he found out, it didn’t phase him. In fact both Ben, and his father agreed that the right thing for him to do was the propose. They are hopeless romantics, and even though they knew she was pregnant by someone else, they wanted to take care of her. They wanted the baby to have a mom and dad.

Yes, I think this is sweet, and inside it makes me think “awww,” but right after that thought I think “who in the world would act this way?”  This makes absolutely no sense to me. It is very uncharacteristic for people who are faced with this situation, especially at the young ago of 15. And though it gives the show a softer side, it also provides the unrealistic side.  It’s showing teenage girls something that would be appealing in such a situation, but in reality would probably never happen. It’s a false hope.