Why Should I Be Cooking With Herbs?

Why Should I Be Cooking With Herbs?Cooking with herbs is a great way to stay healthy and make your favorite foods tastier at the same time. Herbs and spice have been used by humans since the beginning of history. It has been proven time and time again that herbs have wonderful medicinal value. Apart from this, herbs and spice enhance the taste of food. That is why they have been used as trading commodities for thousands of years. In modern times, we can easily get all kinds of herbs at our local supermarket. It is inexpensive to purchase most herbs, and simple to grow them in your garden as well.There are many benefits to cooking with herbs. You can add amazing flavor to meats, vegetable dishes, pasta, rice, soup, and just about anything else. Think of all the great ways that you can spice up your culinary creations with herbs. Professional chefs use herbs all the time, and so can you. The positive effect on your health is another reason to consider cooking with herbs. With so many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, herbs are an ideal way to get the nutrients you need to stay healthy. As the saying goes, you are what you eat.Another reason to try cooking with herbs is to cut down on sodium, calories, and fat in your diet. While it does taste good to cook with a lot of salt, oil, butter, and cream, replacing these items with herbs is a great way to improve your diet. You can still get a good deal of flavor from a wide variety of herbs and spices. Herbs will replace all that excess salt you have been consuming. It is also good for cutting out high-fat and high-calorie ingredients. Making a few of these substitutes and changes will really help you eat better and feel better.Do not forget that cooking with herbs is also great for presentation purposes. Herbs are visually appealing when applied in creative ways. They are also aromatic. You can excite the sense in terms of smell and sight any time you serve a dish with fresh herbs. It really is a perfect solution for getting all kinds of flavor without the added calories, fats, sugars, and sodium. Your body will thank you, and so you will your taste-buds. Look online for all sorts of interesting recipes using herbs. Spice up your kitchen with herbals ideas that are sure to please.Cooking with herbs is only limited by your imagination the author can help you improve your cooking to a higher level, for more information on the use of herbs in cooking and medicinal applications go to http://HerbsForHealthAndTaste.com.How to Cook Healthy and Budget Meals For the Family?Life is hectic these days. Many families with both parents working are finding it difficult to make time for cooking meals. Food for family is usually replaced by fast food or cooked food from the shopping malls. These foods are usually less nutritious and it can also be more expensive than home cooked meals. The good news is that you can cook healthy meals for your family with proper planning and getting the right advice from reliable sources, incorporate some creativity and passion, a good and healthy meal that is within your budget can be achieved.I would like to share with you some great ideas borrowed from Chinese cooking. During the weekends, it is recommended to buy fresh vegetables and meat approximately for a week's use. Vegetables such as capsicums, broccoli, mushrooms and cabbage are ideal as they can keep longer. Meat can be poultry, pork or chicken. Next step would be to clean these and cut or slice them into thin pieces and store separately in meal size portions sufficient for the family in the refrigerator for later use. Different sauces can be purchased to have a variety of taste in dishes.One-Pot RicePossessing a good electric rice cooker is essential for one pot rice. Put in sufficient rice for the family and add enough water. When rice is cooked with remainder 1cm water on surface, add vegetables with seasoned meat and closed the cover and continue cooking till rice cooker completes cook cycle. Mix the rice with some sauces and fried onions. Serve hot.Noodles or PastaNoodles and Pasta can be softened in hot water over the weekend. Cool them and then insert into zipbloc bags to be stored in the fridge. Fry garlic with oil till fragrant, add vegetables and meat and fry dry till cooked. Add favourite sauce and boil lightly for 5 minutes. Add water and starch to thicken sauce. Toss noodles or pasta into it till sauce thoroughly absorbed in. Serve hotRoast or Curry ChickenFor roast chicken, season it overnight with some salt, soya sauce, sesame oil and few tablespoons of black pepper sauce. Put it in a roasting pan and cover with foil and store in fridge. Cut some potatoes, sprinkle salt and dash oil or butter over it. Do the same with capsicums. Put seasoned chicken on top tray, potatoes and capsicums on lower tray. Roast at 200 degree for 25mins. Serve with rice.Slow Cooker MealsYou can add chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions with sufficient water and cook on slow heat for about 8 hours. Simply cook rice separately. When rice is ready to eat, take out the slow cooker food into a big serving bowl and serve.Are you ready to learn more about the tips on how to prepare cheap and healthy meals for the family? Discover the methods of cooking different types of meals to keep your family happy and healthy. Visit my website at http://www.healthymeal.mywellness-shop.com

Basketball adviser Vaccaro squares off against NBA, NCAA

CALABASAS, Calif. - He is 69 and says he needs a nap after an afternoon of impassioned talk about his influential, often controversial role in basketball. Otherwise, John Paul "Sonny" Vaccaro shows no signs of slowing down.On the contrary, the man known as the "godfather of basketball," who two years ago stepped away from a career spanning about three decades as a shoe company marketing executive, is energized by his latest ventures. The one-time physical- and special-education teacher, music promoter and failed Las Vegas card player who became a sports marketing whiz and confidant to basketball players of all ages is promoting reform his version of it.Whether he is on the lecture circuit speaking to business and law students about perceived injustices of the NCAA and its amateur rules or advising high school players as they ponder professional careers in Europe, this man with distinct droopy eyes continues to captivate audiences."There should be a radical change in amateur athletics in America, because it's a farce," he says. "Amateurism lost its virginity a long time ago."Such statements make NCAA administrators cringe. "He helped create an environment in which the value of high school and college education has been diminished in the minds of many young basketball players," Wally Renfro, an NCAA vice president and senior adviser to NCAA President Myles Brand, says of Vaccaro. Vaccaro has been in the news recently because, for the second time in a year, he has given his blessing to a high school player who will spurn college to play professionally in Europe. Jeremy Tyler, 17, will skip not only college but also his senior year at San Diego High for at least two seasons in Europe, with the NBA being his goal.Brandon Jennings of Compton, Calif., went from high school to a pro league in Italy last year and is expected to be a top-14 lottery pick in the June NBA draft. Vaccaro helped broker Jennings' deal and will do the same for Tyler. "They came and said, 'We can do it,' and he believed in them," says Vaccaro's wife of 25 years, Pam. Vaccaro and his wife were in Greece on Monday to visit with a team interested in Tyler. Pam Vaccaro stepped in as Vaccaro's business partner 15 years ago.Vaccaro confirms Jennings made about $1.2 million in salary and endorsements and says Tyler will have a six-figure income. Vaccaro depicts the players' temporary defections to Europe as a revolt against the NBA's requirement that kids be 19 and a year out of high school and as a rebellion against the constraints of amateurism in America. "There is going to be an uprising," Vaccaro says. "There is going to be someone to say, 'I can't take this anymore.' And the first one was Brandon Jennings. The second one is Jeremy. And there will be a third and a fourth. "What will happen is there will be teams and individuals, whether they're agents in America or owners in Europe or Asia or Israel who will say 'They can come play for us.' "The NBA rule aggravates Vaccaro, but his issues with the NCAA go beyond frustration. It infuriates him, and he is lobbying hard against the association through a grass-roots effort. Big man on campus That's the approach Vaccaro used as a shoe company executive, first for Nike, then for Adidas and finally for Reebok. He and his competitors targeted promising teens across the country and made them walking billboards for the shoe companies with free apparel and sponsorship of their club and high school teams.In so doing, Vaccaro became a trusted adviser to players such as Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and LeBron James, all of whom went from high school to the NBA before the rule change in 2005. He signed Bryant and McGrady to deals with Adidas but lost James to Nike.Vaccaro has a new audience, college students, whom he urges to buck the establishment if they believe in a cause. His beefs with the NCAA and the NBA are his rallying cries."He's my hero," says Indiana University sports marketing and management major Jared Casden, who invited Vaccaro to speak to the Hoosier Sports Business Organization. "His visit was definitely the highlight of my college experience."Vaccaro says he doesn't charge a speaking fee. He is driven "because the message is right.""I am grass roots," he says. "The only way you change anything in America is by the youth. Kids are everything."Vaccaro also wants to be heard by Congress and has met with congressional staffers to challenge the merits of the NCAA's often-questioned tax-exempt status and whether amateurism rules strip the athletes of rightful earning power as television and marketing revenue stream in for schools and the NCAA.But some of Vaccaro's critics think the sweeping commercialization of college sports was in part driven by Vaccaro."Sonny was one of the actors who helped create negative things in sports in the 1980s and 1990s," says Richard Lapchick, chairman of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at Central Florida and director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.Even Lapchick concedes, however, that Vaccaro effectively gets his message out. "He's looked at differently now," Lapchick says.Vaccaro's impact has been so powerful that HBO has a movie in development about the ABCD camp he used to run, with actor James Gandolfini in line to portray Vaccaro, who grew up in blue-collar Trafford, Pa., the son of Italian immigrants. Vaccaro recalls Gandolfini telling him he wanted a character with conflict. "I said, 'I've been conflicted all my life,' " Vaccaro says. Yet his struggles usually have pitted him against others, not filled him with self-doubt. "When I was employed to do this for the companies I worked for, I had a job," he says. "I gave the kids a platform. I treated them honestly and fairly. We never took a dime from any of the kids. We were paid because they marketed our product." Marketing trailblazer Vaccaro was the first to pay college basketball coaches for exclusive apparel deals and later made similar agreements with universities. He held the first national high school all-star game, the Roundball Classic, and it endured for 43 years. Every summer, thousands of players descended on Las Vegas for Vaccaro's Big Time Tournament, another shoe-company-sponsored showcase that attracted hundreds of college scouts.In 1984 he sealed a deal for the groundbreaking marketing of Michael Jordan's signature shoe for Nike, shaping the way sports icons would be promoted. His success was built on Vaccaro's keen ability to evaluate future high-level stars and connect with the everyday man. "I knew that if anyone could help, it would be him," Jennings says in an e-mail. "He's been around so many players LeBron, Kobe the list goes on."Vaccaro says about 15 high school players in the last year have asked him whether they should skip college to play pro overseas but he advised most not to because they didn't have the game, the maturity or the family support system Jennings had in Europe and Tyler will have. "(Vaccaro) doesn't drop the ball too many times," says James Tyler, the father of Jeremy, who left high school this semester for home-schooling as he prepares to play in Europe.The disgust this movement has generated bothers Vaccaro because he thinks it has traces of prejudice. Gymnasts, golfers and tennis players, among others, forgo traditional schooling to train full time at a young age without raising eyebrows. "They're white," Vaccaro says.Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech men's basketball coach and president of the Black Coaches Administrators, has a different view: "The reality is if you're a tennis player or golfer, your family has a safety net."Hewitt declined to comment on Vaccaro but expressed concern that young African Americans are getting a bad message: "It scares me that the message we're sending to African-African youth is don't worry about your college education."Vaccaro says he owes it to the players to counsel them when asked and to fight for their rights. He doesn't get commissions off the deals for Jennings and Tyler and lives comfortably off past earnings. "That's what makes it beautiful," Vaccaro says. "I don't think anyone got paid for what they did when they made a stand."

Batch #4: Brewday

So, what started out as a pretty uneventful brewday ended up with my biggest screw-up to date. I learned my lesson from the last batchs boil-over and kept a careful eye on the pot. I ended up with a slight boil-over at the beginning of the boil after adding the extract. With something like 8 pounds of extract, I didnt take into account the fact that I should have used less water to begin with. No biggie there, though. I managed to clean it up pretty well and we continued on with the boil and massive hopping. The problem didnt come until the very end. I added the last of the hops with 15 minutes left in the boil, sat down, and started eating lunch. Somewhere in that time, I decided itd be a good idea to put the cover back on to sterilize it before I chilled the wort. I did that and sat down. Susan noticed the cat looking near the stove, I got up and noticed I had a huge boil-over on my hands. Luckily, it kept on the stovetop. However, I lost a small, but significant amount of my wort. I chilled and from that point on, everything went pretty smoothly. In fact, Id say it went smoother than any other time. I decided to take the advice of reader markmier and used the cheap vodka in the airlock. I aerated and pitched the yeast at the correct times. The only thing I did differently was not strain as I poured the wort into the fermentation bucket. I figured Id let as much get in there as I could (without dumping all the crud at the bottom of the pot) to keep the hops up, since I did lose some. Im not sure if itll affect the flavor or just the difficulty in transferring it to the secondary. The original gravity was supposed to be about 1.070. Because of the lost wort, it ended up at 1.062, which is about the low end of the scale for this beer. Im hoping the yeast works overtime. I think the biggest effect of the lower gravity will be in the flavor. I have a feeling its gonna be a bit more bitter than I had planned (not that it wasnt going to be bitter to begin with since the planned IBUs were about 64-65). The final recipe is online at my hopville.com account.

This is an ex-newspaper!

It's over.The American newspaper is dead, and we just need to start figuring out what replaces it. We need to start figuring out what keeps quality journalism alive.I don't have any empirical data telling me the newspaper is dead, dead, dead. I do, though, have a nose that can smell a rotting corpse.And when this (see right) is the best a major metro newspaper can come up with for a redesign, the parrot has expired.Of course, the people who have gotten newspapers into their present state of repose would just have us believe that institutions like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution aren't dead, they're just pining for the fjords. THE EDITOR of the Journal-Constitution, Julia Wallace, is one of those trying to convince us her newspaper is not an ex-parrot:Nearly two years ago, we set out to chart a course for the future. As information habits changed and more of our print audience shifted to the Internet, we knew the status quo was not an option. A struggling economy only added to the challenge before us.We thought the best answers would come from our readers. We talked to thousands of them. They guided us to the new product you’re holding in your hands today.This daily newspaper is one designed for newspaper readers. For years our industry has chased those elusive nonreaders. Our market research led us down a different path. What we’d have to do to win over those nonreaders risked driving away our core readers. We believe we can thrive by increasing the satisfaction of those who already engage with us regularly. So . . . you see a newspaper that looks and reads very much like a newspaper.We’ve invested millions in press upgrades, more color and a more newsy, sophisticated look. We hired an award-winning design firm, Lacava Design, from Montreal to help us create a newspaper that is easy to use and filled with information.Also along the way, we found ways to do things more efficiently. Our reader feedback proved valuable when economic necessities forced us to scale back plans and coverage. It was our readers who helped us set priorities for what to keep and what could be sacrificed.WE TALKED to thousands of readers. (We're blaming it on our audience research.)We hired an award-winning design firm. (We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for this turkey. After all, nothing says "In touch with north Georgia like designers from Montreal." I'll bet the TV listings have the late news coming on at 2300h.)We adopted a more newsy, sophisticated look. (We laid off all our photographers.)Ladies and gentlemen, this newspaper is bleedin' demised!This paper, and others just like it, are bleedin' demised because editors and publishers didn't see the handwriting on the wall two decades ago and start looking for a new way forward. Since, classifieds have disappeared into a black hole called Craigslist, readers have abandoned print at warp speed for various Internet offerings and The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central -- Comedy Central! -- are where smart political commentary and sharp writing have gone to hide out.NEWSPAPERS, on the other hand, are where the corncob suppositories at least keep the grim reaper alert for the next spate of layoffs.The Daily Blab isn't dying because it didn't do enough readership surveys and tracking of how members of focus groups say they use the newspaper. The Daily Blab is "pinin' for the fjords" because of the one thing editors and publishers have forgotten: Imagination.They couldn't imagine a future different from the printed past. They couldn't imagine, amid their MBA armies of men uniformed blue suits and red ties, that newspapering -- indeed, journalism -- is just as much artform as it is science.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution front page you see is the result of research and science. It reflects none of the passion, art and creativity involved in bringing the news to one's neighbors . . . every day.The news is an ongoing conversation -- one cooked up with equal parts yelling, reasoned argument, compassion, "just the facts, ma'am," fire in the belly, smartassery, sobriety and a good belly laugh. What you see here is a research report.It's what everybody said they wanted in a newspaper. Only lifeless. And the Internet Revolution will proceed apace. Without newspapers.YOU WANT TO KNOW what really gave me that gut feeling of doom? The moment I noticed the dead parrot had been nailed to his perch by the pet-shop editor owner?It was this, published today in Adweek:At a time when newspapers are in a fight for survival in the Internet era, one is fighting back with an ad campaign that positions the paper as a chance to escape the tyranny of digital devices in everyday life.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has rolled out a new "Unplug. It's Sunday" campaign to promote the old-school Sunday newspaper as a refuge from the constant buzzing and beeping of smart phones, instant messages and e-mail that marks the modern workweek. The campaign, which runs until the end of the year, coincides with a recent redesign of the paper.The Cox Enterprises paper is ironically turning to a digital agency to make the case for print.The campaign, which costs over $1 million, is designed, in part, to reach readers of the AJC who don't get the paper on the Sunday, said Amy Chown, vp of marketing. It isn't meant to replace their Web use with the paper, she added."This is not an anti-Internet campaign," Chown said. "It’s not that we don’t want them to read us online. We wanted to balance the use of AJC.com during the week with the paper on Sunday.""It's about how to reposition the newspaper," said Tony Quin, CEO of IQ Interactive, the independent Atlanta digital shop that created the campaign. "We came up with the idea as a counterpoint to the digital cacophony that exists in everyone's lives. Sunday is the day to relax and do something different than you do the rest of the week."I GET A MENTAL IMAGE of buggy-whip makers putting up billboards saying "Horseless carriages are noisy, and shoveling manure is good for you."Besides, the Journal-Constitution ad campaign does too undermine its digital product. Stupid, stupid, stupid.The ink-stained wretches in Atlanta could have saved themselves a lot of money and embarrassment. Before launching such a pointless and stupid campaign, they could have done one more bit of audience research.They could have tried to pry a cellphone out of a teen-ager's hand and see what happened.No, this is an ex-newspaper.

Let It Begin

As a Twenty-Something, starting a business is rather stressful in this economy. The best thing you can do for your business is MARKETING. I know its terrible, but starting out in the spa industry you generally will have to poor out the pro bono work and promotions. This generally means a slim pay check, and consider yourself lucky. Food For Thought: Psychology suggests, in promotions, to make something look like a better deal. Sell you normal money-maker as a special. The food industry does this ALL THE TIME. Why cant we? It certainly works for them, its worked for me too! True Story: My business ran a weekly add in The Shopper suggesting The Sugar-Plum Wrap. This included exfoliation, body scrub (using our seasonal signature sugar-plum scented body scrub), 20-min body wrap, hot shower, and full body rub down (15 mins). We simply used All for the low price of : $* *insert regular cost 100% new customers that week came in for our Special. Did I mention our new customers that month was up 800%? I cant wait to share with you more of ideas on bring in new clients and building your business! Thanks for taking a min to read my thoughts. Hopefully it has triggered some of your own! Dont forget! You maybe in the service industry, but in order to provide quality relaxation, you need to take time for yourself too!

This scam is safe

Puppy scammers? Puppy scammers?Oooh, this is a good one! My friend Mac forwarded this delightful spam scam to me. Do you really think that the FBI Director would send out an email like this? Sadly, some people might.Don't reply to messages like this, don't be fooled!Attn: Beneficiary,This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal Transaction with Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of Oceanic Bank, Zenith Banks, kelvin Young of HSBC, Ben of Fedex,Ibrahim Sule,Larry Christopher, Puppy Scammers are impostors claiming to be the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. During our Investigation, we noticed that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment.Therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by cordinating your payment in total USD$10.5million in an ATM CARD which you can use to withdraw money from any ATM MACHINE CENTER anywhere in the world with a maximum of $10000 United States Dollars daily. You now have the lawful right to claim your fund in an ATM CARD.Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in this transaction, you have to be rest assured for this is 100% risk free it is our duty to protect the American Citizens. All I want you to do is to contact the ATM CARD CENTER via email for their requirements to proceed and procure your Approval Slip on your behalf which will cost you $570 only and note that your Approval Slip which contains details of the agent who will process your transaction.CONTACT INFORMATIONNAME: Kelvin WilliamsEMAIL: kelvinwilliams17@sify.comDo contact Mr. Kelvin Williams of the ATM CARD CENTRE with your details:FULL NAME:HOME ADDRESS:TELL:CELL:CURRENT OCCUPATION:BANK NAME:So your files would be updated after which he will send the payment informations which you'll use in making payment of $570 via Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram Transfer for the procurement of your Approval Slip after which the delivery of your ATM CARD will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay. Please if you know you cannot be able to afford the $570 for the delivery of your ATM card via FedEx then do not bother to contact Mr. Kelvin Williams as we are at the End of the year and he should be busy with some other things.We order you get back to this office after you have contacted the ATM SWIFT CARD CENTER and we do await your response so we can move on with our Investigation and make sure your ATM SWIFT CARD gets to you.Thanks and hope to read from you soon.FBI Director Robert S.Mueller III.Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possesion of your ATM CARD, you are hereby adviced only to be in contact with Mr. Kelvin Williams of the ATM CARD CENTRE who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick

Condem ad.

Math Homework

I'm not quite sure why math homework is such a catalyst for visceral anger. John is good at math -- he routinely tests well on it, enjoys reading "The Number Devil" and other math books, and generally has an OK grasp on things such as estimating. But when he's learning a new concept -- such as long division two months ago, and length conversions this week -- it's like drilling a well deep into his store of viking rage.Here is a typical escalation:I'm washing dishes. John is at the table doing homework. Maia is either coloring or doing her own math worksheet I've printed off the computer (honestly, sometimes I feel like she does this to bug John).John: Sigghhhh....grooaaaannn...Um. Mom. Mom, can you come help me?Me (wiping hands off): Sure, whatcha got?John: (Sighs again.) I don't get it.Me: What don't you get?John: This! All of it! That! I don't GET it.Me: What number are you on?John (grips pencil tightly, stares at table, presses lips together): NUMBER. SIX.Me: OK. You've got 11 feet, and you need to figure out how many inches it is.John: I know that! I just....RRRRGH! I JUST DON'T GET IT! NARRRRRRGHHHHHH MUST DEFEAT OUTRAGEOUS HORROR OF MOTHER TRYING TO TEACH ME MAAAATHHHHHHH! RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!Well, that's what it feels like, anyway. I send him outside to walk it off. I go back to washing dishes. He comes back. We try again. We get a little farther until he insists his teacher told him that when you're converting feet to inches you divide by 12. And so on. Tears. Peevish comments. Erasing and re-erasing. Wet, gurgly sniffs. Until finally, he's multiplying by 12s in his head. He converts yards to inches. After supper, he tells us he read that it takes 20 football fields for a loaded train to stop ("No shit," I can see Matt thinking). I ask him how many feet that is, and he stands, looking at the ceiling, and comes up with the answer.Then it's OK.

I'm a jolly good fellow

Does India need foreign banks?THE Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned 75 on April 1st. Older than the country itself, the central bank is conservative and unimpressed by fads. Shortly before its birthday, it released a six-volume assessment of Indias financial system, carried out with the Ministry of Finance. While other financial regulators are flagellating themselves for their failings, the RBI was pleased with what it saw in the mirror.Indias banks seem robust: their bad loans could double without leaving them short of capital, according to the RBIs stress test. It noted with pride that the country had escaped the banking crises that have crippled other emerging economies in recent decades. It attributes this lack of drama partly to Indias state-owned banks, which still hold about 70% of the systems assets. It even thinks their bosses belong to that rarest of breeds: the underpaid banker. The head of Indias biggest private bank, it points out, earns almost 45 times more than the boss of the much larger State Bank of India (SBI). ...

Reasons for a headache

Pressure, tension, anxiety,Stuffy anger in their hearts more easily lead to the occurrence of headache;Migraine menstrual period is considered the ovarian cycle with a special type of migraine headache, migraine women accounted for more than 60%;Unnatural light will make our eyes feel fatigue, inadequate ventilation and indoor environment of anoxic brain will lead to insufficient blood supply, and a long period of sitting is also an important factor leading to a headache. When the neck or cervical spine is made of hard, when the blood flow to the brain will be affected, and ultimately will lead to serious headache.Sometimes sex is one reason.

Waterloo Road showing on BBC 1 by DigiGuide Staff

Picture: BBC/Shed ProductionsWaterloo RoadWaterloo Road, showing Wednesday April 22nd on BBC 1 at 8:00pmMuch to the delight of the pupils, Waterloo Road's latest supply teacher, Jem Allen, cruises into the car park in her flashy car, as the drama about a Rochdale-based comprehensive school continues. While Jem proves popular with staff and students, her upbeat attitude and glamorous lifestyle are enough to get right up Grantly's nose. Forced together on a school trip, their antagonism festers, and Grantly decides to call Jem's bluff by suggesting a detour to her house - expecting her to say no. To his surprise she agrees and, when she lets them into an impressive country house, Grantly has to concede defeat. Only fact-obsessed Karla is suspicious of the inconsistencies in Jem's stories. Elsewhere in the house, the boys take advantage by tucking into a few bottles of champagne from the fridge, unaware that their irresponsible behaviour is setting them on a dangerous downward spiral. Grantly discovers that it isn't Jem's house after all but, before he has the chance to gloat, Paul raises the alarm that Bolton has hit his head in the swimming pool. Grantly dives in to rescue Bolton. Elsewhere, sick of the attention her breasts are getting, a confused Janeece takes desperate measures to appear modest. Finally, she decides that she won't feel better about herself unless she has her breast augmentation reversed and returns to the "real her". Meanwhile, with the exams in full swing, Chlo realises how much motherhood is going to restrict the future she wants. She forces herself to admit to Donte that she isn't ready to be a mum - she wants to give the baby up for adoption. A stunned Donte walks out speechless, leaving a devastated Chlo alone. View the full reviewGet a reminder when Waterloo Road starts.

Putting Banshee to Work

Recently I have spent some time creating a smart job scheduler for Banshee. Some jobs we have includeImportingSaving metadata to fileBPM analysisBPM analysis and saving metadata to file jobs should be paused while doing speed sensitive jobs like importing. To achieve this, each job has priority hints and a list of resources it heavily uses.The priority hints areSpeedSensitive, for jobs the user is actively waiting on, such as importingLongRunning, for things like BPM or Mirage analysis of the entire libraryAnd the resources are customizable, but currently I'm usingCPUDiskDatabaseIf two jobs use the same resourceSpeedSensitive jobs run immediately (more than one ok)Normal jobs (not SpeedSensitive or LongRunning) then follow, one at a timeLongRunning jobs then follow, one at a timeIt is a bit of pretty low-level polish and a pretty simple idea, but it will give better performance and a better experience. The code is in a git branch for the moment, hopefully to be merged into trunk before 1.6.

FKL Aural Ferric Chill

Someplace in the high desert of Central Oregon, there is a sacred place, a village nestled in the Bend of the Deschutes River, where the beats are funky, the bass resonates through the puffs of magic dragons, and the vibe of tribal social consciousness reigns supreme. Moksha is one of the chief rockers of the underground scene in the Pacific-Northwestern USA and represents the styles of trip-hop, dubstep, r&b, ambient, nu-jazz, and hip-hop, with digital grace and silky smooth sequencing. This set is packed to the gills with talented producers like The Herbaliser, One Self, dZihan & Kamien, Vanja Lazarova, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and the legendary Kruder & Dorfmeister. This is the perfect kick-back, throw your feet up and enjoy listener… and even a great getting-into the mood soundscaper… Download and Enjoy! The Foundation proudly presents: Moksha - Aural Ferric Chill -tracklist- 01 the herbaliser: mr. holmes 02 one self: temptation 03 shuggie otis: strawberry letter 23 04 thievery corporation: until the morning (TC rewind) 05 dZihan & Kamien: ford transit 06 zuca 103: force total (funky lowlives dub) 07 vanja lazarova: stojne bre mome kokansko 08 toires: sanäti (featuring natacha atlas) 09 michael franti & spearhead: skin on the drum (bassnectar mix) 10 fila brazilia: harmonicas are shite 11. kruder & dorfmeister: shakatakdoodub 12. dj drez: universe 13. los lobos: little japan 14. tom zé: detect2curiosidad (john mcentire remix) 15. dj drez: inner vision

The ghost at the conference table

Barack Obama will inject a new cordiality into relations with Latin America, but he will be judged on what he does on CubaTHE last time the heads of government of the Americas got together, at the Argentine resort of Mar del Plata in November 2005, it was a fiasco. At a protest rally of 25,000 organised with the help of the hosts, Venezuelas Hugo Chavez spent more than two hours denouncing the United States and its plans for a Free-Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). At the meeting itself, 29 countries backed the trade plan, moribund though it was, and Mexicos president gave Mr Chavez a public earwigging. George Bush and Brazils Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left early and Argentina and Uruguay were not on speaking terms. So the first aim of many of the 34 leaders who are due to assemble in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, between April 17th and 19th, is to preserve the diplomatic niceties and create a better atmosphere in the Americas. In this they may well succeed. For the regions political landscape has changed. Most obviously, the United States now has in Barack Obama a president who is as widely admired in Latin America as Mr Bush was disliked. Mr Chavez is on the defensive, his socialist economy wounded as badly as any other by the world recession. The most divisive issue concerns the one country that is not invited. Latin America is now united in wanting to end the diplomatic isolation of Cuba, and many would like the United States to lift its long-standing economic embargo against the island. ...

Busy weekend

I planted almost all of my garden veggies this weekend. I have a lot growing this year. Over 20 crops planted. I dug a larger area and two mew areas as well for this years crop. I have everything but tomatoes planted.

Storm-stayed

Let me just say right now: I did NOT want to go out on New Year's Eve.As a certified, bona-fide loner, I hate parties. Always have. Always will.But DNA Boy's Friends were having their annual big New Year's Eve Bash, and because I am his wife and love him, alas, I said I would go, out of good wifery.Or good wifieness.Or whatever it's called.I did suggest he go and have fun, and I would stay home and watch Law and Order and babysit the dogs, but he said: "I'm not going out without my WIFE!!" And as I could tell he really, really wanted to go, and I had read somewhere that marriage involves something called "compromise", I said I would go.This involved serious planning. Because we live in the country. So far out in the country, I call the roads "Plow It Yourself Roads." Because that is what they are.And Baby Juno, the special dog, the Favorite Son, could not stay in the country for three hours by himself, because he got run over twice (BY ACCIDENT!!!!) and is a very emotionally sensitive dog. Whereas Baby Buster and Bitchy Tessa are not. Allegedly.So here was the plan: Daddy would come home New Year's Eve afternoon, feed Baby Buster, Bitchy Tessa, and Emotionally Sensitive Juno. Then he would pack Emotionally Sensitive Juno in the car with all his leads and good-night toys, such as his Smiley-Face Man and his Man With the Hat, (pronounced 'at), toys which he simply cannot sleep without, to go to Grammie's House, which is Crestwood House Bed and Breakfast, for the evening.There, Emotionally Sensitive Juno would get a manicure and a pedicure and a brushing and a fussing and a sausage roll, while we would go to the New Year's Eve Party, and Baby Buster and Bitchy Tessa would, I don't know, watch Law And Order?Then, we would sleep, our own selves, at Crestwood House Bed and Breakfast. And the next morning, we would gather up Emotionally Sensitive Juno and go home to Baby Buster and Bitchy Tessa.It didn't work out that way. Stupid blizzard.We started phoning a cab at 2 a.m. But no cabs were answering. Busy, busy, busy. At 4:30 a.m., we gave up and our lovely hosts gave us the couch. Actually, DNA Boy got the couch. I got the "Hannah Montana" five-year-old girl air mattress.The next morning, as I was sleeping in my basement room on the Hannah Montana air mattress, with my little blanket, I was awakened rudely by the five-year-old owner of said air bed. And the family's sweet little dog, Brownie. She looked at me, quite shocked, ran upstairs and said: "Mommy, there's a lady in my Hannah Montana Air Bed."This was 8 a.m. I phoned a cab. They said: "Sorry, our cabs are off the road. There's a blizzard outside."Did I mention that for this New Year's Eve Party I had decided to dress up? I was wearing a lovely slinkey black evening gown, with fabulous silk panty-hose, high-heel shoes, and no bra.Stupid, stupid girl.And although I am socially awkward, and generally do not like people at all, my hosts were very very very kind to me all day, and really nice, as I rationed my last few cigarettes and worried about getting runs in my silk pantyhose and thought such things as: "What kind of idiot goes out in a blizzard warning wearing high heels? And why do I have to smoke in the garage? And why am I not wearing a bra?"Mainly, though, I worried about my poor two doggies at home. . .The blizzard raged, ALL DAY!!! No cabs, no plows, nothing.I couldn't phone my two sweet abandoned dogs at home, because they didn't know how to answer the phone! I would have told them: "Mommy has been an idiot, but she will be home as soon as she can."Instead, I worried about them. And when that cute dog, Brownie, came up to me for his cuddles, I wanted to cry. Instead, I rubbed his gums. He's only a little baby, and he's losing his teeth."He likes you," my hostess said.Eventually, I realized there was no fighting it. The blizzard was the blizzard. So I lay down on the couch with my evening gown and silky panty-hose and watched "Cops" on cable all day. And when Brownie ran up to me and spilled my glass of water with his tail (four times) I rubbed his gums and worried about Baby Buster and Bitchy Tessa. What were they thinking? What were they doing? Did they feel abandoned? Unloved? Would someone find them and call the SPCA? What kind of mother abandons two dogs, alone, at home, in the house?Night fell. The hostess gave me a pair of pajamas.And as I went to sleep, again, on my Hanna Montana air mattress, I dreamed of my poor, starving, probably dead, probably emotionally ruined, babies, at home. . .The next morning, as I smoked one of my last three cigarettes and the gracious host, whose boots I was now wearing in the garage, offered to drive us to Crestwood House Bed and Breakfast, which was only several miles away.We went with him, kind man. Probably not so kind. Probably relieved. The storm had cleared and he could get these people out of his house.Our Juno was SO HAPPY to see us. He packed up his bags, including his Smiley Face Man, and said: "let's go home, mum and dad!"Yet, I could not relax until I saw my own sweet puppies. They had probably died by now, of starvation.The drive home, I worried. Worried about what might confront us. Oh, yes, I knew they would have peed and pooped on the floor, but what else might they have done? Committed suicide? Cried themselves to death? Called 911?As we came around the corner, I saw the house was still there. That was a good sign.We opened the door. No dogs. Normally, they knock the door down with happiness. . .That was a Bad sign.Oh, but there they came. Yawning and depressed. They had given up hope, apparently.The house wasn't so bad. . . .Except, except, that big, monster Barf on the living room rug. . . It looked like, what? Pastry? Bread dough? It didn't smell bad. Just a big lump of. . .what? Flour?Pastry?Where would they find flour or pastry or bread?That's when I saw the empty baking powder can on the floor. Left on the counter from my meat pie baking of last week. . . .You think bread and water is bad?Poor dogs. . . .I took my party dress off and went to bed. . . with my babies.No runs in my pantyhose, either. We'll just rinse them out for the next New Year's Eve party. . .