It was 50 years ago Today.....

... That the Beatles came to the US to play! 

(Lol , I really couldn't resist that. )

Anyhoo, on February 9, 1964, the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show and be came more of a .... Well, more than just a hit, something like a craze...a movement. 

If you've ever seen tapes of the show the girls went wild. 

Actually, if you watch this video you can see how popular they were before they even set foot on US soil. 

This shows the Beatles arrival at JFK airport on the 7 th of February. 

http://youtu.be/_rtmO51zEug

Here's a link to the video of all 3 of the Beatles appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show 

http://youtu.be/CqrauzHPpwE

Enjoy!

OMG! I actually Like a Mikey Cyrus song!

OMG I'm so worried.

Just realized I actually like two Miley Cyrus songs! Well ok I really like....gasp...Party in the USA.

 I just kiiiiinda like We Can't Stop. 

Although the vid for We Can't Stop is not so great. Too random and going for shock. The vid is like a car wreck. Disturbing yet fascinating. 

But I must admit, Miley does look good. More grown up but I gotta say she comes off really .... Ho-ish?? Lol okay I guess I should spell it whore-ish but that seemed so harsh. 

So why do I like Party in the USA....who knows, well actually the lyrics for the chorus are everyone's experience:
 

So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
I'm noddin' my head like yeah
Movin' my hips like yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
I know I'm gonna be OK
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah, it's a party in the USA

 Come on.... how many of us have been somewhere and then "Your Song" comes on and you start noddin' your head and movin' your hips? Right, it's an experience we can all relate to. So yeah, I like that song.

Lol. I loved when she said "and a JayZ song was on". And I'm thinking "Whoa, Miley listens to JayZ?" Turns out, no she doesn't or at least didn't. When she mentioned Britney, I just thought "Uh no!" and inserted another name. 

Although, I'll let you in on a little secret....come closer....I do like at least one Britney song. I even own it. Shhhhh! Keep it to yourself. 




As for We Wont Stop, well, like I said, I kinda like the song, but it's not one I'm going to find myself singing spontaneously. It's kind of a mellower Party in the USA but the video is waaaay different! Much raunchier....some might say more "adult". I love Miley's new look in it. The shorter hair dyed blond and the more grown up make up but other than that ..... I wished she'd get the sneer off of her face. As for the song itself, the lyrics are once again kinda universal. Not all of them but the:

Its our party we can do what we want
Its our party we can say what we want
Its our party we can love who we want
We can kiss who we want
We can live how we want

Yeah, I can see how that would be appealling. And the first verse....

Red cups and sweaty bodies everywhere
Hands in the air like we don't care
Cause we came to have so much fun now
Got somebody here might get some now

If you're not ready to go home
Can I get a "Hell, no!"? (Hell no)
Cause we gonna go all night
Till we see the sunlight alright

Lets admit it, the hightlighted lines have been said or sung for years. And then there's this line:

So la da di da di, we like to party


Helloooooo...... shades of Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick!! Y'all do remember that...right??

Anyhoo, end of rant...or whatever! Y'all have a Happy New Year! 
and remember....

La-di-da-di, we like to party
We don't cause trouble and we don't bother nobody!

La Di Da Di with Snoop Dogg and Doug E. Fresh........start at 1:24 to just hear song

Movie Marathon Suggestion #1 - Clue, Murder by Death, And Then There Were None

So, it's the holidays.
Normally, I don't watch much tv and definitely not many movies but I had some extra time on my hands and ended up watching one or two of my fave movies.

Yeah, I rarely watch new ones cause my favorites are so much fun.

Anyhoo, I started thinking about movies that go together and decided to put up a few movie marathon suggestions. (Yep, I apparently have nothing better to do)

Why do I think these movies go together?

Because in all of these films, there are a group of people who mysteriously come together at some creepy house and suddenly folks start dying.
(...and what do we learn from this? If you're invited for a weekend at a creepy house and you don't know why, heck, even if you do know why ....DON'T GO!!)

All three movies are mysteries. The first two are comedies and the last is a drama. You may have guessed that I really like mysteries, yep, and I definitely prefer comedies.

Movie #1
Clue  a 1985 Comedy/Mystery about Six guests who are invited to a strange house and must cooperate to solve a murder mystery. Loosely, based on the game Clue.

This guy put together a youtube vid called Clue the Movie in 5.5 Minutes. I must say he did a good job. My only complaint is the horrible background music he added. Very annoying.
 

 Movie #2
Murder by Death

 a 1976 Comedy/Mystery written by Niel Simon about Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks who are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
I loved this one because of the parody of some of my favorite detectives....Sam Spade, Nick Charles, Miss Marple, Hercule Piorot and okay the last guy confuses me. Not sure if he's supposed to be Charlie Chan or what???












Movie #3
And Then There Were None, a 1945 movie, based on a novel by Agatha Christie, about a group of ten people who are invited to an isolated island, only to be killed one-by-one.

Omg! Here's the whole flippin' movie!


Hope you decide to watch a few of these. They're lots of fun! Tootles!

What to do when you're awake at 2am.....

So, what do I do when I wake up at 2am and can't go back to sleep? Well, after I finished the book I was reading, I accidentally hit the Netflix app on my Nook and ended up watching TedTalks. No, I have no idea how it happened. But it doesn't matter cause I found some good ones so I thought I'd share them with you.....


Tony Robbins asks Why We Do What We Do



This one is quick and funny but probably true. Derek Sivers presents How to Start a Movement



Jane McGonigal The Game that can Five You 10 Extra Years of Life



I love the way Larry Smith delivers this talk. Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career



And I'll stop with this one by Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

DIY Personalized Clock

I happened to stumble across this today and thought it was too cute. So for those of you who like to make your own gifts, here's a simple one.. I found the video and then I saw the instructions on Instuctables for a Custom Clock with Photo Hands,  so I'm putting up both.







DIY Personalized Clock

16 ways to wear 1 Sweater!

Okay, I just happened to stumble across this video and I was really impressed with this girls creativity so I thought I would share it. Admittedly I could not wear half of these styles but some of you could and it does stretch your wardrobe (also your sweater)!

March is Bell Peppers and Broccoli Month

March is Bell Peppers and Broccoli Month, I have no idea why.

Maybe this is the month to plant them. I checked and it seems to be about right as long as the last frost has been through your area.

In any case, broccoli and bell peppers are both delicious, cooked or raw, and they are wonderful together.

Here's a simple recipe using both vegetables, enjoy!!

Stir-Fried Beef with Broccoli and Bell Peppers

recipe from Cooking Light found at MyRecipes.com

• 1 pound flank steak, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 1/2 tablespoons water, divided
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3/4 pound broccoli
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 large red bell pepper, halved, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups) 
• 4 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

Preparation

1. 1. Cut steak in half lengthwise. Cut each half across the grain into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Combine beef, soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper; toss well. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. 2. Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons water, oyster sauce, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl; set aside.
3. 3. Cut broccoli into florets. Peel broccoli stems; cut stems diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
4. 4. Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef mixture to skillet; cook 3 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Transfer beef mixture to a bowl.
5. 5. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add broccoli; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons water; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add bell pepper; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return beef mixture to pan. Stir in the oyster sauce mixture; cook until thoroughly heated. Serve over rice.

What are you gonna be for Halloween???

When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, May luck be yours on Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Yep, it's almost here again. Soooo, what or rather who are you gonna be this Halloween? 

I've decided to go with my usual fall back out fit and dress as a fortuneteller. Or rather what we've come to think a fortune teller should look like. Basically, a boho lagenlook kind of out fit. 

(What? Never heard of Lagenlook? Hmmm, I'll have to do a little blog about it.)

 Anyhoo, I'll actually be telling fortunes! What fun!

So, since I know I'll be telling some fortunes I decided to look up some interesting and fun ones. I also thought about making Halloween Fortune Cookies but that was waaaaay too much like work! :-P

Here are some of the fortunes I found and a recipe for Halloween Fortune Cookies if you're interested.

Classic Dark & Scary Halloween Quotes & Fortune Cookie Sayings:

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,

Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"

At first cock-crow the ghosts must go

back to their quiet graves below.

~Theodosia Garrison

'Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn

and hell itself breathes out contagion to this world.

~William Shakespeare

From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties

and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!

~Scottish Proverb

Double, double toil and trouble;

fire burn and cauldron bubble.

~Shakespeare

The witches fly across the sky, The owls go:

"Who? Who? Who?" The black cats yowl

and green ghosts howl: "Scary Halloween to you!"

Halloween wraps fear in innocence,

as though it were a slightly sour sweet.

Let terror, then, be turned into a treat.

One need not be a chamber to be haunted;

One need not be a house;

The brain has corridors surpassing material place.

~Emily Dickinson

You wouldn't believe On All Hallows Eve

what lots of fun we can make, with apples to bob

and nuts on the hob and a ring-and-thimble cake.

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.  ~George Carlin

There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.  ~Joseph Conrad

'Tis the night of the grave's delight, and the warlocks

are at their play; Ye think that without

the wild winds shout, but no, it is they, it is they.

If a man harbors any sort of fear,

it makes him landlord to a ghost. 

~Lloyd Douglas

 Halloween Jokes

How do witches keep their hair in place when flying?

They use ‘scare-spray’.

How do monsters tell their fortune?

They read the ‘horrorscopes’.

Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers?

No. They eat the fingers separately.

Where does a witch park after flying?

In the broom closet

What does a child monster call his parents?

Mummy and Deady.

What fairy tale do ghosts like best?

Sleeping Boo-ty.

Why do vampires need mouthwash?

They have bat breath.

What do ghosts eat for breakfast?

Ghost Toasties and evaporated milk.

What doesn’t a vampire order at a restaurant?

A stake sandwich.

What is a vampire’s favorite holiday?

Fangs-giving.

What is a baby ghost’s favorite game?

Peek-a-Boo.

Adult Themed Halloween Fortune Cookie Sayings:

I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.

Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight

make me a child again just for tonight!

True love is like a ghost, which everyone talks about but few have seen. 

Clothes make a statement. 

Costumes tell a story.

There is nothing that gives

more assurance than a mask.  

Fortunes/Sayings found here

Eat, Drink and be Scary!!!

 

Halloween Fortune Cookies

By The Paula Deen Test Kitchen

 (check out the link at the bottom to see the cookies being made)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Nonstick spray

2 egg whites

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons water

Pinch salt

Fortunes written on strips of colored paper

6 drops orange food coloring

Special equipment: Silpat, coffee mug, and muffin tin.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. On a half sheet tray, spray a silpat with nonstick spray. 

2. In a medium bowl whisk egg whites until foamy. Whisk in 6 drops orange food coloring. Add the flour, sugar, almond extract, water, and salt to the egg whites and beat until smooth, about 30 seconds.

3. Pour or spoon 1 tablespoon of batter onto prepared silpat and spread with the back of a spoon into a very thin 4-inch circle. Repeat on the other half of the sheet, making only 2 cookies per sheet tray. 

4. Bake the cookies on middle rack of oven until golden brown around edges, about 8 minutes. 

5. Remove from oven and working very quickly, with an offset spatula, remove cookie from baking sheet and place a fortune in the center of the round. 

6. Fold to create a half circle. 

7. Using the rim of a coffee mug, bend pointed edges of cookie toward each other. This should be done quickly since the cookie will become hard and brittle within 10 seconds. 

8. Let cookies cool in the wells of a muffin tin.

MAKES 16 COOKIES

To see pictures of the cookies being made go to  <http://www.pauladeen.com/article_view/halloween_fortune_cookies/>

Spinning, Weaving and Storytelling!

"Woman Spinning" by George Walker

October 1-7 is Celebrate Spinning and Weaving Week  and October 5 -7 is National Storytelling Weekend (the National Storytelling Festival is held in Jonesborough, Tn this weekend).

So to celebrate two holidays in one post, I have decided to put up a story about spinning and weaving! Yea! Aren't I clever!

The Good Housewife and her Night Helpers

There was once a farmer's wife called Inary who lived on Tiree. She was a hardworking woman and after the chores of the day were done she would spin and weave long into the night.

One night when she was up alone spinning her yarn for her next batch of cloth, she was overtaken by a great tiredness. 'I wish someone would come from land or sea, from far or near, to help me finish this cloth!' Inary exclaimed.

Just then there was a knock at the door and a voice called 'Let me in Inary I have come to help you.' Inary opened the door to find a tiny woman dressed in green, the newcomer came straight in and sat down at the spinning wheel and started to spin. Inary had hardly time to shut the door when another woman knocked upon it and asked to be let in. Inary opened the door and another small green clad lady entered and set her hands straight to the distaff. Inary's visitors continued to arrive until she lost count of them all. Some sat down at the loom and started to weave. Some teazed and carded wool while others boiled fulling water over the fire for the finished cloth. The whole room was full of the women and yet their clattering failed to wake Inary's family in the next room.

She realized at last that they were faeries from Burg Hill and her sleeping family were under a spell. The faeries began to complain of hunger and Inary tried to feed them all, but the more they worked the hungrier they became.

Inary was soon down to her last loaf and desperate she ran from the house and went straight to the cottage of the local wise man. Inary tumbled out her story and begged the old man to help her.
The wise man was grave and told Inary that her foolish request had brought her into this trouble. Her husband was indeed in an enchanted sleep and she must get the faeries out of the house and sprinkle him with fulling water to wake him. Furthermore she must cry 'Burg Hill is on fire!' three times to make the faeries leave and upset all the tools and implements with which they had been working. Inary thanked the old man and went back to her house where the faeries were still at work, with all her might she cried....

'There is fire in Burg Hill!
Burg Hill is on fire!
Burg Hill is in red flames of fire!'

The faeries cried out in alarm in fear that everything they valued in the faery hill would be destroyed, and they all ran out of Inary's door. Once they were all gone Inary took the band of the spinning wheel, turned the loom upside down, twisted the distaff backwards and took the fulling water off the fire.

The faeries soon realised that they had been tricked and were back hammering on the door asking Inary to let them back in. Inary refused, so they asked the spinning wheel to help them. 'How can I?' the spinning wheel replied, 'I am without a band.' The faery folk appealed to the distaff to let them in. 'I cannot.' replied the distaff, 'I am twisted contrary.' Then they asked the loom. 'I would happily let you in but I am set topsy-turvy.' it replied. The impatient faeries appealed to the fulling water. 'I cannot help you,' it replied, 'I am off the fire.' In desperation the faeries appealed to the last loaf sitting on Inary's hearth and it bounded across the room to open the door.

Inary remembered the old man's words and quickly sprinkled some of the fulling water on her sleeping husband. The farmer sat up and strode to the door, and when he flung it open the faeries had fled, and they never came back to trouble Inary again.

 story found online here

Source:
Scottish Folk Tales and Legends
Barbara Ker Wilson
Oxford University Press, 1954.

I Wanna Be Evil !! .....( just a random thought)

Eartha Kitt singing "I wanna be evil!" I love it!

Drink Your Big Black Cow.....

"Drink your big black cow and get out of here." from Steely Dan's Black Cow
Today is National Black Cow Day. Whooohoo!

Hmmm.... I bet some of you are wondering.."What is a Black Cow?"

Okay, I kinda wondered that myself. I figured it wasn't an actual black cow 'cause why would we have a holiday for it. Then I thought, well , maybe a black cow is a ice cream float made with coke instead of ginger ale. Don't know why that came to me. Turns out I'm almost right.

According to my friends at Wiki:

The origin of the name "black cow" has always been of interest to food and beverage experts and allegedly dates to August 1893 in Cripple Creek, Colorado. The only source of this story is the great-grand-nephew of Frank J. Wisner, who has popularized it through advertising on his soft drink products and website. Wisner, owner of the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, had been producing a line of soda waters for the citizens of the then-booming Cripple Creek gold mining district. He had been trying to create a special drink for the children of Cripple Creek and came up with an idea while staring out at his properties on Cow Mountain on a moonlit night.
The full moon's glow on the snow capped Cow Mountain reminded him of a dollop of vanilla ice cream floating on top of his blackened Cow Mountain. As he told the story later, he was inspired by this view to hurry back to his bar and add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to the one soda water he produced that the children of Cripple Creek seemed to like best - Myers Avenue Red root beer - and served it the very next day. The drink was an instant hit. Originally named "Black Cow Mountain", the local children shortened this to "black cow". Wisner was known to say many times in his later years that if he had a nickel for every time someone ordered a black cow, he'd have been a rich man.

Sooo, apparently a Black Cow is what most of refer to as a Root Beer Float which is basically root beer and vanilla ice cream. I have also heard a root beer float referred to as a Brown Cow.
While surfing the net for info on the Black Cow I found lots of different recipes. The one below sounds delicious! Think I'll go make one.

TTFN, I have to go buy ice cream....yum!!


A Black Cow Float

2 scoops vanilla ice cream
10 oz coke
1 tbsp chocolate syrup
1 1/2 oz whipped cream
maraschino cherry

Pour coke over ice cream and chocolate syrup in a fountain glass.
Garnish with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
Serve with a straw and a long spoon.

Variation: For a Brown Cow, use root beer in the place of coke.
recipe found at homebakedmemories.com

June is National Ice Tea Month

June is National Ice Tea Month and today, June 10th, is Ice Tea Day.

Although tea had been served for years both hot and cold it did not become commercially popular until 1904. At the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis, the summer was so hot that people went in search of cold drinks. For some reason the popularity of iced tea was sealed that summer. There are many stories of iced tea being "invented" that summer but the drink is mentioned in cookbooks before that time.

According to WhatsCookingAmerica.net

1879 - The oldest sweet tea recipe (ice tea) in print comes from a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia, by Marion Cabell Tyree, published in 1879:

"Ice Tea. - After scalding the teapot, put into it one quart of boiling water and two teaspoonfuls green tea. If wanted for supper, do this at breakfast. At dinner time, strain, without stirring, through a tea strainer into a pitcher. Let it stand till tea time and pour into decanters, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the pitcher. Fill the goblets with ice, put two teaspoonfuls granulated sugar in each, and pour the tea over the ice and sugar. A squeeze of lemon will make this delicious and healthful, as it will correct the astringent tendency."

 If Ms. Tyree's recipe doesn't appeal to you try this simple ice tea recipe....


Easy Lemonade Ice Tea

6 small tea bags
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 quart boiling water
1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (6 ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate


Directions:
1 Let tea bags steep in boiling water (approx. 5 minutes).

2 Remove tea bags and add sugar.

3 Add frozen juices and enough water to make 1 gallon.

4 Pour into glasses over ice.

recipe found at http://www.food.com/

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother, My Friend
( by anonymous)

You were my fairy tale princess,
So much larger than life.
You were my angel and my witness
Through all my pain and strife.

At times you made me angry,
Great words I would proclaim
How someday you'd be sorry.
You were the one to blame.

 

 

But when I needed comforting
You always found the time.
Your words were more soothing
Than days of childhood sublime.

Now the distance holds us apart,
The boundaries have no end.
I'll hold the memories in my heart.
You're my mother, my best friend

Don't Worry....

 Here's an oldie but goodie.....Don't Worry Be Happy!

My Newest Obsession....

Yep, they got me too. I am now a Pinterest-aholic!
What!?? you've never been on Pinterest? Where have you been?
Pinterest is kinda like Facebook without idle chatter about people's lives.
Sorta...
Folks put up, "pin" pics of stuff they want or like to do or places they want to go, etc.
Ideally, you link to the site that you found the info/pic.
Try it..... Go forth and Pinterest!