Sudoku

I love sudoku. And I probably do about a 100 puzzles a day. So I think that my addiction needs to be taken care of. So starting today, I have decided to cut down the number of puzzles that I do a day. And maybe, and I say maybe, i will only be doing one or two puzzles. I hope.

If you have never played it. Its very addicting.

Its all based on logic and trying to put numbers 1-9 into each column, each row, and each box. With out having more than one.

Its fun, and very addictive.

Where There's A Will: Thoughts on the Good Life

I have just recently finished a book, called Where There's A Will: Thoughts on the Good Life by Sir John Mortimer. (pictured on the left)

This is how the book starts out on page one, and I believe it tells readers to keep on reading.

"All advice is perfectly useless,' my father told me when he sent me away to school, ' Particullarly advice on the subject of life. You may, at a pinch, take your schoolteacher's word on the subject of equilateral triangles, or the Latin word for "parsley"; but remember that life's a closed book to schoolteachers, if you want my honest opinion.' (chapter one, page one, first paragraph.)

He gives quite a range of subjects for his chapters. From an old woman cooking eggs to outdoor sex.Getting drunk to Shakespeare's Favorites.

This book was excellant. It keeps you entertained and by the end of reading it, you will want to read it again.

Cookies

When I came across this picture, it made me laugh. Around our house, whenever the last of the cookies are gone in the cookie jar, everyone blames a different person for eating them all.

My grandpa always used to say at his house, "The Cookie Monster must have gobbled up all the cookies in the cookie jar." Even though it was him. He used to take his peanut butter cookies into a bowl of milk and eat it like cereal.

These are some of my favorite home-made cookie recipes.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened• 1/2 cup peanut butter• 1/2 cup sugar• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder• 1 large egg• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour• 1/2 Teaspoon ground black pepper• granulated sugar

Directions
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour. Cover and chill dough until easy to handle, approximately 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the dough balls by using a fork to make a criss cross pattern on the cookies. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened• 1 cup sugar• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar• 1 large egg• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour• 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, and stir in remaining flour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Combine the 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Place balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are beautifully golden. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients
• 2/3 cup sugar• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar• 1/2 cup butter, softened• 1/2 cup butter shortening• 1 teaspoon baking soda• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon• 1 teaspoon vanilla• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder• 1/2 teaspoon salt• 2 large eggs• 3 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oats• 1 cup all purpose flour• 1 cup raisins

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients, except oats, flour and raisins, in a large bowl. Stir in oats, flour, and raisins. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack for cooling. The cookies will overcook if left on cookie sheet.

"Galactic Suite" First Hotel in Space planned for 2012

BARCELONA (Reuters) - "Galactic Suite," the first hotel planned in space, expects to open for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the world in 80 minutes.

Its Barcelona-based architects say the space hotel will be the most expensive in the galaxy, costing $4 million for a three-day stay.

The picture above is what a room would look like.

During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Company director Xavier Claramunt says the three-bedroom boutique hotel's joined up pod structure, which makes it look like a model of molecules, was dictated by the fact that each pod room had to fit inside a rocket to be taken into space.

"It's the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest challenge," says Claramunt. "How to accommodate the more intimate activities of the guests is not easy."

But they may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in weightlessness -- the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles of water will float around.

When guests are not admiring the view from their portholes they will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.

Galactic Suite began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer Claramunt, until a space enthusiast decided to make the science fiction fantasy a reality by fronting most of the $3 billion needed to build the hotel.

An American company intent on colonizing Mars, which sees Galaxy Suite as a first step, has since come on board, and private investors from Japan, the United States and the United Arab Emirates are in talks.

PLENTY RICH ENOUGH

If Claramunt is secretive about the identity of his generous backer, he is more forthcoming about the custom he can expect.

"We have calculated that there are 40,000 people in the world who could afford to stay at the hotel. Whether they will want to spend money on going into space, we just don't know."

Four million dollars might be a lot to spend on a holiday, but those in the nascent space tourism industry say hoteliers have been slow on the uptake because no one thought the cost of space travel would come down as quickly as it has.

Galactic Suite said the price included not only three nights in space. Guests also get eight weeks of intensive training at a James Bond-style space camp on a tropical island.
"There is fear associated with going into space," said Claramunt. "That's why the shuttle rocket will remain fixed to the space hotel for the duration of the guests' stay, so they know they can get home again."

In an era of concern over climate change, Galaxy Suite have no plans so far to offset the pollution implications of sending a rocket to carry just six guests at a time into space.

"But," says Claramunt, "I'm hopeful that the impact of seeing the earth from a distance will stimulate the guests' urge to value and protect our planet."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070810/tc_nm/space_hotel_dc

Favorite Crime Novelist

My Favorite crime novelist is Karin Slaughter. She has six books available right now in her Grant County Series. It is a fictional town outside of Atlanta Georgia. The series features Dr. Sara Linton who is the town’s pediatrician and part-time medical examiner. Slaughter’s stories are not for the faint of heart as there is plenty of graphic violence and disturbing stories that are realistic in their portrayal and conclusions.

Slaughter has explored many different subjects including pedophilia and victim recovery of a major character. Why do i like her as an author, well she writes about subjects that are very scary and realistic. If you are looking for a romantic series, this would not be a series for you, there is little romance in this series.

I don't know if i could pick a favorite of the series. I enjoy each one, due to being real page turners and you don't want to put the books down until your finished reading them.

I hope many of you, who enjoy mysteries will give her a try if your not averse to violence.

Here are the books of the Grant County Series:

Blindsighted (2001)
Kisscut (2002)
A Faint Cold Fear (2003)
Indelible (2004)
Faithless (2005)
Beyond Reach (2007)

Karin Slaughter's first stand alone: Triptych (2007) is excellent to read also.

Karin Slaughter edited and contributed to an anthology, Like a Charm which has 15 stories written by different authors all linked by a charm bracelet.

You can check out her website at http://www.karinslaughter.com/ and watch out for future books from her. She is definitely an author to read.

Some of my Favorite Foreign Films

Amelie
"Three Colors" trilogy
Pan's Labyrinth
Bicycle Thief
Volver
Life is Beautiful
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Yi Yi
City of God
Cinema Paradiso
Motorcycle Diaries
The Seventh Seal
8 1/2
Wild Strawberries
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)
God Is Great, and I'm Not
The City of Lost Children
Maria Full of Grace
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Children of Paradise

~~

"Three Colors Trilogy" DVD

I have seen a lot of foreign films. Most people have problems watching movies with subtitles. But there are a lot of great movies that have them. I like to watch a lot of French Films. Even though I only took three years of French, i can sometimes pick out what they are saying without even having to read the subtitles. I like watching foreign films because i have a theory that you can learn as you watch. Sometimes they are very artistic, and its just amazing to watch the films.

The "Three Colors" trilogy is an example of artistic films. In the 1990s, Polish-born filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski directed a series of three interrelated movies individually titled "Blue" ,"White" , and "Red" , but collectively known as the "Three Colors" trilogy. It has been made into a DVD Boxed Set, that every art-house cinema lover will want to own.

"Blue" and "Red" are French-language films, while "White" is mostly in Polish. Kieslowski named the movies in the trilogy after the three colors in the French flag. He used blue, white, and red to set the color and mood for each of the films. He also used the French Revolution notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity, which gives themes for each of the movies. "Blue's" theme is liberty. "White's" theme is equality. The theme of "Red" is fraternity. "Blue" is set in Paris, "White" in Warsaw, and "Red" in Geneva.

"Blue" begins with a car crash that badly injures a 33-year-old woman and kills her husband and their five-year-old daughter. She must decide how to deal with her grief and get on with her life.

"White"-- A hairdresser from Poland, Karol marries a Frenchwoman named Dominique and ends up moving to Paris. Karol is so overwhelmed that he is unable to consummate the marriage, and the movie begins with Dominique divorcing him. And he ends up back in Warsaw,where most of the story takes place.

"Red" ---The film is a drama that tells a tale about an unusual friendship that develops between a man in his sixties and a woman in her twenties.

In the last few minutes of "Red," all the main threads of the trilogy are brought together. Which made an amazing way of of ending the series.

The Films are just amazing. And I highly recommend watching them.

Violence and Drugs

I find it interesting, that movies nowadays show people how to do things. I watched this Movie Inside Man, and dont get me wrong but its a good movie. But basically the movie is showing people watching the movie, how to break into a bank and not get caught. Im surprised that when the movie came out, that we have yet to read it in the papers that someone tried to rob a bank the same way. But its just something that I have noticed in movies and even on some tv shows they show certain acts.

I watch a tv show on USA called Burn Notice, and i have to say that it is a very good show. But in the show, specifically the final show of the season, it showed how to make a sticky bomb. And it kind of showed that it isnt too hard to make one. Now I hope that not too many people try to do what they do in movies and tv. And i know that nowadays you can find everything that you ever wanted to know, right on the internet. So i guess it wouldnt be too hard to find out how to do such things.

I had a friend tell me that its kind of scary to know how easy it is to do some stuff that people see on tv and in movies. But if there wasnt violence in movies and tv shows, people might not watch it. So I guess they do violence for the Ratings.

I must say though, that Reservoir Dogs is a very good movie, even with the slicing off the ear scene. Those are great actors to play in the movie. And Quentin Tarantino is a great Director when it comes to movies.

And speaking of violence, if you watch Movies about War, such as Tears of the Sun, or Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers, or Saving Private Ryan. Or even the newer war movies that are out now. Then your a person that doesnt care about violence in a movie. Personally I watch these movies and the violence in them, doesnt bother me. Because the way that i see it, it just reflects the real world. Either from events in the past, present or the future.

I Believe that no matter how much people try to petition for violence and drugs to be off tv and movies and video games, they will always lose that battle. Its what makes them money, and people seem to like it alot more. But thats just my opinion.

With movies like Requim for a Dream, Spun ( these are good movies, dont get me wrong on that) and other movies that are about drugs, you would hope that it might show people why its a good thing not to do drugs. But thats just me, i cant tell everyone else how to live their lives. But I watch these movies because my brother buys them. And he likes movies that are a bit crazy. Like A Scanner Darkly, its a crazy movie but it is also really good to watch. My brother owns all three of these movies , and well when he first told me about them, i thought oh its gonna be horrible, but actually i just found them crazy and good. But my brother also likes to watch Zombie Movies, so I suppose that he might just have good tastes in movies. My favorite movie that is about drugs would have to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, thats pretty much my favorite one. Its like the Classic of All Drug Movies that are out right now. TTFN!!

TV Premiere Week

Okay, so My all time favorite show is Grey's Anatomy on ABC. Its weird because the first time I ever heard of it, i was thinking that i would never watch it. Then one night i was bored and there wasnt really anything else on, I watched it and basically fell in love with it. And now i never miss an episode. And the new season starts Thursday September 27th and i can't Wait. IF you like shows like ER then you will really like Grey's Anatomy. So Check it out, and if you want to catch up from the first three seasons then you can buy them on dvd in stores now.

I Also enjoy wathing House on Fox. Its super good. Hugh Laurie is a one of a kind actor, and its great to watch him each week. And the New Season starts tonight. So tune in, even if you have never watched it before. You will like it, Trust Me. So Go and Watch it, it airs on Tuesdays.

Obviously this is TV Premiere Week. And so far my week is filled to tune into the new seasons. I like to watch Ghost Hunters on Sci-fi. Its a great show to watch. The People on the show are real people and not actors, and they give us insight into the paranormal. Its great to watch, because while you watch, you can learn things that you may have never known. Some of the cases that they have done in the past have been very interesting. And so Tomorrow i cant wait to see the new season.

And also There are lots of people just like me who will be tuning into CSI. The Original CSI seems to be the best one. I love it. I find it interesting to see how they catch people just from the crime scene. I always thought that it would a good job to get into, but im not to keen about taking lots of science classes. Anyways, September 27th will be the airing of the new season of CSI, so tune in. Trust me, you will enjoy it.

Well I cant remember what else i wanted to write. So TTFN!!

My First Blog

So This is my first blog. And to tell you what you can expect from my blog, well it will be very random. I like a lot of things, and well i probably will discuss it on here. Before I forget, I apologize in advance about my tendency to ramble. SO, Welcome, ENJOY and don't hesitate to enter your comments!! TTFN!!