Sometimes I can sit and watch Bob Ross for hours... the way he quickly puts brushes to canvas and creates a magical world of naturistic scapes. "Happy little trees!" As Bob would say. Bob has had a lot of influence in Denmark! Does Bob like cookies?
And the world's happiest country is.. | Oddly Enough | Reuters.
Posted by Mark:
In the midst of political strife, it all comes down to a cookie recipe. Who's honest, who is really baking from scratch, who is improvising, and who is plagarizing. Well... the record gets set straight here. Sure, you can read all about the political turmoil... who's patriotic and who's not. Sheesh. Shortbread or Oatmeal Butterscotch... is a tougher call. Shortbread... known for it's rich buttery goodness (in the Bella's Cookies world topped with organic raspberry and organic blackberry jam or chocolate caramel)... Oatmeal Butterscotch is very tempting to me (I thoroughly enjoy Butterscotch - however have stayed away from it since it's typically only available as mass produced -- filled with junk. The Bella's Cookies solution is to "make your own"). Perhaps I'll make some organic butterscotch... chop into chunks or bits and then have the Chief Baker & Mix-ologist (my wife) try an Oatmeal Butterscotch cookie. I'll keep you posted on the results of this one... it may come down to a hanging morsel!
Cindy McCain risks 'war of the spouses' with Michelle Obama - Telegraph.
Posted by Mark:
I believe the title of this post is from a line in the famous Scorpion's song, but it's relevant here too. What will the future hold? What if... my favorite question. What if in the next 25 years another ice age comes upon us? What would happen? Besides destruction, and catastrophic disaster... would we see a global picture like that in the end scene of The Day after Tomorrow? "It looks as if the earth has reset itself!" What if monsoons become stonger? This past weekend a spring nor'easter ripped through the Delmarva peninsula and wrecked havoc on our area. Honestly, our home looked as it typically does after a brief tropical storm or hurricane passes over... and they're typically in and out. This storm sustained itself for 2 days... high winds and rain. Trees down, inches of rain, coastal flooding, etc. Climate change is definitely upon us. And the 2008 Hurricane season hasn't even begun!
Link: Greenhouse gases highest for 800,000 years | Environment | Reuters.
Posted by Mark:
If you had eyes like a Mantis Shrimp, what could you see? With the amount of UV rays, fine particulate matter, etc... the world might be a scary place to see. Ok, in some regards, it already is a scary place to see... but I'm talking about what your eyes would detect on a daily basis. The sensory gifts that each species posesses is extraordinary. The other evening I was sitting on my couch eating my favorite cookies... Peanut Butter Power. Yes, Peanut Butter Power is from my wife's company Bella's Cookies, but what I'm getting at is... my dog, Elvis, knew what they were too. My wife has trained them to hear the crinkle of the bag, the scent of peanut butter... and Elvis knew exactly what I had in my lap. Before I even opened the bag, he had inched his way closer to the couch, and rested his head on the armrest... staring at me with labrador eyes, ears perked forward, wagging his tail. Of course I gave him a bite! :)
Read up on the Mantis Shrimp's wonderful eyesight below... I always like this guy because his claws pack the power of a .22 rifle. Have you ever seen this guy in action? Little fish don't have a clue what hit them. POW!
Link: Shrimp can see beyond the rainbow | Science | Reuters.
Posted by Mark:
One of my favorite questions is... "What if?" I tried to register that domain name, but ahhh... it's taken. Rarely can you snatch up a good .com name anymore... they're all taken. What if... we weren't an overweight nation? Define overweight. In my opinion, there are several different types of being overweight... there is the grossly overweight, the middle overweight, and a little overweight. Knowing that we can't eliminate all in one shot... what if... you eliminated the "grossly." This category alone can save millions. So... What if instead of eating fast food breakfast sandwiches in the morning, you ate a Breakfast Cookie? Like the ones at Bella's Cookies. High in fiber, protein, vegan, etc. Eating right... eating healthy... staying active. The rewards far outnumber the risks. Read the article below, it's eye opening. Then pass this article on...
Posted by Mark:
Yesterday I filled up my little Chevy HHR. $51.00 to fill it up. I used to cringe at that number at every fillup in my wife's Suburban... now, WaWa cuts off the pump at $75.00. $51 to fill a little 14 gallon tank. The Suburban is 26 gallons... yikes! Living at the beach is great during times of economic strain... lost of people around the DC, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philly, NY market will come here instead of a more "distance travelled" vacation because in the total cost of travel... $100 for fillup is less than $700 in roundtrip tickets somewhere. But how much longer will that last? If a fillup costs $120 one way... that's $240 round trip. Not to mention the little trips here and there than my push your total driving cost up near $300 -- just to drive to the beach. I think you might see more people deciding to take trips more, around their own homes... exploring places they've known about and lived near for a long time... and now deciding to take those trips. Day trips... Weekenders, etc. If that happens, businesses here (who rely on tourism money) will have a challenge. It looks to be an interesting summer of 2008... my prediction though... vactioners will still come to the beach. They'll pay close to $4 a gallon for gas... they'll limit what they buy, they'll splurge less on things they don't really need, and summer will be over. We'll see what heppens. I'll report back to you in early October. In the meantime... read the article below, it'll shed some light on some things.
Posted by Mark:
Well, not Bella or the cookies... but the president of the company & my wife, Kelly is. The piece is called "People to Watch: 40 under 40." What a great piece. Check it out by clicking here.
Posted by Mark:
As a vegetarian, but former carnivore, I don't quite know how to read this... but it's interesting, very interesting. There's part of me that says... alright, then another part that says... just switch your diet. I mean, Quorn is one of my favorite foods. Quorn is the leading meat-free alternative in Europe... big in Europe (like David Hasselhoff). They make foods in lab dishes, out of mycoprotein (mushrooms). Looks like a naked chicken cutlet, made out of mushroom. Looks like steak strips, made out of mushroom. Looks like chicken nuggets, made from mushroom. I just don't know... it's one thing to make something taste like meat, that has no way shape or form of meat... it's another to grow meat, real meat. Kind of like those stories about a certain fast food chicken chain that grows only the chicken breasts through a process of scientific achievements. Hmmm, sounds like the article you're about to read. Cue the Twilight Zone music...
Link: Growing meat without growing animals. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine.
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