German Ingenuity

So last night ole gal pal Michelle commented to me how it had

been forever since I posted in my blog, that she was tired at 

looking at the perfect brownie pan! So at her behest, I am posting

a new picture for all to check out, and naturally, it has to one of 

the reason that I spend less time on my computer. Yes folks, a

pic of the one and only Lady coming up!!! But before I dig one 

up suitable to post here, I do need to take the time to applaud

those lovable Germans yet again. Two recent articles in the Reuters

website grabbed my attention. In the first one, it was announced

that 1000's of German policewomen would be receiving bullet-

proof bras. Apparently, it was determined that there was a slight

safety risk for women cops wearing bras with an underwire under

the standard bullet-proof vests. Hence new bras were designed

that contained no metal parts and had the look of a sports bra!!!

Secondly, the city of Stuttgart recently upgraded their medical

emergency service by purchasing 2 new vehicles for their ambulance

fleet. The 2 new vehicles? Porsche Cayenne SUVs of course! A Porsche

spokesman stated that it was not an easy conversion; a defibrillator,

ECG, oxygen supply, and other medical equipment had to be placed

in an overhauled interior. However, the Cayenne will get a patient in

distress to the hospital in style....quickly!!!

Dead Mayors Society

Here is a eyebrow raising story from the Reuters.com website. 

The mayor of a small village in north eastern Romania won

re-election in municipal voting over the weekend...despite

dying soon after the polls opened! Word spread of the 

incumbent's death due to liver disease, but his constituents

deemed that the dead mayor was still superior to his live

opponent. (That is kind of embarrassing for that guy if you

think about it!)  A voter even stated " I know he died, but I

don't want change." In the end, however, elections authorities

gave the post to the runner up; the deceased's political party

are now calling for new elections. Oh well, I am sure if that

does occur, the citizens will pick the best man for the job - 

dead or alive!

Only in New York

New York City that is. The other day I was checking out some

stories on the Reuters website, and came across this tidbit, 

about the most expensive burger in NYC, and I would dare to 

say, probably anywhere. The Wall Street Burger Shoppe recently

unveiled a deluxe burger priced at $175....that is NOT a typo!

Now we all know that the Big Apple is known for excess and

high prices, but this is definitely over the top. The owner of this

establishment justifies the price by detailing the ingredients :

Kobe beef patty, an abundant amount of black truffles, wild

mushrooms, seared foie gras, and aged gruyere, all topped with

flecks of gold leaf and served on a brioche bun. Well alrighty 

then! The scary thing is that the eatery sells approximately

20-25 of these pricey dish per month, no doubt to the well-

heeled, pretentious clientele. I love a good burger like most

anyone else (vegetarians excluded of course!), but forget all

that exotic stuff, give me some good old fashioned lettuce, 

mayo, bacon, a portobello mushroom maybe, blue cheese if I

want to get fancy, and I am good to go, all for under 10 bucks!

WAY too much time on hands!

There are all kinds of folks out there, including those who stress

and obsess with every little thing. Alot of these people are just

anal-retentive, while others simply have a boatload of time on 

their hands; many of such people then, either intentionally or

not, make the lives of normal folks a bit more interesting 

(if for nothing else, to make fun of the crazy nitpickers!) Prime

example - a man in Poland received a letter on January 3 that 

had been dispatched December 20. Believe it or not, it had been 

sent priority. In any case, the gentleman who received the tardy 

mail made calculations about the actual time it took to get his 

letter. He came up with the conclusion that a snail moved faster 

than the Polish postal service. It took 294 hours for the letter to

arrive, and had to travel 11.1 kilometers. Given the distance and

the time, the letter traveled at the scorching speed of 0.03775

kilometers per hour; a garden snail was timed at the lightening

pace of 0.048 kilometers per hour. Hence your proof, mail in

Poland moves as slow as snails, or in this case, even slower!

Recalls, cell phones, and teachers!

I have been trying to kick this lingering cold to the curb for a

couple of weeks now, very frustrating how it just seems to

want to hang around. But that doesn't mean that I haven't

been keeping my eye on the odd, amusing, or troubling

headline! First off, a thread that has been way too commom

on this site, another food recall, and again concerning ground

beef. American Foods Group recalled 96,000 pound of ground

chuck and sirloin that had been distributed to several states

in the midwest and mid-Atlantic, including Virginia. Kind of 

sad that recalls are so common now that they aren't really news.

The next story is one that really surprised me only because I'm

surprised we don't read more of such instances. A man in 

California was killed by a train when he stepped out in front of

it while talking on his cell phone. Apparently the guy was waiting

for one train to pass, and when it did, stepped into the path of

another one going the opposite direction. Bystanders reported 

that he was obviously distracted by his cell phone conversation

and simply didn't pay attention. I myself, while driving,  have had 

to break hard or swerve around pedestrians and drivers who have

been occupied by the oh so important cell phone conversations 

they were having and weren't paying attention to the road. No con-

versation or text message is worth your life people.....be careful.

Last, but certainly not least, a high school literature teacher in

Italy has been suspended by her school due to her "extra curri-

cular activities". Her 'hobby'? You guessed it, a porn star! The

teacher has been dubbed "porno-prof" by the Italian media; 

she calls herself Madameweb! Apparently Madameweb has 

indulged in several hard-core internet videos; her popularity 

surged last month after her participation in an erotica festival

in Berlin, Germany. The lusty teacher tried to defend herself by

stating that her behavior at school has always been "professional

and irreproachable", but was unable to sway the educational

authorities in the Fruili-Venezia Guilia region (northern Italy).

Well, I just know that I never had any teachers like that in my 

school, but then again, I grew up in Virginia, not Italy!

Beer can crushing - Aussie style

I just had to share this story with y'all, straight from that carousing
land down under, Australia. A barmaid in a town outside of Perth
has been fined $1000 dollars for exposing her breasts to patrons
of the bar she is employed in. Apparently, the talented barmaid
was exposing her headlights in order to crush beer cans between
them. The bar manager was also fined, I suppose for not taking
care of the crass situation. Another barmaid, from this very same
bar, was fined $500 dollars for helping her beer can crushing
co-worker to hang spoons from her nipples. Very enterprising
young ladies I am sure. I bet that bar is popular with the locals,
despite the police statement declaring that the fines "send a clear
message... that.we will not tolerate this type of behavior." hhhmm,
bet the barmaids in question get more than enough tips to offset
their fines....what do you think?

Toast, pop tarts....schnitzel?

The toaster has to be one of the more significant kitchen appliance
inventions. I mean, look at all that can go in and be made warm
and.....TOASTY! Bread, english muffins, bagels, pop tarts, frozen
waffles, and more. But now a German firm has come up with a
new item to toast - Schnitzel! Yes, I have my doubts too about
this one. Apparently German meat producer Toennies believes
that the convenience of a frozen schnitzel that one can pop in
the toaster for 3 minutes, rather than going through the trouble
of breading and frying, will be a draw for many time-pressed
people. What I am curious about is how they claim that the
concoction won't ooze or drip grease from the heated meat.
Toennies spokesman Dietrich Gumppenberg wouldn't discuss
how that is possible, stating that it "...will remain a company
secret. We're patenting our invention." I could maybe buy this
if you put the schnitzel in a toaster oven, where you could line
the pan with aluminum foil, but I wouldn't feel confident putting
this "invention" in a pop up toaster, but hey, that's just me, True
fans of the breaded pork or veal dish are cringing everywhere!

Beetle-mania

No, not the movie, nor avid music fans. This is about yet another
method of delivering illegal drugs. After reporting about 10 days
ago about a Mr. Potato Head being used as a drug mule in
Australia, our good friends the Dutch came across an even
more unusual drug mule method. Customs officials, while
examining a package from Peru, were shocked to discover
100 dead beetles inside, all stuffed with cocaine. In all, there
were 300 grams of the white powder, with a street value of about
$11,000 dollars. Dutch officials, who have probably seen it all in
a country where soft drugs are legal, admitted that it was "a very
striking method of smuggling. Well, I guess until the drunk blind
Estonian driving man of past posts pops up again ( and I really
believe it is only a matter of time!), I will just have to be on the
lookout for more astounding drug mule ideas. How about inside
some ravioli or other stuffed pastas, it would make marijuana
brownies look tame!

What a catch

Read a story in Reuters.com the other day from one of the nations
I have written about on several occasions, The Netherlands, but
this one was actually NOT risque or morally questionable....for a
change! A 13 year old boy was fishing just off the coast of the
Dutch town of Zierikzee when he felt a heavy tug on his line. Alas,
it wasn't a big fish, but a scuba diver who had been swimming
close to shore. The unlucky diver got hooked in his lower lip; a
doctor was able to remove the hook safely. I found this story rather
amusing as I had run across a similar story while living overseas
several years ago. A scuba diver in the Mediterranean Sea suffered
a similar fate, becoming the catch of the day for an erstwhile fisher-
man. The story became the butt of several jokes, but I bet that
scuba diver wasn't laughing!

oh no, not again

I was making a quick check of the news today around
the various websites I frequent, and came across an
eyebrow raiser at Reuters.com. Last week I reported
on an article I read about the blind guy in Estonia
getting pulled over by police who thought his erratic
driving was due to being drunk. Well, he was at it again
this past weekend, and this time, he was indeed drunk,
a winning combo with his blindness when it comes to
driving! This time he had 3 people in the car with him
who were giving him instructions; no word if they were
drunk as well, but you have to wonder who would get
into a car driven by a drunk, blind man! Estonian police
this time are not in a forgiving mood. They are asking
the court to jail the man for 30 days and to confiscate
his car. Y'all can be sure that I will be checking Reuters
to see if there will be a 3rd story on this character!

Let's go for a drive!

Just checking the news real quick today, and came across
this headline in the Reuters website - 'Blind man arrested
for driving car'. I naturally thought of that Al Pacino movie,
'Scent of a Woman', where Pacino plays a blind retired
miitary man who at one point decides to take a Ferrari for
a spin. Anyway, this actual event occured in Estonia. Police
pulled over a car that was driving erratically, assuming that
the driver was drunk. They realized, however, that he was
blind when he kept missing the tube to blow into for the
breathalyzer test! The blind man's passenger, a teenager,
was playing the role of instructor; he obviously fared
poorly in his capacity!

Sounds like a plan!

Reuters.com occasionally provides me with some rather 

cute stories. The latest one that caught my eye was titled 

"Jail break timed with guard toilet break."! Naturally, I 

could not resist. In Manilla, capital of the Philippines, 

7 men escaped from a police station detention cell by 

sawing on the bars (albeit very old, rusty bars) of the cell 

they were in. They were able to time their sawing with the

numerous bathroom visits the lone guard took that evening; 

the guard was nursing an upset stomach and had to make 

several toilet pit stops. It wasn't until several hours later 

that the guard noticed the damaged cell and the missing 

prisoners. What made it worse is that of the 7 escapees, 2 

were being held on murder charges (the other 5 for theft 

and robbery). Needless to say, the guard was suspended, 

as was his commanding officer. I suppose the possible loss 

of work will really make the poor guy's stomach churn!

Some odd food notes

Unusual food notes that I ran across over the weekend. According
to Reuters, McDonald's Corporation in Britain has announced that
starting this week, they will convert part of their 155 vehicle
British delivery fleet to run on biodiesel fuel made from their own
recycled cooking oil. It will start with 45 vehicles, with the rest
being switched over the next 12 months. The fuel will be 85%
cooking oil collected from the approximately 900 Mickey D's
around Britain, the remaining 15% will be pure rapeseed oil. My
question is, will the discharge smell like fries? On a more serious
note, Veggie Booty Snack Food has issued a recall of all their
snack foods due to possible salmonella poisoning. Veggie Booty?
Is this name for real? I was quite surprised to read the CNN
online article about "a popular snack food sold nationwide....in
supermarkets, health food stores, vending machines, and online
in the U.S. and Canada." As most of you know, I shop alot, hit all
the grocery stores (depends on what I need and who has specials),
but I have never seen a snack food with such an offbeat name....I
would have remembered 'Veggie Booty'!!! I mean, up until this
article, I just assumed booty was a popular subject in many of the
rap music songs I hear on the cook's radio in the restaurant's
kitchen, and trust me, the lyrics (those that I can actually under-
stand that is) definitely do NOT refer to veggies!

Dutch Driver

Read a great story on the Reuters website about another odd
event in one of my fave countries (for their unconventional
antics anyway!), The Netherlands. During a random traffic
checkpoint set up by police in Amsterdam, an 84 year old
man was pulled over. Police discovered that not only was his
car uninsured, but that he had been driving without a driver's
license for 67 years! Apparently the man had never gotten a
speeding ticket, nor had been in an accident, hence why his
flaunting of the law had never been discovered. The octoge-
narian promised police that he would get rid of his car (which
had also never been inspected!). No word if he was headed to
the Dutch DMV to finally get his driver's license, more than 6
decades after he first got behind the wheel!

What?!?

I believe that I have mentioned in the past that my husband is
a huge fan of the HBO series 'The Sopranos'. Well, as most folks
know, Sunday was the last ever episode (supposedly). My hubby
was almost depressed just thinking about the show ending. Of
course, he DVR's all the episodes to save and watch again. Thus
we were able to watch the end together (after he peeked and
watched it alone first!). As everyone knows, the episode was
rolling along, a few loose ends were taken care of, and suddenly,
as the Soprano family met in a diner for dinner (with a suspicious
looking character eyeing them from the counter), the screen
went black. I thought the cable company had gone berserk
again, but then after a few seconds, the credits started rolling.
THAT is how this critically acclaimed series ending, it cut to
black and was done. Naturally I have been reading all the
various commentary and opinion online and in the paper. Some
are calling the ending genius, while others (the majority I think)
are seething at the lack of conclusion. My words, or word, when
I realized how is was ending was, and I quote, "NNNOOOO!"
I can't say I was the show's number one fan, not by a longshot,
but the ending definitely wasn't what I expected. I do think
that the ambiguous ending left it open for a possible return of
the Sopranos, or some kind of film or mini-series to tie things
up once and for all. All the characters involved say this is
definitely the end.....we shall see. But for now, hubby will have
to be satisfied with his recorded episodes.....and cut to black.

Some disturbing stuff

Just got done reading a couple of odd stories at Reuters.com, and
they both involved the populous Asian nation of India. The first
one was rather alarming. A farmer in eastern India found out that
one of his employees had failed to milk his cows, so he went and
found the employee.....and beheaded him. Simply AWFUL. The
next story was again set in eastern India. A wedding was about to
occur in a small village, but the groom showed up drunk. Villagers
at the wedding did the 'logical' thing - they decided he was too
drunk to get married. So, with the approval of the bride's family,
it was decided to put the younger brother of the drunkard at the
alter with the bride-to-be. Well, I knew about the pre-arranged
marraige deals in India, but allowing other family members to
step in really takes it way too far...WOW. (If you were curious,
the bride's say in all this? ZIP, ZERO, ZILCH.) The intoxicated
ex-groom did apologize for his behavior later, but lamented the
fact that word would get around about his debauchery and that
he would never be able to find another bride!

Good move - bad move

Came across a couple of stories online today that displayed decision
making on the opposite ends of the spectrum - smart and dumb.
First the idiotic move. A man in Florida ran his van into a home, and
proceeded to escape on foot as the homeowners watched. However,
he left one of his shoes behind. An hour later, as police were at the
scene investigating, a bloody, barefoot man, clad only in boxer
shorts, walked up. Investigators noticed facial injuries on this man,
consistent with hitting a steering wheel; an officer proceeded to
ask the injured guy to try on the shoe. It was a perfect fit! Well, I
guess you could call this a sad, warped version of Cinderella! A much
smarter character came out ahead in England this week. A retired
engineer, 10 years ago, had placed a 100 pound bet with a bookmaker
that he would live to be 100 years old. Well, that 100 pounds turned
into 25,000 pounds ($50,000 USD) this week as the gentleman
celebrated his 100th birthday! His secret to longevity? A daily diet
of porridge and a chess game or two, as well as remembering to
just keep breathing, are key. Porridge? I guess Goldilocks and
the 3 Bears will be around a while!