'Entourage' returns with more Drama

I'm a fan of Entourage. Last season I thought Johnny Drama put in a performance worthy of an Emmy award. Recently, the show has not been as good as it was in the first two season. But, it is worth watching for those single episodes that are over the top good.

I ran into the post below over on the POP Candy blog. Its worth traveling to the links.

Here's hoping that the new season of Entourage can approach the quality of its first two seasons.

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com Here's a hilarious promo for the upcoming season of Entourage: a Viking Quest video game. Viking Quest is the fictional cult series Johnny Drama appeared on (remember the Comic-Con episode?), and the game lets you become Drama's character, Tarvold. The website even offers a fake series DVD set and explains the game in pretty elaborate detail. Since its advertised as "coming soon to consoles everywhere," I'm guessing it may be part of the storyline next season. Go here to watch some clips from the new season, which starts Sept. 7.

Stasia and Bob: The Bobby D Burger

I am a little late with this one but here goes.

People always tell me that I make delicious burgers. When people ask me how I do it I usually say the trick is not to wash you hands beforehand. Now that is a joke but you should see the look on their face.

Here are my main tips.

Buy both lean and the really cheap burger meat with lots of fat. Go 80 percent lean, 20 percent fat (70/30 is ok).

When you form your burger don't press the meat together hard. Just form it and leave the air in.

Mix together some Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.

For cheese burgers cut the burger in half and put a piece of cheese in the middle (this is prior to cooking). Trust me, you will like this.

Just prior to cooking, paint a little of the Worcestershire/ketchup on the burger. Go light on this.

Burgers cook best on medium heat. If you cook em hard on your grill the outside gets scorched but the middle never comes out just right. Patient cooking equals excellent burger.

Never, never, never press on your burger while cooking. You might see the fat squish out but you are now creating the famous "hockey puck" burger. Most of the fat will cook off by itself.

I like bacon and cheese with my burger. This brings out the taste. A nice thick slice of tomato and some lettuce really give you an excellent burger. Forget the mustard, this is not a hot dog.

Good luck. I hope you get the rave reviews like I do. And, don't forget to tell the joke and catch the look on their face.

Stick a Fork in MCain

Remember that nutjob* Ross Perot picked to be his VP running mate back in 1992? In spite of that he still received 19 percent of the vote. Perot proved that people really don't care much about Vice Presidential running mates and they don't have much of an impact. Remember we had a VP that couldn't spell potato(e). He ran for a second term.

What is the first question, and for most the only question, you ask about a Vice Presidential candidate: Is that person capable of being President in the event of an assassination, illness, or untimely death.

Isn't McCain's longevity an issue in this Presidential election? A big and important issue?

McCain is probably hoping to get a hold on women or disgruntled Hillary supporters. So he chooses Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Is she the most qualified of all the eligible Republicans in our country? Is she the best qualified Republican woman? Good decision by McCain?

Better choice: Kay Baily Hutchinson or Palin? Carly Fiorina or Palin? Mitt Romney or Palin? Fill in the blank or Palin?

Is Palin qualified? Well let's ask her.

Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain's ticket mate. Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?

While watching Palin I thought of a great idea for a television show. An elderly president dies of a heart attack. His young, inexperienced, sorority like VP assumes the role of the Presidency. The country is in turmoil when a war between Iraq and Israel breaks out shortly thereafter.

Who would play the role of Sarah Palin? Think Reese Witherspoon.



Comfortable with Sarah Palin? Not me. Stick a fork in John McCain.

*James Stockdale

Michele

I would hire her.

clipped from my.barackobama.com

American Idol reject to sing 'Star Spangled Banner', Springsteen to close

American Idol reject Jennifer Hudson will sing the National Anthem to Barack Obama and America Thursday evening at the Democratic National Convention.

Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to close the convention that night.

clipped from www.popeater.com She's thrilled and excited. It's a tremendous honor," Hudson rep told PEOPLE. Jennifer Hudson Photos Getty Images

Monitoring the Planetary Emergencies

clipped from www.federationofscientists.org The identification of Planetary Emergencies and their categorisation into fifteen main groups To date the World Federation of Scientists has established the following Permanent Monitoring Panels and Working Groups: Biotechnology Brain and Behaviour Climatology Defence Against Cosmic Objects Desertification Energy: www.energypmp.org Floods and Extreme Weather Events Information Security: www.itis-ev.de/infosecur/ Limits of Development Missile Proliferation Mother & Child Pollution Motivations for Terrorism Mitigation of Terrorist Acts Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Water

How Biden Will Come Out Punching

clipped from www.time.com While Biden is not a dazzling pick, the party elders who are beginning to gather for their nominating convention in Denver consider him a solid one. Andy Stern, president of the two-million member Service Employees International Union, says Biden could help enormously in reaching "the people in our union who are skeptical about Barack Obama." "Joe's about as good a messenger as we can get to those groups," Rendell says. "And once you've got a good messenger, the issues cut in our favor." "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11." Democrats realize that with Biden, they are likely to see some occasional errant punches. "I hope so," says one Obama adviser. "Because that will mean he is swinging."

America is Pro-Choice, Any Questions?

clipped from www.dailykos.com But according to a recent Gallup poll, we are in the majority by a long shot, and have been since the poll was founded over ten years ago. A few tidbits: Most Americans oppose the idea of passing laws to outlaw abortion and they soundly reject the idea of overturning Roe. v. Wade. More broadly, a majority of Americans favor keeping abortion legal in the first trimester but would make it illegal in the second and third trimesters.

The Real Dangers of Cyberspace

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Do we know what our kids are doing online? New research from the Rochester Institute of Technology suggests that we don’t—not really. The study, which looked at the habits of 40,000 kids in K-12th grade, outlines a number of surprising trends. The study found that 48% of K-1st grade children interact with people online, and that so-called “cyberbullying” (where kids are mean to one another via instant messaging, email and such) starts as early as the 2nd grade.

Polar Bears at Sea

clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com In a wrenching scene in “An Inconvenient Truth,” the documentary that propelled a wave of interest in human-caused global warming in 2006, a polar bear slowly slips beneath the waves to drown. The sequence was animated because no one had, so far, captured photos or video of drowning bears, which some environmental groups described as victims of climate change.

4 Ways to Save on Your Medical Bills

clipped from www.usnews.com The report, "Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance Is Burdening Working Families," paints a pretty bleak picture of how high healthcare costs are not only causing people to avoid getting the medical care they need but also straining their ability to pay for basic necessities like housing and food. Make your health plan pay its share. This sounds obvious, but too often people don't demand their due. When they get a notice saying their claim has been rejected, or that the insurer will cover only a portion of the cost, they simply pay up instead of questioning the charge. Don't do that. Check out government programs Negotiate with your providers. Consider prompt payment discounts carefully Need some help? The Access Project offers free assistance to help consumers deal with medical debt.

Social Networking: Common Mistakes Small Businesses Make

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Many businesses these days are venturing into the Wild West of social media, trying their hand at things like blogging and Twitter and creating profiles on social-networking sites. But along the way they’re making lots of mistakes. Sta.rtup.biz, a small-business social-networking site, recently had some thoughts on how small businesses are botching their forays into the social-media world. Here’s a look at some of the most common mistakes from them and other social-media experts: Bare Profile: Too Little Personality: Too Much Hype: Not Enough Fresh Content: What do you think of this advice? Anything else to add?

Rule Will Make It Harder for Women-Owned Businesses to Win Federal Contracts

clipped from blogs.wsj.com A Small Business Administration proposed rule, which was first published in the Federal Register last December, would limit the number of federal contracts set aside for women-owned businesses to four industries that are shown to be underrepresented by women. The four are: national security and international affairs; coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities; household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing; and motor vehicle dealers. Federal agencies are supposed to give 5% of all federal contracts to women-owned businesses, but have not yet come close to meeting that goal, according to a news release from the National Association of Women Business Owners. Readers, do you think all women-owned businesses should be eligible for federal contract set-asides? Why or why not?

Can Jerry Seinfeld Save Vista?

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Microsoft is turning to a new spokesman to drum up interest in its Windows Vista operating system: Jerry Seinfeld. The comedian will star alongside Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in a series of ads meant to counter the popular notion that Vista is a failure, the Journal reports. What’s the deal with Vista?

Tech Pros: The Next Dinosaurs?

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Information technology pros will go extinct if they don’t start thinking about their jobs differently. Will tech pros end up like the dinosaurs?

Global survey: What would you do to be beautiful?

clipped from www.synovate.com

Is 'green' the new black?

clipped from www.synovate.com Assuming you're not a green activist, you could be forgiven for being a little – dare we say it – bored of climate change. That's not very PC, but over the past twelve months our over-heating earth has consistently hit front pages across the globe, a multitude of green products and marketing campaigns have debuted and governments have been elected or ejected on the back of their green credentials. The second annual Synovate and BBC World News climate change study showed that more and more people are concerned about climate change (72% across the globe and as high as 88% in Spain). But, even more importantly, more and more people are actually doing something about it. People are changing their behaviour in a dramatic fashion and the past year has taken all-things-green mainstream. Synovate spoke with over 18,000 people across 22 nations and found that climate change is a truly hot issue. Eco-worriers It's not easy being green America earns its green stripes Green for good in China?

Zookeeper feeds baby squirrel in Bulgaria

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com

Number of Insured Continues to Grow in Massachusetts

clipped from blogs.wsj.com The number of people with health insurance continues to grow in Massachusetts, home of a closely watched universal health insurance plan. Some 439,000 people have signed up for insurance since the plan went into effect in 2006, state officials said in a report released yesterday. (The figures exclude Medicare.) That’s more than two-thirds of the estimated 600,000 who were uninsured in the state two years ago, the Boston Globe reports. Indeed, so many people have signed up for insurance that the program is costing far more than expected, and there’s currently a fight in the state over how to pay for it. Still, there’s a financial upside. The number of people showing up at emergency rooms for routine care — an inefficient, high-cost way to get such care — has fallen 37% since the plan went into effect, the Globe says. That decline has saved the state an estimated $68 million. The report is online here; a Washington Post story on the report is here.

Better to Be Fat and Fit Than Skinny and Unfit

Since this describes me I thought I would post the article as a clip.
You can read the entire article by clicking the link in the clip. Following the links in the article provides lots of interesting information.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Increasingly, medical research is showing that it isn’t. Despite concerns about an obesity epidemic, there is growing evidence that our obsession about weight as a primary measure of health may be misguided. Last week a report in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight and cardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400 adults. The data suggest that half of overweight people and one-third of obese people are “metabolically healthy.” That means that despite their excess pounds, many overweight and obese adults have healthy levels of “good” cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and other risks for heart disease. The data follow a report last fall from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute showing that overweight people appear to have longer life expectancies than so-called normal weight adults.