Speak from your mobile while sailing.

I was on the dot for my appointment with a BPO provider. I was there to inquire about the possibility of renewing a contract for my online contact. The original contract with a Swedish company was about to expire.

The BPO company is housed in a high rise building in a sprawling campus consisting of more than 15 giant towers.

I sat facing an imposing man who showed indifference to me. May be my diminutive stature didn’t seem to go well with him. But as the discussion progressed, he became more attentive to me. My in depth knowledge about the topic must have made him to look at me with some respect.

In between our meeting, he kept receiving intermittent calls on his mobile. Suddenly I realized that I am a witness to a technology that was new to me. I am aware that cell phones either go silent or they are reluctant to give uninterrupted signal in high rise buildings or wherever there is a concrete jungle.

I took up the courage to ask him how come he is able to talk freely on his mobile phone when sitting in his office on 7^th floor. He was suddenly pleased. With a look of pride, he informed me that cell phone repeaters are installed in all the buildings in the campus.

He explained that a cell phone repeater works like an amplifier that picks up the radio signal from the base tower and amplifies the signal in such a way that signal is clear even inside the building or deep underground.

“Does it mean that the battery power lasts longer because it need not have to strain itself to pick up the radio signal”?-I asked.

His face lit up with appreciation and affirmed my guess.

Wireless cell phone repeater

Image courtesy: Google Images.

The Multigenerational Household

In many cultures grandparents live in the same household as their children and grandchildren. Not so much in America. Why not? Is it because we need ample doses of personal space? Is it because greedy advertisers have taught us to reject our parents’ values to induce us to buy their latest stuff? Heaven forbid that we dress like mom or dad, or listen to their music. And once we reject their values, it’s easy to reject their company. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we put them in nursing homes when they get old, where they can watch yesteryear’s reruns. Maybe that’s why our own children might do the same thing to us in their time.

But something seems wrong with this picture. When I consider what the Bible says about multigenerational relationships (the discipleship of children and honoring of parents), I get the feeling many Americans have missed the point of family by a fat, country mile.

In the not-too-distant past, households were places of industry and productive work. Family farms were scattered all over the landscape, and people ran businesses out of their homes. Children were trained at home with their parent’s values, and they learned to contribute their share of the work on the family estate. Babies were born into the home and grandparents lived there until they died. The household was a cradle-to-grave enterprise.

With the advent of industrialization, men began to leave their homes to join the urban work force. Thus was born the apartment building, the subdivision and the single-family home. Dads went off to industrial factories and children went off to industrial schools, Eventually moms went off to work, too. Homes became like hotels, places to eat, do homework, watch TV, and snooze.

But things are starting to change. Thanks to the internet, UPS and FedEx, more and more people are using their homes as places of education and business again. Many parents are deciding to teach their own children there. No need to bus the children off to an institution. The same books that can be read at school can be ordered on line and delivered to the family's front door. The family's home computer can access the same web sites as those in the school’s computer lab. At home the children can receive individualized instruction and enjoy enriching curricula that is tailored to their particular interests, and is in accord with their parent’s values. Clubs, sports leagues and church groups are all available to enrich the social life of the family.

A number of young entrepreneurs have discovered that they can do the same work from a computer at home as they would from one at a work station in a downtown office cubicle. Many of them are thinking outside the box, and integrating their work with the functions of their household. They are finding that when family members work in their business, instead of outside employees, it is easier to have a harmonious work environment. There are also significant tax advantages to a family business, which translates into greater profitability.

Some people are bucking the nursing home trends as well. They are making room in the house for grandma and gramps. And the benefits are substantial. The costs of running two separate households are reduced to one. Energy consumption is lowered. Expenses on utilities, meals, child care and education can be consolidated. The retirement income of the grandparents can be used to help remodel the home for their privacy and comfort. Everybody wins.

Is there a down side to the multi-generational, multi-family household? Yep. Everyone must get along, which is tough for a bunch of imperfect people bumping into each other in a common kitchen, or waiting for the bathroom. And there’s always the potential for lazy adult kids to sponge off their parents, or for control freak parents to rule over their children like serf-lords. The good news is that where sin abounds, God’s grace can abound all the more.

Keep an eye out for developments in the multi-generational household. It might just be that our ever-rising gas prices and general economic downturn will be the incentive for many Christians to return to a more biblical way of “doing family” together.

I am hungry for a carrot cake.

I should blame Yahoo! for making me hungry for a carrot cake. That appetising and salivating picture of carrot cake made me hear the rumbles in my stomach.

This is the first time I am hearing about a cake made of carrot. We use carrot only in salad. Of course my son loves carrot juice.

This carrot cake picture is given below.













For the recipe of this carrot cake, you should read Yahoo! food. Oh, the recipe is all fine but the mention of egg in it makes me to have second thought. How can I eat a cake with egg as one of the ingredient?

No, I am going to compromise for once and prepare the cake. God, please pardon me once, just this once. If not, why else you made me look at this carrot cake?

TGIF

Fun For You on a Friday:

A crazy mass improv gag at Grand Central Station.

And here's a great baseball video by the same guys for my nephew Jimmy. (20 8 9 14 11 9 14 7 15 6 25 15 21, 10 9 13 13 25. 9 13 9 19 19 25 15 21.)



Introducing Marcos Penalba-Cruz, born May 22nd, whose mom I work with at America.


Congratulations, Kisis!



Yesterday on the Writer's Almanac Garrison Keillor told this startling story from this day in history:

It was on this day in 1932 that World War I veterans began arriving in Washington, D.C., demanding their military bonuses about 15 years early. Congress had approved the bonuses as a retirement plan back in 1924, and those bonuses weren't supposed to be paid until 1945, when the soldiers had reached the age of retirement. But it was the Great Depression, and most of those veterans were out of work and living in poverty, and they were desperate for early bonuses to help them survive.

The Bonus March was the idea of an unemployed former Army sergeant named Walter Waters, who stood up at a veterans' meeting in Portland, Oregon, on March 15, 1932, and said that every man at the meeting should hop a train to Washington, D.C., and demand the money that was rightfully his.

Walter Waters and his men arrived in Washington, D.C., on this day in 1932. Over the next few months, about 25,000 others joined them. They had been congregating in D.C. for almost a month when the bonus bill finally came to the floor. It was passed by the House of Representatives, but it was defeated in the Senate two days later. Many of the Bonus Marchers went home, disappointed, but the original group of men stayed behind, vowing to remain until they received justice.
President Herbert Hoover ordered the Army to drive them out of town. Several Army battalions of cavalry and tanks advanced on the veterans, tossing tear-gas grenades and setting the shantytown on fire. Over the next week, newspapers and newsreels showed images of veterans fleeing the burning shantytown with their families, through clouds of tear gas and smoke, followed by tanks and mounted troops waving swords. It was a public relations disaster. When presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt read a newspaper article about the eviction, he said, "This will elect me," and he was right.

And lastly, here's a photograph of the Outback, one of the most haunting places I've ever been.

CINNAMON BREAD= 4 LOAVES

DISSOLVE 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS OF YEAST IN
1 CUP VERY WARM WATER

COMBINE:
3 CUPS WARM WATER
4 TEASPOONS SALT
3 TABLESPOONS OF HONEY
4 TABLESPOONS OF CANOLA OIL

COMBINE WITH YEAST MIXTURE.

STIR IN 5 CUPS OF WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR
AND SLOWLY STIR IN
5 TO 7 CUPS OF WHITE FLOUR TO FORM A SOFT DOUGH


(DOUGH NEEDS TO REMAIN SOFT AND SLIGHTLY STICKY FOR THIS SWEET BREAD, BUT IT NEEDS TO HAVE ENOUGH FLOUR TO WORK IT AND REMEMBER, WHILE A BREAD RISES WITH WHEAT, THE WHEAT ABSORBS A LOT OF THE LIQUID. SO I SUGGEST LEAVING YOUR DOUGH QUITE SOFT DURING RISING TIME AND KNEADING IN JUST ENOUGH FLOUR AT SHAPING TIME TO WORK THE DOUGH.)



I LIKE TO LET MY WHEAT DOUGH RISE FOR SEVERAL HOURS, PUNCHING DOWN AS NEEDED. BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. ONCE DOUBLED, YOU MAY PUNCH DOWN AND SHAPE.


SEPARATE INTO 4 MOUNDS AND ROLL ONE AT A TIME TO FORM A RECTANGLE.
SPREAD LIGHTLY WITH MELTED BUTTER, SPRINKLE ON BROWN SUGAR AND CINNAMON (AND WHATEVER ELSE YOU LIKE!).


ROLL UP AND TUCK LOOSE ENDS UNDER AND PINCH SEAMS. PLACE SEAM SIDE DOWN IN BREAD PAN.


MAY ALSO USE FOR CINNAMON ROLLS!


LET RISE 30 TO 45 MINUTES UNTIL DOUBLED.

(I USUALLY BAKE 2 AT A TIME, WORKING ON OTHER KITCHEN PROJECTS IN BETWEEN.)


BAKE AT 350 FOR 35 TO 45 MINUTES.

(LOAVES WILL GET NICE AND GOLDEN AND YOU MAY NEED TO CHECK CENTERS TO BE CERTAIN THEY ARE DONE.)


THESE ARE SO GOOD AND YUMMY AND THEY DON'T HAVE MUCH FAT IN THEM...UNLESS OF COURSE YOU ADD A BUNCH WHEN YOU ASSEMBLE.

THIS BREAD IS ALSO GOOD FOR MAKING FRENCH TOAST OR JUST TOASTING WITH BUTTER!

CARAMEL ICING

A short time back, one of our local grocery stores had cake mixes on sale really cheap! Well, I couldn't resist ---with the huge sweet tooth that I have, so of course I bought several boxes and decided to give BUTTER PECAN a try. You can hopefully see in the picture that it was a nice, spongy cake and OH! so tasty! The only problem was; what kind of icing!?!?! The following is a recipe for caramel icing---sooooooo good! You won't be able to stop eating--WARNING for fellow sweet tooth owners!

CARAMEL ICING
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups (or more) powdered sugar

1. Melt butter in the microwave.
2. Mix in brown sugar and microwave for 1 minute.
3. Stir in milk and microwave until boiling, STOPPING TO STIR every 30 seconds.
4. Sift powdered sugar.
5.When the butter and sugar mix cool to room temp. stir in 1 cup of the powdered sugar until smooth.
6. Continue adding powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until spreadable. Ice the cake!

Pastor Rick Warren’s P.E.A.C.E. Plan

I thank God for Pastor Rick Warren’s vision and organizational skills. His latest efforts to unite church leaders in the world to do good works through the P.E.A.C.E. Coalition is highly commendable. As an antidote to what Warren sees as the five “global giants” on the planet (1) spiritual emptiness, (2) self-centered leadership, (3) poverty, (4) pandemic disease and (5) illiteracy, he offers the following goals by way of the acronym P.E.A.C.E.

Promote reconciliation
Equip servant leaders
Assist the poor
Care for the sick
Educate the next generation.

“First and foremost, the P.E.A.C.E. Plan is about reclaiming the primacy of the local church's role in global missions,” says Warren, whose Saddleback Church has invested $3 million in producing software and training modules to implement the plan.

“At a wedding the bride is the main character, the centre, the star of the show - everyone else is supporting cast, but the glory goes to the bride," says Warren. "The P.E.A.C.E. Plan is built on the same principle. The Bride of Christ - of which the church is its local expression around the world - deserves the focus, the credit and the glory for faithfully serving their communities year after year."

Actually the Bride Groom, Christ Jesus, is the star of the show. I don’t mean to be a hair splitter, but the distinction between who receives the glory seems important. As soon as we shift our focus from His glorious work on the cross, and His justifying, sanctifying, mediation for His elect, we set ourselves up to be the measure of righteousness on earth based on our good works. The principle that right doctrine precedes right deeds, is as important as it ever was. Christ is the head, the church is His body.

Our striving to solve the problems of the world is noble and necessary. After all, the Bible declares that faith without works is dead. And we are called to let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works. Yet all things are to be done to the glory of the Father, not to the church (see Matthew 5:16).

Perhaps I’m overreacting to Warren’s illustration, which might simply need some fine tuning. I hope so.

I pray that the Lord will use the P.E.A.C.E. Plan to glorify the PRINCE of PEACE in the world and to proclaim His GOSPEL.

Mom, did you read this?

When my son waved a news paper in his hand asking the question, I was in a sullen mood.

“Yes, I saw it too. The sensex slipped by 300 points, so what”? I retorted.

The US$ declined, a barrel of oil became more dearer, more engineering colleges are likely to be opened in our state, IT engineers recruitment is stopped- so what son?

We will continue to eat well, see tearials in the television (aptly coined word-eh? my invention) (Smile), watch international cricket players in the Chennai team play like Tamilnadu players in T20 competition-right?

When my son saw my ‘not so favorable’ mood, he left the paper he was waving at me on my bed and left. The issue was named “Scholar’, a supplementary issue on education brought by “The Hindu’-a leading news paper in India.

On it, I saw a man with the same ‘so what ‘question on his face and beside him, in

bold letters were these words, “Myth or reality?”.

I decided, “This must be a rare coincidence of moods” and let me in on the article that was about the availability of quality education in India. The man in picture was Dr. N. Ramasubramanyan, an academician.

Wait, the name rings a bell. Oh yes, now I recall. My friend Kasturirangan, a top advertisement executive in ‘The Hindu’, called me and asked me to read the ‘Scholar’ for which he said he contributed.

I knew (or I thought I knew) exactly what is going to be inside; one more concerned educationist is going to vent his views and opinions on the present education that is sure to be sarcastic at the bureaucracy.

Brushing away the inner protest, I read the article but after the first page, I decided that there is no more than statistical figures and I could not fathom what the author was driving at.

Again after a few hours, my son raised the topic. He said the article was of course full of statistics that few would be interested in but Dr. Ramasubramanyan took the pain to cite those statistics only to reveal that the availability of quality education is a myth.

So I read the article again after mentally apologizing to the educationist. Being an academician myself since 1987, I have some strong views on what is lacking in the present education system but I also have concrete ideas to remedy the malady.

Yes, Dr. Ramasubramanyan, I am with you so far on your conclusion but then…

Oh well, that’s alright. Who is John Galt after all?

Acknowledgement: ‘The Hindu’, S.K. Kasturirangan and Dr. Ramasubramanyan

Image courtesy: Google Images

The TULIPs of Preaching

Here are five principles to help rookie pastors like myself blossum in their preaching.

T = True to the Text
The foremost purpose of preaching is to faithfully declare what God has said in His Word. My desire as a pastor and teacher is to faithfully exposit the scriptures. My aim is to understand God’s inerrant, infallible Word in its historical, grammatical, and doctrinal context. Since scripture interprets scripture, I must examine any text in light of the full counsel of God. I must be familiar with the entire canon of scripture, Old and New Testaments, and appreciate God’s sovereignty over the transmission of His Word through diverse, human prophets and scribes over time. It has been said that any text without a context is a pretext. Scripture must not be made to conform to our current cultural dispositions. We must conform to the scriptures. To depart from the text is transgression, whether by detraction or embellishment. Preach it true to the text.

U = Useful
God’s Word is intended to transform, bless, and direct the lives of believers. The Scriptures are intended to accomplish God’s purposes for those who read it and hear it. The Bible is meant to be obeyed and practiced. It is essential for godliness. Pastors do well to present the usefulness and applicability of scripture to transform the way we think and behave, and to equip the body of Christ for the works of ministry. Preach it useful.

L = Loving and Logical
Preaching must be sincere and understandable. As a shepherd, it is prudent for me to consider the condition and maturity of my flock as I attempt to lead and teach them. I must be loving, patient and as clear as possible in my instruction. The outcome of my teaching should be greater understanding, rather than confusion. I have found it useful to state the objective of my messages and give a roadmap of direction for moving through my sermon content. The logical flow of the main proposition, broken into key points, and supported by details and illustrations, helps the learner to follow along without getting lost. It is a comfort to the young wigglers in my congregation (and their parents) to know when the end of a message is in sight. Preach it loving and logical.

I = Interesting & Inspiring
I wish all my messages were inspiring. Realistically, I strive to make them interesting. A judicious blend of faithful, theological exposition and interesting illustrations helps to keep the congregation awake and engaged. Candor, humor and self-disclosure are useful in proper measure. Both laughter and seriousness are good for the soul. I find that using relevant, personal illustrations, deepens my relationship with my listeners and helps them track with me as I develop a message. I happen to have a background in graphic art so I can’t resist using photos, graphs, diagrams and lists to emphasize points. Power Point slides should not be the tail that wags the dog. Still it's good to recall that a picture is worth a thousand words. Preach it interesting and inspiring. Or try to.

P = Passionate
Preaching is more than conveying information. It is imparting God’s very Word to the hearts and minds of the hearers. Energy and passion is appropriate when one is sharing the good news of the gospel or the hazards of sin. If you don’t care about what you’re preaching, others won’t either. While the pulpit is not a theatrical stage for dramatic performances, sermons need not be delivered like emotionless lectures. Preachers should preach as if lives depended on it. They surely do. Preach it passionate.

Acknowledgment
I’m not the first person to use the TULIP acronym for preaching tips. Steve Brown (speaker for KeyLife, a prof at Reformed Seminary, and a Preaching Magazine senior consulting editor), has used it to suggest that preaching be ...

T-therapeutic
U-unconventional
L-lucid
I-illustrated
P-passionate

The times are changing.

I just could not comprehend the need for a perpetual calendar watch that my son is demanding. He is literally demanding me to get him an IWC watch with a perpetual calendar.

The youth of today will design their own logic for wanting certain things. I know and am fully aware that an IWC watch is the only think that anyone calls it a watch.

No, I have no offense intended. I respect and like other watches too but from the point of present generation, they justify their vote for IWC watches on various features.

I know definitely no means to buy him what he wants. I just convinced him that he will get an IWC watch from other sources if he let go of his impatience.

I am already for my class. BTW, what time it is now?

Going by the book or beyond?

In an interesting article that I read in the 'Scholar', a supplementary special published by 'The Hindu' dated May 24th 2008, several educationists opined that children prefer other teaching aids such as computers, CD ROMs, etc.

I could sense their concern for children (their's too) as being burdened to carry the books to schools but I feel books are still the basic reading material for all ages. Computers can only help make the children understand the subjects in a different manner but computers and CD ROMs cannot yet replace the books.

Well, I am not going to debate on an issue that will lead to nowhere.

Apart from the home page article, I was attracted by various other contents of the 'Scholar', not to mention the nice design. Even some of the ads they managed to procure will be useful to parents and teachers.

There is another piece of information that I liked; its about a list of special schools in and around Madras. There are so many schools that target special children like deaf, blind, mentally retarded that many parents may not be aware; they also have no means to look for such special education. I mean they are people who are not resourceful enough to gather information.

Schools that teach fine arts also have advertised their services. Fine arts teaching is one area that I think is on the decline. May be such schools can use a little bit of free promotion by "The Hindu' who are know patrons of fine arts.

I think the next issue on education will hit the streets only during next academic year. I wonder how it will be!

I would like to see interviews of parents, teachers and even students. If possible, the editor of the 'Scholar' should publish unedited version of such interviews as they are sure to contain true appreciation as well as criticism.

Thank you 'The Hindu' for the 'Scholar'.

Learning about Kites

What a perfect time to be learning about kites!
The kite festival is in town and we had a blast there today.

Picking out the colour for her kite.

Helping add the tape to keep it together.

more putting the kite together.

Kite ie almost complete just adding the tail.

Tail is on now time for some string.

Up and flying!!! It really does fly!

Check out my main blog for more pictures of the kite festival today.

Strawberries At Last

Finally, we have our first fruits of 2008. We began harvesting strawberries Friday at our Belleville farm. Saturday was the first day for pick your own to be open and we had record crowds turn out. So many, we had to close the patch at noon to allow the berries some more time to ripen. Not to fear, there are still lots of berries to pick, we just need to give Mother Nature some more time.

We also have a great selection of homegrown berries available in Eckert's Country Store already harvested. The berries are extra large this year, thanks to the abundant rainfall and cool temperatures. Supplies are great right now but they seem to change by the minute. Please call ahead or check http://www.eckerts.com/ to make sure we still have berries available.

We have been asked many times about why berries are so hard to predict. It is frustrating to us also. Because of the short growing season, berries are more impacted by spring weather than other crops. Ripening dates for Eckert's berries have varied by 25 days in the past 5 years. We usually harvest the first berries the first week of May, this year is the latest start date at May 23 and it has been as early as April 29. We try to predict as well as possible, but we always seem to be fooled by mother nature.

None the less, there is no comparison to a homegrown berry right out of the patch. Come out and taste them for yourself.

Cheers,

Chris

Locks of Love

While I'm talking up family this week, here's one more story for you all. Last week my nieces Molly and Erin got their hair cut. And they really took a lot off. Here's they are before:


Molly.


Erin.

And after:


Fabulous.

They took 5 inches off of Erin's hair, and 8 inches off of Molly. And on a number of occasions like this they've taken that hair and donated it to a program called "Locks of Love." Locks of Love uses children's hair to create wigs for kids that are sick and have lost their own hair for some reason.

If you're interested, here's the website for Locks of Love. It's the sort of charity that you don't think about, but can be a great support for sick kids.

And here's a link for Pantene, which does something similar for women. They require longer lengths, I think; Molly was excited because she had cut off enough to donate to Pantene this time around.

And speaking of hair...


My niece Ally and her "bed head".

Deep in the Soul of Carrots

Last night the Australian Broadcasting Service had an interview with Michael Pollan, American and bestselling author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food." Pollan writes a lot about things like processed food and the way food is marketed as "nutritious" to get us to buy it. One small bit:

KERRY O'BRIEN [interviewer]: You talk about nutritionism as opposed to nutrition, what do you mean?

MICHAEL POLLAN: Yeah, that's key distinction. I mean nutrition and nutritional science is important work and it needs to go on and be perfected. Nutritionism is an ideology, it's a way of looking at food, it's a lens, and basically it encourages us to think about food as a collection of nutrients and that if you get the nutrients right you'll be fine, you know, avoid saturated fat, eat omega 3s and it divides the world into blessed nutrients that if we ate enough of them we'd live forever and satanic nutrients we're trying to drive from the food supply.

There's a couple of problems with nutritionism. One is if the nutrient is the important unit in food and not the food, and only scientists can see nutrients with their microscopes, have you ever seen a nutrient or tasted one? No. You need experts to tell you how to eat and so that we have a priesthood of telling us how to eat and I think that's proved to be very unhealthy.

KERRY O'BRIEN: To illustrate your point of how science gets it wrong, you tell the story of the humble carrot.

MICHAEL POLLAN: Yeah, there's a great example. We know carrots are good for you, right? People have been eating them for a long time and the assumption was that what was good in cancer preventing in the carrot was the beta carotene, what makes it orange. So we extracted that and we made these supplement pills and we gave them to people and low and behold in certain populations like people who drink a lot would get sicker, were more likely to get cancer on beta carotene and the scientists kind of scratched their head. There is a couple of explanations. We don't know. But one may be that the beta carotene is not the key ingredient. You know there are 50 other carotenes in carrots.

Food is incredibly complex. It's a wilderness, you know, we don't know what's going on deep in the soul of a carrot. And we shouldn't kid ourselves to think we can reduce it to these chemicals. It also may be some synergies between different thing. Beta carotene is also found in the company of chlorophyll, maybe it's that combination that contributes to health.

The point is we don't, as eaters, need to know what makes carrots work. We can eat carrots, they taste good, they're good for you. It's that simple. This reductive approach to food that's been pushed by the scientist, and they need to think reductively, no question, they need to isolate variables to test them. But to take that very sketchy information and start marketing food and supplements on the basis of it, it's very misleading. I'm not anti-science, I think nutrition science is very important and eventually they'll get it right but the way I look at it is it's a very young science, it's kind of like where surgery was in the year 1650, okay. Very promising, very interesting, but not quite ready to guide you in your own health decisions.

The rest of the interview can be found here, as both a transcript and video. I really recommend it.

Pollan was so interesting I looked around online and found in another interview a great analysis of Whole Foods.

I use the term “supermarket pastoral” for the experience of shopping in a place like that. Whole Foods, they’re brilliant storytellers. You walk into that store, and it just looks like a beautiful garden, and there are pictures of organic farmers up on the walls, and little labels that describe how the cow lived that became your milk or your beef, and the cage-free vegetarian hens who got to free range.

They’re creating in your minds an image of a farm very much like the ones in the books you read as children—with a diversity of happy animals wandering around the farmyard.

It’s very cleverly designed, but unfortunately like a lot of pastoral forms of art, it’s based on illusions. Not entirely, but if you go to the farm depicted on those labels, you find that in fact, things look a little bit different.

Organic milk might be coming from a dry organic feedlot where 500 cows are milling around and never get to eat a blade of grass. I have a feeling that’s not what the consumer thinks they’re getting.

Free-range chickens—I did go visit a large organic chicken producer here in California, and if you look at their label, there’s a farmstead with a little silo and a farm house and a farmyard and chickens running around, but if you go to the farm, the chickens are grown in these huge barracks as long as a football field. They’re indoors, there are 20,000 of them in a house, and running along this barrack is what looks like a little front lawn—mowed, maybe 15 or 20 feet deep.

There’s a little door at either side of the barrack where, theoretically, chickens could step outside and take the air. But they don’t. One reason is that the doors are closed until the chickens are about five weeks old.

The farmers—if you can use that word, the managers—are concerned that the chickens might catch their death of cold or pick up a germ, so they don’t open the doors until the chickens are five weeks old. They smother them at seven weeks; so it’s not exactly a lifestyle. It’s more like a two-week vacation option. And the chickens don’t avail themselves of this option because they’ve never been outside before. They’re terrified of going outside. First of all, it’s not big enough for the whole flock. Second of all, the food and water is inside; they’re not used to it; they weren’t brought up this way. They’re like the cat in the Manhattan apartment; when you open the door they just stand there in terror wondering about the other dimension of reality outside that door.

Free range is a conceit. It’s to make us feel better about these chickens. It’s not doing anything for the chickens, as far as I can tell.

Yes, that organic chicken is still a better product, I think. It’s getting better feed, it’s got a few more inches of legroom than a conventional chicken, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Where can you get leather lingerie?

What? Lingerie made of leather? I have not heard of so far! Why would women choose to wear inner garments made of leather? I thought inner garments like lingerie are supposed to give you comfort. Would leather lingerie do that?

Actually, I happen to read the question in the title in a fashion forum. But none had replied the question. I thought I will reply the question and so searched for leather lingerie.

I was astonished to find a lot of websites that sell leather lingerie along with hundreds of cheap lingerie, bridal lingerie (this is also new to me) and more.

Out of the hundreds of websites, I liked Lingeriediva.com because of myriad inner garments and the spread is really vast. There are eye catching negligees, swim wear, lingerie and so on.

I think lingeriediva.com attracts more men who would like buy something to his wife that is for his eyes only.

Lingeriediva.com ranks third in Google’s search for ‘Leather Lingerie’.

Top Directories database.

For the past one month, I have been submitting my blogs and directories in various directories. The experience of submitting to directories has not changed a bit; it is a monotonous and boring task but it is to be done however.

I have a list of more than 1000 good directories that I have compiled from various resources. As usual, over a period of time, some directories drop off.

Today, I have stumbled onto a great resource of top directories. Each directory listed is described in short about the free listing requirements along with its Google PR.

Also, there is a provision to include your own directory for free. This is a wonderful opportunity to get listed in one of the highly visited database of web directories.

Demographic Winter

Another letter to the editor of the local newspaper.


Dear Editor,

Did you know we’re in the autumn of a demographic winter? I didn’t, until I watched a recent documentary by The Heritage Foundation. The sociologists, demographers and economists in the film present research data on depopulation trends around the globe. According to their findings, the overpopulation predictions of the past have given rise to an anti-child mentality in the world. The implications are chilling.

As one sociologist puts it, the population explosion of the recent past was “not because people started reproducing like rabbits. It was because they stopped dropping like flies. It was a health explosion.”

Ironically, the advances in medicine and technology that led to larger and healthier populations, have produced declining birth rates. Contraception and abortion are readily available worldwide, and children are commonly viewed as an economic liability rather than an asset. Birth rates have now fallen below replacement levels in many of the world’s nations, and the ratio of young people to the elderly is slowly being inverted. In time there will be too few workers to support the dependent elderly among them. The long term solvency of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in the United States are in jeopardy due to such trends.

The researchers have found a curious exception to the case. People of faith still value children, and they are raising them. The Bible declares that “children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3). May God bless America with children. It could be a short winter, followed by a beautiful spring.

Erin McDermott's Big Week

Last week my niece Erin (above) graduated from preschool, had an Irish Dancing show, and celebrated her birthday -- WOW. I talked to her today about her birthday; she told me, "It was great. There were about 90 people there. Or maybe 60. And I got two sprinklers. We played with them today." So, birthday: Huge success.

Here she is at her preschool graduation:



And after, with gifts from her many fans!


Her mom and dad told me they even played "Pomp and Circumstance" as they walked down the aisle. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to throw their hats in the air. I guess you have to save something for high school...

A few days earlier, Erin danced to some different tunes:



Here's my favorite shot. Look at that face! (To get the full effect, you really have to click on it).



Erin and her brother and sister are always intrigued by the time differential between me and them. Every time I call they ask me, what time is it there? Today when I told Erin that it's 10am Sunday here (it was about 5pm Saturday there), she responded, "Wow. You should call us tomorrow and tell us what time it is then!" Definitely a little spark plug.

Some Final Shots of Cobar

"Main Street" (Marshall Street)

St. Lawrence O'Toole Parish

At the Old Reservoir

The "Newie" (i.e. The New Reservoir)

Last drop of alcohol is removed.

The story goes like this: “Listen mate, I am sober like a stone and let me tell you why I am in an alcohol rehab and you will agree with me fully that…”

No, I don’t want to complete the story because I am sure we have all heard them before; all alcoholics, whether they are in the rehab already or waiting to be admitted in an alcohol rehab, tell different excuses but they all agree on one thing and that is, their alcoholism is justified.

And that is why they require complete rehabilitation. Not only should every drop of alcohol be removed from their blood but also from their mind totally. Isn’t that called ‘rehabilitation’?

I know of a man who required intensive alcohol rehab some years ago. He is fully rehabilitated now. He sent me an email that was eloquent on the facilities and treatment of Sunset Malibu, a fully equipped residential alcohol rehab and drug treatment center located in Malibu with magnificent 180 degree whitewater ocean views just outside the sunny confines of Los Angeles, California.

Amazon's storage services.

I use flash drive. Every single byte of information related to my work or fun is stored in my pen drive. I do not store anything in my hard drive.

Though this gives me a sense of relief from the fear of hard disc crash, I am still afraid the same might happen to pen drives too. Does anyone know a pen drive hat can last 10 years or more?

The alternative storage solution is online storage facilities. When I read about Amazon's S3 web service, I was elated because the service will be dependable as it is provided by Amazon.

"Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web."-Amazon S3

When I opened it in my browser, I saw that this service is made available only to those living in the U.S. and the Europe.

Too bad!

Great cheap hotels in Italy.

The story of the twins that founded the city of Rome is still fascinating to read. I don’t know how many times I read it but I always felt the awe that I felt when I read it for the first time in my 5^th standard class.

Since then, I volunteered to participate in all the essay competitions in my school and I used to win several times for my writing skill. All the essays that I wrote were about Rome, its magnificent architecture, its hotels, their food and the warriors of great Roman Empire.

Now I am 48; I still long to visit Rome. I love their pizzas and pastas. The only thing that stands in my procrastination is their Madras like weather.

I intend to find websites for booking cheap hotels in Italy. Have you ever dealt with ShermansTravel.com, the popular hotel reservation portal?

Apart from hotel bookings, I read some useful tips to remember when visiting Italy.

Example:
“Service in Italy:
Get used to surly and slow waiters, ticket sellers, hotel clerks, etc. Rather than get aggravated, adjust to the pace of life, slow down, and take your time.”

Tips and tips. Where are they?

In the year 2000, when I first got entangled in the web, I frequently bumped onto websites that offer tips that are very useful in my day to day life.

Some examples are, how to keep the soap dry always, where to locate home repair services, how to detect a Trojan and remove it from my PC etc etc.

That is how I got so hooked to the Internet. The information I gathered was enormous and it also made me the center of attraction at family gatherings, staff room in the college I worked and in the parties of course.

Now, I don't seem to stumble onto such great tips. May be because my focus is elsewhere. I know I can find the life tips if I search for but I simply want to bump into them like before.

Wireless home security system.

She failed to keep her appointment with me on another excuse. This is not the first time that she had cancelled the appointment. It seems she gets intruded always on the appointment hour.

Only the next day I came to know that her excuse was genuine at last. It seems she had unidentified visitors to her house two days before and she was quite scared of the experience. She somehow thwarted of the attempt to gain access inside her house.

She immediately had a talk with her neighbors and she was advised to install the wireless ademco home security system without any further delay. She ordered one from the reliable Safemart.com, the one and only online shop exclusively for all types of security measures and gadgets.

She had to supervise the installation of ademco and that kept her busy.

I forgive you Florence.

Supermom’s Healthy Lemonade

The single most popular recipe I share with other moms is the one for my Healthy Lemonade. It’s super easy, and so good! There’s nothing to it:

Take two lemons and squeeze the juice out of them. (I just use a hand juicer that cost about $2 at the grocery store.)

Put the juice into a two quart pitcher, and then fill it the rest of the way with pure water.

Add 2-4 droppers full of Sweet Leaf Stevia. You can use the Lemon Drop flavor, which is very popular, the plain (which is great because it’s so versatile), or a fun flavor like Grape, Valencia Orange, or Apricot Nectar.

Stir and enjoy!

Stevia is an herbal sweetener that is much sweeter than sugar, but has zero calories, zero carbs, and a zero glycemic index! The calories from the lemon juice is approximately 25 calories for the entire pitcher of lemonade. The lemon water is great for cleaning your liver and gallbladder, for keeping your pH level healthy, and for fighting off kidney and gall stones. My whole family loves this lemonade, including the kids. We have been able to reduce our juice purchase by 50-75% thanks to drinking this sweet, tasty, and HEALTHY lemonade all the time. Try it–you’ll love it.

Lara Bars

Very Cherry Bars (use as a template for almost any combination)

LARA BARS use a multi-layer package that keeps out UV light and oxygen, which, in turn, maintains freshness without the use of preservatives. I use plain old plastic wrap and my refrigerator, then pop one in my bag when I’m ready to go.

1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole dates, not pre-chopped)
1/4 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/3 cup whole pecans, almonds or walnuts
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.

Place the dates and cherries in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste (photo 1). Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).

Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped (photo 2). Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste (photo 3). Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste (just keep squishing, it’s fun; brings back memories of play-dough; see photo 4).
.
Divide mixture in half. Place each half on each of one of the sheets of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around each bar and start squishing into a bar shape form, 3 and 1/2 inches long, 1 inch wide and 3/4-inch thick); press against countertop to flatten bottom side, flattening top side and ends with flat of hand (photo 5) Tightly wrap the plastic around each bar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 bars.
.
Nutrition per Serving (1 bar): Calories 207; Fat 9.4 g (sat .8g, mono 5.2g, poly 3.1g); Protein 3.9g; Cholesterol 0mg; Carbohydrate 24.9g; Sodium 0.4mg. (Note: I did the nutrition analysis using Diet Analysis Plus 7.0.1)

A Few Ideas for Variations:

Apricot-Almond: Use 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped dried apricots and 2 tablespoons date (to measure 1/2 cup total); use almonds for the nuts.

Tropical: Use tropical fruit bits (these come pre-packaged at the supermarket); use raw cashews for the nuts. Add 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest, and 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice to the mix.

PB & J (cheap and delicious!): Use 1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries and 1/4 cup raisins or dates; use raw or roasted peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted) for the nuts.

Blueberry Bliss: Use 1/4 cup dried blueberries and 1/4 cup dates; use almonds for the nuts. Add 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, and a drop of almond extract to the mix.

Cashew Cookie Dough: Reverse the proportions of fruit to nuts--Use 1/3 cup dates for the fruit and 1/2 cup raw cashews for the nuts.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Same as cashew cookie dough, but add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of cinnamon and 1/2 ounce very finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate to the mix.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough: Same as cashew cookie dough but use raw or roasted (lightly salted) peanuts for the nuts.

Dates Nutrition Notes:
Dates are included in a majority of the LARA Bars, so I thought I’d mention a few facts about these wonderful fruits.

I love dates because I love brown sugar, and dates taste like brown sugar candy--hence they are a delicious and healthy way to curb my sweet tooth. One date has a mere 23 calories and is loaded with nutrition. Dates are an excellent source of carbohydrates (great for pre- or post-workout), contain no cholesterol, are high in fiber, and boast a wide range of nutrients, including calcium (32 mg per serving), Magnesium, Phosphorous, Potassium, Iron, Zinc, Copper, and Manganese.

Dates also contain vitamins A1, B1, B2, B3, B5, C and more than 20 different amino acids; they help in the digestion and assimilation of carbohydrates, and help to regulate blood sugar levels and fatty acids content in our bodies.


PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

PHOTO 3

PHOTO 4


PHOTO 5

PHOTO 6

Coconut Oil Deodorant

Deodorant - This has been the best thing I have discovered lately! It works wonders! I am one that has always had to use very strong deodorant because the natural stuff never worked. I have been blown away by the effectiveness of this recipe. My husband was a little skeptical at first, and didn’t necessarily like applying it with his hands, but the benefits far out way any extra effort. Ingredients: Arrowroot powder (or cornstarch), baking soda, and coconut oil. Combine equal quantities of arrowroot and baking soda (I started with ¼ cup each). Then add as much coconut oil to the mixture till you get the substance that you desire (2-3 Tbls). Replace your empty deodorant containers with the product or store it in a plastic bowl with lid.

French Bread

This is a delicious and frugal alternative to store bought French bread! You can even make it with whole wheat! We brought it to a friend’s house for dinner last night and it received unending rave reviews!

Original recipe from More with Less, but I made it more healthy.

Makes 2 loaves

Dissolve and let active for 5-10 min:

5 Tbls. active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 Tbls. honey

Combine together with:

2 Tbls. honey
2 Tbls. olive oil/coconut oil
2 tsp. salt
2 cup hot water

Stir in:

7 1/2- 8 cups flour (I used 3/4 part of whole wheat and 1/4 part white flour) - less is more on quantity!

Knead dough for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turning once. Let rise until doubled (I like to put mine, covered with a towel inside a slightly warm oven, works wonders!). Punch down and let rest 15 min (Opps..I skipped the resting!). Divide dough in half. On floured surface, roll each halfinto a 12×15” rectangle. Roll up, starting from the 15” edge. Place loaves on a greased cookie sheet and make 4-5 slashes diagonally across tops. Let rise until double.

Mix and brush on:

1 egg, beaten or melted butter

Sprinkle on, if desired:

poppy or sesame seeds

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Curriculum Decision... DONE

After much prayer and research... ugh.. totally researched out I tell you we have decided to order the Sonlight P4/5 for September. We are just going to do math basics this year and start with Math U See Primer for next year Primer level. I can't tell you how excited I am about this!!!!

I plan on continuing with lapbooks on the books we will be reading and what we will be covering in the Sonlight curriculum. My daughter loves lapbooks way to much to give them up. She just loves seeing the final product.

Almond Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil**
• 1/3 cup apple sauce**
  
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped

Topping:

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 cup sliced almonds

**Original recipe called for 2/3 cup of vegetable oil but I opted for 1/3 cup apple sauce instead and 1/3 cup canola oil because that is what I had.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9 inch round pans. (I used 2 glass square pans about 8 or 9 inches)
2. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, oil, apple sauce, egg, and vanilla together until smooth. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk. Beat until smooth. Stir in rhubarb. Pour into prepared pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine white sugar and butter or margarine. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle topping over batter.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake tests done.

My Favorite Cobarian

Norman Ferson, born 1800, died 1909. He was a Canadian, originally, tall and strong, shipwrecked off the northern coast of Australia. He lived among Aboriginal people for 17 years.

Norman Felson loved books. Maybe too much: upon finding a book that he had lent to someone put up for sale, he went to the man’s place of work. As the terrified “thief” took off running, Norman hit him on the head with the spoke of a wheel. The man died six months later from complications associated with the injury. Though Norman said he “just gave him a tap on the napper,” he was given three years jail sentence.

At the time, he was 103 years old.

He died six years later at age 109, after breaking his hip when he tripped while carrying a 38 kg case of pickles.

One of a kind.

Is My Ground Too Veiny?

What was your grade school science project? I did one on smelting. Couldn’t tell you anything about it now, other than I really liked that word. Smelting.

After visiting the Cobar museum, I wish I had done one on the evolution of minerals, because it's really interesting. It turns out, it’s sort of like baking a cake:

Recipe for Creating Minerals
1. Take millions of acres of land. Cover completely with water to a depth of one mile or more.
2. Let sit 15 million years (or until mud, sand on bottom hardens).
3. Using a folding motion, scoop hardened rock up and into mountains.
4. Apply wind, rain, heat, water until mountains completely disappear.
5. Repeat as necessary.

The key ingredients are the fluids. Water continues to bring new mud, sand, etc., out of which the minerals are formed, into the area. And other liquid moves through the fault cracks created during the mountain-formation process, picking up the silica and metals that have been created, carrying them along and up, as pressure is applied until the liquid cools and the minerals precipitate out, forming the veins of ore that will be found underground.

This whole process started 450 million years ago in this area, and involved four different sets of mountain ranges being formed and falling away. Today, with a few isolated exceptions, there’s nary a mountain to be found in the area.

Isn't that something?

Striking it Rich

About 5300 people live in the town of Cobar itself, maybe a thousand more in the outlying areas. Most of them have some sort of connection to the large mines in the area.

Mining is big business for Australia; the land, so old and undisturbed by continental shifts over millions of years, bears tremendous mineral resources – gold, copper, uranium, zinc, lead, silver.... If it can be found on the periodic table of elements, it’s probably here.

Here in Cobar copper was the first big strike. It came entirely by accident. In 1870 three guys – Campbell, Hartman and Gibb – were on their way elsewhere, having found that their dam-building and well-sinking services were of little interest to a community struggling through a drought. While moving through the area they came across some strange red and green rocks.

They had no idea what the rocks were (Christmas tree ornaments? Kryptonite?), but a lady they met the next day, Mrs. Sidwell Krue, formerly of England's copper hub Cornwall, immediately identified them as such. Their first test rocks contained an average of 33% copper. That’s a lot. And off they went. Gibb was so overjoyed he took his initial profits, quit the mining business and became a song writer. His first big hit: “How Deep is your Lode”. (That’s right, a Gibb Brothers reference. It's just emotion that's taken me over.)


The Cobar Museum, former headquarters of the Great Cobar Copper Mining Company Limited

Gold was also discovered by chance in the area, when a hungry prospector, Henry Cornish, picked up a stone to brain a possum in a nearby tree and saw that it had some flakes of gold on it. Sweet!

It took 18 years for him to convince someone to back him; people refused to believe there was really gold in the area. But in 1888 he was able to start a mine. And today, gold is the big business in Cobar, along with zinc, lead and silver.


The Open Cut Mine, Cobar

You Say Potato

Monday Trivia:

Anybody wondered what sort of a name is Cobar? Well, according to the good people at the Cobar museum, the name has Aboriginal origins. When people first came to the area, long long ago, what brought them was a water hole in this area. The land around that hole had a red ochre cast to it, (and still does, as you can see). The word for red among the Aboriginals of this area was "gubar."

Aboriginals also used a paint derived from the soil in their rite of passage ceremonies for young men, which were called "corroboree". Corro, gubar... Cobar.

More fun facts:
All over the outbacks you find these lovely two story buildings with verandahs on each level.


Castlebridge Hotel, Dubbo

The reason for them is more than aesthetic: it gets really, really hot here in the summer, 40 degrees Celsius and above. And in the olden times, tweren't no air conditioning to run to. These verandahs served that function, the roof on each level providing a shaded place to escape from the bitter sun. How about that?

Speaking of air conditioning, in Cobar they invented their own special kind of air conditioner unit, made of stainless steel, to handle the high mineral content of the water in the air. It's called...wait for it...Cobair.



Gotta love the word play.

One more such fact: before refrigeration, to keep butter from melting on the trip home in the outback from Cobar, stores would wrap it in wet newspaper.

Which had the added bonus of meaning you could read the funnies in the paper or on your toast.

I've left Cobar as of today, had a great, great experience there. This week I'm going to offer some more little stories and photos about the place.