South Beach - progressing!

I am almost 3/12 weeks into the South Beach diet program. I must say I have been pleasantly surprised of the results. The first two weeks I lost 10.5 pounds and I have had lots of energy. Of course, my eating habits have changed and my vegtable intake has tripled. All in all, the diet really doesn't stray too far from the recommended daily allowances of vegtables, protein, fats and grains. It just makes you more conscious of your food choices.

I have decided to weigh in every two weeks so I don't get too wrapped up in the actual numbers but just enough to give me the psychological edge. Losing weight is about what is going on in your head as well as your body changes. The psychological boost of seeing the the number go lower and lower is very helpful.

I have noticed slight changes in my clothes. Nothing major since my problem area (hips and upper butt) is always the last thing to go. Pant sizes do not drop easily for me because of it. Of course friends and coworkers can see the weight loss in my face. My grandmother use to always tell me that I lose my weight there first. Great..........I've lost 10.5 pounds and it came from my face!

Seriously though, this has been a very good experience so far. Have I been exercising? I would say low to moderate exercise is what I have been doing week to week. I certainly have not gone out of my way to start jogging or riding my bike daily. Later on down the road though.........I will have to begin a nice regimented exercise routine. Perhaps when the fitness room is finally open in my community.

Ahhhhh well.......progress all around. I shall weigh in again on Wednesday to see how much more I have lost in the last two weeks.

For those who are interested in jumping on the South Beach diet, there are a lot of websites out there dedicated to it. Just Google! Meanwhile, here is one site I have found to be extremely helpful.

http://www.southbeachdiet.com/kraft/kraft.asp

Who Dey? Not the Steelers

WHO DEY!

The headline on the ESPN page right now says............."Believe the Hype". Today's game against the Steelers was the prime example of a grudge match. Bengals' fans have been waiting for this match-up since last January when our quarterback was ruthlessly taken down in the playoffs. There was no one believing that this was going to be an easy victory today. The Steelers were just coming back from a humilitating loss to Jacksonville on Monday night football. We knew it would be tough.

Long story short...........the Bengals answered when the going got tough - Bengals 28 - Steelers 20. So.....believe the hype.......the Bengals will not fade away when the game starts heating up.

Next up - the Patsies come to town next Sunday at 4:15. I have accepted the wager from my Boston friends. To them, please note...........I like Chardonnay.

WHO DEY!

South Beach Diet

Approximately two weeks ago, TC and I began the latest diet craze called the South Beach Diet. What we thought would be a diet of "steak and nuts" has turned out to be quite the routine to turn your eating habits around. The diet is basically a revised and revamped Atkins plan concentrating on not just low carbs but low fat and low sugar as well - the staples of the normal American diet.

The diet plan has a "phased" approach. Phase One lasts for two weeks and it contains no carbs (bread, pasta, cereal, etc) and very low sugar and fat saturated foods. All fruit is forbidden on the first two weeks because you are trying to move past craving high fructose. Low low fat cheese is allowed. This part is killing me because I love cheese. You could put cheese on a stick and I would eat it!

Phase Two allows you to bring back to your daily diet the foods that were forbidden in Phase One. With one exception, no white flour products allowed. Ever. Kiss them goodbye. You slowly phase in certain carb and sugar options and keep an eye on your weight loss to ensure that you are eating a healthy balance while still maintaining or losing weight.

So......it will be two weeks on Wednesday. During this time period I have tripled the amount of vegtables I normally eat while forgoing all of the bad stuff.............junk food.......fast food......and glasses of wine.

I will say that this diet truly gets you back to a healthier way of eating. Less prepared foods.......and a little more preparation of foods. I eat steak, pork and chicken. I keep a nice mix of vegetables going but I must say my usual intake of salads at lunchtime is getting a bit stale. I don't normally crave anything in particular until I see it sitting on a store shelf or in a display case.

Did you know that Starbucks has a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin out now for the Fall? Yeah........I now know that myself and it is a real temptation. A good cup of coffee and one of those........heaven.

Ahhhhh well.....Phase Two comes on Wednesday and I am certainly looking forward to that day. I will weigh in at that time and see what I have accomplished over the last two weeks.

It might be jubilation or a strong lean toward Starbucks and all the Pumpkin muffins I can hold!

Ta Ta!

WHO DEY!

My my my...........the Bengals are off and running! Yes......for once we have a real football team in Cincinnati that is worth spewing about! Carson Palmer is back and looked strong against the Chiefs yesterday in Kansas City. We didn't have as many passing yards and completions as I would normally like to see but they certainly brought their defense!

Attention all other teams in the NFL........the Bengals are not the pansies of yesteryear. You better bring your game when you come to Cincinnati! The Bengals have a tough schedule this year and if they can handle their road games as well (or better!) as they handled the Chiefs yesterday, I think you will be hearing me yell "WHO DEY!" more often.

Now.......to my friends in Boston.......(and you know who you all are) if you would like to make a friendly wager on the Bengals/Patriots matchup (10/1)this season............bring it! I am not afraid. I saw what it took for you guys to win on Sunday against the Bills. A safety??!!! Oh......wait......that's right. You lost your golden boy kicker - Viniteri to the Colts! No more last minute wins by relying on your field goal kicker! Come on............bring it!

Oh yes indeed.....FOOTBALL season is here!

Blunders of the week

Wow......where do I begin with the following two stories? Blunder really isn't the word for today's events - locally and nationally. I guess we will just jump right in and start nationally.

• John Mark Karr - Congratulations to the Boulder Police for continuing to show everyone that they still (10 years later) do not have a clue about the JonBenet murder. Karr was released today from a Boulder jail after DNA testing concluded that his DNA was not at the scene of the crime. Fabulous! Karr still has outstanding warrants in California for child pornography so its doubtful he will be a free man for very long. Give me a break!
• Marcus - Many of you won't know of this story but I will talk about it anyway because it has everyone in the tri-state area frustrated and angry. Marcus was a 3 year old autistic child living in a foster home on the East side. He was cute kid. Well......about 10 days ago he turned up missing at a local park. His foster family said the mother had a seizure and when she woke up.......Marcus was gone. Naturally, this initiated hundreds of volunteers to begin searching the wooded park and the surronding neighborhood. No Marcus. Today, we found out that Marcus has been gone since August 6th. His foster family lied to the child welfare agency that came by to check on him on August 16th. The foster mother also lied about her seizure in the park. It turns out that the foster family intentionally locked Marcus in a closet on August 4th and then went out of town for a family reunion. He was dead when they returned and his foster father took his body to another county and burned it. Yep...........all this and they have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. The mother "faked" her seizure and spent two days in the hospital! Her husband appeared on television to talk about his missing "son". Several days later........the mother was on television pleading for his safe return. All the while knowing that the child was dead. Now they are both resting in a local jail and the rest of their children have been placed in safe haven somewhere. Thank God!

Remind me again that in the state of Ohio I cannot adopt nor foster a child because I am gay? Yeah, I can certainly see how this child would have been worse off if he were in the home of a gay couple.

What's wrong with being alive?

JonBenet

Ok.....so we have all heard by now that there is some pitiful dude over in Bangkok who has "confessed" to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. I must admit.....when I heard this on the news this afternoon it left me scratching my head.

Most of the evidence didn't point to someone outside of the house. No footprints in the snow outside the house.....the murder weapons were all items from inside the house.......and even the scratchpad that the killer left the ransom note on was from inside the house. The house itself was a maze of rooms and hallways. Even a person familiar with the house would get lost in it. Yet somehow, a person who lived outside the house.....got in......took JonBenet and made his/her way to the basement.

Now I admit that I never bought the notion that one of her parents killed her.......but I did buy the idea that one of her siblings did the deed and the parents were a shield for him/her. I mean.....that's what parents do right? Unconditional love?

So....they get a confession from this guy in Bangkok. Did I mention that he had done time in a Bangkok prison for some kind of dastardly deed? Yeah.....the Bangkok prisons make our prisons look like Ritz-Carltons. Maybe that's why he is confessing.........life in a U.S. prison could be mighty appealing. I don't know if they have the death penalty in Colorado so that might be another plus for him.

After ten years.......we finally have hope that this little girl will finally rest in peace. I guess it is true that in time everyone has to "meet their maker" for the injustices that they have done to someone else.

Hey O.J., how's the hunt for the "real" killer going?

Still here!

Wow.....most would think that I fell off the face of the earth since June! On the contrary, I am alive and well after taking the whole month of July "off" from blogging.

Let's see.......have we missed much?

• My friend who has undergone Artifical Insemination (twice!) is now officially pregnant thanks to a little help from the fertility drug Clomed. No word on whether she is having twins. She will know more after her first Ultrasound in three weeks. Regardless, she has lots of solid positive support from her friends who will be ready for her next big day - the delivery!
• Hocking Hills camping adventure in the cabin was quite restful. We had a power outage one day which gave us all a scare because that weekend was very hot and humid! All went well after a couple of hours and the weekend was pleasurable for all.
• Joe Lieberman is having a little difficulty with his Senate campaign. He is lagging behind his competition by double digit points now! Hmmm....guess this is what he gets when he continually lends his support to a President who does not meet favor with a majority of Americans. This should be a warning to the rest of the congressional leaders. You had your fun and now its time to clean up the mess!
• Speaking of Congressional leaders........Hillary really grilled Rumsfeld last week. Just one word for that........FABULOUS!
• The NFL Season gets underway this week! Damn.....where has it been? The Bengals kick off their first pre-season game in Cincinnati against the Redskins on August 13th! ROAR! Here is the early Bengals fight song to get you in the mood for the upcoming season!
  http://www.bengals.com/fans/fightsong.asp

On that note.............I am off! More to come in the very near future!

TA TA!

Artificial Insemination

Let me begin by saying that this particular posting and future postings are not related to the religious debate of whether or not this should be morally acceptable nor is it a posting related to my own "AI"! Instead, I will discussing it from a "second/third person" perspective.

One of my best friend's has been wanting a baby for years. This has been her goal. This morning, after months and months of preparation and research, she will undergo the insemination process. I am very happy that she is allowing me to follow this step by step.

I must say this whole process has been quite fascinating to watch over the last several months. I was familiar with AI but not to this level of detail. She must have scanned at least 100 profiles looking for the "right" donor. When I say "right" I mean, at least 5'10" tall, over 190 pounds, athletic and the right educational level. Each profile also offered an essay - a little perspective or restrospective from each of the men, tons of medical history on them, their parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. It almost seemed like they went as far back as their 3rd cousin removed! Phew! I remarked to her at one point while we were reviewing the profiles "does this seem to be a little Dr. Frankenstein-ish to you?" Looking at pictures and trying to choose which one will be the best match with her own physical traits and features is a bit wild and "lab-like" as well. All highly detailed profiles into lives of men that she will never meet in order to conceive. Their "donation" is frozen in a test tube in the lab waiting for her arrival this morning.

Apparently the actual "AI" takes less than 20 minutes. A brief minute or two to inseminate and then a resting period before she can leave to ensure that the sperm are swimming towards their target.
She is a healthy woman so my prediction is that conception will be on the first attempt. Many women often have to try two or three times to become pregnant. This, of course, comes at a great cost to them each time they are inseminated.

It has been an educational process for me and if fate would have it.........nine months from today could be celebration time for my friend!

Gay Marriage

I listened to a report today that talked about how countries around the world are about to add landmark legislation to their bylaws regarding gay marriage. The temperament for gay marriage seems to be more accepting in countries that are considered to be dominated by the Catholic faith - Germany, France, Italy and Ireland. Go figure.

In the United States, as you all know, studies show that most Americans are resistant to gay marriage.

Ok.......now let's take this one step further.

No gay marriage in the United States but..........

Abortion is accepted and legal.
Divorce is ok.
Better for a child to live in an orphanage than with a gay couple.

How's that for a fine upstanding moral attitude?

Keep one committment in 2006 - vote in November.

Ho hum

~Good tidings to one and all!~

Yes yes.......I have a been a bit laxed in my postings of late. You know though.....it is Summer. I have been out and about doing those summer fun things.......volleyball games on Friday night, summer parties......yada yada yada. My girlfriend and I are planning a nice 4th of July getaway at some far away hilltop somewhere. I have never been there but it sounds restful. We debated the whole camping thing for awhile. You know......sleeping in a tent instead of the Hilton? Yeah well.......we decided on a nice little cabin. I have never been camping and I just could not think of a worst time to go camping - in the middle of summer. Yikes! Who wants to sleep in that hot weather with mosquitos? Anywho.......I should have lots of enlightening moments that I can share with you when I return. ha!

So have you caught the new television show "Treasure Hunters"? Yes......me and "TC" watched the first episode last night and we are hooked. Greedy little vixens we are.......clamoring to win the treasure by playing along with the online game. I must say it has been quite fun. I don't know if any of you remember the PC game "Myst"? The online version of "Treasure Hunters" reminds me a lot of that game. It appears that the next episode of the television show won't be on for another week so if you have a chance to catch the rerun of the opening epidsode and play along online - you too will be amused. Ok....maybe not as much as me but maybe slightly.

Before I go this evening, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Miss Mary Cheney's book. I have heard it has only sold 6500 copies. Simon and Schuster will be hard pressed to see any of the million dollar advance they gave "old Mare" to write the damn thing. Well....it's like I said......she so desparately wants to be a part of the family but she is looking like a two-headed monster instead.............a Republican monster at that.

So that is all I know for now...........and that is probably a good thing at this point! More on my camping misadventures later!

Ta Ta!

Is it election time yet?

I normally don't place links in my blog commentaries to other sites unless I find them to be poignant and well placed. However, I was reading an online article by Lou Dobbs this afternoon and I found it quite stimulating.

It should give us all a good scare - Republican or Democrat.

We have a huge election coming up in November. If the election is solely driven on "wedge issues" - you know.....the favorites of the religious right.........abortion, gay rights and gun control.....we could be down the same path as we are right now. This election has to focus on the the main issues - Immigration, Social Security and the war. These are the issues that GW has failed with during his eight year reign. Our Congress has failed because they let GW run with governing power unlike any other President.

It wasn't until early last week when his "power" finally got the best of Congress - when the FBI seized documents from William Jefferson's office. Suddenly.........Congressional leaders got a backbone and said....."You can't do this. You are over-reaching with your Executive power!".

What??? You let him do it for 6 years! It's too late to complain about it now!

Anyway.........please read the article that is attached to the link below. I found it very interesting and it drove home some very good points about where we are today.........six months away from the next election.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/30/dobbs.May31/index.html

Gobble gobble?

I looked forward to spending the first morning of my three day weekend sleeping in for a couple hours. It had been a hectic week last week.

It was about 7:35 when I heard a peculiar screeching sound outside. The screech was a cross between a crow and a duck. Since it was earlier than I had planned on getting up, I stayed in bed and tried to go back to sleep. No luck.

I got up about 25 minutes later and as I raised my bedroom blind, I saw them. Four wild turkeys outside of my bedroom window. Actually, three hens and a "Tom". (according to Google he can also be called a Gobbler - imagine that) Apparently, it is mating season and this guy was all "puffed up" and giving the ladies his best effort.

Now even though it was early, I must say my interest was piqued because never have I had the opportunity to witness the mating rituals of the American Wild Turkey. Imagine........."Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" in my own backyard!

Anyway, his whole routine looked familiar to what I have seen in some bars - gay or straight. The "Tom" put on his best show........feathers fluffed out like a peacock......chested thrusted forward. He strutted around the three hens for at least 30 minutes - who were either playing "hard to get" or simply not interested.

After thirty minutes of watching this sad spectacle and deciding that this must end for the "Toms" sake, I picked up my 16 pound cat Oscar and set him on the window ledge.

This cooled his mood dramatically and everyone mosied off into the woods.

It's left me craving a turkey club.

Hicks-ville

I would be remiss if I did not provide a little "sumthin sumthin" about this year's American Idol broadcast now that the season has come to a close. I must say that I was not thrilled with the two finalists. Taylor had charisma and Kat had cuteness. I was a bit disappointed in both of their voices from time to time although Taylor did seem to do better than Kat. He knows how to work the stage and perhaps it was this footwork that allowed him to "walk away" with the title of "American Idol".

I'm sure you are all aware that the producers of American Idol lock down managing rights with their winners. I am not really sure how many albums they lock these kids into but Kelly Clarkson is on her third album and she is still being managed by Simon Fuller. If they hoped to make money from the winner, is Taylor Hicks a money machine? I don't know about that. I am still trying to figure out his musical genre. Although.......with that bright purple jacket he was wearing on Tuesday night I would have sworn he was heading to Vegas.

Egads......Vegas. Barry Manilow may finally have some competition with the little old ladies!

Ta Ta!

2006 Hurricane Names

While I am on the Hurricane topic this evening, here are the names of this year's storms. I think Oscar will be a doozy.

Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby
Ernesto
Florence
Gordon
Helene
Isaac
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie
Michael
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William

Man the lifeboats!

Above-Average Hurricane Season Projected!

New Orleans re-elects Ray Nagin!

Both of these headlines, if used on the same page, should scare the bejeezus out of folks in New Orleans. It is a frightening thought really. While the Army Corp of Engineers are rebuilding the levies, they are nowhere near what they should be to protect the city from another head on collision with a Category 3 storm. Mayor Nagin says he now has a new evacuation plan to get citizens out of the city. Let's call it - Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Hopefully, his plan will actually work and not be quite as comical as the Steve Martin/John Candy movie.

So let's just say they are successful in evacuating the city. What about the city? As I said, the levies will not be strong enough to protect it. Recent news stories about the New Orleans levies sight years and years of government monetary cutbacks when it came to building these levies up to protect it from high category hurricanes. Numerous local agencies could never agree on what was practical and rational........so little or no money was thrown at resolving the issue. In other words, the devestation was inevitable and it will be again.

After Katrina, billions of dollars were poured into New Orleans by people and corporations from around the globe to get the city back up on its feet and provide aid. I gave a monetary donation because I thought it was the charitable thing to do. I can't say that I am going to repeat my performance year after year after year if the city or state government does not take the steps to a more permanent solution. I don't think that they will find Americans as generous the second or third time around.

Hurricane season starts on June 1st. Many Americans will sit glued to their televisions when the storm path sets its sights on New Orleans. Yeah.......it's good television.

Who needs Big Brother or Survivor anyway? A new reality show begins next month...............

Mary Cheney

Mary Cheney's new book is called "Now It's My Turn". Apparently it is filled with her thoughts and feelings of the last six years that she has chosen to keep to herself.

I watched her on Larry King last night talking about her life and the book. It doesn't appear that the book contains any new revelations about her that we don't already know. Yes....she is gay and is living happily with her partner. She is against the Marriage Amendment yet still thinks George Bush is the best thing since sliced bread. While this book may indeed be "her turn", I don't believe that she is really showing a side to herself that we don't already see. She appears to be a devoted Republican and refuses to make any waves with any kind of political statement even though GW and Dick are well into the "lame duck" portion of their terms. In fact, she appears to be a "chip off the old block". She is Dick in a blonde wig.

The timing of her book and her appearance on Larry King are nothing more than a good will campaign for the GLBT vote. With elections drawing near and the Republicans in trouble, she has become the token lesbian who is so devoted to her father she would do anything to garnish more Republican votes. Unfortunately, her book is receiving bad reviews on both sides of the aisle so it may just end up being a wash.

Thanks, but no thanks Mary. You continue to lose golden opportunities to do something really worthwhile for the community that you say you embrace.

Annnnnnd......their off!

Tomorrow is the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. For most, a horse race is just another horse race. Around here, the Kentucky Derby is huge. The bourbon will flow and women will wear the most outrageous designer hats........all for a two minute race.

The bourbon will flow at my house too tomorrow but not in the form of the traditional Mint Julips. We are having Bourbon Slushes. We will have hats too! My girlfriend came up with the nifty idea that everyone will wear a derby hat and the best one will win a prize. It should be very fun to witness since I have some ingenious and creative friends.

So if you are curious, here is the list of horses that will "Run for the Roses" tomorrow. Good luck!

Gas Prices

The last time I blogged about gas prices was back in August. At that time gas prices were raging at $2.65 a gallon. I would love to have $2.65 right about now!

Today I offer up my hypothesis on where these high gas prices originate. At the time GW took office, a gallon of regular was $1.46 on average. We haven't seen that price since. What if........at the time of 9/11, GW said to his Arab buddies........."You turn your head on what I do in the Middle East to "fight terrorism" and I will not put up a fight when you cut back oil production - driving costs through the roof". Realizing that Americans consume the most oil by far than any other nation in the world.........the Arabs make a nice profit without it directly coming from the US Govt. for their cooperation.

Take a look at today's recent news clips........GW has told all Americans that we must "end our addiction to oil" or "we must look for alternatives". Not a word is said to the Arab nations in regards to OPEC control of oil production. GW hasn't uttered a peep. GW is an oil man! Do we really expect him to be sympathetic??? He has served the OPEC nations and his stateside oil buddies well in the last 6 1/2 years.

Anyway......we could rant about this all day I suppose. It appears that Govt officials are now concerned about it all just because this is an election year. No one wants to be seen not voting for the latest Congressional "bright idea" to lower fuel expensives or give tax rebates.

It's all about the vote now.

Martha

I have been in a bit of a quandary of late and it usually happens this time every year. What type of plants should I plant in my flower beds that the deer will not eat? Yes.......deer. You see.....they are very abundant in my "neck of the woods". Abundant may not be the word. They are hanging from trees. Every yard is an adventure in eating. A "Denny's" for the furry creatures.

Now....they are very cute. I have been known to feed them corn or salt licks back in the woods. However, when it comes to plantings, I don't want my yard to become one big salad bar for them. So yesterday, as I was listening to Sirius, I thought.........what would Martha Stewart do?

As it just so happens, I was listening to Martha on her Sirius program - "Ask Martha". Here was my chance. I would go "to the mountain" and ask an expert. I felt sure that she would have at least a dozen flowers she could recommend. So I called her show.

Within one minute I was talking to her. I posed my question. She paused.......then started into a story about how she has had the same thing happen to her on her farm until she eventually fenced every thing in. But she digressed and could only think of Holly and Vibernums as a recommendation. She said she would have to get back to me on this one. Wow......get back to me? I stumped the Martha? I continued to listen when she left for a commercial break and came back.

When she came back she was a plethora of knowledge! Wisteria.....lupines....etc etc etc. She even recommended the Oregon State University website that would give me these plants plus more. I also learned that daffodils are poisonous to deer and they won't eat them........but I digress.

I thought about it later. As soon as she went to break.....or maybe shortly before she went to break......she probably held up signs......"Info! I need more info on this!" She probably put some poor intern through their paces during that 60 second break.

All in all, she gave me some great information that was indeed very helpful. I found her to be quite pleasant overall. I don't think I expected her to be rude because this is her life and she is the expert when it comes to gardening or cooking.

After all, if she doesn't know........who does?

Ta Ta!

2006 Bengals Schedule

Oh yes indeed! Football season is just around the corner!

Special games to note: Sept 24th & Dec 31st - Vengence will be sweet.