AnnaMan's Blog

We are OK!  Thanks for checking -

The wife and I rounded up the cats and secured them in their respective carriers and hunkered down ourselves just as the sirens began to scream.  We could barely hear them due to the thunderous pounding of the quarter to golfball size hail. 

The poor cats had no idea what was happening.  All they knew is that one minute they were sleeping peacefully during their 5th nap of the day and the next the hail was pounding on the windows with such intensity it sounded like the windows would break at any minute.

All is safe now and we are very thankful for Fox4 News for keeping an eye on the storm and letting us know when to take cover.  Had we waited for the sirens... well, this time we were OK, but what if...

German Parade Float Features ‘Obama’ Dog Biting Hillary’s Posterior

This is pretty funny.  It's just a short 28 second clip:

The large papier-mache figures appeared on a Super Tuesday-themed float for a Rose Monday carnival parade in Düsseldorf.

Watch the clip here:

What do you think it means? ;-)

This past Valentine's Day I took my beautiful wife to see Matt Dusk live at the McDavid Studio in Ft. Worth.  My wife is a fan of Michael Buble and the other crooners from the past, so when I saw that Matt was going to be performing in town I bought us tickets, complete with a romantic candlelit dinner and a champagne toast.

I have to say, as a guy, I thouroughly enjoyed the experience and was very impressed with Matt Dusk's stage presence and sound.  His inspiration for crooning is Old Blue Eyes himself.  In fact, he sings some of Frank's songs and is quite amazing at covering Franky Baby down to his voice inflections and posture.  He dresses to the nines and just exudes class.

I particularly enjoyed his biggest hit, so far - "Back in Town" - (Click on the tilte for his YouTube video performance).  This is a great mixture of old style crooning with a modern flare that I am sure is going to really catch on for Matt.  Another favorite was - "Two Shots of Happy - One Shot of Sad".  This song was written by Bono of U2 for Sinatra, but he passed on before he was able to record it, so Bono gave it to Matt Dusk to record.

If you get a chance, go see Matt Dusk live in concert and be sure to buy his CD - This kid is going to be huge!

My wife and I, with Matt Dusk, after the conert in Ft. Worth

Well, as if there wasn't enough out there for us to worry about... now, there is a website that allows anyone to post anything (good or bad) about their neigbors and pinpoint them on a Google generated satellite map.

The site claims that you can also post information about your neighborhood (again good or bad) to let people know wether they should move their or not. 

Even though I don't have anything bad to say about our neighborhood, I wouldn't want to because it would only cause less people to want to move here which could possibly drive real esate prices down.  As long as I still own a house here, I certainly don't want negative press sending prices spiraling downward... but that hasn't stopped some people from bashing their own neighborhoods on this website.

Check it out here ------->

Miley Cyrus says Vanity Fair photo spread embarrasses her

Click on title for full article...

LOS ANGELES - Miley Cyrus said she's embarrassed by an apparently racy photo spread appearing in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair.

"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about," Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist.

The photos, by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, were taken to accompany an interview with the 15-year-old pop star and her father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus. They include shots of the teen reportedly topless and wrapped in a blanket...

GIVE ME A BREAK... MILEY CYRUS - SHAME ON YOU!

I'm sorry, but you don't get naked and wrap yourself in a blanket and not realize that these pictures might come out looking "racy".  She is obviously "growing up" in front of the camera and yes, that is very difficult, but really... how dumb does she think her fans are?

My wife and I don't have children, so our household hasn't been smitten by the HM bug, so we don't have little HM wannabees running around who might just buy into her "apology".  It really makes me wonder, though, if she thinks she can actually pull this one off.

I don't really fault her for "posing" for the racy pictures because, by all means, that's her choice.  But, posing for something like that and then afterward acting dumbfounded like she had no idea they were going to turn out the way they did. 

I mean come on Miley Cyrus!  Own it!

We subscribe to Dr. Mercola's health newsletter, which is packed with great information on the TRUTH about health and the natural way to cure our body's ailments.  You can check out his site here:

We were just having a conversation with a gentleman, yesterday, who was not aware of the dangers of Aspartame and today, this article (see below) arrives in our inbox.  I wanted to make sure that others are aware of this danger... 200,000 million peope worldwide consume Aspartame and it's found in 6,000 different products!

Click here for the rest of the article:

How Does Aspartame Damage Your Brain?

Consuming a lot of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in your brain to function normally, according to a new review by scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo.

The review found that high doses of the sweetener may lead to neurodegeneration. It has also previously been found that aspartame consumption can cause neurological and behavioral disturbances in sensitive individuals.

Specifically, the review found a number of direct and indirect changes that occur in your brain as a result of high consumption levels of aspartame, including disturbing:

• The metabolism of amino acids
• Protein structure and metabolism
• The integrity of nucleic acids
• Neuronal function
• Endocrine balances

(click on the link above to continue reading... you will be shocked!)

Please help spread the word to your family and friends who continue to consume diet foods laced with Aspartame.

How much money are you going to make this year from blogging?  Enough to do it ful-time?  Rocketboom is selling his "Twitter" account, including his 1,500+ subcribers, on ebay and is starting to gain quite a following.  As I post, the highest bid is $1,125.00.

Follow the bidding here! (sorry, I tried to imbed the link but it wasn't working)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Twitter-Account-and-Followers-F
or-Sale_W0QQitemZ160229562828QQihZ006QQcategoryZ3767QQs
sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

www.Twitter.com started in March of 2006 and has become an internet smash hit with millions of twitters worldwide and growing.  According to the website -

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Why? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

• Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
• Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
• Partying? Your friends may want to join you.

With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted.

Twitter puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.

To each his own, however, it seems as though one clever individual has figured out how to cash in on the "Twitter" bug sweeping the globe.  I guess I just don't understand how someone who wants to follow said "Rocketboom" might want to follow the winning bidder of the ebay auction.  But, for now, someone thinks it's worth $1,125.00 to obtain said followers/friends. 

This could only be the beginning as the auction isn't over until April 22nd.  Who knows what the price tag for 1500+ followers (and growing due to all the publicity) will be by then.

I guess it goes to show you that having "friends" in this day in age (i.e. through social networks), isn't quite what it used to be (i.e. good ol' fashioned, face to face and talking on the phone).   In the land of social networking, one can only imagine where it might all end up...

Will work for Followers/Friends!

I sit here amused by the fact that the forcast for Friday, from the myFOX weather page is set at:

FRIDAY
High: 90   Low: 54
Sunny

This while we all continue to wonder in amazement at all of the wonderful snow pictures still lingering in the weather section of the blogs. 

Only in TEXAS -

Funny thing is... how do you capture on film a hot sunny day in Texas?  Any ideas?

Post them here in your response!  Here is mine >>>>>

Driver Crosses Into Oncoming Traffic in Anna Causing Deadly Wreck

Fox News Aritcle Here

ANNA, Texas  --  A driver on Highway 121 in Collin County made a decision this morning that took two lives, according to police.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This is just really sad.  The driver of the car that caused that accident was trying to pass a line of cars.  - A LINE OF CARS!!!  How fast must he have been going, trying to get back in his own lane, before he crested the hill?  We drove over there today (about 4 miles from the house) and in both directions, it's a completely blind hill, until the very last second that you crest it.

She never even had time to react.  We haven't heard the name of the female driver yet, but I would ask that you pray for both of the families who have just lost a love one.

And, to anyone who reads this that has a tendency to take huge risks on the road.  Please remember... you may not be the only one who dies from your lack of judgement!

Nothing is worth losing your life over... he might have been late for work, but now... he'll never punch another time clock again!

If you know someone who drives like this, be sure to have them read this post!  Maybe, you can save a life.

Snowstorm 2008 - Part Deux

Well, it's coming down again, all white and beautiful as it is. This is certainly a first for this blogger.  I have lived in Collin County for over 6 years and I have never seen a major snowstorm here, let alone two, let alone 2 IN A WEEK!  My wife has lived in TX for 25 years and she has never seen this either. 

Of course, Anna, is farther North than she has ever lived in the Metroplex.  We have been in Anna for over two years now.  However, this is quite incredible.  It is so wonderful to see all of the great pictures that people are posting about the snow!

We hope to get some great ones as the night (and morning) comes.  Just before I got on here... around 3:00 pm, the snowflakes were as big as golf balls.  I grew up in Wisconsin and I never saw snowflakes this big they are literally big clumps of flakes bigger than golf ball size.

I guess it's true -

Everything's Bigger in Texas!

Well, we will be able to say, remember when?  Last night, the weather proved to be true to Texas style by going from almost 80 degrees to less than freezing all within a 24 hour period.  As you can see by the photos, here in Anna we received what appreared to be at least 6 inches of wet heavy snow. 

It made for a beatiful winter wonderland when we awoke this morning.  Believe it or not, there is still plenty of snow on the ground after a full day of sun and melting. 

Well, I will continue to post more on this blog as time permits.  Happy Surfing!

AnnaMan