New Projects Calling My Name

crocheted baby flip flops are entirely too sweet

I found this pattern book, and would LOVE to make all this stuff (well the stuff on the left anyways) but the entire book is in Japanese :(

Loafers & Fedora are the first thing on the list

I would LOVE to make these for my mom, she collects raggedy's. The pattern looks extremely hard, but I suppose I'll give it a go :)

GORGEOUS!!

Beautiful bolero/shawl/jacket

Inspiration ideas for my room :D

Inspiration ideas for Gracie's room :D

Tornado Relief Concert

CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) - WRCB Channel 3 as well as radio partners US-101, 103.7 KISS-FM, My 98.1, and Rock 105 will host a relief concert to raise money for local Red Cross relief efforts.

Called "Coming Together After The Storm", the event will air May 21st from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., live from the Tennessee Aquarium in Downtown Chattanooga. Listen to the radio stations beginning at 6:00 p.m. for information on how to help.

The public is invited to come down to the outdoor pavilion between the two sections of the aquarium. Not ticket is required for the free concert.

The event will feature performances from country music artists Jacob Lyda and Mallary Hope. Several Channel 3 Eyewitness News personalities will also be on hand.

Lyda is from Stevenson, Alabama. His parents experienced extensive damage to their house in the tornado outbreak, and both of their vehicles were destroyed. The garage where Jacob and his father restore classic trucks was leveled; the two trucks inside were also destroyed. 

Jacob, now based in Nashville, still owns property in Stevenson; the roof of the house was smashed and distressed by trees and other debris, and all of the windows were blown out. and saw his home severely damaged during the recent tornado outbreak.

"Thankfully everyone in my family is okay," Jacob said on his website. "My family is working through major damage to our possessions and property - it's going to be a long road.  My thoughts & prayers go out to friends & neighbors who have lost their lives in this devastating tragedy."

Hope is from Dalton, Georgia. According to her biography on CMT, Mallary Hope grew up singing in her father's church in little Cohutta, Ga. At 21, she signed with MCA Records, which released her debut single, "Love Lives On," in 2009. The song is told from the point of view of a widow with a child, missing the man she loves. The lyric sprang from a conversation that she had with her older sister. Hope's brother-in-law is in the Army and was deployed to Iraq on Aug. 3, 2009.

For 55 years, WRCB-TV has donated its airwaves and airtime for numerous telethons, including the annual Share Your Christmas Food Drive, to help our neighbors from across the Tennessee Valley whenever they are in need.

This is the second relief effort organized by Channel 3 and its radio partners. Two days after the storm, listeners and viewers filled four tractor trailers and donated $20,000 to Operation: Good Neighbor.

WRCBtv News Channel 9

Miley Hope Graves 5/14/11

My little brother Wayne and his fiance Cecily welcomed

Miley Hope Graves on May 14th, 2011.

She weighed 7lbs 4oz.

Drawing by Adolf Hitler

Miss Folly's

Dollar Bill Oddities

The Basics: How much is a dollar worth?
The question seems simple, but the answer is quite complex. Since 1973, the dollar bill has had no value tied to it. You cannot trade in a dollar to the government for gold, silver, or any other commodity. The value of the nation's currency is related to the decree by the government that a dollar is legal tender for all debts. This means if someone attempts to pay a debt using dollars, the person being paid must accept the money or the law no longer recognizes the debt. This is important enough that the phrase is printed on every bill the government creates.

It is also vital for the nation's citizens to agree that the bills have value. If the members of a society decided that they did not believe in the currency, it would quickly be worth no more than the paper it is printed on. For the record, each bill costs the government 6.4 cents to print.

Can you find any tiny owls or spiders hidden on the front of the bill?

Many people believe they can see a tiny owl (some say it is a spider) next to the large "1" on the upper right of the bill. If you look at the shield shape that surrounds that "1," the tiny owl rests on the top left corner.

More than likely, the markings are nothing, just a point where the webbed design of the border varies. That won't stop some people from associating the peculiar detail with Masonic symbols, or with more practical things, like anti-counterfeit measures.

Mother's Day

These are scientifically bred this way, not dyed or color treated. If they're gonna get flowers wonder where they could buy some of these :)



Photographs of the "Parrot Plant" (Impatiens Psittacina), which bears flowers whose shape and coloring are strikingly evocative of a parrot in flight. (From Northern Thailand, Northern India, and Myanmar *formerly Burma*) It was described by J.D. Hooker in 1901, and the specific epithet psittacina means parrot-like. The petals, which do resemble a parrot in flight, are shades of pale lilac, reddish purple and white.

Excursions & more pictures



DNA Proof?

(CNN) -- It took mere hours to confirm that the person killed in a compound near Pakistan's capital was Osama bin Laden.
How did officials know that the man who was shot in the head Sunday was really the world's most wanted terrorist?
DNA, among other things, senior officials told CNN.
Officials compared the DNA of the person killed at the Abbottabad compound with the bin Laden "family DNA" to determine that the 9/11 mastermind had in fact been killed, a senior administration official said.
It was not clear how many different family members' samples were compared or whose DNA was used.
During a press briefing Monday afternoon, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism said they had "preliminary DNA intelligence" ahead of the strike.
Among the five killed in the compound, one of them was one of bin Laden's adult sons, officials said.
Also to identify bin Laden, a visual ID was made. There were photo comparisons and other facial recognition used to identify him, the official said. A second official said that in addition to DNA, there was full biometric analysis of facial and body features.
Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic pathologist who helped pioneer the military's DNA identification program,said it's likely that the military would have samples for high-profile terrorists like bin Laden.
"The U.S. government would have an interest in looking for samples of DNA wherever they might find it, whether from family members or places he might have been, and store those samples," he said.
Essentially, scientists take DNA from the person's body, and compare it to another source like a sample collected from the individual at a previous time, or the DNA of a close family member.
DNA samples can be obtained from a multitude of sources, including discarded chewing gum, a toothbrush, a half eaten sandwich and even an envelope the person may have licked to seal, for example.
To confirm bin Laden's identity, officials probably used several methods, said Michael D. Kirkpatrick, a retired senior FBI assistant director who had worked in creating a biometric database of terrorist identities. He was not involved in the bin Laden case and spoke generally about the identification process.
"I'm sure in this particular instance, given the magnitude of the individual involved and the likelihood of international scrutiny and doubt on the part of some people around the world, that they would err to the extreme -- to over-identify him," he said.
"This is something you really can't make a mistake. You have the president announcing to the world it happened. Effectively, they would look at all these [biometrics] and make a decision. "
DNA
DNA is the most reliable measure, experts said.
This can be collected through a cheek swab, blood, hair, fingernail, or even saliva from a cigarette.
According to the U.S. Human Genome Project -- which helped to identify the more than 20,000 genes in human DNA -- forensic experts use DNA to distinguish a person's genetic footprint, by looking for matches from a sequence of small, repeating markers at different locations on the person's genome.
Each of us has a unique genetic fingerprint, even though only one-tenth of 1 percent of the 3 million DNA bases differs from one person to the next.
Using family DNA to compare with a person "would be pretty darn accurate," said Kirkpatrick.
This would work much like a paternity test proving genetic relations, said Max Houck, a former FBI supervisory physical scientist.
Computer software and human DNA analysts could read the data to make the confirmation.
The FBI's forensic system relies on 13 DNA regions that vary for each individual and use that data to create a genetic profile of that individual. It's unclear if this is the method intelligence officials used to identify bin Laden's body.
Facial recognition
Facial recognition software programs compare photographs of the person.
Such programs take the topology of the face and essentially read the features, where the person's eyes, nose, lips are located, their proportions and measurements. The facial recognition programs map the geometry of a person's face and can compare images.
They identify points of reference on the face and read whether it's the same person, said biometrics experts.
Facial recognition can also work compare facial features, the shape of the skeletal structure, moles, scars and other skin marks.
A visual ID
Bin Laden would've stood out to the trained U.S. military team who entered his compound.
"He's a distinctive person, for that part of the world," Kirkpatrick said. "He's 6-feet, 4-inches. He's gaunt. There are plenty of photographs of him."
Matching features like bin Laden's height would've helped.
Body features
A full biometric analysis could mean wide variety of things including fingerprints, palm prints, DNA analysis, iris scans, said Houck.
It's unclear exactly what type of identification tools officials used in this category to determine bin Laden.

Some methods also use hand geometry, looking at photos to see the width of palms, the physical features of their hands or even the vein patterns to confirm a person's identity, said Houck, who examined remains after the 1993 fire in the Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and also worked to identify 9/11 victims during his career with the FBI.

Read the original story here

Rick Springfield Arrested Sunday



"Jessie's Girl" singer Rick Springfield was arrested Sunday night by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on suspicion of drunken driving

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20059237-504083.html#ixzz1LImP0K9O

Peewee Moore & The Awful Dreadful Snakes



www.peeweemoore.com

Since July 2007 Peewee Moore has honed a rigid reputation, and following playing over 200 shows a year in more than 100 U.S. Cities carrying the torch of 100% Independent Austin Texas Outlaw Country!

The command of the six string guitar in a style all but dead, and a story telling lyrical sense are just the tip of the ice berg. Peewee Moore steps up to the plate like John Henry with his 9 Lb hammer!

Within a genre somewhere between Waylon Jennings, and Bill Monroe, Peewee is a self proclaimed Honkytonk/Outlaw Country Singer/Songwriter. He tours around doing an endless string of one night stands from Austin TX to you name it. If you havent saw a show it's your own fault! Peewee tours either solo acoustic, as a duo, or with his 3 piece band "Peewee Moore & The Awful Dreadful Snakes"

Born and raised in the foothills of the appalachian rainforest just across the TN border in Fort Oglethorpe, GA, Peewee spent most of his time haunting the streets of Chattanooga TN playing many of his first shows in, and around the choo choo city. Peewee spent the consecutive years making a name for himself as an accomplished picker, and songwriter throughout the Southeast.

With the gift of raw talent, and showmanship Peewee has been fortunate enough to be able to share the stage with several of his hero's, as well as some of outlaw country, americana, and rockabilly's most well known, and recieved acts such as Billy Joe Shaver, Dwight Yoakam, Wanda Jackson, Charlie Daniels, Dale Watson, Shooter Jennings, David Allen Coe, Steve Earle, James McMurtry, Dicky Betts, Junior Brown, Cowboy Jack Clement, Pat Green, Cory Morrow, Chris Knight, Todd Snyder, Southern Culture On The Skids, Scott H. Biram, Bobby Bare Jr, and countless others.

Peewee Moore's music is broadcast on Sirius/XM's Outlaw Country Channel as well as many different AM & FM stations, internet radio, and podcast's worldwide. A quick search on the internet will bring up many facets not disclosed here. To book a show, or for material request send an email to peeweemooremusic@yahoo.com

New WishList Item :)



a Rocking bed!!

Weird & old



Sedlec Ossuary



Official Website

The most ALIEN looking place on Earth

Visit Socotra



Stonehenge beneath Lake Michigan



Capuchin Catacombs

Rosalia Lombardo, who died over 90 years ago from pneumonia, still just looks like she’s sleeping. She resides in a glass coffin in Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Italy. As one of the world’s best-preserved bodies, she has been a consistent source of frustrations for embalmers and taxidermists for decades. Recently, anthropologists have uncovered the secret to her pristine preservation that her original embalmer took with him to the grave in 1933. As it turns out, Ms Lombardo was preserved with a combination of formalin, zinc salts, alcohol, salicylic acid, and glycerin. Formalin, to kill bacteria, salicylic acid to kill fungi, alcohol to dry the body out and mummify it, and glycerin to keep her from getting too dry. Embalmers don’t use zinc anymore, but that’s supposedly the key ingredient for Lombardo’s successful embalming.

Capuchin Catacombs, Palermo, Italy



HowManyOfMe.com

There are people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Square Watermelons?

Farmers in the southern Japanese town of Zentsuji have figured out how to grow their watermelons so they turn out square.

It's not a fad. The technique actually has practical applications. "The reason they're doing this in Japan is because of lack of space," said Samantha Winters of the National Watermelon Promotion Board in Orlando, Florida.

A fat, round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator, and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves.

But clever Japanese farmers have solved this dilemma by forcing their watermelons to grow into a square shape. Farmers insert the melons into square, tempered glass cases while the fruit is still growing on the vine.

The square boxes are the exact dimensions of Japanese refrigerators, allowing full-grown watermelons to fit conveniently and precisely onto refrigerator shelves.

But cubic fruit comes with a caveat: Each square watermelon costs 10,000 yen, the equivalent of about $82. Regular watermelons in Japan cost from $15 to $25 each.

At $82 apiece, Winters said she didn't know if there would be a market for square-grown watermelons in the United States.

"I think that's a pretty expensive watermelon," she said. "Maybe they give them as gifts. Maybe it says something for the gift-fruit market, perhaps."

But Winters also said that there does appear to be a growing U.S. market for watermelon that is more refrigerator-friendly. She said the industry is hearing from consumers that size matters.

"Our growers grow round, seedless melons in various sizes," she said. "And that's one reason why we grow the smaller watermelons ... so they'll fit into a refrigerator."

Winters added that so-called fresh-cut watermelon is widely available at U.S. groceries, another possible solution to a crisis created by oversized melons.

A recipe on the board's website calls for half-inch watermelon squares for use in martinis.

"You can find two-inch cubes" in groceries, Winters said. "They have watermelon that's cut in quarters and halves. And you can find clamshell containers with fresh-cut watermelon in there as well." Watermelon also can be pureed and poured into ice-cube trays for freezing.

So it seems U.S. watermelon lovers will have to settle for fresh-cut for now, and the $82, square watermelon won't be showing up at American groceries anytime soon.

Statue of Libery FAQs

What is the Statue of Liberty made of? The Statue of Liberty is made of copper 3/32in.thick, the same as two pennies put together.

Why is the Statue green? The Statue's copper has naturally oxidized to form its familiar "patina" green coating. This patina is as thick, in many places, as the copper behind it and is protecting the copper from naturally wearing away.

How tall is the Statue of Liberty? The Statue is 305ft. 1in. from the ground to the tip of the flame. It is the equivalent height of a 22-story building. In 1886, it was the tallest structure in New York. See more Statue Statistics.

Is the Statue of Liberty an image of a man or woman? Classical images of Liberty have usually been represented by a woman. The Statue of Liberty's face is said to be modeled after the sculptor's mother.

Is the crown open? Yes. On July 4, 2009, the National Park Service re-opened the crown in a limited fashion. To learn more about crown access, click here.

Is the torch open? No. The torch has been closed since the "Black Tom" explosion of July 30, 1916, which was one of the largest acts of sabotage to our nation prior to the event of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many people think they've been there and confuse it with climbing a spiral staircase which goes to the crown. National Park Service staff must climb a narrow 40ft. ladder in order to maintain the floodlights which light the torch.

If I have a question about pedestal/museum tickets and ferry tickets, who should I contact? The ferry company should be contacted regarding advance tickets, confirmations, pedestal/museum ticket availability. You can reach them at: 877-LADY TIX for advance tickets and monument access passes or on line at: www.statuecruises.com

What does the torch represent? The torch is a symbol of enlightenment. The Statue of Liberty's torch lights the way to freedom showing us the path to Liberty. Even the Statue's official name represents her most important symbol "Liberty Enlightening the World". The Statue's current replacement torch, added in 1986, is a copper flame covered in 24K gold. It is reflective of the sun's rays in daytime and lighted by 16 floodlights at night. The original torch was removed in 1984 and is currently inside the lobby of the monument.

What is written on the Statue's tablet? The tablet of law, held in the Statue's left hand, has the date of American Independence July 4, 1776, written on it in Roman numerals (July IV, MDCCLXXVI).

What do the seven spikes on the Statue's crown represent? The seven seas and continents of the world. 

Is the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island? No. The park is comprised of two separate islands, Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty is on Liberty Island and Ellis Island, the former federal immigration station, is currently a national museum of immigration.

THE Kiss!!



Saint Orsola Convent, Florence, Italy



"In the document, Francesco asked his younger daughter, Marietta, to take care of his "beloved wife," Lisa. Marietta, who had become a nun, brought her ill mother to the nearby convent of Sant'Orsola," Pallanti said.

Lisa died four years after her husband's death, at the age of 63, according to an archive known as a "Book of the Dead," found by Pallanti in a church archive.

"Lisa di Francesco Del Giocondo died on 15 July 1542 and was buried in Sant'Orsola," the document states.



More Mona Lisa Theories

(Reuters) - Researchers have begun their hunt for the remains of the woman who might have been the model for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, hoping to unravel a mystery that has baffled art historians for over five centuries.

A team of experts armed with a special radar device descended this week on a dilapidated convent in Florence where they believe the body of the woman who modeled for da Vinci back in the 16th century is buried.

The real Mona Lisa, Italian art historians say, was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich Florentine silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo who is thought to have commissioned the portrait -- although there is no definitive proof of this.

The researchers say that if they can find her skull, they will be able to reconstruct her face and compare it with the painting.

The true identity of Mona Lisa and her enigmatic smile have intrigued art lovers around the world.

According to the Louvre museum in Paris, where the painting is on display, the portrait was likely painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506 and could have been commissioned to mark one of two events: either when Gherardini and her husband bought their house or when their second son was born.

The key to solving the mystery may lie at the Saint Orsola convent, a structure in central Florence almost reduced to ruins.

Using radar equipment which can identify objects underground, scientists are scanning the floor in the small church to pinpoint areas where they may start digging for Gherardini's remains.

"We have a document confirming the burial of Gherardini in 1542 here in the convent" said Silvano Vinceti, head of the National Committee for the Promotion of Historic and Cultural Heritage.

Researchers say Gherardini spent the last years of her life at the convent, looked after by her two daughters who were nuns, and was buried there.

"To be sure we have to find the DNA in her bones, and once we have found that we can compare it with the DNA of her children who are buried at the Santissima Annunziata convent," said Professor Francesco Mallegni, a paleoanthropologist.

Vinceti has been studying the painting for months and recently claimed to have found symbols hidden in the portrait.

He says Gherardini might have been an early model for the Mona Lisa but that da Vinci was also probably inspired by the face of his young male apprentice, Gian Giacomo Caprotti, who some say was also his lover.

It is not clear how long the project to study Gherardini's remains will need before coming to any conclusion but some of her descendants have already expressed skepticism.

"Let her rest in peace. What could finding her remains change to the charm of Leonardo's painting? To look for her bones seems a sacrilege to me," said one of them, actress and writer Natalia Strozzi.

(Wikipedia) - Speculation assigned Lisa's name to at least four different paintings and her identity to at least ten different people.^[33][34] By the end of the 20th century, the painting was a global icon that had been used in more than 300 other paintings and in 2,000 advertisements, appearing at an average of one new advertisement each week.^[35] In 2005, an expert at the University Library of Heidelberg discovered a margin note in the library's collection that established with certainty the traditional view that the sitter was Lisa.^[36] The Mona Lisa has been in custody of France since the 16th century, when it was acquired by Francis I of France; however, after the French Revolution it came into the possession of the people.^[37] Today about 6 million people visit the painting each year at the Louvre in Paris, where it is part of a French national collection.^[38]

^{(Louvre.fr) -} This portrait was doubtless painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506. It is thought to be of Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - hence the alternative title, La Gioconda. However, Leonardo seems to have taken the completed portrait to France rather than giving it to the person who commissioned it. It was eventually returned to Italy by Leonardo's student and heir Salai. It is not known how the painting came to be in François I's collection.

Wedding Pictures