- scatha_guardian
- Level: 7 (34%)
- Rank: Sectoid
- Member since: Mar 23, 2007
- Last online: 12/04/09 10:06 am PT
-
My Emblems:
- Rank: Registered Member
- Popular
My Friends
-
firefox59 online
-
Ani_manga200 online
-
spiritwave online
-
GreenCycloneCyd online
-
shinigamikid online
-
lstinwonderland offline
-
stitch069917 offline
-
anthonykomonski offline
-
zeriva offline
-
pikastatic100 offline
scatha_guardian's Blog
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key...
***********************************************************************************
-
4Dec 09
After all my hopes, this is all the snow we got tonight...
I guess it wore itself out in Texas? Or maybe south Louisiana is just too hot for it to handle? 
Oh well, on to today's tradition....For millions of Americans, the candy cane is synonymous with Christmas. Whether used as tree decorations, taped to gifts or simply enjoyed during holiday get togethers, candy canes evoke memories of the wonders of childhood. So powerful is their appeal that consumers spent nearly $65 million last year on candy canes.
The modern candy cane's design originated from the symbol of the shepherds' crook, representing the humble flock keepers who worshiped the newborn baby Jesus. Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral handed out sugar sticks to keep his young singers quiet during the Nativity ceremony. To honor the occasion, the candies were bent into shepherds' crooks.
In 1847, August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with candy canes and paper ornaments, but it wasn't until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm.
In the 1920s, Bob McCormack began making candy canes as a Christmas treat for his family and friends. His Famous Candy Company, later changed to Bobs Candies, began with only five employees who completed the laborious process of twisting, cutting and bending each candy cane by hand.
In the 1950s, McCormack's brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, invented a machine to automate candy cane production. Packaging innovations by the McCormacks also made it possible to transport the delicate canes on a scale that transformed the company into the leading candy cane producer in the world, a position Bobs Candies still holds today.
While peppermint canes are still the most popular, a wide variety of cane flavors and sizes are available today, including strawberry, blueberry and bubble gum.
- Posted Dec 4, 2009 11:33 pm PT
- Category: General
- 0 Comments
-
3Dec 09
Yep, let's gets to the second part first. Maybe for the second year in a row, it might snow here as of friday night into saturday morning. A very large cold front is moving through Texas right now and heading this way. If all goes well, we may see snow again tomorrow night! I know it is no big deal for many of you who see and deal with snow during the winter months, but for those of us in the deep south, it is a rare treat! I have the camera ready to take some more pics if it does happen. Now, on to our tradition for today.
Some people complain about sending them while others love to send and receive them (I collect them and turn the best into ornaments or put them into albums). But either way, Christmas cards are now a part of the Christmas holiday tradition.
The custom of sending Christmas cards started in the U.K. in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant (Government worker) who was very interested in the new 'Public Post Office' and wondered how it could be used more by ordinary people.
Sir Henry had the idea of Christmas Cards and with his friend John Horsley, who was an artist, they designed the first card and sold them for 1 shilling each!
The first post that ordinary people could use was started in 1840 when the first 'Penny Post' public postal deliveries began. Before that, only very rich people could afford to send anything in the post. The new Post Office was able to offer a Penny stamp because new railways were being built. These could carry much more post than the horse and carriage that had been used before. Also, trains could go a lot faster. Cards became even more popular in the UK when they could be posted in an unsealed envelope for one halfpenny - half the price of an ordinary letter.
As printing methods improved, Christmas cards became much more popular and were produced in large numbers from about 1860. An engraved card by the artist William Egley, who illustrated some of Charles Dickens's books, is on display in the British Museum. By the early 1900s, the custom had spread over Europe and had become especially popular in Germany.
The first cards usually had pictures of the Nativity scene on them. In late Victorian times, robins (an English bird) and snow-scenes became popular because the postmen in that time were nicknamed 'Robin Postmen' because of the red uniforms they wore. Snow-scenes were popular because they reminded people of the very bad winter that happened in 1836.
In the 1910s and 1920s, home made cards became popular. They were often unusual shapes and had things such as foil and ribbon on them. These were usually too delicate to send through the post and were given by hand.
Nowadays, cards have all sorts of pictures on them: jokes, winter pictures, Father Christmas, or romantic scenes of life in past times. Charities often sell their own Christmas Cards as a way raising money at Christmas.
- Posted Dec 3, 2009 11:22 pm PT
- Category: General
- 10 Comments
-
2Dec 09
By now I am sure many of you have your Christmas trees up and decorated by now. Others wait till Christmas Eve to put up a tree. Here is the some of facts of where the tree came from...I know it's longer, but the facts are needed.
The evergreen fir tree has been used to celebrate winter festivals (pagan and Christian) for thousands of years. Pagans used branches of it to decorate their homes during the winter solstice, as it made them think of the spring to come. The Romans used Fir Trees to decorate their temples at the festival of Saturnalia. Christians use it as a sign of everlasting life with God.
Nobody is really sure when Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees. It probably started about began 1000 years ago in Northern Europe.
The first documented use of a evergreen tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations is in town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia , in the year 1510. In the square there is a plaque which is engraved with "The First New Years Tree in Riga in 1510", in eight languages. Not much is known about the tree, apart from that it was attended by men wearing black hats, and that after a ceremony they burnt the tree.
The first Christmas Trees came to Britain sometime in the 1830s. They became very popular in 1841, when PrinceAlbert (QueenVictoria's German husband) had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. Ever since then, Christmas Trees have been a part of a British Christmas.
The Christmas tree tradition most likely came to the United States with Hessian troops during the American Revolution, or with German immigrants to Pennsylvania and Ohio, adds Robson.
The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20 years later, the custom was nearly universal.
Christmas tree farms sprang up during the depression. Nurserymen couldn't sell their evergreens for landscaping, so they cut them for Christmas trees. Cultivated trees were preferred because they have a more symmetrical shape then wild ones.
Six species account for about 90 percent of the nation's Christmas tree trade. Scotch pine ranks first, comprising about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.
- Posted Dec 2, 2009 11:37 pm PT
- Category: General
- 9 Comments
-
1Dec 09
What we know as Christmas tree lights is very old indeed. The tradition of using small candles to light up the Christmas tree dates back to at least the middle of the XVIIth century. However, it took two centuries for the tradition to become widely established first in Germany and soon spreading to Eastern Europe.
Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around 1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used.
In 1882, the first Christmas tree was lit by the use of electricity. Edward Johnson lighted up a Christmas tree in New York City with eighty small electric light bulb. It should be noted that Edward Johnson created the first string of electric Christmas lights that were then mass produced around 1890.
By 1900, department stores started using the new Christmas lights for their Christmas displays.
Albert Sadacca was fifteen in 1917, when he first got the idea to make safety Christmas lights for Christmas trees. A tragic fire in New York City involving Christmas tree candles inspired Albert to invent electric Christmas lights. The Sadacca family sold ornamental novelty items including novelty lights. Albert adapted some of the products into safe electric lights for Christmas trees. The first year only one hundred strings of white lights sold. The second year Sadacca used brightly colored bulbs and a multi-million dollar business took-off. Later, a company started by Albert Sadacca (and his two brothers Henri and Leon) called NOMA Electric Company became the largest Christmas lighting company in the world.
Not too many people decorate in my neighborhood, so by the middle of December, my husband and I go driving around the larger, richer areas to look at the houses to see the houses and how they are lit-up at night. A fun thing to do and it does not cost anything!
- Posted Dec 1, 2009 11:23 pm PT
- Category: General
- 17 Comments
-
30Nov 09
Hello everyone...Well, here we are, December the 1st and time to start our Christmas blogs. Since the Advent Calendar starts on December the 1st, it is right that we should start with it.
Advent was originally a Latin word that translated into "the coming". Advent was developed as the four-week period before Christmas Eve to encourage Christians to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and prepare themselves spiritually for the coming New Year.
The Advent calendar was created to also help followers focus on the meaning of the Christmas season and is often seen with closed doors for each day of the Advent season. One the first day of Advent, the first set of doors are opened and there will be a message (and often a picture) to reflect upon for that day. The next day the second set of doors is opened, etc. providing a new message of hope and reflection every day up to Christmas Eve. This was a very good visual way for children to see and understand the passing of the days and be ready when Christmas had finally arrived. It is believed that the Advent calendar evolved from a German tradition of hanging up 24 small bags containing a treat or gift, which the children in the family got to open each day from December 1st to December 24th - Christmas Eve.
- Posted Nov 30, 2009 11:13 pm PT
- Category: General
- 17 Comments
-
28Nov 09
The Tree at Rockefeller Center is an annual Christmas tree lighting that takes place in New York City's Rockefeller Center. The tree is erected and lit in early December or late-November, and has been broadcast on NBC in recent years. The tree, usually a Norway spruce 75 to 90 feet (23 to 27 m) tall, has been put up every year since 1931. In 2008, the tree was lit on December 3 and remained illuminated until January 9, 2009.
David Murbach, Mgr. of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, scouts in a helicopter for the desired tree in areas including Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, New Jersey, and even Ottawa, Canada. Once a suitable tree is located, a crane supports it while it is cut, and moves it to a custom telescoping trailer that can transport trees up to 125 feet (38 m) tall.
The tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when workers decorated a small balsam fir tree with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans", as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center.
The decorated holiday tree remains lit at Rockefeller Center until the week after New Year's Day, when it is removed and recycled for a variety of uses. In 2007, the tree went "green," employing LED lights. After being taken down, the tree was used to furnish lumber for Habitat for Humanity house construction.
- Posted Nov 28, 2009 11:01 pm PT
- Category: General
- 17 Comments
-
27Nov 09
Ah, this is so true...hate to go to bed, and then, once you are having a great sleep, hate to get up. These past few days have been very fast. A lot of cooking, eating, sleeping
. and cleaning up. I have not bothered to go shopping. One, because I do not have any money to spend, and two, if even I did, I would not go out in these crowds at the moment. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and ate, slept, watch football games, played games, whatever! Our first Christmas blog will start on Sunday, then on December the 1st all the way to December the 25th, I will have a blog EVERYDAY (yes Matt, everyday), on some sort of Christmas tradition or other. Remember, I was a teacher in History and Ancient Religions, so this stuff is fun to me and, and in way, a gift to you.
Hope to see you all there...be good and safe
Much Blessings!
- Posted Nov 27, 2009 10:45 pm PT
- Category: General
- 13 Comments
-
26Nov 09
Hey Everyone! Just wanted to take a fast brake to stop by and wish everyone one here a Happy Thanksgiving! I am in the middle of finishing up my cooking for today. Hope everyone eats alot, watches alots of tv, plays some games, and just have a great time.
Much Love and Blessings, Scatha
- Posted Nov 26, 2009 10:21 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 6 Comments
-
24Nov 09
The year 1924 witnessed the first annual Macy's Christmas Parade (the following year the name would change to its current "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade").
Popular myth has it that the parade stemmed from immigrant employees' desire to celebrate their new American heritage in a parade reminiscent of European traditions.
In reality, however, the interest of promoting the company and its stores prompted the then president and vice president, Jesse and Percy Straus, to make arrangements for Macy's first parade. The Straus brothers "kept the carnival aspect of the older ragamuffin tradition but took complete managerial control over who or what marched, thereby preventing the parade from becoming spontaneous or democratic . . . this parade was to stand for 'consumptionism,' not for traditions invoking poverty or ethnic heritage."Though employees happily participated in the staging of it, contrary to popular belief, the organization of the first parade was the province of company executives, not immigrant employees.
Features of the first parade in 1924 included marching bands, clowns, horse-drawn floats depicting popular fairytales, live animals from the Central Park Zoo, and of course, Santa. Live animals were exhibited in the parade until 1927 when, in consideration of frightened children, they were replaced by Tony Sarg's first giant balloon characters: Felix the Cat, the Dragon, the Elephant, and the Toy Soldier. The parade's initial success motivated Macy's to instruct the public through the New York Times to reserve the following Thanksgiving Day for another parade. Each year since, Macy's has promised an ever more spectacular parade
The parade's route has shrunk from its nearly six mile length in 1924 to its present span of roughly 2 miles. In 1924 the parade began at the intersection of Convent Ave and 145th Street. In 1938, the parade began at Amsterdam Ave and 110th Street and traversed four miles before it reached Herald Square. By 1946 the parade began following its current route from 77th Street and Central Park West to Columbus Circle and thenceforth to Herald Square on Broadway and 34th, at which point it culminates, after about two miles of marching.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to posted this blog one day early just because I will very busy on Thanksgiving Day and I do not know if I would have time to get to it. Also, I thought I would be nice for anyone who might want to know the history of the parade. I like to know those things. I will be checking in and out tomorrow also as I am starting to cook early to get things done. Enjoy...
- Posted Nov 24, 2009 10:28 pm PT
- Category: General
- 13 Comments
-
23Nov 09
We are going to start off this year with a tradition that is still young compared to others. It is the Pardon of the Thanksgiving Turkey.
Each year since 1947, the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board have given a turkey to the President of the United States at a White House ceremony. Since then, presidents have been more likely to eat the turkey rather than give it a reprieve. A notable exception occurred in 1963, when President Kennedy, referring to the turkey given to him, said, "Let's just keep him." It wasn't until the first Thanksgiving of President George H.W. Bush, in 1989, that a turkey was officially pardoned for the first time.
Confusing the Practice
Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have continued the pardons begun under the first Bush. Some confusion about the true origin of this practice has crept into recent presidential speeches though. One story claims that Harry Truman pardoned the turkey given to him in 1947, but the Truman Library has been unable to find any evidence of this. Another story claims the tradition dates back to Abraham Lincoln pardoning his son Tad's pet turkey.From Frying Pan Park to Disneyland
What's certain is that since 1989 a turkey-and its alternate-have been pardoned each year. An alternate is chosen just in case the first bird is unable to perform its duties. For fifteen years through 2004, the turkeys were given to Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia. The turkeys would receive a last minute pardon before arriving, and were then led to their new home at the Turkey Barn after enduring a turkey "roast" full of poultry humor and history.In 2005 and 2006, however, the turkeys were flown to Disneyland in California where they served as honorary grand marshals for Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day parade. After that, they spent the rest of their lives at a Disneyland ranch. A spot in sunny Disneyland seems immensely preferable to a place called Frying Pan Park if you happen to be a turkey who has just escaped from becoming the main course of someone's Thanksgiving feast.
The People's Choice
On Wednesday, November 26, 2008, President Bush gave two turkeys named Pumpkin and Pecan a last-minute reprieve. The two hail from Ellsworth, Iowa, and were raised under the direction of National Turkey Federation Chairman Paul Hill. The American public was allowed to vote for the turkeys' names on the White House web site. 2007's turkeys were named May and Flower, 2006's were Flyer and Fryer; 2005's were Marshmallow and Yam; and 2004's were Biscuit and Gravy.- Posted Nov 23, 2009 10:34 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 9 Comments
-
23Nov 09
Just a reminder, in case most of you have forgotten, with is most of you, I will start on my Holiday blogs. The first two with deal with Thanksgiving. Then we will head off into Christmas. Be ready!
- Posted Nov 23, 2009 8:24 am PT
- Category: General
- 6 Comments
-
21Nov 09
This news story has been out for day or so, you may have seen it, but I wanted to add it. It is just unbelieveable to say the least...
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Officials said an elaborate marijuana growing site was found in an industrial building 25 FEET FROM THE BACK DOOR OF THE TOPANGA POLICE STATION in Los Angeles, and three people are under arrest. Officer Karen Rayner said the pot was discovered Wednesday when a search warrant was served at an address adjacent to the station in Canoga Park.
The indoor marijuana farm included lights, automated irrigation and a ventilation system. Investigators said it had been there for AT LEAST EIGHT MONTHS.
The investigation began a week ago, when officers smelled marijuana in the police station parking lot.
The suspects' names have not been released. Rayner says they face a number of narcotics charges.
- Posted Nov 21, 2009 11:03 pm PT
- Category: News
- 15 Comments
-
20Nov 09
MERCER, Pa. - A western Pennsylvania woman has been ordered to stand trial on charges she passed a drug-filled balloon to a state prison inmate while kissing him. State police said guards at the State Correctional Institution-Mercer became suspicious when an inmate appeared to swallow something after a prolonged kiss with a visitor on Oct. 19.
When the inmate wouldn't tell guards what he swallowed, they put him in a cell where they could MONITOR HIS BATHROOM VISITS and found a balloon filled with marijuana three days later.
Police charged the inmate, and the woman with conspiracy to smuggle contraband and other charges. Both are 41 years old.
A district judge ordered them to stand trial at a hearing on Monday.
- Posted Nov 20, 2009 10:27 pm PT
- Category: News
- 6 Comments
-
19Nov 09
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A man and woman who REPORTED TO THE POLICE that robbers STOLE THEIR MARIJUANA are now facing charges themselves. The 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman told police five armed men came to their Wichita apartment late Monday night and took their marijuana.
Police said one suspect accidentally fired his gun and spooked the other suspects. They ran from the apartment to a white Cadillac, dropping marijuana along the way.
Police found more marijuana inside the apartment.
The couple were booked on suspicion of various drug charges, including selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.
- Posted Nov 19, 2009 10:11 pm PT
- Category: News
- 5 Comments
-
18Nov 09
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A 19-year-old Brownsville man is jailed on a drug charge after he allegedly went door-to-door trying to sell marijuana. A Brownsville police spokesman says Anthony Carrazco's alleged scheme went awry when he knocked on a police officer's apartment door.
Spokesman Jimmy Manrrique says the episode happened Thursday downtown near the University of Texas-Texas Southmost College campus. He says Carrazco appeared to be intoxicated and allegedly had three ounces of marijuana with him that he tried to sell door-to-door. Finally, Carrazco knocked on the off-duty police officer's door. The officer "said he would be right back and went to get his badge and handcuffs."
Manrrique says the officer, whose identity was withheld, also found a handgun hidden on the man. Carrazco remains in a Cameron County jail with bonds totaling $10,000. No attorney was listed in his booking record.
- Posted Nov 18, 2009 11:10 pm PT
- Category: News
- 8 Comments
-
17Nov 09
SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle police say a man who thought he was ninja was impaled on a metal fence when he tried to leap over it. An officer who was looking for an assault victim nearby Monday night heard the man screaming for help. Police supported him to prevent further injuries until medics arrived and took him to a hospital, where he was in serious condition in intensive care on Tuesday.
Police spokeswoman Renee Witt wrote in a department Web site posting that officers thought the man might have been involved in the reported assault, but he insisted he was just a ninja trying to clear a 4- to 5-foot-tall fence.
Witt says the man was "overconfident in his abilities," and that alcohol likely played a role.
- Posted Nov 17, 2009 10:48 pm PT
- Category: Other
- 7 Comments
-
15Nov 09
This story is a few day old, so some of you may have seen it already, but I just had to put it in blog. People like this just amaze me.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Florida police say a man arrested for repeatedly calling 911 looking for $ex claimed it was the only number he could dial after running out of cell phone minutes. Tampa police said 29-year-old Joshua Basso made $exual comments to the 911 dispatcher and asked if he could come to her house. Investigators say she hung up, but he called back four more times.
He was arrested about 15 minutes later at his home late Wednesday and charged with making a false 911 call. Basso reportedly told officers that he didn't think he would get in trouble for calling 911.
Tampa jail records show Basso is being held without bond but don't indicate whether he has an attorney. He is listed as unemployed with arrests for theft and other crimes dating back to 2001.
- Posted Nov 15, 2009 10:40 pm PT
- Category: News
- 11 Comments
-
9Nov 09
1. Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination.
2. Charles A. Lindbergh left his kitten Patsy, at home in 1927 when he made his famous transatlantic flight because it was "too dangerous a journey" to risk her life. But a kitten name Jazz crossed the Atlantic on the first dirigible flight from England to America.
3. Bouhaki, the earliest cat name on record, dates back to Egyptian writings of 2000 B.C. In the hieroglyphs of that period, bou signified "house" and "hak" was the symbol was the symbol for "divine ruler".
4. In ancient Egypt, entire families were forced by law to shave their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when the family cat died.
5. There are approximately 60.000 hairs per square inch on the back on a cat and about 120,000 per square inch on its underside.
6. The largest litter documented was produced by a Burmese/Siamese mother. There were 19 kittens in the litter.
7. Besides smelling with their noses, cats can smell with an additional organ called the vomeronasal organ (or Jacobson's organ), located in the upper surface of the mouth. 8. Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the invention of the cat flap-door.
9. Cat's ears can be rotated because they are connected to thirty muscles. There are only six muscles connecting human ears.
10. The first modern cat show, featuring two dozen show cla$$es, was held in London in 1871. 11. At top speed, a domestic cat can run over 30 mph.
12. A cat named Towser eliminated 28,899 mice while she was employed by the Glenturret Distillery near Crieff, Tayside, Scotland.
13. Every cat's nose pad, or nose leather, has unique characteristics. Just as not two humans have the same fingerprints, it's a fact that no two feline noseprints are ever alike.
14. Both human and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.
15. Back in the late 1940's in Buenos Aires, a black female cat climbed a 40 foot tree where she resided for six years. Her name was Mincha and she wasn't lonely for companionship. She had three litters while living in the tree. The local Argentinians fed her by putting her food on poles.- Posted Nov 9, 2009 11:36 pm PT
- Category: Pets and Animals
- 43 Comments
-
8Nov 09
So, this month is moving by fairly quickly. With the holidays coming up I have been thinking about re-doing my Holiday Tradition blogs, but this time starting off with Thanksgiving. And no Matt, I will not go over the history of Thanksgiving itself, that has been done and most people learned that in school. I try to find things most of you do not know about to discuss.
So, I noticed on the weather channel that this late in the season, we are going to have a Hurricane in the gulf! At this moment they have watches up along Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Should prove interesting to see if it gets any stronger.
As to Naruto manga...the way Kishi is writing at the moment leads to one of the points I am saying for a long time. Sakura will confront Sasuke. Some how, Sakura will end up dead, and Naruto will be forced to fight Sasuke. The Japanese love to kill their heroes, simple fact. Kiskimoto is writing for a Japanese nation, not us.
Anyway, enjoy what is left of your weekend.
- Posted Nov 8, 2009 12:14 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 6 Comments
-
3Nov 09
For coming out and voting when I asked! Needless to say, Naruto won! Some people on the other side were not very happy that SO MANY Naruto supporters showed up! Well, too bad.
- Posted Nov 3, 2009 11:04 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 10 Comments
