Musings from Sumigirl

http://designsponge.blogspot.com/

This is one of the best blogs for design. It’s not just about home furnishings but also about high end (and not so high end) art and craft. Even if you are not a design geek, this is a great source for inspiration. It gives me a lift to browse it’s entries and follow the links.

Enjoy!

technorati tags:design, sponge, art, blog, inspiration, creativity

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Vermont Maple Festival – Exhibit Hall

It’s Maple Festival weekend in Saint Albans, Vermont. Why do I care? I moved to Saint Albans while in high school and my parents lived there until their deaths (1999 & 2004), and my brother & sister-in-law live there, too. It’s a great town to visit (but I’m glad I dont’ live there anymore) especially during festival and other holidays.

The festival itself is very small town but fun. Lots of sweets (of the maple kind) to eat, a parade, cooking contests and the exhibitors hall for the professional maple manufacturers. In recent years they’ve added a carvnival and antique market. The festival used to held during the sugaring season (March) but it was moved to late April for better weather (no snow) and a better turn-out.

technorati tags:Maple, Vermont, Festival, tourism, fun

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Don’t Mess With Our Chocolate

OK – I love chocolate. It’s a real weakness for me. I don’t think I’m a connoisseur but I do like the higher quality stuff on the whole. I’ve eaten enough chocolate in my many years to know that the proposed changes will be truly detrimental to the chocolate industry. So what’s this about anyway? Well, the Washington Post recently published an article Chocolate Purists Alarmed by Proposal To Fudge Standards. The gist of the controversy can be summarized in the following exerpt:

That’s because the current FDA standard for chocolate says it must contain cacao fat — a.k.a. cocoa butter — and this proposal would make it possible to call something chocolate even if it had vegetable oil instead of that defining ingredient. Whoppers malted milk balls, for instance, do not have cocoa butter.

Chocolate without cocoa butter – wrong, wrong, horribly wrong!

If you love chocolate, do your part and visit this site to learn how you can comment on this legislation.

technorati tags:chocolate, FDA, legislation

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Bill Moyers Journal

I’m so lucky I read the paper today so I knew about this interview before it was aired instead of after the fact (my usual fate). It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Bill Moyers mentioned that he ended his day watching Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

This was the perfect week for Jon to be interviewed by Bill Moyers, as well. I caught the interview (or was it a talk-over match?) Jon had with John McCain earlier this week. What the hell was that? The interview made the news in it’s own right. By the end of that interview (as Bill Moyers noted) you could see McCain just shrivel up and babble. It was kind of sad.

Anyway, the interview was excellent and I recommend seeing it if it repeats. Here is a link to an exerpt: interview snippet.

technorati tags:Jon, Stewart, Moyers, interview, politics, Washington, news, television, satire

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See this face? This is a very cool woman named Laurie Lindeen. She’s writer and the former front woman of the band ZuZu’s Petals.

See the book? It’s hers. I plan to buy it and read it. Why? Because I read the excerpt and it made me laugh.

How do I know about her? She’s the spouse of Paul Westerberg and he’s one of my favorite musicians (and a very cool guy, too).

technorati tags:books, Lindeen, Westerberg, Replacements, Zuzu’s, Petals

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How can this 23 year old white chick from London sing like she’s from 50s-60s Motown? A truly unexpected album. The lyrics are often quite off-color but the sound is so enticing.

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94.7 The Globe – World Class Rock – Go Green in Your Home

In recent years, several D.C. -area rock stations have changed format (some mid-day) and others have been taken over by the Clear Channel type groups to offer some of the most over-played and anemic rock in history.

The Globe promises a return to real DJ’s and musical diversity along with a “green” slant. I must admit that the artists and song selections are wide-ranging – well, for this area. I’m still hearing some of the mainstream groups but the lesser-known (and often better) artists are played as well. There doesn’t seem to be a playlist with the same songs being played over and over ad nauseum. However, I only started listening a few days ago.

Here’s their Mission Statement:

1. THE GLOBE We All share and have a vested interest in The Globe.
2. MUSIC MATTERS Music is our priority. That’s why we’re here.
3. THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY As a Local Radio Station, we’ll support our community…because we live here too.
4. REAL DEEJAYS, REAL PEOPLE Our DeeJays know The Music and have a say in what they play.
5. LISTEN TO THE LISTENERS This is your radio station. You will co-create it and author its evolution.
6. MUSIC DIVERSITY Do you know anyone who likes just one kind of music? Neither do we.
7. BE ADVENTUROUS We’ll be open minded about new ideas, innovation and New Music.
8. DEEPER TRACKS As we all know, there are songs worth playing that are not just the Hit Singles.
9. LESS REPETITION Without repeating, belaboring, or saying this over and over and over again…well, enough said.
10. WE WON’T INSULT YOUR INTELLIGENCE The Globe will have commercials (got bills of our own to pay) but we will try to keep them to a minimum and present them in a way that respects our listeners and our advertisers.
11. LET’S HAVE FUN None of this is a joke, but seriously…let’s have some fun.
12. WE’RE NOT TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD Oh wait…see #1.

I really hope they live up these goals. It’s a wait-n-see game now.

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Adobe – Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Standard, Design Software

I’m lusting after Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 release. So many goodies but ever so much money. Too bad I don’t have an education discount anymore. At least I can get the upgrade price but $599 is still quite a bundle. Better start the Pro/Con list.

technorati tags:Adobe, software, design, lust

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Eco-Socialites Make Cleaning Green a Priority – New York Times

Does anyone else find this basically hypocritical?

Quote:

Ms. Seinfeld, who is married to the comedian Jerry Seinfeld, was
prepared to clamber on board. “I’m a child of two parents who grew up
in the ’60s,” she said. “I’ve been recycling since I was born.” Did she
plan to reduce her own carbon footprint by selling off a few of her
possessions? “What I have and what I don’t have is not something I talk
about,” she said.

Quote:

Ms. Rockefeller wanted four kits, one as a gift to her housekeeper. “I want to spread the word,” she said.

She plans to practice conservation, to a point. Energy-saving light bulbs
are fine — for the utility closet, perhaps. In other rooms, “they don’t
give a very pretty light,” she said.

I suppose every little bit helps. After all, we can’t all sit in ugly light.

Happy Earth Day!

technorati tags:socialites, Eco, Earth

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WIStv.com Columbia, SC: Diet Coke Plus has vitamins

I was in Target today for my Saturday shopping and came across the new Diet Coke plus. I can’t resist trying something new sometimes. This one comes with vitamins – that’s right – soda with vitamins. Quite the gimmick. According to the official site “eight ounces of Diet Coke Plus has 15% of the niacin, B6 and B12 you need in a day. And 10% of the zinc and magnesium.”

About the taste. Well, I hate to admit it but it’s good to me. Regular diet coke is OK at best, I really love the Cherry Coke Zero but this stuff is closer to regular Coke than Diet Coke.

Now, if only they could distribute Coca Cola Light in the US as well as Europe – it’s the best of the diet Coca Cola products.

Here is the official site: http://www.dietcoke.com/index.jsp

technorati tags:Soda, Coke, VItamins, gimmick

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