Best Job in the World

There is a job opening in Australia you might be interested in. The tourism department in Queensland is offering someone $100,000 to lay around on an island near Australia’s Great Barrier reef for six months. Seriously. They are calling it The Best Job in the World. All you have to do is promote the island on a blog. In exchange for salary, you would get free accommodations in an oceanfront villa and airfare from your home country. You will be required to stroll the island’s white sand beaches, snorkel, swim in the pool and post photos and videos of your experience on a weekly blog. Applications are accepted until February 22nd when 11 finalists will be flown to Hamilton Island in May for the final selection process. The job would begin July 1st. Interested? Visit www.islandfreejob.com.

Jefferson Bass

Hey! I am so excited! The new Jefferson Bass novel Bones of Betrayal is out in stores on Tuesday, February 3rd! Join me at Borders Books & Music on Morrell Road near West Town for their first public booksigning. It's at 7pm on Wednesday, February 4th! To learn more about the book click here: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061284748/Bones_of_Betrayal/index.aspx

The Banana Experiment - Continued

So, if you read my earlier post, it said if you seperate bananas when you get them home they will last longer. I did that. SO not true. I experimented with a bunch this week. I left them together lovingly as a bunch. They are rotting at the same rate as the unbunched bananas.

I suppose there is a difference in how ripe they are when you buy them, but really, I don't want to get into a huge full-fledged experiment here. I just wanted to know.

My hypothesis is that seperating the bananas when you get them home makes no difference.

The End.

Interesting in Swapping your old DVD's?

Good Housekeeping approved two DVD swapping websites. www.swapadvd.com and www.switchplanet.com.

Blonde Joke...warning...this is bad.

The other day my neighbor, who is blonde, came running up to me in the driveway jumping for joy! I didn't know why she was jumping so excitedly but I thought, 'what the heck', and I starting jumping up and down along with her. She said, 'I have some really great news!'
I said, 'Great. Tell me why you're so happy.' She stopped jumping and breathing heavily from all the jumping up and down, told me that she was pregnant. I knew she'd been trying for a while so I told her, 'That's great I couldn't be happier for you!' Then she said, 'There's more'
I asked, What do you mean there's more. She said, 'Well, we are not having just one baby. We are going to have TWINS!' Amazed at how she could know so soon after getting pregnant, I asked her how she knew. She said.... "Well, that was the easy part. I went to Sam's Club and they actually had a home pregnancy kit in a TWIN-pack. Both tests came out positive!

(oh come on...I know you are laughing)

B97.5 Christmas Cookie Champion 2008! Here's the recipe

Congratulations to Heather Shorey of Knoxville! She developed this recipe and won our 1st Christmas Cookie Contest! For those of you that have asked for the recipe, here you go!

White Chocolate Pistachio Cranberry Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup crisco shortening
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pistachios

Directions:

Mix ingredients and place dough on cookie sheets
Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until turning brown on the bottom

Loved Gran Turino!

I went to see the new Clint Eastwood flick "Gran Turino" last night. It was SOOOOOOOOO great! If you are Asian or Black you may be offended by some parts, but if everyone can keep an open mind and understand the character that Clint Eastwood plays and who he is, the mindset he has makes a bit more sense.

The movie was a good Clint Eastwood. That's how I will refer to it. There were some really good one-liners, many of them absolutely hilarious!

I give Gran Turino - two thumbs up!

No one needs to listen to Ann Coulter at 7:15 in the morning!

Ugh...I LOVE the Today show. It's my favorite, but Matt Lauer interviewing Ann Coulter at 7:15 in the morning was an overload. I don't begrudge Ann the right to write a book or express her opinions, but I have the right not to listen to the shrill screeching voice of a desperate controversial author...EVER! I think the Today show displayed a lack in judgement having this interview placed at 7:15 in the morning. There is so much more important news going on in the world that rated far highter than her book and her attitude. I believe interviews such as this should be placed in the 9am timeslot. Long after I've had my coffee.

Need a job? The FBI is hiring!

The job market is getting kinda crazy, but there is one organization that is hiring. The FBI! That's right...the Federal Bureau of Investigations is hiring language specialists, computer experts, intelligence analysts and finance experts. They are looking to fill more than 2,000 staff and 850 special agent positions. For more click on the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28523127/

The Banana Experiment

So I read a little article in Good Housekeeping Magazine about the shelf life of different foods. One in particular that caught my eye was how to preserve your bananas. Chef Matt Bolus from Charleston, SC says that when you get the bananas home from the store, break them apart. He says Bananas rot in bunches, so if one browns first, it will cause the others to turn more quickly.

So I bought a bunch of bananas on Saturday and I broke them apart and you know what? They have lasted a bit longer so far. I will try this again with next weeks bunch of bananas and see how they do.

Also, regarding tomatoes? The chef says to store tomatoes on the counter, stem side down. Avoid the fridge, they will lose flavor and texture. Never leave them in plastic. They won't last long.