Archive for April 2010
Free Starbucks coffee on Tax Day!
Is this to celebrate tax day or preparation of Earth Week? I can’t decide, but either way it’s pretty great!
On April 15th, head to your local Starbucks with a reusable coffee mug and they’ll fill it with free, brewed coffee! I’m guessing this truly does mean drip coffee.
Go HERE for more information.
SOURCE: The Coupon Project
African American and Caucasian churches swap pastors
Sunday mornings mean many people are off to church.
If you’ve lived in one place for a long time and you go to church, chances are you go to the same one regularly, but Sunday folks from one small North Carolina town tried something a little different.
At Trinity United Methodist Church, the word “structure” best describes a typical worship service.
People recite creeds and portions from the Bible collectively, and sing old hymns, but on this Sunday the church’s Pastor is no where to be found and the congregation is excited about it.
“Myself and my family, we’re just really thrilled with this,“ said one church member.
“We’re just, well we’re just excited,“ said an elder.
They call it a ‘Pastor Swap’.
Trinity’s Pastor Harold Salmon is less than a mile down the road preaching at Mill Branch Baptist Church, a predominately African American church.
“We come together, not to change each other’s style of worship, but to actually celebrate each other’s style of worship,“ said Trinity United Methodist Reverend Harold Salmon.
And Mill Branches’ Pastor and choir are at Caucasian dominant Trinity.
“Most people know that 11 o’clock Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America,” said Mill Branch Reverend J. Gentile Everett. “We work together. We socialize together. We even spend our money at the same places, but when it came to worship for most people, they would all go in their separate ways.“
And that’s what the two groups do.
Reverend Everett and his choir shake things up at Trinity, while Reverend Salmon gets a good response from the people at Mill Branch.
“Excitement, knowing that the same God that we worship is being worshipped everywhere,“ said Mill Branch member, Cynthia Dudley.
“I think we should do it more often,“ one Trinity member said.
“How can we really love God and separate ourselves from one another because of skin tone?,” said Everett. “We’re just trying to tear that down and say to the community, ‘We love God and we love all of his creation’.“
The churches’ members believe a little change on a Sunday morning will help do just that.
“Black, white, Indians, Mexicans – all of us are God’s children,“ said Mill Branch member Vera Ford.
A small town in North Carolina with hopes of creating unity through their faiths.
It’s the second year the churches have done the pastor swap.
Reverend Salmon is leaving Trinity United Methodist later this year, but says he hopes the church’s next pastor makes the event a tradition.
SOURCE: African American and Caucasian churches swap pastors
Restaurant opens specializing in grilled cheese [VIDEO]
Watch this story: Grilled Cheese Restaurant Opens In Catonsville
The grilled cheese sandwich is one of America’s favorite sandwiches, and a local company is hoping to capitalize on its popularity.
April has been named National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month.
In Catonsville, four local men who love the sandwich decided to open a restaurant devoted to it.
Grilled Cheese & Company just opened this week at its location at 500 Edmondson Avenue.
The founders of the restaurant said their decision to open the shop was inspired by their childhood memories of grilled cheese.
The business offers all sorts of takes on the traditional sandwich, along with soups and salads to pair it with.
To find out more about the shop or to see the menu: Grilled Cheese & Co.
The grilled cheese sandwich first started appearing in the U.S. in the 1920s, and last year, 2.2 billion grilled cheese sandwiches were made and eaten in homes throughout America, according to statistics.
Man catches child by feet in midair after boy fell 30 feet from escalator
It was the catch of a lifetime…and that ‘good catch’ by a San Diego man may have saved the life of a 4-year-old boy.
21-year-old Antonio Jones was at the Mission Viejo Mall Friday with his girlfriend.
The couple craved a burger from Islands Restaurant.
Jones was standing outside the restaurant on the ground floor when he noticed little Jimmy Lavin get tangled in an upstairs escalator.
The escalator hand-rail pulled Lavin upstairs to the second floor.
In an instant, the sobbing boy was carried upward as he dangled off the staircase.
Jones was a few steps away when Lavin hit the top wall was knocked off the escalator rail.
The boy plummeted 30 feet head-first toward the concrete walkway.
Jones reacted… jumping forward and catching the child with one hand on each leg.
It was a near perfect catch… Lavin’s head just barely touched the ground.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a minor bump on the noggin and released.
Jones is being credited for saving the boy’s life.
SOURCE: San Diego Man Saves Boy From 30-foot Fall
First Condor Hatches at Monument in Over 100 Years
Biologists at Pinnacles National Monument have verified the successful hatching of a condor egg inside the monument.
The young nestling is the first California condor known to hatch in the monument in over 100 years. Two seven year old condors, condor 317, a female released at the monument in 2004, and a male, condor 318, released along the Big Sur coast by Ventana Wildlife Society were seen in courtship displays during the winter and paired up for their first breeding attempt.
National Park Service Wildlife Biologist, Daniel George, reports that the first-time parent condors have been exhibiting normal behavior, regularly feeding and incubating the new nestling. The milestone highlights regional efforts to bring the condor back from the brink of extinction. “It is really great to see a condor that we have invested so much time and effort in, now breeding in the wild,” said Joe Burnett, Condor Biologist of Ventana Wildlife Society.
“We are thrilled that after being involved with the Condor Recovery Program since 2003, the park has its first condor chick from the first nest in over 100 years,” said Eric Brunnemann, Park Superintendent.”
SOURCE: First Condor Chick Hatches at Pinnacles in Over 100 Years
Fly into history aboard a WWII bomber [VIDEO]
Watch this story: Public climbs aboard a WWII bomber
One of only 12 B-17s that can still fly was in Eugene Saturday, flying over many of our heads as it took off from Eugene Airport to give other locals a ride.
The Liberty Belle is what organizers call a “flying museum,” and a great way to pay tribute to Americans who fought overseas during the war.
On Saturday The Liberty Foundation offered public flights aboard this historic plane. Crowds of people both young and old watched the plane take off and land at the Eugene Airport.
NYC’s own real-life superheroes
With great costumes comes great responsibility.
“Kick-Ass,” an action movie opening this week, spins a tale of average Joes becoming masked crime fighters, but New York has been home to real-life caped crusaders for years.
Gotham’s legion of real-life superheroes includes a leather-clad martial-arts expert who battles drug dealers, a masked religious hipster who feeds the homeless and an engaged pair of relationship counselors, Arjuna Ladino, 42, and Shanti Owen, 50, who don star-spangled spandex as the “Transformational Warriors” to spread the power of love.
“We are just people who really care and try to go out and make a difference,” says Chris Pollak, 25, whose alter ego, “Dark Guardian,” strikes fear in the hearts of drug peddlers in Washington Square Park. “The idea is to be this drastic example of making change in your community.”
The Staten Islander has been patrolling city streets for the last seven years, frequently putting himself in harm’s way. A drug dealer flashed a gun at Pollak once, and he has almost come to blows with thugs.
“My fiancée is very supportive, but she gets worried if I’m doing anything that involves danger,” Dark Guardian said. “When I met my fiancée, I told her I liked to do this thing where I go out and help the homeless and patrol the streets. I didn’t get into the whole costume thing — I waited until a little bit into the relationship.”
Occasionally, Dark Guardian gets an assist from two fellow superheroes, Chaim “Life” Lazaros, 25, and Ben Goldman, 23, a k a “Cameraman,” who has videotaped the Washington Square showdowns. The plucky pair also hands out food to the city’s homeless at least once a week.
Lazaros, who shares a Harlem hideout with Cameraman, said it takes a certain type to don a mask and do good. “They all have extremely strong personalities and a desire to change the world,” he said.
That’s not to say all real-life superheroes seek change through crime-fighting.
“The Phantom Zero,” a 33-year northern New Jersey-based superhero, raises money for charities and donates to the homeless. He has also accompanied Dark Guardian on some of his patrols. “I was scared out of my gourd,” The Phantom Zero said, declining to give his real name.
But his 20-year-old masked sweetheart, “Nyx,” has shown some gumption. Before moving to New Jersey to be with her super man, she lived in Kansas, where she would secretly snap shots of meth labs and send them to the authorities.
“I used to carry weaponry with me. But seeing as how I’m in New York . . . I don’t,” Nyx said.
SOURCE: NYC’s own superheroes
POSITIVE PICTURES: Spring at Magnolia Plantation
Joan Perry at one of my favorite blogs, Charleston Daily Photo, just posted some great pictures from Magnolia Plantation.
See more of Joan’s amazing pictures: Charleston Daily Photo
13-year-old boy wants to be youngest to conquer Everest
Jordan Romero set out from Katmandu yesterday and will travel to the base camp on the Chinese side of the 29,035-ft peak. He hopes to reach the summit by May.
The world’s tallest mountain is the final leg in Jordan’s attempt on the Seven Summits, a daunting mountaineering challenge which takes in the highest peaks in seven continents.
He will be accompanied on the ascent by his father and step-mother, and two Sherpa guides.
The youngest person to climb Everest until now was Temba Tsheri, 16, from Nepal, in 2001.
Jordan and his parents, both experienced mountaineers, climbed the first – Africa’s Kilimanjaro – in July 2006, when he was only 10.
They scaled Kosciuszko in Australia the following year, then Elbrus in Russia three months later and Aconcagua in Argentina five months after that.
In June 2008 – six months after the Andes climb – they completed Mount McKinley in Alaska and, within three months, they had also scaled Cartensz Pyramid in Indonesia.
Jordan said he was originally inspired by a painting in his school’s hallway showing all seven peaks.
“I just wanted to do something big, and this was something I wanted to do for myself. It was all about the experience and I just happen to be 13 at this time,” he said of the Everest attempt.
His father, Paul, insisted the idea was all down to his son. “We’re just packing the bags, chasing him around the world,” he said.
The Himalayan mountain is the first Jordan will tackle that is over 8,000m (26,248ft) and he acknowledged that it constituted a “big leap” which had involved altitude training.
Temba Tsheri lost five fingers from frostbite on his first attempt to scale Everest. Jordan said they would not take any unnecessary risks and would turn around if they encounter problems such as bad weather.
“This may be the first of many attempts,” he said. “It could take a couple of years, but I am determined to do it. If I don’t reach the summit this time, I will try next time.”
“I do feel ready. I feel very prepared emotionally, and definitely physically.”
Those preparations are not entirely true to standard Everest practice. While acclimatising at base camp, Jordan plans to do his algebra homework.
What happened when asking for extra peppers at Papa John’s
Papa John’s employee explains what may have happened to cause this.
I work at papa john’s. See, the thing is for every order of extra peppers we add in the computer, that actually equals four peppers that go in the box. So if someone on the phone was new and didn’t realize this, then say a customer asked for ten extra peppers. The newbie would add ten extra peppers. Then suppose a non-newbie boxed up the pizza. They would see 10 extra orders of peppers on there (4 per order) and thus give you 40 peppers.
SOURCE: ‘I Ordered a Pizza from Papa John’s and Asked for Extra Peppers’
