Sweet Home Alabama – As You’ve NEVER Seen it
Courtesy of my friend, Momcat, who shares my quirky sense of humor:
ROCKING RUSSKIES
Written by To The Point News
Thursday, 06 March 2008
Prepare yourself for this one – maybe with a Stoli martini or two.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Red Army had an official choir composed of male soldiers and musicians. It still exists. The Red Army Choir performs throughout Russia to this day.
Now consider the Finnish rock band called The Leningrad Cowboys. A little while ago, they held a concert in Russia, in which – to the screaming applause of Russkie teen-agers – they got the Red Army Choir to join them on stage for a performance of “Sweet Home Alabama.” In English. You couldn’t make this up.
We’re talking seriously off the wall here. Better have that Stoli ready when you watch it:
(Prepare to die, laughing!) DA! Da! Da!
Architecture in Kuwait
Fascinating article in today’s
Arab Times on architectural transitions in Kuwait from a talk given by Salah Abdullah, an expert in the analysis of architectural history, at the Aware Center. This is just an interesting excerpt, but you can read the entire article by clicking on the blue type above.
Old Kuwait
Eng Abdullah also explained the architecture of old Kuwait and how a number of elements have influenced Kuwait in making its buildings and architectural layout what it is today. “In the past city development in Kuwait was completely spontaneous and simply divided. In this it has been similar to many old cities, like London. But what dominated was the Arabic and Islamic culture which is the mainstay of interior designs of many Kuwaiti homes. Building materials were usually taken from nature — sea rock, mud, limestone and gypsum. The shape of old Kuwaiti architecture came to suit the environment and circumstances. Houses were adjacent in a manner that indicated the unity and corporation of the people and streets were usually narrow. Mosques were placed very close to houses, to allow the elderly to walk without trouble.
Construction in the past depended on Kuwaitis themselves. The engineer called ‘ustad’ at that time supervised the buildings and the laborers. They carried rocks, prepared mud bricks and started building. This process was called ‘collective vernacular architecture’. At that time three critical customs were kept in mind when constructing the houses. These included the privacy of women, segregation of guests — male and female — and future family expansion. Therefore to tackle these problems, the family part of the house where women rested was pushed to the back, far away from the street, so it was impossible for anyone passing by to see inside. The family entrance was also separated from the guest entrance. There was also a separate entrance for male and female guests. “The Diwaniya which persists until today also dominated the architectural buildings of the past. Diwaniyas for women were built on the west side of the house and male Diwaniyas on the east side,” explained Eng Abdullah.
I remember moving to Kuwait, I was shown 21 villas, and most of them had a kitchen outside. I was puzzled, then a friend told me that Kuwaitis don’t like the smell of food hanging around inside. What happens is . . . you forget. You get used to things, and after a while, it is like “oh yeh, the kitchen is outside” and you forget that it’s different. Recently, having dinner with Kuwaiti friends, they told us that their kitchen is inside, but they have a separate oven outside for cooking fish, because of the smell. I’ll have to remember that when they come to visit me in Seattle! Don’t cook fish, Intlxpatr! The smell goes all over the house!
What Happened Here?
I take photos, but I am not all that sophisticated about photography. January, for me, is a month of clearing out and organizing; it helps me face the rest of the year with more confidence. As I was clearing out duplicate photos, I came across this:
My photo has holes in it.
It looks like a tear in the photo, see the way the lines resonate around the center? I think the holes in the bottom might actually be in the woven fabric, but the hole in the center is definitely a flaw. How did this happen? Are all my digital photos at risk?
Older Dog
This came in this morning’s e-mail:
An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard.
I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.
He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head;
he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the
hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.
An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.
This continued off and on for several weeks.
Curious I pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful, sweet dog is
and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’
The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
‘He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep.
Can I come with him tomorrow?’
Gung Hey Fat Choi in Chengdu, China
The Chinese really know how to celebrate New Years. This is footage from Chengdu, China, taken as the Year of the Ox came in at midnight. Well, from a minute before midnight to several minutes afterwards. You cannot begin to imagine 180° of fireworks continuously, minutes on end. A spectacular display.
Mr. Ken’s Sunrise #2
I love the pinks and blues and purples in this one from Mr. Ken:
Here is what Mr. Ken says:
In Today’s E-mail – Great Hints
DID YOU KNOW?
Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to
pick the little ‘stringy things’ off of it. That’s how the primates do it.
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!
Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster.
Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
get through wet newspapers.
Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.
No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
Reducing Static Cling Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and … ta da! … static is gone.
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2′ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material .. I’m sure you know what your dryer¢s lint filter looks like. Well …. the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free … that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box … well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very longtime (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I’d share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ranthrough a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it .. the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
NOT ONLY COULD IT SAVE SOMEONE’S HOME, BUT IT COULD SAVE a life!
Rare Occurrence
Yesterday morning, on the way to the airport, I was taking a different route, a more travelled route, but early in the morning, so early, most of the routes are more lightly travelled.
There were none of the weaving wonders I normally experience.
I experienced a new phenomenon, very very slow drivers.
I don’t know why there were so many people driving really really slow on fast roads. They were all in the very far right lane. I wondered if they were falling asleep, they were so slow. And then I remembered . . . when I first came to Kuwait, the traffic terrified me. I would get up very very early and go out and drive, to try to learn the roads, but I always stayed in the right lane, and I was going pretty slow.
I don’t know if they were new drivers – there were a lot of slow drivers on the road. Maybe they were sleepy, or incapacitated in some other way. Or maybe they were new, terrified drivers like I used to be.
Frequent Traveller
“We’ll be checking in late,” explains AdventureMan, “and we want to be sure you will hold the room for us.”
Pause.
Pause.
Pause. (you can hear frantic clicking in the background)
“Sir, what is your name again?”
“AdventureMan! (He actually gives his real name) A – D – V – E – N – T – U – R – E – M – A – N!” He spells it out.
Pause
Pause
More Pause
“Uh, sir, we can’t find your reservation! When did you make it?”
“The office made it.”
Pause
Pause
Pause
This is not looking good.
“Sir, we do not have a reservation for you. I am so sorry sir!”
“But I am sure the office made a reservation! I have the confirmation number! And, I am one of (your hotel name) SPECIAL CLUB MEMBERS!”
“Uh, yes sir, but this is (a totally different hotel)”
LLLOOOLLL, Adventureman.
“I am SO sorry.” He hangs up. He calls the right hotel, and he is assured they have our room ready for us.
AdventureMan looks at me and we both start giggling.
“I would have hung up,” he begins, but we are both convulsing with laughter.”I would have hung up, but I gave them my NAME!” and we are both dying laughing. He does stay at this other hotel from time to time.
“Next time I call, I will have to identify myself as STUPID-MAN!” he barks, and we are weak and helpless, we are laughing so hard.
Rainy Sunrise
Woooo HOOOOO, Kuwait! We have rain! We have rain! Not a heavy, Pacific Northwest kind of rain that will last the whole day – as you can see, the sun is even breaking through from time to time – but rain! Beautiful rain!
The roads will be slick today, my Kuwait friends. Be careful out there.
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