July 2007 Archives

Americans eat too much fat, too much salt, too much of everything. Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables.

I'm so sick of hearing the warnings of death. If you don't know if you're healthy by now, you must be living under a rock. Anyway, I digress. Check out this story about McDonald's salads. Sometimes fast food is all you have time for when you're in a time crunch. Guess I might as well get what I want and not what I should.

Salads at the Golden Arches are compared with the menu's antithesis.

Trying to carry too many items at once, I watched the lid to my favorite crockpot crash the pavement and shatter into hundreds of shards of glass.

I was devastated. A perfectly good crockpot without a lid is no good. Everyone told me to just buy a new one, they are like $20, but I can't see sending my perfectly good crockpot to the landfill.

It seems that with $20 DVD players and $10 toasters, so many people buy inexpensive appliances. When one part or piece doesn't work, they chuck it out for the garbage and buy a new one.

I refuse to be someone who adds to the growing stress on the earth anymore than I already do. So, I set out to find a new lid. I tried to order it from the company online, but with shipping, the lid cost $19.99, more than the crockpot itself.

My next step was to visit the York Rescue Mission Thrift Store in search of a used crockpot, but what I found was a box of crockpot lids.

I didn't find the right size, but I know that if I keep checking my crockpot will be back to new after buying a $1 lid.

Wow, it feels good to be nice to the earth!

How nice are you to the earth? Visit http://www.liveearth.org/ and click on "What's your impact?" to see.

An ABC News special, "6 Degrees of Martina McBride," airs at 9 p.m. July 30. The show follows six aspiring country singers as they connect themselves to McBride using the six degrees theory: Everyone in the world is separated from everyone else by only six other people. Once they find the connection, they compete in a talent contest where the winner could walk away with a record deal. This show (minus the country music competition) sounds a lot like YDR's Six Degrees series. Find your own conncetion and email your story to jvogelsong@ydr.com.

Earlier this month I was enjoying one of my few encounters with cable television at my parents' house and I turned to my favorite channel - The Food Network.

There was a special called "Amusement Park Eats." George Duran visited some of America's Amusement Parks to check out their food. They saved the best for last -- Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg.

They highlighted some pizza - taco and hoagie - alligator bites and ice-cream waffle sandwiches.

If you want to learn more about the food there, check out the Web site. http://www.knoebels.com/food.asp The best part is, you don't have to pay admission to go and enjoy the food! If you've been there before, share your comments about your favorite memory!

There's been a lot talk about smoking bans. Of course, life would be great if I never walked into another puff of smoke again, but I wasn't really passionate about pushing for it.

Until recently.

I have run, literally, into some really disrespectful smokers. I use the York County Heritage Rail Trail frequently for biking and running. It's so serene, quiet and peaceful. But recently, I've run into a road block.

Smokers.

WellSpan's Indian Rock Facility, 915 Indian Rock Dam Road, butts up against the rail trail. Several employees must take their smoke breaks on the trail, because on my last two runs, I've encountered a cloud of smoke and at least four different smokers on the way down and back.

It's hard enough to breath in the heat and humidity let alone through a screen of smoke. I concentrate hard to take smooth, even breaths and an interruption of stinky chemicals kills my pattern.

What really gets me, is that these people work for a hospital system that is smoke-free. Great idea WellSpan...send your smokers to pollute one of the most beautiful areas this county has. They may not realize it, but their unhealthy habit is affecting people who care about their health.

I've sent a message to WellSpan to alert them of their employees disrespect for the physically active of the county. Maybe smokers don't understand how their emissions affect a runner, but I sure do and it doesn't feel good.

Local band Lookout Point is set to play Vans Warped Tour 2007 Wednesday at the Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. The band will play a 25-minute set on Hot Topic’s Kevin Says Stage, which is a side stage at the show. Gates for the all-day music event open at 11 a.m. Read more about the concert here.

The 2007 Primetime Emmy nominations were released today. Check out what shows got recognized and what shows got rejected. "The Sopranos" scored 15 nominations, despite the wacky ending. "Ugly Betty" received 11. "Grey's Anatomy" and "30 Rock" each got 10. Catch all the drama as the winners are crowned at The 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards show on Sept. 16.

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter....it's all the rage these days. I've read the books and seen the movies and I've always been fascinated by the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

I thought I would take a box to my 11-year-old brother Kaleb and together we would taste vomit, earwax, rotten egg, earthworm and sardines. We'd bond over the silly tasting beans and become the best of friends. Ha. What magical fantasies.

When I got there, he didn't want to participate. He knew better. I, however, was in denial that these things actually tasted like boogers. I mean, who eats boogers to know what they taste like anyway?

I took to the task alone. I tried bacon...it really tasted like a bacon bit. Pepper tasted like a large peppercorn. They weren't good, but at least the flavors were based on real foods.

My goal was to get through every one - booger and all. It was until after I tasted dirt, grass, earthworm, vomit and soap did I give up. My stomach was turning. My family was laughing so hard at the faces I was making, they were teary-eyed.

I eventually talked Kaleb into eating Sardines...it took less than a second for him to make a face and head to the trash can.

"It tastes like the fishing boat," he said.

Ever wonder what you'd look like as a Simpson?

Blue hair? An exaggerated jowl? Bug eyes?

On "The Simpsons Movie" Web site, you can create your likeness as a Simpsons avatar.

The site lets you pick a body type, hair style, eyes, nose, T-shirt design and more.

Then, save the image to your computer, create an icon or e-mail it to friends. (See mine above.)

Enjoy!

There was a time not too long ago that 13-year-old Dakota Fanning was the go-to-girl for little girl roles in movies. She’s had at least nine notable movie roles since 2001 and appeared in a bunch of popular TV shows, “Friends” and “CSI” included.

But in the past two days, I’ve seen two roles that I’m sort of surprised Dakota didn’t get.

So, Friday is the Filene's Basement wedding gown event. Filene's employees are preparing to hold down the racks as hundreds, maybe thousands of brides-to-be and their color-coordinated teams attack 1,500 designer dresses priced from $249 to $699.

I want to be there. Not only to witness the madness, but to tell the story of one local bride and her quest (and oh how brave it is) to find her dream dress is a sea of bargain-crazed brides.

Just look at this.....

Do you know anyone from York or Adams counties that is attempting to tackle the crowds to find their dress Friday? If so, please, please call or e-mail me at nlefever@ydr.com or 717-771-2101.

Over the weekend, "American Idol" winner Clay Aiken was involved in an altercation with a female passenger on a flight to Tulsa, Okla. The duel of the divas escalated into physical violence when Aiken was apparently "shoved" by the woman. An FBI investigation was launched to get to the bottom the catfight. Is the woman the next "Million Dollar Baby" or was she just trying to defend herself from Aiken's smelly feet? You decide.

So, some 1970s rock band Rubinoos is suing pop rocker Avril Lavigne for stealing their rhythm, lyrics ... basically their entire song, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." (Her song is "Girlfriend.")

The chorus ia actually pretty similar, but does that make this a rock robbery? One is more folksy ... one is pop. Thoughts?

I've always been fascinated with the history of food, so it came as no surprise that I loved Tropical Treat in Berwick Township. It's a 54-year-old drive-in complete with individual intercoms and waitresses that travel to your car.

So, when I found out they opened a Sonic near my parent's house in Lancaster, I wanted them to see what the drive-in was all about. What I found was a commercialized version of the authentic Tropical Treat. Yes they had burgers, shakes and car hops, but it didn't have the same feel as Tropical Treat. While the experience was fun, I won't go back. If I want to experience burgers and shakes car side, I'll travel west, not east.

Sonic America's Drive-In, which started in Oklahoma in 1953, has 3,200 locations across America and Mexico. To learn more about them, visit http://www.sonicdrivein.com.

Here is some good news for all you "Sex and the City" fans. Plans are moving forward with the movie version of the HBO hit series. Even though Samantha (Kim Cattrall) has been dragging her stiletto heels for a few years, she finally seems to be ready to take back Manhattan with Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte. Filming is set to begin in September. Will the show's fabulousness translate to the silver screen?

If your plans for the evening involve heading over to Blockbuster after work and perusing the new releases (in the modern age of Netflix, I realize this is an archaic...) I whole-heartedly do not recommend renting "Reno 911: Miami."