My Blackberries are fine though, for the concerned

Despite sometimes losing the battle to the vegetable and fruit stealing critters of the wild that make their way into our garden, our blackberry vines are so bountiful, the birds can have their share and there are still plenty enough for my family. There are so many blackberries at times of the year that we cannot consume them all, so I freeze them to use in my fruit smoothies. Yum!



I took this picture this morning as soon as I went outside in the morning sun. In the background is a blooming Confederate jasmine, which smells wonderful as I take photos.

Even my dogs eat them, and the berries that form on the ground level of the vines the dogs try and steal! So if the birds don't get them, my dogs will. But that's what these beautiful vines are here for, to produce wonderful tasting berries for all on Earth to enjoy.



Above is a picture of just a portion of the blackberry I picked this morning. I wash them, and put them in bowl on counter and we eat them throughout the day. I even give them to my dogs as treats. Even our dogs love 'em.

We have so many I started giving them to the dogs as treats, they love em! The oldest dog picks them off the vine if he can reach them, and even though he gets thorns on his mouth and nose it doesn't stop him! He loves the things and rushes out the door every morning to eat some with me.

They are packed full of Vitamin A, C, and those wonderful things called anti-carcinogenic agents. The phenolics in blackberries include anthocyanins, ellagic acid, rutin, gallic acid, hydrocaffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid, plus excellent contents of the antioxidant vitamins A and C.

Someone stole my cherry tomatoes!

I woke up to the most horrible thing today, I was ROBBED during the night!

A bird must have stolen my cherry tomatoes while I was asleep! Well not all of them, but some of them. LOL

Every morning, as the dew is still glistening in the morning sun, I venture in my big backyard garden and take a look at the beautiful plants doing their thing. My wife and I are growing a wide range of herbs like dill, basil, mint and plenty of vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers. Over the past few years, it's become one of my favorite things to do, and encourage anyone to get into home gardening.

But this morning, I was especially excited because the cherry tomatoes had really started to ripen to an almost perfect red and I was eager to pick some and taste them today.

To my surprise, a bird seems to have made his way into our garden and snatched a good number of my cherry tomatoes and all I could find was this very small one on the ground as evidence that "beaks" had been poking holes in tomatoes and making off with their organic booty!

To show the size of the cherry tomato I found on the ground, I picked a fresh blackberry off the vine and held it in my hand for comparison.

Cherry tomato picture:



Our garden is fenced in and made so any thing with legs can't really get in and steal things, but its hard to keep birds out, so we let them take what they want and what they leave we eat. LOL

The taste of a fresh cherry tomato picked fresh off the vine from your backyard is as wonderful as the sweet and sour flavor of an organic blackberry just picked off the vine still moist with dew.

Books for the Expecting Father

Well, the day has finally come... after years of living with my wife, we are going to have a baby.

So, I went in the bookstore yesterday with my wife looking for a book she wanted and noticed something I had never expected, no pun intended, I saw just as many books aimed at "expecting fathers" as I did for the "expecting mothers!"

I had never ventured into the "pregnancy and baby care" section of the bookstore before but soon realized I had now become one of them!

I had never even thought of reading a book for fathers-to-be, and I am wondering if I should?

Have you ever read any of these books and do you recommend any specifically?

Red Salsa

So me and my wife have been making a lot of red salsa "salsa roja" lately trying to get it just the way we like it. And after today's red salsa, I think we have just about nailed it! We've been making this stuff for years, but it takes years to reach perfection!

Despite being unable to find "habaneros" I was able to find all the stuff we needed to make a true, authentic, mexican red salsa. Having lived in Los Angeles so many years, I can tell when salsa is missing something, or if it has that terrible ingredient, "vinegar" in it. Salsa should never have vinegar in it, and this is why I am turned off by all store bought salsas. They all contain vinegar as preservative and I do not like the flavor, it destroys the good flavor of the tomatoes and the chilis begin to taste "pickled" except for the lack of dill flavor.



So anyway... back to the salsa. Here is a picture of the finished salsa and we got the color perfect, the viscosity is just right, and the hot is perfect. Although I would have enjoyed it almost ridiculously hot with habaneros, the peppers we used were almost just right.

We used Anaheim Chilis, Jalapenos, and some other chilis that I am not aware of the name as the store had them simply called "hot peppers." They were long and tapered, they were nowhere near as hot as habanero, but the flavor came out great.

I know you can't taste it via the internet, but man oh man, I know you can tell it is quite tasty. It has garlic, cilantro, chilis, multiple types of tomatoes including roma and locally grown "Creole Tomatoes" and more.

How To Win Playing Darts

Ever been out during a night of drinking and hanging with friends at a pub and was invited to a game of throwing darts? Did you lose and want to practice a little before you go out next time?

Or are you someone who is looking to increase your skill in the game of darts?

Well, first thing you need to do is get a good bristle dartboard, sure there are cheaper ones out there, but you will end up needing to replace a cheap dartboard made of paper versus a self healing sisal fiber bristle dartboard.



Now all you need is a good set of darts to get you started on your path to being a pro dart thrower!

What's there to know about darts? The best darts are made of tungsten metal, and the cheaper ones most people know of are made of brass with steel tips. The price will range anywhere from a few dollars to a pro set of darts costing you up to $100.

Here is a set of tungsten darts from Halex that are perfect for the beginner, or as a backup set for the pros!



There is no official way to "throw a dart" and only lots of practice will increase your skill in the game of darts.

Best Christmas Gifts for 2008

Now that the holidays are upon us, Christmas gifts are on everyone's mind. What to get for mom, what do we buy dad this year?

One thing is for sure, the most popular, best Christmas gifts this year will be electronic, as is the case in modern times.

Best Christmas Gifts for 2008 is a quick list of some of the best gifts for this year, based on sales rank and how well the product is selling at this time of the year.

One of the most popular gifts is the iPod of course.



When I bought my first ipod, I wish it had that much storage, 160 GBs of music is a lot to take with you.

If you are having a hard time deciding what to buy a loved one, take a look at the Best Christmas Gifts for 2008 and maybe you'll find something you think they'd enjoy.

Another hot item on the kids wishlist, and some adult gamers too, is the World of Warcraft expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King.



Times have changed since the old board game days when kids were lucky to get a Monopoly game, now everything is digital and electronic, but that's okay. Happy Holidays everyone.

Family Guy

I was reading the news this morning having my coffee, and I read that Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, has been given $100 million dollars to keep the popular cartoon going!

Do you watch Family Guy?

MacFarlane, 35, is creator and executive producer of "Family Guy," Fox's top-rated prime-time 'toon (yes, even more popular than "The Simpsons"), one of the all-time best-selling TV-on-DVD titles, and a show that spearheaded the digital-download video phenomenon.

So it's no wonder the studio recently served up a $100 million production deal to keep their "Family" man happy. MacFarlane also is at the helm of the Fox 'toon "American Dad!" and is working on a "Family Guy" spin-off series, "Cleveland."

"In all honesty, my representative said I could get that much money and I didn't stop him," MacFarlane said. "Can I spend a hundred million dollars? No. I'll spread it around a much as I can."

Spreading the wealth? Clearly, MacFarlane is an Obama man. He did some campaigning for the Democratic presidential candidate, and even took a shot at the Republican competition on "Family Guy."

Note how CNN takes a stab at him for supporting Barack Obama.

The guy is definitely a winner. Not that many people have been that successful with a cartoon, and it has taken lots of hard work and sacrifice.

Despite the amount of wealth he has acquired, he still sounds "down to Earth." When asked how the $100 million could change his life, Seth replied, "Nothing I can do can really live up to that amount of money on a daily basis, so my view of it ... (is that) I gave them all of my 20s, which are irretrievable. (I put my) heart and soul into that show, and, in turn, they give me $100 million. I think that's fair. One of those is replaceable, the other isn't."

Who Killed The Electric Car?

As I read the news about the auto makers industry needing a possible bailout, I cannot help but recall this DVD I watched awhile back.

If you have any doubt that we should have had electric cars already, and have wondered whether the idea of cars fueled by electricity has been swept under the rug by the very companies who need help now, take a look at this DVD.

Who Killed The Electric Car? is a great documentary, and you will nejoy it if you are looking for info on this fascinating topic.



Here is the brief description I read before watching it:

In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened? Why should we be haunted by the ghost of the electric car?

Do yourself a favor and educate yourself about elecric cars, why we should already have them and how they were swept under the rug so Hummers could be sold.

Lots of cameo appearances by movie stars who owned prototypes of the cars and loved them! Martin Sheen, Mel Gibson and more.

Get your copy of Who Killed The Electric Car? today.

OBAMA WINS PRESIDENCY!

Well America, we did it.

Barack Obama wins the presidency

I posted this before: Barack Obama Wins Presidency And hoped it would come true... and it has.



The world will never look at America the same. Hopefully, this will take our country in a better direction. Other countries will see us different now. And we proved we can look past skin color and elect a president.

Say it, get used to it: President Barack Obama.

Congrats to the winners

Back From Voting

I just walked in from standing in line almost two hours to cast my vote on Election Day!

Here is a picture I snapped just a few moments after arriving.



The line went straight ahead and then curved around the school building. The line went from the voting machines, all the way to the street. People near us said they had been there earlier and the line was much longer, but went home and came back.

As I mentioned, the wait was over an hour and a half, but not quite two hours. From leaving the house and getting back home was close to two hours, as the drive was not that far.

And yes, I voted for Barack Obama.