Friday, July 24, 2009

Get motivated and track fitness with the Trainer


MP3 players fulfill many roles for the people who use them. For some, a portable audio device is true to form as an essential commuter companion; others turn their players into home audio systems by attaching them to speakers. But one of the most popular uses for an MP3 player is as a workout motivator, which is why companies have packed fitness-friendly extras into the devices over the years. The most recent example is found in the Haier America Trainer, a 2GB player with a surfeit of features aimed at getting you in shape. At $60, the Trainer is a solid investment for gym rats who want to get the absolute most out of an MP3 player.

Source

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Michael Jackson was reportedly working on two albums at time of death


Billboard magazine is reporting that at the time of Michael Jackson's death, the aging pop star was working on two albums in addition to preparing for a 50-show concert series. One album, the website reports, was in the pop vein, while another would be made up entirely instrumental classical compositions. Jackson's pop album was a collaboration with songwriter Claude Kelly and Akon, who says Jackson was motivated by his fans and by his children, who had never seen him perform live. For the classical album, composer David Michael Frank was invited to Jackson's Holmby Hills home a few months ago looking for help with orchestration.


Source

Friday, July 17, 2009

Families bond in NBC’s lighthearted ‘Great American Road Trip’


Parents who have taken road trips will chuckle - or cringe - watching NBC’s “Great American Road Trip,” premiering Tuesday at 8 on WHDH (Ch. 7).

Sure, everyone should see this exquisite land, but doing it while spending a month together in an RV with no personal electronics would seem daunting to even the closest of families. Yet seven brave families of four pile into NBC-provided RVs to head west on Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles in this reality series hosted by comic Reno Collier.

During each one-hour episode, the families face challenges. The family that loses leaves. The last family remaining after the eight episodes wins $100,000.

The first challenge is being deprived of iPods, portable DVD players and cell phones. For most teens, this is akin to cutting off oxygen.

“They’re meant to be fun family challenges,” said executive producer Lisa Hennessy. “There’s one where the dads did a cook-off - who could make the best burgers. And we did a blind taste test. We also have bigger challenges where the families do a zip line. We did it outside Las Vegas, and they have to hit a target with a balloon filled with paint. They’re just meant to be fun and funny.”

The 14 youths are between ages 9 and 16, and the families were selected to be geographically, racially, ethnically and economically diverse. Family togetherness and a desire to see the country motivated people to participate.

“I have always been fascinated with reality (TV, but) I was not willing to leave my family for an extended period of time,” said Amie Pollard of Wicksburg, Ala. “When I saw this, I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh! The trip of a lifetime, and we can do it as a family.’ I was kind of already having that separation anxiety because my son is literally less than a year from going to college. This is the chance for us to have one big hoorah as a family, take a huge vacation together and do things we have never, ever done before.”

Amie is married to her high-school sweetheart, Ron, and they have two children, Aaron, 17, and Anslie, 12.

Anslie, who addresses adults as “ma’am,” learned a lot about her parents, namely, “I really and truly thought they were not as together when we got on the trip,” she said. “I learned they were very close.”

Lenny Faverey, a doorman at a Manhattan building, had never driven farther than 100 miles and was nervous about maneuvering an RV. (NBC paid for the gas, which averaged $1,500 per family.) He and his wife, Dee, and their children, Dylan, 15, and Ashley, 10, had a great time.

“Doing this adventure with my family has given me a new light on life,” he said.

As magnificent as the sights are, Pollard says the trip made her realize “how much your day-to-day reaction with each other is limited because of technology. When all of that is taken away, there is so much for your family. We would lie in bed at night and tell jokes, and we would be laughing out loud in the dark in the RV. As adults, we get so wrapped up in careers and our jobs and all the things that don’t matter.”


Source

Thursday, July 16, 2009

At Seattle Center 500 take oath to become U.S. citizens;


Albert Chen called his fiancée Saturday to give her the news.

After a two-year engagement, she can come to the U.S. from China as Chen's bride-to-be. He became a U.S. citizen at a Fourth of July naturalization ceremony.

"I just called her last night," said Chen, a 41-year-old chemist from China. "I will call her today, share with her the experience. I think it's a very big event."

Chen was among more than 500 people from 79 countries who took the oath of citizenship Saturday at Seattle Center.

Whether they were motivated by love, like Chen, or by freedom, a fresh start, or the opportunity to vote, for each the certificate received was the end of a long journey.

More than 6,000 people took the oath at about 50 ceremonies across the country, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The annual Seattle ceremony is sponsored by the Ethnic Heritage Council.

Applicants for citizenship must be 18 and a permanent resident, must have good moral character, be able to speak and understand English and demonstrate knowledge of U.S. history and government.

Ivan and Nataliya Kerpan, of Everett, are Christians who grew up afraid to speak about their faith in the former Soviet Union. They believe God brought them to the U.S. from their home in the Ukraine because of the religious freedom here.

"We prayed for this, because we wanted to see more countries, and God sent us here ... because Jesus is savior," said Nataliya, who became a citizen six months ago and watched her husband take the oath on Saturday.

Mayor Greg Nickels, U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott and Dave Reichert, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed were among the officials who spoke at the noon ceremony. They urged the new Americans to vote and find ways to contribute.

"Remind us who have been born here what freedom means," Reichert said. "We sometimes take freedom for granted."

It was hot Saturday under the summer sun. Those taking the oath fanned themselves and made hats out of their programs. Members of the Greenwood Concert Band gulped water between Sousa marches. Friends and family huddled in the shade to hear the speeches.

In the front row of citizenship candidates, 13 men serving in the U.S. military prepared to become citizens. Most of them were preparing to deploy and fight for their new country, if they hadn't already.

"It means quite a bit, being able to be a part of this country," said José Aguayo, who was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. as a child. He has served one tour in Iraq and expects to be deployed again, probably to Afghanistan.

Wete Tittora joined the Army a year ago and also expects to be deployed to Afghanistan. He emigrated two years ago from Togo and became a soldier out of love for his new home, he said.

"In my country, the best way to show a friend that you love him is to fight together with him against an enemy," he said. "That's the best way to say thank you to my country."


Source

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Anti-smoking crusader motivated by personal loss


SPRINGVILLE — Logan Jones still doesn't have the nerve to tell his mother he's a founding member of an anti-tobacco group.

It's not like they talk much anyway.

Sometimes, like this year, she'll call on his birthday. Then he won't hear from her for months.

In fact, Logan can't even remember what she looks like anymore.

Ten years ago she left 6-year-old Logan and his younger twin sisters for the drug and alcohol life. And she probably still smokes, he says matter-of-factly.

Then, four years after his mom left, Logan's dad died of pneumonia — lung complications caused by secondhand smoke. The 42-year-old father hadn't smoked a day in his life but worked with people who did, Logan said.

Smoking may have taken two people from Logan, but it left him with a magnetic resolve to create something positive from his losses.

"When we … hear of people who have cancer, (or) meet kids who've lost a mom or dad to lung cancer, (this is) our way of saying 'We are trying to do something about this,' " said Logan, who lives with his grandmother in Springville. "It's kind of a driving force."

But point out Logan's maturity or incredible sense of responsibility and the 16-year-old is quick to deflect the praise.

After all, he's only one member of OUTRAGE, the group of Utah County teens working to clear the air and spread the word.

"Everyone in the group has a pretty powerful story," Logan said. "They're in it for a reason. They're not just there to have fun. We really go out and do stuff."

That "stuff" began when the group of dedicated teens and energetic coordinator Jen Tischler went city-to-city educating councils about why a countywide smoking ban was needed in parks and recreation areas.

It's all about protecting kids where they play, Logan said.

Then the group trouped door-to-door to get signatures supporting clean air. Over nearly two years, OUTRAGE gathered 13,474 signature cards and 5,112 opinion surveys. It paid off in November when the Utah County Board of Health approved a ban on smoking in public parks, recreation areas and any outdoor party with more than 50 people.

The win was so big, it even got the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency.

OUTRAGE recently accepted the President's Environmental Youth Award in D.C., and days later the Utah Public Health Association's Youth Group Award, Tischler said.

"I believe so much in (these kids)," she said. "I believe in the work they're doing. I'm amazed by them."

Especially Logan, who has become determined, not depressed, by his experiences.

"He can affect so many other people because of his story," Tischler said. "I'm excited to see him grow up and see what he does. He's already done so much. He turned his tragedy into a triumph."

When Logan isn't busy with OUTRAGE, he squeezes in choir practices Saturday mornings at 7, time with his dog, Rose, and occasional geocaching ventures.

"He's so responsible," said his grandmother Barbara Jones. "I've never known kids that were so dedicated and serious about something."

OUTRAGE has to be. Lives are at stake.

"We're trying to … change social norms," Tischler said. "We're teaching kids that this isn't a normal habit, this isn't healthy for you."

And the group has the perfect teaching tools: Pig lungs. One healthy, one smoke-riddled.

During county fairs the teens inflate them with PVC pipes to compare strength.

"They smell pretty grody," Logan said. And they make some kids sick, so the group uses them wisely.

Logan also keeps a flash drive in his pocket. He'll show the shockingly truthful, anti-smoking and anti-meth ads to anyone who will watch.

They're not pretty, he says. But they're real. Just like the consequences of smoking.

"I've never gotten tired of doing it," Logan said of his work with OUTRAGE. "Of course you get tired, but you wake up the next morning and say, 'OK, I could do this.' "


Source

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

TEMECULA: Protesters line intersection


TEMECULA ---- Some of the people lining the corners of the Rancho California and Ynez roads intersection during a tax protest Saturday afternoon said their beef isn't only with President Barack Obama.

"I don't think anyone here will tell you it's a Republican versus Democrat thing. It's an American thing," said Mike Horan of Poway. "It isn't so much politically motivated. People want to make sure they're being heard."

A crowd estimated by organizers to have topped out at 1,000 stood on all four corners of the intersection near Duck Pond Park in Temecula, some holding signs critical of the government and others waving flags. They elicited many thumbs up and honking horns of support from drivers who passed by.

Signs showed messages such as "Congress stay out of my wallet," "No Bama, No Boxer, No Bono" and "You can't fix stupid, you can only vote them out."

"We're just out here trying to get our message out," said Rick Reiss, one of the organizers. "A lot of people are frustrated with the government. ... People want government to leave them alone. They don't need government to come in and do everything for us."

Ben Cossart of Rainbow said protests such as the one Saturday can make a difference.

"This kind of thing did a lot in the '60s," he said. "Now, it's mainstream America (protesting). It's mom, pop and grandpa."

While there was criticism of the final year of George W. Bush's presidency, and a lot of anger with U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack being one of eight Republicans in Congress to vote in favor of the "cap and trade" energy bill, most of the negativity was aimed at Obama. The economic stimulus plan, energy policies and the unemployment rate drew the most ire.

"It's going to bankrupt our future generation," Reiss said. "Look what this generation is going to leave behind, it's an absolute disgrace."

In the sea of conservatives stood four local men who showed up in support of Obama.

"I'm a liberal," Britton Stackman of Murrieta said. "I felt my voice needed to be heard as much as their voice needed to be heard."

The four drew some friendly banter from their Republican counterparts, and some not-so-friendly personal insults, they said.

Horan, who delayed a family surfing trip to participate in the rally, said he's not so worried about his future, but that of his five sons and seven grandchildren.

"We want to see if we can get some semblance of our country back from the White House and those nuts in Congress," Horan said.

He said he came to the rally because people can't expect change if they don't let their voices be heard.

"You can't sit back and wait for things to happen," he said. "You have to take the initiative."

Horan said he is hoping that Obama has a successful presidency.

"If he fails, what kind of country are we going to have left?" Horan asked.

Debby Cossart donned stars and stripes as she joined her husband, Ben, at the protest.

"We want our country back," she said. "We're more desperate. Things get scarier by the moment."

Reiss helped organize a tax protest at Duck Pond Park on April 15, which he said drew more than 2,000 people on a day similar protests were held around the country.

He was happy with Saturday's turnout, considering it was a holiday and the protesters came out even though the mercury neared 100 degrees.

"You have got to be kind of nuts to come out here on a day like this," Reiss said. "It shows they're very dedicated."

Reiss said there currently are no plans for another rally, although he's eyeing April 15, next tax day, for another event.


Source