The ***OFFICIAL*** Weekend Singles' Thread -- Easter Weekend (April 14-16)

April 14, 2006 | Victoria Delsoul and Army Air Corps

[Victoria Delsoul]

The True Meaning of Easter

By: Paul Arinaga

There's a lot of controversy about the true meaning of Easter. Some claim that it's actually a pagan celebration in origin. Others lament that retailers, greeting card companies and television are changing Christianity's greatest feast into something with meaning "the size of a jelly bean."

In any case, the most common view about the real meaning of Easter is that it's a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that through this act, sin and death are conquered. Easter also can be seen as a season of joy. The time of sorrow is over. Lent's penitential forty days have passed, and the fifty days of the Easter season have begun. Winter is over and spring is in the air. In times past, it's said that priests would regale their parishioners with funny stories. Easter was truly a time to rejoice. To rejoice that Our Lord has Risen and that one day we too shall pass through death (which has lost its sting) and rise to New Life!

While I am certainly not erudite enough to give you the definitive answer on what Easter means. I believe that it offers many valuable insights about life, no matter what your religious beliefs. In fact, the Easter story is so powerful that it probably offers something even to an open-minded atheist!

One of the biggest lessons from the Easter story, I believe, is the power of forgiveness. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about what forgiveness actually is. In my opinion, it doesn't mean condoning the wrong that has been committed or allowing it to happen again. Moreover, the act of forgiving is not necessarily something you do for the transgressor (although it can be), although its power can transform the transgressor, too. It is something you may do for yourself.

When you can forgive, you can finally be free of the burden of guilt, anger, hatred or resentment. The healing process can begin or finally conclude. You can also let go of the person who hurt you. This makes you stronger and removes the power that person has over you. It's somehow ironic that by not forgiving we allow the person who has harmed us to continue to harm us, even if they themselves are unaware of the long-term damage that is being inflicted. Of course, ultimately, we are responsible. By taking responsibility now for our own interpretation of what happened in the past, we become much stronger - I think that's what people mean when they talk about "self-empowerment".

I'm not sure whether forgiveness is the main lesson of the Easter story or even a primary message from it. But I am sure that it is a valuable one. And I'm also certain that if we can learn how to forgive, we will be more productive - and happier - human beings.

Hi everybody. The themes for today are sports and movies:

1- Strange sports stories where you either participated or were a spectator. (Anything that seemed out of the ordinary and made you laugh.)

2- Favorite romantic films. Tell us about your most memorable tv/movie romances, or romantic moments.

3- Tell us about your favorite romantic movie dance scene: actors, actress, songs, soundtrack... which particular scene you thought was the best, famous quotes, etc.

And as you all well know, “in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes” and since it is also a tax weekend, we'd like to add some tax trivia, too.

Make sure to read this great essay regarding the history of taxes in the U.S. written by Army Air Corps. Outstanding job, AAC. Thanks.

Tax Trivia:

1. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was passed. What did it do?

2. About how much did the U. S. government collect in Income Taxes in the year 2001?

3. Which country does NOT have an income tax?

4. Why was the first U. S. Income Tax implemented?

5. Which U. S. President was responsible for the largest Federal Income Tax cut in the 20th century?

6. Which President implemented the very first Income Tax in the United States?

7. As a percent of income, which country has the highest tax rate?

8. As of the year 2000, the U. S. Internal Revenue Code (or tax code for short) is how many pages long?

9. Who writes the Income Tax laws in the United States?

10. What does the Internal Revenue Service call their electronic method of filing Income Taxes?

Please, join us for some fun.

Your hosts for the weekend are:

Victoria Delsoul                             Army Air Corps

This weekend's Music

Sergio Mendes & Black Eyed Peas - Mas Que Nada

Shakira - Whenever, Whatever

Los Lonely Boys - Heaven

Los Lonely Boys – Heaven (Spanish Version)

Etta James – At Last

Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl

The Cardigans – Lovefool

Maroon 5 - This Love

Frank Sinatra – I've Got You Under My Skin

Smokey Robinson – Just To See Her

Mariah Carey - Emotions

Barry Manilow – Copacabana

Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders - The Game Of Love

Andy Williams – Moon River

Louie Prima – Jump Jive And Wail

Shania Twain - You're Still The One

Smokey Robinson – Cruisin'

The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin'

Ricky Martin – Livin' The Vida Loca

Goo Goo Dolls – Give A Little Bit

Neil Diamond - America

Lou Bega – Mambo No. 5

Bobby Darin – Mack The Knife

Wayne Newton – Danke Schoen

Neil Diamond – I Am I Said

Bobby Darin – Beyond The Sea

The Marcels – Blue Moon

Sam Cooke – Another Saturday Night

Elvis Presley – My Way

Patti Labelle – Lady Marmalade

The Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang

Bobby Darin - More

Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now

Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Sheryl Crow – All I Want To Do

[DollyCali]

borrowed (ahem) from Oesy at the Finest

Seventeen Different Ways to Cook Eggs

Source: Lett's Household Magazine, 1884

Eggs à la Crême – Cut some very thin slices of bread and put them in the bottom and around the sides of a moderately deep dish. Boil twelve eggs just hard enough to slice, and place them in the dish. Cover them with a layer of grated stale bread, well peppered and salted. Make several layers. Mix a quarter of a pound of butter, a table-spoonful of flour, some chopped parsley, onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a gill of cream. Mix them well and stir in a saucepan on the fire until it begins to boil; then pour it over the eggs in the dish, cover with grated bread, brown in the oven and serve hot.

Baked Eggs, Ardennes Style – Separate the whites and yolks of six eggs, putting each yolk by itself in a cup, and the whites altogether in a bowl; when all the eggs are broken, beat the whites to a stiff froth, after adding to them a saltspoonful of salt and a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper; spread them on a buttered dish, slip the yokes on top, laying them a little apart, and bake for five minutes in a hot oven, or until they are light brown; dust pepper and salt over the top and serve them hot.

Eggs with Burnt Butter – Break half a dozen eggs, putting each one in a cup to keep them entire; put four tablespoonfuls of butter in a frying pan and brown it over the fire, slip the eggs into the hot butter and cook them to the desired degree; then take them up with a skimmer, lay them on toast and set the dish containing them where they will keep hot. Pour half a cup of vinegar into the butter, let it boil up once, pour it over the eggs and serve them hot.

Scotch Eggs – One cut of lean, cooked ham, cut very fine; six hard-boiled eggs. Cook one-third of a cup of stale bread-crumbs in one third of a cup of milk to a smooth paste, and mix it with the ham. Add one-half a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, one half a saltspoonful of cayenne, and one raw egg. Mix well. Remove the shells from the boiled eggs and cover each with the mixture. Fry in hot fat for two minutes, drain and serve hot or cold.

Eggs à la Neige – Put into a saucepan a pint of milk, two dessert-spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and two ounces of sugar, and let them boil; take six eggs, beat the whites to a froth and put it into the boiling milk by spoonfuls; stir the whole about with a skimmer; when done take the cooked frothed whites out and arrange on a dish; thicken the milk over the fire with the beaten yolks, and pour all over the frothed whites and serve.

Savoury Eggs – Boil any number of eggs hard, and when cold take the yokes and beat them smooth, with an equal number of anchovies, a little catsup, and a piece of butter. Add some lemon-juice and a little cayenne pepper. With this composition fill the whites of the eggs, and cut off the small ends so as to stand them up. Essence of anchovy will do as well as the fish. Grated ham or smoked beef may also be used.

Fried Eggs with Pickles – Put enough butter, lard, or ham-fat in a hot frying-pan to entirely cover the bottom, break in as many eggs as it will hold, dust them with pepper and salt, cook them to the required degree, and put them on a hot dish; meanwhile chop a large pickle finely and put it into the frying-pan for one minute after the eggs have been taken up, then put it on them serve them at once.

Fricasseed Eggs – Boil six eggs five minutes. Lay them in cold water. Peel them and dredge them with flour. Beat one raw egg light and dip the hard eggs in it. Roll them in bread crumbs, seasoned with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg; cover the eggs will with this and let them dry. Fry them in boiling fat and serve them with any rich, well-seasoned gravy and garnish of parsley.

Eggs Convent Fashion – Boil four eggs ten minutes and put in cold water. Melt an ounce of butter and fry an onion cut into very thin slices; add a teaspoonful of flour, half a pint of milk, half a teaspoonful of flour, half a pint of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter teaspoonful of pepper, and when nicely done add the flour eggs cut crossways into six pieces; toss them up and serve hot on toast.

Whites of Eggs à la Crême – Beat the whites of twelve eggs with four teaspoonfuls of rose-water with a little grated lemon-peel, nutmeg and powdered sugar. Put them in four moulds and boil for half an hour. When cold place in a dish and serve for supper with a sauce made of a half a pint of cream, a gill of wine, and half the juice of an orange sweetened.

Baked Omelet – Boil one pint of milk. Beat six eggs thoroughly, the yokes and whites separately. Put half a teaspoonful of salt, and butter half the size of an egg, into the boiling milk; stir this into the beaten eggs and turn all into a deep dish to bake. Bake ten minutes in a quick oven. It should be a delicate brown. Serve while hot.

Eggs with Cheese – Put four ounces of grated cheese, a piece of butter as large as a walnut, some chopped parsley and chives, nutmeg, and half a glass of wine; boil until the cheese is melted, continually stirring; add six eggs, beat them up and stew them altogether gently; serve on a dish garnished with fried slices of bread.

Eggs in Marinade – Poach six eggs nicely, trim them and serve with a sauce made as follows: three spoonfuls of water, a gill of white gravy, a spoonful of vinegar, a little pepper and salt, yolks of two eggs; stir these in a stewpan till they begin to thicken, but not boil, and pour them over the six eggs. Serve cold with a garnish of parsley.

Baked Eggs and Cheese – Lay some thin slices of cheese on a buttered flat baking dish, break as many eggs on the cheese as the dish will hold in a single layer, dust them with salt and pepper, put a small bit of butter on each one, and bake them to the required degree in a hot oven.

Eggs with Brown Butter – Melt a piece of butter in a frying-pan, and when it has ceased bubbling put in some beaten eggs, seasoned with pepper and salt, pass a red-hot iron—a hot poker, for example—over them to fry the yolk, and then pour over a spoonful of hot vinegar and serve.

Eggs in Cases – Make eight cases of writing-paper and butter the insides. Mix some butter with half a handful of bread crumbs, parsley, chives, cloves of garlic chopped up, salt and pepper. Put this in each case, and break an egg in. Put each on a gridiron over a gentle fire.

Eggs à la Tripe – Boil some onions with a good lump of butter very gently. When done add some salt, a spoonful of flour, a cup of cream or milk, and a piece of sugar the size of a hazel-nut. Let them simmer. Put in some hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters, and serve hot.

Baked Eggs – Put half an ounce of butter in a small tin pan, break four eggs in it, keeping the yokes whole, salt and butter and pepper them and bake in oven. They will take about six minutes.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Thanks for the post, Dolly--it's egg-sactly what I was looking for! Have a great day.

[Supernatural]

Just as I suspected, your musical taste runs right along with mine.

How about the Beatles, Animals and the British Invasion like the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Chad and Jeremy, the Searchers, etc.?

[Supernatural]

England was always a great country for rock concerts, especially London.

Have you seen any good shows there?

Did you like the British music from the mid-60's that we called "The British Invasion" over here?

Those were the days...

Peter Green is my favorite guitar player. Do you know who he is?

[murphyb]

I am so sorry for the loss of your beloved pet, Greystone.

[Nowhere Man]

My prayers are with you. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. I know I'll get over it and be my usual self plus having 7 other cats helps out too. I'm glad his brother is looking a little less lost though. We still have his mother and sister too.

[Nowhere Man]

You found Greystone as a stray.

It is possible he didn't get the proper nutrition in the first weeks of his life and that could have caused him the problems he had later on.

I found his mother (Spunky), him, his brother (G.W. (Dubya)), and sister (Whitey) in my backyard next to the garage 5 years ago this May 12th. Saw them in the headlights of my truck as I pulled up. I figure the kittens were 4 weeks old at the time give or take. I guess it is possible that something like you said could have happened to Greystone early in life. The vet seems to think maybe his kidneys didn't fully develop but it took this time for it to manifest itself. Then again, like people, each cat is an individual and might have some weaknesses that can bring stuff like this on.

[Nowhere Man]

Sorry to hear that.

Thanks.

[Supernatural]

I was born with scoliosis and a bad connection between my stomach and esophagus. Cats can have birth defects too. You gave Greystone five great years of life. I am proud of you for looking after him (and your other cats) so well.

[snugs]

I am more into folk rock such as Fairport Convention - heard of them?

I also liked ABBA so 2 complete opposites here.

I have been to their annual festival twice.

Peter Green name seems familar jog my memory.

[snugs]

Happy Easter all

[Nowhere Man]

Very sorry to hear about Greystone. Prayers that God will comfort you and the other cats.

Thanks. BTw, G.W. (Dubya) is starting to come around a little bit, he is Greystone's brother and for a while, he had a lost look in his eyes.

[Nowhere Man]

So sorry to hear about Greystone, being a pet owner myself I can understand your loss and your grief. Greystone has gone to the big scratching post in the sky, scratch on Greystone, enjoy that heavenly cat nip.

Yeah, he's at the "Rainbow Bridge" playing with other pets just waiting for us to come up to heaven. I joked that when I go, I'll have such a huge following up there with all the pets that I have and had, I'll look like a 1970's rock star. B-)

[Nowhere Man]

I know you are feeling bad right now. Last year, about this time or so, We had a bad spell with Tiki, when he got pneumonia. We thought he might have contacted rabies, and it turned out he had pneumonia which made him slobber a lot, due to the fever he had. We got some medicine and such for him, gave him strictly canned food(cause his throat was too sore for dry food) and in a week or two, he was (and is) back to is "normal, destructive self".

Yikes! I'm glad he came through OK and it wasn''t misdiagnosed as rabies. I don't know if they can treat rabies in animals like they do with humans or not but if not, rabies is essentially a death sentence.

He is about 10 now, and in quite good health for a cat of that age. I would not like to lose him, even though he can be a pain sometimes, he is still a lot of fun to have around, and part of the family.

Yeah, last September, Pansy was going to the bathroom in the corner of the living room so we had her checked out. She also lost weight. She has a hyperactive thyroid so we have her on meds. As long as she's on meds, she back to her normal self. People think she is 2 or 3 but she will be 19 in August. She's like the mother of the group, still washes 17 year old Corky ever since Corky was a little kitten. She hung close to Greystone yesterday too and occasionally wshed him.

Prayers for your confort during this time....

Thanks, I really need it.

[Nowhere Man]

Free agency, crazy salaries, and rising ticket prices helped tame my romance with baseball, though!

I might be barking at the Moon here and the combination of Greystone being resurrected and me benchpressing Mom's Hyundai are more probable but I think to fix professional sports, you need to get rid of free agency. I think that would go a long way in fixing many problems in sports.

[Supernatural]

Real name Peter Greenbaum; founder and leader of British Blues/Rock group Fleetwood Mac.

[Hoodlum91]

My condolences on Greystone, Nowhere Man. We were all pulling for him!

(((hugs)))

[Hoodlum91]

Victoria -

Great ideas for the thread! Wish I was around this weekend to play!!!

[Nowhere Man]

I'm sorry for your loss of Greystone.

Thank you very much. We just laid the little guy to rest. It's tough to let go but what keeps things going is we have 7 others to care for. Pansy is sitting in the window, looking where we laid Greystone to rest.

[DollyCali]

Gaithers~It Is Finished