South Park Returns With Dead Celebrities

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Twice a year we get some new episodes of South Park for 7 weeks and then we have to wait again, so we enjoy while we can. South Park returned to its normal Wednesday night time slot with season 13 episode 8 titled “Dead Celebrities” and it was a top quality episode. Not as good as the episodes “Fatbeard” or “Margaritaville,” but certainly up there.

The episode gets started with little Ike being haunted, seeing ghosts of dead celebrities, mainly Billy Mays who is constantly pitching him products in that loud television voice. During the course of Ike freaking out, he runs down the hallway and opens doors to see more of the deceased, including Farrah Fawcett and David Carradine who still has a rope around his neck. Ike is really scared and his family are all concerned, taking him to see a psychiatrist.

Kyle is very concerned and tells his friends, strangely Cartman seems to care deeply, we find out he is a big fan of Billy Mays and uses a product he endorsed. That sets up a fantastic running joke that runs throughout the episode. The boys call in the team from “THe Ghosthunters” television show and they turn out to be scared of their own shadows and see ghosts in everyone and everything. That leads to Ike being admitted to the hospital where a doctor who specializes in the paranormal explains to the boys that the celebrities may be in purgatory and unable to cross over. Cartman is scared that Billy Mays may not be able to rest.

The doctor reaches out to the spirits and a bunch of dead celebrity voices are heard before Ike becomes possessed with the ghost of Michael Jackson who believes he is a little girl. Meanwhile on a spirit plane, the ghosts of the celebrities are anxiously waiting to cross over and we see that DJ AM and many others are there. The stewards are continually giving them excuses as to why the flight is being delayed and now they have to wait for Michael Jackson.

The boys realize that Jackson is looking for recognition of what he really is so they enter Ike into one of those beauty pageants for little girls and after he wins, Michael Jackson returns to the plane and all the celebrities are able to cross over to their final destination which turns out to be hell. This was a funny and clever episode and you can see clips of it at the Free Video Blog.

Homemade Beauty Recipes and Herbal Cosmetics – Look Younger and Beautiful

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Skin care is an important part of life. Proper hygiene and skin care techniques would help to have a clean, healthy skin desired by all. The cosmetic market is flooded with beauty and skin care products promising to make you fair, beautiful and younger. Many of these products give long term side effects resulting in wrinkles and fine lines. This is why we highly recommend homemade beauty recipes and herbal cosmetics that improve your skin complexion naturally without causing any harmful side effects.

Homemade Beauty Recipes and Herbal Cosmetics

Below are some simple and effective homemade beauty recipes and herbal cosmetics that will help you look younger and beautiful.

1. Applying a paste of grounded almond, honey and warm milk on skin improves complexion and dryness and makes it glow.

2. A mixture of fermented flour and milk makes a good mask for oily skin.

3. Application of a paste made out of gram flour, lime juice, turmeric and milk would make skin radiant and fair.

4. Massaging skin with unboiled milk also makes it radiant. It is one of the traditional and very effective homemade beauty recipes.

5. Massaging skin with mustard powder in milk helps to get rid of blemishes. Rubbing skin with aloe Vera juice heals sun burnt skin.

6. Apple cider vinegar serves as an effective natural cosmetic for sunburns.

7. Application of a mixture of two teaspoon buttermilk and tomato juice on skin gives relief from sunburns.

8. Massaging skin with coconut oil makes it wrinkle free.

9. Rubbing the core of pineapple on skin and leaving for about 15 minutes also gives one a wrinkle free skin.

10. Spreading mashed banana all over skin, keeping for 15-20 minutes and then rinsing off with warm water is also an effective anti-wrinkle treatment.

11. One may soak cotton balls in ice-cold water mixed with 4 teaspoon lime juice and place it on eyes to remove tiredness of eyes.

12. Refrigerated herbal tea bag can do away with eye puffiness.

13. Dark circles under eyes would disappear if one places freshly cut fig over eyes and leaves it for half an hour.

14. Slices of cucumber placed on each eye can soothe tiredness of eyes.

15. Massaging hands and legs with a mixture of tomato juice, lime juice and glycerin helps to do away with skin roughness.

16. Application of a mixture of an ounce of honey, little egg white, glycerin, and barley powder makes the skin on hands and legs soft and supple.

Copyright © Dr Andrew Napier, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

What Use is an Online Shopping Directory?

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An online Shopping Directory is considered a niche directory of websites that provide goods and services to the public. These websites would usually carry on e-commerce, have a virtual shopping cart of some kind and have the ability to safely take money online. This type of niche directory has several benefits to both the website owner and the consumer.

One example of my own comes to mind. While being totally baffled as to what to buy my 20 year old for his birthday I finally ended up at, what I considered at that time, my last resort, the Online Shopping Directory. It was here I stumbled across a website selling all manner of unusual flags, which is what was delivered two days later and twelve hours before the actual birthday. It saved my hide and became a fast education in the value of the Shopping Directory.

The fact is that this form of online commerce can have benefits to both sides of the equation. The website owner, or seller, gets worldwide exposure, twenty-four seven, as they say. New, unknown markets appear and customers, rather than walking by, seek out the products. Those with their websites submitted to a Shopping Directory also get casual shoppers who “came for something else” as well as those looking for ‘ideas” like me and my unusual flags. Of course, being in a directory also gets back-links and perhaps Page Rank value with the search engines, although this has become less of a positive thing these days now that Google has become very selective on back links and especially harsh on obvious paid links.

The shopper, of course, also finds a list of advantages. Shopping from home, in your own time and in casual clothes with a cup of coffee besides you can be an attraction, but the real value comes with the ability to compare products and prices quickly, without having to walk three or four miles between stores with a calculator. The online shopper can also expand the range of available outlets to cover, well, the whole world really, and this then becomes a whole new range of ideas as well.

Online you can research before you buy, seek out new and unusual ideas, and make comparisons all within the Shopping Directory. Recently I went seeking a rather unusual paperback which I found online, paid for online and woke up next morning to find it on my doorstep with my morning newspaper.

Of course some items are better directed to online sales than others but the process holds true. I can’t buy shoes online because I have a strange size and shape of foot! What I can do is look at styles, compare prices, look at the way various shoes are constructed and do a lot of research before trying them on.

The website owner who is selling these items has to be careful how he portrays his ‘store’ within these directories. Not only has he to make sure he is in the correct niche and that his descriptions are accurate and true but he has to be aware of the search engines view of directories.

The gray area seems to be whether paid links are being used or that online store information is just being placed for customers to see. Google, for example, frowns on paid and un-natural links so there is some controversy over this form of advertising.

These niche directories then, if used correctly, can be good for both sides of the retail market, the ‘easy to walk around world shopping mall’ sort of thing… the easy for comparison thing… and you never have to worry about remembering where you parked!

The Paleo Diet: Arthritis, Inflammation, and Food Allergies, Help, or Hype?

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Everywhere you look there is a “new” weight loss, health promoting, or performance enhancing diet. “The Paleo Diet,” (Paleo: being before the agricultural revolution) created by Dr. Loren Cordain is gaining a lot of buzz. It is promoted as an anti-arthritis diet.

In this diet, Dr. Cordain outlines a “hunter-gatherer” diet plan, claiming to help people optimize health, minimize risk of chronic disease, reduce inflammation, and lose weight. It is based upon common, modern foods, which mimic the food groups of our (pre-agricultural) ancestors. The concept is, “If the cavemen didn’t eat it, you shouldn’t either.”

This is due to the high correlation between inflammation of the gut and joints. Autoimmune problems are thought to result from lectins, a protein often found in grains. When consumed in large quantities, these lectins could lead to increased inflammation. Wheat contains both gluten and lectins, and intolerance to both gluten and dairy lectins have been connected to arthritis.

A diet too high in omega-6 fatty acids and too low in omega-3 fatty acids can also promote inflammation. Omega-3 fats are known to reduce inflammation, while overconsumption of Omega-6 fats has been linked to arthritis inflammation. Processed oils such as corn, soybean, and vegetable oils contain high levels of Omega-6’s, unlike butter, olive oil, or coconut oil. Both fats are necessary, but in a proper ratio. Creating a smart balance can help improve health.

While interesting in theory, it is not a magic bullet. Eating and exercise patterns have changed dramatically since prehistoric time. Because our lifestyles are different from our Paleolithic ancestors, so are our nutritional needs.

(Pros) The Paleo Diet:

  1. Promotes eating natural foods, needed to maintain health. The body and brain work in harmony, and all-natural foods promote functioning, whereas highly processed foods can cause dysfunction.
  2. Uses protein as the mainstay of the diet, and decreases carbohydrates and processed foods. This ratio of protein to carbs, was seen more in our earlier ancestors.
  3. Lowers the chance of health problems due to food intolerance. For people with arthritis, food allergies or sensitivities, (especially to gluten, nuts, additives, dairy, artificial preservatives, or refined carbs) such restriction can create a noted health advantage.
  4. Encourages lower carbohydrate intake and lower glycemicfoods. Foods low on the glycemic scale are digested and absorbed more slowly, so they do not spike blood sugar.
  5. Creates a high fiber intake, which is essential for good health. Whole grains, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables are excellent options to increase fiber; they promote intestinal health and reduce inflammation.
  6. Does not demonize healthy fats. Encouraging and allowing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with balancedOmega-3 and Omega-6 fats, offers a cardiovascular benefit.
  7. Promotes a net dietary alkaline load, tobalance dietary acid.This offers a range of health benefits such as stronger bones and muscle, lower blood pressure, and a decreased risk for kidney stones.
  8. Increases potassium intake and decreases sodium intake. Unprocessed, fresh foods contain 5 to 10 times more potassium than sodium, (a ratio to which Stone Age bodies were adapted).

(Cons) The Paleo Diet:

  1. Demonizes Dairy (a healthy food group). Unless you have a true sensitivity, there is no need to exclude dairy, which serves a distinct purpose in the diet. It provides essential nutrients the body needs to function properly.
  2. Excludes potatoes, legumes, and peanuts. While higher in glycemic value, potatoes are a natural starchy vegetable. All natural foods should have a place in healthy diets. Learning when, and how to place them in your diet, would provide more benefit than excluding them.
  3. Is restrictive. It provides a list of off-limits foods (many of which are natural and healthy). Not everyone is willing, or able to withstand this, making adherence a problem. Processed foods, sugars, and starches are not allowed. For some this would be a deal breaker.
  4. Does not emphasize the role of exercise and leading an active lifestyle. Diet is only one component of living a healthy lifestyle. Any plan that does not include the role of movement, in one’s life, should be looked at with skepticism.
  5. Does not address or take into consideration, the mental component of eating. While a scientific approach is taken, the mental attachment to food can often override what we understand to be beneficial. By not offering support or accountability, this plan leaves room for a high drop out rate.

The bottom line is, if you are looking for a different approach to eating, have some food sensitivities or arthritis, need structure, and would be willing to restrict your food options, this plan could provide the health benefits claimed by the creators.

However, a half-hearted attempt could lead to more frustration and perhaps additional pounds. Keep in mind, healthy eating is not something you do TO yourself, but FOR yourself. Finding a method that works in your lifestyle, makes that possible. Here is a general checklist for evaluating any healthy living plan. Does it:

1. Increase healthy, natural, and unprocessed foods choices (not restricting any one food or group).

2. Decrease highly processed foods, sweets, and calorie dense food options.

3. Guide you to stay mentally engaged to what and why you eat, along with providing support and a means for accountability.

4. Encourage you to create, and stick to a plan to move more daily.

5. Allow you to make wise choices 80% of the time and allow 20% of the time for indulgences.