'Argo' finally reaches the top spot at the weekend box office

Submitted by LauriePerry on 10/28/12 4:28pm
Less-than-stellar debut for 'Cloud Atlas' is disappointing.

The biggest box office story of the weekend isn't that one of my favorite films of the year, Argo, finally reached number one, but that Cloud Atlas sank like a stone in it's debut. This is a big-budget, extremely hyped film, and I'm pretty shocked that it couldn't pull more people to the theater.

And no, we didn't see Cloud Atlas this weekend. When one lives in a college town with the number one football team in the country playing at home, one either hibernates or goes to the game. We hibernated. I love this time of year, I really do, but the traffic and the crowds during football game weekends makes it nearly impossible to get to the theater!First things first: Did anyone see Cloud Atlas this weekend? Please please comment and let me know what you thought. The premise sounds fascinating, if not extremely complicated, and the cast looks phenomenal. I'll see this eventually, no matter what, but I feel almost guilty that we opted out for now.

Now for the numbers: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Argo took the top weekend box office spot, grossing $12.4 million. So, you're thinking, isn't Cloud Atlas second? No! Amazingly, it was beaten (barely) by Hotel Transylvania with $9.5 million. Cloud Atlas was third with $9.4 million. Paranormal Activity 4 ($8.7 million) came in fourth, followed by a tie between the debut horror flick Silent Hill: Revelation 3D and Taken 2, each with $8 million.

I'm not sure what will happen with Cloud Atlas in coming weeks, but I know this was a bad showing for a so-called blockbuster film. A lot of big movies are opening soon (Flight, Lincoln, that last Twilight film), so the competition for box office dollars will be fierce -- and very, very interesting.

7.7 earthquake and tsunami: Twitter wins, news media FAILS

Submitted by erika on 10/28/12 10:17am
Who would have thought Twitter could be so useful and valuable in a crisis?

Last night's events really brought home to me how much we A) rely on the mainstream news media, and B) shouldn't. In this case, it could literally have been a life-or-death issue. Everyone who relies solely on the mainstream news media to alert them to grave threats would have been on the wrong side of the equation. 

And mind you, the news outlets had almost two hours between the initial earthquake to the time when the tsunami began to it. Even with two hours of warning and the NOAA alert system, most news outlets didn't get around to warning the public until the next morning. 
 
Meanwhile, the Twitterverse was on top of this story from the initial earthquake on. It's hard to believe something as ridiculous as Twitter could serve such a valuable purpose, but it's true.

 
Last night around 8 p.m., an earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck in shallow water off the Queen Charlotte Islands. The initial earthquake caused very little damage, mostly because it was so far from any population centers. But its location triggered a tsunami warning for Alaska and British Columbia which was later extended to the Washington and Oregon coast.
 
Within minutes of the earthquake, I received an alert email from NOAA's automated tsunami warning center. For several hours, this email (and the updates which followed) were my ONLY official source of information about the events. I live in a tsunami risk area not far from the British Columbian border, so this tsunami scare was, as they say, relevant to my interests.
 
Throughout the night, television was useless. Neither the local nor national news channels had a thing to say about either the earthquake or the impending tsunami. The same was true of radio. I flipped between stations, checking local news radio, NPR affiliates, and CBC radio for the Vancouver area (where the warning was being raised.)
 
Websites also proved to be essentially useless. At least they were carrying information about the tsunami, but these sites all went down under the crippling load. You would think they would prepare for traffic spikes, given that it's literally a life-or-death kind of thing. 
 
Twitter proved to be the only source of information. Granted, most of it was just people passing on the original tsunami warning. But throughout the night I picked up a lot of valuable information. 
 
Need I point out, there actually WAS a tsunami. Granted it was only a few inches high in most locations. We got lucky this time. I could just as easily have been 20 feet high, and only those who happened to be checking their email at just the right time (like me) would have survived.
 
Thanks for nothing, mainstream media! I guess you really are as lame as the Republicans keep saying.
 

Hunting as a Sims 3 werewolf pack

Submitted by erika on 10/28/12 9:36am
It's not easy!

Over the weekend I was finally able to get some time in to play with an adult werewolf in The Sims 3 (Supernatural expansion pack). I have to say, the "hunt as a pack" feature is nothing like I thought it would be.

Some things are ridiculously easy in The Sims 3. Advancing in your career and accumulating large amounts of money are almost impossible NOT to do. But anything involving a group of Sims, whether it's an off-site party or a group outing, is insanely difficult. That's been my experience, anyway! Half the time the whole thing is cancelled before it can even get started.
 
That is the situation you face if you want to hunt as a pack. Yes, it is true that your pack members do not have to be household members. But each time you want to go on a hunt, you have to invite each person to join your pack individually. From that point, it's basically a group outing where everyone runs around on all fours.

Coordinating this with more than one other werewolf is a challenge that has so far escaped me. I did finally manage to get in a group hunt with one other werewolf. It only lasted about one in-game hour, because by the time we got to the point of hunting, it was already pretty late.
 
In order to invite someone to join your pack, you have to be above a certain level of friendship with them. Both your Sim and the other Sim also need to be Young Adult or older - teens, children, and toddlers cannot hunt.
 
Chat up your prospective pack member until you see the "Ask to Join Pack" interaction pop up. When you click it and they accept, both you and the other Sim will have the familiar small blue diamond circling their heads to indicate the group outing.
 
Now, click somewhere on the ground outside and choose "Hunt As Pack." You and your pack member(s) will race around digging up valuables until they get tired of the outing and go home.
 
I had thought that the "pack" thing would be built on the "band" model. When you invite other Sims to join your band, they are band members for life. You can simply go somewhere in public and start a band interaction, and the other Sims will show up for it. Unfortunately when it comes to werewolves, you have to invite them every time. Frustrating!
 

The six best non-toxic houseplants for homes with pets

Submitted by erika on 10/28/12 9:17am
Many common houseplants are poisonous.

It can be tough to build a good collection of non-toxic houseplants. Many of the more common houseplant species are toxic to dogs and cats, including Peace lily, Dracena, Lucky bamboo, Philodendron, Caladium (Angel's Wings), Dieffenbachia, Pothos, Asparagus fern and English ivy.

The following houseplants are rated non-toxic by the ASPCA, and are also commonly available:

1. Peperomia sp.
All Peperomia plants are non-toxic. This is a boon to the houseplant lover, because there are so many different Peperomia species. Most Peperomias have a trailing habit, which makes them great for hanging baskets.
 
Peperomias are also, for the most part, exceptionally easy to care for. They tolerate a wide range of conditions and light levels. This hardy species includes plants like the Lipstick plant (one of the few flowering indoor plants), and P. caperata which makes an excellent desk plant for the office.
 
2. Spider plant
It's a good thing the Spider plant is non-toxic, because its long arching thin leaves seem to be irresistible to cats. Many Spider plant owners have been puzzled by a strange disease in which holes appear on the leaves at random, only to discover that these are actually cat bites. Getting this plant up in a hanging pot out of your cat's reach seems to be the only way to really prevent it being eaten.
 
Fortunately, eating Spider plants is harmless to the cat (if not to the plant). Spider plants are probably one of the most well-known and recognized houseplants. However, they can be very sensitive to water quality including chlorine and other trace elements. If your Spider plant develops brown tips on its leaves, switch to bottled water or collected rainwater.
 
Reportedly, the Spider plant is also one of the best plants for cleaning the air in your home or office.
 
3. Prayer plant
The Maranta species is fascinating for the way that its handsomely spotted leaves fold themselves up at night. In addition to being non-toxic, this common houseplant is sturdy and undemanding.
 
4. Boston fern
Although the Asparagus fern is toxic to pets, the Boston fern and its relatives the Staghorn and Deer foot fern are non-toxic. These plants can be a little more demanding in terms of humidity, but they tolerate poor lighting conditions quite well.
 
5. African violets
This is another classic houseplant that everyone can identify. The African violet is a succulent which produces beautiful flowers. 
 
Every African violet I have tried to raise has rotted away, but a lot of people have great luck with them, so.
 
6. Polka dot plant
Hypoestes phyllostachya, with its small leaves splashed with pink and cerise, is a popular and eye-catching item in baskets and nurseries everywhere. They tend to get leggy, so be ruthless in pinching them back!

Free goodies from VeggieTales

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 3:24am
VeggieTales and Focus on the Family team up

My kids have grown up with the fun loving vegetables from the cartoon series VeggieTales. I always get excited when they have a new video coming out. Right now the company is promoting their new DVD called “The League of Incredible Vegetables: A Lesson in Handling Fear.” In order to get the word out about their new DVD, VeggieTales has teamed up with Focus on the Family to offer you some amazing freebies.

What will you get for free? How about a music video by the Newsboys, an interview between the character Larry Boy and Jim Daly, family devotionals, a download of the Adventures in Odyssey (another awesome program designed to teach important life lessons) episode “Afraid, Not!” and a guide on raising incredible kids. The guide itself contains activity pages, super hero cards and a discussion guide for parents.
So how do you get all of these fantastic freebies? You'll need to fill out the free request form on the Focus on the Family Website. There you will need to enter your first name, middle name, last name, country and e-mail address. Confirm your e-mail address and the fact that you are over the age of 18 and then click the “Submit” button. That's all you need to do.

Shortly thereafter, you'll discover an e-mail that contains links to all of the freebies mentioned above. I received mine in a matter of seconds. You can take your time to go through them. My kids loved the super hero cards, which I printed out from my home computer. If you print these cards out, consider cutting them out and gluing them to a piece of cardboard about the same size. Otherwise, the paper is flimsy and they will rip the cards in a matter of minutes.

Free supplements for pets

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 3:17am
Tails offers supplements for cats and dogs

I can't believe how great the freebie I stumbled across this week is! Tails is offering free supplements for your cats and dogs. The free samples are contain a week's worth of supplements. There are seven samples available to choose from, but Tails will actually let you request all 7 samples at once. Shipping is free as well so I highly encourage you to take advantage of this amazing offer before they close the doors on it.

In order to get your free samples you'll need to head to the sample page on the Tails website. There you can click the orange “Add to Cart” button to the right of the sample you want. Like I mentioned before, you can click all of them if you want to. 

Your choices include Hip Hip Hooray joint health for dogs, Grow Dog Grow nutritional supplement for puppies, Canine Bliss nutritional supplement for dogs, Rover the Hill for aging dogs, Chill Out Kitty for calming cats, Hairball Hero for cats who need hairball relief and Purr Protection nutritional supplement for both cats and kittens.

After you have added the supplements you desire to your cart, click “Checkout.” You'll need to create an account if you don't already have one. This involves filling out your name, e-mail address and mailing address. Decide whether you want to check the boxes at the end of the form to receive further updates from the company and then click “Review Order.” Review the order and then click “Confirm Order.”

At no time during this process are you asked to enter any credit card information. The samples are completely free with no catches (I hate offers that appear to be free, but really aren't). So go ahead and confidently order your pet supplements and give them a try.

Use Education.com for science fair projects

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 3:03am
Homeschoolers love discovering science hands-on

Education.com is a great resource for homeschoolers. One section that I have been taking advantage of lately is their vast amount of science fair projects. My daughter is a hands-on kind of kid and many of the concepts taught in her Apologia science book can be demonstrated with science projects I find on Education.com's website.

You don't have to be planning a science fair (although homeschoolers can get together to have one) to use these experiments. Simply search the subject your child is learning about and scroll through the available project until you find one that interests you. 

If you find projects you think will work for you at a later date, you create a collection and then save the projects to that collection. I actually am an author for Education.com and have a collection of my own science fair projects. You can see how it works here: Science Fair Projects

Make sure you rate each project as this will help other homeschooling parents in selecting an appropriate project. I always check project ratings and comments before I dive in to completing any science experiment. Sometimes parents who have tried the experiment have an idea as to how you can make the experiment continue on.

Anything that spurs my daughter to want to continue testing new theories is a bonus. In fact, you'll find many of the science experiments on Education.com actually end with ideas on how you can further explore the topic at hand. In conclusion I highly recommend Education.com for homeschoolers and homeschooling parents who want to expand on their science curriculum.

Save those little slivers of soap

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 2:55am
Recycling soap saves money.

If you are anything like me, you'll feel like you are losing money when your soap gets down to an unmanageable sliver. Tossing it in the trash feels like a waste. I decided to do a little research to see if there was anything I could do with those last bits of soap that are too hard to handle. Turns out there are several things you can do.

Make a new bar of soap. Store the leftover bits in gallon size plastic zipper bag until you have enough to make new bars of soap. Simply grate the pieces up and melt them over a double boiler. Grease a soap mold or a silicone muffin pan and pour your liquid soap in there. Set aside to cool and set. Now you have a new bar of soap that is easy to handle.
Make a soap squeegee. Find a mesh bag or a pair of nylons you no longer need. Place a few soap slivers in the end of the bag and tie a knot above them. You can use this in the shower to lather up and scrub your body.

Make laundry detergent. I make my own laundry detergent at home. There are only four ingredients necessary to do this: water, washing soda, Borax, and liquid castile soap. Once I have enough soap slivers, I'll just grate the slivers down and use them in place of the liquid castile soap. Many families that make their own laundry detergent prefer to use grated soap anyway.

Use as a pest deterrent. Some people like to place old soap in a pair of nylon stockings and hang them around their yard to deter pests. I've never tried this myself so I can't vouch that it actually works. Since others swear by it, I thought it was worth adding in case you want to give it a try.

Introduce your kids to Smashbooks

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 2:49am
A fun way to scrapbook, journal or store memories

My family loves scrapbooking and now there is a new form of that available for kids and adults alike. It's called Smashbooks. Their motto is “For the moments and musings that stick.” These journal-type books allow kids to be creative while capturing memories. I bought an entire set for my daughter and my niece for Christmas (hopefully they don't come across this article).

So what are the things that you can do with a Smashbook? You can glue in pictures, movie tickets, theater bills, vacation post cards and anything else you can get your hands on. You can add notes, favorite sayings, Bible verses, or list events that happened to you that day.You can create one Smashbook for each theme that interests you. For example, you may have one Smashbook that stores your favorite recipes or the recipes you want to try in the future. You may have one for your last vacation to the Bahamas. Perhaps you are graduating high school and you want a fun way to remember the year. You can even have friends sign the Smashbook and add any of the memories they share with you. The possibilities are endless.

My daughter likes to write. Each year she publishes a book. I'm hoping that she'll use the Smashbook to keep track of her story ideas. I have a sneaky suspicion though that she'll use it to store pictures and mementos of her horseback riding adventures. She loves horses!

Whatever your child loves, consider gifting her with a Smashbook so she can organize her thoughts and memories on the subject. YouTube also has a boat load of examples of what you can do with a Smashbook if you want to research the subject further.
 

Easy cheesy chicken pasta casserole

Submitted by there4u on 10/28/12 2:43am
A great family meal or cover dish dinner.

I love casseroles simply because you can make them ahead of time and then just pop them in the oven for dinner. They go great with salad and biscuits for an easy meal. If you're looking for a new casserole to try consider making my easy cheesy chicken pasta casserole.

You will need the following ingredients:

  • Leftover chicken
  • 6 oz. ziti pasta cooked and drained
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ½ small onion diced
  • ½ zucchini diced
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small tomato diced
  • 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
  • 4 oz. Cheddar cheese


Follow these instructions to make your cheesy chicken pasta casserole:

Step 1:
Heat up the extra virgin olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the garlic, onions and zucchini. Cook for five to seven minutes.

Step 2:
Pour the cooked ziti into a casserole dish and add the chicken. Toss together.

Step 3:
Place the garlic, onions, and zucchini in the casserole dish.

Step 4:
Toss the diced tomato, along with any juice that came out of it, in the casserole dish. Toss all of the ingredients together one final time.

Step 5:
Shred the Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses and sprinkle them over the top of the casserole.

Step 6:
Bake the casserole in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for a total of 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 7:
Serve immediately.

Tips:
Sometimes I'll add a few spices as well. You can use oregano or parsley, but I prefer to grab a blend of Italian spices. It is sold under the name Italian seasoning.

If you don't have any leftover chicken, Perdue has a line of already cooked chicken strips you can use.

Pages