Papi's 51st & 52nd Homer - Red Sox History

 
 
 
  
Ortiz sets Sox record with Nos. 51, 52
Papi goes deep twice against Twins in series finale

Fatherhood May Change the Brain

Fatherhood May Change the Brain

Study of Monkeys Shows Differences in Brain Structures Between Fathers and Nonfathers

Aug. 21, 2006 -- Becoming a father may really mess with your head, or at least a monkey's head.

A new study shows that marmoset monkey fathers display differences in brain structure and hormone receptors compared with nonfathers.

More study is needed to determine if the same changes occur in other mammals, like human males. But the results suggest that fatherhood prompts changes in brain structure that could lead to differences in brain function as well.

The results of the study appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Researchers say marmosets are unusual among mammals in that fathers care extensively for their young children by carrying, protecting, and feeding them. For example, marmoset dads carry their babies more than half the time during the first three months of their lives.

In the study, Elizabeth Gould of the department of psychology at Princeton University and colleagues compared the brains of first-time and experienced marmoset fathers with the brains of adult male marmosets who weren't fathers.

The results showed that experienced marmoset fathers had a higher density of connections in a region of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex than nonfathers.

Fathers also had more of a particular hormone receptor in this region for vasopressin, which is thought to be involved in parental behavior and social bonding. There were also more of these receptors in fathers whose babies were younger; researchers say this suggests that this change may be caused by contact with infants.

SOURCES: Kozorovitskiy, Y. Nature Neuroscience, Aug. 20, 2006 online edition. News release, Nature Research Journals.

Excerpt from webmdhealth.com

Five Financial Flubs of New Parents

Expecting a new baby? As an early Father's Day gift, we help you avoid five pitfalls that can harm the financial well-being of your new family.
By Erin Burt
June 15, 2006

1. Not having a spending plan
2. Forgoing life and disability insurance
3. Buying life insurance for baby
4. Saving for college instead of retirement
5. Not having a will

excerpt from kiplinger.com

Goin' to the Pond and We're Gonna Get Married

 
 
 
Great to get out on the pond with Rich, just two weeks before his big day. Such a blast hanging out and being able to pull off this feat. Thanks to Justin for his great driving skill and to Katie for her awesome photography!!! Certainly kicked off this event for a great celebration to come. 

2,036-acre Mulligan Forest, Nottingham NH

Free! Tour the Mulligan Forest
Two Dates:
Saturday, September 30, 1 p.m to 4 p.m.
Saturday, October 14, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mulligan Forest, Nottingham

Located in the heart of Nottingham, the 2,036-acre Mulligan Forest is the largest unprotected privately owned woodland in Rockingham County. Owned by siblings Jim and Rick Fernald and Deb Fernald Stevens, the property includes well-managed working forest, six miles of frontage along the Bean and North Rivers, rich wildlife habitat and five miles of woods roads and trails. Join staff for this early foliage season hike, which will follow woods roads and trails to views of the property from Stevens Hill and include a visit to the shoreline of the scenic Mulligan Ponds tucked in the interior of the tract. Learn about the natural and cultural history of Mulligan Forest and this extraordinary opportunity to protect one of the largest blocks of forest remaining in southeast New Hampshire.

Co-sponsored by Bear-Paw Regional Greenways.

81yr Old Trick Skier on CBS News FRI 09/15 6:30pm

TONIGHT ON THE CBS EVENING NEWS
"And here's a look at one of the stories we're working on for Friday's broadcast:
This national champion water skier is a tough competitor. She does trick skiing and is still ranked. Would you care to guess her age? She'll tell you on Friday's CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric. She's part of Assignment America and you may not believe her age!"

This 81yr old is Frances Woofeden of Florida.

Here's the video link for Frances Woofeden, 81yr old Skier

Phantom Gourmet Food Festival - SEP 23, 11-4pm

The Phantom Gourmet Food Festival is Boston's best block party. DJ Stevie Ray spins your favorite tunes outside, and Lansdowne Street's world famous clubs throw parties within the party.

Saturday September 23 11AM to 4PM. $30 ticket includes admission to the street and food sampling by three dozen restaurants. Drinks are not included. We'll also serve up 20,000 purple beads and 10 musical acts. Parties inside the clubs are free but have capacity limits.

The first 800 Phans to enter the Phantom Gourmet Food Festival wearing our trademark purple will receive a $5 Phantom Gourmet Gift Card. The 8 best purple outfits will win a $100 Phantom Gourmet Gift Card. Contestants in the Ms. Phantom Gourmet Pageant must be wearing some purple. So, wear the Phantom's official color!

This is a 21 plus event (no minors, infants, or pets). Rain or shine, no refunds.

Tickets are limited and will NOT be sold at the event, so get them NOW!

Top 10 Slalom Tips from Jeff Rodger

Jeff Rodger's Top 10 Tips
To Being A World Champion Slalom Skier

1. Good gates – start wide and slow
2. Keep a tight line
3. Lean and lean hard (with the tight line created in #2)
4. If you do #1,2 & 3 you should be wide and early
5. Keep back arm pressure through both wakes
6. Remain firm and yet flexible in your legs
7. Once you know the ski is going to clear the buoy, start looking for the next buoy
8. If you follow #7 your head should remain up
9. Slow the boat down and shorten the rope
10. Have fun – live, laugh and enjoy your family

excerpt from jeffrodgers.net

iTV by Apple - THE FUTURE of TELEVISION on DEMAND

ahhh, the future of tv is near, we'll soon be able to choose our tv shows and movies we want to watch...now that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the primary shareholder of Disney, which owns ABC/ESPN, seems quite interesting how much influence he now plays...if we thought iPod changed how we thought about music, wait until we see what iTV will do...

Jobs also offered a sneak peek at the company's plan to use a sleek silver box to wirelessly connect the PC to the living room TV. The box, temporarily called "iTV," will cost $299, and will be available before April 2007, Jobs said. But the company did not detail how iTV will work. (More on Apple's announcement).

- excerpt from money.cnn.com

Apple also said users will soon be able to watch the movies on TV with the upcoming release of a new product dubbed the iTV player.

"We believe the iTV concept could make AAPL (Apple) a bigger player in the digital home," UBS analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a research note after Apple's announcement.

- excerpt from money.cnn.com

San Francisco—September 12, 2006—Apple® today announced iTunes® 7, the most significant enhancement to the world’s most popular music jukebox and online music and video store since it debuted in 2001. iTunes 7 delivers stunning new features such as the new album and Cover Flow views of music, TV shows and movies, enabling users to quickly find titles in their library as well as casually browse through and re-discover titles they already own. In addition, the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) is now offering over 75 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, that customers can purchase and download to watch on their computers and iPods, and soon on their flat screen televisions with Apple’s upcoming iTV* player. Movies will become available on the iTunes Store the same day they are released on DVD, with new releases priced at $12.99 when pre-ordered and during their first week of availability, and $14.99 thereafter, and library titles available for just $9.99 every day.
* iTV is the project’s internal code name and will not be the final product name.

excerpt from apple.com

U.S. Open of Waterskiing WebCast

Here's your reminder to join us today for our live WebCast-TV broadcast of the 2006 U.S. Open of Waterskiing.

Today's webcast runs from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST.

Tune in to see a commercial free broadcast featuring spotlights, highlights, athlete interviews and live skiing.

Get the latest updates and chat live…all for free and from the convenience of your computer!

Click on the link below to connect to all of the action:

http://usopenofwaterskiing.com/webcast.asp

Be sure to check in on the latest news, results and photos on the www.usopenofwaterskiing.com website!

And don't forget to visit our shop to purchase your souvenir shirt for “virtually attending”.

Thanks for Your Support,

The U.S. Open of Waterskiing Team

Bummin' - CRACKED my Slalom Stick!!!

 
 
 
 
Today had a slalom clinic on our pond with pro skier Wade Williams. Great success, everyone went home with some greatly improved tips!!! I was skiing tremendously better, especially during my 3rd set where Wade tweaked my fin and made life so much easier. In fact so easy that i cracked my ski almost in half!!! 

Bootsarosa - Ohio Ski Tourney

 
 
 
 
Awesome ski site in Canal Fulton, Ohio with a decent three rounds, finally getting my nerves and water calmed down to make 5 at 22' off 36mph!!! Great site, look forward to planning for next year. 

Mmmmm Cottage Creme Brulee

 
 
  

Bobbing Catfish

A guy who lives at Lake Conroe (50 miles north of Houston TX) saw a ball bouncing around kind of strange in the lake and went to investigate.

It turned out to be a flathead catfish who had obviously tried to swallow a basketball which became stuck in its mouth!!

The fish was totally exhausted from trying to dive, but unable to because the ball would always bring him back up to the surface. The guy tried numerous times to get the ball out, but was unsuccessful. He finally had his wife cut the ball in order to deflate it and release the hungry catfish.

You probably wouldn't have believed this,if you hadn't seen the following pictures...

Haying on the Farm

 Could you imagine haying like this? Wow would that take all summer!!!