October 26, 2007

Random Friday: Home-Grown Edition

(Benny, Frank's charismatic dog, courtesy of The Smitten Image)

While Crabby was on vacation, she missed reading many of her favorite blogs. Since then, she's been trying desperately to catch up. So rather than search the entire internet for Random Friday items, she thought she'd just steal stuff from some of her blog friends! use this opportunity to acknowledge some of the great blogs hosted by friends of Cranky Fitness!

Unfortunately, she can only get to a few--so readers are reminded to click on those cheerful blue hyperlinks in the comment section as often as possible. (And on a related note, Crabby knows the Random Rotating Blogroll needs a major update. Soon, she hopes--or at least, well, someday.)

Anyway, so all the info here is courtesy of various Crab-Friendly blogs. Thanks everyone, for writing Crabby's Random Friday Post for her!

Broccoli Sprouts: Smear Them on Your Face?
Well, not quite yet, but the Broccoli Sprout People (who kindly sent Crabby some Broccoli Tea a while back) are reporting that "a topical application of an extract of broccoli sprouts" can protect skin from the damaging effects of UV rays. More here--this sounds weird but the data actually looks pretty impressive.

Vinegar: Pour it On Your Head!
'Cause it helps fight dandruff. And vinegar can make your coffee taste better, keep your eggs from cracking, and do a bunch of other cool stuff. Mark's Daily Apple has these and other uses for what must be the all-time handiest item in your kitchen cabinets.

Swear at Work: It's Good for Productivity!
Via the always informative Healthbolt: This interesting article claims that Crabby's favorite hobby, swearing, can actually be good for productivity and workplace morale. F*ckin' A! This is great news! However, the authors caution against swearing in front of senior staff members or customers, which unfortunately takes quite a bit of the fun out of it.

Special bonus: Sara over at the Healthbolt post encourages you to go ahead and swear in her comments section. Crabby did it, with no asterisks or anything. It's really fun, try it!

(Another good blog for swearing, of course, is the reliably funny Fitness Fixation. Kelly swears all the time, thank goodness.)

Stop the Dog From Farting?
According to the Bag Lady, (who just started her own blog, hooray!) a tablespoon of plain yogurt mixed into dry dog food can help with this unpleasant but not uncommon problem. (She also has further tips on that Miracle Substance mentioned above, vinegar, and lots of amusing stories).

Ensure Your Own Quadruple Bypass!
Blame Jim at Chew On That, not Crabby, for any catastrophic diet failures that may result from clicking on this link. Jim passes on the secrets to homemade Snickers Bars, Peanut Butter Cups and other familiar but ridiculously evil Halloween treats.

Sprinkle Chili Powder In Your Doorways?
Yes--to repel ants without pesticides! Jennifer from Tree Hugging Family also fights cockroaches with garlic and will tell you how to make the World's Ugliest Fruit Fly Catcher.

On a More Serious Note--Check out These Fine Blogs and Sites:
Not all our contributors are silly all the time like Crabby is. Find out from Reb what chemo is really like, and get information on death and dying and palliative care from Marijke's new website. Also, Soap Box Girl posted a very touching tribute to her mother on what would have been her birthday. Crabby got all teary reading it and you might too.

Now On To The Gratuitous Animal Links!
Otherwise, how would you know this was a Random Friday?

First off, Hilary and Frank both have some great photos (and even a video!) of a Jack Russell Terrier bravely protecting the world from the onslaught of Killer Waves.

And we must thank Chicken Girl for alerting us to all the wonderful lolcat weirdness at icanhascheezburger.

lolcat - nice bwinker jurkface

So, yeah, these cat pictures aren't really "health" or "exercise" related, but, well, work with Crabby on this.

lolcats and funny pictures -

Have a great weekend everyone!

25 comments:

  1. Cute dog!
    Ok, I've totally got to come back when I've got a free minute to go through all of those links!
    (and as a random aside: I love vinegar for cleaning too...gotta check that one out for sure. And sorry Jim, I may have to pass on that link to homeade snickers. Diet failure for sure.)

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  2. I disagree that the cat pictures are not health related. Pills are involved, aren't they? Pills are usually health related. Also laughing hysterically is good for you. Nothing funnier than a cat being robbed of its dignity.

    I loved Bag Lady's blog!!! Five stars.

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  3. Ditto what Katie said. I need to come back and sort through all of the great links! And how hilarious was "Muslims: Take the Fabio Challenge!" ?! Muslim men in head scarfs singing "Hair" on bicycles--gotta love it. :)

    (And thanks for the link. That was very sweet, Crabby.)

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  4. Adorable Jack Russell! I befriended one in New Hampshire while on vacation and he bravely saved me from many a small stick!

    As for vinegar, you can also use it to take the sting out of sunburn. Use a 50/50 mix of vinegar to water. You'll smell like an Easter egg, but the sunburn won't hurt. Honest. I've done it.

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  5. Benny looks pretty cute up there, saving the Crab and her readers from e-waves! Thanks for the interesting links for the mentions. :)

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  6. Cranky, thanks for the mention! And for the list of other blogs to check out. Wow, at this rate, I'll be spending all day reading blogs & will never get anything done.

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  7. Vinegar's good for almost everything from pickling to foot fungus. Umm, some things just do not belong in the same sentence.
    Love the cat pics.

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  8. I like the dog farting tip- it also helps make their coats shiney. I think my dog is way cooler (not really but he's my baby and I love to show him off):
    http://emilyhenderson13.blogspot.com/2007/08/wordless-wednesdays.html

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  9. Love the LOL cats. Even if it means the kitties lose their dignity...of course they are all probably plotting their revenge, which I am sure will be swift and merciles...

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  10. Katieo--it's the chocolate peanut butter cups that will add pounds just by looking at the picture!

    And melissa, yeah, pills are about health! (And bag lady does have a great blog).

    Soap box girl--it was a beautiful post. And yes, ChickenGirl's Fabio Challenge was indeed hilarious.

    Bunnygirl--so thats why I love the smell of vinegar--from dying Easter eggs! Though I always like the chocolate bunnies better than hard boiled eggs.

    hilary, thanks for taking such a great picture of him!

    Reb--work is overrated. Surf all day, that's my advice, it's Friday!

    leah, what's wrong with pickled foot fungus? OK, ewww...

    Emily--OMG, is your dog, like 12 feet tall? He is indeed very cute... and long!

    Missicat,
    I'm sure you're right about Kitteh Revenge! I shudder to think what they're up to.


    So I was going through withdrawal on comment reply--will try not to make a habit of it but sometimes I can't help but respond to all of 'em, at least for a stretch.

    Now though, I must dash: there is A BRAND NEW TRADER JOE'S opening up in my neighborhood 4 blocks from my house TODAY! I must run over IMMEDIATELY and check it out!

    We've been waiting for it forever. I've been craving my Fage yogurt and all the rest of my favorite TJ treats since we left DC.

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  11. Wa-hey, I got linked again! Thanks, Crabby!

    Ironically, that'll be my final post on Chew on That. I've decided to move on to other things. No worries, though--you'll still see my name in your comments, and I'll have a new blog with which to shock and amaze (read: reference The Simpsons far too much) shortly.

    Glad to see you've discovered lolcats, and that dog is absolutely adorable!

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  12. ok. I couldn't resist. I just couldn't skip over that link to the treats.

    HOLY.
    CRAP.

    I might need to have a reeses today...

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  13. Dang you, Crabby, you really are a shameless hussy. ;)

    I was all set to write a post about the great blogs that are out there and how they're encouraging and supportive, and you go out and steal my thunder, leverage my synergies, and write a far better yet eerily similar post.

    On a more serious note, I do love clicking on the random blog links on your sidebar; I always get taken somewhere interesting. Spent part of yesterday visiting a lake in Ontario. (I wondered why that picture of a JRT looked so familiar, until I realized I'd just seen him yesterday.)

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  14. It has been years since I thought about most of the vinegar tips, but my mom used to rinse my hair with vinegar when I was a kid. She also put vinegar in the water when she boiled eggs and used it to clean the coffee pot.

    I once worked in a group that was so profane, they kept us isolated in a corner. When I left that group I managed to go 7 months before dropping the f-bomb in the office. That was a record. Now I work from home and sometimes say I swear just for fun.

    If we give the dog yogurt to stop her from farting, what would we do for entertainment, and who would be blame when we do it?

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  15. GREAT post and comments! I give Bogart a big rounded teaspoonful of Mountain High Plain yogurt after his meals and sometimes for a midnight snack. I started because he came to us on a crappy kibble diet, and his poop was just killer noxious and his gas could singe one's nose hairs! First I got him on a great diet, and then thought well, yeah, YOGURT. Now he brings me his dish when he's done and I plop his spoonful in it, and we call it "Bogurt". It's fine for dogs because the lactose is digested, and WHAT a difference! NO detectable gas. The only downside is for my DH, who has no one to blame anymore.

    The CATS were hysterical!

    My Grandma used vinegar on my sunburns when I was a kid, it stank but did seem to help with the pain and peeling.

    I loved your admission of your swearing, (all of you)! I had made a resolution to watch my own mouth, and I'm still watching my mouth as words I had decided I would no longer use come rolling right out. Last night DH said I swear like a trucker, then remarked in sudden realization "You ARE a trucker!" I was a "truck" person all my life, now currently truckless and I really miss Tex, my old F-150 XLT Lariat supercab, an '88 with the shark gill windows that we customized with a NASTRUCK look. I happened to look at Tex's VIN a few years after I bought him and it started out FDTEX.. so it really was his name.

    Trader Joe's ROCKS! Be careful though, they put the cookies above the frozen food so when you're looking at diet friendly fish and veggies, the temptation is right in front of you! And the carrot cake cup cakes with cream cheese frosting are out of this world. I can't even look at them anymore, I'm working so hard on trimming down.

    Sorry this is so long, I made some decaf, but it's 11:45 and I'm still wide awake, so maybe there were some caf beans left in the grinder hopper... #:~(

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  16. Crabby,

    So if I put some broccoli/broccoli sprouts in the blender, rub it on my face and sing along with Kermit "It's not easy being green" will I look younger, or just not get skin cancer?

    Terrie

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  17. Mary, you made some waves in Benny's favourite lake and he missed them? Darn! :)

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  18. Hilary, thank you for the tour -- those photos on your blog are gorgeous! I love playing the lazy tourist and sightseeing without having to get on a plane. :)

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  19. Thanks a LOT Crabby! What with all this publicity, Benny's taken to wearing sunglasses and referring all calls to his agent!

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  20. Jim, you're leaving Chew On That? Holy Cow. Well, I can't wait to check out your new digs--do keep us posted!

    Katie--see what I mean? It was the photo of those evil peanut butter cups that forced me to rip open a bag of chocolate chips.

    Mary--Yes I am a shameless hussy and I love leveraging your synergies almost as much as I love swearing, damn it! And Hilary's pictures always make me feel like I've taken a nice little trip somewhere without ever having to remove my ass from my chair. Aren't they great?

    Database Diva--well, if dog farting is an evening's entertainment, your social life must be just about as scintillating as ours! (But yeah, we have just a very polite cat and no one to cover for us.)

    So TK, the thought of your dog dutifully bringing his after-dinner dish to he can be de-fartified just cracks me up! And I will definitely heed your warnings about Trader Joes' temptations.

    Terrie, if you put some broccoli sprouts in the blender, rub it on your face and sing along with Kermit "It's not easy being green"--and put it on YouTube for all of us to admire, you will be inducted into the Cranky Fitness Hall of Fame for best Commenter ever.

    Hi Frank--better be careful, with all the writers out there looking for agents--dog-napping might seem a pragmatic shortcut to obtaining representation. Might want to hire Benny some bodyguards.

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  21. Crabby,

    Yeah, yeah, yeah, Like I know how to do You Tube--I can't even properly link You Tube. Oops! That was an earlier post, wasn't it? Oh well.

    Terrie

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  22. Crabby - thanks so much for the link!! And thanks, Melissa for the five stars! The Bag Lady is blushing...
    It's been so hectic on the ranch the past couple of days she almost missed out on all the fun.
    Great post - and the comments are more hilarious than usual. The Bag Lady had no idea how many people need to blame the dog..so keep the yogurt to smear on your faces and let the damned dog fart!

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  23. fuck shit cockskucker motherfucker tnuc--sorry still can't do that one--damn hell...Jez, where's George Carlin to help out when you need him.
    Oh, I was responding to the cursing is good for you article...

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  24. Wow that person above me is a swear machine. Thanks for the link and although I hate pets mostly the cat pictures made me laugh.

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  25. Terrie, I can't do YouTube either, but for your special performance, I'd learn!

    Thanks bag lady, and hope things calm down on the ranch soon so you can waste more time on the internet like the rest of us!

    Hi anon--it is fun to let loose with some swear words every now and then isn't it? And I thought that George Carlin routine was the funniest thing, especially when I was a teenager. (But I'm like you, though, I can't do ncut either.)

    Jennifer, I wouldn't have put you down for a pet-hater! You may have mentioned it before but I probably repressed it. Anyway, lolcats are in a special category all their own.

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