Everyone loves corn-on-the-cob especially this time of year. But after you husk the corn, thin corn silks remain on the corncob. There are many ways to remove the silks – pick them out by hand, wipe the corncob with a dry towel or wipe the corncob with a wet towel. These are good ideas but I’ve found the perfect way to get rid of the silk on the corncob.

For a little over a dollar, you can buy a corn de-silking brush from CleanWay http://www.surlatable.com/gs/corn-de-silking-brush-lobster-and-corn-5.shtml. The price on line is much higher than what I found at Walmart right next to the corn display. This washable brush has soft and flexible plastic bristles to brush the corncob after you husk the corn. The brush is 3 x 1.75 x 1.75 inches and is tapered with different bristle lengths for all sizes and shapes of corn.

The instructions show that all you need to do is press down firmly and brush up and down on the cob. You don’t have to brush hard just enough pressure removes the silks from your corn-on-the-cob and it doesn’t damage the kernels. The tampered design along with the different bristle lengths reach and remove the silks especially the hard to get at silks in the rows down between the kernels.

I found the corn de-silking brush to be about 95% effective. Just think no more silks that float to the top when you are cooking the corn and no silks trapped in between your teeth and hang from your mouth when you eat corn-on-the-cob. And this product is made in the USA!

Until later,

Linda

There was a time when the Discovery Channel only had brainiac type of shows. Who ever watched those shows? Only if you were in school and your teacher made you watch a show for homework.

Well now all that has changed. The Discovery Channel has exciting shows like Deadliest Catch – awesome series about crab fishing in Alaska – or Man vs Wild or Dirty Jobs. My two favorite series is Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs.

When I first tuned in to watch Dirty Jobs I really found it funny and interesting. Mike Rowe the host of this show makes this show really worthwhile watching. He is funny and with his good looks, makes the hour long show the best to watch on the Discovery channel.

Mike travels throughout the U S in search of dirty, smelly, disgusting jobs. He actually works at the job doing what they do every day. I’ve seen some shows where he worked as a fish processor, septic-tank technician to helping out a veterinarian with horses, llamas and donkeys doing the most disgusting jobs a veterinarian does. Of course, everything he does on this show has some connection to “pooh” and I don’t mean Winnie the Pooh!

The last episode took Mike Rowe to the Arctic region in search of green native sharks. The temperature was below freezing. He couldn’t feel his hands or feet but kept his sense of humor. They had to trap a shark to study this unknown species in the Arctic. They drilled a hole in the ice and put in a line filled with bait. They caught two sharks. The first shark didn’t make it so Mike was asked to do an autopsy. He was pulling out the stomach and liver of the shark – totally disgusting! The other shark they caught was alive and after they tagged it and put it back into the water the shark left a bit of a “pooh” mess. Of course, Mike said that’s what every show offers its viewers – a bit of “pooh”.

After every episode, Mike asks the viewers to send in ideas on their dirty jobs to keep the series going. So if you can think of any dirty jobs you do out there, send them to http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs.html. Keep Mike Rowe doing dirty jobs. It’s a fun and entertaining show with a great host.

Until later,

Linda

For a fun and entertaining series, until Dancing with the Stars comes back, you’ve got to watch Ice Road Truckers http://www.history.com/minisites/iceroadtruckers/. This series is on the History Channel. Yes, the History Channel. They do have some very entertaining and educational shows.

The Ice Road Truckers feature everyday truck drivers. These are not actors but truck drivers ranging from rookies to over twenty-five years experience driving on ice roads. This is the second season for this series and some of the old favorites are back such as Alex, Hugh, Rick, Drew and Bear. Because they are truckers, their language may not be perfect and there is a lot of bleeping out of certain words. But as I said, they are truckers, what do you expect? The story line revolves around these truckers and you can definitely see different personality types, from hard working guys to some who love to complain and whine about everything.

Where do you find ice roads – in Alaska that is over 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The difference is that this season they are driving on an unknown river and ocean ice roads. That’s right they drive over river and ocean roads that link remote communities such as Inuvik and Tuktovaktuk.

During the winter months, the Mallik Gas Hydrate Research Project and MGM Energy rely on ice road truckers to move hundreds of heavy and oversized loads over the frozen river and ocean water. The danger of driving over the ice is that the ice can crack and the trucks can fall into the icy waters. Also if the truck drivers aren’t careful they can spin out and be trapped in fatally cold weather along with dangerous storm conditions. After all, we are talking about Alaska here.

There are about five more episodes left and I highly recommend watching Ice Road Truckers. One of the favorites, Alex, has a serious medical condition that may take him off the road forever and Rick is still whining away. Don’t worry if you missed any of the former shows, the History Channel replays many of the shows before the new show starts. It’s on Sunday nights so check it out.

Until later,

Linda

The latest news from Denver is that Barack Obama will be giving his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. He claims that he wants to offer this “historic” event to the “grass roots” community.

What is he talking about?

The DNC is only offering minimal tickets (about 1200) to local people to attend at Invesco. The stadium holds over 76,000 people and if you take into account all the dingbats from the DNC convention that leaves about 40,000+ empty seats.

But this gets better. Now the DNC is offering a free trip to see Obama speech (see the article at http://cbs4denver.com/local/convention.obama.donors.2.765275.html). They are raffling off tickets at $5 or more for a chance to attend the speech.

Isn’t this illegal? Whose checking on this type of “fund raising/”raffle”?

The truth of the matter, it seems as though the people of Colorado are not interested in the DNC at all. Surveys on local channel web sites show overwhelmingly negative numbers when asked if they are planning to attend the DNC and even the “historic” speech at Invesco.

Concerns about the $12 million short fall for the convention is gaining momentum. Local web bloggers are saying that taxes may be raised to pay for the convention.

Right up the Democrats alley isn’t it? Let’s spend and tax the people – Coloradoans are wealthy they can afford this.

I don’t think so.

Until later,

Linda 

Today, July 7, 2008 the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado is officially closed for all sporting events until after the DNC convention starting on August 25, 2008. The DNC officially has the keys to the Center to start construction and clearing equipment and furnishings from the building’s retail stores, storage areas and locker rooms of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche.

All of this is taking place even when the last report in June was that Denver was short about $11m to host the convention. Now rumors are saying that the cost to host the convention is more than the $40.6 million originally asked for. They are calling these costs “overruns.” The contract calls for additional security costs of $1.5 million, another $1.5 million for reimbursement of Pepsi Center suite holders and $900,000 in host committee costs. None of this money is included in the original $40.6 million. The contract also requires almost $10 million of in-kind services, whatever that means. What isn’t raised in donations must be paid for in cash. My question is by whom?

Now the Democratic National Committee wants to move Obama’s acceptance speech from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field at Mile High. The DNC claims that there are no potential additional costs. I don’t think so.

What about security? Security needs to be set up at Invesco as well as a plan for moving all the big wig Democrats to Invesco. TV stations need to move their communication trucks and of course set up for the event. Highways need to be shut down and this is during a workweek. Did I mention that a lot of businesses are planning to let their employees work from home? Also, Denver is going to pay, yes pay you, to take alternative transportation into town during the convention. Where is Denver getting this money from?

Of course, Democratic Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. praised the decision to move the acceptance speech to the larger venue. He said, “Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention. This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign.”

Once again, the Democrats have shown that they have no fiscal responsibility and are not good citizens. They are demanding from a host city to have their way and don’t care how much they spend other peoples’ money! With a Democrat Mayor and Governor, all the hard-working citizens of Colorado can do is just sit and watch this craziness.

I’m getting this feeling that the Democrat Party just doesn’t care how much money they spend or how much inconvenience they cause a city and their citizens. They are in this for all show and no substance.

I can just see Howard Dean basking in the glow of all of this pomp and circumstance. He wants to show the American people how great the Democrats are. But in reality the DNC convention is going to be nothing but a three-ring circus. Is this the type of “change” Obama is talking about? The only change I see is from our pockets to feed the Democrats’ ego as well as his.

With about seven weeks to go before the convention starts, the good people of Denver and Colorado are in for a rude awakening of how the Democrats actually run their party. Let’s see how responsible they really are and if they leave a huge mess (money mess) for the citizens of Colorado to pick up.