Ring Around the World

Down-Home is a state of mind and a way of life. From the way we turn a phrase to the way we cook a meal, down-home is distinctively different. So now I am going to pass along some favorite Arkansas talk.



Some Arkansas Talking:


Age

• "He so old he could have been a waiter at the "Last Supper!""
• "Old as Methuselah!""Old as Dirt!"

• "Taste so Good it Makes You Want to Swallow Your Tongue!"

• "Pretty as a Goggle-Eyed Perch!""Cutter than a June Bug on a Sow's Ear!"

• "Busy as a Bee in a Bottle!"

• "As Sexy as Socks on a Rooster!"

• "He Couldn't Hit a Bull in the Ass With a Bass Fiddle!"

• "You'd Grip if They Hung You With a New Rope!"

• "Like a Rubber-Nosed Wood Pecker in the Petrified Forest!"

• "Stubborn as a Cross-Eyed Mule!"

• "So Many Folks You can't Stir'em with a Stick!"

• "My Hearts Heavier than a Bucket of Hog Livers!"

• "Like Tryin' to Lick Honey Off a Blackberry Vine!"

• "Finer than a Frog's Hair Spilt Four ways and Sanded!"

• "She has a Heart Soft as Summer Butter!"

• "Bawlin' Like a Dyin' Calk in a Hail Storm!"

• "So Poor You Couldn't Make a Down Payment on a Hotdog!"\

• "She's Got Enough Kids to Bait a Trotline!"

• "Well slap me naked and hide my clothes!"

• "Her Tongue is Tied in the Middle and Waggin' at Both Ends!"

• "He's Got Enough Money to Burn a Wet Mule!"

• "You'd Worry the Warts Off a Frog!"

• "Worthless as a Pinch of Sour Owl Manure!

Singer Jim Ed Brown (James Edward Brown) he was raised on a Farm in Sparkman, Arkansas and in 1953 he entered a talent contest in Little Rock on a dare and won first place.


Entertainer Bob Burns from Greenwood, Arkansas was one of the top radio and movie comedians of the 30's and 40's.


Entertainer Glenn Campbell from Billstown, Arkansas who was a recording star, TV host, and movie actor.


First woman elected to Senate is Hattie Caraway from Jonesboro, Arkansas.


Entertainer Johnny Cash is from Cleveland County, Arkansas. He was born in a 3 room railroad shack to a sharecropper family, and by age 12 he was writing songs. His mother took in washing to pay for singing lessons, and by age 17 Johnny Cash won first prize in a local talent show.


Black Activist Eldridge Cleaver from Little Rock, Arkansas, and was known for the "in your face" black activism.


Military Hero William Darby from Fort Smith, Arkansas commanded WWII's elite striking force, the Rangers. He was wounded 3 times and decorated 10 times by 4 governments.


Actor Daniel Davis from Gurdon, Arkansas. He is the Famous Niles, the butler on TV's "The Nanny."


Baseball Player Willie Davis from Mineral Springs, Arkansas. For 13 years he played starting center field for the Dodgers, and he was among the fastest players in the game.


Hall of Fame Pitcher Dizzy Dean from Lucas, Arkansas and played for the St. Louis Cardinals.


Department Store Tycoon William T Dillard from Mineral Springs, Arkansas. The founder of the famous Dillard's Department Store.


Actress Melinda Dillon from Hope, Arkansas who was nominated twice for the Academy Award for her supporting performances in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", and "Absence of Malice."


US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders from Schaal, Arkansas. She was the first African-American to serve as America's top doctor.


Pilitzer-Prize-Winning Poet John Gould Fletcher from Little Rock, Arkansas.


Singer Al Green from Forrest City, Arkansas. His first hit was "Back Up Train."


Author John Grisham from Jonesboro, Arkansas. No novelist of the 1990's sold more books than Grisham.


Actress Tess Harper from Mammoth Springs, Arkansas. Films/Movies "Crimes of the Heart", "Silk Wood", "Criminal Law", and TV shows such as "Chiefs", and "Little Girl Lost."


The First Arkansan to run for President was William Hope Harvey known as "Coin" Harvey from Monte Ne, Arkansas.


Hall-Of-fame Football Player Don Hutson from Pine Bluff, Arkansas.


Country & Western Singer Tracy Lawrence from Foreman, Arkansas. His first single hit was "Sticks and Stones."


Boxer Sonny Liston (Charles Liston) from Little Rock, Arkansas.


Actor Laurence Luckinbill from Fort Smith, Arkansas. He has appeared in movies like "The Boys in the Band", "Star Trek V."


Gangster Owney "The Killer" Madden from Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was among the most vicious mobster to ever fire a tommy gun.


Oscar-Winning Actress Mary Steenburgen from Newport, Arkansas. She appeared on movies like "Ragtime", Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and "Parenthood."


"The Chicken King" Don Tyson of Tyson's Chicken of Springdale, Arkansas is the world's largest Poultry Producer.


Founder of Aromatique Patti Upton from Jonesboro, Arkansas.


Founder of the famous WAL-MART Sam Walton of Newport, Arkansas. He graduated from the University of Missouri and hired on at JC Penney. Mr Penney himself once taught Sam how to wrap a package. After a stint in the Army he used his savings to open a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. In 1950 he lost his lease and moved to Bentonville where is started Walton's 5 & 10. In time he and his younger brother J.L. "Bud" Walton added several more stores and from their the brothers saw the future and opened their first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas on July 2, 1962 and within a year the store had grossed $1 Million Dollars.

"If I could rest anywhere it would be Arkansaw where the man of the real-horse, half alligator-breed such as grows no where else on the face of the universal earth" Davey Crockett 1834


"Of all i seen in America it Arkansas one the one which pleased me most...I shall never forget the happy days there, where many a pure heart beats under a coarse frock or leather hunting shirt. " Frederick Gerstaecker German travel writer, 1843


"Little that is true is really known of the state and no other people have been more misunderstood." The New York Times, 1874


"Tell your mama, tell your pa, gonna send you back to Arkansas." Ray Charles, 1959


"If anybody asked me to pick the happiest 4 or 5 years of my life, it would be my time spent in Arkansas." Pat Summerall, 1990


"I would like to flee like a wounded hart into Arkansas." Oscar Wilde 1897

I read an article this morning online about the proper way to load a dishwasher. The rules to loading a dishwasher is totally common sense, but there are people out there (including people in my family) that do not common sense when it comes to certain things like this.

Here is what the article had to say:

1. Don't block the spray arms.


In order for your dishwasher's water spray to work most efficiently, you'll need to load the machine strategically. That means making sure that the water sprays aren't blocked. On most machines, there's one spray arm below the bottom rack and another right below the upper rack. Steward suggests taking your finger and spinning the spray arms once the machine is loaded to assure that they can move freely.


2. Yes, there is a right way to load a dishwasher.


You can optimize cleaning by loading the dishes so they make best use of the spray arms. To ensure this, all soiled surfaces should be facing east to west, or as Forte explains, "In toward the center, not out toward the walls." Here are other tips for how to best load the dishwasher:


-Large items like pots, pans and casserole dishes should be placed along the sides and back of the lower rack. Be sure that pot and long utensil handles don't protrude below the bottom rack -- one way that spray arms commonly get blocked. Some machines have additional jets on the lower back wall of the tub. Heavily soiled items can be positioned to face those jets for a direct, targeted spray and extra cleaning.


-Glasses and smaller items should go on the top rack, with glasses placed upside down in between the tines, never over them. (They're less secure when placed over the tines, increasing the risk of damage. Plus, the tines can cause food and water to get trapped inside, leaving stains.)


-Silverware is a little trickier to arrange. The key to getting these clean is to make sure that they don't nest. Alternate loading spoons and forks with the handles facing up and down; knives should always go in with the sharp end pointing down.


-Plastic can get damaged if you're using the heat dry setting, so always put these items on the top shelf, away from the drying mechanism.


-Platters and cookie sheets are best placed on the sides of the bottom rack. If placed in front, they may hinder the detergent door from opening or prevent the detergent from being dispensed and fully mixing with the water.


3. Make sure that the water is hot.


Since heat is a key factor in breaking up grease and stubborn food, Steward suggests running your kitchen tap before starting a dishwasher cycle. That way, the water will be hot the moment it touches your plates.


4. Add the right amount of detergent.


"More is not always better," when it comes to dishwasher detergent, Steward says. The amount you need depends on the hardness of your water. Look for guidelines in your machine's user care guide, but as a general rule of thumb, the harder your water is, the more detergent you'll need. If your water is soft (or if you've done a lot of pre-rinsing), using too much detergent can cause etching or a rainbow effect on glass that's irreversible.


5. Scrape, don't rinse.


Pre-rinsing is a waste of water, both experts agree. With performance improving in most machines over the years, all you need to do is scrape off big pieces of food and send the wares in for a wash. "The only time I would recommend it is if you weren't running a full load," Forte says. "In that case you can use a "rinse and hold" setting. It only uses a gallon of water, less water than rinsing them in the sink, and they can stay there until you can accumulate a whole load.

So for those of you who are like me and have family members without common sense, you could do like I did, I printed these rules off and placed it above my dishwasher for all to read...lol.

Original Article was written by Jessica Cumberbatch and can be found here at:
http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/06/19/how-to-load-a-dishwasher

I am sorry to say this but I DO NOT like our ever popular Movie/Film Critics, Roger Ebert, Cole Smithey, or Armond White. They call themselves experts on being able to Judge to Movies/Films, but from my experience they are 80% of the time wrong.

How did I come up with 80% you ask? Well I will tell you how, I have many friends on Facebook (320), I have a large family that I am close to (42 members including all distant relatives), and then in this small town that I live in of 500 people, I am friends and acquaintances of 375 of them. I then went through thousands of Movies/Films that were rated a C or less and deemed un-seeable, until I found 100 of them that all 737 plus me have seen. I then asked all 737 people their opinion on these Movies/Films such as if you were to give these Movies/Films a school grade what would it be, would you recommend this Movie/Film to your friends, family, and strangers, would you watch this Movie/Film more then once, etc.. Then I took their answers and mine and 80% of these people gave these Movies/Films a B or higher, they would recommend them, and they would watch them at least one more time or more.

I have actually turned my nose up at Movies/Films at the Video Store or on Pay-Per-View just because of the reviews I heard about them, but then later on come across them on regular TV and find that it caught my attention and I ended up really liking or loving the Movie/Film.

I do not just criticism these Movie Critics because they have cost me and others the enjoyment of Movies/Films that were worth watching, but they also have costed many Producers, Directors, and Actors they dignity and worthiness, let alone stardom and money.

I guess it just boils down "to each their own" when it comes to what we like in Movies/Films. I love Movies/Films from the Classics to the New, and I love finding their differences, but then if you look real close you will find some of the Classics techniques in them too. The Classics will never die when it comes to Movies/Films, and why should they? When you do something perfect the first time why change it?

Now I know if we did not have these Critics then the Produces, Directors, Actors, and others would not strive to put their best foot forward. I just think that these Critics need to be a little less harsh,

Please note that I have nothing against these Movie Critics, I just wish they would see these Movie/Films through the eyes of others, and not have tunnel vision.