CasaSugar

Etsy Shop: Uncommon Goods

sweetpeabrina — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:44:04 -0700

While bookmarking, I found this store that sells pendants made of scrabble tiles. How inventive!

Uncommon Goods

Here are some of my favs.

Jake playing Scrabble

beram1220 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:18:33 -0800

Scrabble

Beachwalker — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:58:44 -0700

-------- Practice makes perfect for Scrabble champ ---------

LONDON - The new champion of Britain's National Scrabble
Championship says he has been working toward the accomplish-
ment for 34 years. Allan Simmons, 51, said after winning
the final of the 37th annual British Scrabble tournament
that more than three decades of practice helped him defeat
fellow finalist, 27-year-old Craig Beevers, The Daily
Telegraph said Monday. "I have had many more years
experience playing than him and it's so hard to get to the
final, so I thought I had to go for it but I think there
were points where I was a bit cautious and did not take my
chances," Simmons said after Sunday's event. "At a normal
tournament I think I would have been a bit more relaxed."
Simmons, who is ranked seventh among competitive Scrabble
players in Britain, told The Daily Telegraph the tournament
win and its grand prize of $1,740 was a dream come true.
"It's the peak of one's playing career," he said. The
Telegraph said Simmons won the final decisive game in the
match with the word "sheering."

Did You Play a lot of Board Games with your family or friends?

Jessica Biel swaps bad boys for Scrabble

jaydog — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:56:05 -0700

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry star Jessica Biel - who is currently dating sexy singer Justin Timberlake - is tired of "mothering" boys who can't be saved and prefers nights in with her girlfriends playing games and drinking wine.
Jessica, 25, told Glamour magazine: "I have done the mothering thing of trying to save a bad boy, but I don't think it works so I stopped.
"When you're in a relationship you always have a moment when you disappear for a while but my friends are great.
"I wouldn't let them get away with it. I will not let some man take my girlfriends away!
"We do a lot of dinner parties and we play board games. I love Scrabble and I also enjoy Apples to Apples, which is a mindless game where you learn weird things about people - it's really silly and goes well with a glass of wine."
The Hollywood sex symbol also revealed she no longer feels the need to go out partying like her contemporaries such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, because she got it all out of her system at an early age.
Jessica revealed: "I'm such a homebody it's embarrassing. But I feel I went through that phase when I was in my late teens and sneaking into places like everybody does.
"But when I turned 21 I just got over it. Got over the crowds, the expensive drinks and all the people."

Words with Friends is Verbosely Fun

lauren — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:54:47 -0800

My brother a while back mentioned Words with Friends is his new favorite app, it took me a while to download but it is a ton of fun! There is pay version as well as a free application, I went free. The advertisements are slightly intrusive but since you are not always playing, it is easy to ignore. With this app, you can play scrabble at your own pace with contacts, facebook or twitter friends. If you are competitive and don't mind spelling, download it...

10 Sept 2009 - Scrabble National Junior Competition

Scrabble Academy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:36:09 -0700

...

Source: Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy Wed

kty — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:57:18 -0700

Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy have gotten married, a source who attended the wedding tells PEOPLE. Danes, 30, and Dancy, 34, tied the knot in a quiet ceremony in France a few weeks ago, according to the source. The pair met while filming the movie Evening in Newport, R.I., and revealed their engagement in February.
PHOTOS: Surprise! We're Married!
In April, Danes's pal Mamie Gummer, who appeared with the pair in Evening, said the bride-to-be was very "calm" about her upcoming nuptials. Gummer also told PEOPLE that the couple's courtship was equally low-key, and that they bonded over games of Boggle and Scrabble on the movie set. "I was there when it was happening and it's something that I will never forget," Gummer said at the Chanel and Tribeca Film Festival Artists' Dinner in New York at the time. "I'm incredibly happy for them. They are perfect for each other." Calls to Dane's rep were not returned. Dancy's rep tells PEOPLE, "We don't comment on the private lives of our clients." Life & Style first reported the story.

Dogs and 2-Year-Olds on Same Mental Plane

T S — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:11:21 -0700

MONDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- According to accumulating research, the beloved family dog is really a toddler with a snout and tail.

"Dogs basically have the developmental abilities equivalent to a human 2-year-old," said dog expert Stanley Coren, who was scheduled to present recent canine research developments at the American Psychological Association annual meeting this week in Toronto.

The average dog can learn 165 words, although "super dog" Rico, a border collie, could understand 200 spoken words. Experts think some dogs can learn up to 250 words.

Dogs can count up to four or five and can correct you if you can't add one plus one.

One dog apparently learned to "read." Coren recounted the case of the canine who was able to "deliver" mail addressed to two girls, one with a short name and one with a long name. Although the owner thought the dog was actually reading, it turns out the canine was gauging the length of the name, not the individual characters, enabling him to deliver the mail to the right person.

Different breeds of dog differ in their intelligence, with border collies topping the list for working (instinctive) and obedience intelligence. The next six smartest are poodles, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Dobermans, Shetland sheepdogs and Labrador retrievers. (The third type of dog smarts is adaptive or problem-solving ability.)

"There are two extreme viewpoints when we talk about dogs," said Coren, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and author of numerous books on dogs including How to Speak Dog and How Dogs Think. "Some tend to think of dogs as if they are little human beings with fur coats. The other extreme is to think of dogs as if they're unthinking but programmable robots. My little beagle would then be a beagle-shaped bag, a biological equivalent of transistors and gears. The truth of the matter is somewhere in between."

More and more, scientists are realizing that dogs can think and solve problems in ways previously thought to belong only to humans and higher primates.

Indeed, one recent study also found that dogs were like 24-month-old children, at least when it comes to figuring out where humans have hidden a treat.

Like 2-year-olds, dogs can experience fear, anger, happiness and disgust (perhaps at a human's sub-par math skills), but not guilt. Humans don't feel guilt until about age 4, Coren said.

That doesn't mean they can't make humans feel guilty. That desolate look when a dog's human leaves the house is probably legitimate. "Dogs are pack animals," Coren explained.

Dogs apparently can ponder the meaning of "dog," in a way. According to Coren, they do have a consciousness of self, though not as complex as that of humans.

They also recognize differences among beings and are cognizant of others' variable viewpoints and talents.

And they dream, as demonstrated through movements they make while they're asleep.

Dogs can figure out how to get to the couch before you do and how to operate a latch or other simple mechanism.

They can also deceive other dogs.

Not to mention people.

Coren has both a beagle (ranked seventh from the bottom in obedience intelligence) and a cat. The cat is fed on the counter so the beagle can't interfere with feline meal-time.

One time, though, the beagle started scrabbling around, digging at the kitchen floor. "I was quite confused," Coren recalls. "He looked around and continued again, then he looked up at me. I finally got down on my hands and knees and he immediately jumped onto my back and onto the counter. He decided his psychologist father could be used as a ladder."

"This presentation asks and answers some very deep questions about if, and then how, dogs might think," said Bonnie Beaver, a professor in the department of small animal clinical sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. "[But] there is always the possibility that generalizations do not quite fit the data or that the original data may have been weak. Serious students of dogs are advised to go back to original studies, lovers of dogs should view this with interest and leave a little room for doubts."

Source

Christina is Sia new BFF & 4 new songs!

dirrtyhoney — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:04:15 -0800

Sia has mentioned Christina on her myspace blog with 4 new songs with Christina!

Sia has a new best friend, they even share a birthday, and she’s written all about her in her latest blog. Click here to head over to www.siamusic.net and read Sia’s new entry. Find out just who she’s challenging to a scrabble tournament, how she ‘can never be a better singer than her’, who she describes as ‘a nice person, an awesome mama, an incredible talent‘ and of course, why she’s her new best friend!i arrived on a sunday night and fell into bed.
monday morning i discovered it was colder than i had anticipated,and shorts and shirt dresses weren’t going to cut it.As the rain seeped into my converse chucks,i made a note to refer to them as ’sandals’ in the future.
sam (dixon) and i spent the day discussing valentines,and trying not to buy anything at all,because ‘there is a recession,you know’.
we were officially on call.
to miss christina aguilera.
HOW FUN.
the week turned out 4 beautiful songs,four new mates,several new dog loves,fine dining,followed by super mario,apples to apples and a game of pool.
i lost unwaiveringly.
gratefully,i’m a demon at scrabble,and i’ve challenged her to a tournament.
i can never be a better singer than her,but i sure can hope to get the word ‘hexagons’ on a triple word score,you feel me?
i definitely pooped my pants when she first sang out loud in the room with us.
little prickles stood up all over me,and marched first up,then down,then up again.
when i heard ‘beautiful’ in david’s car for the first time,i remember thinking,this is the best song i can remember hearing maybe ever,who is it?
it didn’t surprise me at all when he said ‘christina aguilera’,but it does surprise me that just a few years later,i find myself collaborating with the voice that brought that song to life.
i love her.
she’s a nice person.
a good person.
an awesome mama.
an incredible talent.
incredibly professional.
a feminist.
a rad role model for women who want to believe we can have it all,do it all.
and we share the same birthday which means, according to the playground rules i like to live by, xtina and i are in grade 1 at school,and she is my new best friend.

Source: http://xtina-web.com/index.php/49

Goodbye skinny metrosexuals, the beefcake is back

Cassandra57 — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:22:26 -0700

* PUBLIC POST *

The article is a bit long and some of the references don't translate, but I'm sure you ladies get the point.
Of course, I am sharing this for the sociological significance and the deep discussion I'm sure will result.
There are a couple more pictures at the link, but I included the best ones here.

=================================================================================

Metrosexual twigmen who admire your shoes are all very well in good times, but when the going gets tough, what you actually want is a REAL man, says Tanya Gold.

As I stick my head out of my window, I smell a change in the evening air. Everywhere I look big, dark, hairy, slightly fat men are staring at me - from advertising billboards, cinema screens and the pages of glossy magazines.

They growl, they glower, they exude menace and demonic sex appeal. I wonder, could it be - could it really be - that the beefcake is back?

Every credit crunch cloud has a silver lining. We are already saying goodbye to haute cuisine, ugly, overpriced handbags and £60 knickers. Why did we ever pay so much for a bit of ribbon and a label? What was wrong with us? Were we mad?

We are kissing hello to supermarket own brands, holidays in Cornwall, making do and mending, and knitting. Even Scrabble is making a comeback.

And, best of all things - better than Christmas every day, better than a pay rise, better than me - men who look as if they might actually be men are back.

Goodbye metrosexual twigman with your sad little manbag - you never did it for me - and hello beefcake beast. Where have you been?

It should come as no surprise. Economic depressions have always walked hand in hand with the worship of raw machismo. That is just the way it goes.

Ask Hollywood, if you don't believe me.

Who was the No. 1 box office star of the troubled Thirties? Fred Astaire with his tiny feet and silly hats?

Not a chance. It was dark, dangerous Clark Gable (he of 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn') with rugged Spencer Tracy - a man who looked as if he'd kill anyone who wouldn't serve him a drink - right behind him.

The next big recession was the Seventies, when Hollywood gave us Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman and Jack Nicholson, none of whom you'd want to throw a punch at. The era also produced Burt Reynolds. He was so masculine he was just testosterone with a face stuck on.

And this time it's no different. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ed Norton - chinless drips the both of them - are ebbing away in the popular consciousness.

They have been replaced by Hugh Jackman, the massive Australian with the massive chest, and Clive Owen, the British Sin City star with the nasty growl.

We also have Jon Hamm, the gorgeous one from TV show Mad Men, and even Sylvester Stallone as Rambo has seemingly risen from the dead to make another movie.

And this time he has bigger arms than ever. If Sylvester Stallone is part of the zeitgeist, then the beefcake must be back. In the fickle fashion industry, things are changing, too. In the affluent Nineties, the men on the billboards simply shrank.

They were tiny, childlike men with no body hair and spindly legs. They had concave faces, hollow cheekbones, jutting hips and the open, bewildered expressions of children.

They were the size zero men, men by genitals alone, and to me they were as sexy as toast. They looked ill. They looked dead.

By 2005 you could put the average male model in a matchbox and still have room for all his friends. The king of the twigmen, Russian model Stas Svetlichnyy, was 6ft and weighed 10st. Ten stone? That is disgusting.

Yet, back then, he was so popular that even fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld decided to lose a third of his body weight to get the 'Stas' size zero look.

In the Nineties we had Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. Now he just looks like a girl - and not a pretty girl either.

In fact, he looks like a girl on the run from an eating disorder unit. But how we drooled and screamed and tried to rip his manbag off his scrawny frame.

We also had to put up with James Blunt as the popular icon of manhood in the early Noughties. I met him a few years ago at a party and I towered over him. He only came up to my knee.

And what about Michael Jackson? First, he decided he wanted a white face, then a woman's face and, finally, no face at all. And don't even get me started on David Beckham. A man in a skirt? What went wrong?

But that is all over. Fashion has spun, mutated and spat out beefcake. Yes, he is back. Back! I scream it with joy from the rooftops - back! Male icons will no longer weigh less than me.

In fashion, twigman has gone, to be replaced by David Gandy, the male model of now. I find it hard to pay attention to male models - I always forget a pretty face - but even I can see that Gandy, the Dolce & Gabbana model from Essex with the tiny white pants, looks like a Mexican bandit on steroids.

He looks as if he'd cut your throat for 10p and a packet of crisps and then give the entire female readership of the Daily Mail a fireman's lift into work.

I have always fancied men like him. Even when I was a tweenager, I yearned not for Rick Astley, but for Orson Welles as Mr Rochester in the Forties version of Jane Eyre.

Yes, he was fat - he apparently had to take a steam bath every night and wear a corset to squeeze him- self into his costume - but he stomped around Thornfield like a dog with toothache, his cloak flapping in the wind.

I can't imagine Jarvis Cocker doing anything in the wind, except falling over and getting his mummy to bandage his head. But why has the beefcake returned? Why has Bruce Banner become Hulk again? What has brought him back?

It's simple. It's so simple even David Gandy could understand it. The 'rise of the drip' was clearly an expression of our collective affluence.

In the last boom, we had computers, call centres and automation - and money, so much money, to do everything for us.

We lived in a highly sophisticated, fantastical, touch-screen culture where beefcake man was surplus to requirements. (OK, you might occasionally see one in a garage, stuck under a car, wielding a spanner, but it was rare.)

Everyone seemed to want to be gay and middle class, even the men who were straight and working class. You couldn't squeeze into a bar without being slapped with an over-styled Paul Smith suit and a noxious cloud of girl cologne.

In this sexless world of money and style, beefcake was nowhere. Because you don't need a beefcake if you live in a penthouse with blinds that go up and down at the touch of a button.

Beefcake looks weird in such a setting. Beefcake looks sad. Beefcake has nothing to do. He doesn't belong and he knows it.

Better to have a girl-man who looks like Keira Knightley and can discuss all your consumerist junk with you.

'Look,' says the perfect Nineties man. 'Shoes!' Ugh. It was not a good time for dating.

But things have changed. Our economy is splintering, our seas are rising and house prices are falling. Look away from the page and look back. Yes, your house just lost another £50 in value. We are afraid, and we should be. So what do we do?

We should choose beefcake. Fashion has decreed it. In times of hardship and uncertainty, what sane woman wants to cuddle up to a man she knows she could beat in a fight?

Who needs a sensitive accountant when all the money is going? Who needs a man to talk shoes when all the shoes have gone?

It is better to have a man who can mend things for you. And butcher sheep. And build houses and grow vegetables and make things out of bits of wood.

Won't you feel safer? Won't you feel better, knowing that there is a serious lump of muscle between you and the cold, cruel world outside?

Then there is sex. Shopping may be dead, but sex is one of the few commodities that is booming. All the supermarkets are reporting increased condom sales. Because sex is a cheap form of entertainment and it is also comforting.

I believe the boom and all the aspirational rubbish that went with it was essentially about denying who we were. Look, I have a handbag/ dress/car/tiara fit for a princess! Except I wasn't a princess, I was a journalist. And now I am a journalist in a lot of debt.

And now we can't afford to pretend to be other people, we can have better relationships. A real person with another real person? Who could believe it?

Hardship gives great love, if you let it.

Do you remember the Blitz? Everyone had great sex in the Blitz, even my Auntie Marie, who hated men.

And who do you have sex with? Big, brawny, hairy men, proper men, that's who.

When did we start thinking masculinity was threatening? Probably when Mummy said we had to marry a lawyer/accountant/doctor to buy us all the rubbish we now can't afford, and we don't need anyway

Now a sensible Mummy will say: 'Marry a man who is nifty with a drill, darling. A man who can dig a well. Because in the dark times coming, you won't need someone to do your VAT returns. There probably won't be any VAT.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1169498/Goodbye-skinny-metrose...