Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Missouri nursing homes hold beauty pageant

The crowning of a new beauty queen will take place tonight in Kansas City, Mo. It's not Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, Miss World, Miss Universe, or Miss Informed.

No, this pageant is the 29th annual Ms. Missouri Nursing Home Pageant, a three-tiered, statewide competition.

The pageant's c0-chairwoman Carla Lungren, who works with the Missouri Health Care Association, is proud of the pageant.

"That's totally why we do what we do everyday in long-term care," said Lungren. "To touch people's lives and make them meaningful until the very end."

According to an Associated Press story, there ares no extravagant prizes or evening gown competitions, though some women prefer to wear a fancy dress or adorn their wheelchairs with flowers as they tell stories of growing up during the Great Depression and World War II. Some reminisce about vacation mishaps or decades-long marriages — and of their children, grandchildren, even great-great grandchildren.

Georgia, Alabama and California also have long-running pageants, and West Virginia held its event for many years before the death of its organizer.

To read more, click here.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Now this is a cupcake!!


My stepdaughters love to bake, but I hope they never try to bake a cupcake this size.

The world's largest cupcake -- a 1,224-pound triple vanilla cupcake with pink frosting -- was unveiled Aug. 15 at the Woodward Dream Cruise classic cars event in Royal Oak, Mich.

A Guinness World Records representative was on hand to certify the cupcake's girth. The cupcake weighed more than 8 times the size of the previous record holder.

Some of the other insane numbers: the cupcake took 12 hours to bake, and included 800 eggs and 200 pounds each of sugar and flour. The cupcake was made by New Hampshire-based Gourmetgiftbaskets.com. Owner Ryan Abood told a newspaper the cupcake had an estimated 2 million calories.

Slices of the cupcake were served in exchange for donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer organization.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Pa. man guilty of groping Minnie Mouse

A 60-year-old Schuylkill County man was found guilty Tuesday of groping a woman in a Minnie Mouse costume at Walt Disney World.

According to the Associated Press, John William Moyer of Cressona told the judge he is innocent. His son said before sentencing that his father would never inappropriately touch a woman, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Moyer was convicted Tuesday of misdemeanor battery and sentenced to write the victim an apology, serve 180 days probation and complete 50 hours of community service. Moyer must also pay $1,000 in court costs and possibly undergo a mental evaluation.

The victim says she had to do everything possible to keep Moyer's hands off her breasts.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Rough start for Eagles at training camp

The Eagles are considered among the favorites to contend for the Super Bowl this season, but the first 10 days of training camp have been difficult for Andy Reid's squad.

First, the team received the devastating news that longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and succumbed to cancer. Since being hired by Reid in 1999, the Eagles defense has been among the best units in the league.

First-round draft pick Jeremy Maclin did not sign until late Monday night and missed 9 days of camp.

Starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley is out for the season after tearing an ACL in a knee during a practice Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Then early this morning, defensive end Juqua Parker was arrested on a marijuana possession charge near the team's training facility at Lehigh University.

According to the Associated Press, Lower Saucon Township police said Parker was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation at 12:33 a.m. near Lehigh University, where the Eagles train.

Parker was carrying "a small amount of marijuana" and was taken to Northampton County Prison, police said. Parker was released after posting $1,000 bail later Wednesday morning, a prison official said.

Eagles coach Andy Reid said he was aware of the incident.

"It's in the law's hands right now. As time goes on, I'll know more," Reid said. Reid said the team curfew was 1 a.m.

So most of the news coming out of Eagles camp has been bad. As a fan, I hope that isn't a pretense to the regular season.