Jennifer Renz wasn’t due to deliver her twin babies for another 12 weeks. That’s three months! However, when she showed up at her doctor’s office on March 22, it was clear that baby Grace wasn’t going to wait a full nine months before coming out. Jennifer was in labor, and that baby wasn’t going to be denied. So, she went to the hospital and gave birth to her tiny miracle infant. Grace Renz was born at 1 pound, 13ounces, underweight and frail but otherwise healthy. As for Grace’s brother Noah, he wasn’t budging, and doctors weren’t about to force him out. Jennifer didn’t give birth to him until a week later! That’s right, her twins were born a week apart.

Noah arrived weighing a healthier 2 pounds, 15 ounces. Both infants are at the neonatal intensive care unit at a hospital in Cleveland. The family plans to celebrate their birthdays separately. No word on if the two twins have a cool middle name to go along with their unusual birth.

Now, I’m no mother, but even I know that a week of labor has to absolutely be terrible. However, I can say that if the two twins survive their ordeal and gain weight, they’ll probably turn out all right. After all, I was 8 weeks premature and weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces at birth, and I’m doing all right health-wise.

kaamatan come.........come.....and come again:)

The Kaamatan Festival is an annual event in the cultural life of the Kadazandusuns of Sabah since time immemorial. In its deepest sense, Kaamatan festival is a manifestation of Creator and Creation relationship, as well as Inter-Creations relationship. It embodies the principal acts of invocation of divinities, appeasing, purification and restoration, re-union of benevolent spirits, and thanksgiving to the Source of All. It is part of a complex wholesome Momolian religious system centered on the paddy rites of passage and the life cycle of Bambarayon - the in-dwelling spirit of paddy.

• Appeasing is done in respect of Bambarayon, Deities, Divinities and Spirits, who may have been hurt by human wrongful, acts. Purification is performed in respect of human and spiritual needs for forgiveness followed by resolutions to make themselves worthy of the gifts of life from God. Restoration in necessary to ensure the health and well being of SUNIL, mankind and other spiritual beings. Re-union is realised in respect of human needs to be integrated in body, mind and spirit within the concept of the seven-in-one divinity in humanity, as well as re-union of Bambarayon with human Sunduan. Finally Thanksgiving is observed as befitting for all creations to express their gratitude and appreciation for the gifts of life (through Huminodun) and all life supportive system on earth that their Creator lovingly and generously gave them.

The festival is observed in 6 rituals stages :

The Kumogos Ceremony

Before a harvest begins, a Bobohizan/Bobolian (ritual specialist) will select and tie-up 7 stalks of the best rice from a plot of rice field. These stakes of rice will only be harvested after the particular plot of field has been completely harvested. The 7 stalks of rice will then be scattered all over the rice field. This gesture is to inform the other spirits who may be present among the rice field not to make any disturbance when the harvesting work is to commenced and each of them will be given something after the harvest.

The Kumotob Ceremony

From the area which has not yet been harvested to the Bobohizan/Bobolian will select 7 stalks of the best rice. The selected stalks are then tied up together and placed in a tadang (a type of basket for keeping rice). The rest of the rice in the field are then harvested and the rice are turned into seed for future planting season.

The Posisip Ceremony

The Bobohizan/Bobolian goes to a rice hut together with the 7 stalks of rice which is tied up and placed in the tadang. While reciting chants she takes out the bundle of rice stalks and insert them in a bamboo pole kept in the tangkob. The recital of the chants is to call the spirit of the rice to stay in the rice hut until the next planting season, i.e. when the rice spirits are called to the rice field again.

The Poiib Ceremony

In the rice hut the Bobohizan/Bobolian carefully pours the rice into the tangkob. This process is repeated for a number of times until all the rice has poured into the tangkob. The Bobohizan/Bobolian then recite chants appealing to the rice spirits to keep watch over the rice stored in the tangkob.

The Magavau Ceremony

This is the most important ceremony in the sequence of events of the harvest festival. This focuses in the restoration of Bambazon/Bambarayon as well as offering food to Bambazon/Bambarayon. In the olden days, the Magavau ritual is performed in the padi field on the night of the first full moon after the harvest. Nowadays, this ritual is carried out in the house of the owner of the field.

The Humabot Ceremony

This is the final stage of the observation of the harvest festival and is in the form of merry-making and entertainment. This ceremony is now celebrated at village, district and state levels annually (30 - 31 May). A variety of entertainment and activities in the form of dances and traditional sports are held and the climax of the event is the selection of the Unduk Ngadau (Harvest Festival Queen). The Unduk Ngadau symbolizes Huminodun, the sacrificed daughter of Kinoingan.

The rituals described above are typical of the Kadazan-Dusun of the Penampang-Papar area. Other dusunic groups, the murutic groups of the interior and the paitanic groups in the east have different rice harvest rituals. For example, the Lotud Dusun have a series of eight ceremonies - Mansalud, Monuras, Tumakau, Matang, Mongoi Rumali, Mogimpuun, Sumondod and Monumbui. The essence of this ceremony however is the same, that is of thanksgiving for a plentiful harvest.

funny and jokes

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Moses and Jesus Playing Golf

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon while Moses, Jesus, and another guy were out playing golf. On the first tee-box, Moses pulls out his driver and blisters a shot up the right side of the fairway, rolling fast towards a water hazard. Moses quickly raised his club, parting the water while his ball rolls through to the other side safely.

Next up on the tee, Jesus hits a really long drive right towards the very same water hazard. His ball came to rest dead center of the pond, hovering just over the surface of the water.Jesus casually walks out onto the pond, and chips it up onto the green within a couple feet of the flagstick.

Not impressed, the third guy steps up to the tee without taking any time and just randomly whacks at the ball. Rightfully so, the ball is hit with a nasty hook that clears the left OB markers and goes over a fence into oncoming traffic. It bounces off a truck's windshield hitting a nearby tree, bounces onto the roof of the greenkeeper's shed, back out onto the fairway and towards the same pond that Moses and Jesus hit. Before it gets wet, the ball ricochets off a small rock and bounces onto a lily pad on over the water when a bullfrog jumped up and ate the ball. Right at that moment, a bald eagle swoops down and grabs the frog, flying away. As it flew over the green, the frog squeals with fright and dropsthe ball right next to the flagstick, taking one bounce and landing in the cup for an astounding hole in one.

In disgust, Moses then turns to Jesus and says, "I hate playing with your Dad."

As we all know, it takes 1 calorie to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree centigrade. Translated into meaningful terms, this means that if you eat a very cold dessert (generally consisting of water in large part), the natural processes which raise the consumed dessert to body temperature during the digestive cycle literally sucks the calories out of the only available source, your body fat.

For example, a dessert served and eaten at near 0 degrees C (32.2 deg. F) will in a short time be raised to the normal body temperature of 37 degrees C (98.6 deg. F). For each gram of dessert eaten, that process takes approximately 37 calories as stated above. The average desser tportion is 6 oz, or 168 grams. Therefore, by operation of thermodynamiclaw, 6,216 calories (1 cal./gm/deg. x 37 deg. x 168 gms) are extracted from body fat as the dessert's temperature is normalized.

Allowing for the 1,200 latent calories in the dessert, the net calorie loss is approximately 5,000 calories.

Obviously, the more cold dessert you eat,the better off you are and the faster you will lose weight, if that is your goal.

This process works equally well when drinking very cold beer in frosted glasses. Each ounce of beer contains 16 latent calories, but extracts 1,036 calories (6,216 cal. per 6 oz. portion) in the temperature normalizing process. Thus the net calorie loss per ounce of beer is 1,020 calories. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to calculate that 12,240 calories (12 oz. x 1,020 cal./oz.) are extracted from the body in the process of drinking a can of beer.

Frozen desserts, e.g., ice cream, are even more beneficial, since it takes 83 cal./gm to melt them (i.e., raise them to 0 deg. C) and an additional 37 cal./gm to further raise them to body temperature. The results here are really remarkable, and it beats running hands down.

Unfortunately, for those who eat pizza as an excuse to drink beer, pizza (loaded with latent calories and served above body temperature) induces an opposite effect. But, thankfully, as the astute reader should have already reasoned, the obvious solution is to drink a lot of beer with pizza and follow up immediately with large bowls of ice cream.

We could all be thin if we were to adhere religiously to a pizza, beer, and ice cream diet.

Happy eating!

Cake Connection, Malaysia

Cake decorating supplies, tools, ready-to-use decorations & classes.

Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe

Category: Cakes


Vanilla Sponge Cake ingredients:

1/2	cup	Sugar, divided
4		Eggs yolks
1/2	tsp.	vanilla extract
10		Egg whites
1	tsp.	Cream of tartar
1/2	tsp.	Salt
3/4	cup	Sugar
1/2	tsp.	vanilla extract

Vanilla Sponge Cake preparation:

1. Recipe by: Southern Living Sift flour and 1/2 cup sugar together 3 times; set aside.

2. Beat egg yolks at high speed of an electric mixer 4 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.

3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract; beat at medium speed an additional 5 minutes or until thick.

4. Set aside.

5. Beat egg whites until foamy.

6. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form.

7. Add 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time; continue beating until stiff peaks form.

8. Sprinkle one-fourth of flour mixture over egg whites; gently fold it in. Repeat procedure with remaining flour, adding one-fourth of the mixture at a time.

9. Fold 1/2 teaspoon vanilla into the egg white mixture.

10. Gently fold beaten egg yolks into egg white mixture.

11. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

12. Invert pan carefully.

13. Let cake cool in pan 40 minutes.

14. Loosen cake from sides of one 10-inch cake.

15. -----.

Chocolate Muffins:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (230 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups (265 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (170 grams) milk or semisweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Fudge Frosting: (optional)
4 ounces (120 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups (160 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

The northern lion has a mane and four legs and is generally more realistic than the southern lion, which has a drape and can have two or four legs. One performer holds the lion’s head with both hands and another crouches at the lion’s tail. The southern lion’s head looks is shaped more like a dragon’s but its without horns or a long snout. The southern lion makes dramatic head thrusts to the sound of drums and gongs; the northern lion makes great use of its prancing legs in its dance.

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The following is adapted from an explanation by Don Gee. The lion dance practiced in the United States originates from the Guangdong Province. This lion and its performance are different from the Northern Lions seen in Beijing Opera or acrobatic performances. The lion dances usually are performed by members of gong-fu (kung-fu) schools and reflect that gong-fu style. For example, in Hung Gar (Hung Jia in Mandarin), the students practice very deep “horses” (stances), with the power coming from the twisting and rotation e waist. In Choy Lay Fut (Tsai Li Fo), movof thements are quicker. No matter what style, the lion movements are feline in nature. For a proper lion dance, the movements must match the music played by a minimum of three pieces: drum, gong and cymbal. Either the person performing in the lion head or the drummer initiates the movement and signals the other, so that the movement and music is synchronized. Certain movements must follow a specified sequence: for example, the 3-Star movement, then the 7-Star movement, followed by High Dance. Variations to the basic beats help keep the music lively. The loud music, along with the firecrackers and lion movements, are used to scare away “evil spirits” so that good luck will follow. Lion dances are performed to bring luck and to ward off evil spirits, as with the beginning of the Lunar New Year and grand opening of businesses, and now – minus the firecrackers – at weddings and even red egg/ginger parties celebrating the birth of a baby. Having a lion dance team perform at a wedding is getting popular in the United States, but it usually isn’t cheap. The cost will depend on whether the wedding couple wants one or two lions, as well as how fancy a performance they want, how much experience the lion dance team has, and age of the performers. In addition, a table may also be reserved for the team to eat dinner after the performance. Payment to the performing group is usually made through the Choy Cheng, or “Eating of the Green (Vegetable).“ In this country, it has come to symbolize money, the color of dollar bills. Usually. the lay see (li shir) is in the form of a hung bao (lucky red envelope with the payment enclosed) which is tied to some vegetable matter such as loose leaf lettuce. Since the lay see is attached to some vegetable, it’s called “choy cheng,” with choy literally meaning vegetable. The greens are placed in an area for the lion to “eat.” The lion will carefully approach the “green” and even test it to make sure that it is safe and not a firecracker or other dangerous item. After testing on the left and right sides, the lion will do a “3-Star” routine (stepping to the 3-Star music) to ward off any others that may want to eat his “green.” I’ve heard of some tests that include using a coconut, crab, or a “Seven Stars and the Moon” arrangement of oranges. Sometimes Chinese martial arts weapons representing a snake are laid down on the floor before the lettuce. This is also used to test the lion since there is a special sequence to follow before reaching the lettuce. (Some other types of etiquette that may be followed include testing the door opening, bowing to certain Buddhas represented by figurines, and bowing to and exchanging business cards with another lion dance team.) The lion will then pick up the green in his mouth and “chew” it. The person manipulating the head first removes the “lay see” and places it inside his shirt, so as not to drop it, which would mean bad luck. Then he will tear the lettuce apart and throw it out first to the left, then to the right and then to the middle to help spread prosperity in all directions. The music will then change to “high dance” and the head will be raised and moved as if the lion is happy to have consumed his prize. I’ve seen some routines that included oranges or fish and have heard of some with coconuts or live crabs! Each routine is suppose to symbolize something. I only know of a few from watching others perform and from looking at instructional videos. For parties, instead of the lion performing the “choy cheng,” or eating of the “green,” (spitting out the lettuce is too messy), usually a scroll with calligraphy wishing the couple good luck is prepared to be unfurled during the performance. For weddings, I’ve seen some calligraphy like “Bac Nien Ho Hop,” or “100 Years of Happy Togetherness.” This scroll can then be given to the lucky couple as a memento. The lion dance team that I help coach did a lion dance at Dolch Electronics in Fremont recently, and since I had the day off, I was able to join them with me playing the large cymbals. I’m getting a little too old to get into the head. The team also did a performance at a Vietnamese nightclub that evening and did the Vietnamese Spring Festival parade in downtown San Jose, CA. Our si-sook, or kung-fu uncle, came down to my sifu’s school every Friday to help purify our lion dance to the Hung Gar style, as each Southern kung-fu style (i.e. white crane, choy lay fut, yau kung moon, etc.) has their own style of lion dancing that reflects their style of kung-fu. GO TO THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY INDEX