Edition 4-05-05

Nature Coast Bike Fest
April 15, 16 & 17

Leesburg. 9th Annual Leesburg Bike Fest. April 22-24 Lake County comes alive with the roar of over 125,000 thousand bikers from throughout the South. Downtown is closed to motorcycles only!

2nd Annual Ride To Remember
May 7, 2005,
9 a.m.
Coachman Park, Clearwater

Here's a great tip for that old golf bag you were going to toss in the garbage. Why not use it to store all your gardening tools, like hoes, rakes, brooms etc. Not only will this keep them neat and tidy but it makes it handy to carry around with you.

SARASOTA –Secretary Castille joined a dozen students at Myakka River State Park to launch Get REAL! in Florida State Parks, a new program to expand recreational and educational opportunities in Florida’s 158 state parks. Taking students from an urban environment to a natural Florida setting, Get REAL! brought the teenagers from North Miami Beach to primitive camp at the popular South Florida park during their spring break.

The 12 students camped at Myakka River State Park this week, part of the first Get REAL! partnership between Florida State Parks and the North Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department. In preparation for their spring break trip, the students learned primitive camping skills last month at Oleta River State Park. During their stay at Myakka River, the students put many of their newly-acquired skills to the test with activities including campfire cooking, astronomy, fishing, Everglades study, tent breakdown and post-camp clean-up.

Secretary Castille, Florida State Parks Director Mike Bullock, Dr. Mary Jelks and city of North Miami Beach Parks and Recreation Department Deputy Director Jerry Smith joined the students along the Myakka River for an environmental education program about Florida’s birds of prey, learning about the habitats, feeding patterns and anatomy of owls, hawks and vultures.

“Get REAL! will provide nearly 20 million visitors each year with unforgettable recreational experiences and a lifetime of knowledge of Florida’s environment,” said Florida State Parks Director Mike Bullock. “By forging partnerships with local recreation departments and schools to utilize state parks as outdoor classrooms, we can share our award-winning parks with all generations of Floridians.”

Get REAL!, which stands for Recreational and Environmental Adventures in Learning, focuses on using Florida State Parks as “classrooms without walls.” The initiative builds on the parks’ broad multicultural, educational and recreational programs to enrich learning and integrate the use of state parks with local community programs. Get REAL! will provide programs for school-aged children, seniors and economically disadvantaged individuals to boost interest and participation in outdoor recreation.

One of the oldest and largest state parks, Myakka River State Park protects one of the state’s most diverse natural areas. The Myakka River, designated as a Florida Wild and Scenic River, flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks and pinelands. The park offers a variety of activities, including wildlife observation, hiking trails, airboat tours and safari tram tours of the park’s backcountry. The Myakka River and adjacent lakes offer boating, freshwater fishing, canoeing and kayaking. A popular camping spot with full–facility campgrounds, primitive campsites and palm log cabins, Myakka River State Park welcomed more than 250,000 visitors last year and pumped more than $8 million into the local economy.

Florida’s state park system is one of the largest in the country with 158 parks spanning more than 730,000 acres and 108 miles of sandy white beach. Over the last five years, Florida added eight new parks, more than 203,000 acres and increased attendance at its nationally-renowned park system by five million visitors. In 1999, the Florida state park system was awarded the National Gold Medal for Excellence as the nation’s best park system.

MERLE FEST
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April 28-May 1, 2005 Wilkesboro, NC http://www.merlefest.org/ 800-343-7857 MerleFest is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. This festival honors Merle Watson, the late son of legendary musician Doc Watson, and the festival draws Bluegrass and Country artists from all over the United States.

MerleFest has continued to evolve, grow, and improve since 1988, becoming one of the most important annual events in the Southeast. In so doing, MerleFest has defined and led the way for the emerging field called Americana music. MerleFest offers a generation and genre crossing mix of traditional and contemporary roots music, bringing together the very best of bluegrass, contemporary acoustic, Celtic, blues, folk, oldtime, Cajun, and jazz, along with traditional dance and crafts.

You need at least 5(.1!) speakers for real Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in your home theater setup, but your brain can think you're surrounded by speakers when you're not.

For example, the folks at Dolby Labs have a couple of systems (which you may find in some HDTVs' audio systems) that make two speakers sound like 5.1 or more! These systems use computer horsepower to modify the sound going to your two speakers by adding echoes and delays. These echoes and delays are designed to reach your listening position so your brain is fooled into thinking that there are more than two speakers.

Are these systems any good? They aren't bad. Dolby Virtual Speaker and SRS Labs' TruSurround can do a good job of fooling you. If you aren't installing a real surround-sound system, look for an HDTV with a system like these.

But you can't really substitute these "virtual" surround-sound systems for even a small, inexpensive "real" surround-sound system (such as a $200 "Home Theater in a Box" system). But if you don't have the room or budget for 5.1 speakers, give virtual sound a whirl and see what you think.

For more on setting up surround sound with your HDTV, check out HDTV For Dummies, by Danny Briere and Pat Hurley.

Q: What do you get when you bless an avacado?
A: Holy guacamole.

Mon, April 4, 2005
Different colours New patch seen on city streets may be the Zig Zag Crew By AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON SUN

City cops say there may be a new biker gang in town. A motorcyclist wearing a red and white "Edmonton" gang patch emblazoned with a large C and two Zs, with a background of flames, was seen riding with a group of Hells Angels Saturday afternoon.

"It would appear to be a puppet club logo," said Insp. Joe Loran of the Integrated Response to Organized Crime (IROC). "They provide support to the main club."

While he hadn't seen the new patch, Loran speculated it might belong to the Zig Zag Crew, a Hells Angels puppet club out of Winnipeg.

Support or puppet clubs are an extension of the more senior club and help to protect the territory and turf of the Hells Angels, said a U.S.-based police expert on gangs, who didn't want his name published.

They also carry out various tasks for the organization.

"They carry the water for the HAs," he said.

Earlier this month, authorities confirmed the Red Demons, another puppet club for the Hells Angels, had set up shop in Grande Prairie.

The Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta said the Red Demons started that chapter in December or January.

Sun sources said last month the move was "part of a reorganization of the Hells Angels following the Bandidos patch-over."

The presence of the Bandidos in Edmonton was confirmed when one of the gang's members, Joey Campbell, also known as Joey Morin, was gunned down outside a west-end strip club in January 2004.

In efforts to avoid a war, the Bandidos were patched over to the Angels, said the source. Hells Angels' bosses reportedly had been unimpressed with the absorption of the Bandidos into the outlaw gang last fall.

Laser stands for; Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Roddy Piper's Hall of Fame Inductor Changed Again
Story By: Doc Young
According to WWE.com, Roddy Piper will no longer be inducted into the Hall of Fame by Chris Jericho.

At first, Steve Austin was announced to be the inductor, but WWE wanted to keep them apart until the Piper's Pit segment, so they changed it to Chris Jericho. Now, the inductor has been changed again and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair will be the man inducting Piper into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, one day before Wrestlemania 21.

Heat On WWE For Moore Incident; Austin/Hogan Update, Story By: Tim Brown [Thanks to PWTorch & W365]
-- WWE has been getting heat for using an Associated Press article on the Shannon Moore car crash, rather than calling him up and doing their own piece. Many feel that WWE should have cared enough to do their own article on it.

-- Many within WWE are interested to see how things between Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan will play out on WrestleMania weekend. As both are very protective of their image, and aren't very fond of each other.

Bee Stings - Remove stinger if there is any and dampen area and put Meat Tenderizer on area. Just leave awhile.

Whirlpool Corp., of Benton Harbor, Mich., is recalling about 40,000 KitchenAid(r) ProLine(r) Toasters. An interruption of power to the toaster can cause the heating elements to unexpectedly self-start and could ignite any flammable items left on top of the unit, posing a fire hazard. The recalled KitchenAid(r) ProLine(r) countertop toasters are painted die-cast metal or stainless steel and come in 2-slice or 4-slice models. Various catalogs and specialty retailers nationwide sold the toasters from August 2003 through January 2005 for between $250 and $300.
Consumers should stop using the toaster and contact KitchenAid(r) to arrange for a free replacement. Consumers should not return the toaster to the retailer where it was purchased, as retailers are not prepared to take them back.
Call KitchenAid(r) at (800) 874-0608 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, or go to the firm's Web site at www.KitchenAid.com/repair.

Notwithstanding their occasional rolls in disgusting stuff, dogs do keep themselves clean. Most dogs will wash their genitals, their legs, and their feet. They may use their front paws to wipe their faces, their eyes and ears, then wash their paws clean. You may also see them nibbling parts of their body with their front teeth, which can be a sign of fleas. Dogs nibble each other, especially if they are closely bonded to one another. It's a sign of affection. Sometimes dogs will do this to their owners when they're feeling very cuddly. This should not be confused with biting behavior -- quite the opposite.

Dog Training For Dummies, by Jack Volhard and Wendy Volhard, gives you great insights into your canine pal's health and habits.

Some researchers believe that some men can be excluded from annual PSA testing (getting tested less frequently), especially if they have very low PSA levels. A study released by the National Cancer Institute in 2002 (the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian [PLCO] trial) followed the PSAs of about 30,000 men, noting changes in their PSA levels. Of the men who still had their prostates and whose PSA was at a very low level (between 0 to 1 nanograms per milliliter or ng/ml), 98.7 percent continued to have PSA levels at or below 4 for the next four years.

However, with the men whose initial PSAs were higher than 1 ng/ml, the risk of their PSA levels rising over time was higher than among those whose PSAs were 1 or less. This was especially true for men with PSAs of 3 to 4 ng/ml; 24 percent of them showed higher readings a year later, and 83 percent showed elevated readings within the next four years. (How many of these men had prostate cancer, prostatitis, or another prostate ailment is unknown.)

These results confirm that you should be monitored every year if your PSA level is 3 or above, and that you should probably also be monitored annually if your PSA level is 2 or above. However, because a large number of men have PSA levels that are less than 2, doctors may want to consider doing the test less often in these men.

Wise up to what's happening in your body with the insight in Prostate Cancer For Dummies, by Paul H. Lange, MD, with Christine Adamec.