A week away brings fresh ideas…

Grab Bag Super Sunday:

Whether you’re a football fan or not, the hype and hip of the Super Bowl can be contagious. And many watch as much for the game as they do for the commercials.

Here’s a site that previews those commercials for you right now… eliminating the need to actually watch the game for all you pretenders out there:

THE BLAZE

Grab Bag Hair Today, Here Tomorrow:

Eat right for your…. hair? Yes, indeed. I hear WAY too many women complaining of hair thinning and hair loss. My first thought is to move away from the artificial fragrances, sulfates and synthetic chemicals found in most shampoos and hair products. I have noticed a MARKED improvement in my hair texture and appearance in the 4 years since using exclusively natural hair care and color.

And in support that effort, here are some nutrition tips suggested from the docs at RealAge.com for a better head of hair:

• Eat more salmon. Omega-3 rich foods like salmon and sardines help seal in shine. Distilled fish oils or DHA supplements will work, too.
• Be a bran lover. Bran is rich in vitamin B, which may slow hair loss and promote hair growth. Other B-rich victuals include beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, nuts, and eggs.
• Say yes to avocados. Avocados and avocado oil may prevent some funky stuff that kills hair follicles — dihydrotestosterone (DHT) — from getting where it needs to go.
• Say no to animal fat — and red meat — if you’re losing hair. They can lead to more DHT production and hair-follicle damage.
• Stock up on green tea. Brew a strong pot, cool it, then give your head a rinse to help kill off dandruff-causing fungus. Incidentally, if you drink green tea, the caffeine in it may help slow balding, too.

Grab Bag Image Finder:

Google has been an amazing and, I feel, pivotal advancement in communication. There’s almost nothing we can’t find now, in seconds, and all at the tip of our fingers. Almost nothing that can be properly defined by words, that is.

But hold your keyboards… there’s a new bloodhound on the horizon. Ever see a picture of something on the internet but information is missing? If only you could search by image….

Hey! You can! Drag that picture to your desktop, then upload it to Tineye.com and it will, in seconds, search much of the internet and show you the places it finds where you can see that same image.

Cool… but is it practical? Well, yes.

• Personal/Business protection: If you have your own images out there on the internet, see who else might have used them.

• Comparative Shopping: Some websites offer things for sale without specifying brand names – Hammacher Schlemmer has an annoying habit of touting “the best” of something they tested but don’t name names – so you don’t have the option of shopping for the best price. HA! Now with Tineye’s image search, you can find that “Best” toaster at a much better price. This holds true for all kinds of shopping options.

• Knowledge/Curiosity: See an image of anything you want to know more about, upload it to Tineye and see what information is out there associated with that image.

Happy searching… or is it “imaging”?

Grab Bag Pill Stoppers:

So my dad is at the age where, even as healthy and youthful-looking as he is  (and he IS… often mistaken for a guy in his early 70’s, the Popster clocks in at 86… and going gangbusters…. bless him, and his genes 🙂 ), he has a morning lineup of vitamin capsules and medications that would make a horse back away in fear. He started having real trouble swallowing this procession of pills, a routine he embarks upon after breakfast each morning.

Any problem with swallowing pills is almost certainly a mental one, as we are all capable of swallowing much larger volumes than are found in even the largest tablets. If you or someone you know has trouble swallowing pills, try this suggestion I conceived for my dad, which worked like a charm:

• While eating your meal, intersperse the pills between mouthfuls of food, so your brain-swallow connection is open and the pills are accepted much like food.

• If that doesn’t work, try chewing a small mouthful of food and, without swallowing, add the pill in your mouth, then swallow.

Of course, those suggestions won’t work if you must take a medication on an empty stomach. For that scenario, try some of these other tips I found on the topic:

• If gagging is an issue, placing the pill too far back on the tongue will exacerbate this problem. Try placing the pill towards the front end of the tongue, then take a sip of water. It is suggested that you don’t tip your head back, but tilt your chin down instead. I’m not in that camp, but perhaps some will find success there.

• Practice swallowing small candies like TicTacs or mini M&Ms whole… candy has a positive impression with the brain and you can prove to yourself that swallowing “pills” is possible. Graduate to larger candies until you’re comfortable with sweets that replicate the pills you have trouble with.

• Some have more success by swallowing pills with a carbonated beverage instead of still water.

• You can also try placing the pill at the front of your tongue. then sip water through a straw to swallow.

Hope those help. Bottoms up (or that may be just for suppositories which, truth be told, is a whole other angle to try, so to speak :-)).

Grab Bag Pack Your Bags (Part I):

One of my very favorite travel sites is TripAdvisor.com. I have found some undiscovered gems (Trump Waikiki Beach Walk, for instance) and been steered clear of spots I mistakenly thought were good, based on real feedback from real travelers.

You can find reliable recommendations for hotels, restaurants, attractions and great things to do at Trip Advisor.

So let’s explore TripAdvisor.com’s Top 25 Hotels…. a collection of accommodations possibly worth planning an itinerary around, and 25 I have never heard of!

Not all are 5 Star, Luxury (read expen$ive) hotels, but all get hundreds of incredibly positive reviews from Trip Advisor members. Here are the first 12, the remaining 13 will come in the next post:

1. Golden Well – Prague, Czech Republic

2. Anastasis Apartments – Imerovigli, Greece

3. Riad Le Calife– Fes, Morocco

4. Al Ponte Antico – Venice, Italy

5. La Villa Marbella – Marbella, Spain

6. Hotel Prinsenhof Bruges – Bruges, Belgium

7. The Tuscany – Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

8. Los Altos de Eros – Tamarindo, Costa Rica

9. Cocoa Island Resort – South Male Atoll, Maldives

10. Britania Hotel – Lisbon, Portugal

(The service must be AMAZING, because I could not find a photo that would make me want to stay there.)

11. Welk Resorts Sirena Del Mar – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

12. Casa del Mar Langkawi – Pantai Cenang, Malaysia

Grab Bag WOW Moment:

Thanks to sis Tally D. for this one

Grab Bag Brain Game:

Play a little Super Bowl game yourself, dodging the roaming blue spheres as you guide the red “quarterback” to the progressive goals, 1 through 10. The more time you come in contact with the blue bad guys, the more energy is drained – run out of energy or time, and GAME OVER, baby.

Super Balldodge

Grab Bag Funny/Sweet Stuff:

If only more babysitters would be this dedicated.

Thanks to Jeannie P. for this.