Art & Design Café- A Wonderful Experience

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I was driving down Commercial Blvd in Fort Lauderdale tonight and was headed for a frozen custard stand when I saw a 5 foot tall statue of what appeared to be “Madam”-you know, the puppet from the 70s-the old woman with a feather boa-I think she was made to look like Phyllis Diller. I actually turned the car around to see the statue and found that it was dressed as a waitress (a cigarette hanging out of her mouth!) and was placed in front of the Art & Design Cafe. It said on the window that it was a restaurant and wine bar. I decided to see if they had desserts and sit at one of their outdoor tables.

I walked inside and saw the MOST eclectic decorations and furniture in any place I had ever been into! Each table was surrounded by sheer curtains and artwork was on every inch of wall space. There was a mannequin in the middle all dolled up and the furniture was painted to the hilt. There was so much to look at and take in!

A very friendly guy greeted me and I told him I was just here for dessert and I wanted to sit outside. The waitress was extremely friendly and the strawberry cheesecake was divine.

After scarfing down the dessert, the female owner, Ginger, came outside and spoke with me for quite a while about the business and told me that Madame was actually named “Roz”. She welcomed my suggestions and informed me of the wine tastings and events they have on a weekly basis. They have a night that they show a musical and I guess if you want, you could sing along! (tee hee)

If you’re coming to Fort Lauderdale, you should definitely try out this place-but don’t be in a rush-this place is made to take your drink and walk around to look at the artwork while your food is being lovingly prepared. This is a gallery/restaurant!

When you go, tell the waitress that xackphobe.com recommended them!

Here’s the info:
Art & Design Café
(954) 491-1007
Oakland Park/Wilton Manors
2724 E Commercial Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

I-95 to Commercial Blvd. East. After going through the stoplight on US-1, look for the flags on the right or Roz-you can’t miss her if she’s outside. The window says restaurant and wine bar at the top. If you get to the bridge, you have gone too far!

It says reservations are your best bet, since there is limited seating, so try to call first. Make sure you mention this site!

Clutchy Hopkins-Verbal Headlock Video

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I used to write and record songs on what I could afford at that time, which, to begin with was 2 tape recorders and a tiny casio keyboard. I would record the drums first, then play back the drum tape and record another instrument on the second tape recorder. I usually stuck to about 3 instruments and a vocal track, just to get the idea on tape. Needless to say, there is a difference in tape recording speed and playback speed, especially with 2 different recorders. So, sometimes the pitch would be off on some of the instruments. I never let anyone hear these because they sounded bad to me, but the ideas were good.

I happened to run across this video, called Verbal Headlock by Clutchy Hopkins. When the piano playing at the beginning started, something sounded very familiar! This song sounds like I recorded it back in the day. It’s a weird effect, but it immediately grabbed my attention.

I was listening to my music the other day, and I still see the potential there. I think I will actually put these songs out soon. Not sure if I will update them, though. Any musicians/arrangers/remixers out there want to assist?

Here’s the video (which matches the song in mood!) for Clutchy Hopkins:

Joomla VirtueMart not receiving emails-FIXED

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Since the beginning of the year, the joomla/virtuemart checkout process would not send an email to the admin. I fixed this by forcing a basic PHP email.

Here’s how:

go into administrator/components/com_virtuemart/classes

edit the ps_checkout.php file:

around line 2007, you will see:

$vendor_mail = vmMail( $shopper_email, $shopper_name, $vendor_email, $vendor_subject, $vendor_mail_Body, $vendor_mail_AltBody, true, null, null, $EmbeddedImages);

after this line, insert this one:
(obviously changing the “insert..” text to your email address)

mail(“INSERT_YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS_HERE”, “Order Placed”, $vendor_mail_Body, “FROM: INSERT_YOUR_ADMIN_EMAIL_ADDRESS_HERE”);

This solved the issue for me. Now, the customers get the email and I also get a copy of the email.

How To Train Your Dragon 2010-New Movie-(3.5 out of 5 stars)

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I started watching this and got about 30 minutes into it and thought to myself, “I know where this is going and it’s going to be very sad before it has a happy ending”. I took a deep breath and waited for the moment when I would have to bite my cheek… but was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there was a bit of sad, but it wasn’t drawn out and the action started almost immediately to take my mind off of it. This is a typical Disney-esque plot-clumsy boy-father doesn’t believe in him-does something unusual-does something good-wins father’s approval-gets the girl. That was the only thing I would fault this for is the typical story.

The graphics were good, the dragons were cute and scary at the same time, so that was a plus. The flying scenes were many to enhance the 3D effect, so there’s a lot of that. Which is good for now, since 3D has become so mainstream. I will be glad to see a new use of 3D other than flying or things flying at you. Coraline had some good 3D.

The end of the movie had a line that kind of left you feeling “let down”. It was something like “the food here is bland and tasteless-so are the people-but our pets are..” great. A more uplifting narrative at the end might have been better.

So I would give this 3.5 stars out of 5 only because of the typical story and the blah ending.

Clash Of The Titans 2010-New Movie (4 out of 5 stars from me)

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I was a fan of the first Clash Of The Titans movie (1981, I think). I even had some of the action figures. I was in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago and I said “You know what would be great? If they were to re-make COTT with all the computer generated technology” and then 2 days later, I hear they are releasing it! The previews looked like a lot more action than I prefer, but the graphics looked amazing!

I went to see the preview Thursday night (last night). I tried to watch it as it’s own movie, instead of comparing it to the original. I was extremely impressed with some of the graphics, but the one character I wanted to see more of was Medusa. She had a very small part. The movie started off very very slow and so, at the end, they tried to shove everything in, so it seemed rushed.

The one thing I LOVED about the movie was that he had absolutely NO love interest. Most movies these days have a sex scene that has nothing to do with the plot, but is simply thrown in to give straight men a reason to watch it. It’s almost a joke sometimes. This movie didn’t have any of that crap thrown in. When they ended the film, he wasn’t running to someone’s arms. BRILLIANT! If you remember, the first movie had some of that thrown in, the main character was trying to save his love interest from the Kraken. This time, he was saving a city. (and in the process saved the princess)

When I left the theater, I wasn’t excited about the film, it was just a good movie. After thinking about it, though, I liked it a lot. I don’t think it’s going to have a long run at the theaters, but this will be something that’s on TV every other day, eventually.

I will give this one 4 out of 5 stars for being very commercial, graphic design, not sexual, and the choice of main actor.

My New Spiked Pillar Candle Holder

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I got a piece of sculpture the other day that’s a pillar candle holder. Of course I liked it because it’s spiked. Inside, I actually have a pillar candle and a votive on top. It’s crystal and the light from the candle reflects off of each spike.

Check it out:

This is what it looks like from above:

Shopping Cart Software Installation Available

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I am available to install shopping cart software on your website (even assist you with purchasing a domain name and hosting). I am using some of the best software from Interspire-not open source. It can be up and running within a week. If you’re trying to move your retail sales to the web, I can help! The total cost is $3000. (for a limited time-normal cost is $5000)

Email me with questions.

Go to http://www.winesurprise.com/update/ to check out how the shopping cart looks and feels on a real site.

Thanks!

P.S. I can also help you out with setting up a blog like this one. That will cost around $200.

Conspiracy: Government added chemicals to water after 1980

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Everyone I know who was born after 1980 has problems with focusing-I would even go so far as to say almost ADD/ADHD.  Take a look at kids these days. Are any of them well-behaved? At least in the 70s, you could go to the grocery store or a restaurant and if a child acted up, they were reprimanded. Now, the parents know the kids are have ADD, so they don’t discipline their children.

Look at this peanut allergy-this didn’t come from outer space-this has only come to light since the 80s!

And don’t get me started on the HIV thing the government did to eradicate gays. Backfired, but it created a whole new money making section of healthcare. As long as there is no cure for AIDS, Cancer and the common cold, the economy is great for the health care industry.

If the common cold was eradicated, drug stores would go out of business. Think about the products there. Meds for cold pains, tissues, vapor rubs, juices, magazines, it’s endless. When the drug stores close down, the employees are out of work, the companies that make the meds are out of business, the laboratories are shut down and don’t get federal funding-less work for government employees, tv shows lose advertising funds, all employees are less happy because they don’t get a sick day once in a while… It trickles into every part of our lives.

Cancer is the same-and entire field of scientists get grants and funding to find a cure, knowing very well that if they find one, they will be out of work, so why give up their cushy jobs?

AIDS threatened to eradicate every person on earth, and the government would not make any money off deaths, so they eventually made this a prolonged disease, instead of a quick death. Now, the labs and government make tons of cash!

So, back to the ADD/ADHD in anyone born after 1980…

This was another way for the government to stimulate the economy and make cash. They have labs doing studies, drug manufacturers making drugs, doctors and psychiatrists getting cash from parents, over the counter meds for those who think they can self-medicate, books, tv shows, etc etc…

The peanut allergy was a failed attempt. It did stimulate research, made the food industry disclose anything made with peanuts, which then stimulated work for the artists creating the labels, print houses have to change these labels. This will eventually become a suvivable illness which will then create more income.

Notice that no one is allergic to corn products-it’s in almost everything we eat. It would destroy the economy to have any bad publicity for corn. There’s a documentary about the wide-range effect of the corn industry in the US. Very revealing. Remember the corn syrup blowup a little while back? It was quickly hushed. Who do you think hushed it?

The government.

Open-eyed sleeping — called “nocturnal lagophthalmos”

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I have had a couple of experiences with not only sleeping with my eyes open, but dreaming as well. Even when it’s not a “bad” dream or nightmare, it is one of the scariest feelings I have ever had.

The first time was in the early 90s, I had fallen asleep on the sofa in the afternoon. In the dream, I realized that I was dreaming with my eyes open, so I started waving my arms around and to my surprise, I had 2 sets of arms-my “dream arms” and my real arms that I could see, since my eyes were open. I panicked and then saw the curtains across the room, and they looked like a person. I was extremely scared by this point and tried to scream. I opened my mouth and nothing came out. I tried harder and harder. I then awoke to the echo of my screams in the house.

The second time, I was asleep in the dark, and this was after I started having the ghostly encounters. I was on my side, facing the window. I knew my eyes were open and I could see a figure in the corner of the room, looking back at me. When you are in this state, you are paralyzed. I started yelling to try and wake myself, but nothing would come out. I got louder and louder until I actually woke myself up.

I found the term for open-eyed sleeping, but not a medical term for the dreaming while your eyes are open. Anyone know what it is?