The Artist Who Hides In The City

Ever seen a camouflage artist?  If not, meet Liu Bolin.  Liu likes to paint himself to blend into any background imaginable.  See if you can spot him in any of these amazing pieces of art. They are pretty darn impressive.

 

Next Monday Dallas Will Change Forever!

"Next Monday, Dallas will change forever" is how the TV spot for TNT's Dallas begins.

I know, I know, you're probably thinking Ryan and I are the geekiest of all geeks, but we grew to love J.R. Ewing.  After watching 15 seasons of DALLAS together, we are going to cry our eyes out next week.

"All his schemes - all his double-crossing - all his deceptions - lead to the moment - you can't miss,"  then the phone goes dead.  And just like that our hearts stop.  "DAD!"  John Ross cries out on the other end.  "The end of J.R. Ewing"  and a soft-spoken "Dad" is how the ad ends.

It's amazing how good this show has been.  Ryan and I have watched every episode and each one leaves you with the iconic cliff-hangers Dallas was made popular for.  We are truly going to miss Larry Hagman, the actor.  He survived so much and died playing the character he loved most. Rest in peace, J.R..

Healthy 12-Inch Thin Crust Pizza Extravaganza

Please make sure to check out my new recipe at Cocina De Don Pedro!  Click on the picture to find out how to add this to your healthy recipe list.

Loving One Another - Issue No. 018

Lori is Alive - She Has To Be!

So aside from me, everyone, including Ryan seems to think that Lori is dead in the popular TV show, The Walking Dead.  It's been over a year since I pleaded with everyone to watch this series.  If you've never seen it - well - there's not much else I can say.

Here are the reasons I think Lori is Not Dead, or a Zombie.  She's still out there somewhere!

Little Carl, bless his heart, would never shoot his own mother.  I'm sorry, but as tough as he thinks he is, he doesn't have the cojones to shoot his mother's brains out.  Then there's the bloated zombie, really?  Talk about bad television.  When have you seen a bloated zombie?

When Rick finds the body, all he finds is hair in the zombie's mouth.  He also finds a bullet, but it's clean - there's no blood on it.  Furthermore when Rick shoots and stabs the zombie, there are no body parts pulled out of it's stomach.  No bones anywhere! That's kinda strange to me.  

And if you're one to follow the comic books, Hershel, Carl and Glenn are all dead in those books - this also leaves me to wonder whether Lori will return as a Zombie or is Alive!

Cyanide and Happiness: Flat

Each Picture Is Just Like The Other, 200 Calories Each

Here's a beautiful picture of 200 calories.  Yep each of these is just like the other; they each represent 200 calories.  Being that I've lost 57 pounds over the last 7-8 months, I never followed the recommended 2000-2500 daily caloric intake.  Are you kidding me? I probably would have never lost weight, but others seem to have a different opinion on that. 

Click on the picture to see an even bigger picture.

Some foods have significantly more Calories than others but what does the difference actually look like. Each of the photographs below represents 200 Calories of the particular type of food; the images are sorted from low to high calorie density. When you consider that an entire plate of broccoli contains the same number of Calories as a small spoonful of peanut butter, you might think twice the next time you decide what to eat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult needs to consume about 2000 - 2500 Calories to maintain their weight. In other words, you have a fixed amount of Calories to "spend" each day; based on the following pictures, which would you eat? - wiseGeek

A Violation of the Temporal Prime Directive Occurred at the Oscars Last Night

You know I couldn't go without mentioning the long, long, long, long opening segment Seth MacFarlane gave at the Oscars last night.  All the buzz today is the violation of the Temporal Prime Directive by Captain James T. Kirk when he came back to tell Seth he was the worst Academy Awards host ever. LOL.  It was definitely a treat to watch being that I'm a Star Trek fan and all. :-)
Catch the full opening monologue after the jump...

Cocina De Don Pedro: El Cook Book

It's official.  I have finally started my Cocina De Don Pedro: El Cook Book blog.  It's a work in progress so you'll have to be patient with me. LOL.  I used the same template as my BLADE 7184 blog so that the transition from one blog to the other could be consistent.

I have transferred all the recipes I recently posted on BLADE 7184, along with an old recipe from 2011.  I am also working on a recipe index, where you'll be able to search by a few ingredients or recipe names.

El Cook Book's header consists of an Owl with a Chef's hat, donning an apron and holding a forked sausage.  It's quite humorous.  I have also added a quote very dear to my heart - a dedication to my mother.

I will be placing a "Cocina De Don Pedro: El Cook Book" logo on BLADE 7184, and it is currently accessible by clicking on the tab in this blog's header.

Thank you all for putting up with my ridiculous blogging on BLADE 7184, and hope you enjoy my Cook Book blog as well.  Please feel free to contact me at cocinadedonpedro@gmail with any questions or suggestions you may have.
                                        - Peter a.k.a. Don Pedro or Blade7184

What a Hot Mess: A Curling Iron Disaster

Honestly, I didn't know whether to post this under "Are People Really This Stupid" or "What a Hot Mess".  But since the poor girl had no idea she was going to burn off her hair I'm gonna say its a hot mess.

At first it's just an innocent tutorial on how to curl your hair, but things take a turn for the worse, as the girl realizes her hair is on her iron and not on her head.  What a Hot Mess!  Literally.

 

Gollum Sings Les Miserables

LMAO.  Ever wonder what it would sound like if Gollum from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit were to sing, "I Dreamed A Dream" from the movie, Les Miserables?  Well, now's your chance to get the exclusive first look and listen.  

Thank you Geeks Are Sexy, for sharing this funny video.  Definitely made me laugh.

Poster of the Week - Issue No. 52 - Planning

Continuing alphabetically, I bring you this week's poster, "Planning".

My Christian Thoughts - Issue #2 - The Subway Preacher

In today's My Christian Thoughts I'd like to talk about a video I saw last week.  The issue hits close to home, because I remember portraying the pastor or preacher in this video.  The debauchery that takes place really upsets me and it does so, because who are we to judge other people?  Who are we to tell other people what to do?  I understand teaching or sharing The Word, but I don't agree with forcing it down a person's throat.  In the end, we will be judged individually by a higher Being if this is what we choose to believe, and for those who don't - more power to you.

I lost countless of friends in high school and in college, because I was preaching to them - telling them they were going to hell, because they didn't belong to the true "Church of Christ".  Imagine me going up to a Catholic, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist or a Mormon, telling them, "you, your mom, sister, brother and family are going to hell - all of you!  And if you don't change your religion soon, you will feel the fire deep in those pits!"

Yep, that was me.  Don't get me wrong, I believe in God - a loving and beautiful God who made me who I am.  Who is there beside me every day, and will be, until the day I die.  And this is what I choose to believe.  It's not your or anyone else's job to tell me it's not gonna happen.  My transformation took time, and I am so grateful to God that it happened, but that's another story - another issue of "My Christian Thoughts."

What is so remarkable about the video is the response the gay man receives after being chastised for over two minutes. 

[Excerpts from the video]
Instead of attempting to ignore a "preacher" spewing homophobic rants, a gay New York City subway rider decided to confront him.

On Saturday, a street preacher went on an anti-gay tirade on one of NYC's subway lines, according to New York Mag's Daily Intelligencer. The preacher yelled about society's poor influence on children, likened gay men to pedophiles and claimed "Michael Jackson died because he was gay" to a crowded subway car.

But one stranger wasn't having it.

"You teach hate," the man, wearing a khaki coat and a large fur hat, responded. "You are false. You are a false prophet. Do not listen to this man. He's scared. He's full of hatred."

The man continued to stand his ground and revealed that yes, he is gay, and yes, God still loves him. "I'm a man. And I'm a good man," he said. "And I'm a gay man and Jesus loves me! Jesus loves me!"

The gay man's eloquence moved his fellows riders so much that it was met by a rousing round of applause. 

The City vs. The Artist Ends With a Story

For the artist in all of us...

While I certainly don't condone graffiti in our city's streets, this was actually quite interesting.  Hopefully the story truly came to an end.

The following images are courtesy of an unknown artist known simply as Mobstr, and it pits a city with the artist telling a story.  The city paints over it, and the artist returns to continue his story.

Saturday Morning Coffee Break: James

Today's Saturday Morning Coffee Break is quite powerful.  After watching the film for the first time I was quite upset, but after watching it a second time I came to understand it's sad reality.  I can't remember the amount of times I wish I could find someone to help me.  I prayed to God every night hoping he would "fix" me - And never got an answer.  I felt ashamed for being who I was and didn't know how to tell my parents.  As each year passed the hope never came, and telling my parents became an even harder task.  I didn't tell my parents until I was 25 years old, and upon learning the news they were devastated.  Not only because I kept this secret for so long, but the fact I went to others thinking it would help me, and all they did was use me for their gratification.

There's a lot I want to say about the short movie you're about to see, but I don't want to spoil it or give a way it's plot.  I would like to hear any of your comments and maybe then I can voice my opinion.

If you wish to look back at some previous issues, click my logo below and enjoy.  And make sure to check out Saturday Morning Coffee Break every Saturday for another classic or current gay short film.

 

Cyanide and Happiness: Premarital

Tattoo for Breast Cancer

My Facebook friend, Melissa Novak just posted a photo on her wall that really moved me.  Look, I'll be honest I'm not one for tattoos.  I don't have one, so pardon my ignorance. But I do want to share this photo.

As we all know Facebook has little robots in the background who will remove images that are not appropriate, but I can make a promise right now - I will never remove this one from my blog...

I work in the Breast Medical Oncology department at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and witness the horrors women - mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, etc. face day in and day out.  And even today, I will never understand what it's like to live with this horrible disease - Breast Cancer.

I'll let the image speak for itself...

Hello Everyone, This Tattoo was done for a woman who had breast cancer ! Facebook keeps removing the post in 24hour as an offensive photo do to nudity. However we feel this woman is both brave and strong so were going to post it anyways and ask for your awareness and support ; Please like and share this photo quickly to show your support for this and many other women who have lost so much. ( Kind Comments are welcome ) thanks !
Custom Tattoo Design

 

Star Wars Family Tree

For the Star Wars fan in all of us.  Image courtesy of Chart Geek.

With the new Star Wars movies on the horizon, it’s time to brush up on your Star Wars lore. Plus, if you’re unfamiliar with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, you may want to familiarize yourself with a few of the characters that arrive on the scene after Return of the Jedi. They might feature in the upcoming movies. But keep in mind that that’s a very big “might”. So far, we don’t really know what the new movies are going to be about.

The Human Test - Volume One

You're gonna love this - definitely a must watch.  As a matter of fact, I think I passed the The Human Test hands down.  I answered yes to more than 5 questions. I'm human, I'm human! I think.

Below are some of the funny questions that were asked in the video.

- Have you tried to unlock the front door of your house with your car key remote?
- Sometimes when you're going to the left, do you turn right, because it's easier?
- When a good friend tells you a story and forgets that they already told it to you, do you secretly question the entire basis of your relationship?
- Do you secretly get pissed off when someone re-presses an elevator button that you already pressed?
- Have you ever lied about something stupid, something there was no reason to lie about and then spent the rest of the day wondering why you did?
- Have you ever tried to shut your entire computer down to stop a single email message from being sent?

Only 22% of Americans Want To Be Known As Republicans

It's a pretty sad reality, but the Reds are in a downward slope and it seems the only way they can win any elections is by redistricting, and even then, public support is waning.  Trust me, and you can look back on this blog four years from now and tell me I was wrong - I won't take offense.

The Republican party will never win a national election without the people they hate most - Latinos and Gays.  Period.  And aside from that, Asians were the fastest growing racial group in 2012, bet you didn't know that either.  So we can only imagine how much more diverse this country is going to be in 10 years. Hell, 4 years - who am I kidding?

According to USA today, "President Obama starts his second term with a clear upper hand over GOP leaders on issues from guns to immigration that are likely to dominate the year, a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds. On the legislation rated most urgent — cutting the budget deficit — even a majority of Republican voters endorse Obama's approach of seeking tax hikes as well as spending cuts."

And here's the real kicker... Only 22% of Americans want to be known as Republicans.  Pretty sad huh?  You can read the article here.

I have friends who are Republicans, but they are more fiscally conservative individuals, and I understand that.  I respect them.  But for those who tell us how we should live, who we can love and who we can marry.  That is none of their f--ing business.

I will be shocked if I ever see a Republican president for the remainder of my life.  They would need to drastically change for that to happen.  And throwing Marco Rubio and Susana Martinez in our faces is not going to make it happen.

Post Secret Fridays - Issue 105

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

See More Secrets. Follow PostSecret on Twitter.

-----Email-----
I work for the SEC and I would encourage her to reach out to our office of the whistleblower at http://www.sec.gov/whistleblower. They'll investigate and she may be entitled to award proceeds.

Want to see older Post Secret Friday issues?
Click my Post Secret Logo Below.

Chili Today, Gone Tamale

Well, my Chili didn't win first place, but overall it was the most authentic and most flavorful chili of all!  Granted, I feel I should have won since it was the first one that disappeared off the table. LOL.

The judges were people from other departments at M.D. Anderson with no affiliation to Breast Medical Oncology, because last year there were complaints the contest was rigged.

So it was a first for me on two different levels.  One, I created the cream corn and mozzarella cheese tamales hoping they would turn out great, and they did!  Second, I have never entered a cooking contest before - yep, this was my first time. :-)

The three judges read the results aloud starting with 3rd place, "It's Always Chili in BMO", the northeastern bean and chicken won them over.  Then came our team's chili, "Chili Today, Gone Tamale" - they stated my chili was the most authentic and most flavorful of all. Uhhh hellooooo?????   LOL.  And finally first place went to "Ready To Rock N' Roll" - for being the "most odd chili they've ever tasted - it was sweet, spicy and different."

Afterwards the entire department was able to feast on all the food.  Of course I had to try my competitor's chili and went with the winning chili, and it wasn't that bad actually.  But if you added potatoes and carrots - you'd definitely have some beef stew since it contained mostly pot roast.  So yeah, that was a little odd.  In either case, congrats to them.

Thank you all for the support and wish me luck next year! :-)

Gay Ads That Matter - Issue No. 010 - Respect For Marriage

"None of us would want to be told we can't marry the person we love".

While I was working out this morning, I saw a marriage equality ad on CNN that I hadn't seen before.  After doing some research, I learned The Respect for Marriage Coalition had just released a $1 million dollar ad campaign featuring prominent Republican politicians.

The 30-second ad uses clips from various news networks where the former First Lady Laura Bush, former Vice-President Dick Cheney, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell each voiced their support for marriage equality in the past.  The ad ends with President Obama's inauguration clip in support of "our gay brothers and sisters."

If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here...

The Legion of Real Life Supervillains by Butcher Billy

So what do you get when you cross a comic book Supervillain with a real-life human jerk?  Some pretty impressive art courtesy of artist, Butcher Billy.  

Check out Charles Manson as The Joker, Osama Bin Laden as The Green Goblin, Mark Zuckerberg as Loki, and many other favorites.