Victoria Westmoreland

New Orleans has always been known for its booming music industry. So many talented musicians hail from New Orleans. The most prevalent instiitution in New Orleans was Jazz music.

Last August, Hurricane Katrina totally devistated New Orleans. Most of the city has been abandoned and a lot of damage has been done. But that didn't stop the New Orleans Jazz and heritage festival from carrying on.

The festival had been held every year since 1970. According to the Associated Press, Organizers of the festival stated that eventthough there would be less performers and less people there, the festival still needed to be held to help to lift up New Orleans and give them a chance to express themselves the way alot of the citizens of New Orleans know how to, through Jazz.

Quint Davis, the festival director stated, "So many people from New Orleans are going to be coming back for the first time. So many musicians are coming back for the first time. It's going to be emotional on both sides of the stage."

Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen were just a few of the performers that played at the event. Because the Hurricane has left the city with limited funds, the headliners to a major paycut to perform at the festival this year.

But they still cam, becasue they knew they importance of their presence and support at the event. Springsteen stated "There's a lot of music we have that cuts right to the heart of what's going on there."

According to the Associated Press, "Fats Domino, who's been living in suburban New Orleans since his Ninth Ward home was deluged by almost 10 feet of floodwater, hasn't performed in public since being rescued from his second-floor balcony."

"He went through the same experiences other New Orleanians went through," Davis said. "His songs, 'Walkin' to New Orleans,' 'Jambalaya,' that's us. It's our music. I can't think of a better way to close Jazz Fest."

Jazz is like the Pulse of New Orleans, It brings life and memories of what once was and what will be again and causes New Orleans Heart to beat again.

For more information about the festival, visit http://www.nojazzfest.com/

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Yesterday www.MosNews.com reported that the country of Georgia is going to pay Jennifer Lopez $500.00 to come and taste wine at the upcomming independence day celebration.

Apparently Russia has been the biggest market for the selling of Georgian wine and now Russia is no longer buying the wine.

Russian authourities claimed that the last shipments of wine from Georiga contained traces of heavy metals and pesticides.

Because Russia was the main market for the wine, Georgias' wine industry cannot survive without replacing it with another big buyer.

In in effort to sell more wine in the U.S., Georgia officials are trying to call more attention to it and what better way to do so than invite a huge celebrity to endorse the wine.

Soso Shadberashvili, a Labor Party member said, "Probably, the authorities want to use Lopez’s name for advertising Georgian wine, as it was written in an invitation sent to her that she had necessarily try the world famous wine.”

In a time that Georgia needs to spend money wisely, this does not seem like the kind of way that the taxpayers of Georgia would want to spend $500,000.

Shadberashvii went on to say, "Laborites are outraged by the fact that against a background of great poverty in the country officials are ready to spend huge sums from the state budget on colorful shows featuring foreign stars”

I have to say that this has not been set in stone or made official and according to MosNews.com, "Lopez’s usual fees are much more higher and Georgian authorities were too mean."

A final descision has to made, July is approaching soon.

Authorities will have to ask themselves, Is J-Lo worth $500,000 to Georgia?

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

During the school year, children are ensured to get two healthy meals a day while in school.

Children do not get that same guarentee during the summer months.

Some families cannot aford the healthy foods that children need and turn to the fast food and junk food alternatives.

This is why the summer food service program was created, to provide free healthy meals to children during the summer months.

Children 18 and under are eligible to get free meals from the program.

These programs are also refered to as Feed-A-Kid also.

Schools, Churchs, Recreation Groups and other organizations house the program in areas all around the U.S. The organizations serve breakfast, lunch and dinner free to all children.

A different meal is served everyday on Monday thruogh Friday, on the weekends the program is not in operation, though some programs operate on Saturdays, most do not.

The MIssion statement about the summer food service program was taken from the USDA website.

"Are there children in your community who will go hungry this summer? Children in low-income communities are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. But those programs end when school ends for the summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program helps fill the hunger gap.

Good nutrition is essential for effective learning every day, all year long. Just as learning does not end when school lets out, neither does the need for good nutrition. Children who aren't hungry learn better, act better, and feel better. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps children get the nutrition they need to learn, play, and grow throughout the summer months when they are out of school.

The Summer Food Service Program was created to ensure that children in lower-income areas could continue to receive nutritious meals during long school vacations, when they do not have access to school lunch or breakfast. But, although millions of children depend on nutritious free and reduced-price meals and snacks at school for 9 months out of the year, just a fraction of that receive the free meals provided by the SFSP during the summer months."

For more information about the summer food service program and to find locations for placeds serving food in your area go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer/

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some women dream about their weddings from the time that they were little girls playing dress-up.

When it comes to the real thing, most brides want to bring that dream into a realization.

Weddings are not only a time to make dreams come true, but also a stressful time for the bride to be.

Picking invitations, booking halls, getting flowers, fittings, hiring DJ's, the list of things to do goes on and on.

The internet has made things a little better.

Maria Brown is getting married in Novembor of 2006 and a few more months to plan the wedding.

Brown stated, "It takes a lot of prepartion."

She has utilized the internet to help make her planning easier, the site that she has used the most has been http://www.theknot.com

She stated that "the knot" has been very helpful in finding dresses and honeymoon spots, etc.

The Knots' website gives this overview of the company:

"The Knot is one of the world's leading wedding media and services companies providing products and services to couples planning their weddings and future lives together. Our Web site, at www.theknot.com, is the most trafficked wedding destination online and offers comprehensive content, extensive wedding-related shopping, an online wedding gift registry and an active community. The Knot is the premier wedding content provider on America Online (AOL keywords: knot and weddings), MSN, and Comcast Online."

Other Brides can take note and use the internet to help relieve some of the stress of running place to place to prepare for weddings by staying at home and planning from the computer.

Here are the top 5 websites for weding planning:

1. The Knot
http://www.theknot.com

2. Top Wedding Links
http://www.topweddinglinks.com

3. Clever Wedding
http://www.cleverwedding.com/

4. One Wed
http://www.onewed.com/

5. Wedding Solutions
http://www.weddingsolutions.com/index.cfm

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Each Easter, millions of eggs are boiled and colored to give out to children and to hide for Easter egg hunts.

The next day many families end up with alot of hard-boiled eggs.

And mom has to figure out how to use those 20 eggs Johnny found before they go bad.

Your family may get tired of egg salad in two days.

Here are a few suggestions of recipes that you can use those eggs in:

1. Deviled Eggs
2. Tuna Fish
3. Potatoe Salad
4. Chicken Dressing Cassorole
5. Egg Cassorole
6. Crab Salad
7. Pickled Eggs and Beets
8. Lobstor Salad
9. Egg Curry and Rice
10. Shrimp Stew

You can find the recipes for all of these dishes and other great dishes at http://www.foodnetwork.com/

So do something different with all of those eggs this year and maybe your family will not gripe about eating that same old egg salad after Easter.

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The populare game show, wheel of fortune is comming to Savannah. The show is looking for future game show contestants in Savannah and the surrounding area on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23.

The "wheelmobile," a 32 foot winebago with the wheel of fourtune logo on it, will be cruising around Savannah all this week looking for contestants.

All applicants must be 18-years-old or older. If you know someone who is affiliated with the show, you are not eligible to apply.

From WSAV.come, here is the information about the upcomming contestant search:

"When: Saturday, April 22nd from 2pm – 6pm
Where: GA National Guard Armory
1248 Eisenhower Drive
Savannah, GA 31406

When: Sunday, April 23rd from 2 PM – 6 PM
Where: GA National Guard Armory
1248 Eisenhower Drive
Savannah, GA 31406"

Application can be truned in starting at 1:00pm each day. Everyone who attends the event will haev a chance to fill out an application and then the applications will be drwn randomly to decide who will play for a chance to be on the show.

According to WSAV.com:

"How does it work?"

"There are three Wheel of Fortune shows during each day of a Wheelmobile event. Each show lasts approximately one hour.

If you are invited to the final auditions, you will receive a letter or email within a few weeks of our last Wheelmobile event."

For more information about the event go to http://www.wsav.com/ and click "wheel of fortune commming to sanannah"

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This Spring has began with high temperatures. Easter weekend had temperatures nearly reaching 90 degrees.

These temperatures show that a hot summer may be ahead of us.

This is a good sign for Splash In the Boro.

Splash in the Boro is Statesboro's newest attraction. It is a family water park located near Mill Creek Regional Park.

Tickets to the park costs $7.50 for children and $9.00 for adults. Groups of 20 or more are offered discounted rates of $6.00 per person.

The park offers family passes, for up to five people, to get into the park the entire summer as many times as they want for a set fee of $275.00.

The water park offers opportunities for birthday parties to be held there and after hours park rentals, for more information, contact Kimberly Sharpe at (912) 489-3000.

For dates and times that the park is open call Splash in the Boro at (912) 489-3000. The park is located at 888 Hwy 24 E, Statesboro.

Before the summer begins, Splash in the Boro will be holding Bulloch County Water Safety Week on May 1 through May 6, 2006. For more information on this event, or others comming up go to http://www.splashintheboro.com/

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As time progresses, it is becoming more and more evident that children in Americas public schools are not reciveing a good education in comparision to other contries.

Many reprots and studies have been conductedon the topic over the years and many people have tried to implement programs to help our children.

The president implemented his "no child left behind" plan a few years ago, and it is proving to be unsuccesful. Children are just getting passed on to the next grade without knowing the material that they should and it is setting them up for failure in the higher grades.

Oprah did a segment on the deteriating condition of our schools called "School in Crisis."

Studies that her producers found stated this:
"Just 20 years ago, American students were among the best in the world, routinely coming in first in test results. Now, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, students in the richest country on earth are in 24th place in math. That's behind Canada, Germany, France, Korea…but also smaller, poorer countries like Poland, Hungary and Slovakia."

Oprah also addressed some solutions to the problems of our schools that was suggested by Bill Gates.

Gates and his wife are invested in this causes and want to better Americas' schools.

They had this to say on the show:
"Through their influential Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they are trying to revolutionize an education system that, if it were a business, Bill says, 'would be bankrupt.' Melinda adds that this is not an isolated problem of poverty. "This is affecting all schools," she says. "Kids are falling through the cracks and nobody notices it. That to me is what's wrong with the school system."

To find out more about the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, go to http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Adult Swim aires nightly on Cartoon Network strating at 11pm. the 4 hour block of programming features cartoons that are aimed at Adults and are not appropriate for children.

The program aires a variety of comedic cartoons, including family guy and the new cartoon American Dad. Adult Swim also features anime such as Inuyasha and Full Metal Alchemist.

Boondocks author, Arron Mcgruder, brought his popular comic strip to life in a new cartoon series that began arring on Adult Swim in November of 2005.

The cartoon is very contriversial in that it tackles issues such as race and politics. McGruder does not pull the punches and seems to not care whether he offends anyone, be it republican or democrat, black or white.

I was a huge fan of the comic strip and was happy to see that Adult Swim would be picking up the new cartoon version.

The Boondocks aired its last episode of the new season on Sunday. The show has brought in a new audience to Adult Swim, grabbing young African Americans attention.

In February, Adult Swim announced that it would be picking up the show for a second season.

The show aires on Sundays at 11pm and can be seen again on Thursday nights at midnight.

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reality television has exploded in network primetime spots, and with the increasing number of people who desire fame and fortune from appearances on reality shows, people do more and more outrageous things to get airtime and be memorable.

One Substitute teacher may have taken it too far.

"Flavor of Love" was a reality television show showcased on VH1 starting in January of 2006.

The show cast 20 women who were interested in seriously dating hip hop legend, Flavor Flav.

Flavor Flav appeared on two past VH1 reality shows, "The Surreal Life" and "Strangelove."

There were 20 women competing for Flav's love.

From the start of the show, Flav gave all of the girls nick names so that he would not have to worry about remembering their real names.

Flav took the women on dates and gave them various tasks in order to prove their love for him.

Brooke Thompson, a 26-year-old school teacher, was one of those women. She was able to make it to the top three women that Flav wanted to choose from.

Flav renamed Thompson as "pumpkin."

In her journey to that position, she repeated had problems with one of the other women, "New York."

The show did not receive very high ratings until an incident occurred between "pumpkin" and "New York" nearing the end of the season.

After "pumpkin" had been eliminated from the competition, before walking out of the house she began arguing with "New York", and during the heat of the argument, "pumpkin" spat on "New York."

This enraged "New York" and Flav was outraged that she would do something like that, he told "pumpkin" (Thompson) to leave immediately.

They weren't the only ones upset by Thompson's actions.

According to NBCtv, Thompson was fired from her job as a substitute teacher at Kern High School as a result of the incident.

When asked for comments, Thompson stated: "the spit was prompted by a suggestion of one of the shows producers."

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Accoding to e diets.com "New dietary recommendations for children aged 2 and older issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) and now endorsed as official policy by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reconfirm that fish, such as canned tuna, is a safe food that children need for optimal health during their formative years.

Published in the February 7, 2006 issue of the journal Pediatrics, the new AHA/AAP guidelines state that "fish is an important food with growing evidence of potential benefit" and advocate that children and adolescents eat 2 servings of fish a week. This is because fish, such as canned tuna, is high in protein, low in saturated fat and trans fat and contains essential omega 3 fatty acids that promote eye and brain development and contribute to a healthy heart."

Children sometimes do not like to eat fish but here is kid friendly recipe featuring fish:

Crunchy Baked Fish Sticks:

1 lb. frozen fish fillets, such as halibut, haddock or cod, thawed
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
1 pkt. Original Chicken Seasoned Coating Mix
1/4 cup 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

First turn on the oven to 450°F.

Next, cut fish into finger width strips.

Mix egg and water in shallow dish and dip fish strips into egg mixture.

Placed coating mix in a plastic bag and add fish strips one at a time and shake until strips are evenly coated.

The place coated strips on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with tarter sauce.

This recipy was obtained from Kraft, for more recipies and healty eating ideas, go to http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In a rush to buy gifts for mother's day, a lot of people will be buying their gifts online this year.

Here is a list of the top three sites for buying mothers day gifts, including summaries of the sites.

These sites also have very secure payment systems.

Collectables Today
http//www.collectiblestoday.com

1. The largest selection of limited edition and exclusive collectibles! Official home to: Bradford Exchange collector plates, Ashton Drake collectible dolls, Ardleigh Elliott music boxes, Hamilton Collection figurines and hundreds of Thomas Kinkade collectibles, Precious Moments figurines, gifts and home decoration items.

Just Flowershttp://www.iris.justflowers.com

2. justflowers.com has over 12 years of experience as florists in the industry and wanted to extend a high level of service to the web. We work with preferred florists worldwide to bring the highest level of service and satisfaction to our thousands of customers online. justflowers.com is committed to offering exceptional service to our customers. We understand that the gifts that you send represent you both personally and professionally. Thank you for your continued support!

Hammacher Schlemmer
http://www.hammacher.com

3. To our customers, the name Hammacher Schlemmer, means many things. It means shopping from one of the most unique and innovative collections of products available anywhere in the world. It is an assurance of the highest quality—always backed by our unconditional guarantee. It means customer service—second to none—provided by dedicated professionals who are willing to go that extra step.

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The 78th annual academy awards was full of surprises this year. One of the songs this year was performed by 3 6 Mafia, a rap group.

The song, "It's Hard for A Pimp," was one of the first rap songs ever performed during the Oscars. The song had been created as the soundtrack for the movie "Hustle & Flow" (a movie about the life of a pimp who wanted to become a rap artist).

Immediately following the performance, Queen Latifah announced that 3 6 Mafia had won the award for best original song. The group seemed to be very happy and were surprised that they had won.

After their acceptance of the award, the host, John Stewart, stated that everyone should be that happy when they win an Oscar.

Another surprise came when "Crash", a movie directed by John Singleton dealing with issues or race, won for best motion picture of the year over the favorite "Brokeback Mountain."

The Academy also broke from tradition by letting Oprah broadcast her talk show from Kodak Theater the day after the awards aired.

To see highlights form the show go to http://www.oscar.com/

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In order to find out how well Statesboro businesses are performing, I went to Claire's in the Statesboro Mall and evaluated them for my marketing class as a mystery shopper. This is what I found:

I went to Claire’s inside the Statesboro Mall. When I entered the store, I noticed that there was not a bare wall in sight. Everything was covered, either by merchandise or huge posters.

At the entrance there was a poster of Mariah Carey advertising her new line of merchandise and also there was a station where customers could get their ears pierced. I went during the day time and there were four other people in the store, all younger-looking women.

There was one associate working there, she looked like she was in her late twenties. Her name tag said "Claire’s Associate," she was very helpful and polite. The store was clean and neat, but there was so much in it, it still seemed like it was cluttery.

The store was sectioned off by themes, one wall had prom themed merchandise, one section contained hair accessories, and one wall had beach themed merchandise, and so on. On the floor of the store, there were about 10 different towers, containing merchandise. I purchased one wallet that costs $8.99.

I also brought two pairs of earrings for $5.99 each and received one pair for free. The store used a suggestive selling marketing strategy with the earrings though. I saw one pair of earrings that I really liked and there was a sale on earrings at buy two pair get one pair for free, so I bought two pair in order to get another pair for free. I think it was a good idea because otherwise I would have just brought the one pair of earrings.

I had a good shopping experience at Claire's and from my research I would say that Claire's Stores Inc. is progressing very well.

All in all, I give Claire's a Cheer.

To visit thier website click: http://www.claires.com/index.asp

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 01:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

All to often, in the busy lives of people, we turn to fast food and forget to eat our vegetables. I love to cook and I want to share one of my quick and easy recipes with you.

Southern-Style Green Beans, Tomatoes, and Bacon

1 small bg. frozen green beans
1 12(oz) cn diced tomatoes
1 12(oz) cn chicken stock
2 slices bacon

First thaw out the green beans.

Cook bacon on the stove or microwave until it is crispy and let cool.

Next add chicken stock and green beans to pot and bring to a boil.

Then add diced tomatoes to the pot and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Crumble bacon and add to pot.

Cook on medium heat for 5 more minutes.

Turn of heat and now it is ready to serve.

I hope you enjoy and integrate more vegetables in your daily diet.

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After losing their liquor license, the once popular club Legends has had to try to find other ways of bringing in the crowds and keeping business coming in.

Legends booked Kenny Chesney, a well known country music artist, for a performance last Thursday. There was an immediate buzz and ticket sales sold out quickly.

But, after all of the promotion, Chesney decided not to come. The announcement was made on last Monday.

Representatives for Chesney told Jake Hallman of the Statesboro Herald that the reason for the cancellation was that they were not informed that Legends was an alcohol-free establishment.

In an interview with Hallman, Will Britt said that he thought that Chesney new that Legends did not sell alcohol and there was no intentional deception.

The sudden cancellation is similar to the situation in the fall when Kanye West decided not to perform at Paulson Stadium.

Refunds were given to all who bought tickets, but the damage has been done. With two big concert cancellations in less than six months time, people are going to be skeptical about performers showing up to future concerts.

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A local organization that has been around since the the late 1940's is the Statesboro Business and Professional Women's Club.

Local business women founded the group in order to collaborate with other business women around Statesboro, in order to further the progress of womens success in the business world. The group later became affiliated with the federal Business and Professional Women's Club.

According to the groups charter, their mission is, "to achieve equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and research."

Meetings are open to anyone who would like to attend and are held at RJ's Seafood and Steakhouse on every fourth Monday of the month.

To get membership information for the Statesboro chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Club, call (912) 839-3368.
Or contact them the web at:
http://www.geocities.com/statesborobpw/index.html

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Substance and Alcohol abuse has been a growing problem in America.

Treatment facilities and group programs have been the answer to this problem. Statesboro has the most recovery and treatment programs in the state of Georgia that treat substance and alcohol abuse.

One of the many opportunities available to those who want to seek recovery from substance and/or alcohol abuse is "Recovery in Progress," also known as the Sobriety House.

According to the Sobriety House, this program is aimed at women who are willing to commit nine months to the program with the goal of building "a solid foundation for life-long recovery from alcohol and substance abuse."

Women move into a residential environment that gives a warm, home-like feel; in sharp contrast to a "clinicy, sterile, environment." The Statesboro countryside provides a tranquil environment that cannot be found in large cities. The Sobriety House has space for 15 women at any given time, so applications are taken throughout the year for the program.

The program is open to all who are seriously willing to commit to making a change in their lives and directions can be found from anywhere in the U.S. by going to http://www.sobrietyhouse.com/Directions.htm

Anyone interested in particpating in the program can find information by contacting Cindy Thompson at 912-764-9654. Or visiting their website at:
http://www.sobrietyhouse.com/index.html

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The classic theatrical play, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is comming to Statesboro.

The David H. Averitt Center for the Arts will feature the play and describes it as a " zany Broadway musical (that) follows the mad-cap adventures of chorus girl Lorelei Lee, a role made famous by Carol Channing in 1949 and on screen by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950’s."

The play, set in the 1920's, features popular songs such as "Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend," "Bye Bye Baby," and, of course, "Gentlemen Perfer Blondes."

Jonathan Hardeman, a 25-year-old resident of statesboro, stated "I've heard that this is a good play and and I am thinking of taking my girlfriend to see it for Valentines day."

The play will take place at the Emma Kelly Theater on Thursday, February 9, 2006 at 7:30pm.
The price for an adult ticket is $32.00 and $26.50 for childrens tickets.

For tickets contact the box office at 33 East Main St. between 10 am and 4 pm or call 912-212-ARTS

You can also view more information about this play or other future events at the Averitt Center for the Arts by going online and viewing:
http://www.averittcenterforthearts.org/kelly_season.html

Posted by Victoria Westmore at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)