The All Star Weekend in Dallas is only half way over and already it is a failure for all the NBA fans tuning in. The All Star Game on Sunday is the biggest draw for the NBA’s mid season point. However, it’s the slam dunk contest that is sponsored by Sprite every year that is the 2nd biggest attraction the NBA has to offer during their All Star Break. This dunk contest was a failure just like last year’s dunk contest was too. The guys from TNT was calling last year’s dunk contest a success, but the finals in last year’s event was planned. The guy from the Portland Trailblazers was clearly the best dunker in last year’s event and he didn’t even get to participate in the finals, due to the planned showdown between the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the Knicks point guard Nate Robinson. It wasn’t fair to put two guys in the finals and leave out the best dunker.

Now fast forward to this year’s competition where no one was doing any good dunks. The guy from the Toronto Raptors had the best dunk of the night and other than his 1 dunk, the rest was mediocre at best. It was a very poor showing to one of the best all star events in any sport. The NBA has let the slam dunk contest slip too far and they don’t have the best dunkers in the game participating. I hope I can remember this feeling next year and I won’t make any special plans to watch next year’s slam dunk contest.

The Horse Game was a big failure too. Very little emotion and the guys were just going through the motions in the Horse event on TNT. The fact they ran out of time and made it a top of the key jump shooting event didn’t help much either. It was nice to see Kevin Durant stroking those 3′s so easy and stripping the net. Most of us already knew he was one of the best pure shooters in the NBA and the game of Horse should and could have been a lot more entertaining. The guys from TNT, the NBA, and the Players all get failing scores for the Horse competition in Dallas this weekend.

The skills contest is boring and no adjustments made to that event this year. The 3 point contest which Paul Pierce won was probably the highlight of Saturday’s events and that’s stretching it there. Pierce did a few yells in between the ball racks and there is only so much you can do in the 3 point contest. The shooting contest for the stars was an embarrassment to the city of Atlanta. It’s funny how Joe Johnson continues to show up at all star games and all star events and he’s not even starting material in the NBA. Joe Johnson from Atlanta is one of the most over rated players in the NBA today and he’s not even one of the top 5 players on the Atlanta Hawks team. The best two players putting on a uniform in Atlanta these days is Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith. Both of these guys would make great All Stars for the NBA. I’m sure Crawford could hold his own in a 3 point contest or a game of Horse. While Josh Smith could run circles around the guys that were in the dunk contest tonight. Unfortunately the NBA’s lack of coverage on the Atlanta team has forced players like Joe Johnson and Al Horford to represent them and it’s just a slap in the face to the Hawks Basketball Organization.

The NBA weekend in Dallas is a failure and it’s not their fault. The NBA continues to lack the creativity needed to show the world that their players are the best athletes in the world. No matter how good the All Star Game is on Sunday; the moral for all star weekend is very low and the NBA is in desperate need of new leadership.

Hello fellers, gents, and all the men out there that are lucky enough to have that special lady in their lives right now. We are once again approaching one of those holidays that we can’t forget. Letting a birthday or some other holiday slip by is sometimes acceptable. It’s never a good idea to forget about anniversaries or Valentines Day.

I’m here to make sure you don’t mess up this time. If you didn’t know or perhaps you forgot, I will tell you now that Valentines Day is Sunday. Let me repeat myself, Valentines Day is this Sunday (February 14th)! No need to panic, because I got you covered this year. I found a nice little sale going on over at Buy.com. They have a nice selection of items that men or women could get to please their Valentine this year. It didn’t take me long to find several nice gift items that the women would really like. I wasn’t sure if I should go with a ring, earrings, bracelet, necklace, or a watch. I wanted some piece of jewelry, but I wasn’t sure exactly which piece. I’m like this in restaurants too. I see several items I want to order off the menu, but have trouble picking just one food item to eat. So I usually will go with the sample platter that gives you several different foods to eat. I used that same mentality for choosing my Valentines Day gift this year. I just went for the sample platter of jewelry that Buy.com was offering.

So what did I find? Well if you look in the picture above, you will see a lovely heart-shaped jewelry set that matches. This set comes with a beautiful pendant that goes on a necklace chain. The pendant is a ruby and it’s in the shape of a heart that is perfect for a Valentines Day Gift. So your girlfriend or wife will have a beautiful necklace they can wear anytime. Since this item has that ruby shaped heart, she will remember this was a Valentines Day gift from you; for as long as you two stay together. However, you have to remember this is my jewelry sampler platter and that’s not all that’s included! It may not even be the best part of this jewelry platter. She may like the gorgeous earrings more than the necklace in this jewelry set. The earrings are rubies too and they have that awesome heart-shape as well. The necklace or earrings either one would be a nice Valentines Day gift by their self. When you can get the whole set for less than $50; then it’s worth the extra money to get the necklace and earrings.

Now I think I hit a homerun with this Valentines Day gift. If there is any ladies reading this blog post, please let me know your thoughts on this Valentines Day gift. I’m sure the “less than $50” was not a good part for the ladies out there. I think the men would be very satisfied to know they could get a necklace and earrings that are perfect heart shapes, that looks idea for Valentines Day at a cost of $44.99 and the shipping is totally free on this item at Buy.com. A perfect Valentines Day gift that looks really expensive, but cheap enough for us hard-working men to afford.

It’s the day athletes from all over the world have waited for. Some athletes have waited 4 years that participated in the last Winter Olympics and others have waited their whole lives for this moment. It’s all about to become a reality for these winter athletes as they get ready for the opening ceremony to begin in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver is the host city for the 2010 Olympics. I’m sure the whole nation in Canada is ready to get things under way and it’s a great honor when the Olympic Committee selects your nation or city to host any of the Olympic Games.

I’m a big fan of the Summer Olympics. I love the basketball and watching the talented dream teams that the USA Team gets to strut out there each year. I guess in the Winter Olympics, I would have to say that hockey is my favorite event. It looks like the Americans will put out a pretty talented team in this year’s Winter Olympics in the hockey games. I look forward to seeing how well our team can compete against some of the other powerhouse teams in Olympic Hockey. It seems Russia and Canada are always strong in hockey. I’m sure the Canadians will give a big home field advantage to their team as they face the best hockey players in the world. U.S. Hockey has improved so much in the last 3 decades. No one will ever forget our USA Boys defeating a grown men’s team from Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics that were held in New York. It was a miracle on ice for sure! No way should we have beat those guys from Russia, but our young American hearts would not give up. The USA Team defeating the USSR Team in 1980 is still probably the greatest American win in the Olympics. At least it’s the greatest moment for this American.

I look forward to watching other events in this year’s Winter Olympics from Vancouver. Instead of me naming the events I’m most interested in, please tell me the events in which you look forward to the most. Also, please state what country you’re from and which events do you think your country will do the best in. I’m hoping for gold in hockey, but I know the odds are once again against the American Hockey Team. Good luck to your country and now it’s time for the 2010 Winter Olympics to begin!

Well I’m not a parent currently but hope to be one someday. I guess it would help to get married first, right? I will certainly need to get with a woman that has a job and earns some type of income. I don’t think I could afford one child right now and it amazes me how parents can raise several children at one time. In most cases, both parents have a job and they need it to support the extra mouths in the household. So how does two working parents have the time to educate their children? I guess this is where the “love” comes in and it takes something to keep a full time job and still have the time to spend with children. Parents that do work for a living may not have the energy needed to keep up with their child’s education. This is where the Online Tutoring Services can help.

An online tutor can be the answer to a busy parent’s prayers. It’s important to keep the household up and running, keep food on the table, keep a roof up above, and make sure everyone has clothes on their back. As important as all these things are, it’s just as important to make sure each child in America has a good education. Education is what makes our country strong and as long as we can continue to focus on education as a parent or a nation, then we can all win at the end of the day. Online Tutoring is available to all students in all grade levels. There’s no such thing as being too young or too old for an online tutor. Many of the adults that decide to go back to school later in life, could get some valuable help from an online tutor too.

Is there a subject that your child has trouble in? If so, they may need to spend more time than the other students at their school needs. The parents struggling to make ends meet, may not be there to give that extra help to their children’s toughest subjects. In some cases, the parents that do have the time, may not know the subject well enough to give their kids the extra help. Do you as a parent have a 9th grade education in math? What happens when your child reaches the 10th grade and beyond and seeks your help? A little Online Tutoring Math may be needed and it is available. Parents and students both can look online for services that offer online tutoring. Math is a subject you can’t avoid and all degrees need some type of math skills. It’s not easy for busy parents to assist their child’s education, but luckily we are in the 21st century and online tutors can be the blessing that gives our children the best education possible!

Money Growing on Trees

Does money really grow on trees? Well I think they do take the trees to make our paper money, so I could see some people saying “yes” to this question. I think most of us know that money doesn’t grow on trees and it’s very precious to each of us.

Since we like money and need it to survive, we should do everything we can to make it. Since the boom of the Internet in the early to mid 1990′s, a whole new world has emerged for most of us. Being online or plugged up to the World Wide Web is the “cool” thing to do these days. If we want to be cool, let’s use some of our computer time to make money online.

It’s not hard to make money online. Most are amazed at how easy it is to make a few extra dollars and this money adds up over time. You don’t have to be a genius or create your own website to claim your share of the money that is available to be made on the Net. Finding a honest PTC (paid to click) website or a traffic exchange that pays their members to surf is a easy and free way to make money online. You don’t get rich over night and it takes a little time, but the key things to remember is “FREE” and you’re making “MONEY“.

If you or anyone you know that likes to spend 3 or 4 hours a day on the computer, then it’s easy to make a secondary income online. Don’t stop your current routine, just have another window open, so you can surf a traffic exchange or check-in on new ads to click at the paid to click websites. A few cents here and there will build up to a few dollars here and there and this is money that can buy you a steak dinner, fill the gas tank up on the car, or pay for this month’s cable bill. How nice would it be to get a free tank of gas or a free month’s worth of cable? Most like the sound of that and it takes very little effort to obtain these things.

Join a honest PTC site is a good way to start. Then sign up for a free traffic exchange. There is a lot of good traffic exchanges and feel free to join several of them. You can promote your PTC referral link on a traffic exchange and the people you get to join for free can help you earn money faster. Once you see how well this simple money making step works, you will probably want to join a few PTC sites and about a dozen different traffic exchanges, so this online money becomes more than just a tank of gas for the car. You don’t have to quit your job. Just a little effort each evening and using the weekends, you can really make money online and never have to spend a cent! If you have a spouse or someone else in the household to help you; then this can become very profitable.

Once you start to get familiar with traffic exchanges and other ways to make money online, you will be able to branch out your efforts for more money making opportunities. There is no limits to the amount of money someone can make online and everyone should be earning a few bucks regardless; since it is so easy to earn money from your computer.

I know a lot of people have Pay Pal already and eBay is a big reason for that. You need Pay Pal so you can collect your money in most cases. Some free online programs pay by check through the mail and no Pay Pal is required. Most of the PTC sites like the way Alert Pay works and it would be nice if you join them. It’s free to sign up for Alert Pay and it’s just like Pay Pal. They are a very honest company and have been around for a number of years now. Pay Pal is the most popular online payment processor and I would guess that Alert Pay would be the 2nd most popular. It can take a little time in some cases to get everything verified at Alert Pay, so try to sign up for them as soon as possible. You can begin making and earning money online now and by the time you get to the payout minimums for a traffic exchange or PTC site, your Alert Pay will be fully activated so you can get your cash. So be sure to join Alert Pay soon, so you will have more programs you can make money with and most will be paid via Pay Pal or Alert Pay.

For those that are not new to online marketing and already have an Alert Pay account set up, I have a great program for you. It’s a simple-to-use Fortune Matrix and it will only cost $11 to join. You pay the eleven dollars one time and you never have to pay again! Your $11 insures that you will be a lifetime member and this will be a program that keeps paying you years and years down the road.

People that are new to making money online can join too, I just hate asking anyone to invest money to make money. In this case, I will make an exception. Since I know this 4×1 Fortune Matrix is honest and I have been paid multiple times; I know you won’t be throwing your money away. Most newbies need to stick to free programs and avoid paying any money to online programs asking for it. The 11 Dollar Fortune Matrix is the only exception to this rule. Eleven bucks is a cheap price to invest on a program that will pay you $30 on your first payment. It only takes 6 new people to join under you for you to make that first 30 dollars. Don’t worry about trying to find all 6 by yourself. You will have help from both sides in this honest matrix. You will get spillovers and spillunders that will help fill your matrix as fast as possible. This is a popular matrix and once you join and get that first email stating that your matrix is complete, you will see why so many like this one. Be sure to share the Fortune Matrix with your friends, co-workers, neighbors, family members, and anyone else that has 11 dollars and an account with Alert Pay. Good Luck!

*I will reply as soon as possible to anyone that needs more help or has questions about the popular and honest 4×1 Fortune Matrix. Just leave a reply to this blog post and most comments will be addressed within 24 hours. This program works best with team work and I fully support  the 4×1 Matrix. Your not alone on this one and my team will become your team, just let me know!

You can now search for free online coupons and save big.

During hard times we might not be able to eat the foods we like the most. We may just have to save some of those great recipe and food ideas that we see on the Food Network for a later time. I’m sure they would adjust their programming on television if things ever got too bad and would give us new ways to prepare cheaper meals for the family. Most of us at some point in our lives had to install a food budget, so we could make it from one day to another. I think most can remember what they had to do in the past to survive and would go that route again if needed.

There are plenty of  Restaurant coupons that you can find and use.

It wasn’t the warmest of days for a groundhog to come out of his hole and give us a weather prediction for this year. However, the groundhog in Georgia known as the General Leebraved the 28 degree weather yesterday and did emerge for about 300 people that was wanting to get a glimpse at the famous furry creature. Other states have their own groundhog too, but we know the General Lee is the one we can trust and rely on.

The General Lee in Georgia did not see his shadow on Groundhog Day. What does this mean? It means that winter is coming to an end soon and the people in the Peach State and other parts of the South can expect a early spring. The Groundhog Days that do provide a shadow, means we have another 6 weeks of cold, winter weather ahead. Luckily this did not happen on Tuesday and the General Lee could not find his shadow anywhere. This is great news for those that don’t like winter weather and everyone can relax now, knowing that the days of spring are right around the corner. The General Lee has did his great work for this year and has made a lot of people happy. We won’t get to see the General Lee until February 2nd of 2011 and that will be when he makes his next weather prediction. Most of the other groundhogs agreed with the General Lee and most of the country is happy right now. It seems one groundhog didn’t get the memo and actually seen his shadow yesterday. The Pennsylvania groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow yesterday and people in Pennsylvania will have to keep the winter coats around for a bit longer. It seems the other groundhogs around the nation like Buckeye Chuck, Jimmy the Groundhog, and Staten Island Chuck agreed with the Georgia Groundhog General Lee and none of them seen their shadow either.  

Down in Macon, Georgia a news writer for Fox 24 in Macon, made one very observant notice about Groundhog Day. Celeste Smith from Fox 24 caught a glimpse of this week’s forecast and saw that a lot of rain would be taking place in Georgia later this week. Smith noted that the General Lee did not address that issue and it’s unclear how the groundhog from Georgia feels about the dreary weather forecasted for Georgia later on in the week. We may have to sit down with the groundhogs and see if they can start giving us a better idea on the weather conditions for the first week or two of February and see if we can milk a little bit more knowledge out of them. This could create problems and they may ask for pay raises and more holiday time and give meteorologists world-wide a lot more to do in their current jobs. As for this year in 2010, all we can say for sure is that the General Lee and other groundhogs are done forecasting and spring will be arriving shortly.

In other news today, we have learned that Pennsylvania is now searching for a new groundhog!

Adding a few window boxes around the home can be a nice touch. These stylish boxes can really make a home look nice and especially when there is flowers blooming from them. Do you currently have a window box under one of your windows? Adding one of these window boxes really isn’t that costly or hard to do either. Many homeowners would be surprise to see how easy it is to install one of these beautiful boxes under one of their windows. These boxes will work with any home and you can determine what flowers or plants to put in them later. A lot of that will depend on the amount of sunlight your window gets each day.

Some green thumbs out there may want to grow vegetables in their window plant boxes. Placing these boxes in a good spot around your home and keeping them watered regularly can provide some good homegrown vegetables for you and your family. A lot of people will turn these window boxes into garden window boxes. Some may even have more luck growing food from these plant containers; than they would if they used a piece of ground at in the yard.

For those that already own window boxes, do you prefer to grow plants, flowers, or vegetables? If you prefer to not grow anything in your new window boxes, you could always use artificial plants and flowers to decorate them. I’m sure there is a lot of homeowners that do that already with their window boxes planters. I personally think adding flowers is the best way to go. You can select one kind or one color of flowers or you can get creative and use a variety of different colored flowers in your window flower boxes.  Either way these boxes will be an upgrade for your windows and the overall looks of your house. Now is a good time to start thinking about adding one or a few of these to your home. If you start now, you will have plenty of time to get them up and installed, before the flowers start blooming this spring.

It’s not often we spotlight a beauty contestant from the state of Kentucky, but I felt compelled to shine a little spotlight on one of our own. It turns out Miss Kentucky who is Mallory Ervin is also a blogger online. She did very well in the latest Miss America Pageant and was one of the final 5 contestants on the stage; when the winner was announced from the state of Virginia.

You can read Mallory’s blog online and see that she is very active in her community and for the state of Kentucky. We normally think of Kentucky as the place for the best horses in the world and many tune in each year to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV. It is said the Kentucky Derby is the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. Their beauty contestant from Kentucky gave a lot more than 2 minutes for the state of Kentucky. She must have kept everyone watching the beauty contest on Saturday night as she continued to advance to each new round. It’s a big accomplishment to to make it to the last 10, but Mallory kept going and was in the top 5; before she eventually lost to Miss Virginia.

I was happy to see a blogger make it so far in the Miss America Pageant. I think Mallory should get a blog on her own domain name and keep her blog going. Sometimes the free blogs don’t do as well in the search engines and if more bloggers would have known about her, I’m sure they could have drummed up more support for her online. It may have still not been enough to win the contest on Saturday, but we will never know. This could be a new trend for contestants in the Miss American contest and we may see more bloggers gain support for their causes in contests. It was a great try for Miss Kentucky and I’m sure there are much bigger things in life she can now do with her new found fame. It should be interesting to see what her next move is and how the folks living in Kentucky will benefit from her. Great job Mallory and I hope you take the next steps online for your blog and get a blog hosted on your own domain with your own hosting account.

I live in Canton, Georgia which is about 40 miles to the north of Atlanta, Georgia. Our capital city is Atlanta and it’s one of the biggest and most developed cities in the Southeastern United States. You can imagine that a big city like Atlanta has a little bit of everything. If you can’t find it in Atlanta, GA; then chances are you will have a hard time finding it, in other parts of the country or other big American cities. Since we know our chances are good that Atlanta will have a specific service we are seeking, it just becomes a matter of how to track it down or find it. This is where your computer can come in handy and even for us that live 40 miles outside of the Atlanta city limits. If our car breaks down we will need to find a good auto mechanic. A water pipe bursts in the middle of the night; then we will need a plumber as fast as possible. These emergency services can quickly be located, if we go online and perform local searches.

One online website called Just Click Local could be a great source for the city of Atlanta and those living in the Atlanta Metro Area to find a car mechanic, plumber, or some other professional we are desperately searching for. The person with the busted water pipe doesn’t have to worry about their search results showing up a plumber in St. Louis, MO. They can relax knowing that their search for an online plumber will be one that is servicing Atlanta or the local areas around one of the South’s largest cities. The best thing to do now is locate the websites that do focus on local searches and save these sites to your favorites. Keep them handy so when an emergency does occur at 2 AM in the morning, you can save time and go directly to your local searches.

In Buffalo, NY there are numerous ways to help find stuff online. This is where your computer can come in handy and even for us that live 40 miles outside of the Atlanta city limits. If our car breaks down we will need to find a good auto mechanic. A water pipe bursts in the middle of the night; then we will need a plumber as fast as possible.