Gold at all time high: Fear, uncertainty driving gold rush

Uncertainty about the economy's strength, fears about rising prices, worries over global instability. Investors are facing an onslaught of headlines, from inflation to turmoil in North Africa, that is driving them into the arms of gold.

The precious metal blew past $1,500 an ounce this week to record levels in dollar terms, rising for six straight sessions. The precious metal is still trading below its inflation-adjusted peak of about $2,200 an ounce, however.

There are no guarantees that gold prices will keep rising from historic levels. For now, though, just about all the forces that have traditionally pushed gold prices higher are in place. Story Here

I knew others felt the way I do about the upcoming Royal Wedding…

Dreading the Wedding by the Headlines…

Float through a gallery of Zeppelins from their golden age of travel

Go through this cool gallery to see more fantastic images from the golden age of zeppelins

New Graphene Material is Paper-Thin and Ten Times Stronger Than Steel

You know, of course, that this must be alien technology which we have just recently cracked.

Area 51…X-Files…have all hinted at it and now...

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney have created a new material that is lighter, less dense, harder, and stronger than steel. But this material isn’t one of those breakthroughs that only sounds good on paper. It is paper, and it could be a game-changer for materials science if it can live up to researchers’ hopes.

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The Man Who Leaves Roses on Edgar Allan Poe's Grave Every Year Has Disappeared

One of the best pieces of arcana of American letters is the man known as the "Poe Toaster." Every year on January 19 (Edgar Allan Poe's birthday), the toaster appears in the Baltimore graveyard where the author is buried and leaves a half-empty bottle of cognac and four roses. No one knows his identity or his motives. Last year, for the first time in 60 years, the mysterious man did not show up. Last night, he failed to show up again, leaving many to think that the tradition is now over.

Story Here

Poe is one of my favorite American authors, and when I was in high school I memorized every verse of “The Raven.” I probably could still rattle off at least half of it…Once upon a midnight dreary… 

Bambi And Thumper Do Exist…

 

More Photos of these buddies. Found while Stumbling

'Weird Al' Yankovic gets permission to 'perform this way' after Lady Gaga dustup

Ooh, don’t worry, I’m okay…Hey, I just perform this way…

Lady Gaga has a sense of humor after all. That’s nice to know because I’m a huge Weird Al fan…

On Wednesday Pop & Hiss, the LA Times’s Music blog… reported that Lady Gaga denied permission for parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to satirize her anthem, "Born This Way," according to a lengthy post on his blog.

Dubbed "I Perform This Way," the man who turned Michael Jackson's "Beat It" into the gluttonous ode "Eat It" -- among dozens of others -- planned on poking fun at all things Gaga and donating sales from the video and song to the Human Rights Campaign.

But before Weird Al fans got ready to picket the Queen of the Monsters, it turned out her manager was responsible for nixing the song, without sending it to Gaga first. Yankovic didn't actually need Gaga's permission, but he extends the mutually beneficial proposition as a courtesy -- his parodies have always fallen under "fair use"  in matters of copyright law.

Yankovic wrote in an updated post that Gaga's manager apologized -- and that Gaga loves the cover.

Royal Maddness: Would you pay $800 for a friggin Jellybean?

If this jelly bean looks like Kate Middleton to you then hurry over to ebay and bid on it if your one of those rabid royal collectors.

All I can say is Barnum and Bailey would have been proud of this royal circus wedding!

Lakers even Series 1-1 – Bynum comes up big, Kobe sucks

The long and the short of it; Andrew Bynum went back to playing like a big man and the Laker bench looked really good.

Especially Lamar Odom who was just named 6th Man Of The Year by the NBA. A well deserved honor for a guy who has been a key for the Lakers during the last two championships.

Kobe was practically non existent. He made a lot of bad plays, and had his lowest playoff scoring game since…I can’t remember when! His defense on the Hornet’s Chris Paul was his only saving grace. He did make it tough for the New Orleans speedster.

Go Lakers!

Can you profit from pot ? Opposition against it is going up in smoke

Hard times, meet high times.

Freewheeling California and Colorado typically come to mind whenever anyone mentions easy access to marijuana, even for medical purposes. But with state-budget crunches forcing lawmakers nationwide to expand their minds to new revenue sources, opposition to pot is going up in smoke.

In a trend that experts say is likely to continue, even a number of states you don't normally associate with flower power or the '60s are approving medical-marijuana sales.

"One of the reasons we are seeing states having more of an interest in cannabis is because of the revenue it can generate," says James Pakulis, the CEO of General Cannabis (CANA, news).   Story here

Meet Daniel Edmondson: I love the lighting in his paintings

Recently Daniel Edmonson has been stopping by “As It Stands” and making some very nice comments. When I visited his blog, by invitation, I was blown away! This guy is really a great artist. Not because of all of his schooling, but because of his use of lighting in his compositions which are reminiscent of the Old Masters. This blog is humbled by his interest in the posts here.

Stop by his blog and say hi! Oh yea…and tell him Dave sent you!