PYT

By far the most entertaining dance of the whole season!

Dabble in Politics

This year's Miss USA was held in Las Vegas at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. It was the usual glamorous dresses, dramatic smiles, and typical pretty pageant girls. The hosts, Billy Bush (Access Hollywood) and Nadine Velazquez (actress) were a really random pair. Velazquez was overly excited while Bush was just boring and flat. However, Miss. California was one of the finalists so I decided to keep watching to support the gorgeous blonde, Carrie Prejean. She ends up being one of the 5 finalists to reach the question round. First they asked more informal questions to allow the judges to get to know the ladies better. Then they began the formal questions. From Luxe Live Blog, here was a recap of what happened during the question round.

"Miss North Carolina is first. Kelly Monaco asks whether taxpayer money should be used to bail out struggling companies. She says no, and it gets huge applause in the audience when she says the money should be used for education. Miss Arizona is next. Kenan Thompson asks if the U.S. should have universal health care. She answers saying integrity is the deciding factor in that debate. Miss Utah is third: Claudia Jordan asks if the U.S. should still be supporting Afghanistan even when we are in a recession. She says yes; it's a duty and a responsibility.

Miss California is fourth. Perez Hilton asks about same-sex marriage and should it be available in every state. She says it should be between a man and a woman, but it's good that choice exists. There's an uproar in the theater over her answer. Brian Graden asks Miss Kentucky about domestic violence in light of the Chris Brown-Rihanna incident and if she would report domestic violence. Miss Kentucky answers an affirmative yes."

I personally thought the questions were so politically charged this year. They were borderline inappropriate. See what Perez had to say about Miss California's response to his question about gay marriage.



In the end, Miss North Carolina takes the Crown as Miss USA 2009. Maybe next year California...

Amused?

I've personally never found Lindsay Lohan interesting or worth my time but this certainly caught my attention. I'm still not sure if I find this funny or sad. What do you think?





If CNN is recognizing Susan Boyle, she MUST be legit. This video has been viewed over 16 million times on Youtube. Enjoy!






"Snakes on the Plane" in real life?
(Yahoo News)

MELBOURNE, Australia – Four baby pythons escaped from a container aboard a passenger plane in Australia, leading to a search that forced the cancellation of two flights, the airline said Thursday.

Twelve non-venemous Stimson pythons were being transported Tuesday on a flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne in the plane's cargo area in a bag inside a plastic foam box with air holes.

When the flight landed, it was discovered that four snakes had escaped from the package, a Qantas spokeswoman said in a statement.

A reptile expert searched for the 6-inch (15-centimeter) -long snakes but did not find them. It was not known if the snakes were still on the plane or if they had somehow escaped outside after the plane landed.

In the meantime, the plane missed two flights it had been scheduled to fly and the passengers were transferred to other flights.

When the snakes were not found, the airplane was fumigated and it returned to service on Wednesday.

Stimson's pythons, which can grow up to three feet (one meter) long, live in western and central Australia and are not an endangered species.

Happy Tax Day!

In honor of this beloved day, here are some interesting news and facts regarding taxes.

Top Ten Tax Dodgers
#1 Al Capone

At his peak, Al Capone was America's most powerful mobster, overseeing a massive Chicago crime syndicate during Prohibition's heyday. So what would finally take down this kingpin — betrayal from a disloyal associate, maybe? A brutal mob murder? Please. This isn't the movies. The Godfather's tendency to not pay his taxes would prove his downfall. Unable to nail Capone on racketeering charges, authorities found him guilty of tax evasion and sentenced Capone an 11-year prison term. By the time he was released, Prohibition was kaput and other mobsters had taken over his organization.

#2 Wesley Snipes
He blamed his advisers for bad information and claimed, at various points, that the IRS was an illegitimate government agency, that he was a non-resident alien, that he received bad information from his associates ... and on and on.

#3 Pete Rose
Failed to properly report income from autograph and memorabilia sales and gambling wins (horses this time).

#4 Willie Nelson
With a bill for $16.7 million in unpaid back taxes, Nelson had to hand over many of his possessions to stay out of prison. But in a bit of quick thinking, he released an album poking fun at his plight, calling it "The IRS Tapes: Who Will Buy My Memories?" His fans took the title literally, snapping up his items at auction and handing them back over to Willie. By 1993, Nelson was able to settle his tab.

#5 Richard Hatch
Winner of the first season of Survivor, he though he could "forget" to pay taxes on his million dollars.

#6 Leona Helmsley
"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

#7 O.J. Simpson
The Juice apparently owes California $1.4 million in back taxes.

#8 Helio Castroneves
Winner of the Indy 500 and Dancing with the Stars faces up to 5 years if convicted.

#9 Sinbad
The comedian owes the Golden State $2.5 million in personal income tax.

#10 Walter Anderson
A telecommunications entrepreneur owed more than $200 million in taxes owed to the federal government and the District of Columbia.

For the full stories, check out Times.com




CNN's "Nationwide 'tea party' protests blast bailout"

"As many Americans rush to file their 1040 forms on national tax day, cheering crowds across the country are heaving huge coolers with "Tea" painted on the side into bodies of water, harkening back to the pre-Revolutionary War protests in Boston, Massachusetts. In those 1773 protests, colonists dumped tea into the harbor in a show of defiance against British rule and the British Parliament's attempt to levy taxes on the American colonies without allowing them representation in the body.

Protesters on Wednesday said like their colonial forebears, they felt that their voices were not being heard by their government." continue reading at CNN.com

From Bargaineering.com's "50 Fun Facts About Taxes"

In at least 23 states there is a tax on illegal drugs. When you buy an illegal drug, like marijuana or even moonshine, in Tennessee, you have 48 hours to report it to the Department of Revenue to pay your tax and get a stamp for the substance. No identification is needed, though there are a dozen cop cars sitting outside the office. (Just kidding about the cop cars, I have no idea)

21% of paper returns have errors, 0.5% of e-file returns have errors; do your taxes electronically.

For each $100 that the IRS collects, it costs only thirty-nine cents. While you might hate them, tell me what other agency runs with such efficiency? The answer is probably none.

From 1996 to 1998, these companies paid zero taxes: AT&T, Bristol-Myers, Squibb, Chase Manhattan, Enron, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Microsoft, Pfizer and Phillip Morris.

For the Full List

Let the Dabbling Begin!

Musical Dabblings My Playlist for the Week
American Idol this week was a bit disappointing. It was saturated with slow ballads and having the judges speak in pairs was ineffective and strange. However, Kris Allen's rendition of "Falling Slowly" off the Once Soundtrack saved the show.



I am always in search of new additions to my music library as well as rekindling old loves. I am so excited to have heard "Falling Slowly" on American Idol and its play count is already up in its 20's! Along with "Falling Slowly", I am quite addicted to all the songs on my playlist below. Perhaps you will find a few new songs here that you can add to your own playlists or discover a few old forgotten songs.

*Falling Slowly (Once Soundtrack) - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
*Summer Nights - Rascal Flatts
*I Told You So (ft. Randy Travis) - Carrie Underwood
*The Blowers Daughter-Damien Rice
*Then- Brad Paisley
*Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas
*Take it Easy- Eagles
*Rush (ft. Katy Perry)- Ferras
*Name- Goo Goo Dolls
*Sweetest Love- Robin Thicke
*Bubbly- Colbie Caillat
*Calle Ocho- Pit Bull
*Move If You Wanna- Mims
*Lucky (ft. Colbie Caillat)- Jason Mraz


Dabble in Travels Cruises
With the weather warming up and summer quickly approaching, you can't help but think about vacations and traveling. I know that Spring Break has just recently passed for many but why not look ahead to an eventful and exciting summer. Plan early and take advantage of the great deals out there today!

Who doesn't love to have lodging, food, and entertainment all planned for and easily accessible while on route to some exotic location (other than our motion sickness friends)? Families love cruises as they are filled with numerous activities geared towards all age groups keeping all parties happy. Cruises offer couples intimacy and adventure as well as an overall social environment. And well, for groups of friends cruises will always offer fun accompanied by alcohol, good food, and great social entertainment.

Hotwire is always my first stop in finding travel deals. Right now they are having extravagant deals on Mexico cruises. (http://cruises.hotwire.com/p/c/mexico)

Through Hotwire, Carnival Cruise Lines is offering rates of $189 for 3 night Baja Mexico to a week long Mexican Riviera for $499. Prices are obviously determined on time of travel and location so cruise on over to hotwire and find the right package for you!

Other popular destinations:
Alaska- sounds random, cold, and empty right? SO wrong. My whole family of 20 took the Princess Cruise to Alaska years ago and its still my favorite vacation to date. Summer is the perfect time to go explore our often forgotten state (not really anymore thanks to Sarah Palin). Enjoy the incredible scenery from the boat or take a helicopter ride to see the amazing glaciers or go fishing in its beautiful waters.
Hotwire, Princess Cruises
Carribean- by far the best deals of the season ($199 for 4 night Western Carribean). However, a plane ticket must be accounted for since the cruises departs mainly from Florida. The Carribean Islands offer miles after miles of famous beaches, a relaxing culture, and the endless adventures.
Hotwire

The Basics

The set of websites you frequent can tell a lot about an individual. I start my day ALWAYS checking the weather as my mood often reflects the conditions outside. Then, I move on to seeing how my friends are doing and "catching up" on Facebook. CNN is where I spend the most time learning about the world outside my room. A guilty pleasure follows at Popsugar.com as I somehow find entertainment in celebrity gossip. Also, with the economy is the slumps, finding ridiculous travel deals excite me. Week-long cruise for $300 or fly to Germany for $288? Although I hardly have the bank account to support my obsession with travel, perhaps I can help you find something. And lastly, Craigslist, another site that offers hours of diversion. PersonalAds, Free Stuff, and Job Postings are my personal favorites. In between my "must haves" I'll look up sports news if I'm feeling a little adventurous or randomly type things into Yelp and see how opinionated people can get. So, now that I've shared my internet life story what are some sites you MUST visit daily?