Fat Tuesday

Picture soft, sweet rolls, sort of like brioche, piled with creamy almond filling. Now picture them being made by a room full of young, mostly blond children speaking Swedish.

These semlor are being made by children at Svenska Skolan, a Swedish school program that meets Saturday mornings. During the last class, the kids baked the rolls and stashed them in the freezer. Now, they’re whipping cream, grinding almonds, and then putting them together. Nine-year-old Sophia Donato and 11-year-old Linnea Nilsson explain:

Right now we’re putting in the Sophia starts off, filling for the semlor, Linnea picks up. It’s made of almonds, and you cut the top of the semlor off, and then you make a little hole in it, and you put the filling in there, and then you put the lid back on.

Traditionally, the treats were made for Shrove Tuesday, as a sort of last hurrah of fat and sugar before Lent. But these days Sweden is fairly secular, and semlor are just a general treat for the winter season.

And though the Swedish school rents space from a church, it’s secular too actually part of a program subsidized by the Swedish government called Svenska Utlandsskolor.

It’s for children with at least one parent who’s a Swedish citizen, and has branches all over the world. And a lot of them are probably making semlor right now.

It started for Swedish families who were abroad and were coming back, Gunilla Rohdin-Bibby, one of the Portland teachers, says. And so they wanted their children to be able to just go back into the school system. But now there are a lot of families, not necessarily will they go back to Sweden, but they still want to have their children part of the Swedish language and culture.

The classes are taught entirely in Swedish and cover history, music and traditional crafts. And they can also be a lesson for the parents. Cecilia Peterson grew up outside of Stockholm and has a daughter in Swedish school.

Some of the things I have forgotten about, the Swedish school reminds me of, Peterson says. They said, OK, in a couple of weeks we’re going to make semlor.’ I was like, oh yeah! Semla! I haven’t made that in a long time.

Some parents, like Lena Braun, just appreciate the opportunity to catch up with other Swedish-American families. Yeah, it’s just fantastic to get together on Saturdays, just hanging out and having a good semla and a cup of coffee, Braun says. And the kids are playing and having fun.

Although the kids, like Sophia Donato, have some American ideas about how to improve the semlor. It would be good if we had chocolate, and the bread was chocolate, and the almonds was chocolate, like melted chocolate, she says. And then it would be whipped cream with chocolate.

Even without the chocolate, these semlor are a big hit with the kids. Their Shrove Tuesday roots may be more or less forgotten. But the tradition of coming together around Swedish culture and food and a good strong cup of coffee is just as sacred a practice.

SmartPhone listening options on this page are intended for many iPhones, Blackberries, etc. with low-cost software applications available to listen to our full-time web streams, both News on KOSU-1 and Classical on KOSU-2.

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Hornets

Bwahaha….your worst nightmare! Waiting for “the chinaman”, as you say it, to lose a game…..and it comes at the hand of a bunch of European players……bwahahahaha! You should just stay in bed tomorrow!

Yes, the hype is over…I called this last night…Lin is way over his head. And New Orleans is one of the worst team in the NBA (and the team’s top players are out with injuries)…yes, pathetic.

All that hate….bottled up….knowing you’ll wake up tomorrow and still be in your own skin…..tsk, tsk, tsk! I almost feel bad for you……….almost! Bwahaha

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Nicki Minaj

All these people were hacks for the most part but this foolishness had people laughing only its not supposed to be funny right? Nikki Minaj is so over. NEXT!

Someone needs to tell Nikki that truly talented musicians and singers, don’t need onstage exocisms and antics, to get the crowd going. Adele and Paul McCartney are proof of that.

i enjoy when the Grammys play clips of past grammies, i just love seeing lady gaga being raised to the sky oh wait never mind wrong performance nicky just because you get the church upset doesn’t make you equals with madonna

Re: Cr@zyB1tch Amen to that! Nothing more than gimmickry to hide a lack of vocal talent (and that goes for Katy Perry as well). Favourite shows” Adele, Paul, Alicia Keys, Beach Boys, and even the Glen Campbell set. No cheesy stuff – just good music.

That was fucking retarded. Not even entertaining on any level. My God, what the fuck is music going to sound like in 10 years??? I hope Adele can be more of an influence on young music listeners than this garbage.

That was extremely offensive. Nothing like trying to hide your lack of talent with exorcisms and drama. Maybe she was hoping no one would notice how bad she sounds if she distracted the viewers with controversial antics.

Yea if you don’t like it then really your a hater ..why don’t you like it cause it wasn’t wack .did the church thing offend you? really ..

That was SUCH a bad song! I am so surprised by how horrible she sounded.. the chorus was painful to listen to that wasn’t even music.. and that “video” where the priest comes to that white ladies house..? WTF?? I was laughing out loud it was so bad it was funny.

This was PATHETIC! She’s trying way too fucking hard and she’s embarrassing herself. Not to mention I’m not even close to being religious and even I was fucking offended! She needs to just go away.

Such a pathetic excuse for attention. Been there done that ala Madonna. Seriously be original. From the Grammy outfit on the red carpet to the performance. I like her but she was unnecessarily offensive when she does not eed to be. Sad ..

this shitty perfomance was completely ridiculous, so lame! i was like WTF when is this shit going to end? she cant sing and the song dont even have rythm or melody or nothing, its like an insult to real artists that work hard to make real music, people like the beach boys, or paul mccartney, even adele, who sings her lungs out. She’s like a full copy of lady gaga and madonna and Lil Kim alltogether. It was really bad!

Nicky Minaj clearly has no class, morals, or even talent! She’s so desperate I wouldn’t be surprised if she sold her soul cause it looks like she did! Did she really had to display that kind of trash? How embarrassing and offensive can you be? I don’t even understand why the Grammy’s would allow such trash to perform that shit in the first place. Real talent like Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and even Taylor Swift didn’t have to perform raunchy shit to get attention.

This “performance” was offensive to the eyes in more ways than one. Nicki, congrats! your attempts to offend the Catholic church, Christians and even those who just have a general respect for the beliefs of others to believe in a God were successful. You also proved just how worthless you are as an “artist” who should be respected for your so-called “talent.” The extraordinary effort you had to put into making this act as ridiculous as it was goes to prove just how terrible you really are, and your attempts at hiding your lack of talent were unsuccessful to those who wished the producers would spare us of seeing and hearing by going to commercial. I have never been so happy for something to end Hopefully, this marks the beginning of your end.

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Adele beat out Lady GaGa, The Foo Fighters, Rihanna, and Bruno Mars and took home the Record of the Year at the 54th Grammy Awards for her smashing album, 21!

The tearful singer once again gave a completely charming, emotional yet HIGHlarious acceptance speech, and even took a moment to acknowledge her nose running from all the tears!

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Joe Walsh

After previewing a bit of new music during his solo tour this past fall, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh turned it up several notches during a private performance at.

Paul McCartney enlisted Eagles star Joe Walsh to fill in with some nice classical guitar for a performance of his current single & 039;My Valentine& 039; on tonig.

Paul McCartney enlisted Eagles star Joe Walsh to fill in with some nice classical guitar for a performance of his current single & 039;My Valentine& 039; on tonig.

Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) will be one of their first targets. Walsh, a freshman, is running in the Illinois north suburban 8th congressional district. Democrats Tammy Duckworth and Raja Krishnamoorthi are locked in a March primary battle.

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Beverly Hilton

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music& 39;s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior, and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48. Photo: Asterio Tecson/Flickr

The pop superstar died on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles at the same hotel where her mentor, record mogul Clive Davis, was holding an annual pre-event party featuring scores of music industry celebrities, Reuters reports.

Some guests at the hotel bar watched news of the singer’s death unfold on a CNN television screen while others in the lobby were cheering the arrival of party guests, including Britney Spears and reality television star Kim Kardashian, to the red carpet.

Beverly Hills police said they were called to the Beverly Hilton at around 3:43 p.m. PST, and fire department personnel who were already at the location responded immediately.

If drugs or alcohol are involved, however, an official cause of death would not be released until after toxicology tests, which could take six to eight weeks.

According to The Telegraph, an emotional Mr Davis later told the stunned celebrity audience at the party: I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me for so many years.

She graced this stage with her regal presence and gave so many memorable performances here over the years. Simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on and her family asked us to carry on, he said.

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, told the audience at Davis’s party that Jennifer Hudson would sing a tribute to Houston at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards.

We will do something appropriate tomorrow, and nothing could be more appropriate than having Jennifer Hudson sing on stage for Whitney, Portnow said. In our community, we celebrate things let’s celebrate Whitney Houston.

The singer was reportedly found in a bath tub in her room. The website also reported that she had been partying in the hotel bar with friends the night before she died.

She was also photographed leaving a nightclub in Los Angeles looking dishevelled on Thursday night. The singer’s mother Cissy Houston spoke with her on the telephone only half an hour before she died.

News of the death brought a string of public tributes from the music industry. Barbra Streisand said in a statement: She had everything, beauty, a magnificent voice. How sad her gifts could not bring her the same happiness they brought us.

Pop star Rihanna posted on Twitter No words, just tears. Mariah Carey said she was heartbroken and in tears over the shocking death of my friend.

Lionel Richie said: I think what we’re going to do in the long run of her life story is focus on the voice, not the tragedy, but the voice.

Her ex-husband Bobby Brown was said to be in and out of crying fits’ upon hearing the news but still appeared on stage on Saturday with his band New Edition, and cried out I love you, Whitney!’ in the middle of the concert.

A relative of Brown said Houston’s former husband is struggling to cope with the news. He was sobbing, and by the end of the call, I was sobbing, too, the family member told People magazine. He’s beside himself right now.

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists.

She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her 1985 debut, Whitney Houston, became the best-selling debut album by a female act at that time, and spawned several hits including How Will I Know. Her second studio CD, 1987 s Whitney, became the first album by a female artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown, who had a bad-boy reputation, and their tumultuous 14 years together were marred by drug abuse and domestic violence.

In 2000, she and Brown were stopped at an airport in Hawaii and security guards discovered marijuana in their luggage. In a 2002 TV interview, she admitted using marijuana, cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs.

The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy, Houston told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

She launched a comeback tour in 2009, and in April 2010 she called media reports she was using drugs again ridiculous. In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a drug and alcohol rehab program.

The Pentagon is to open military jobs such as medics and intelligence officers to women in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, a step that will put them closer to the fighting and rekindle the debate on women in combat.

Russian researchers reported Wednesday that they had reached Lake Vostok, a pristine body of water untouched by light or wind for about 20 million years. They want to know what type of microbial life bacteria too small to see might exist there.

Legendary pop singer and film star Whitney Houston has died in her hotel room after a long battle with drugs and alcohol that blighted her career. She was 48.

AusLogics BoostSpeed is an advanced software solution designed to optimize the operating system, solve errors and thus improve the overall performance of the computer.

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Double Fine Adventure

You see, some pledges are so premium, they break the Kickstarter system. They’re just that good. So we have to post them here. These are the Premium Rewards. The Glengary Rewards. These Rewards are for Closers.

Pledge $150,000 or more: Tim Schafer (that’s me) will give last four remaining Triangle Boxed Day of the Tentacles, in original shrink-wrap. (Limit of 1) (Holy crap, what am I thinking? I only have four of those!)

That’s all there is to it! Think it will work? I hope so, because I would rather work directly for the fans than for anyone else. If the Double Fine Kickstarter Adventure is a success, it could open the doors for all sorts of new funding possibilities, and all kinds of new games that could never happen in the old system. So basically I’m just talking about changing the entire world forever for the better. And getting a game out of it.

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Protandim

Oxidative stress occurs when there are actually high levels of free-radicals in the human body. Free radicals are molecules that are caused by the procedure of oxidation or breathing, external stimuli including contaminants as well as the radiation, and also vigorous physical activity. If they’re not counteracted with antioxidants, harm might be utilized to cells as well as tissues in the body. On the other hand, anti-oxidants are enzymes normally produced by the body to battle from the harmful free radicals, and also reduce the damage that may be caused by these kinds of detrimental elements. There are several kinds of antioxidants that may be present in numerous food sources, yet, each are crucial to take care of the body’s well-being, as they combat against several types of free radicals that may attack on the body’s cells and also tissues.

Antioxidant types comprise of Vitamins including A, C, K, B, and D are crucial in equalizing oxidation within the body. This can decrease irritation, boost the immune system, control the nervous system and even promote good blood circulation. In the mean time, zinc, magnesium along with selenium are minerals which improve the immune system plus combat the detriments that oxidation can do. Also, they are the protectors in opposition to irritation along with infection. Also, plants as well as its derivatives also have flavonoids, and that is a potent antioxidant. On top of that, the body also includes antioxidants much like the enzymes catalase, glutathione and superoxide dismutase.

Improvements on antioxidant supplements now are introduced to the market, as the body alone at times is not capable of combating free radicals. Occasionally, it might be incapacitated also, specifically in events of infirmity. The role of antioxidants is vital in preserving the body’s homeostasis, particularly when we age. Simply because as our bodies age, the body’s capacity to secrete antioxidant enzymes is also decreased, thus oxidative stress would most likely affect the older people or those who find themselves immunocompromised.

Various companies are coming up with antioxidant supplements to help the body system in its everyday quest to fight oxidative stress. However, one has to be mindful in selecting one that’s tested and proven to be effective, and at the same time safe. All these qualities are present in Protandim. Advised by several universities as well as agencies, this all-natural supplement warrants the deterrence of oxidative stress 24 hours a day, 7 times a week. This way, no chance can oxidative stress take over the body.

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David Choe

Some of them are well known, like Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s co-founder, but many others are not household names. Mr. Zuckerberg, 27, has 533.8 million shares, worth $28.4 billion based on a company valuation of $100 billion, or $53 a share. He also has undisputed control of the company, a remarkable achievement since the company has received financing from some of the world’s top business minds. He owns 28.4 percent of the company outright and he controls 57 percent of the voting rights.

Accel Partners, whose principal partner, Jim Breyer, invested in the start-up seven years ago, holds 201.4 million shares. Accel could have a thousandfold return on some of its investment.

Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s chief operating officer, holds 1.9 million shares, about 0.1 percent of the company. But she may ultimately collect 38.1 mil-lion additional shares, according to the filing, making her one of the richest in a tiny club of Silicon Valley women who are billionaires.

Bill Gates controlled only 49.2 percent of Microsoft as it went public in 1986. Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, each owned about 15 percent of their company when it went public in 2004.

It’s a big winners circle. DST Global, the investment firm led by the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, owns roughly a 7 percent stake in the company. It bought the bulk of its shares from 2009 to 2011 at valuations of $10 billion to $50 billion.

According to the company’s filing, Mr. Zuckerberg’s father, a New York dentist, was awarded two million shares of stock ‘in satisfaction of funds provided for our initial working capital.’ Dustin Moskovitz, Mr. Zuckerberg’s college roommate, a fellow Harvard dropout and company co-founder, holds 133.8 million shares.

The payout to Mr. Choe, the graffiti artist, could provide more money from his paintings than Sotheby’s attracted for its record-breaking $200.7 million auction in 2008 for work by Damien Hirst.

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Sheryl Sandberg

If this is seen as an opportunity for jobs and for people to use their work to change the world that’s what we want to be a part of, Sandberg said at a CNBC debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The company is just 7-years-old and it already employees more than 3,000 people and it has created more than 450,000 jobs in Europe and the US, according to Sandberg.

‘The world is looking for economic growth the kind of economic growth that feeds a billion people and that employs people all around the world,’ she said.

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Pfizer

The problem affects 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. Both products are manufactured by Pfizer and marketed in the U.S. by Akrimax Rx Products.

Pfizer found that some packets of the drugs had too many active tablets, while others had too few. Oral birth control products use a series of 21 drug tablets and 7 inactive sugar tablets to regulate the menstrual period while providing contraception.

A company spokeswoman said the problem was caused by both mechanical and visual inspection failures on the packaging line. She said the problem has been corrected.

Birth Control Recall: What To Do If You Are Affected By The Pfizer Recall

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