This is some help for Tblogger TFruge1 who asked me about adding sound to your blog.
This brings us to the help topic of File Sharing.

First off, TBlog does not have a file feature where you can store such things and retrieve them for your pages you will need to sign up for a free file sharing/hosting service (link below).

This tutorial is for adding a link for someone to click on and hear a sound file.

A clickable sound file link gives people the option of listening. The sound transfers to the viewers computer to play only when clicked on.

When chosing to add a sound file, make sure it is small file and a fast download.

Make sure that you are not violating any copyright laws using sound, music, or audio.
Most file sharing sites do have this written into their TOS or COC (Terms of Service, Code of Conduct) before you sign on.  Read them carefully before opening an account.  Violators usually get the boot and are blocked from future accounts.

What you need to do is have your uploaded sound on your puter and then get an account with a free file sharing site (link below). 
 

Find a sound -->"Save target as" -->put in a file in your documents.

Upload your sound from your documents to your account on the file sharing site.

Once uploaded you get a URL for a reference. Copy this link.

To add a clickable link to sound to your site:
For adding sound to a post -- open your Advanced Editior -- select HTML.
OR To add sound to your HTML box -- under My Templete, Tweak HTML.

You will need to use this code -- Remove the *stars* from the code though, I only use them as a place holder so you can see the code here and it does not appear embedded.

<**a href="URL to your sound file**>Name of your Sound<**/A**>

An important note -- some file sharing sites have restrictions -- if your link is not clicked on and downloaded within 30 days, it gets deleted automatically and you now have a dead link. Make sure you read the fine print on the type of accounts.

Embedding sound to your TBlog -- this is when you embed the link and the sound automatically plays on your page whenever opened or viewed.  A viewer usually must turn off the sound by adjusting their volume to mute if they don't want to listen.  If you add a jukebox, then they have control whether to play it or not.

I will come back and post some more on this but a few things you should know about embedded sound --
Small files are best since they download fast.
Too big of a file can mess up your blog and cause all sorts of problems.

I did have sound on my TBlog which I removed because people could not view it.  Thank goodness people told me otherwise I had no idea.
Embedding sound on TBlog could cause you some problems so I am leaving it at that for now.

Try the link way first, it is safer and people like options.

A bit more about file sharing --
Maybe you have a long article/directi ons/tutorial that you think is better in a file than an actual post.
All you have to do is to upload that file -- get the file URL -- and then make it a clickable file for blog readers to open up using the code above.  This is a great way to save space if your blog does have space limitations (as some do) or no file storage.

A clickable link can also neaten up your entry so you need only post an introduction.

If you change blogs, you have an established file account and relocating your blog and reposting information is easier.

If you have large pictures and want to keep them large, then upload them elsewhere then provide a clickable link in your post. 
TIP: Sometimes putting the file type or size next to your uploads is helpful and lets the viewer decide if they want to click it on or not.

Remember that if your pictures are large on your blog entry, you just have to click on the picture to get the box up and then you can drag the arrow toward the center to desize it making your blog easier to open up and not a long download.

FYI: 
I have discovered that TBlog does not allow .png files so I have to upload them at ImageShack to use in my posts.  Most of these are of the Advanced View Editor menu bar.

Free File Sharing Sites -- here is a page with lots of information and sites for you to make the right choice for you.

Sound Search Engine

Just a note -- this is a help article -- I have filed some of my help items under Misc. or Computers/Internet -- I don't know if I should put them under another category like Education or Hobbies.  I could use a little direction here from fellow TBloggers because I just don't know where people look! Also, let's face it, there is too much spam one must sort through.

Please post your thoughts on this -- it is very confusing since I feel the categories are very broad and that presents limitations.  Thanks so much.

  Well, another period costumed piece.  "I Capture the Castle" is a novel by Dodie Smith, an English novelist and playwright.  The movie stays true to the popular book (by all accounts of the dedicated fans) with only a tad of improvisied change.  The book was written in 1948 and this is the first time it was ever made into a movie, and a wonderful one at that.

The movie stars Tara Fitzgerald as the nudist artsy stepmom married to Bill Nighy a writer who has suffered from writer's block for a long time.  He is waiting for that spark to write another successful novel after his first one was such a hit years earlier.

The family consisits of two teenage daughters and a son, who are living in a run down rented castle and are extremely poor.  The beginning of the movie has much humor (including a play on their last name Mortmain) and their dire and dreary situation.

The beginning of the movie has some flashbacks as to how they ended up in this situation.  Very sad indeed and then how their prior situation put their father in this writer's block.  Basically, he never got over the death of his first wife and has developed problems which affect everyone from his denial over the years.

The story focuses on 17 year old Cassandra, the younger of the two girls.  She is sensible, plain, and simple, but is wise yet naive at the same time.  Rose her older sister is beautiful and wants a way out of these horrid living conditions.

Along comes the new owners of the castle who show up to collect the rent long past due. Rose and Cassandra think that romance with the new owners will take them away from their dire situation.  They are very funny and very naive at the same time.  The humor lies in the comparisons of weathly/rich, American/British, manners, and culture.

It was very evident that Rose only wanted material things, the things she did not have while living a Bohemian life at the castle. She thought she could aquire this through marriage to someone she did not actually love.  Rose should have read Madame Bovary first. (Another movie and book I recommend.)

But things don't always work out the way they imagine and this is where the reality comes in as Cassandra wrestles with her own growing up and trying to do what is right.  Only she does not and the young man who has loved her since childhood takes the issue into his own hands then speaks the truth to who needs to know.  I thought this was an incredibly brave thing he did, because he truly loved Cassandra and did not want to see her suffer, although she did not love him in that way.

Cassandra also has to deal with her Dad and helps him face his problems head on. This was the emotionally dark part of the movie and is very moving since this is what has affected them all over the years.

In the end, Cassandra knows what she wants but she takes the time for herself first before making any commitments to anyone.

The book and the movie are both great.  Read the book first before you see the movie.
I recommend both to all young people who need to see another young adult trying to figure out life, love, while keeping a firm foot on the ground, emotions in their right place and planning goals for their future.

My favorite scenes:
When the new owners arrive at the castle.

When Rose and Cassandra find out they have inherited something from their aunt and visit the big city to find out what it is and what happens after that.

When Rose "entertains" the family and guests in the castle living room with her piano playing trying to impress Neil.

When the door opens at the Cotton's estate for the dinner guests and Rose is wearing the lovely gown Topaz made just for her to make an impression.

This was my favorite though -- A long shot of the castle and Mr. Mortmain is walking toward it and under his arm, carrying his typewriter just incase he gets that "sprark" to start his new novel at any moment at anywhere.

When Cassandra and her brother move Mr. Mortmain out of the castle to get his creative juices flowing. 

Dodie Smith (1896-1990) also wrote "101 Dalmations".

More on Dodie Smith - at her official site.

I Capture the Castle at IMDB

Stamped image with dye ink ny me.
Stamp by Marks of Distinction

Brownie Surprise - a secret recipe

I have been making these for ages and it is a simple and fast recipe.
I am putting it here in my blog so the Brownies don't take it and hide if from me again. (More about them in the last blog article.)

8 inch square greased pan -- 325 degree oven -- bake for 30 minutes

1/4 cup of baking cocoa

1/2 cup of margerine

2 eggs beaten

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

3/4 cup of flour

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Optional: 1/2 cup of walnuts or/and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Combine the cocoa, margarine.
Beat in the 2 eggs.
Add the sugar, vanilla.
Add in slowly the 3/4 cup of flour and salt.

Add in the walnuts and/or the chocolate chips.

Let cool after baking. Cut into 9 squares.

Eat plain or serve with a scoop ice cream or whipped cream.

Can be used as a base for a brownie sundae also.

Enjoy.

Some brownie facts --

Brownies were discovered by accident when someone forgot to put the baking soda in a chocolate cake.  Indeed a happy accident it was!

The earliest recorded recipe for brownies was in an 1897 Sears RoeBuck catalog.

I believe there should be a seperate food group for Brownies. LOL

Rubber stamped image by me using dye ink.
Stamp by Marks of Distinction.

Canadian born Palmer Cox (1840-1924) illustrated and wrote rhyming stories about the wee little people called Brownies that traveled at night, did good deeds and had fun in the process of their adventures. Brownies are part of Scottish or English fairy lore. The Brownies appeared in children’s magazines (St. Nicholas, and Wide Awake Magazine) and then several books. They were extremely popular at the time but as any thing else, slowly died out.

The Brownies in illustrations are always busy and in groups. Their personality lies on how they dress and their action but when they speak, you have no idea who is doing the talking, you can only use your imagination. The Brownies mostly have adventures when no one is looking keeping their world a secret one that we are able to know about through these books and illustrations. Palmer Cox had a huge imagination to create all of this Brownie world for us to be a witness too.

I am fortunate enough to have bought a small pocket version of the Brownies Adventures when they went into reprint years ago.  They certainly are a fun group to read about.  Then when I saw the images as stamps, well, I just had to have my own.  So if you are a reader of this blog, be aware that the Brownies will lurk here from time to time making your visits more "whimsical".

The Kodak company took a liking to the word “Brownie” and named a camera after these wee folks.
The Brownies also worked advertising many products while they were so popular.

Brownie Points -- noun phrase -- a fancied unit of credit and approval (New Dictionary of American Slang) More definitions at Urban Dictionary. 

Even the Girl Scouts have a group called “The Brownies”. Usually these girls are aged second or third grade. They have a theme song they sing:

We are the happy Brownies, we are the busy elves./
We love to help each other and of course we help ourselves./
We wake up each morning with a smile upon our face./
And if even things don’t go right, we keep that smile in place!

So let us all hope that these magical fun little spirits stop on by and visit you one night and do good deeds to help us out.

Pages by the late James Dalton great grand nephew of Palmer Cox.

Wikipedia article on Palmer Cox

Toonopedia -expansive article on the history and copycats. (This is a great site containing an enormous history of cartoons in general.) 

StampCamp - Get your own Brownie images to stamp out and leave every where.

Actually, I have this picture in my house and it is large.  I only got it because first, the little white dog looks like my loyal but true Mitzi (Humane Shelter adoptee treasure, always with me) and second, the lady looks like ME!  LOL - I posed for it in my former life.

 So I will try it for a while and add some class to TBlog.  Maybe we shall not see so much bad language around here and the spam may die down because of it.  LOL - sure.

Next post up -- All you wanted to know about Brownies -- an absolutely deliciously divine subject near and dear to my heart.

Filing this post under "Society and Culture" because it is so tony and high classed. 

Stay tuned.

I recently learned what these consumer terms mean and figured it was "blog worthy fodor" so I am sharing this new knowledge. 

A consumer who is a "cherry picker" is one who only shops exclusively the sale and advertised sale items.  They typically do not deviate from their list, they are firm in their purchases.

Most will shop the sales at several stores.  They write down what they want how much it is, clip coupons or added savings, and total it BEFORE they even leave the house.

I learned that I am a cherry picker and use coupons occasionally. Three major grocery stores are all near each other which makes cherry picking very convienient.  Coupons can be found online or in the Sunday newspaper as a glossy insert (USA).

I also learned a while back that I am a "deadbeat" according to the infamous and droll Ben Stein.

A deadbeat is a person who uses the banking industry to their advantage and pays no fees/interest/charges to the bank at all.
Examples are: free checking, paying off credit cards so you don't pay any finance fees, having a credit card that gives you a rebate at the end of the year, using the right ATM machines so that you do not pay a double service charge.
To avoid other charges - do not overdraft, do not bounce a check, do not subscribe to services that charge fees.

A deadbeats ultimate goal is to NOT pay a single service charge AND make money (interest or a bonus like the credit card rebate) off the bank.

Store managers do not like cherry pickers because they do not buy non-sale more expensive items on impulse.
Banks do not like deadbeats because they make no money off them and have to pay them to be a customer which cuts into their potential profits.

I figure that there are enough people paying these charges anyways that I am the one who benefits.  It pays to be educated and have a plan.

It is all in the attitude, make the most of the system that robs you everyday.  LOL

Six Ways to Save at the SuperMarket - Today Show article and video clips

Super Market Tactics - what you need to know to save - Today Show article

Buzz Log -- clipping coupons (some downloadable coupons there too).

Budget Management -- lots of learn to be thrifty articles

PM Update -- after a trip to the library and some free reading materials, I found the following information from various sources and checked them out and thought they were blog worthy mentions.

Custom Coupon  |  Coupon Surfer  

  EverSave  |  FlamingoWorld

Sales Circular -- check out all the prices from the major chain stores (does not include grocery stores but Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.)

Coupon Mom -- articles, coupons, savings and being shopper organized tips as featured on Good Morning America

My Clipper -- not all states are listed but if you live near a state line, then maybe stores in that area may participate.

Are WalMart's Grocery Prices Really Cheaper? -- an article that explores the advertising concept of lowest prices. (IMHO -- NO)