Facts About Betty Kresin, Eminem's grandmother

Betty Kresin, Eminem's grandmother from the maternal side , got married at the age of 14. She got six children from 3 different marriages. She first married Bob Nelson. She gave birth to her daughter Debbie in 1955.She accuses her first husband, Bob Nelson, of being verbally abusive. Both moved to Warren, Michigan, to be closer to Betty's stepmother .Despite the problems the couple experienced, she gave Bob two more sons, Todd and Steven.They divorced in the early 60's and Betty came back to her hometown St Joseph, where she met Ron Gilpin, her second husband.She had two more children with him. One of them is Betti Schmitt (Eminem's aunt and Debbie's half sister), who is still in touch and in good terms with Eminem. Ron Gilpin was an alcoholic who used to beat up his whole family. Violence was part of their daily life. Ron left his family in 1968.Dramas surrounded Betty's family. In 1991, Todd Nelson killed his brother-in-law, Mike Harris in self defense case. He was sentenced to jail for 8 years.Betty 's sixth child from a third marriage, Ronnie Polkingharn, was Eminem's uncle and closest friend. He committed suicide in 1991.

Eminem grew up for a while at his grandmom's home. She talks about his harsh conditions of living in Detroit :

« It was a poor school and they wanted his shoes. He was one of the only white children going to this segregated school. And one time they took the shoes off his feet and he had to come home in a snowstorm with no shoes on. But the story people keep asking me - "he was unconscious and almost died and all these doctors...", now I know nothing about this and I'm his grandmother. »

People should think twice before calling Marshall a racist.

Betty was angry with Marshall because he never attended to Ronnie's funeral. In fact, Marshall went depressive and swallowed a bottle of Tylenol and survived to another suicide attempt. He was unable to go to Ronnie's funeral, his pain was too immense.But Betty didn't know what happened during this period.

"I was kind of bitter about him writing about my dead son, because the last five years of my deceased boy, Marshall had not even seen him. Marshall - Eminem - and my son Ronnie were very close. He idolised Ronnie and Ronnie loved him. He never even came to Ronnie's funeral and he has never put the first flower on Ronnie's grave. He doesn't do anything - he won't go near the grave. The chain that Marshall wears around his neck, the dog-tag - that was Ronnie's. I gave him the dog-tag, he makes duplicates, he sells them now, and that really broke my heart because this is something sacred to me that I gave the boy. If my son could speak to you today from the grave he would say, "Marshall stop some of the garbage, make up with your family, life's too short"."

Marshall had a good relationship to his granny until he wanted to use Ronnie's voice on a tape. He intended to do this as a tribute to his deceased uncle, but Betty thought he was disrespectful towards her son. In 2002 , both reconciled.

Betty Kresin is currently writing a book on her grandson which shall be entitled « The Tie That Binds ».

Betty says she's proud of her grandson and that she stands on his side.

What to Look For in the Condition of a Decorative Antique?

The price of luxury decorative antiques is greatly affected by its condition. Therefore, it is important to check the condition of any piece that you are considering buying for yourself or as a wedding, birthday or retirement gift.   Chips   The first thing to look for is chips. Hold the item up to the light to make any cracks more visible. Any piece that has a crack will have less value. However, depending on how large the crack is will further determine the value of the piece. The smallest cracks are known as flea bites. They are named such because they are about the size of a flea bite. These small cracks may only be seen under a magnifying glass. The next biggest chip is the pinpoint chip. These chips are about the size of the head of a straight pin. Any chip larger than a pinpoint chip should be measured. These chips are often known as nibbles, nip or nick. The larger the chip the less value the item will generally have.   Cracks   Just like chips in luxury decorative antiques, cracks greatly reduce the value of an antique. Make sure to examine any piece that you are considering selling carefully for cracks. Three types of cracks are present in many antiques and each will lower the value of a piece. The first is the hairline crack. This crack may or may not go all the way through the piece. It is a single small line. The second type of crack is the spider crack. The spider crack is a series of hairline cracks that have a common starting point. The third type is the minor line. These are usually larger than a hairline crack while still being a single crack. Inspect antiques in good light with a magnifying glass enabling you to see these cracks.   Wear and Tear   The overall condition of an antique will greatly affect its value. Make sure to inspect the piece carefully for signs of wear. Common examples of wear include dinged corners on antique furniture, threadbare conditions on items made of cloth and signs of scratches on glassware and ceramics. Make sure to inspect both the inside and outside of the decorative antique.   Marks   Marks were placed on pieces of antiques to tell the buyer several things. A common mark was the maker's mark. This mark identified what company made the product. If a company owned more than one factory, then it was common for the maker to put a mark on the piece to show what factory the piece was produced at. Some manufacturers also numbered their pieces. These pieces are often highly collectible since they were made only in a certain quantity.   Once you have found the decorative antique that you want to buy, it is advisable to haggle about the price. Start by offering half the asking price and negotiate with the owner from there. Know the value of the piece and do not pay more than it is truly want.

USENET and Motorcycles

If you like getting out on the road on two wheels, you'll find that USENET has plenty of newsgroups that will likely interest you. Most of the newsgroups for motorcycles will be found under the rec hierarchy. Even though you might use your motorcycle as a daily commuter, on USENET they are considered recreational subject matter.

Finding the Groups

There are quite a few different regional USENET groups for discussing motorcycles. You'll find ones for specific states, such as news.tx.motorcycles, which is a newsgroup specifically for USENET users in Texas who enjoy riding motorcycles. You'll also find newsgroups for particular countries, such as one for Canadian riders. Joining a newsgroup that applies to your region is one of the easiest ways to make connections with people you might actually be able to get out and ride with. If you're just interested in regular information, however, you can get quite a bit of it and in very specialized ways.

People who ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles generally aren't interested in other types of motorcycles in any regard. They're apparently not even interested in newsgroups related to things that aren't Harley-Davidsons that some people have the temerity to call motorcycles. Such dedicated riders can go to rec.motorcycles.harley. If you don't know whether or not you're driving a panhead, a shovelhead or a knucklehead, somebody will probably give you a pretty straightforward answer in this newsgroup.

If you like the sleek lines and insanely fast speeds of Japanese racing bikes, you'll find newsgroups for those types of motorcycles, as well. If you head over to rec.motorcycles.racing, you'll find plenty of people discussing what bikes are the fastest and how they did in their latest races.

USENET and the motorcycle community, though it wouldn't seem like it on the face of it, have quite a bit in common. For one thing, people tend to be pretty willing to share information with one another when they find that somebody belongs to either of these relatively exclusive groups. USENET is very popular, but it's not the most common way that people have discussions over computer networks. Motorcycles, of course, are popular as well but not everybody is cut out to ride on two wheels. Hop onto a newsgroup and you probably won't take very long to find people who might want to go out riding with you or, at least, to find people in your local region you can network with online and off.

If you ride a particular type of bike exclusively, make sure you check the USENET newsgroups to see if there are groups that are more appropriate than others are. For example, you can look for newsgroups for riders of Royal Enfield motorcycles, riders of Indian motorcycles and so forth. This way, you not only get information about the motorcycle that you ride, you also managed to network with people who share a passion for the same design and brand name that you do. And at the root of it, USENET is all about sharing information and being part of the community and these newsgroups go a long way toward helping you do both.

Different Smells of Wood

There are so many different types of trees in the world; in fact there are more than 100,000 different species of trees out there today. We use trees to make furniture, homes, paper; we even tap them for syrup. We pick the fruit and nuts off trees, pinecones for holiday decorations, it's pretty endless, the list of how trees benefit us, and I am not even adding the importance of trees for oxygen.

Some trees smell good others not so much, some smell so wonderful they are even added to the smells of perfumes and colognes. Woods such as cedar, sandalwood, redwood, and spruce just to name a few are commonly added to the scent of perfumes and colognes. When asked what is the best smelling tree most people will say Cedar, I can tell you I have not come close to smelling the more that 100,000 trees out there, but with the ones I have, yes, Cedar has a very attractive smell to it.

In general, fruit and nut trees have a nice smell, apple, cherry, pear, walnut, and olive wood, they all smell good, fresh cut or burned. Hickory is a great wood for burning; it smells strong and sweet and there is few that dislike the smell. Also, Christmas trees, the wood from trees such as Evergreens, Pine, Douglas Fir, Balsam Fir, Spruce, and many more, all smell wonderful. These woods smell so nice lots of candle companies use the smell to produce candles to enjoy in your home all year but especially through the holiday seasons.

Some say Oak is a pretty bad smelling wood, but this all depends on your sniffer, some really enjoy the smell, others can't stand it at all, also, they say the smell of oak also depends if it is wet moist wood or dry wood. It could also be because people smell the wood from different oak trees, while the white oak is pleasant, the red oak can be offensive to some. In the end, Oak cannot be so bad as it is used in aging lots of spirits, from wine and beer to whiskey and brandy, we use oak barrels to age the spirits or wines removing harsh flavors and adding the characteristics found in the wooden barrels.

As far as camping fires go the smells vary here too, burning wood is not the same as fresh cut wood, hardwood trees tend to burn for much longer while softwood burns more quickly. Nice smelling woods for campfires are Apple, Cherry, Pear, Plum, Walnut, and Yew; they burn slowly and smell wonderful. Then there are some softwood trees that are also great smelling wood for campfire but only they burn much more quickly, they are Birch, Cedar, and Pine trees.

Most wood in general smells wonderful, fresh cut, burned, in a perfume or cologne, be it a holiday tree in your home or the barrel your choice beverage aged in. So take a deep breath and enjoy!

Relationship Advice: The Law of Reconnecting

Country singer Jeff Bates sings about trying to reconnect with his wife in the song "Long Slow Kisses."

In the song, he turns around after leaving for work and comes back home because his wife had said she was lonely. One of the lyrics implies that they may talk all day or "maybe we won't talk at all...."

Sounds like a reasonable and perhaps even fun way to reconnect, doesn't it?

One way to not reconnect

Well, as I so often do, I learned a lot from a client this week who used that song as an example of what not to do.

Working with a couple in my office one day, the wife went on what could only be called a rant about the misleading messages in "Long Slow Kisses."

According to my client that song is not the way to reconnect with a woman.

One way to reconnect

After she got done with her rant, I asked her, since she was the only representative of the female gender in the room, what were some way to reconnect.

At first she said communication. Then she said no, communication could be just saying that the sky is blue.

She went on to say that the way to begin reconnecting is with conversation. One example she have would be if her husband were to simply say that he did not like it that they seemed so far apart.

Amazingly to him, she said this would be more effective than a day of lovemaking.

I think there is something for all of us to learn here.

Ice Hockey for Life - The Good and The Bad

Ice Hockey is the National Sport of Canada, and there are many parents that give their boys an ice hockey stick and a pair of skates as early as age 5. They live in the hope that their son will grow up to be an enormous mountain of a man that spends his days speeding about an ice hockey rink, and banging the puck into the back of a goal.

It's doubtful anyone reading this will not know how demanding this sport is. The mere fact that players only spend between 40 to 60 seconds on the ice at any one time is proof enough this sport is not for the faint hearted.

Anyone who has been to a live ice hockey game will know how hard it is to keep up with what's going on (unless they've been watching all their lives). Keeping up with the players who are whizzing about on the ice is hard enough, without having to figure out which member of the team has just scored.

For spectators, this sport is exhilarating and very exciting to watch. This is one of the reasons it's so popular, and of course, there is also plenty of ice to be found in Canada, so finding somewhere to practice isn't a problem. In fact many ice hockey players start learning the game in their own backyards.

So, yes, ice hockey is a great spectator sport simply because it's such a quick game, and there is always plenty of excitement (not to mention the odd bloody nose here and there). My question is, do these guys think about what toll playing this game will take on their bodies? The answer is possibly not.

Playing ice hockey does have its financial rewards for those that play at the top level, but believe me they pay for it later in life. The one part of the body that takes the most battering is the legs, players have immense problems when they get older, and in the most extreme cases, they find it hard to walk. Some players have even been confined to a wheelchair as a result of playing the game regularly.

It's actually very rare for an ice hockey player to escape some sort of knee surgery, and for most of them, they spend hours with a physical therapist after a game to help with their knees and ankles. Skating is an art form in itself, but if you take into account these guys have to be able to not only skate quickly, they also have to be able to turn or stop in the space of a millisecond.

All of this puts a lot of stress on the legs in general, and this is possibly why ice hockey players have to retire at a pretty early age. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. For instance Gordie Howe was famous for playing his last game at the ripe old age of 51 back in 1980, and Chris Chelios comes in at a close second who was 47 when he played his last game.

It's doubtful however, that either of these players managed to escape knee surgery either throughout their careers or after they had retired.