PSoTD

I bet you didn't know there were such things as "Conway Twitty films"...

Clears your head. Maybe it just empties your head. Don't know, don't care, just glad the weather was so nice.

We like the Delaware beaches this time of year. For one thing, you don't have to deal with the parking and pass issues that happen during peak time. Secondly, we like to rent a place for just a few days, and most everyone wants a week commitment during peak, but it's pretty easy to find a weekend rental in the fall. Thirdly - stretch out on the beach. Throw a football. Make a gigantic fortress of sand. You have the room, there's just not that many people there, even though, generally, the weather is pretty warm, and the water is warm enough.

I know, I know, BUT THE BOARDWALK! Yes, a lot of the boardwalk is closed, particularly on weekdays at this time of year, but even though it may disappoint the kids briefly, parents can celebrate... Celebrate... CELEBRATE (cue Kool and the Gang) the good times that come with not having to be stuck at the boardwalk every night until near bedtime. Maybe it's just that I didn't grow up with it, but the idea of hanging around arcades and shops and mini-amusement parks every night isn't my idea of the best way to spend time at the beach.

(And just a plug: we like Grotto Pizza, a lot. Why can't we get one of those out in the Harrisburg area?)

I'll return to the blogging world, but meanwhile there's a bit of sand and seawater still lapping in my brain, and it's worth keeping another day before polluting it with the crass favor factory that we call American politics.

Now where's my boogie board?

The Vanessa Hudgens Nude Photo Scandal is now officially yesterday's news.

At least I've heard of Meg White before. She's the drummer for The White Stripes!

Esquire writer A.J. Jacobs spent last year trying to live according to the Bible - literally.

In addition to his 72 pages of explicit biblical rules, there were also lots of guidelines and suggestions, many of them bizarre, unexplained, even inexplicable. But Jacobs decided to try to follow these as closely as he could, which meant no mixed fibers, no winking, no coveting and no cutting his beard. He hired a specialist to inspect his clothes. He carried a folding cane chair so he didn't have to sit on chairs sullied by menstruating women. He consulted rabbis, priests and experts over finer points. He even made pilgrimages to such literalist outposts as the Creation Museum in Kentucky and Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

Throughout, Jacobs explores the dark side and the light side of the Bible. As his beard grew, so did his sense of isolation. On the streets of New York, people called him the Unabomber or Gandalf and frowned at him for reading his Bible on the subway. But over the year, Jacobs discovered a few things. He tried to love his neighbors, which was hard. He felt newly thankful for little things, which was refreshing. And he learned that even the most strident biblical literalists don't follow all 800 rules: They pick and choose like everyone else.

What book would you want to devote a year of your life to? I've narrowed it down to either "The Playboy Advisor" or "The Twinkies Cookbook: An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection from Hostess".

Sure seems like a lot of you are. So, for your enjoyment...

If you like the date tomorrow, I guess you can dress for the occasion...

How did Instapundit's website not make it?

I'm not sure what was more interesting, Rome or Estelle Bingham. (That's not a complaint)

Guess who pays for the number one listed advertisement?

Fun Family Devotions
No more bored kids! Our proven
Family Night activities are a hit!
www.HeritageBuilders.com

So, what do they have to offer for a family to do on Friday night?

Heritage Builders exists to help educate, train and equip families to become intentional about passing on a Godly Heritage to their children.

Wheee, that sounds fun! So what are these Family Night activities that will help us do that? Here's some ideas:

We have put together, at a deep discounted price, a set of four critical items that you need to get started right in implementing Heritage Builders in your family. The kit includes:

1.) The book Your Heritage. Read this book first because it explains the entire Heritage Builders concept in great detail.

2.) CD introducing you to Heritage Builders and the Family Night concepts, featuring the ministry founders Jim Weidmann, J. Otis Ledbetter and Kurt Bruner. This tape will give you the reasoning behind implementing the Family Night concept.

3.) The workbook called Ten Commandments Family Night Tool Chest. This features 12 Family Night lessons for kids of all ages. Lessons include "Teaching children the importance of the 10 Commandments as a target for righteous living", "Teaching children the importance of the 10 Commandments and to call sin - sin", "Teaching children that God is the one true God" and 9 other lessons. These are easy and fun to use!

4.) The book Family Fragrance. This book is filled with practical, intentional ways to fill your home with the atmosphere (AROMA) of love.

Yeehaw! Lets make some popcorn! And later on after the kids go to bed, some Barry White tunes to go with that AROMA of love...

Seriously, I have to wonder how successful their Google advertising plan is. No such ad comes up under "Christian Family Fun" which, I dunno, seems like better targeting.

Sacramento State University - c'mon, give the hornet a little more character, and a little more toughness, will ya?

Standardizing Drametse Nga Cham:

Initiatives are being taken to standardize Drametse Nga Cham. Drametse Nga Cham or the dance of the drums is a sacred masked dance which originated in Drametse in Monggar.

The mask dance has been proclaimed by the United Nations Cultural Organization, as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

The Drametse Nga Cham was first performed in 1511 at the consecration of the Drubchu Goenba in Drametse in Monggar. It was introduced by Choedup Kinga Wangpo, the fourth son of Terton Pema Lingpa.

According to legend, Choedup Kinga Wangpo was transported while in his dream to the celestial palace of Guru Rinpoche where he witnessed the mask dance being performed. It is performed during festivals in most part of the country.

The Lhalung Suntruel Rinpoche said over the years, subtle variation has been observed in the way the dance was performed from place to place.

To standardize the scared mask dance, monks and Gomchens are being taught the way the dance is performed. The steps are based on the way it was performed at its place of origin, the Drametse Thegchog Ugyen Choling Dratshang in Monggar.

The two-month training began on Sunday. The Lhalung Sungtruel Rinpoche said the training also aims to preserve the sacred mask dance.

Our reporter Tenzin Namgyel says school dance teachers will also be trained during the winter vacation. About 40 teachers will be taking part in the training this winter. The trainings are being organized by the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs with funds from UNESCO.

The Cultural Organization will also be documenting steps of the Dramtse Nga Cham during the annual Drametse Tshechu this November.

Watched the movie version on Saturday night. For the most part, just okay. The final number, "Let the Sunshine In", however is really well done, as is the end of the movie. Musicals must be so hard to film because the stream of story - an expectation - is very disjointed. A couple of surprises:

Nell Carter shows up in a couple of numbers. I didn't recognize her for a while, but her voice gave her away, regardless of my mental image of her back in the days of "Gimme a Break!"

Beverly D'Angelo played a teenaged girl in Hair, and 4 years later played a 30-ish mother in National Lampoon's Vacation, and pretty much looked the same in both movies!

In honor of all enjoyable picnics

Listed as a new word, “pique-nique” first appeared in the 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage. It is believed to have been a combination of “piquer,” meaning to “pick” or “peck” and “nique,” an obsolete word, which meant “trifle” or “little pieces.” It was described as a potluck gathering, to which everyone brought a dish; and the food, transported in the first picnic baskets, was set out for all to “peck at.”

The word “picnic” was first introduced in English in 1748. In the 19th century, a group of wealthy Londoners formed the Picnic Society to promote this fashionable social affair, to which each attendee was expected to bring food, as well as contribute some form of entertainment. It was around the middle of the century when it became associated with the outdoors, and the first picnic blankets appeared. Its rapid rise in popularity soon led to the invention of the picnic table.

Ah, ye fans of pony, here are the craziest horse laws in the world. I bet the pyros liked the old Pennsylvania laws...