DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

  In the middle of the Mediterranean coast, Valencia city, celebrates each year the final days of the winter and the arrival of spring with spectacular fires of  pyrotechnics.  From March 15th to the 19th ( the feast of Saint Joseph , day of the father in the whole country), Valencia is given over to a carnival of bonfires, fiesta, fireworks and a healthy dose of satire known as Las Fallas , "the fires".         Displayed on every corner all over the city are colorful ninots , giant paper-mache' figures often 20 feet tall or even more that have been paraded through the streets and then place in fantasy groups to tower over excited spectators.  Each one in some way satires a political figure, or a soap star, or more exotic creatures from the movies, TV, sports idols, or simply imagination.  Some of them are grotesque...others playful and charming...all are larger than life and up for public scrutiny. ...

   The Institute of Holiday Studies has released the top ten fears that people face during the Holidays. Parkaphobia - The fear that you will circle and circle the parking lot for ever, never actually making it into the mall.  You will run out of gas on the 100th time you circle and you will slowly starve to death in your car. Planeaphobia - The fear that someone in your family will actually expect you to pick them up at the airport, when you even offer to pay for their taxi, no matter know much it costs.  Similar to parkaphobia, you will be doomed to circling the airport for ever, while their plane is an hour late, they stop for a Latte' on the way to the baggage counter, then spend two hours looking for their lost bag, which will come in tomorrow, meaning you get to make another trip to the airport. Giftaphobia -You and your new boyfriend are exchanging gifts for the first time on Christmas.  You both promised to keep it simple.  But what does ...

      Frozen Dead Guy Days is an annual celebration held in the town of Nederland, Colorado.    In 1989, a Norwegian citizen named Trygve Bauge brought the corpse of his recently deceased grandfather, Bredo Morstol , to the United States.  The body was preserved on dry ice for the trip, and stored in liquid nitrogen at the Trans Time Cryonics facility from 1990 to 1993.    In 1993, Bredo was returned to dry ice and transported to the town of Nederland, where Trygve and his mother Aud planned to create a cryonics facility of their own.  When Trygve was deported from the United States for overstaying his visa, his mother, Aud, continued keeping her father's body cryogenically forzen in a shack behind her unfinished house.      Aud was eventually evicted from her home for living in a house with no electricity or plumbing, in violation of local ordinances.  At that time, she told a local ...