DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Known variously as Samhain, Summer’s End, All Hallow’s Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool , and Snap-Apple night , Halloween is among the world’s oldest holidays. Rooted in ancient pagan and Christian festivals that celebrated the inextricable link between seasonal and life cycles, Halloween has transcended its cultural roots and is currently celebrated in various forms all over the modern world. Halloween as it exists today is an exciting array of dichotomies as it delights both children and adults, prompts private religious observance as well as public exhibitionism, and blends personal imagination with mass marketing. A day full of magic and mystery, Halloween has not only survived, but it has thrived during epic cultural, religious, economic, and industrial changes throughout its long history. Roots in Ancient Celtic Festivals    The essential elements of Halloween, such as costuming, trick-or-treating, lighting bonfires, telling ghost stories, and attend...

  The World Stone Skimming Championships 2011 will take place on Sunday 25 September 2011 on Easdale Island, near Oban in Argyll, Scotland.     Easdale Islan  is the smallest permanently inhabited island of the Inner Hebrides. It was once the centre of a thriving Scottish slate mining industry, and one of the disused quarries forms a perfect arena for the World Stone Skimming Championships.    The championships are held every year on the last Sunday in September. Anyone of any age and any level of skill can enter. Each competitor is allowed 3 skims using specially selected Easdale slate skimming stones.    For a skim to qualify the stone must bounce at least three times - it is then judged on the distance achieved before it sinks. About The World Stone Skimming C...

   We've probably all either read the Charles Dickens story or saw one adaptation / version of "A Christmas Carol".     It has been done dozens upon dozens of times in some form with titles ranging from "A Christmas Carol", "Scrooge", and "Ebenezer" to more unique names such as "Scrooged" or "Mr. Scrooge". There are also versions with drastically different stories and titles like "Ms. Scrooge" or "An American Christmas Carol". I do enjoy most versions but since this is a top 10 I need to narrow it down to ten. Most of you have probably seen one of my top 10 because a few have played every year for decades.    There have been female versions such as Ms. Scrooge (1997) (TV) with Cicely Tyson as Ms. Ebenita Scrooge and I believe there are a few others with titles I don't remember. Not to sound sexist but I don't care for these females versions at all. I'm not sure if any woman can fit the ro...

   The 2011 running of the annual Glenbeigh Horse and Pony Races will take place on Rossbeigh Strand from Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th September. The races will be the centrepiece of a weekend festival. This years live band is the world renowned DEUCES WILD who will take to the stage on Saturday Night. Race dance music on the Sunday night is in “Linda Ryan’s”. The local pubs of the area are also playing their part, with fantastic nightly entertainment in “The Towers Hotel”, “Ashes Bar”, “The Red Fox Inn, and “Linda Ryan’s”. The Opening ceremony will be held on the Friday night with the inauguration of the Festival Queen. This year we will decide on the festival queen at the Red Fox Inn on the opening night. HISTORY    The Glenbeigh Races were first held on Rossbeigh Strand in 1924. However this was to prove to be a costly venture as the local Garda Sergeant, a Mr. Scannell summonsed the organisers to court for their failure to have the required perm...

Because the movie Halloween (1978) was on such a tight budget, they had to use the cheapest mask they could find for the character Michael Meyers, which turned out to be a William Shatner Star Trek mask. Shatner initially didn’t know the mask was in his likeness, but when he found out years later, he said he was honored. The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas. The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce , meaning “wise woman.” In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or sabbats , on Halloween night.  Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. Fifty percent of kids prefer to receive chocolate candy for Halloween, compared with 24% who prefer non-chocolate candy and 10% who preferred gum. The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls we...

   The Bognor Birdman event first started on the South coast of Britain in Selsey in 1971, where a prize was given for anyone who could fly the grand distance of 50 yards. Nobody managed it! After a few years the event started to attract quite a crowd and in 1978 the term Bognor Birdman was coined when the event moved to its present location in Bognor Regis. Why Bognor Regis is open to debate - perhaps it was some forward thinking person at the local council - perhaps it's because the sea has a strong incoming tide to help bring people back to the beach, perhaps it is because one of the original competitors came from Bognor, it certainly isn't because it is an easy place to get to. Anyway, the event has evolved and gets ever more popular. Every year a collection of brave daring men and women dress up in bizarre outfits and become Bognor Birdmen. They compete against one another by trying to fly through the air the furthest. Some people would say that they are ju...