DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

    Trumpets blare, women weep and a giddy crowd roars as burly men carrying towering wooden pillars charge through narrow streets in a medieval tradition of pride and devotion to their patron saint.     For more than 800 years, the ancient central Italian town of Gubbio has erupted in a riot of yellow, blue and black each May for the " Festa dei Ceri"  ( Festival of the  Candles) to honor patron saint  Ubaldo Baldassini , a 12th century bishop. one of the teams grimacing with the heavy candle     In a day filled with feverish festivities that include hurling jugs of water onto a crowd, the highlight is a strenuous race where three teams tear through the town and up a mountain with 400-kg wooden pillars balanced on their shoulders.     The festival taps into a deep-rooted sense of local pride and tradition -- the sort of fierce identity tied to their town or region that Italians are famous for...

    I want to bring up some alternate methods of thought, that the best way to survive the zombie apocalypse is to stay mobile and not hunker down in a single place. Here's why that it might be true. A Zombie Apocalypse Isn't Siege Warfare     Zombie survivalists like to make a parallel between fending off zombies and medieval forms of siege warfare. At first glance, it's easy to see why they might make that comparison: you have an overwhelming mass of combatants outside your gates, but within a well-stocked stronghold, a small number of defenders can hold off almost indefinitely.     The problem with this idea is that surviving a siege puts faith in the idea that your attackers will eventually get bored or be incapable of feeding or otherwise supplying themselves and will soon stop attacking you.     We can't assume those things of zombies. Zombies don't get bored. Zombies are always hungry...

    Is it called  Memorial Day or  Decoration Day?      Many people, especially those in the south, ask themselves this question every year. Compounding the confusion is the fact that both celebrations are often held on the same weekend in May. Most of us have participated in Memorial Day celebrations. I've had the experience of participating in several Decoration Day celebrations as well. According to  History.com  Memorial Day was first celebrated as Decoration Day. This day first happened officially a few years after the Civil Warn ended on May 30, 1868.     General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic is widely credited for the original proclamation. This held great importance even though the Grand Army of the Republic was a group of former soldiers and sailors and not a governmental organization. President    Richard Nixon  officially declared Memorial Day to be a fed...

    The annual airing of  A Charlie Brown Christmas  has become as much a part of Christmas as Santa and Rudolph.     Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, Snoopy's decorated doghouse and Linus' classic recitation on the true meaning the season have become true baby-boomer Christmas icons. Throw in Vince Guaraldi's classic soundtrack, and you have an animated special that has defined a generation. A Charlie Brown Christmas was not the first time the Peanuts characters were animated. In the early 1960's they appeared in a series of commercials for the Ford Motor Company. A Charlie Brown Chirstmas was conceived, written, animated and produced in only six months, and was finished only a week before the air date. The first airing, on December 9, 1965, was sponsored by Coke. A CBS executive who watched a preview was disappointed and declared the program, "A little flat....a little slow", and said he thought Peanuts was better su...

     Golden Week (Gōruden Wīku ), often abbreviated to simply GW and also known as  Ōgon shūkan  ( "Golden Week") or  Ōgata renkyū  ( "Large consecutive holiday") is a Japanese term applied to the period containing the following public holidays: April 29    Emperor's Birthday  (Tennō tanjōbi), until 1988    Greenery Day  (Midori no hi), from 1989 until 2006    Shōwa Day  (Shōwa no hi), from 2007 Perhaps a little kite flying during this holiday May 3    Constitution Memorial Day  ( Kenpō kinenbi) May 4     Holiday  (Kokumin no kyūjitsu), from 1985 until 2006     Greenery Day  (Midori no hi), from 2007 May 5     Children's D ay (Kodomo no hi), also customarily known as  Boys' Day  (Tango no sekku) Heading out to a movie or dinner for Golden Week History     Th...

some of the moors costumes     Araquio festival  is a celebration traditionally held every May in Nueva Ecija. The festival dates back to the Spanish colonial period and is celebrated with a theatrical/religious presentation similar to Spanish  zarzuelas , dramatizing the spread of Christianity in the country and the war between Christians and Muslims. Some of the Costumes History and Customs     The name Araquio is said to have come from  "Heraclio",  the name of a bishop during the time of  Constantine the Great . The first Araquio presentation took place in the town of Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija over 120 years ago. Before modern musical instruments were available, the bands used instruments made from indigenous materials like bamboo. According to Francisco Vergara Padilla, director of the Araquio group in the barangay of St. Tomas in Peñaranda, during his grandfather's time they used basins and utensils as ...

Christmas Candy Cheesecake Each year around the holiday season I get the sensation that time is speeding up. Today I'll be RSVP-ing to Christmas parties and tomorrow I'll be wishing you a Happy New Year! So, even though it's not yet December I've decided to start my Christmas baking full force. One sweet treat I love to take to holiday parties is cheesecake.  It feeds a crowd and is always well received. This is probably the fluffiest  baked  cheesecake I've ever made!  I was really surprised because it wasn't as dense as others I've retrieved from a water bath.  It has a shortbread cookie crust and a sweetened sour cream layer on top that holds on your choice of Christmas candies. You can really put your own individual stamp on this cake by using a mixture of your favorite candies. Kids will love to help with the decoration and there's really no way to mess it up!   I used d...