THE moon peeked through the hot and hazy summer's eve over the mountains and along Route 145 as Monday night's fun exploded all over East Durham on the official Monday opening of the prestigious Catskills Irish Arts Week. The moon will be full by the time the annual event crests at week's end with the close of the annual Andy McGann Traditional Music Festival on Saturday so the craic in the Catskills should be howl. Thousands of tunes will have been shared by teachers and students from stages to roadhouses surrounded by the lush green hills that have been attracting the Irish for decades to Greene County about two and half hours from New York City. Again there are hundreds who witness the annual summer festival and summer school, many of whom return year after year. Twenty states and three Canadian provinces would yield residents who came to the upstate New York hamlet to sharpen their playing and listening skills and deepen their appreciation of Irish culture in general, and especially when it comes to wellspring of traditional music. After the classes are done in the daytime, the evening concerts (five) and the 50 music sessions - all solidly displaying the mastery of the assembled teaching staff - will provide plenty of evidence that the well is deep and the future of Irish traditional music solid for a good while yet. Proof of the creativity possessed by the many artists recruited to perform this year lay across the teacher's consignment shop where their CDs and instrument instruction books were choc-a-block and varied.
The Aiken County Tea Party will sponsor a Rally in the Alley at The Alley in downtown Aiken on Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. The event will encourage short speeches from those in attendance, as well as a number of lighthearted activities. "We just wanted to do something to get people involved and let them know we're alive and kicking," said Jerry Guerin, an officer with the organization. People can attend any time Friday morning. They will be asked to sign up to speak for up to three minutes about anything on their minds concerning the current political climate. Young people 12 and older can participate as well, with their parents' permission. Political leaders are encouraged to attend and will be invited to say hello, but the Tea Party wants them especially to "listen to the people and hear their concerns," said Guerin. Visitors are also asked to dress up their pets and themselves to compete for prizes for "most patriotic" costumes for both humans and dogs, as well as the most creative Tea Party sign. People are asked to bring folding chairs and umbrellas. Party officials will provide water. Guerin will take his three minutes to talk about the Declaration of Independence and the significant sacrifices made by the forefathers. It may be necessary for more such sacrifices in this century, he said. Mostly, however, "We just want to hear what the people are saying, so we can plan for 2012, Guerin said.The door is decorated with a butterfly, the hallmark of Maria Lafuente, the award-winning Spanish couturier. Lafuente answers the door herself. She is small in stature but her personality envelopes you instantly.
Hundreds of mourners, including more than 30 Marines in dress-blue uniforms, attended this morning's funeral service for Lance Cpl. Jared Verbeek at Visalia Nazarene Church. Verbeek, 22, was killed June 21 in Afghanistan's Helmand province when a homemade bomb exploded while he was on patrol. The 45-minute service began at 10 a.m. at the church. Burial will follow at Visalia District Cemetery. The hearse bearing Verbeek's body arrived at the church several minutes before 10, saluted by a group of Marines that escorted the casket into the church. Marines presented the family Verbeek's Purple Heart medal. Verbeek's father, Travis Verbeek, said his son was a person of strong beliefs, including "the day you pass on is the day you were supposed to die." Verbeek graduated from Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia in 2007 and joined the Marines a few months later. He was assigned to a military police unit engaged in training local forces and was a member of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton. He is survived by his wife Vanessa and their 18-month-old son Jacob, parents Travis and Rosalia Verbeek of Visalia, aunts and uncles and 32 cousins.Celebrating the sacred union of marriage happens in a very unique way in Kuwait. The wedding night is no longer the night for celebrating two people bringing their lives together. Somewhere along the line, this festival of holy matrimony has turned into a meat market for women. The amount of horrific and hilarious stories you can hear about the spectacle that is the process of engagement and marriage are endless.
My name is Frank and I'm a Phillies addict. I can't help myself. I wasn't always this way. Once newspaper game stories and box scores were enough. But then I experimented with radio. You kids out there, don't believe it when someone tells you radio-listening doesn't lead to excessive TV viewing. Just look at me. Still, I didn't really have a problem until a strung-out friend in a Roy Halladay jersey told me about the Internet. I started using, slowly at first. Maybe a tweet in the afternoon. A blog in the evening. Nothing serious. But soon those things alone couldn't satisfy my cravings. I needed more. That's when I began making hourly visits to Phillies.com. The downward spiral hastened. Things grew so bad that I'd drive into North Philadelphia once, twice, three times a day, hoping to score a better wireless connection. I was lucky. If I'd wandered anywhere near a doughnut shop, I'd probably be in jail today. I'm hooked real bad. I've got to get the Phillies lineup tweeted to me three hours before a game. God forbid I not know well in advance whether Carlos Ruiz will be going 0 for 4 from the seventh or eighth spot. If Mike Zagurski gets recalled, if Jimmy Rollins feels a pregame twinge, if Raul Ibanez discovers where he misplaced his bat speed, I've got to find a TV quick to hear it all instantly dissected on one of those pregame shows that have employed more marginal baseball talent than Ed Wade. Sometimes a couple of good, strong facts will satisfy me. But lately I need more. I've begun stealing Phillies opinion from harried beat writers, sun-deprived bloggers, even -- forgive me, Jesus -- sports-radio hosts.
Katy Perry, the American pop star, will voice Smurfette, while Hank Aazaria, one of the main contributors to the long-running US TV hit 'The Simpsons', will bring sorcerer Garamel, the Smurfs' sworn enemy, to life. Elsewhere at ADNEC, the all-new 'Adventure World' will find a champion who completes the 11 'telematch'-style activities in the fastest time; 'Career World' lets kids dress up and try their hands at any one of the 12 dream careers, and 'Show World', a specially-constructed 120-capacity theatre, will feature twice-daily shows by international favourites such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora The Explorer, Marvel's Thor, Wolverine, Captain America and Dr Doom.Two unlikely characters bond. One, an attorney without a soul, the other, a brainiac without a purpose. Can these two crazy man- children take on the legal system and help each other grow along the way? Hey, this is a USA Network show. To its credit, "Suits" has darker threads than the cable channel's typical fare. Both lead characters -- brash attorney Harvey Specter and college dropout Mike Ross -- are sometimes heroes, sometimes jerks. That shading is virtually unheard of on the network. Mike makes money by taking the law school exam for others. When he needs $25,000 to pay for his grandmother's hospital care, he agrees to deliver a briefcase of pot to a hotel on behalf of a friend. Avoiding the police, Mike ducks into Harvey's cattle call for new associates and impresses Harvey with his photo-graphic memory.He "consumes knowledge."
Hughes said she especially likes that the male students would be required to tuck in shirts and wear belts. "Right off the top of my head that means a less likely chance of hiding a weapon for one thing, plus I believe that the way you're dressed reflects your attitude, that when you're dressed neater, you're going to act better automatically," she said. Hughes said she's also supportive of the longer shorts and skirts for females. "As I said to my daughter, there is no reason for them to be short like that unless they are trying to draw attention to their legs. I would much rather have a young man thinking of a girl because of anything but her physical attractions." Carol Cune, the district's executive director of administration, said a six-member committee consisting of principals, assistant principals and parents worked on revising the dress code to require more conservative attire. Cune said requiring belts and disallowing athletic shorts will help eliminate the "sag and bag" look. Female students previously were permitted to wear shorts and skirts that only had to be longer than the student's extended fingertips when the pupil's hands were held to the side of her body. Cune said requiring clothing to touch the top of a student's knee will eliminate arguments about the advantage possessed by students with shorter arms. Board member David Stasny said he would love to see the students dress in dignified and professional manners. "I think a lot of people don't think we prepare our students for the real world," he said.