know your saint days - st george

today is the day that everyone celebrates that plucky little dragon slayer, st. george. he's kept busy being the patron saint of canada and catalonia, england and ethiopia, georgia and greece, palestine and portugal, montegro, russia, serbia and china too. genoa probably has a salami named after him because he is also patron saint of that city as well a handful of other cities and burgs. just like other dragon slayers, he's a bit of an over achiever, so he's also patron saint for agricultural workers, archer, armourers, butchers, cavalry, chivalry, the brazilian football team, crusaders, equestrians,horses, the order of the garter (who ever they are) riders, saddle makers, scouts, and solders, yet he still makes time for a handful of diseases like lepers and leprosy, skin diseases in general, herpes and syphilis.

the english flag is flying outside 10 downing street in his honor today, but, think last years tribute in trafalgar square would be hard to top when 5567 broke the record for the world's largest coconut orchestra playing the monty python mass hit "always look on the bright side of life" prior to a screen of the classic film "monty python and the holy grail" while i know terry jones and terri gilliam conducted the proceedings, i am still unsure if london mayor ken livingston raised his coconut halved and joined in. i know i would.

kosher karnival

i'm all for celebrating passover and i have been known to partake in a carnival or two (providing the snacks are good and there are no clown in the vicinity). why has it taken so long for anyone to combine the two?

i can see it now. everyone enjoying the friendly competition of matzoh toss, beitzah on a spoon race, and the monor eating contests. kids will run themselves silly brushing up on the afikoman search skills while the teens will enjoy a good fright in the 10 plagues house of horrors. the crafts tent will be full of sculptures built of charoset and matzoth and vendors will hawk culinary delights like kosher corny dogs and mogen david spritzers. after a few moments in the temple shaped bouncy house, it'll be time for the children to puke and be taken home. could you ask for more fun?

if you're looking for a way to commemorate the years of slavery and arduous journey the jews made into exile in a little more upscale, you can always spend the holiday at a posh hotel.

how foolish of me

it's april fool's day and here i am without a witty post.please accept my apologies and enjoy and archived copy of my ever so entertaining column on the holiday that appeared in .net magazine in 2005. there a links, and some very attractive photos. i think you'll enjoy it - no fooling.

bad ducks and englishman: eddie izzard in dallas

god created the earth, the red sea parted and eddie izzard loosened the buckle of the bible belt a notch or two at the majestic last night. tackling the holy trinity of texas - god, jesus and football he corralled the boisterous dallas audience as he littered the stage with giant squid, spartans and a badger or two. so, basically, a good time was had by all.

i have to confess, i was charmed by the way mr, izzard physically manifested his characters in "shadow of the vampire" and "the cat's meow" and have been longing to see him kick off his heels and bring that presence to his stage show. yes, he does cut a fine line in tasteful pumps and girl garb, but, it was wonderful to see the added animation that accompanied his sartorial choice for the evening (jeans, t-shirt, a nicely tailored jacket and sensible flats).

i' won't offer a blow by blow description of the festivities. by the time i tapped out my missive, his material will have evolved into a new creature anyway. let's fact it, eddie izzard's shows are like life - you have to be there to experience it.

any questions?

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update: (7 april 08)
other's posts about the show:
laura seewoester for pegasus news
rob clark for quickdfw
adam mcgill for d magazine
todd camp for ft. worth star telegram
robert philpot for ft. worth star telegram pop culture

get to know your organs - the appendix

once thought to be a vestigial organ that aided ancient primates with the digestion of grass and leaves, the appendix is now believed to be a safe house for intestinal bacteria. current data shows that this little organic noah's ark helps repopulate the intestines with healthy bacteria after a flood of illness or other natural disaster washes the intestines clean.