I know this is a long shot, but, if anyone works for or knows someone who works for a hotel/resort/entertainment destination spot at the level that they could reach out about donating an item to a charity auction I would be super duper grateful. The silent auction portion of the event I have agreed to organize routinely has sports tickets and/or corporate boxes donated as items. A non-sporting high-end experience items has been requested. The target population are 2-fold, couples in their 50s-70s and families in the mid-30 to 50s with elementary to highschool aged kids. This is a church event, so all-expenience paid weekends at Hedonist resorts would not so much be the thing. THANK YOU!

There are topless protesters across the street.

Are they protesting toplessness, or just shaking their chests in protest of...shirts?

just shaking their chests in protest of...shirts?

There's always a group of guys who walk in the 4th of July parade wearing kilts, and they carry signs that say "Down with Pants!" (Also "Free Willie," with a picture of Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons.) [link]

It's these guys. I'm not sure what the toplessness is supposed to signify. They also have a vuvuzela, which is kind of annoying.

Maybe something to do with Wall Street taking the shirts off their backs?

Happy birthday to Sophia Brooks and smonster! Cake all around.

Cool historical tidbit gleaned from Laura Hillenbrand:

In WWII, to stop the Germans from night bombing Alexandria harbor, the British hired a London magician, Jasper Maskelyne, who built a fake, identical harbor three miles away, with fake ships and torches set out in patterns just like the real lights in Alexandria. To fool German recon planes by day, the British painted fake bomb craters and scattered papier mache rubble all over Alexandria. The Germans fell for it, and Alexandria, and British supply lines, were saved.

The Germans bombed the fake Alexandria for eight straight days.

The Germans bombed the fake Alexandria for eight straight days.

That so needs to be made into a movie.

Job-ma for Hayden, and bubble-wrap-ma for everybody's folks. Which reminds me I need to call my mother tonight (she's been having shoulder problems the last month).

Last year, for the Alexandria (Virginia) Scottish Christmas Walk, there was a fuss because they had a new rule. Men in kilts were required to wear underwear. Such a fuss! (and, in too many cases, over too little)

That so needs to be made into a movie.

Right? It was an eight person crew composed of a Magician and a bunch of set directors, designers and other theater tech crew.