Wired had a great article featuring some classic comic book cover artwork from the World War 11 era. The cover art belongs to collector Ben Samuels' collection and has some early examples of Captain America and Buck Rogers artwork. What I enjoyed most was a little blurb explaining the history of each image as well as some artist information. Perfect timing for the upcoming Comic Con in San Diego!

  A collection of strange statues from around the world. My personal favorite is Optimus Prime below but there are several other goodies spanning the distance betwen fine art and plain lunatic. Still, it's a novel idea for a gallery and heartening to see creative design like this.

Worker looking out of manhole - Sweden

Sara and Jason are on their month long road trip - out West to Vegas and SFO and then a leisurely run through the Midwest snaking down through Maryland and the Carolinas. It should be one month of fun. I would have loved to be in Vegas for a few days.

What's your favorite casino or Vegas experience? Saw this wonderful skyline shot on ShutterStock.

Did You Know:

Fun Fact: A 1910 law made it illegal to gamble in Las Vegas. In 1931, a gambling bill was approved that made gambling legal again.

Fun Fact: The Dunes, demolished in 1993, was the first resort to feature topless showgirls in a show called Minsky's Follies.

Fun Fact: The Golden Gate Hotel and Casino opened in 1906, making it the first hotel and casino to open in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fun Fact: In 1941, the El Rancho Vegas was the first resort to open on The Las Vegas Strip (across from what is now The Sahara).

Fun Fact: Many of the first hotels on The Strip opened in the 1950's such as The Desert Inn, The Sands, The Riviera, The Dunes, Hacienda, Tropicana, Royal Nevada, Moulin Rouge and The Stardust. More Las Vegas Fun Facts Here:

It's seems like board games are back AGAIN and with a vengence. I've made it out to a few get togethers recently and gotten introduced to Apples to Apples. I guess it's like comparing Apples and Oranges except you're not. I though I would post a quick pic and explanation on how the game is played. Much fun, give it a try!

 Apples to Apples, by Out of the Box Publishing, is a funny party game that has taken the country by storm. Each player draws several red apple cards, each of which represents a noun (ranging from Stinky Socks to Guerilla Warfare to Hillary Clinton). On each turn, one player is designated as the judge. The judge takes the top green apple card, which has an adjective on it, and reads it aloud to the group. Each player then throws one or two of her red apple cards, the ones that she feels the judge will see as a good match to the green apple card, into play. Players must act quickly though, as only the first few red apple cards played are judged—the rest are returned to their owners’ hands. The judge then reads through the red apple cards, picks his or her favorite match, and awards a point to the owner of the red apple card. The player with the most points is declared the winner.

Apples to Apples is a great game for groups—it’s fast, fun, and is usually the source of plenty of laughs. It’s easy to learn, and you can get started in less than five minutes. Although the game components are adequate, the apple cards can tend to bend a bit in the mad rush to throw them down before your opponents do. One thing to be aware of is that the judging in Apples to Apples is pretty subjective. The judge can choose whatever card he or she thinks is the best match, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Playing with kids is also difficult, because they’re often pretty nonsensical in their matches—but that’s all part of the fun of the game. The moral of the story is to know your audience. If you know what card would appeal to the judge, toss it in. It’s worth a try. It’s a pretty safe bet that Apples to Apples will be a hit at your next party.

Images and review via Boardgameratings.

Definately one of the better Farmers Markets around. I thought I'd also include a short review via Frommers:   

Even if you have no intention of purchasing, this incredible market, started in 1977 by Robert Blazer, merits a visit. A mind-boggling array of international food items is temptingly displayed in a 140,000-square-foot building. Tables are laden with mountains of produce from broccoli to bok choy, not to mention winter melons and water chestnuts, lily root, curry leaves, breadfruit, Jamaican jerk marinade, Korean daikon radish, a multiplicity of mushrooms, chick-pea miso, a vast beer and wine section, dried fruits, plants and flowers, seafood, meat, poultry, every imaginable fresh herb or hot pepper, fresh-baked breads and pastries, stalks of sugarcane, many varieties of cheese, frogs' legs, conch meat, quail, and on and on. As you shop, you can nibble whatever is offered at sample tables throughout the facility. There's also a small cafeteria on the premises. The market is about a 20-minute drive from downtown. Open daily 9am to 9pm except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

See Dekalb Farmers Market for more info.

Sara graduated yesterday from Emory's Candler School  of Theology. She obtained an MTS vs and M-Div. The ceremony was held in the Glenn Memorial Chapel on the main campus with the commencement address by Marian Wright Edelman from CDF.  If you've been to an Emory graduation before you know, the students all meet together for the initial ceremony and then the graduate students break away for a smaller ceremony held by each individual school. 

In reality there are five or six separate ceremonies because no one wants to wait three hours for all the English majors to get through:)  There was a wonderful catered lunch afterwords followed by a somewhat  delayed walk back to the parking lot. I guess it was an early morning and a long day because hubby could barely keep his eyes open!

Congrats again:) 

See pics below: 

Got an e-mail with these pictures. I must admit - citrus sculptures was a new one for me. Turns out that the city of Menton in France (almost on the Italian border) is known as the "citrus" capital of the world and this is an annual spring festival.

Source: Minman.com  

This picture of a statue outside a church,  was taken by some family members as they were driving through New Jersey or New York enroute to Toronto Canada. I'd love to find out more about this place of worship and why it seems to bring out the Depeche Mode in me. Jesus definately does seem to be reaching out.

So glad Howard Buckley dragged me out to this. I had not seen Sharrab in ages and BML have been getting a lot of good local reviews. The Star Bar itself is a local fixture with their long running celebrated funk Tuesday nights and stronghold (it seems) on fun acts covering the musical spectrum. Tonight was more off the same. Dj Sharrab played an intro set followed by BML featuring Sass Parilla the "singing gorilla."

Hey, BML even has  a page on Myspace  and you can check them out there while  DJ Sharrab remains at his stie. A great night followed by 24/7 Chinese at the Golden Buddha.

See DJ Sharrab and BML here : 

As our friend Dean Negus said "I don't belive in ghosts but there's something alive down there." Driving through the Chickamauga battlefiend did make me feel that there is more than meets the eye. Civil War buffs will know this series of battles were among the bloodiest between the Confederacy and the Union, over a hundred years ago perhaps but being there is just something different.

There are memorials to the various skirmishes and various units throught the area the size of a small town and some of the original barriers and barricades can still be seen. I remember one to an Ohio regiment about five miles from the main area - does this mean they were killed en route?The picure below is off a cabin which still stands today - in the war it was in the undeclared no mans zone.

There is also a large preserved Civil War era mansion converted into a museum with guided tours available for interested parties. For myself, just driving through those empty silent woods was sobering enough, It's beautiful and heart breaking at the same time. If anything it was good to finally visualize the Civil War scenes  described on this authoratative Civil War site.