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Notes, comments and observations from the Lifestyle and Entertainment desk by Lifestyle Editor Aixa Torregrosa-Vazquez.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

'Narnia' cast meets the Queen

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, left, meets British actors, Anna Poppelwell and Will Poulter, at the Royal premiere of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' at a cinema in London, Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Ian Nicholson, Pool)

Art installation is quite unique ...

This sounds interesting, for sure is unique. But, would I really like to do this .. don't know ....
This photo shows reindeer inside artist Carsten Hoeller's installation "Soma," by Belgian-born artist Carsten Hoeller, at the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum Fur Gegenwart in Berlin, Germany. A new exhibit in Berlin allows visitors to sleep overnight amid 24 golden canaries and a dozen reindeer. The goal of the unusual installation is to acquaint the public with spiritual Hinduism, but the gallery says the combination of a herd of reindeer and the approaching holidays has many visitors thinking just one thing: Christmas. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Check this guide to holiday displays

If you love holiday displays and decor or are a garden enthusiast you'll enjoy this guide.

The Greater Philadelphia Gardens, a nonprofit collaboration that serves to heighten awareness and visitation of the Philadelphia region’s public gardens, arboreta and historic houses with gardens, released its 20 page “Guide to Spectacular Displays for the Holidays in Greater Philadelphia Gardens.”
The guide boasts more than 60 holiday activities in 12 of its 29 area member public gardens and arboreta. The guide is available at www.GreaterPhiladelphiaGardens.org.
Here's the direct link: Guide to Spectacular Displays in Greater Philadelphia Gardens

Monday, November 22, 2010

Some Thanksgiving food ... for thought

There's so much stuff coming at you about Thanksgiving .... you're almost tired of the holiday before it gets here... Thank goodness not all of it is about food that you eat, some is food for thought.
Today I received this item from the Pennsylvania State Data Center ... it has some interesting information.
For example:
The Continental Congress issued the first national proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1777 following the American victory at Saratoga while meeting in the town of York, Pennsylvania.
Check it out at
http://pasdc.hbg.psu.edu/pasdc/data_and_information/briefs/RB112210.pdf

Friday, November 5, 2010

Calling art students: Showcase your Thanksgiving-themed art

We are inviting young artists to share their Thanksgiving inspired art with our readers. Kids grades K-12 are welcome to submit a high-resolution jpeg of their artwork for publication Thanksgiving weekend in The Reporter’s Lifestyle section in our website and our print edition. Send submissions by Nov. 21 to aixaeditor@gmail.com, with Thanksgiving art in the subject line.
Note: This is not a contest.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Good news for white-water enthusiasts

This just in .....


DCNR Plans White-Water Release into Bucks County’s Tohickon Creek
Annual Recreational Event Scheduled for Nov. 6-7

Harrisburg – White-water boating enthusiasts will converge on Bucks County’s Tohickon Creek this weekend when the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources releases water from Lake Nockamixon into the Tohickon Creek.

“Abundant recent rainfall swelled area reservoirs and enabled the Delaware River Basin Commission to lift ‘drought warning’ restrictions,” said Nockamixon State Park Manager Obie Derr. “The basin’s action today was the go-ahead we needed to release water from Nockamixon this weekend.”

Annually scheduled for the first weekend in November, as well as the third weekend in March, water releases from the Nockamixon State Park dam occur on a schedule that provides suitable boating water conditions downstream through Ralph Stover State Park from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Water releases begin at 4 a.m. and it takes several hours for the high water to proceed downstream to Ralph Stover State Park, according to park officials. Suggested hours for viewing the release and boating activity are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Ralph Stover. The release at Nockamixon is best viewed from the Tohickon Bridge off South Park Road from dawn until 2 p.m.

Water releases are eagerly awaited by white-water paddling enthusiasts, and they draw skilled kayakers, canoeists and occasional rafters from throughout the northeastern United States. Most launch their craft at Ralph Stover State Park, near Pipersville, Bucks County, and travel some four miles along the Tohickon Creek to its junction with the Delaware River at Point Pleasant.

DCNR officials remind boaters this is technical whitewater with Class 3 and 4 rapids that require boating skills. Boaters should be aware of and follow the safety code of the American Whitewater Affiliation, and wear appropriate personal flotation devices.

Boaters should use only craft designed for this type of water. Because of cold water, boaters also must take appropriate precautions to prevent hypothermia.

For more information, contact Nockamixon State Park at (215) 529-7300, or Delaware Canal State Park at (610) 982-5560. For more information about Pennsylvania’s 117 state parks, call 1-888-PA-PARKS between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; or visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us.