(Photo by Jennifer Murawski) Easter is one of those holidays that brings out the creativity in people. Maybe it's just the fresh spring air that inspires us to conduct science experiments with marshmallow chicks and bunnies, or maybe Easter just naturally supplies us with the raw materials to make artistic masterpieces in the form of baskets and colored eggs. Even for the craftily-challenged, there are step-by-step instructions online for making just about anything these days. So if you're planning an extravagant egg hunt, a brunch, or a classroom activity, start looking through our many Easter-related Directory categories for crafts, games, coloring pages, eCards, graphics, poetry, recipes, prayers, egg ideas, history, and more. You’re sure to find some inspiration. Suggested Sites... Kaboose: Easter Crafts - tons of fun ideas with instructions. Martha Stewart: Easter Baskets - way beyond dime store baskets and plastic grass. FamilyFun.com: Easter Recipes - from brunch to dessert, with plenty of bunny-shaped food. About.com: Natural Easter Egg Dyes - use the veggies, juices, and spices you already have! care2.com: Easter eCards - from classic and elegant to fun, animated eCards.

Directory categories: Easter Activities & Crafts , Easter eCards, Easter Recipes, Christian Observance of Easter, Easter Around the World

Archived under: Arts, Celebrations, Crafts, Decorating, Easter, Eggs, Holidays, Homemade, How-To, Parties, Religion, Spring, Yahoo! Directory

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Giacomo Casanova, circa 1750 There have been so many stories and myths and movies surrounding Casanova over the years that it's difficult to tell where the legend ends and the man begins. Whether he really was the "World's Greatest Lover" is up for debate (certainly Casanova did much to propagate such rumors), but there are facts surrounding his life that are difficult to dispute. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt was born April 2, 1725 in Venice. He studied law and eventually joined the clergy. He even met the Pope, but later fell out of favor with the Church due to -- what else? -- a series of scandalous love affairs. On a tour of Europe, he explored Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and alchemy. Upon his return to Venice, he continued to plague the Catholic Church and was tried and imprisoned by the Inquisition. Casanova then achieved an improbable escape from his jail and left Italy. Casanova lived in France, Belgium, England, and Russia over the years, where he hobnobbed with such figures as Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, Catherine the Great, and Benjamin Franklin. He worked for the French Foreign Ministry and conducted several spying missions. Casanova attempted a few (unsuccessful) confidence schemes, fought at least one duel, and even worked for the Inquisition. Avoiding both the French Revolution and Napoleon, he became a librarian in Bohemia and wrote his memoirs before dying in 1798. And of course, in between all these adventures, he somehow managed affairs with an international array of women -- and supposedly, with some men, too. So ,while Casanova may be remembered as the heartthrob who slept his way through Europe, his true legacy is really living and surviving some of most tumultuous events in European history. In a hundred years, will Robert Pattinson or the Jonas Brothers be able to say the same thing? Suggested Sites... Casanova Research Page - academic site about focusing on the "great lover's" writings. Casanova on BBC / Masterpiece Theater - 2005 miniseries about the life and legend of Casanova. Casanova: The Book - 2008 biography by Ian Kelly that tells Casanova's true story.

Directory categories: Sexuality, Casanova, the Movie, Venice, The Inquisition, The 18th Century

Archived under: 18th Century, Adventure, Benjamin Franklin, Biographies, Birthdays, Celebrities, Dead Celebrities, Europe, European History, France, Freemasons, History, Italy, Men, Religion, Romance, Sex and Sexuality

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Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania We have to admit that we don't get it. Why take a helpless rodent out of the warmth of his burrow and subject him to freezing cold, just to come up with some kind of prediction about how much longer winter will last? (A prediction that's apparently correct only about a third of the time.) But today is Groundhog Day, so 30,000-40,000 people will find their way to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania -- a town of about 6,500 the rest of the year -- to watch a bunch of guys haul Punxsutawney Phil from a fake log and give us all a supposed sneak preview of the next six weeks. The good burghers of Punxsutawney are not alone, though. All over North America, in towns as small as Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia (home of Shubenacadie Sam), and as large as New York City (where Staten Island Chuck resides), groundhogs will earn their yearly keep by playing weather woodchuck for the day. No one really knows how the whole thing started. It's apparently a combination of the Christian holiday of Candlemas and the Julian Calendar's placing of the Vernal Equinox six weeks after February 2nd, but there’s no clear origin. Not only that, but there's tremendous variety in the ways February 2nd is commemorated around the world. The day is known in France as La Chandeleur, when the French celebrate by eating crepes, and in Mexico, Día de la Candelaria is a time to eat tamales. And it’s not like predicting the weather is exclusive to bucktoothed rodents. If it rains in Germany on June 27 (Siebenschlaefertag), the rest of the summer will be rainy. Same with England's St. Swithin’s Day (July 15). Depending on the weather that day, the next forty days and nights will be rainy or sunny. (Given that it's England, our money's on rainy.) We're writing this in sunny California, where the climate over the next six weeks is likely to be the same as it was the last six. It might seem as though we're in a never-ending loop of nice weather, so if we wake up tomorrow to the strains of "I Got You Babe," it may be time to worry and start rethinking our lives. Suggested Sites... Greetings From Punxsutawney! - official site for the big Groundhog Day doings, with news, schedule, and travel guide. Groundhog.org - media, fan club, predictions, and more than you want to know about Groundhog Day. The Groundhog Fraud - Slate.com exposes the shenanigans in Punxsutawney. Holiday Spot: Groundhog Day - you know; for kids. History of the holiday, quiz, greeting cards, and more. Wikipedia: Groundhog Day The Movie - background, fun facts, and more about the classic 1993 comedy.

Directory categories: Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Weather, Groundhogs, Groundhog Day - The Movie

Archived under: Animals, Calendars, Celebrations, Events, France, Germany, Holidays, Mythology and Folklore, Nature, Pennsylvania, Religion, Small Towns, Tourist Attractions, United Kingdom, United States, Weather, Winter

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Long count date of "June 23, 152 CE" as carved into stone by the Mayans Long ago, the Maya began carving what is now known as the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar onto stone monuments. Unlike our repeating calendar, this Mayan calendar covered more than 5,000 years, with a beginning, August 11, 3114 BC, and an end: December 21, 2012. So, what happens then? Because 12-21-12 may coincide with a possible alignment of the earth and the Milky Way's center, some predict a catastrophic reversal of the earth's polarity. Maya researcher John Major Jenkins argues that this pole reversal will actually result in a shifting of the collective psyche, or "a moment in which the human spirit can emerge from unconscious patterns and blossom." In "The Bible Code," Michael Drosnin predicts an apocalypse in 2012 -- but Drosnin's calamitous predictions for 2000 and 2006 didn't exactly go according to plan. One thing that is certain is humanity's tendency toward mass paranoia and hysteria -- and we're not saying that's always a bad thing. We listened to Art Bell back in the day, we love Graham Hancock, and we can't wait for Michael Bay to CG our brains out in "2012: The War for Souls." A good dose of the-end-is-nigh paranoia can inspire great drama and creativity. And if 2012 doesn't work out as planned, we can still get excited about Asteroid Aphosis in 2036. Suggested Sites... The Maya Calendar - information on the Maya Calendar from the Maya World Studies Center in Yucatan, Mexico. Meta-Religion: Popol Vuh - translation of Popol Vuh, the Mayan creation myth. 13-Moon Natural Time Calendar - a new take on the Mayan calendar from major new-age player, Dr. Jose Arguelles. December 21, 2012 - the "official" 2012 website. Includes news, merchandise for sale, and a 2012 Believers list. Survive 2012 Forum - discussion board with survival tips, 2012 news, various theories, gatherings, events, new age transformations, and more.

Directory categories: Doomsday 2012, Mayan Calendars, Pole Shift, Biblical End Times, Mayan Archeology

Archived under: Calendars, Mayan Civilization, Mexico, Mythology and Folklore, Predictions, Prophecy, Religion, Time

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Mechanical dinosaurs were common in ancient times (Photo by Nicole Makauskas) Today is the 6012th birthday of our home planet. The old girl looks pretty good, doesn't she? What's that? You thought the Earth was, like, a million times older? Well, it's obvious you haven't studied the work of Bishop James Ussher. Ussher was an English archbishop who joined in the 17th-century scholarly mania of trying to figure out just how old the Earth was. Science not being then what it is today, resources were limited, so Ussher (along with such worthies as astronomer Johannes Kepler and physicist Isaac Newton) relied on the chronologies contained in the Bible. After years of comparing sources and resolving inconsistencies, Ussher announced that the world had been created on October 23, 4004 BCE -- though he didn't go as far as his contemporary James Lightfoot, who fixed the exact time at 9:00 am. (As lawyer Henry Drummond asked in "Inherit the Wind:" "Was that Eastern Standard Time?") Ussher's calculations may have been slightly off, but they were accepted as reasonably valid until scholars looked at the geologic, rather than theological, evidence, and determined that the Earth was anywhere from 75,000 to 96 million years old. With the discovery of radioactivity in the 19th century, scientists were able to push the date back to the generally-accepted age of about 4.5 billion years. Of course, humans being what they are, not everyone accepts that age. Parallel to mainstream scientific thought runs creationism, which posits that the Biblical history of the universe is accurate, the earth is only six millennia old, and dinosaurs and men once roamed the planet simultaneously -- think of "The Flintstones" as a reality show rather than a cartoon. The good folks of Petersburg, Kentucky have even opened a museum dedicated to this alternate history. While we have to admit we don't totally buy into their ideas, the thought of saddling up the ol' dinosaur is a pretty tempting one. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: The Ussher Chronology - details about the 6,000-year-old Earth theory. Creation Museum - visit Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with their pet dinosaurs. Visible Earth - NASA's collection of images and animations of our home. Darrow Examines Bryan - from the Scopes "Monkey Trial" -- evolution vs.creationism in the courtroom. You Tube: Inherit the Wind - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtNdYsoool8

Directory categories: The Earth, Geology, Earth Sciences, Creationism vs. Evolution, Science and Religion

Archived under: Archaeology, Birthdays, Creationism, Geology, History, Mythology and Folklore, Planets, Religion, Science, Scientists, Society and Culture, Tourist Attractions

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