Happy Easter Everyone!

Its that time of year once again, a date that changes pretty dramatically each year, when we get to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. I say we..... really I mean the Christian population of the world. Though of course, in America, and in particular Wisconsin, Easter is embraced by all, in another excuse to leave work early, close down shops, and pig out on food! Like most major holidays, its a time for food, card and gift stores to stock up on "subject specific" material, making a profit selling special items for the season: Eggs, chocolate and so on. But you know what... it's fun! It's a great time to just relax for the weekend and spend some time with family and friends. We're in Racine this weekend, celebrating Easter as we did last year with the lovely Heitfeld family, who once again opened up their home to us with delicious cooking, entertaining activities and wonderful hospitality. Yesterday, we dyed hard boiled eggs lots of different colours, scattering glitter across the table. Today, we went on an epic hunt for plastic Easter eggs filled with yummy chocolate. We're still missing one. That's a fail. It has a See's chocolate piece in it too (that's a gourmet chocolate here), so we better get back to searching for it! Despite all the commercialisation, today is Easter Sunday, the supposed day Jesus rose from the dead. How that date changes every year still baffles me. Whether you are religious or not, I think the Easter story can teach everyone something about coming together, spending time with those you love, forgiving, and redeeming yourself for any wrong you have caused. I've never been one to fully embrace religion, but I can appreciate the meanings behind the stories. I think the Easter story was conveyed particular well 5 years ago, in Manchester of all places. The Manchester Passion was a live re-telling of Jesus' last days, told in an hour through the streets of Manchester with the help of famous Manchester music from the likes of Oasis, the Smiths and the Stone Roses. It really was very well done, and, though it sounds antithetical, was largely non-religious. You can watch the 60 minute live recording here on Google Video, available until April 29th. So best to get on that fast.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8802546541133390212#]

I'm going to turn my attention to the next holiday event now.... The ROYAL WEDDING! That's right, despite fighting a war to rid themselves of the monarchy, Americans are still fascinated with our royals, and are eager to get up early, throw themselves a little party, and watch William and Kate get married. The newspaper even had some recipes in this weekend on what kind of British food to serve! Cultural reciprocity at its best.

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"Americans are still fascinated with our royals, and are eager to get up early, throw themselves a little party, and watch William and Kate get married. The newspaper even had some recipes in this weekend on what kind of British food to serve! Cultural reciprocity at its best."

There are certainly some Americans who care, but I think the 'American interest' in the wedding is really media driven and in turn vastly overblown. Personally, I find the whole thing to more frivolous than gossip about Hollywood stars, and I personally can't think of anything more un-American than a royal wedding. The people I talk to agree with me or are neutral (i.e. no interest).

To be frank, I hate the whole spectacle and the idea of it. Jon Stewart expertly summed all of it up on his April 25th show: "I'm talking of course about the story book marriage between an anachronistic fascination with the descendents of some very lucky German hemophiliacs and ubiquitous 21st century media hyper coverage"