Constantine: The Music Video

What do you get when you combine history, saints, and bad 80's music? A good chuckle.

Scotch de Silly Ale

The serious Scotch Ale with the Silly name. If only all history was this entertaining - those crazy Belgians!

Historical Badges And Other BS

Wynken and I went over to his Scoutmaster's house to work on requirements for earning the historical merit badge of Carpentry.

To celebrate the Boy Scouts' 100th anniversary there is a lot of hoopla this year. (For example, Wynken just got back from the National Jamboree at Ft. AP Hill with several thousand other Scouts in scorching weather.) The BSA has brought back some merit badges that have been retired or replaced by modern equivalents. These badges have the same exact requirements that were available in 1910 and they can ONLY be earned this year.

These include: Carpentry, Pathfinding, Signaling, and Tracking.

These also list the original requirements as written in 1910–1911. Think about how times have changed as you complete the requirements a Scout your age would have done a hundred years ago. 

As the Boy Scouts of America celebrates 100 years of Scouting in the United States, today’s youths will have the opportunity to experience a piece of the past. 

The four vintage merit badges that will count toward rank advancement are being released for the centennial year only, giving Boy Scouts a hands-on opportunity to experience the exciting past of the BSA.

Earning these historical merit badges should be more than just earning another merit badge. By reading these merit badge pamphlets and completing the requirements as close to how a Scout of 1910 would have done them will be your true growth experience.

We got everybody squared away on saws, planes, squares, levels, hammers, rules, clamps, and so on without incident.

My personal favorite is the manual hand drill. Works like a champ with a little elbow grease and nobody puts an eye out with an electric!

The Catholicism Project

For those of us who are visual, here's how you want to get your theology. Denis McNamara, Ph.D. explains the transcendent imagery of the City of God in Revelation as displayed in Church architecture of San Chapelle in Paris, France.



This is a snippet from the upcoming series The Catholicism Project featuring Fr. Robert Barron due out this Fall 2010. It looks incredible.

Epic: A Journey Through Church History

Epic: A Journey Through Church History published by Ascension Press makes Church history look very exciting.

I love this promo video, especially starting at ~40 sec.



The actual series is a 20 CD set that is largely lecture format. Now, if we could just pair them up with a great documentary maker like Ken Burns or if the presentation followed in the same vein as the promo, this would be phenomenal.

Bull Run Mountains Conservancy and Beverley Mill

Today Wynken hiked the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy with his Boy Scout Troop. They are practicing for a much longer hike, but you have to start somewhere.
BRMC is a beautiful 800 acre preserve just outside of Haymarket, VA and at the foothills of the Bull Run Mountains. They have a series of marked trails that are not too tough for beginners, although a couple of sections are rather steep.

Nearby there are the ruins of the old stone Beverley Mill, c. 1742, (originally Chapman's Mill) burned down during the Civil War. You can clearly see the mill from Rte. 66 highway. The tops and edges of the stone formations are covered by what appears to be thick tin plates to keep the ruins from toppling; the interior is fortified with modern steel beams for visitor safety.



After a 5 mile mountain hike, 3 soccer games, and a school fundraiser today I'm a little tired.

Sully Plantation

Today was a gorgeous Fall day: cool without being cold, sunny, and no wind. Therefore, we took Wynken, Blynken, Nod, Nub, and Nib on an historical outing at the nearby Sully Plantation.

(They now call it Sully Historic Site, but I remember when it was simply Sully Plantation.)

Admission to the grounds is free, the tour of the House is cheap enough even for seven.

An oasis of the past, Sully reflects the history of Fairfax County. Completed in 1799 by Richard Bland Lee, the main house at Sully combines aspects of Georgian and Federal architecture. Richard Bland Lee was Northern Virginia's first Representative to Congress, as well as General Robert E. Lee's uncle.

On the National Register for Historic Places, and accredited by the American Association of Museums, Sully also includes original outbuildings, representative slave quarter and gardens. Guided tours highlight the early 19th century life of the Richard Bland Lee family, tenant farmers and enslaved African Americans. Programs reflect the history of Fairfax County through the 20th century.

We all had a good time and learned a bit of local history. Nod-girl summed it all up, saying. "I liked everything except the slave quarters. That doesn't look like fun."