When the grandkids are a little older, I will step up my efforts to significantly expand their historical, cultural and artistic horizons. You can’t rely on parents or the educational system to provide a complete lineup of important experiences. Some of the opportunities in the curriculum of the Grandpa education course – What Life is All About – are below.
The Godzilla Fest’s event web site captures the excitement.
“Our second annual Godzillafest Convention features our monstrous dealer’s room with toys, figures, art and more! A Godzilla Game Room, Panel Discussions, Saturday Night Movies and so much more! Featuring our Godzilla guests Hurricane Ryu and TJ Storm!”
The Red Neck Games feature events such as the cigarette flip, bobbing for pig’s feet, toilet seat throwing, mud pit belly flop, big-hair contest, dumpster diving, bug zapping by spitball, hubcap hurling and armpit serenade.
In Punkin Chunkin teams launch pumpkins as far as possible using catapults, air cannons, and trebuchets (a type of catapult). In the most recent world championship, the winner was a catapult that launched a pumpkin 4,091 feet.
You will meet quality folks like the guy to the right.
La Tomatina is a massive tomato fight in the streets of the town of Buñol (Spain). The fight is part of the traditional festivities in honor of its patron saint, San Luis Beltrán. Tens of thousands of people hurl overripe tomatoes at each other.
The UFO Festival at Roswell, NM (where a UFO was purported to have crashed in 1947) draws 15,000 people.
No wonder it’s popular given the lineup of costume contests, speakers on extraterrestrial theories, an Alienfest parade, and a visit to the International UFO Museum and Research Center.
If you were a 9-year-old, what would be more memorable and formative – throwing tomatoes at people in La Tomatina or seeing a bunch of stuffed deer and bobcats in a natural history museum?
You know the answer.