"...the tranquil eternal meadows spread at their base, whereon flocks graze, and shepherds pipe and dance." –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Almost ninety years ago, pandemonium erupted at the Theatre des Champs-Elyses in Paris. The opening of Stravinsky's symphony/ballet, Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), was by some respects, a complete flop. Fellow composers had convinced Stravinsky that he needed to take his idea of a "primitive spring sacrifice" and complement the music with a presentation in dance. The unbelievable account of that evening is recorded here:

According to one eye-witness, the audience – driven berserk by Nijinsky's "perverse" choreography – raged uncontrollably over what it felt a blasphemous effort to destroy music. Nijinsky's future wife witnessed an elegantly attired damsel slap a young man hissing nearby, this effrontery provoking him to exchange cards with her escort. As the ballet concluded with the Sacrificial Dance – tremorous paroxysms seizing the hitherto immobile Chosen Victim - alarm echoed through the gallery: "Un docteur... un dentiste... deux docteurs." Nijinsky, straddling and offstage chair, continuously bellowed out ("like a coxswain," Stravinsky recalled) a barrage of counts to maintain the dancers' metrical synchronization, while the impressario Diaghilev, fearing public panic, ordered electricians to turn the houselights on and off. Jean Cocteau noted that Diaghilev, Stravinsky, and Nijinsky, huddled together in the Bois de Boulogne during the wee later hours, wept at the debacle. (More juicy details here...)

The original intentions for this premiere were to captivate the audience with a ritual dance of Slavonik traditions to gain favor from the God of Spring. Like the dissonant themes, strange rhythms and earthly cycles throughout The Rite of Spring, the piece itself has endured a wild and chaotic ride starting with that explosive premiere in Paris.

The world of classical music sat up and took notice when Stravinsky dared to venture head-on into conflict and turmoil. This was new and fascinating stuff, regardless of what strange interpretive dances may have plagued that opening night. Walt Disney even found the symphony to be a perfect fit in the 1940 release Fantasia, in which Leopold Stokowski led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a colorful story from Earth's beginnings to the rise and fall of dinosaurs.

"If this generation of teenagers is lost to the church, it will not be because we demanded too much from them, but because we demanded too little."
–Tony Campolo

UrbanPromise, an urban ministry for inner-city youth, is located in Camden, NJ, which is one of the nation's poorest cities, but also one of the richest in spirit. Over half its population is under 18 years old, so UrbanPromise reaches some of that need through summer camps, after-school programs, and two private Christian schools.

Every summer, students from colleges nationwide, Canada and Europe come to volunteer their diverse talents in this program. In addition, a work crews staff coordinates the weekly visits from high school youth groups who come to Camden from everywhere (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ontario, to name a few) and stay for a week. These work crews help with the staff at the summer camps located throughout the city, and engage in community service such as clearing abandoned lots or renovating old buildings. (Easy to spot in the bright orange t-shirts.)

One of the many blessings of living and working at UrbanPromise is the daily interaction with the children and teens. For example, there are two identical twin brothers, Tony and Albert, who are part of the StreetLeader program (local high school students who are hired to help run the summer camps with the staff). Both have an amazing talent on the piano, but lack the training to read music. In their spare time, they're receiving their first piano lessons from a couple interns... and they're having a blast. At least 800 youth are growing up and learning in this Christian environment, just like the twins. It's only a small part of a big city, but as the staff will tell you, God's work is accomplishing great things in Camden!

Check out the full range of programming in this international organization.

See what Camden Printworks, an off-shoot teeshirt company from UP, can make for you.

"The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. 'I am not alone and unacknowledged.' They nod to me and I to them." —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Asparagus, the delightfully tall and slender stalks with a modest green complexion. Squash, rosy and round in the middle, filled with pure harvest sunshine. Cauliflower, the queen anne's lace transformed to a forest architecture, pure and white. Inch by inch, this year's garden is realizing its potential, whether it come by taste, or for the more adventurous, by toss...


Garrison Keillor, radio notable (Prairie Home Companion), writer and storyteller shares this rich moment in his book Lake Wobegon Days...


What a target! She was seventeen, a girl with big hips, and bending over, she looked like the side of a barn. I picked up a tomato so big it sat on the ground. It looked like it had sat there for a week. The underside was brown. Small white worms lived in it. It was very juicy. I had to handle it carefully to keep from spilling it on myself. I stood up and took aim, and went into the wind-up, when my mother at the kitchen window called my name in a sharp voice. I had to decide quickly. I decided.


Read more from the pages of Keillor's books.


Select tonight's dinner from over 700 veggie recipes.

"...With that brave and profound decision, the Founders demonstrated their love for liberty and proved that they were willing to fight and die for freedom."
—George W. Bush

Today is America's independence day. But in the City of Philadelphia, the festivities last all week. That's because the 4th of July wasn't the only important date in our nation's birth. Take July 8th for example: just four days after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the great bell in the Pennsylvania State House rang out to announce a public meeting. This wasn't just any meeting agenda. This was the first public reading of the Declaration, a message that would then went out in all shapes and forms to touch lives even two hundred and twenty-six years later.

The Liberty Bell is one symbol of that living document. Cast in England, the bell cracked upon arrival in Philly (by natural adjustment to moving and weather conditions in the colonies). A new cast was constructed. Almost a century later, it also cracked. Repairs were futile and after the 1846 ringing to recognize George Washington's birthday, the bell has not been fully rung (except to celebrate the bicentennial with a quiet ringing with a small hammer). The bell's inscription reads: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada." That abbreviation is for Leviticus 25:10, by the way.

The bell is about to take its place in a new exhibit hall with a grand view of the State House (known by current standards as the famous "Independence Hall") in time for next year's extended July festivities (designed in part by the Philadelphia-based architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson). Again the skies will light up, the songs will rise from the masses, and the dream will reign in all our hearts to live free.

Experience the Independence National Historical Park.

Celebrate the longest and largest birthday party at the birthplace of our nation.