My friends and I are often discussing what we think is hot. By hot we mean attractive, sexy, appealing. A few recent topics: septum piercing (not), leggings (sometimes), men who care for their children without calling it babysitting (always). I was thinking about Bookmans sponsorship of the Northern Arizona Highland Celtic Festival this coming weekend, and found myself claiming that Celtic festivals are hot.

Why, you might ask? Well, Celtic festivals have men in kilts, and since men usually have nicer legs than women, this is a good thing. What happened to short basketball shorts anyway? Men in short shorts was one of the few good things about '70s fashion...but I digress. Celtic festivals also have men tossing cabers (or logs), doing tug-of-wars, and these displays of brute strength really do it for some of us. Plus, there's the whiskey tasting and beer gardens to mellow the mood, lithe dancing ladies with fast legs, the inspiring bagpipe music, and labyrinths! I mean, who doesn't want to chase their significant other through a labyrinth?

On top of all this frisky fun, there's the fact that Celtic festivals are also usually family friendly, so mom or pop can say “why don't you kids go toss some oatmeal/learn to tie knots/read some bones” etc and then go chase each other through the labyrinth! And I suppose one can also have more reserved fun, like learning about your family clan, watching book readings and whatnot – but, personally, I prefer the sidelines of the Scottish athletics. “Go on boys,” I'll be hollering, “toss that tree!”