So the Ladder Ball story which ran this week got a pretty big bounce, especially online. Here is a picture of our heroes, who were excellent subjects, appearing as if on cue in Ventnor on the day I went looking for a game in progress, and launching into an excellent discussion of possible philosophical underpinnings of their hanging balls game within 30 seconds of me wandering up to them with a notebook and a very weak brown colored pencil that I dug out of my beach bag.  It's that kind of thing that makes reporters give thanks to the journalism gods. They even stuck around while I went back home to get a pen and my camera. (Beach reporting can sometimes leave a person unequipped.) The comments attached to the story are pretty funny, though a little too much discussion of the people pictured in the photos, but yea, for once, it's not a girl in a bikini who was most prominent in a beach photo (though she's part of the gang, above.). Deal with it. And as to whether an elaborately assembled, competitive ball game is the most highly evolved way to spend time on the beach, or some sign of lack of appreciation for the simple pleasures of sand, surf and sky, the debate rages on.

Also, Tom Colicchio, foodie rock star, pulls one out of the oven. And updated with the story from the A.C. Food and Wine Festival.