Well, I didn’t expect it, but I ended up taking a bit of a blogging break for Christmahanakwanzaka. We had people in for the holiday starting on Christmas Eve, and they all left yesterday. During that time, I was cooking up a storm (unfortunately, though, I didn’t take many pictures). It was great to have a full house (and then also great to get the house back!), but it didn’t leave any time for reading or posting to the internet.
In the meantime, the music world has lost a couple of truly wonderful performers. On Christmas Eve, we were relaxing to some random music when a song came on with a familiar voice. We tossed around a few possibilities while trying to identify the singer, and the consensus in the room was that it must be Eartha Kitt. That then led to a discussion of Kitt’s great and varied body of work. She really did have an incredible life, and we were sad to hear of her death the next day.
And I was also sorry to hear of the death, two days later, of Delaney Bramlett. I still have a very clear memory of the first time I ever heard his music. Back in the days before the CD, there was a used record store up in Buffalo, not far from the small town where I spent my college breaks, that was famous all over western New York. I brought Ralph home with me at some point and the two of us made the pilgrimage up to the north side of the Queen City, where we stopped for wings and skins, along with some Genny Cream — all tasty delights with local origins — and then went on to spend the afternoon perusing the selection at the legendary Play It Again Sam on Elmwood.
Now, back in the days before file sharing and sampling and YouTube, we kids used to discover new music by turning on the radio or listening to each other’s collections — or by hanging out in hip shops, flipping through the racks and stacks of records. It was especially enlightening to do so with Ralph, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of music — he’s one of those people who pays close attention to the liner notes, finding out what session musicians appeared on which tracks, what sort of process led to the final product, and so on. And when he peeked over my shoulder and saw me inspecting a vinyl copy of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour, the ensuing discussion prompted me to take it home, where I was properly blown away — not just by Delaney and Bonnie’s virtuosity, but also by their impressive array of friends.
Both Delaney and Eartha were great institutions in the music world, and it’s a shame we’ll have to move into the new year without them.
Yeah, OK — Christians aren’t allowed to make praise music anymore. They’ve gone too far and it must be banned.
It’s my most favorite holiday of the year, kids! Simple, sincere, uncomplicated… the centerpiece of the day is a wonderful meal with loved ones (here’s a tip regarding that from Mignon McLaughlin!) with cooking before — and after, some napping, sports, games, strolling, and general fun. It doesn’t get any better that that! So, here’s your Thanksgiving post, largely assembled last night, after I finished up a bit of prep for today’s cooking. But I’ll add to it if I find any additional delights throughout the day, so if you have a chance, check back before you lapse into your l-tryptophan-enduced coma later this afternoon!
First off, here’s the soundtrack to this post, because of course, it’s Thanksgiving, so you have to listen to Alice’s Restaurant Massacree (I certainly suffered enough as a child because of it, so you damn well better listen and enjoy!) ;-D
[Note: if you want to buy this album, be careful to get the 30th Anniversary Edition (which is RIAA-free), and not the original album (which is not).]
And if anyone’s curious, here’s our menu for this year: turkey (we got a 15 lb. free-range, organic bird this year), oyster stuffing, Ralph’s mashed potatoes (which are becoming famouser by the year), gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli-corn bake, whiskey glazed carrots, pumpkin bread, Emmie’s fantastic cheddar bay biscuits, and apple pie. We’ll be a fairly small group of just four or five people, so that ought to fill us up. (Sorry, no turbaconducken, and no turgooduccochiqua!)
But on with the turkey day links…
Have you turned on the TV yet? What are you waiting for? The holiday weekend marathons may have already started!
Get it right! Here are your Top 6 Thanksgiving Myths!
Sorry to be Captain Bringdown here, but all that food on the table… have you thought about who participated in getting it there?
A few great Thanksgiving special TV episodes!
10 ways to give back on Thanksgiving.
8 Thanksgiving specials no one is thankful for!
For the Nate Silver in each of us: Thanksgiving charts and stats!
Thanksgiving isn’t original — here are some other harvest festivals (and some crazy ones).
The worst things about Thanksgiving.
Top 5 Thanksgiving Movies — wait, no — or is it Top 10 Thanksgiving Movies?
Things to talk about on Thanksgiving.
Tips for getting along with difficult relatives today.
Ten things you can only say on Thanksgiving!
Charles Phoenix’s Tiki-Turkey Dinner.
Five Novels That Serve Up Thanksgiving Dinners.
A humanist Thanksgiving proclamation.
An awesome moment from this morning’s Macy’s parade (see it here, too)!
Vintage photos of past Macy’s parades.
Political turkeys of the year.
Charlie Chaplin’s Thanksgiving.
Bartlet calls the Butterball Hotline.
Let Us Remember the True Meaning of Thanksgiving Before It’s Abolished.
What’s Bush eating today? Here’s the menu!
Here’s yet another reason to be disappointed in the former and yet another reason to avoid any artists associated with the latter: RIAA’s Ripoff Of Tennessee. Given the current desperate condition of Tennessee’s university system, the fact that Bredesen made a priority of this should be a source of profound shame for him — once again, he cast aside the needs of the citizens of his state for the sake of some antediluvian friends who are still stubbornly attempting to make a mid-20th-century business plan work in a digital world.
UPDATE: Guess what? Tennessee looking at HUGE tuition increases.
One of these days, in this post-Bush world, I’m going to get around to finally doing some music posts. When I do, if the series goes as planned, I’ll talk about my favorite music — the artists who have been keeping me company since… well, since I recovered from the horrible pop music predilections of my prepubescence — and that list certainly features The Kinks, who, as suggested here, probably have been underdocumentaried.
Imeem has presidential playlists and Dianne has a personal playlist for the day.
And then there’s this — I’ll squeeze in one more rerun…
I had MSNBC tuned in while I was fixing some dinner a little while ago and all of a sudden, I heard Paul Simon’s voice singing. I spun around and there on the TV was a shot of some dude tying his shoe while Paul was singing American Tune — one of my favorite Simon songs. I have to admit that one of my first thoughts was “oh nooooos! Please, it can’t be true! I don’t want to live in a world where Paul Freakin’ Simon is a sell-out! Nooooo!” But then, as I watched, it quickly dawned on me that this wasn’t a commercial — it was a political ad. As I watched, the hair on my neck started to stand up, and there at the end with the lyric, “I wonder what’s gone wrong,” I saw a picture of Bush and McCain.
Just beautiful.
And because it’s such lovely, gentle song that is a joy to behold, here’s the whole thing:
… for this photo of my mother in Oslo just a few years ago. She always appreciated the fact that Norwegians throw a big party every year for her birthday and she got to visit the country several times over the years, as part of her many travel adventures.
UPDATE: also check out this winsome video over on Smokies Light! It breaks my heart (in a good way).
UPDATE: and the more raucous give peace a chance.
