Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes to my readers on this holiday.

Thanksgiving Shopping Is Done

Did my Thanksgiving shopping at the local Food Lion. While there I saw this advertisement:

I guess they're not quite ripe yet?

A tractor-trailer arrived as I was leaving, it was full of Christmas trees.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

Happy Thanksgiving!

A blessed Thanksgiving to all of my readers. As it happens occasionally, it is also my birthday - - 54th, to be exact. Here's a photo of the 54-year old fatman:

I make the skull beads in my hatband from the teeth of my enemies, incidentally. ;-)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to my readers. As is the case most years, I'm at work as I type this. My mom while she was alive would always call at midnight and wish me a happy new year; I miss that, and her. I wish all of you the best for the upcoming year.

Meanwhile, In Brasstown, NC...

...the annual New Year's Eve Possum Drop again won't feature a live possum.

Thanks, PETA. He should find a roadkilled possum, have it taxidermied with an upraised middle digit, and put it in a "Fuck PETA" t-shirt for the event.

Remember Them

(photo found here. Wilmington National Cemetery, Wilmington, NC)

Happy New Year

That is all.

Happy Thanksgiving

A happy holiday to all of you.

Happy Veteran's Day...

...to my fellow veterans.

There's No Holiday That a Liberal Isn't Willing To Condemn

In Binghamton, New York, a liberal Catholic pastor isn't willing to participate in a collection that honors military service, saying that it represents an increase in "militarism in our culture."

Meanwhile, in UK, an equally liberal Anglican vicar is condemning one of Britain's most beloved hymns as a paean to nationalism.

Folks, there isn't a holiday in the US calendar that a liberal won't condemn for one reason or another, save perhaps Labor Day, which holds special meaning for their little Red hearts. Christmas? Too commercial, not inclusive enough, endangers the sacred Wall of Separation between church and state. Thanksgiving? A celebration of our exploitation of Native Americans. Columbus Day, likewise. Easter? Christian (makes spitting noise). Memorial Day and Veteran's Day? Glorify war. Independence Day? Patriotism is for retards. Presidents' Day? Slaveholders and racists.

Here's the hymn that the vicar condemns:



The music is by British composer Gustav Holst, and is a reworking of the Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity theme from The Planets:

Happy Independence Day!

Photo found here.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of my readers. Let's hope it's a quiet one, without any drama.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes for a happy holiday, with good food and good companionship.

Very best wishes to those serving in the military, God Bless you all and have a safe Thanksgiving!

My Thanksgiving Pledge

I believe that shopping and Black Friday have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. I therefore pledge to do no shopping, even for staples I might have forgotten or run out of, from sundown Wednesday until dawn on Friday. Some things are more important than lining the pockets of corporate fatcats on a holiday that should be dedicated to gratitude to God that we live in this wonderful country.

If you agree, feel free to copy/paste this pledge into your own blog and/or Facebook.

I Guess It's Still Hooked On, But Now It Shoots Too Quick*

Some of us men have experience with that very same problem.


*Identify the reference without Googling, please.

Good Riddance To 2011

Any year in which you lose your mother and your sister has to have surgery for cancer can't be credited as a good year. Let's hope that 2012 is better. *crosses fingers, touches wood*

Hope all of you had a nice New Year's Eve. I slept through it, myself.

It's Arizona's Version of the Poe Toaster

That is to say, a mystery recurring over many years, to the delight of local residents.

Once upon a time on a Thanksgiving weekend long ago, an unassuming juniper tree on Arizona Interstate 17 became more than just a tree.

Under cover of darkness, parties unknown adorned the evergreen with ribbons and ornaments and tinsel so that motorists between Phoenix and Flagstaff might smile and admire its cheery demeanor.

As sometimes happens, the secret trimming became a holiday tradition, and it became a subject of Arizona lore.

The spectacle was dubbed "Mystery Christmas Tree."

For about three decades, travelers eagerly awaited a glittering diversion in the median near Milepost 254, just north of the Sunset Point rest area.

Investigative journalists tried -- and failed -- to identify the anonymous decorators. Some folks credited Santa's helpers. Others insisted that Arizona Highway Patrol officers or Department of Transportation workers were involved.

But no one was ever caught in the act, and nobody stepped forward.

Just like the Poe Toaster, whose decades-long tradition of "toasting" the grave of Edgar Allan Poe on the occasion of the poet's annual January birthday sadly came to an end a couple of years ago.

Happy Thanksgiving To You All.

I hope you enjoy a happy and blessed Thanksgiving, whether you are alone or with your family. Most especially my thoughts go out to military members around the world. Be safe out there.

Posting will resume on Friday.

Update: President George Washington's Proclamation of the first national Thanksgiving Day, 26 November 1789. (h/t Cassy Chesser)

Thanksgiving Wishes

My best wishes to all of you on Thanksgiving.