Happy Thanksgivingukkah from Papa Smurf

 

 

 

Greetings to our blog-readers in Nigeria, Cyprus and Japan. We have chosen Papa Smurf as the best pop culture entity to wish everyone a Happy Tahnksgivingukkah as a large helium balloon of him is likely to be in tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and because images of Sonic the Hedgehog, who will also be in the parade, are too darn hard to find!

 

We have put together a dream Thanksgiving dinner list, which can be found on our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

 

Today (Thursday), we are celebrating Thanksgiving here in America, and this year the holiday overlaps with Hanukkah, so the term Thanksgivingukkah has been termed for the occasion.

 

 

Spiritual leader Kate Judd of the Shir Herharim Jewish community in Brattleboro, Vermont, told her local paper that she felt the mixture of the two holidays was a nice coincidence. Several years, we found out by chance that there is a synagogue in Waco, Tex., called the Congregation Agudath Jacob, where Rabbi Gordon Fuller is a minister.

 

http://wwwbajcvermont.org

 

http://www.aquath-waco.org

 

 

In the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the Hotel Strasburg in downtown Strasburg, a town of 5,000, that is an hour and half south of Washington, DC, will hosting a traditional Thanksging dinner to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m

 

http://www.hotelstrasburg.com

http://www.trianglevegsociety.org/

 

 

Tomorrow, in Durham, NC, the largest vegan/vegetarian Thanksgiving diner in America will take place. The event organized by the Triangle Vegetarian Society has already sold out for seating. But, the event, first organized in 1992, will presumably be taking reservations for Thanksgiving2014 soon.

Amadeus in Bethesda- The Return- Entry 3 of 3

After finishing up with the National Gallery, my mom and I decided it was time head back to the hotel in northern Virginia via the DC Metro and then get on I-66 towards Front Royal, Va., a small town that actually objected to being named in an "X-Files" episode some ten years ago. The drive from the DC suburbs to Front Royal takes approximately an hour depending on traffic congestion.

Since my mom was very tired, I volunteered to take over for the rest of the drive in Strasburg, Va., another small town that is 15 miles south of Front Royal, which was known for some kitschy tourist attractions, such as The Museum of American Presidents. Alas, many of them have abruptly closed within the last two years for failing to make a profit, among other factors.

We were discussing where we could eat in Strasburg. I knew there was Christina's Cafe, a quaint coffee shop that has only been open for a few years and a Mexican restaurant. But, we found a Denny's that I had never seen before in Strasburg. Sure enough, it was owned by the local J.R. Ewing, a local oil tycoon from Mount Jackson, Va., named Bill Holtzman. (Seemingly every other business in Shenandoah County, which includes Mount Jackson and Strasburg, is owned by Holtzman; I used to a be a reporter for a local newspaper in the county).

While there, I ran into someone who is somehow still a photographer at what was a rival newspaper of our's when I was at "The Shenandoah Valley-Herald" in Woodstock, Va., from 1999-2001. We had not seen each other in over ten years. I was amazed he was still in the newspaper business given that turnover is high, and cutbacks in recent years have become even more drastic than they were when I was a reporter for the 'Herald."

So, it was my turn to jump behind the wheel. I was expecting that it would take about two hours and 45 minutes to get to Roanoke from Strasburg. As I've gently hinted at on this blog before, my mother is someone who likes to be the leader in a group as she was the oldest of six children growing up in South Carolina. This is not easy for anyone who is her offspring (well, I am not speaking for my sister), but in recent years she has made an earnest effort to be more accomodating.

Nevertheless, right away, my mom started telling me to slow down even though I was driving about 63 miles per hours in a 70 MPH zone. And, she didn't want me to 'get to close' to the other vehicles even though I was a good 20 feet behind them even as big trucks were sneaking up on me in the rear view mirror.

Somehow, as I passed the teepee near Mount Jackson, the statue of Johnny Appleseed in New Market and the old hotel sign in Harrisonburg, three of many things which stand out as one journeys through the Shenandoah Valley corridor of I-81, I knew the night was going to turn into a Stephen King novel.

And, when we got to Staunton, there was indeed major road construction. The lanes started to merge. Immature drivers were starting to try to creep into my lane as their lane was gradually closing, and my mom ironically told me to get close to the car in front of me to keep them from butting in. This lasted for about an hour.

When we got to Lexington, I started to brief a sigh of relief. But, around Buchanan, a very small hamlet which is 23 miles from Roanoke, I realized that we had not left Godzilla*, the family cat, enough food. Sure enough, when we got home Godzilla had devoured all six cans we had left him. He was hungry; he was mad. I fed him and changed his liter box. But, of course, he wasn't happy for Godzilla wanted out even though it was midnight.

I then went on the Internet to see, just in case, if there was a terrorist attack or an earthquake/mud slide somewhere, since the radical evangelical nutcase Harold Camping was forecasting doomsday. Of course, there wasnt' anything of that sort, though when I woke up in the morning, I realized much to my shock and horror that I had come down with a sinus infection.

*-Godzilla is not the family cat's real name, though he does act like him quiet often.

We're Back on the Air- I Hope....

For the last three weeks, there have been many-a-snafus with my mom's personal home computer, and I have summoned to Milton, West Virginia*, to help assist her with it for more or less the last three weekends in a row. It looks they might perhaps very well be fixed. But, like the possibility of yesterday's federal government shutdown (which thankfully didn't go through) anything bad can happen even if you are optomistic as Cheech and Chong when they are high!

So, tonight I could sit back and watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" which airs on most PBS stations around the nation at 7:00 p.m., including North Carolina Public Television (unctv.org), Blue Ridge PBS in Roanoke, Va., (blueridgepbs.org) and Oklahoma Public Television, which syndicates the show.

(*-my mom does not actually reside in Milton, West Virginia).

Lawrence Welk (1903-1992) was born in Strasburg, N.Dak., which is not to be confused with Strasburg, Va., a little town some 75 miles south of Washington, DC, that we mention a lot on this blog.

While researching this entry, we found that American honky tonk singer Danni Leigh, who is my age (we're both a year older than Scooby Doo), resides in Strasburg, Va. On April 22 and 23, Leigh returns to her home state to perform at The Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Tex.

Wikipedia described Welk, whose originally ran from 1955 to 1982, as 'a musician, accordionist, bandleader and tv impresario.'

It should also be pointed out that all the people who watch Lawrence Welk's show tonight in places like Mount Airy, NC, can stay tuned to the British comedy series "As Time Goes By" afterwards. We can't imagine that the college students in Chapel Hill will be watching either of these shows, but then again I listen to Mozart and Metallica!

Oscar Predictions Teaser

Tomorrow, in case life returns to normalcy (well one can always hope, right?!), I am hoping to start posting my Oscar predictions. We intend to post them over six entries on our two collective blogs ("Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" is our other blog. Check out the Oscar the Grouch t-shirt on our entry there today---presuming the hotlink goes through, ok!).

Walter Matthau played Oscar Madison in the film version of Neil Simon's hilarious play "The Odd Couple." I saw the play performed at The Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Va., near Winchester and Strasburg (an hour and a half south of Washington, DC), where Susan Sarandon once performed in a play before she became famous_ we presume it wasn't "The Odd Couple." The playhouse is now producing "Southern Crossroads: The New Orleans Adventure" with stage actor Robbie Limon in the lead.

Though I'm not one to make personal confessions on this blog, I must reluctantly profess to 'being a bit of an Oscar Madison myself.' As it turns out, there really is a group called Clutterers Anonymous, which I had first heard about the other day.

In fact, and perhaps one can insert the 'only in America' cliche here, they have a rival/complimentary group called Messies Anonymous!

Status Update_ Need Some Coffee

Status Update for 1/26: "I could really, really go 4 a double espresso or a vanilla mocha right now!"

For those with similar cravings, I recommend two great small town coffee shops. In Strasburg, Va., some 75 miles south of Washington, DC, there is Cristina's Cafe, where the Northern Virginia blues band Blues Condition will be performing on Saturday night.

In Reidsville, NC, east of Greensboro, there is a nifty place called The Backstreet Buzz, where the indie/folk/rock band Poverty Level from the hamlet of Stuart, Va., in Patrick County in southwest Va., plays on Saturday night as well.

We also found out there is a chain in the Pittsburgh-metro area called Crazy Mocha.

And, apparently, in Islamabad, Pakistan,-of all places, there is a coffee house called Addiction Cafe!

DC Diary- Some Very Expensive Tamales

Much of Day Three of our Christmas Family Trip to Washington, DC, which was on Wednesday, was spent at the fairly new Smithsonian Native American Museum.

Among the things we found out at this rather large museum was that rock pioneer Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) of Seattle was of Native American heritage, in addition to being black and he wore fancy costumes (one of which was on display) to pay homage to his heritage.

But, before we went through the museum which also featured art exhibits and historical/cultural displays, we ate lunch....and, a very expensive lunch at that in the museum's cafeteria.

My sister and I both got tamales with two sides, and the dishes cost a staggering twenty dollars each! My mom got a vegetarian soup and a sweet potato tart while my brother-in-law had either a pizza or a burger with a Bohemia beer and a cheesecake. The meal cost a shocking $95!

I asked my brother-in-law (who is not actually named Sven, nor is he Swedish- see earlier entry) is Bohemia was a Czech beer, but it turned out to be Mexican. While researching this piece, I found out that Bohemia, like another Mexican beer Pacifico, is made in the Pilsner style which originated in a part of what is now the Czech Republic.

My brother-in-law had a slight dispute as we were dinning as I had recalled an article in "Esquire" that stated the best tamales in America were found in Mississippi. He countered that they were actually found in New Mexico.

As it turns out, both of us could very be right.

Tamales are a traditional Latin dish, that is even found in India, made of masa, a corn-based starch dough. Along with Mexico, the Latin form of tamales can be found in Cuba, Argentina, El Salvador, Belize and Guatemala among other countries.

Tamales came to the United States in 1893, and quickly became popular among African-Americans, hence the reason why they are popular in the Deep South, particularly Mississippi, as well as in western states like Arizona and New Mexico with large Hispanic populations.

One place where one can find tamales in the South is at Fat Mama Tamales in Natchez, Miss., while there is a restaurant called Leona's Taurante in the hamlet of Chimayo, N.Mex, which also specializes in the dish.

One can even order frozen tamales from santafetamales.com (phone: 505-471-4766), including red chile tamales, green chile tamales and vegan tamales.

SIDEBAR: We want to congratulate the town of Strasburg, Va., about one hour and 15 minutes south of Washington, DC, on their 250th anniversary which is being celebrated tonight. The town is home to The Strasburg High School Rams, The Hotel Strasburg and The Strasburg Emporium, which is among the most popular antiques malls in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

50 Beers From Around the World- Kronenbourg 1664 (France)

Kronenbourg 1664 Beer, France's best-selling brew, was started in the year 1664 in Strasbourg, France (not to be confused with Strasburg, Va., which is an hour south of Washington, DC).

KUDOS: Congrats to the Virginia Tech Hokies for beating the N.C. State Wolfpack 41-30on the road Saturday.

SIDEBAR: We would have more to say today, but it is a Monday and we have a lot of bogabok (which is Turkish for something associated with a type of cow) to take care of! Efes Pilsen, by the way, is the most popular beer in Turkey.

My Alma Mater GHS Wins Homecoming Game

We diligently tried to come up with game stats and find articles about how many touchdowns were thrown by the Glenvar High School (Salem, VA) quarterback, whose name I don't know. But, my GHS classmate Barry Hurley did the duties in the fall of 1987 when (I believe) we lost to the Covington High School Cougars.

But, the times have changed and Covington High School from Covington, Va., near the West Virginia border in the lower Shenandoah Valley (a town that really smells!) was a powerhouse then. Today, they are apparently a bit of a doormat.

So, in short, my alma mater The Glenvar Highlanders beat Covington 35-14 in their homecoming game. GHS is now undefeated at 4-0!

The other area team Salem High School, which is a football powerhouse (GHS has had good years and bad years), beat Northside High School from Roanoke County by a 17-13. The Spartans' victory ended the Vikings' 17 game winning streak.

Alas, our beloved Floyd County Buffaloes from Floyd, Va. (we love their mascot) lost a very close game to Forth Chiswell High School near Wytheville, Va., by a 22-21 margin. Ironically, Floyd County HS hosts GHS on Nov. 9.

And, lastly, kudos to the Strasburg High School Rams from Strasburg, Va., in the northern Shenandoah Valley for beating Page County High School 36-22. We imagine everyone in the stands was a Republican (it's a VERY conservative area where some folks are to the right of Pat Boone_, but we still hope they had a good time.

As for on-going games in college football this p.m. At last report from Twitter, Virginia Tech was winning 16-0 over Boston College and the North Carolina State Wolfpack were beating the favored Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a 31-14 margin.

We also fully expect that UVA is winning their home game over VMI, but then again JMU did beat Virginia Tech 21-16 in Blacksburg just two weeks ago!

SIDEBAR: My friend Ali Arikan of Istanbul, Turkey, tweeted that a Hooters is opening up there! As he put it so well in his tweet: "The joke makes itself!" Personally, I think that's a very bad idea.......at least, we hope they don't serve pork!