I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had a blast because 1) Tara didn't have to work and 2) I got to have dinner with my in-laws and dessert with my side of the family. To get to see everybody made it a special day.
Last year, you may recall, I attempted to play soccer at Oceanside Park, with disastrous results. At least this year, I stayed home and watched the parade. That way, I wasn't hobbling around all weekend.
NEWS ITEM: Black (and Blue) Friday
Flashback: Guess what city and state will report the first major injuries from Black Friday trampling, win valuable prizes.-Weekly Mail: November 20, 2016.
The first report of casualties I saw from Black Friday came from Atlantic City, NJ. Followed by Reno, NV. (I went shopping in Reno just to watch someone die)
Now, some of you may think me an insensitive a-hole for making light of Black Friday violence. And maybe I shouldn't. I abhor violence of all kinds, my heart breaks when any innocent person is a victim of violence, be it gun violence, knife violence whatever.
Some innocent person getting killed in a drive by shooting? That's a tragedy.
Someone getting killed in a fight over a Tickle Me Elmo doll at 5 AM on Black Friday?
I'm sorry, that's not such a tragedy.
What THAT is, is senseless violence that is perpetrated by the stores themselves, with their obnoxious commercials, and their decision to set their hours either in the wee hours of Friday morning, or worse late Thanksgiving night.
And here's the dirty little secret that nobody wants you to know.. There is nothing that you need to buy on Black Friday at that ridiculous hour that you can't get some other time, at the same discounted price. The idea that you have to beat the crap out of someone to get a gift at that hour because you won't be able to either 1) get that item or 2) get it at that price is absurd.
I remember as a kid watching the news with my mom and dad on a summer Sunday night, and without fail at least once a summer, there would be a story about a plane crashing during an airshow that killed the pilot and multiple people on the ground. "It happens every year " they would say "and yet, they'll do it again."
Same thing with Black Friday, multiple deaths every year. But next year, get there early.
OBITUARIES:
1) Florence Henderson: Most of us were not yet born (or too young to remember) when The Brady Bunch was a prime time show on ABC, but we all remember the afternoon reruns on Channel 5 or 11 when we were growing up. Even though the Brady Bunch wore the clothes and hairstyles of their time, (and thank the Lord those shirts, pants and man-perms all stayed right there in the 70's) the message of family unity and learning from mistakes transcend time. A family led by a kind, loving mom who was tough when she needed to be, but always fair.
That was Carol Brady, played to perfection by Florence Henderson.
Like Robert Reed, who played her on screen husband Mike Brady. Henderson had several credits to her name before the Brady Bunch, and was a multi talented actress and singer. Unlike Reed, she didn't seem to harbor any resentment over the Brady Bunch role being her defining moment. When Reed died in 1992, many of his obits claimed that he hated the role of Mike Brady and complained to anyone who would listen that he was a classically trained Shakespearean actor)
She embraced the idea of being a mother that everyone could look up to. There is something to be said about that. She'll be missed.
2) Ron Glass- AKA Detective Harris on Barney Miller. I can't remember who it was, but I remember when NYPD Blue was on, I was talking to a retired cop. He was saying that while the cases that the cops on Blue were working on were realistic, the way those cops spoke to each other was totally unrealistic. "No cop talks like that" my friend told me. "Do you know what cop show is the most realistic in terms of how cops really carry themselves?"
Hill Street Blues? Kojak? I asked
\
Barney Miller was the response.
The grimy police station, the off the wall characters they arrested, not to mention the off the wall characters that worked there. You know what? I believe it.
Ron Glass played Det. Ron Harris, the squad's lone African American and aspiring novelist. A guy who at times seemed more interested in writing than in doing his job (something I can relate to). Barney Miller was one of the great ensemble shows of the 70's if not all time. It's definitely one of my favorite old shows, and Harris was a big part of that. Sad to hear of his passing.
Last and Least
3) Fidel Castro- Readers of this blog know that although I believe that President Obama often has his heart in the right place, sometimes it leads him to decisions that I don't believe are in our best interests.
His decision to normalize relations with Cuba, without winning concessions on human rights violations and turning over exiles hiding there, was another decision that I felt could have been better handled.
What Fidel Castro did to the people of Cuba for the past 57 years is disgraceful. And don't take my word for it, ask any Cuban exile, go see how they are whooping it up in Miami as if the Dolphins finally won another Super Bowl, now that the cigar chomping dictator finally died at age 90.
Castro had baffled every US President from Eisenhower to Bush 43. (His brother Raul has ruled Cuba for the past 10 years). He had provided aid and comfort to our enemies, in addition to the brutality he imposed on the Cuban people.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who seems like a nice enough guy, praised Castro in a statement, which I find baffling. President Obama said he hoped that relations will continue to improve between the two nations.
I do too. Sending back cop killer Joanne Chesmard would go a long way to doing that. Fidel Castro dying this weekend? That will probably help as well.
I promised to finish these up on a positive note, (and I apologize for bringing in a little bit of politics on the Castro thing) so here goes.
My assignment for Thanksgiving was to bake an apple pie.
Now my late grandmother baked what pretty much anyone who ever tasted it swore was the best apple pie ever. I knew going into this project that I wasn't going to match, let alone top her masterpiece. Still I picked the brains of my sister and my aunt, who have done pretty well at replicating the Grandma Gallagher masterpiece.
So last Sunday we made our first attempt at it. I learned a few lessons from my first foray into the family business. 1) I needed to cut the apples smaller, because they we sticking out through the crust. 2) I needed to roll the dough out a bit more because I barely had enough to cover the pie.
It tasted all right, but it wasn't aesthetically pleasing.
I tried again on Tuesday, this time making extra dough and cutting down the apples. It actually looked more like an apple pie, though still a far cry from Krissy or Aunt Dot's. I plan on trying again for Christmas.
Stay safe out there my friends
And Have a Great Week
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