The Inquisitr » thanksgiving

The White House presents: The Turkey Pardon Spoof

Steven Hodson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:06 +0000

This is much really but as a lead in to a rather silly American tradition you gotta admire the willingness to have a little bit of fun. In preparation for the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon ceremony at the White House with President Obama they released this spoof of the event – which is really more like an announcement if you ask me.

Black Friday? Amazon Always!

Kyle Brady — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:13:56 +0000

In case you don’t live in America, or you do and choose to ignore social calendars, this week holds the holiday of Thanksgiving on Thursday, a mixed-message celebration of the arrival of the Pilgrims, and is followed by what is known as “Black Friday”. What better way to celebrate the arrival of our poor, hungry, puritanical ancestors than to participate in a heathen festival of money throwing and retail gorging?

Sorry, but the cake is a lie.

For the last decade, Amazon.com has positioned itself as the de facto online retail destination where almost all products can be found on the cheap – even those you didn’t know you wanted. It started with CD book sales and has rapidly expanded to include everything you can buy in a brick-and-mortar store: electronics, clothes, music, gardening supplies, kitchen utensils… everything.

This is why Black Friday is on its way out.

Black Friday occurs either one of two ways, from a retailer perspective: either they mark up the prices so high that a “50% off” deal is really more expensive than the item was a week prior, or they make very small profit margins off each item while hoping for large volume. The problem here lies in their inability to use a crystal ball – not only have retail sales been declining recently because of the Great Recession, thereby erasing any low-price-high-volume ideas, but they had also stagnated prior to the economic catastrophe of 2008.

The reason for this is obvious: Amazon’s sales have been skyrocketing ever since 2003, and in a world where teenagers, young adults, and the otherwise youthful-at-heart prefer to spend their shopping time getting what they want or need, for low prices, in a matter of moments, retail seems doomed. As a busy, budding adult of almost-22, it’s far easier for me to order anything I need via Amazon and have it appear two days later at my apartment door than it is to find it at some store, fight the unwashed masses, and wait in line for two hours to overpay.

It is my belief, which is founded upon raw data and the sage knowledge of the informed young, that Black Friday 2009 will be a catastrophic disaster, and may actually be the last time it’s promoted so heavily. People don’t have money, and aren’t spending as much as they normally would, so does fighting over a “Tickle Me Elmo” in Walmart at 6am really seem that appealing? That fistful of cash could easily pay for some of the economic farce that is fuel, or maybe help me upgrade my food for a day from tomatoes and rice to flavorful baked beans.

The proof will be in the pudding, as it were, but if the economic indicators and societal mood has shown anything in the last year or more, it’s that Americans are no longer willing to spend money willy-nilly, and corporate greed has become one of their pet peeves.

Now if only Goldman Sachs had a Black Friday sale, they might be pushed to legitimate bankruptcy…

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction. He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

NYC Tavern Offering 100 Proof Vodka Turkey

AHN — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:05:28 +0000

New York, NY (AHN) – A Manhattan bar and tavern is offering patrons a turkey infused with 100 proof vodka for the Thanksgiving Holiday. It will be the country’s first 100 proof turkey.

The idea was a twist for the Thanksgiving holiday thought by Paul Hurley, owner of the Irish bar O’Casey’s Tavern on 22 East 41st Street between Fifth and Madison Avenue.

Hurley unveils Monday the preparation of the turkey with a press conference. The infusion of fruit flavored Georgi vodka will take three days before the turkey hits final cooking.

The gravy will also be made of light vodka.

O’Casey’s will make the turkey available for eating, except for those under 21. The recipe will be placed at every liquor store in the nation.

The bar is offering a free taxi ride in the city for those who will order the turkey.

Has the Cartoon Network killed Rickrolling?

Duncan Riley — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:26:19 +0000

The above motivational poster is doing the rounds after the “surprise” appearance of Risk Astley singing the ultimate Rickroll at the Macy’s Thanks Giving Parade yesterday.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Rick Astley Rickroll as follows. It’s a good laugh, but you can sort of understand the sentiments: its no longer an insider joke when the half of America is in on it during the biggest parade of the year.

What do you think: has the Cartoon Network killed Rickrolling?

Celebrity Thanksgiving Plans Revealed

Meieli Sawyer — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:04:41 +0000

Stuffed full of Tofurkey and regular barnyard bird? Let’s see how the celebs are spending their Thanksgiving, compliments of some very nosy Us mag reporters. Even though Jennifer Aniston was voted the no. 1 celeb to spend time with on Turkey Day, Paris is the one who will be cooking up a storm this year. Surprised? Check out some of our favorites:

Hayden Panettiere: “I’ll be spending it with my family in New York. I’ve never spent a Thanksgiving or Christmas away from them. There will be lots of food, football, sitting, chatting.”

Paris Hilton: “I’m cooking dinner at my house and inviting my whole family over. It’s going to be fun. I’m in charge this time!”

Heidi Klum: “I’m going to do a big turkey – an 18 pounder! I put the stuffing in it. I put the potatoes around it. I do sweet potatoes — with marshmallows, without marshmallows. I do everything!”

Dustin Hoffman: “All of the kids will come from all over, like New York and Minneapolis. We have six kids and the youngest is 21. Thanksgiving is a big thing for us. I actually do some of the cooking, too! I am right in there, boy! I peel the potatoes — that’s cooking!”

Can you imagine Paris in the kitchen? It’s a little frightening, but a single gal’s got find other ways of amusing herself besides making sweet music. Meanwhile, Heidi Klum is spoiling Seal like usual– are they the wonder couple or what?

I wish they had asked Megan Fox, because she’s always got a surprising answer or two.

Bailout Turkey

Duncan Riley — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:18:49 +0000

Via The Moderate Voice, a cartoon that picks up the spirit of Thanksgiving, with the economic crisis of our times. “What Turkey are they going to get to pay for all these bailouts?”

President Bush pardons his last Thanksgiving Turkey

Duncan Riley — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:15:52 +0000

In one of the more strange American traditions, US President George W Bush has pardoned his last Thanksgiving Turkey.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation ceremony (yes, it has an official title) takes place at the White House every year. The President is presented with a live turkey to Pardon from being eaten, and the Turkey gets an all expenses paid trip to Disneyland to head the Disney Thanksgiving Day parade then retire as President Bush put it to spend the “rest of their days in The Happiest Place on Earth.”

This years lucky birds were Pumpkin and “a backup bird” called Pecan. “In keeping with a longstanding tradition, Pumpkin and Pecan are hereby granted a full and unconditional presidential pardon” said the President.

Footage from MSNBC as follows.

Thanksgiving: Be grateful for 11 year old Brenden and a fresh dose of perspective

Samantha DeWitt — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:13 +0000

Check out this inspiring video of 11 year old Brenden, who made a difference. Despite suffering Leukaemia he helped the homeless, and lived a courageous life.

I think my heart broke when the interviewer asked, “What makes you sad, sweetie?” and he replied “When people give up.”

He also said that the greatest thing about life, was having one. Puts your crappy day in perspective, doesn’t it?

Rest in peace Brenden Foster

The Ultimate Thanksgiving Resource List: Recipes, Puzzles, Parades, and More

JR — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:19:44 +0000

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and the Internet’s chock-full of resources to make your Turkey Day even more satisfying. We’ve dug up some of the Net’s finest offerings for all of your family’s holiday needs. Sit back, dig in, and enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Recipes and Cooking Tips

When you’re hunting down Turkey Day recipes and cooking tips, The Food Network’s Thanksgiving section has everything you need in an easy-to-navigate format. AllRecipes.com also offers searchable recipes to spice up your family’s meal. The most useful service of all, though, may be Butterball’s Turkey Talk-Line. You can call 1-800-BUTTERBALL or e-mail talkline @ butterball.com all day on Thanksgiving to get one-on-one help from a trained expert. You may also want to check out the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service’s turkey preparations tips for some other useful info.

Thanksgiving Word Searches, Puzzles, and Games

There are plenty of options for you to challenge your kids’ brains when it comes to Thanksgiving. Check out About.com’s interactive Thanksgiving Word Search, which lets you play online and rescramble at your will. Parenting site Kaboose.com has several printable word searches and crosswords of varying difficulty levels. More printable puzzles await you at Printables4Kids’ Thanksgiving page. And Vocabulary.com offers both online and printable word searches, crosswords, and puzzles for you to use.

Thanksgiving Trivia and Other Scholastic Activities

Some other online trivia and scholastic activities for Thanksgiving:

About.com Thanksgiving Trivia page: Plenty of Q&A and fun facts related to the holiday
The Holiday Spot: Lots of good “did you know” type info for T-Day trivia
U.S. Census Bureau Thanksgiving 2008 Facts: All the facts and figures you could ever need, courtesy of the Census Bureau
QuizLand or QuizRocket: Interactive online Thanksgiving trivia games
NASA’s Out of This World Thanksgiving: See how astronauts celebrate Thanksgiving from space
Thanksgiving at the White House: Learn all about and watch the official White House Thanksgiving ceremony and annual turkey pardoning

Thanksgiving Quotes

Trying to find the right way to sum up the special weekend? Try any number of these quote sites for some well-spoken lines about the significance of Thanksgiving.

The History of Thanksgiving

You won’t find a more detailed view of Thanksgiving history than what’s been prepared at The History Channel’s History of Thanksgiving. There, you can see videos, timelines, and explanations of all sorts of T-Day traditions past and present. The Encyclopedia Smithsonian also has a great profile about the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

What would Thanksgiving be without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Coverage of this year’s parade starts at 9 a.m. Thursday (regardless of your time zone) on NBC. Performers include Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Diana DeGarmo, Gloria Estefan, Hall & Oates, the cast of Disney Channel’s High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, Barry Manilow, and Sarah McLachlan. You can find all sorts of info about the parade at the official Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade site, as well as at NBC’s Macy’s Parade page.

Thanksgiving Travel

Holiday travel doesn’t have to be hellish. Here are some good places to make sure your weekend plans don’t go haywire:

FAA Air Traffic Control System: Find delays and issues at airports across the country
TSA Travel Tips: The Transportation Security Administration’s latest list of what you need to know before hitting the friendly skies
FareCompare’s Holiday Travel Checklist: Some good things to consider before starting your trip
FareCompare: Interactive interface to help you find cheap last-minute flights
Fodor’s Thanksgiving Travel Guide: More last-minute travel tips for the Thanksgiving holiday
America’s Favorite Cities: See which destinations are going to be the most crowded for the holiday weekend

Other Online Thanksgiving Resources

10 Easy Ways to Find Black Friday Deals Online: Our own list of the Internet’s hottest resources for finding Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on the Web
Support the Troops: Official government-sponsored ways for you to connect with troops overseas for the holiday
Public Service and Volunteerism: The government’s list of foundations for Thanksgiving donations and volunteer efforts

Happy surfing, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

No related posts.