Turkey

Food!  I could not leave this holiday without talking about my favorite foods.  Turkey is a must, but not the only main dish.  I enjoy lasagna, fish and chicken.  Side dishes are essential.  Sweet potatoes with marshmallows, of course, mashed potatoes, hot biscuits, green beans with almonds, cranberry, apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, cranberry loaf, brownies, fresh whipped cream and ice cream essential. 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, again, with more funny Thanksgiving memories.  My mom made a turkey and the oven broke, so it was not exactly ready when we needed it.  Who says sandwiches cannot be a new Thanksgiving tradition!

Mom, again.  We had to live in a trailer for numerous months.  It had a kitchen, which was really small.  Mom tried to make Thanksgiving, to keep us as “normal” as possible, but must a=have been a bit stressed.  She made the Turkey, but did it upside down.  I thought it was delicious, but I will not say more on this subject.

Mom, yet again.  Our kitchen was destroyed, but mom convinced a friend to hook up an oven so that she could make turkey.  With that and a propane stove top, (which later caught fire and almost burned down the house) she managed to make Thanksgiving.  It was awesome!  

Holidays

Thanksgiving!  Yum Yum, Yum!  Is there anyone that does not love this holiday!!!!!! Well, I think the answer to that question is yes, because of the whole Hallmark family thing.  You know what I mean.  I will set the scene.  There is a light snow falling.  It is dusk, just getting dark. The roads are empty but clear.  A nice looking car pulls up to a large house; usually a colonial is some rich looking suburb.  People somehow gracefully get out of the car and appear at the doorway and ring the doorbell (why, I have no idea because based on the welcome it seems as if it is their home and family). A nice looking person, dressed very well, answers the door.  There a yells of delight from all over the house and hugs and kisses are exchanged.  We see a perfectly decorated, warm looking house, with at least one fire place going and a table laden with tons of delicious food and perfect dishes and centerpieces.  There are many people of all ages getting along, but it is not crowded and everyone is happy.  Then the ad for whatever comes up.  You never remember what the ad is for (unless it is the Maxwell House commercial with the soldier that comes home and makes coffee for his mom). 

I ask you, who has a holiday like this? Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, but mine is far from “Hallmark-like”.  We usually get up ridiculously early and head into the city to watch the parade.  Cold, tired and hungry, we don’t care because the parade, although crowded is epically fun.  We cannot wait to see what float comes down the road or who will blow their cue to lip sink to the music.  The parade ends and we head back to start the turkey.  This, of course, means that my parents are cooking all day and the turkey is nor ready for HOURS but no worries.  Mom has made an unbelievable amount of hor d orvs, warm beverages, ridiculous amount of sweets and dad fusses over the turkey and keeps the fire going.  We do not have family coming over nor is it usually snowing, but we are really happy staying in our pj’s and being together.  I love thanksgiving and my family, but certainly not in a hallmark way.

Kings

As long as I am questioning things that boggle me, here is another one:  Why does England have the Royals? What do they do, exactly?  They own a lot of land, which commoners cannot walk on or use in any way.  They have numerous homes (castles) replete with servants, which they do not pay for, they only have to let commoners visits certain parts on certain days and times (oh, what a bother).  They have no political control, only attend state events and have their faces on everything from tea, posters and biscuits.  Basically, they help the tourist industry, but, again, who cares?  Well, there must be people that do.  You know the ones.  The same people that buy people magazine must get the same designer dresses, jewelry and suits and haircuts and quest to be Royal.  Again, I don’t get it.  It seems to me that it would be a lot cheaper to get rid of the whole Royalty thing.  But what would they do?  I mean they don’t have last names, have never worked and arguable couldn’t even make a sandwich if hungry.  Maybe the Royals are like upper class welfare?  Now that is something to think about!

News

I do not often discuss politics in my blogs, but I read a micro-blog on AOL that I need to comment on.  Elizabeth Lauten, a Republican, communications director for Representative Stephen Fincher, spoke her mind and then was forced to apologize.  What happened to freedom of speech? Ms. Lauten wrote that the President’s daughters failed to “show class”, “dressed like they were at a bar” and “could not refrain from making faces while on TV”.  While harsh, especially the part where she stated that the girl’s parents, the President and First Lady, “do not respect their positions or the country”, she sought to have the girls to be better.  She said what she meant and I am sure meant what she said, then apologized, by stating she “quickly judged”, had “many hours of prayer”, and after “talking to her parents” and “re-reading her words” realized her words were “hurtful”. 

My questions, which I find really scary, by the way, are:

Who made Ms. Luaten apologize?

Why did she consent to make such an apology?

Why should she apologize?

Who is to say she was wrong?

Why is she not entitled to speak her mind?

Why are the President’s daughters immune from any commentary?

The retraction made the news infinitely more than a comment about a couple of teenage girls.  It made me question what is going on with our news media and who is controlling it.  Very disturbing stuff!

Art

The "Art of Maximizing Your Time" is a tricky topic and one that gets the best of all us artists. how many times have you.... oh look a bird...... what was I saying? Oh yes, I am talking about maximization of time and resources and not procrastinating, or in fancy economic terms, opportunity costs. As a high school student, I know that this skill is one that I need to master once I get into college but it is one of the great skills that eludes me. I get home from club meetings, four tests, a quiz or two and sports practice, sit on the couch for a minute or two to relax and then find that there is little chance that I will get up. The problem is that there is so much stimuli in the modern age, between TV, social media and video games, there is always something to keep me occupied in the vast space of generation X and the empty cybernetic void that consumes all of our lives. Once I finally start working again, I stay up late at night to study, which makes me tired the next day, which makes me have to catch up at night, which causes me to be even more tired the next day. It is a vicious unbreakable cycle that all high school students must endure, but we all live through these four years and it makes us stronger and more prepared for college, hopefully....now about that bird.....

Marketing and Marvel

Recently, Marvel Comics had a conference discussing its movies and fate of its cinematic universe. Marvel shocked the audience not only by announcing all of its movies in the phase two and phase three part of the Universe, but by dividing the third Avengers film into two separate movies.  Marvel is also making movies off of lesser-known Marvel properties such as the Inhumans and, in the cases of Captain Marvel and Black Panther, not having the hero be a white male.

Marvel has always been good with its reveals, choosing to make each big movie announcement at a large conference event with a lot of hype.  For instance, at a recent event, Marvel provided free Wi-Fi so that the people attending could tell everyone about its announcements via social media, thereby giving themselves free publicity. Marvel further decided to disclose 10 new upcoming movies, some of which are based upon comic book story lines, which people thought could never be adapted to the big screen.  In addition to all of this, Marvel cleverly adds a teaser for an upcoming movie at the end of their newly released movies, which generates even more publicity and hype for the next movie. In the past few years Marvel has made a concerted effort to make itself a bigger presence at the various Comic Cons than DC Comics, by hosting more events, panels and give –always, thereby making Marvel synonymous with fun, entertainment and excitement.

Marvel, based upon their advertising strategies, is “streets ahead” of DC. Marvel realizes that the best and cheapest type of advertising is the kind that they do not have to pay for.  Marvel created the hype and has the fans spread word electronically.  This clever advertising ploy allows Marvel to save money, which then allows it to use that money to create better quality products. Further, by having TV shows and Movies on Netflix, ABC and on line, Marvel Cinematic Universe is more accessible and popular than ever.  DC, on the other hand, now has to play catch up to Marvel and is forced to copy their strategy of having solo films lead up to a massive team up event. Although Marvel has given up some of their biggest property by selling movie rights to companies like Fox and Sony, I think it works out for the best.  Now the Universe will be more fleshed out and we will be able to view different corners of the lesser-known parts of Marvel as opposed to than only seeing the more mainstream heroes.