Check out today’s NY Daily News and Frank DiGiacomo’s Gatecrasher column. He tells the story of my flight from LA to NY sitting next to Adrien Brody. When you see Adrien next to you and a TV commercial for Disney’s “Tangled” on the seat in front of you, you can’t help but notice… And, by the way, Frank’s Gatecrasher always puts some fun gossip in the day. Did you know that Leonardo DiCaprio was on that Delta flight to Moscow that blew an engine?! Spooky!
Oh! Oh! Oprah! You are amazing. Watch her latest and greatest giveaway during her “Ultimate Favorite Things” spectacular. I’ll let the cat out of the bag and tell you it’s a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle… but you just have to watch to see the audience’s reaction. If you ever want to know how to act excited when Grandma gives you the snowman sweater, this is it. Gawker has the clips.
Westminster & his rubber chicken = astrological match!Just a few minutes may change the course of your entire life. But probably not. With the not-always-super-scientific science of stargazing, you can now figure out you and your pet’s compatibly based on your star signs. You’re a Gemini and your pet’s a Virgo? Well, your pooch might be a little too serious for your playful ways. Your cat’s a Leo and you’re a Capricorn? Might be some alpha-cat issues here. You might want to hunt down your cat or dog’s birth certificate and give this a try. 
It’s Thanksgiving week. So, let’s talk turkey:
Turkey lingo. A “fryer” is a turkey under 16 weeks of age and a “roaster” is 5 to 7 months old. An old male turkey is better eating than a “young tom,” which is said to be stringy. But sorry, ladies, an old hen isn’t good eating. She’s known as a “tough bird.”
Turkey tradition. In 1947 President Truman pardoned a turkey. Each year since, the president gets to send one lucky ducky to retire at a public farm named Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia. (The other 45 million of his feathered friends aren’t so lucky. They’re gobbled up with stuffing.)
The other Turkey. 73 million people live in Turkey, a country where they do not celebrate Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Day Parade. My first year in NYC I performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I was Paddington Bear’s English Bobby escort. My toes froze and I had to keep yelling back to the crowd in my faux-English accent: “Eee’s not Pooh Bear! Eee’s Paddington Bear.” If you want something extra special for the kids, sneak down to the city Wednesday afternoon and watch the balloons inflate behind the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West. It’s magical. A friend at Macy’s told me this year’s new balloons are Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Kung Fu Panda. Here’s hoping neither of them crushes a spectator.
Black Friday. The opening salvo of the shopping season and the day retailers hope to turn a profit or be “in the black.” The earliest known reference to “Black Friday” as a day of shopper’s delight was made in 1966 by Bonnie Taylor-Blake of the American Dialect Society, referring to the Philadelphia Police Department’s term for the day of massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks. It was not a term of endearment. It’s victims would agree. Since 2008 there have been at least 3 deaths and multiple injuries on frenzied Friday. I’ve seen the madness firsthand. As a child in South Carolina, I watching two grown women come to blows over 2-for-1 pantyhose.
Now, eat your dinner!
Idea for the weekend: roast marshmallows! It’s cheap, easy, and fun. I LOVE campfires and the debate as to whether “lightly toasted” or “raging flamers” tastes better. On a crisp night, there’s nothing better than marshmallows, a campfire, and hot chocolate or a hot toddy. One warning from my Boy Scout days: be sure your roasting stick does not come from a poisonous plant such as oleander, sumac, or deadly nightshade. AND if you want a good, cheap laugh, watch Marshmallow Murder.
Those of you who know me know I don’t speak foreign words. They didn’t teach us those in South Carolina! So, I love today’s episode of MTV’s American Talk With Josh Horowitz (the only episode of American Talk), host Josh Horowitz tries to teach the foreign cast of Harry Potter to speak the right way — the American way. The national language of America is technically called English (um, colonial settlers were apparently from England). But, as “Harry Potter” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Tom Felton learned, they talk weird! HP7 is out this weekend. Are YOU going?
Maru, Japan's most famous cat.
From across the pond to your computer.
I remember a teacher showing Powers of Ten in school. I didn’t understood it’s magnitude then, and I’m sure it’s over my head now. It’s a fascinating intellectual journey that transports us from a lakeside picnic in Chicago to the outer edges of the universe. Every ten seconds the starting point is ten times further from us… until eventually our own galaxy is visible only as a speck of light among many others. We return to earth at mind-boggling speed and back into the hand of the sleeping picnicker. (My dermatologist loves this part.) Our journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a white blood cell. Made by the Eames Brothers (© 1977), Charles and Ray, it’s as cool as one of Ray’s chairs. YouTube commenter “Grainysmith” sums it up best: “It is all about perspective. We are everything and nothing at the same time.”
Meet Spencer Nelson. He’s 8. He’s a yo-yo prodigy. He makes me think I should have started younger. Spend two minutes of your day and give him some attention. His yo-yo tricks are amazing at any age.
