THE GUIDE’S THANKSGIVING CORNUCOPIA

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We appreciate the many thoughtful and funny expressions sent us for the holiday. Some claim it’s a “uniquely American holiday,” but uhh, folks, they DO celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada, too, though on a different date. Anyway...
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We have carefully harvested a choice selection of things we’ve received, and added a historical perspective piece of our own. As we are reminded of L.A.’s odd tradition of airing “The Twilight Zone Marathon” on Thanksgiving, we offer the following to you, in the words of the late Rod Serling, as “Submitted for your approval…”
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THANKSGIVING LIMERICK FROM ERIC SCHWARTZ
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Just too clever. Singer-songwriter-comedian-actor ERIC SCHWARTZ sent us something we cannot pass-up. Eric wrote:
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“Happy Thanksgiving folks! A limerick for you:
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Said Cecily, ‘Things can get murky
When trying to spatchcock a turkey.’
A pamphlet from PETA
Suggested she heat a
Few pounds of the Tofurkey Jerky.”
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Eric adds, “I would point out that ‘Spatchcock Tofurkey’ is a superior line by far, but didn't work in the limerick context to the same degree. Anyway, have a very happy Thanksgiving. If you can't think of anything for which to give thanks, call me and I'll whine to you and you'll be grateful for the ability to hang up on me.”
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If you lack Eric’s phone number, or would like to learn about his work without really whining to him, check him out at www.ericschwartz.com
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KRISTIN KORB SHARES A HOLIDAY HELLO AND A RECIPIE
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KRISTIN KORB, the world’s most beautiful singing standup bass player (she’s far too modest to tell her we said that, but it’s true) sent us this message:
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“I may be living outside the US, but I will never forget Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to spend some time today with good friends and family and relax. I am so thankful for my family, friends, and music.
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“Meanwhile, I have to share this BANANA BREAD recipe with you. (They call it banana cake here in Denmark.) I'll just say it was easy and one of the most delicious banana creations I have ever made.”
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http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/09/banana_bread_with_cinnamon_crumble_topping
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Kristin has a new CD due this spring. Check out her music at www.kristinkorb.com.
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NOVEMBER 22nd IS NOT JUST THANKSGIVING…
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Today is, historically, a tragic and dark day in American history, not because it falls on Thanksgiving, but because of the date on the calendar -- November 22nd. On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a motorcade.
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We have never been the same since. We have become a nation obsessed with conspiracy theories. We remain scarred by Vietnam, a war that may not have been fought had he lived. It left us with a seeming need to engage in endless wars to assuage our national ego and our national sense that ours is the ultimate arena, complete with mandatory participation as cheerleaders to propagate the declaration that we are winners, no matter what, and no matter what the cost.
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At least we had the brilliant and exciting space program that Kennedy gave us, an achievement that remains unparalleled. Even if it was largely abandoned its promise after the final three moon landings were cancelled in 1972, and especially since the end of the Space Shuttle program with nothing bold to replace it.
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If all that sounds like a “downer” for Thanksgiving, perhaps we can consider our potential for catharsis. We do have the potential to reach beyond our obsession with our transitory problems and build a meaningful future.
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Few times in human history have truly afforded ordinary citizens that kind of voice and that kind of influence. We can be our gift to ourselves as we become our gift to the future. We can aspire to be great, rather than the acquisitive consumers of Black Friday.
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We can reach for the stars and save our own planet. We can apply our vaunted technological achievements and vast potential to higher purposes than narcissistic foolishness. We can do all that and more, if we choose to band together and wisely use what we have, and express who we are as a nation and a humanity that cares.
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We are thankful for all these things, for the resources and the potential to share them for the betterment of all humans and the well-being of our planetary ecosystem.
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We are thankful for the potential to reach outward and inward, “to struggle and to understand,” and to be reminded that “never this last without the other,” as George Leigh Mallory said before vanishing on the heights of still-unclimbed Mt. Everest in 1924.
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We are thankful for being thinking, living creatures that can remember and be inspired by the best who have stood among us. We are thankful for their having lived, and for the promise that we yet may emulate and reach beyond their greatest examples for us.
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TEN REASONS TO BE THANKFUL THIS HOLIDAY

1) I am thankful I am able to walk. I am sorry for the handicapped people in the world. They must have incredible fortitude.

2) I am thankful for my family. Some people have no family. They are alone for the holidays. I am thankful for my family.

3) I am thankful for my home. Many families are spending this Thanksgiving on the streets or at a homeless shelter.

4) I am thankful for my Job. Although it is difficult at times, life would be worse for me if I did not have a job.

5) I am thankful for my eyes. I am sorry for the blind for they live in darkness and each daily activity must be difficult.

6) I am thankful for my children. Many people have no children and they have not experienced the joy of parenthood.

7) I am thankful to have freedom. Thinking of the oppressed people in the world who have no choices.

8) I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful to those that care about me and how I am doing. I would be sad without them.

9) I am thankful for the beauty and majesty of the Earth. Each sunrise, each sunset, the mountains and the sea. I am thankful for the beauty of the earth.

10) I am thankful I am not six feet under. Life is beautiful and I am grateful to experience it each day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Be Thankful if you have one of the things above!
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From the Safety Harbor Kids, a Malibu-based charity that many artists support.
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GUEST EDITORIAL: A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE Of GRATITUDE & GRACE
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Finally, here’s a most appropriate expression, one that you may have read when we published it as our initial Thanksgiving 2012 offering (or you may have received it from FREEBO directly). He has a fine way with words and a fine spirit that drives them:
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A Thanksgiving Message of Gratitude and Grace
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A guest editorial by
FREEBO
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As we celebrate another Thanksgiving Holiday, I can't help reflecting on my good fortune to be living in this time in this amazing country called The United States Of America. Sure, we have our problems, and I will continue to be involved, aware, and active in helping to make this the best country it can be.
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But given the circumstances of birth, of souls finding their places in this realm, and of mine choosing this place and time to occupy this body, I am extremely grateful.
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I could have been born to a whole different set of parents, family, and circumstances in Afghanistan or some other not-so-well-off country. I could have been born at a time without the miracles of modern medicine, dead and gone from some now common and very treatable disease.
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But destiny put me here at this most exciting and important time in human history.
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We are indeed at a crossroads...many crossroads, in fact. There are significant choices to be made that will greatly effect the future of this country and perhaps of Mankind in general.
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We can argue and debate or exchange views of where we should or could go from here, and there are certainly many opinions, schools of thought, and pure dogma. We seem to spend most of our time and energy focusing on our differences, and it has greatly divided us as a country and as a People. The result has been anger, acrimony, and separation...and it serves only the talking heads who make a very good living feeding The Great Divide, certainly not the country as a whole.
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The good news, and the point of this Thanksgiving message, is that we all have so many choices at this amazing time in history in this incredible country.
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I can choose to focus on the similarities and not the differences. I can celebrate the fact that I have so much freedom of choice, and I can allow that freedom to live my life from a place of gratitude and grace. I can choose to come from a place of love, kindness, and acceptance, not from a place of anger, hatred, and separation. I can choose to have compassion and empathy for those less fortunate than I, rather than to blame them for their circumstances.
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And I can follow the true teachings of Jesus: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "Love Thy Neighbor".
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We all can!
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Besides the delicious turkey dinner many of us will be fortunate to enjoy, there is so much more to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. There are the close friendships we have, the many opportunities to forge new and exciting relationships with folks of opposite views, and the deep love of family and strengthening those familial ties.
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I am so lucky to live at this time, to be healthy at this moment, to have the gift of music, to be able to share it with so many of you, to have so many of you beautiful and supportive friends in my life.
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With all this in mind, I will do my best to celebrate this Thanksgiving with gratitude and grace. Won't you join me! -- Peace, FREEBO
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Keep up with FREEBO and his music at www.freebomusic.com.
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The current edition of the Acoustic Americana Music Guide has listings of notable “Music on TV” offerings for Thursday and Friday. It’s available just below or in the sidebar at left, depending on which edition you are reading. We’ll be back, in time for you to make plans to enjoy the live music scene Friday evening and through the weekend. Until then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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