As we belly up to the table to eat massive amounts of turkey…here is some food for thought on Thanksgiving. 1. Thomas Jefferson thought the idea of Thanksgiving was “the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.” 2. Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey. That would just be weird. An eagle, he wrote in a letter to his daughter, had “bad moral character.” A turkey, on the other hand, was a “much more respectable bird.” 3. Turkeys were one of the first species to be domesticated in America. Guess that makes countries like China or Korea almost normal. ( research their delicacies as I prefer not to give credit here) 4. Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor, and author of ‘Mary had a little lamb’, tried to make Thanksgiving a holiday in 1827 and was successful. 5. Congress did not declare Thanksgiving a national holiday until 1941. It was declared to be the fourth Thursday of November. 6. The first Thanksgiving lasted three days. Maybe that’s why people eat three days worth in one day. 7. Since Harry Truman a turkey has been pardoned for Thanksgiving every year. 8. T.V. dinners would never have existed if Thanksgiving did not happen.  After over estimating by 26 tons of turkey for the holiday Swanson sliced and repackaged it into the frozen T.V. dinner. 9. Turkeys are known to have heart attacks just like people. After some Air Force flight practice testing the sound barrier they found turkeys in the area dead. 10. Turkeys will be eaten […]

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As many of you have noticed there have been a number of faith-based movies that have come out of Hollywood over the past few months.  The movie Heaven is for Real is another installment in the Hollywood minority that are not afraid to share with the world their beliefs. The movie is an adaptation of the 2010 book written by Todd Burpo  about his family and their four-year old child Colton that has the opportunity to visit Heaven and come back and share his story. Colton played by Connor Corum is the  cutest four-year that has hit the big screen in many years.  He is smart kid and I even turned to my wife and commented “he’s just four” as some of the conversations he had with his dad Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) were a lot more than you would expect.  Then again I don’t know too many that have been to Heaven either. Colton get’s very sick and ends up needing an appendectomy, while he was in surgery he had a ‘out of body’ experience.  He did not die which was challenging for some of the cynics for we all think you have to die to go to Heaven.  Yet the things he saw and the people he met would make almost anyone a believer and well watch the movie and find out. Todd Burpo is a pastor at a small church in Nebraska.  Having a child that was near death and comes back to talk about it would be challenging for anyone.  Being a preacher in […]

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Is it really art?  Is it really a crime? .. you decide I walk around my local neighborhood regularly to get out of the office and get some fresh air from the cubicle that I spend many of my days.  On these walks throughout the historical district of my city there are many things cultural items that one can take in within a few city blocks. Like most cities and towns in the country there are landmarks that signify events or people in history that make the city what it is today. Whether it is an old abandoned school that they won’t tear down, yet won’t sell to repurpose it either.  Or the eagles that stand guard over the park keeping a watchful eye on the vagrants that are dressed in business suits that scurry around on their lunch breaks. There is a little bit of history and nostalgia on almost every street corner that make this part of town what it is. You have the old movie theatre next door to the infamous tattoo parlor that share space along the street with numerous other small businesses fighting for their piece of the American dream. There is the park with the duck pond that they want to make into a dog park that has a playground for the kids to play. There is the occasional graffiti that can be found in this city as well where neighborhoods have been claimed and turf lines drawn. All of this is part of living in any town in […]

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