Dream Theater

Had a wonderful time with the family. Did all the cooking, wife did the baking. Good NFL games on, last one with the sound down & SDoIT on the Bose.

Enjoy all!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

Being in Australia, we get exposed to a lot of American culture and stuff for no reason whatsoever. One thing I never understood is what Thanksgiving is exactly, and where it originates. Can an American please explain it to me? :S. We don't celebrate it here at all lol.

@Soulfire:

Thanksgiving celebrations date back as far as the 1600s. The story goes that the impoverished Pilgrims, after sailing to the New World from Plymouth, England, faced an unspeakably harsh winter in which more than half of their numbers died of disease and starvation. Those remaining were able to survive through help from the local natives and, by the following summer, great cornfields were in place that yielded bountiful crops. It is said that the very first Thanksgiving celebration included Pilgrims and Native Americans feasting side by side. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed officially that the last Thursday of every November is to be a day set aside for thanksgiving and praise to God. American families traditionally celebrate it with a big feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pies. Thanksgiving morning is known for the Macy's Parade in Manhattan (which is huge) and then an afternoon of classic football games. It is also thought of as the beginning of the holiday season. It's a great day. I absolute love it!

Ah ok, sounds cool. We don't have it here (obviously, it's an exclusively American thing). We do get some unique public holidays though.

ANZAC Day: Rememorial day for all Aussie troops (especially those from WW1. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, and was the name of our allied armed forces in WW1). Is a big public holiday with memorial parades, etc.

Australia Day: Celebrates the day The First Fleet landed in Australia with its first boatland of convict settlers. Basically it's just a public holiday where everyone gets together to drink/have a barbecue lol :P. It's right in the middle of Summer too (January 26; Northern Hemisphere seasons are weird :P), so its perfect weather for the event most of the time too :)

@Soulfire:

Thank you for sharing! I love to hear about such things. Your Australia Day sounds a little bit like our Independence Day (the 4th of July, right in the middle of summer, lol)--all barbeques and fireworks displays. One of the best vacations that I've ever taken was when I went to Philadelphia (the city were America's Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776) for the 4th of July celebrations. The streets were absolutely rocking! :D

From what I hear of 4th of July celebrations, Australia Day doesn't come close lol :P.

It's illegal to own and set off fireworks without a licensed pyrotechnician in most states for us anyway lol. Not sure about the Northern Territory, they can get away with a lot there lol....

I think the idea behind Thanksgiving Day for you guys is great though. It's a public holiday that actually has some moral essence behind that, I like it :).

Aside from those two (and besides Christmas, Easter etc.), the only other public holidays we really get are Labour Day (same as the US basically, except spelt correctly), and The Queen's Birthday, which is pretty much just an excuse not to come to work for a day. Silly monarchical crap (no offence Brits :P).

@Soulfire:

I know exactly what you mean about the seasonal differences between the hemispheres. I only think of Christmas as a winter holiday. This coming Saturday, I'll be taking my annual walk down 5th Avenue in Manhattan to check out all of the holiday window displays, then the big tree in Rockefeller Center. I can't wait! :)

I love Thanksgiving & I love Independence Day as they're great family holidays where you don't have to feel shamed into purchasing gifts or stupid (and grossly expensive!) greeting cards! Christmas has been ruined for me, especislly now that my boys are older, due to the practical begging of retailers for you to buy from them (which now starts a week before Halloween ends!!).

...and there are at least two local radio stations that changed to their 24-hour Christmas songs format before Thanksgiving was even over!

@Philba1966:

I know what you mean about the commercialization of Christmas. I always try to finish my gift shopping before Thanksgiving, that way I don't have to be part of the holiday rush and I can just enjoy the holiday. And I do love this time of year!

During December, I don't listen to anything but Christmas music. I figure that I can put aside the stuff that I normally like for just one month out of the year. I know the radio plays a lot of the same kitschy songs that all of the pop stars cover, but there is some great Christmas music out there. Every genre of music is well represented in the Christmas catalog, including World Music and Progressive Rock. I've been going to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra every December for about 7 years now and their concerts have become part of my season. Also Jethro Tull has a Christmas album out that is easily as good as any of their regular releases. My favorite songs are the traditional carols like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Angels We Have Heard On High," though even simple songs like "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" have a way of making me smile. Then, on December 26th, it all goes away and we won't hear it again for another 11 months.