Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2025!

happy t givingHAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy this holiday and the hope for peaceful coexistence represented by the possibly mythic meal that it commemorates. The kind of self-righteous killjoys who bash Thanksgiving are the type of sanctimonious idiots that are fun to laugh at since they have no identity outside of their ephemeral political concerns.

Whether you consider the tale of the first Thanksgiving to be literal or aspirational, enjoy yourselves! Be thankful that you’re not one of those heartless people who try to pollute every happy gathering with divisiveness and turn it into a showcase for the simple-minded, ankle-biting political remarks that those people laughably think are Really Deep.

How sad is it that every year they circulate those articles about which brainless talking points they should use to harass the adults at the Thanksgiving Day table?   

PREVIOUS THANKSGIVING DAY POSTS:

JAMES BATMAN (1966) – A THANKSGIVING TURKEY HERE.

THANKSGIVING TURKEY: AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL (1972) HERE.
Continue reading

14 Comments

Filed under opinion

THANKSGIVING STORY FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

truro-massTwo thousand fishermen from Cape Cod had gone off to enlist in the Continental Army, and in their absence the British had repeatedly landed raiding parties to harass the citizens.

Every man, woman and child on the Cape hated the soldiers and sailors of King George and would do anything to work them harm. When the Somerset was wrecked off Truro in 1778 the crew were helped ashore, but they were immediately marched to prison.

It was now November 1779 – the night before Thanksgiving Day in fact – and ugly weather caused a British three-decker warship to yaw wildly and drift toward land with a broken tiller. No warning signal was raised on the bluffs; not a hand was stirred to rescue. The New Englanders who saw the accident watched with sullen satisfaction.

Ezekiel and Josiah Breeze – father and son – stood at the door of their cottage and watched the warship’s peril until three lights twinkling faintly through the gray of driving snow were all that showed where the enemy lay, straining at her cables and tossing on a wrathful sea.

They stood long in silence, but at last the boy Josiah said “I’m going to help the ship.”

“If you stir from here to help King George’s men, you’re no son of mine,” said Ezekiel. Continue reading

16 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2024!

happy t givingHAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy this holiday and the hope for peaceful coexistence represented by the possibly mythic meal that it commemorates. The kind of self-righteous killjoys who bash Thanksgiving are the type of sanctimonious idiots that are fun to laugh at since they have no identity outside of their ephemeral political concerns.

Whether you consider the tale of the first Thanksgiving to be literal or aspirational, enjoy yourselves! Be thankful that you’re not one of those heartless people who try to pollute every happy gathering with divisiveness and turn it into a showcase for the simple-minded, ankle-biting political remarks that those people laughably think are Really Deep.

How sad is it that every year they circulate those articles about which brainless talking points they should use to harass the adults at the Thanksgiving Day table?   

PREVIOUS THANKSGIVING DAY POSTS:

A THANKSGIVING STORY FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERE. Continue reading

26 Comments

Filed under opinion

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2023!

happy t givingHAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy this holiday and the hope for peaceful coexistence represented by the possibly mythic meal that it commemorates. The kind of self-righteous killjoys who bash Thanksgiving are the type of sanctimonious idiots that are fun to laugh at since they have no identity outside of their ephemeral political concerns.

Whether you consider the tale of the first Thanksgiving to be literal or aspirational, enjoy yourselves! Be thankful that you’re not one of those heartless people who try to pollute every happy gathering with divisiveness and turn it into a showcase for the simple-minded, ankle-biting political remarks that those people laughably think are Really Deep. Continue reading

35 Comments

Filed under opinion

THE MOUSE ON THE MAYFLOWER (1968)

Mouse on the MayflowerTHANKSGIVING IS ALMOST HERE! ONE OF THE GREATEST HOLIDAYS OF THE YEAR! In the midst of the travails that inevitably complicate our lives it’s a great time for taking stock of the positives that we can find.  

THE MOUSE ON THE MAYFLOWER (1968) – This is an enjoyable cartoon which could have been much better with just a little more effort. Vintage country western star Tennessee Ernie Ford narrates and supplies the voice of the title character – a Puritan mouse named Willum – who stows away on the Mayflower during its trip from England to America. 

After arriving in the New World and enduring various hardships, the little rodent also gets to participate in the first Thanksgiving celebration with a Native American mouse as they watch their human counterparts mark the event. Continue reading

11 Comments

Filed under Forgotten Television

A THANKSGIVING TALE FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG! 

truro-massTwo thousand fishermen from Cape Cod had gone off to enlist in the Continental Army, and in their absence the British had repeatedly landed raiding parties to harass the citizens.

Every man, woman and child on the Cape hated the soldiers and sailors of King George and would do anything to work them harm. When the Somerset was wrecked off Truro in 1778 the crew were helped ashore, but they were immediately marched to prison.

It was November – the night before Thanksgiving Day in fact – and ugly weather caused a British three-decker warship to yaw wildly and drift toward land with a broken tiller. No warning signal was raised on the bluffs; not a hand was stirred to rescue. The New Englanders who saw the accident watched with sullen satisfaction.

Ezekiel and Josiah Breeze – father and son – stood at the door of their cottage and watched the warship’s peril until three lights twinkling faintly through the gray of driving snow were all that showed where the enemy lay, straining at her cables and tossing on a wrathful sea.

They stood long in silence, but at last the boy Josiah said “I’m going to help the ship.”

“If you stir from here to help King George’s men, you’re no son of mine,” said Ezekiel. Continue reading

12 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

OLIVER! FOR THANKSGIVING EVE

"Please, sir, may I have some more?"

“Please, sir, may I have some more?”

It’s that time of year again! Just a note in the spirit of the holiday season to mention my favorite Thanksgiving Eve movie.

Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving I make a point out of watching the musical Oliver! And yes, I know it has nothing to do with Thanksgiving.

I know the musical sentimentalizes  several characters that Dickens portrayed in a sinister way in the book (especially Fagan and The Artful Dodger) but the finished product has always seemed very holidayish to me. Continue reading

19 Comments

Filed under opinion

BALLADEER’S BLOG’S THANKSGIVING WITH J.J. ABRAMS

Harold LloydHappy Thanksgiving from Balladeer’s Blog and my very special guest J.J. Abrams (left). Yes, I know that’s Harold Lloyd. I’m a Silent Movie geek, remember?

J.J. is thankful that there are still plenty of successful movie and television franchises left for him to tamper with and utterly destroy.

But hey, lens flares! Amirite?  Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under humor

BALLADEER’S BLOG IS THANKFUL FOR …

ThanksgivingYes, it’s Thanksgiving Day, another holiday when Democrats – who have absolutely no identity outside of their political opinions – encourage each other to make with their typical ankle-biting, childish political remarks that they mistakenly think are Really Deep Thoughts that other adults haven’t already had … and matured beyond.

But, being 100% sincere in this post, Balladeer’s Blog is thankful for …

*** The way that more and more voters from both parties are openly observing how neither the Democrat nor Republican office-holders respond to the wishes of their constituents. ANYTHING that drives people away from those two gangs of white collar criminals is a positive development. 

*** #WALKAWAY and #BLEXIT and similar movements show that more and more of the working class and poor of all colors as well as gay and female voters are realizing that the Democrats abandoned us long ago.  

*** More and more former Republicans are realizing that the repulsive George W Bush/ National Review faction of their party cares ONLY about maximizing profits … not their constituents and not the nation as a whole.

*** Neither Jeb Bush nor Hillary Clinton are president. Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion

THANKSGIVING TALE FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

truro-massTwo thousand fishermen from Cape Cod had gone off to enlist in the Continental Army, and in their absence the British had repeatedly landed raiding parties to harass the citizens.

Every man, woman and child on the Cape hated the soldiers and sailors of King George and would do anything to work them harm. When the Somerset was wrecked off Truro in 1778 the crew were helped ashore, but they were immediately marched to prison.

It was November – the night before Thanksgiving Day in fact – and ugly weather caused a British three-decker warship to yaw wildly and drift toward land with a broken tiller. No warning signal was raised on the bluffs; not a hand was stirred to rescue. The New Englanders who saw the accident watched with sullen satisfaction.

Ezekiel and Josiah Breeze – father and son – stood at the door of their cottage and watched the warship’s peril until three lights twinkling faintly through the gray of driving snow were all that showed where the enemy lay, straining at her cables and tossing on a wrathful sea.

They stood long in silence, but at last the boy Josiah said “I’m going to help the ship.”

“If you stir from here to help King George’s men, you’re no son of mine,” said Ezekiel. Continue reading

12 Comments

Filed under Neglected History, Revolutionary War