"Turkey good! Football good! Lip-synching in Macy's Parade bad!" There's lots to say about arts and entertainment over the next few days. Let's start at the top, with Boris Karloff, born November 23, 1887 . The erstwhile William Henry Pratt labored as a truck driver, farmhand, and occasional character actor until 1931, when he landed the role of the monster in "Frankenstein." Even though he went unbilled in the original release of the movie, he became an instant star whose name was linked with horror until his death in 1969. In a nice coincidence, Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who became one of Karloff's best friends and biggest boosters was born a day later (albeit in 1916). Ackerman was the longtime editor of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, and cultivated a love for monsters and psychological horror in a million youngsters in the 1950s and '60s. But we've only scratched the surface when it comes to entertainment. For example, in 1889, the first jukebox went into operation at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. (We'll add that "juke" was slang for ... well, a "house of ill repute," and leave it at that.) This distant ancestor to the iPod contained a tinfoil phonograph with four listening tubes and a coin slot for each tube. So popular was it that it took in $1,000 in the first six months - a nickel at a time. Musical entertainment has evolved significantly in the century since. On Wednesday, we'll note the 142nd birthday of composer Scott Joplin. Joplin didn't invent ragtime music, but was one of its foremost composers, his "Maple Leaf Rag" virtually defined the era. Joplin isn't the only great artist who's an exemplar of his chosen genre. On Wednesday evening, PBS will broadcast an all-star concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist for some of the best - and most important - musicals in theatre history. And on November 25, 1949, Robert May and Johnny Marks'  "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" made its debut/ Gene Autry's recording of the tune eventually sold more than 25 million records. If those are the heights musical genres can reach, we note what some might consider the nadir, represented by tonight's episodes of "Glee" (featuring Carol Burnett) and the (tainted?) finale of "Dancing with the Stars." (And we mention the 1871 founding of the National Rifle Association purely in passing here - in case someone wants to emulate Steven Cowan.) Music can have an effect even in the world of science. Wednesday is the 36th anniversary of Donald Johanson and Tom Gray's discovery of the Australopithecus afarensis skeleton that they named "Lucy," after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." The fine arts are also represented this week. Tuesday is the 118th birthday of Romain de Tirtoff, who, under the name Erté (taken from the French pronunciation of his initials) virtually defined the Art Deco style of the early 20th century, and Wednesday is the 146th birthday of French illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Toulouse-Lautrec captured the lives of the Parisian demimonde of the late 19th century. And while it's not exactly "art," the first issue of "Life" magazine was published in 1936. Over the next 36 years, the photojournalism magazine featured some of the finest photography in the world - though none of its photographers could have used a zoom lens until it was invented this week in 1948. In performing arts, Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play "The Mousetrap" opened in London's West End in 1952, and has been running ever since, making it the longest continuously-running play in history. (There was even a recent controversy over whether the surprise ending should be revealed on Wikipedia. It was, so if you go over there, consider yourself warned.). Pity movie producer John Woolf, who bought the movie rights to the play, on the condition that he not film it until it closed. Woolf died in 1999, but the play runs on. It sounds like a disaster almost profound enough to be filmed by producer Irwin Allen, king of such disaster movies as "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno," and whose 94th birthday would have been Wednesday. It could be a disaster, but not a cosmic mystery suitable for solving by Doctor Who, the venerable BBC television series that began broadcasting this week in 1963. Crime and criminals also figure into this week (like every week, probably). On November 24, 1971, D.B. Cooper skyjacked a Boeing 727, collected $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted out over southern Washington state, never to be seen again. We mention an odd birthday coincidence in passing. Wednesday is the 122nd birthday of motivational author Dale Carnegie, and Thursday is the 175th birthday of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Dale (whose last name was originally spelled "Carnagey") wrote the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (which is still a best-seller on the self-help charts, nearly 75 years after it was published). Andrew made his fortune in the steel business and ended up giving most of it away, endowing libraries, schools, universities, along with numerous charities and foundations. By 1919, he had given away over $350 million (about $4.3 billion in 2010 dollars), with the remaining $30 million distributed after his death that year. In animal events, President Obama is scheduled to give an executive pardon to a turkey on Wednesday, and Thursday (in addition to everything else) is the National Dog Show in Philadelphia. Lastly, we mention what is, for many, the most notable event of the week: Thanksgiving, with its attendant gorging, football. T-Day also brings us the Macy's Parade, which gives television viewers across the country the chance to watch b-list actors and singers lip synch to lousy music, and this year will feature such traditional holiday entertainers as Jessica Simpson, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, and Kanye West. Truly a Thanksgiving smorgasbord! Suggested Sites... Karloff.com - the Master of Horror -- and the nicest guy in Hollywood, by all accounts. Biography of Scott Joplin - the King of Sedalia, Missouri. The Discovery of Lucy - and we don't mean Mrs. Ricardo. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - the complete works. Top 10 Disaster Movies - the more stuff blows up, the more we love 'em!

Directory categories: Movie Genres, Ragtime Musicians, TV Series, Paleontology, Thanksgiving Recipes

Archived under: 1910s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1970s, 19th Century, Actors, Africa, Agatha Christie, American History, Ancient History, Animals, Anniversaries, Archaeology, Artists, Arts, Authors, Balloons, Barack Obama, Biographies, Birds, Birthdays, Black History, Books, Boris Karloff, Broadway, Celebrities, Christmas, Coincidence, Composers, Concerts, Crime, Criminals, D.B. Cooper, Dancing With the Stars, Disappearances, Doctor Who, Dogs, Eating, Entertainment, Events, Food and Drink, Football, Guns, History, Holidays, Horror, Horror Films, Jazz, Journalism, Journalists, London, Magazines, Men, Millionaires, Monsters and Creatures, Movie History, Movies, Music, Music History, Musicals, Musicians, Mysteries, NFL, New York, News, Parades, Performing Arts, Pets, Philanthropy, Photography, Rap and Hip-Hop, San Francisco, Science, Scientists, Songs, Sports, Stephen Sondheim, TV, Talk Show Hosts, Thanksgiving, The Beatles, Turkey, Wikipedia, Writers

Post a comment (1) | Email this posting

Now that the holidays are upon us, we thought that, rather than looking at the immediate past of sites and categories added to the Yahoo! Directory, we should take a look at the bigger picture; that is, the stuff you’ve looked for in years past, and which we’re pretty sure you’ll be looking for again this week. After all, this is the season for giving, and what better gift can we give you than the information you so desperately crave? Let’s start with the most obvious search: Thanksgiving. People will be hustling and bustling around the country to be with loved ones, so you’ll want to know whether your guests will arrive (or if you’re the traveler, how long it’ll take). Why not start in the Travel category, where you'll find information about ticketing, tracking flights, and airport advisories? If you're not flying, how about information about trains, automobiles -- or less traditional forms of travel? Of course, if you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll probably want to decorate, and you’ll find clip art and graphics here -- even wallpaper for your computer. But let’s not forget the guest of honor: Mr. Tom Turkey. We can show you a vast array of ways to prepare the noble bird -- or even substitute a healthier alternative -- along with an array of ubiquitous side dishes from mashed potatoes and gravy to green bean casseroles. Not quite sure what to do with all that turkey afterwards? Fear not, as we can show you plenty of recipes for leftovers and soups. (And of course, if you just can’t stand another mouthful of stuffing, well, that’s what takeout is for.) Of course, since the holiday is just beginning, you know what comes next. Even in these economically-unsure times, there are those who just can't resist the siren call of the shopping mall, and we can show you where to go and who has the best deals. For those of you not shopping, who are of a more traditional persuasion, take a gander at some ideas for Christmas decorating -- after all, it’s only a month away (where the heck did 2008 go, anyway?). Regardless, happy holidays from your friends at the Yahoo! Directory; America’s favorite Internet source of aggregated information for over a tenth of a century. Suggested Sites... Yahoo! Directory: Turkey Cooking and Carving - it's not enough to roast the bird; you have to know how to serve it, too. Yahoo! Directory: Deep-Fried Turkey - for Pete's sake, don't burn the house down! Yahoo! Directory: Traffic and Road Conditions - plan your trip to arrive in one piece. Yahoo! Directory: Football - because Turkey Day isn't complete without pigskin... Yahoo! Directory: Turducken - ...unless you mean this kind of pigskin.

Directory categories: Thanksgiving, Travel, Families, Food and Drink, Pilgrims

Archived under: Birds, Celebrations, Christmas, Cooking, Decorating, Diets, Eating, Food and Drink, Football, Holidays, Pizza, Recipes, Shopping, Tofu, Travel, Turkey, Vegetables, Yahoo! Directory

Post a comment (2) | Email this posting

Holiday pudding on a hook With Thanksgiving Day fast approaching, the annual eating season is upon us. As families hash out exactly who'll be responsible for making the green bean casserole, weary cooks everywhere wonder what they'll manage to do with this year’s leftover turkey, let us take a moment to consider some of the foods we eat at this time of year: ugly birds, Jell-O “salad” with sour cream, and vegetables drowning in Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, North Americans celebrate with turkey. Large and native to the continent, they’re a perfect bird for a meal that needs to serve an extended family with distended stomachs. But other countries celebrate the end of the year with different fowl. In the British Isles, under the theory that bigger was better, peacocks and swans were historically roasted for feasts -- at least until the wealthy began to import turkeys from the New World. Nowadays, a Christmas goose is more common than any of the other birds. Consumption of Anserini isn't limited to the British Isles, however. Over on the Continent, Germans roast geese as well, although they tend to stuff them with meaty liver pâtés and rye breads. Not all Europeans are bird eaters, though. The Poles, Czechs, and Austrians all prefer fish, with carp being the Christmas fish of choice. In the Czech Republic, the carp is traditionally prepared in aspic, which brings to mind the Eastern European Jewish tradition of eating gefilte fish (once described as “casingless fish sausage in salty goop”). Indeed, goopy food is traditional around the globe. In Japan, the seven-day New Year’s festival often includes fish roe, black beans, seaweed, and gluey mochi cakes. The Vietnamese celebrate Tết with bánh dầy, sticky rice-wrapped packets of meat or beans cooked in banana leaves. While cooking bánh dầy often takes days, it's generally eaten quickly. It also takes a while to make a Christmas pudding, but few holiday foods last longer. The boiled mixture of fruit, nuts, suet, and brandy, topped with a spring of holly. A properly made Christmas pudding can keep up to a year in the pantry, right next to Grandma’s fruit cake. Suggested Sites... Weird Food - strange foods from around the world. Not just for holidays, these international delights could certainly be prepared then, too. Grilled salamander, anyone? Good Ol' Retro Green Bean Casserole - Madame Chow upgrades Campell's traditional green bean casserole for the masses. Paul Prudhomme's Turducken Page - all about the weirdest of roastable holiday birds (yes, that's birds plural, because a Cajun turducken contains three). Pudding - learn about the variety of British puddings, from black pudding to spotted dick and sticky toffee.

Directory categories: Thanksgiving Recipes, Green Bean Casseroles, British Food Suppliers, Christmas Pudding, Holiday Recipes

Archived under: Birds, Cooking, Eating, England, Fish, Food and Drink, Holidays, Jell-O, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Post a comment (1) | Email this posting