| Catsu's Corner Archives
November 2004 Back to HOME |
| November 29, 2004 -- Happy Anniversary. |
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Happy Anniversary to us. Thirty Years. |
| November 26, 2004 -- Black Friday. |
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Thanksgiving is over, marking the official start of the CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON.
The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year. Called Black Friday, it's the day when the retailers traditionally cross the line from red ink to black ink and start to make a profit. (I personally think another name would have been better, as "Black Friday" sounds a little sinister.) The stores all open early the day after Thanksgiving. At 5:30 or 6:00 AM people are lined up outside waiting, determined to be the first to purchase the Spongebob Squarepants Playset or the Singing Elmo doll. I see them on the news, racing to get in, pushing and shoving. I think it's a little silly, but maybe that's just me. I don't like crowds. This year Target ran a promotion offering 6:00 wake-up calls on the day of the early sales. People could choose to be awakened by Heidi Klume, Ice-T, Darth Vader, a pop diva singing, or a rooster crowing, among other selections. But the cool thing is that the company contracted by Target to do the wake-up calls was Jake's company, My Calls (MyCalls.net.) I'd already seen the Target commercial in the morning just before the parade started, but Kerry and Stacy hadn't seen it yet. So we spent several hours on Thanksgiving watching T.V. for the sole purpose of seeing the Target ad. We went about our visiting, fixing snacks, etc, with T.V. shows playing in the background until someone would say, "Okay, the commercial break is starting." Then we'd all stop what we were doing to watch. "No, they didn't play it that time. Maybe next break." It was kind of surreal, watching T.V. to see the commercials. |
| November 25, 2004 -- Happy Thanksgiving. |
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Happy Thanksgiving!
One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 
The first Macy's Parade was held in 1924 but the trademark giant balloons didn't become a part of the parade until 1927. Felix the Cat was the first giant balloon to fly in the parade. Over the years the parade has featured 173 giant balloons, but only about fifteen are used each year. Macy's is the world's second-largest consumer of helium (the U.S. government is the first.) From 1928-1933 the balloons were released after the parade with return address labels attached, and a prize was offered for their return. Wouldn't it be fun to find a giant balloon covering your back yard? Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade History The other unique feature of the Macy's parade that I like are the Broadway musical/dance numbers performed by the Broadway casts. And, of course, we always look forward to seeing the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes perform their Christmas number. So, we're off to eat too much, visit with family, and basically do nothing else today. What fun! |
| November 23, 2004 -- It really isn't that cold. |
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On the Today Show weather segment this morning, while talking about the unusually cold weather in parts of the country, they showed a film of children sledding down a snowy hill and said "This was in the San Diego area." So now all over America people watching T.V. are thinking that it snowed in San Diego yesterday.
Well, not really. It did snow a little in the mountains, and it has been cold at night, but it really isn't that cold. The sky is blue. The sun is shining. We haven't even lit the pilot light on the heater. I'm fine with a sweater or light jacket and you still see people around town just wearing T-shirts and jeans. So the question is, when I see film of events in Kansas, or Missouri, or New York on T.V., how accurate are my perceptions of the truth? |
| November 2, 2004 -- I voted. |
 Actually, I voted this past saturday at the registrars office with Raymond and Kimberly, who were home from college for the weekend. We arrived fairly early in the morning since the news had warned that they would be very busy. Walking up the hill from the parking lot we could hear names being called out over a loud speaker by a guy who seemed to think he was auditioning for the Price Is Right announcer's job. "Are they having a lottery, too?" Kimberly asked.
I'd never voted at the registrars office before, usually just stopping at a neighborhood garage on the way home from work on voting day. This had much more of a carnival atmosphere. There were big tents set up, a lot of people talking and visiting, the loud speaker was going. "They should have balloons, and flags, maybe a marching band." I said "And donuts" Kimberly added, "They should have donuts." The three of us all voted yes on that. Since we had our sample ballots with us, we were instructed to fill out the back "absentee" form, turn it in, and then wait for our names to be called. "What if they can't read the signiture?" Raymond asked "Your name was already printed on it." "It was?" Just then we hear "LLOYD FERO" called. (Raymond had grabbed the wrong sample ballot.) "What do I do?" "Just go and explain." "LLOOOYYYYYYDDD FEEERRRRRRROOOOO!" blasted out over the loud speaker. Explaining the situation, they said "Oh, okay, then that explains the discrepancy in the year of birth." |
| November 1, 2004 -- Halloween. |
We went to a Halloween costume square dance this week where we were engaged in this conversation -- "Oh, your costumes are so cute." "Thank you." "So. . . What are you supposed to be?" (I thought she was joking, but then saw she was completely serious.) "Uh, well, we're rag dolls, you know, like Raggedy Ann and Andy?" "Oh, right, of course. I see it now." Huh? Are these costumes really so vague that they require defining? |
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