I spent Thanksgiving day in Provo.
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I worked out at Gold’s Gym, starting my workout a little later in the morning than usual. My right foot is acting up, so I had to forego running to the gym and instead did 60 minutes on the exercise bike – – I hate foot injuries! As always, the audio edition of The Economist was my constant companion.
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I called my parents and visited with them a bit.
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I ate Thanksgiving dinner at Chuck-A-Rama in Orem. There was quite a line of people there, Chuck-A-Rama was doing great business. The 10- to 15-minute wait in line afforded the opportunity to appreciate a huge photo of a collision between a Rio Grande Railroad locomotive and a Provo city passenger car that occurred in about 1910 at about 200 West Center Street in Provo, as well as Chuck-A-Rama songs, images, and other propaganda playing on a large screen TV mounted to the wall. The restaurant had most everything you might eat at home, and more. This included huge hot rolls. I believe the only weakness in the Thanksgiving menu is that you have no shot at getting the drumstick or the wishbone at Chuck-A-Rama, and the variety of pies falls short of the home menu. Nevertheless, it was a delicious meal, with the added advantage of some people watching opportunities.
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I read Stave 1 of “A Christmas Carol.” I must have actually read the book at some point, but if so it has been a long time ago. I’ve seen many theatrical productions, in particular Hale Center Theater productions in which my former law school professor Richard Wilkins played the part of Scrooge. My favorite film “adaptation” of this book is actually “Scrooged” – – if there are purists among my vast readership, they may be cringing.
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For the evening I planned to watch a game on the Internet via NFL Network, the game between the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. I planned on watching the game this way for two reasons. First, my cable package does not include NFL Network, and I could find no way to watch the game on some sort of single event “pay per view” basis, I would have had to purchase a package including games I would never watch (i.e., every game except for the November 26 game between Denver and New York). Second, I saw notices at www.nfl.com saying that I could watch the game live online. Well, just before game time I learned the NFL Network is contractually prohibited from showing entire games online, but they instead alternate between showing “look-ins” that allow you to see about 6 consecutive live plays, and then bombarding you with commentary by at least 4 in studio commentators that analyze everything to death. I ended up watching a quirky, star-studded, pretty entertaining, frequently inappropriate, film on the Lifetime network called “Love Actually” about individuals in London and their relationships with their loved ones at Christmas. By doing this, I failed to take advantage of the American Movie Classics network’s offering that was apparently intended to help viewers observe Thanksgiving and get into the holiday spirit – – an all day “Godfather” marathon comprised of all three “Godfather” films. In “The Godfather” there is a scene in which Luca Brasi, a ruthless enforcer who kills people at the behest of Vito Corleone, approaches Corleone at the wedding of Corleone’s daughter, and tells him “Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child.” (emphasis added) From a certain perspective, are “The Godfather” films anything other than an unrelenting display of people expressing gratitude?
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