Another Holiday Cornucopia

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Our family is converging (assuming that it's possible for seven people to "converge") on my sister's place in Austin, so I'm out the door in a few minutes to join the celebration. I'lll be back late tomorrow night, and until then, I'll leave you with a couple of quick stories that have been lying around waiting to be posted:

• If you live in Massachusetts, I hope you don't run out of food or accidentally burn the stuffing. The state's centuries-old "blue laws" don't allow any grocery stores to be open today, and the state has warned Whole Foods Market, which was hoping to buck the trend, that they'll face criminal charges if they do.


• I really enjoyed reading Kurt Vonnegut's novels when I was younger, but now I hear that he's praising terrorists and suicide bombers. Is it creeping senility, or has the man just lost his mind? James Lileks takes him to task in a recent Screedblog entry.


• On to the lighter side: A French woman was arrested after she tried to open an airplane door in mid-flight so she could go outside and smoke a cigarette.


• On my way to Denton last night, I was very happy to have to stop in Lewisville and pay $2.01 a gallon for regular gas...until I actually got to Denton and saw that it was $1.99. The magic number has been broken!

I have a review of the One O'Clock/Lou Marini concert in progress; it'll go up when I get back. Until then, everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Tongue-twister of the day: At the social gathering I attended last night, one of the things they were serving was "spiked, spiced cider." Try saying that ten times fast...