Thanksgiving... 2020?

Maybe 2020 is as good a year as any to bring back a tradition on this blog: listing the things that I am thankful for.  Having all the craziness and challenges that Twenty-Twenty has tossed our way, perhaps it will make thankfulness that much better.  Make our blessings more appreciated.  I want to believe so anyway.

So here are the things I'm thankful for in 2020:

1.  Having the friends that I have, who I consider very much to be real family.

2.  My dog Tammy: as precious to me as a child.

3.  Housing, food on the table, a car, and too many other things that are often taken for granted.

4.  Speaking of food, this year I've learned how to cook more than ever before.

5.  That I've been writing again for publication.

6.  That I completed my first book.

7.  That I have a challenging and rewarding career, that I get to go into every day and really help others with.

8.  My colleagues at work, who truly have become as dear to me as anyone.

9.  A faith in God that, I like to believe, is becoming rekindled.

10.  That I was finally able to play... and complete... Fallout 4.

11.  That warts and all, I can say that I live in the United States of America and that I still believe in the best about this country.

12.  That though it took a sizable hit from The Rise of Skywalker, I'm still counting myself as a Star Wars fan.

13.  That I'm discovering new ways to better manage my bipolar disorder and PTSD.

14.  That despite it all, sometimes even myself, I am still alive.

And there are probably other things that could be put on the list, but you get the idea.

All things considered, that's a heck of a lot to be thankful for in the year of Our Lord two thousand and twenty.

Who knows.  There's still a month left.  Maybe some more blessings will come still...

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Thanksgiving 2019 Gratitude Post

It's Thanksgiving Day so you know what that means: today we appreciate what we already have, so that tomorrow on Black Friday we will fight for things we don't really need.

I have had a love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving, for a complexity of reasons.  It's the materialism that comes afterward that especially disgusts me.  Once upon a time, the day after Thanksgiving could be a time of wonder and good cheer.  It was perfect people-watching season, and in general those people were nicer and more considerate to one another.  But those days are gone and in its place are hordes of zombies out of The Walking Dead hungry for brains bargains and banging on store windows hours ahead of opening time and... why are stores even opening on midnight after Thanksgiving anyway?!?

(That's a run-on sentence.  Miss Jones, forgive me.)

There.  That's my rant about Black Friday for the year.  No clever posts about "Seasons Beatings", I promise.

On the other hand, Thanksgiving is a great triumph for me.  And I'll tell you why.  It's because when I was growing up, Thanksgiving really did become something to dread.  Some people in my family turned it into a vicious occasion for insults and put-downs and somehow I always seemed to be the one most on the receiving end of it.  Who was most responsible for that, I'll leave as an exercise for the reader.  Suffice to say however, the stereotypical "ruined Thanksgiving"...

...yeah, that was mine.  That was the hell I had to endure year after year after year, because of some who I recognize now were genuine psychopaths and generally mean individuals who didn't care for the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

So finally came the day when I took it back.  Made it my turn.  When I took Thanksgiving and had it never be a cause for fear again.  I did something that inadvertently made them grateful that I was really there, and not just the proverbial "kid at the card table".

Because I came to be the one who could deep-fry the turkey that they suddenly became very glad they were enjoying in all its juicy succulent glory.  Nobody in the family had ever done anything like that before.  The years of dry meat were vanquished.  Chris and his crazy dangerous stunt provided a meal that one family member quietly told me was the best Thanksgiving dinner that he/she had ever enjoyed.  And suddenly Chris was the one the family was always looking to for providing the turkey on Thanksgiving and then at Christmas too.

I had taken back Thanksgiving.  It's my holiday now.  And maybe I appreciate it better than some, who will remain anonymous for their own sake.  Thanksgiving is not a time for airing of grievances among loved ones or political disputes or making game plans for when the big boxes' doors swing wide open (and that is the last I'll say for this year)...

I've seen all of those and more and they disgust me.

But I'm not going to harbor on those anymore.  I've said my piece, for anyone who might glean some wisdom from those words.

No, I want to get back to something that too many have forgotten and that I will confess that I have neglected in recent years: the real reason for Thanksgiving.

America is unique among all nations, perhaps.  Although there have been some, like our friends in Canada and Liberia (where I am told the Southern accent is spoken most beautifully) who have adopted the custom.  We created a holiday to render thanks for blessings we have accumulated but far from deserve.  I like to believe that those blessings come about from the grace of God, or divine Providence, or whatever else you want to call some higher source of righteousness.

Minor theology aside, it was George Washington who signed a declaration of thanksgiving in 1789 (you can read the original text by clicking the image).  It was variously and sundrily renewed and re-invigorated throughout the the next century and a half until Franklin Roosevelt more or less "codified" it in 1939.  And so it has been a day to render gratitude ever since.

It is a day that, I must lament, I have been lax in my own duty toward.

The past number of years did take a toll on my thankfulness.  But it's a funny thing about this past week.  I found myself looking around and, for all that could still be better, I've more reason to be thankful than I have in a very, very long while.  And maybe it's time to render honor to God for that.  Because in my better moments (which might be coming more and more) I can indeed thank God for those blessings.

So I'm going to try to start a tradition on The Knight Shift: one that has been too long overdue.  I'm going to compose a list of things I'm thankful for, and try to follow through on it for as long as this blog stays on the air (almost sixteen years already!).

Without further ado, here is my Thanksgiving 2019 Gratitude Post...

I am thankful to have, for the first time in my life, a home to truly call my very own.  Y'all should see the giant Fallout poster that I hung in my living room last night.  Just what this place needed: Vault Boy giving his iconic "thumbs-up" to meet the day with.

I am thankful for my (still fairly new) job, and for team members and supervisor, who are more gracious than I merit and can roll with me when I'm having an "off" day.  They also, it bears mentioning, totally rock!

Part and parcel with that, I am thankful for my training and certification as a peer support specialist.  Maybe I'll stop being cheap and finally get that sheepskin hung on my office wall soon.

I am thankful for my miniature dachshund Tammy, who guards the place while I'm gone and persists in being my F.L.A.W. (fuzzy little attention whore).  She has also, it goes without saying, been a most faithful and trusty companion through many adventures and I'm looking to many more with her.

I am thankful for my new turkey fryer - it just arrived yesterday - that will at least be making Christmas dinner this year:

We're back in business bay-beeeeee!!!

I am thankful for my car, which needs to be cleaned of all the Chick-Fil-A milkshake cups that have somehow made their way into the floorboard.

I am thankful for my writing ability which seems to be coming back.  Writing has always been a gift I have tried to cultivate and further, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.  Maybe a book or two (or three)?

I am thankful that God has brought a wonderful woman into my... no wait, that hasn't happened yet.  I will be more thankful than I've ever been in the history of anything if He might still could do that.  And if you are a potential lass who I could court, write me at theknightshift@gmail.com!

I am thankful for my iPad Pro, and all the myriad of uses that have been found for it.  Speaking of which: hey guys, Eve Echoes starts open beta next week!  Let's get our corporation going so we can get the jump on those Russian mobsters!

I am thankful that I am overcoming my fear of the kitchen and have begun cooking real food lately.  The memories of those creamed potatoes during that Boy Scout camping trip no longer haunt me.

I am thankful for good health.  Including my mental health... which, I am coming to realize, could have been much worse than bipolar disorder and PTSD.  I am not nearly enough thankful that, compared to some, I have it fairly easy.  And I hope that God never lets me forget that.

I am thankful that Star Wars seems to be back on the right track, and am hoping that in 21 days a lifetime of waiting for all nine episodes will be gloriously satisfied with The Rise of Skywalker.

I am thankful for my friends, who truly are as dear family to me.  They have been with me in the good times and have somehow endured me in the bad.  Again, a  blessing that I don't deserve but how I ended up with such amazing people in my life, I will never ever know on this side of eternity.

I am thankful for the family I am still close to.  May we have many more years of good times and great memories.

I am thankful that in the past few months, I have been able to confront and overcome some issues of my past, and stop them from hanging over me.  The first part of this post?  That's part of that process.  It was a hard thing to accomplish, but it needed it more than most will ever know.

I am thankful for one best friend's little girl, who is like a niece to me.  And I am thankful for another best friend who is soon to become a father to his own little girl.  "Uncle Chris" is gonna be playing Santa like a madman next Christmas.

I am thankful for another best friend still, who I could not have gotten to where I am today without her prayers and encouragement and, when needed, kicking my tail to help me get back on the path again.

I am thankful for new beginnings.

I am thankful that there may be be many more things to be thankful for, that are slipping my mind at this late hour.

I am thankful that God has let me get this far and I pray that He will continue to let me keep going just a little further.

I am thankful.

And I thank you for getting to the end of this post, all two of my faithful readers!

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Turkey Frying... IN COLOR!

Kristen's brother Scott Bradford was a witness to the turkey deep-frying on Thanksgiving two days ago. While maintaining a safe distance (and maybe more than that) he shot some terrific video of the action. Scott edited it together and now for your viewing pleasure y'all can watch the searing heat and tormentuous oil in all its glory!!

Scott also posted the video on his own blog, and he testifies to the exquisite and juicy taste that in a turkey can only be achieved by frying it.

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2012 Thanksgiving: What I am thankful for

It's not Thanksgiving Day right now. It's the day after: often called "Black Friday". Which as some astute observers have noted, we spend one day being thankful for the things we have by spending the next day trampling all over and killing each other trying to get the things we don't have.

Admittedly, there are some things which I do not have at the moment, that I have been in constant prayer about. But I must also acknowledge that I have been far, far more blessed than I would have ever thought possible. During this past year and a half, this has honestly been the happiest that I have been during the course of my entire life. In fact, I feel like my real life is just now getting started...

...and I've a feeling that God might have plenty more good in store yet to come.

So in what I hope is going to be a continuing tradition of The Knight Shift, here is what I am thankful for this year...

I am thankful to finally have a female miniature dachshund puppy, who at times is a lot of aggravation but has still won my heart since the first moment I held her.

I am thankful to have come a long way in managing my bipolar disorder. It has taken the better part of a decade to arrive at this place. And I am exceedingly thankful that publicly chronicling my struggle with this illness has apparently become an encouragement to others. If even one person comes away stronger from reading about my having bipolar, then that alone makes writing about it worth it.

I am thankful for Dad, who has been a true encouragement for me during this past year.

I am thankful for friendships which have endured and for those friendships which have been made since last Thanksgiving.

I am thankful to be getting my creative mojo back. Something which had been missing for the past number of years, for a variety of reasons. I am now back to working on some video projects as well as something else, which Lord willing I will be able to announce sooner than later.

I am thankful to have read many more books in these last several months than I have read in a long, long time! I should finish A Dance with Dragons sometime next week, which will make me caught up finally on the entire Game of Thrones series (well that's what I'm calling it anyway...)

I am thankful to have traveled to Oregon this past June. To have driven through the Columbia River Gorge and to have stood a mile or so away from Mount St. Helens: truly one of the most humbling experiences of my entire life.

I am thankful for Doctor Who and The Walking Dead, which I enjoy watching with my girlfriend.

I am thankful for ballroom dancing, which I am getting better and better at (I can now do the cha-cha, the foxtrot and the swing in addition to rumba and waltz!)

I am thankful to have not gone to jail yet for having a perverse sense of humor.

I am thankful for root beer.

I am thankful for finally playing Diablo II, even though it only took me twelve years to get around to doing so.

I am thankful for this blog, which is about to hit nine years old. And that it seems to have gained even more regular readers and I will endeavor to keep them entertained, enlightened and generally enthralled for a long time still to come.

I am thankful that yes, there WILL be more Star Wars movies! I am thankful for knowing that I will get to take my children to see a new Star Wars trilogy. That Lord willing, I will get to see new Star Wars movies with their children. What a time to be alive.

I am thankful for second chances.

I am thankful for Kristen, who is a far better girlfriend than I could ever deserve to have. I had never thought that I could be this happy, but God certainly has when He put Kristen into my life. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank Him for the honor of being her boyfriend... and there is not a day that goes by that I don't tell her that I thank God for her.

Most of all, I do thank God for all that He has done, and that I do now see how He has been working across my entire life. To my shame, I had doubted for awhile that He was listening to me, that He cared at all. Now, I know better.

There are more things that I could probably come up with, but those are some of the bigger ones. And Kristen, her parents and I are about to go see Skyfall, so I should wrap this up anyway.

And no doubt next year, there will be even greater things to be thankful for :-)

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Deep-fried turkey, Thanksgiving 2012 Edition

Another Thanksgiving has come... and with it, once again, another round of Yours Truly doin' up some deep-fried turkey!

This year's Thanksgiving was special, in a number of ways. For one, I'm spending it with Kristen and her family. For another, this marks my tenth anniversary of deep-frying turkey! So for those reasons and more, I wanted this one to be extra special.

Here's the turkey chosen to be sacrificed to the flames and the oil. I found one weighing-in at just under 15 pounds: the perfect mass to feed a gang of six! What you see here is the turkey on the spit ready to be fried, after spending thirty-three hours of being marinaded and rubbed down with Cajun seasoning.

In this next photo the oil is almost hot enough to lower the turkey in. The cooking temperature is 350 Fahrenheit. I heat it up to 375 though to begin with, because the temperature is going to drop precipitously when the turkey goes in. Of course, the bird has been patted down good and dry on the outside to keep nasty hot oil from spattering out. Looking at the pot with much interest and anticipation is Kristen's father...

Here we go, (not so) fast and (plenty) furious!! Kristen's brother Scott is shown taking photos, albeit from a considerably safe distance...

Awright, this next picture requires some explanation. The oil was in the pot and I had just turned on the burner when I realized to much horror... my thermometer was broken!!! The trusty instrument that had seen ten years and many, many fried turkeys had died. And at the WORST possible moment too!
No time to panic though. Not as one working with hazardous materials. Certainly not as an Eagle Scout. Kristen's mom and brother made a quick jaunt to Wal-Mart and found two thermometers, neither one of them built with deep-frying safety in mind but hey, ya gotta takes what ya can.

So here is me in what Kristen calls the "fisherman pose": lowering a candy thermometer into the oil with a wire coat hanger!

But, the new thermometer came through with flying colors. And 45 minutes later...

...the culinary masterpiece was ready to be admired for its beauty and its juicy, delicious flavor!

I'm always looking for new ways to improve my turkey-frying technique. There were a couple of tricks that I employed this time for both product quality and personal safety. With the exception of the thermometer emergency, the entire process was by far the smoothest and cleanest that I've ever had.

'Twas a most excellent Thanksgiving dinner! The turkey came out great, and there was the terrific desserts made by Kristen's mom and sister-in-law (Melissa makes the most potent chocolate cupcakes in the history of anything).

And now, I get to enjoy a few weeks' respite before doing this all over again for Christmas. For which I've already been threatened with getting chained to the burner until I make enough fried turkey for everyone who's been demanding it this past year :-P

Update 7:19 pm EST: D'oh!! I forgot to document the music that I chose to fry too! That's also an important part of the ritual.There were a number of albums which came to mind. I think up to a few weeks ago the obvious choice would have been the Game of Thrones Season 1 soundtrack. But then there came the big news of October 30th...

So in celebration of the imminent return we shall be making to that galaxy far, far away, I had Disc 2 of The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edtion playing from my iPod. Not just John Williams' finest composition for a Star Wars movie, but in my opinion the definitive Star Wars orchestral score album!

It was released in February of 1997. And in spite of being the most vintage album to be used during my rituals, it was spot-on perfect for the task. And just after telling friends that this would be the music of the hour, the news broke that Lawrence Kasdan will be returning to the gang and he's writing Episodes VIII and IX! Truly a good omen :-)

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Stop Christmas, I want to get off

Let's dispense with the floridity and get to the point:

The holiday season has been damn near ruined by commercial madness.

I'm hearing that some families are having their Thanksgiving gatherings destroyed by Wal-Mart and other retailers mandating their employees be working on Thursday morning. Yeah you read that right: a number of stores are opening at noon on Thanksgiving when everyone else will be gorging on turkey and watching football.

I got a bad vibe when stores like Wal-Mart and Target began putting the Christmas stuff out before Halloween. That's two full months of holiday marketing. One-sixth of the entire year devoted to holiday spending.

Now the radio stations are following suit. 99.5 out of Greensboro - which has traditionally not begun playing Christmas songs until the day after Thanksgiving - is already blaring out 24 hours round the clock of holiday music.

Gad-dommit, STOP IT ALREADY!! I'm bipolar dammit! It's already hard enough for me to slow down my mind. I don't need the year to go by any faster! Neither do most other people. But that's what is happening as a result of the extended holiday season: the year is going by faster. Too fast. The holidays should come at us bursting with joy, not creeping upon us like so much unstoppable kudzu.

I'm this close to just calling off Christmas entirely this year. Not only not giving presents but demanding that I don't receive presents either. This ain't what Christmas is meant to be about. It's supposed to be about family, friends, good times, being thankful for what God has blessed us with...

Did we not learn anything from all those years of A Charlie Brown Christmas?

This is going to be the first Christmas that I spend without my mother. A few friends during the year also lost parents. For some, they know that this will be the last time they will have the holidays with a loved one.

Not all the money in the world, no amount of dollars spent, will ever fill the vacuum left by a beloved friend or family member.

Call me sentimental, but it seems like this is a time to be appreciative of what we have now, instead of accumulating mere material "things". I for one would certainly like to have Mom for another Thanksgiving and Christmas. For the rest of my life I will be haunted by old hurts between us that never really got resolved. It would have been nice to have the time to reconcile those and have just a little more time to share. That will never happen. But I refuse to let that be with anyone else that I care for.

This Thanksgiving, I choose to be thankful. This Christmas, if I don't receive anything at all, that's not going to keep me from enjoying the company of those that I love.

When I consider the madness that will no doubt ensue in a few days' time, it makes me almost wish that this country would have a hard crash. Perhaps then it would bring us to our senses. Compel us to get our priorities back in order. Don't get me wrong: I enjoy getting some Christmas presents: it just isn't perfect unless I get a new pair of sweatpants, some LEGOs and at least one Star Wars toy. But is any of that the focal point of my holidays? More like a nice cherry on top.

Anyhoo, Jennifer Waters at MarketWatch has a considerably recommendable story about retailers ruining Thanksgiving in their war for "Black Friday" bucks. You might have already read it 'cuz it's making the rounds quite a lot already. It's enough to make one pause, and forsake heading to the stores at all on Thanksgiving Day.

Who knows: if enough people stay home, maybe the retailers will come to figure out that it's not worth the money to open the doors earlier than sanity allows.

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Look! VIDEO of me frying those Thanksgiving turkeys!

When I first posted about this Thanksgiving's deep-fried turkey earlier this evening, I forgot to mention that for this past holiday's music to fry to, I chose to use Steve Jablonsky's soundtrack for Gears of War 3. Should have made a note of that earlier 'cuz hey, that kind of thing is important to my personal ritual of deep-frying turkey. Kristen and my friends that I was frying for all thought that it was a terrific score and perfect for the occasion :-)

Well, a short while ago Kristen surprised me with this video that she put together of me preparing the turkey in the kitchen and then putting it into the oil... which turned out to be the most dangerous bird that I have yet to fry!! No seriously: a tiny bit of hot oil jumped up and hit me in the face. It startled me for a second or two but there was no burn (thankfully!). Still, it was a sobering reminder that this is dangerous and it takes considerable forethought and a bit of lunacy to attempt :-P

Okay well without further ado, here is my girlfriend Kristen's video that she shot and edited together!

Once again, great job Kristen!! I especially loved the end credits (including that lil' jab at PETA :-)

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Pics of this year's Thanksgiving fried turkey!

As I have done (most) Thanksgivings since 2002, I deep-fried some turkey! Just now getting the pics up 'cuz my girlfriend Kristen stayed here for the holiday: our first Thanksgiving together! And she was the one taking the pics and I hadda wait until she got back home to pull them to her computer and send them to me. So for those who had wondered if I fried turkey this year: ohhhhh yeah!!

In fact, I fried two birds this Thanksgiving. The first for another family that are good friends of mine, and the second was ours. Kristen was there to photo document most of the entire process.

Here I am with that crazy look that I get whenever my mouth starts salivating for fried turkey. It was probably a good thing that Kristen spent this Thanksgiving with me: she got to see how I really am when it comes to deep-frying turkey. I'd been warning her for months that this was coming, but to see it with her own eyes... well, nothing could have truly prepared her. You know how in the past few movies that he's done, how Daniel Day-Lewis gets that murderous glint in his eye before going psycho on some poor shlub? Well, that's pretty much me at this time of year...

Injecting the bird with garlic butter. I began marinading at 4 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, and gave each bird three full treatments of marinade and Cajun seasoning!

More marinading after giving a bird a healthy dose of Cajun seasoning. I pour gobs of the stuff onto the skin and then vigorously rub it in hard and deep...

Thanksgiving morning: pouring the cottonseed oil into the pot, which will soon be heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit...

CAREFULLY lowering the turkey into the oil...

45 minutes later (cooking at 3 minutes per pound) the turkey is done! :-)

Now all that's left to do is carve into it and eat it! And everyone agree that it was incredibly delicious as always! Kristen said that it was lived up to the hype :-)

Now, only 25 days before I get to do it all over again. The second-most deadly form of cooking known to man (after preparing fugu) and in the tenth year of doing it, I haven't burned the house down. Yet. Let's hope my streak of good luck continues for many more years to come :-P

Thanks to Kristen for taking such great photos!

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Thanksgiving 2011: What I am thankful for

For the Thanksgiving last year, I did not make a post like this. That's because a year ago I was in the midst of what I've since realized was the longest, darkest and most spiritually trying period of my entire life. Last year at this time, feeling thankful seemed like the last thing that I could muster up.

What a difference a year makes...

If anybody had told me that twelve months from then, that I would be at a totally different place, I could not have believed it. And trust me: there were lots of good friends who were doing their best to encourage me then. Telling me "Chris, God hasn't given up on you! The best is yet to come! You will get through this!"

I've never enjoyed telling so many people that I was wrong and they were right, as I have been compelled to do these past few months.

And today, today... well, I can't feel anything but so very thankful for what God has blessed my life with!

So here I am, picking up again what I hope will continue to be an ongoing tradition of this blog.

I am thankful that this past year has been the very first that I have been able to completely enjoy without my bipolar disorder making life a living hell. And I am also thankful that I have been able to write about that on this blog, and apparently it has become a boon for others who must live with this condition. I'm going to begin writing more about Being Bipolar very soon, incidentally. But that I have been able to at last get a grip on my own mind has been an incredible blessing!

I am thankful for having two very wonderful parents, who have been there for me and encouraged me and have been a bigger inspiration for me than I should have been thankful for already.

I am thankful for my sister, who I honestly have not appreciated nearly enough but hope to do better by that.

I am thankful... and extremely thankful at that... for having what honestly must be the most wildly awesome circle of friends that a guy could possibly have in his life. So too many than I could come close to naming them all.

I am thankful for the many new friends that I have made since 2011 began.

I am thankful for Theatre Guild of Rockingham County and the sense of family that I have come to enjoy from working with so many incredibly talented and wonderful people!

I am thankful for new opportunities.

I am thankful for my iPad: truly an indispensable gadget!

I am thankful for ballroom dancing, which I have come to enjoy more than I had expected and I'm looking forward to getting better at it.

I am thankful that I got to read a bunch more books in this past year (including Atlas Shrugged at last).

I am thankful for the music of "Weird Al" Yankovic, which became a huge catalyst for some insanely good things in this past year!

I am thankful that I finally got to see The People vs. George Lucas and that so much of my own movie got to be part of it and is now making people all over the world laugh to our work!

I am thankful for the chances to travel that I have come to have.

I am thankful for the second chances to make right the mistakes of my life.

I am thankful for Kristen, the abundawonderful lady that God has brought into my life. She is not merely my girlfriend. She is... my soulmate, my sister in Christ, the one who I can always count on to make me smile when I need it most, the girl who has made me more happy than I can ever remember being in my entire life. I am truly thankful beyond words for God bringing us together and, well... I'm soooo looking forward to seeing where He takes us from here! :-)

But most of all, I am thankful to God. And I am thankful that He has brought me through the grief and suffering of the past few years and to a place where I am closer to Him than I have ever been able to be before! I am thankful for the faith that I now have in Him: a faith that had been there before but is now stronger, more resilient, more yielding to Him and His will than I have had before in my life. I am thankful that God brought me through the darkness, that He was faithful and true even when I could not feel Him, when I couldn't even believe He was there at all. But He was. He has been with me and He will always be with me and... I thank Him now that if it took the hardship to draw me into this deep a relationship with Him, that I did endure it.

And last but not least, I am very thankful for you, The Knight Shift's readers, who come to this humble lil' blog and (I like to think anyway) enjoy the insights and commentary of its eclectic proprietor. The readership of this site has grown immensely in the past few years and, I count myself as the luckiest guy on the Intertubes that so many good people come to this place on a regular basis. I hope that I'll be able to keep y'all entertained, educated and Lord willing even enlightened a bit for many more years to come :-)

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Time for... THANKSGIVING WITH THE KRANZES!

I have reposted stuff on this blog twice in the past, on rare occasions. But never three times. This deserves it though (and no doubt will be posted again in years to come).

It's been two years since the last time I shared this YouTube video. And since this is the week of Thanksgiving (yes I've already begun preparing to deep-fry a bunch of turkey) and there are perhaps still a lot of people who've never enjoyed this before, I thought it was well worth posting again :-)

It's the short film Thanksgiving With The Kranzes. Produced a few years ago by aviation students, it's a dead-on hilarious parody of Ron Howard's movie Apollo 13.

It is Thanksgiving 1970. This year it's Gene Kranz's turn to host the traditional dinner for his NASA colleagues. The heroic crew of the Apollo 13 mission has been given the command of the kitchen. But then... something happens.

"Take-out is NOT an option!"

Watch now the film that the real-life Gene Kranz has taken to watching with his family every Thanksgiving!

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How'd them fried turkeys come out? Behold the pics and video!

Last year it was the outrageously jacked-up price of peanut oil that kept fried turkey from being economically feasible.  This year I thought the price had gone down when I went to buy it, but turns out I was using cottonseed oil instead!  Which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  I'd been wanting to try cottonseed oil for awhile now but couldn't find it anywhere.  Same great taste when all was done though!

Here's the first bird that I did (for a customer), after about 30 hours of marinading and rubbing-in seasoning, as it awaits the 350 degree Fahrenheit hot oil...

Yours Truly carefully lowering the turkey in...

Frying at 3 and a half minutes per pound, this 9-pounder took 35 minutes to cook...

A little over half an hour later (a heckuva lot shorter time than basting it in an oven) this turkey is done!

Beautiful, ain't it? :-)

Now this next one is the turkey that I fried for my own family's Thanksgiving dinner. And lemme tell ya: I've never done one this big before. It weighed in at more than TWENTY AND A HALF POUNDS! I nicknamed it "The Beast", it was so monstrously large. Think the previous biggest one was about 13 pounds and I darn nearly had cardiac infarction when Dad told me how big a bird he had purchased. But, I'm always up for a challenge.

Here's "The Beast" before frying...

A turkey this big deserves something better than just still pics, don't ya think? So how about a video clip of me lowering it into the oil...

"The Beast" took 75 minutes to thoroughly fry...

And an hour and fifteen minutes later...

That is going to be my personal standard by which all future fried turkeys will be judged. If all the rest to come can be as big and juicy and delicious as The Beast, I will be happy :-)

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What I am thankful for this year

I admit: it is not a habit that I have kept up very well. A number of years ago my friend Chad Austin made a post on his own blog for Thanksgiving about the things that he was thankful for. And I resolved then that I would do the same and stick to it.

Well, I missed it last year (because of some circumstance that a few of you are now aware of). But it's a funny thing: now, two years since the last time I said I was thankful, I feel more thankful than ever before... and thankful for things that maybe I didn't appreciate as fully as I should have been.

Thanksgiving remains a uniquely American holiday. No other place in the world, so far as I know, has a holiday devoted to reflection upon the blessings in our lives. Yes, I know: our Jewish brethren and many other religious groups do have festivals of thanks to God. But Thanksgiving enjoys the curious place of being perhaps the one holiday with anything like a spiritual basis that is endorsed by an understandably secular government. That doesn't mean that I think Thanksgiving is a strictly "Christian" affair.. but you've gotta admit: we would all be the better for it if we spent more time thankful for what we do have, and not lamenting that which we don't.

So without further ado, here is what I am thankful for as we wind down 2009...

I am thankful, more than I can possibly express, for the very many wonderful friends that I have been blessed with throughout my life.

I am thankful that for those friendships which may have fallen by the wayside, that there is hope for the reconciliation that I fervently pray for each day.

I am thankful for my Mom and Dad, who have always been there for me... even when I have been at my lowest.

I am thankful for my sister, who is far more an inspiration than she will ever know.

I am thankful for all of my family, now spread out throughout the world...

...and thanks to Facebook we are keeping in touch with each other more than ever before!

I am thankful for the very many opportunities that God has opened up for me in recent months, and I look forward to seeing where they might take me.

I am thankful to be an alumnus of Elon University, not only because I love the school but because the Phoenix have become the team to watch in football and basketball.

I am thankful for the Theatre Guild of Rockingham County and everything - and everyone - that comes with being involved with it!

I am thankful for this blog, which in however small a way I want to believe might be an encouragement for anyone who might find their way here to take a stand and contribute their own unique voice and perspective to the world.

I am thankful for discovering the joy of Warhammer 40,000 and Monsterpocalypse this past year, and the numerous friendships that have come about from meeting to play those games.

I am thankful for YouTube, which is always there to show me how to tie a necktie whenever I need the instruction.

I am thankful to live in the country, where I can take my telescope out on any clear dark night and use it as I please without getting honked-off at light pollution.

I am thankful for getting to see my life-long best friend Chad Austin get married this past summer.

I am thankful that I get to be creative and productive, and can now get away with it after some previous stunts finally garnered me some hard-earned street cred (especially among my family ;-).

I am thankful for Fallout 3, which has to date consumed 130 hours of my life (and still counting...).

I am thankful that I am getting to learn more of the fine art of knifemaking from Dad.

But, most of all...

...I am thankful that I serve an awesome God, Who has been faithful to me even when I have not been as faithful to Him. I am thankful that His grace is sufficient to cover the unbelievable amount of shortcomings that are in my life. I am thankful that even though I do fall and make many mistakes, that He is ever there to pick me up, dust me off, and be beside me closer than a friend as I continue on the difficult, strange and at times all-out wacky journey that is life.

If am am thankful for nothing else, then I am thankful that I have Christ in my life. And I am thankful for being able to see, thirteen years later, that He is a presence in my life... and one that I want to grow all the more, for as long as I am in this world.

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This DESERVES to be a real Thanksgiving TV special...

It's not the first time that I've blogged about this. But a short film this good easily merits sharing more than once. And who knows, there might be some who have never had the pleasure of seeing it before.

Here is that brilliant, spot-on and hilarious spoof of Ron Howard's Apollo 13 that Gene Kranz himself has taken to watching with his family as a holiday tradition.

Behold: Thanksgiving With The Kranzes...

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Thanksgiving 2009: And so it begins...

The twenty-pound turkey (what the heck was Dad thinking?!?) that will be our own family's main course tomorrow. Since this is the biggest bird of the batch, I used this one to do the "water trick" with to measure out how much peanut oil to pour into the pot tomorrow morning. That means you put the turkey in, and start pouring cold water into the pot until it meets the top of the turkey. Then take it out and make a mark (I use a piece of tape) at the water line minus the displacement. That way you don't have to rough guess and risk flames and destruction when peanut oil comes flowing over the top of the pot...

So all the birds are now marinaded and well-rubbed in with Cajun seasoning. There'll be several more treatments throughout the day but for now "the chef" is going to take a break and do something I've hardly had time to do at all the past few months: finally get into seriously playing Batman: Arkham Asylum :-)

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Coming soon...

A review of a new movie that most people haven't seen yet. A couple of book reviews. And an awesome contest... with some very neat prizes!

Keep an eye on this blog in the next few days for all kinds of kewl stuff.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

EDIT 7:05 p.m. EST: And now for a true bit of Thanksgiving comedy. It's the now-infamous "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!" scene from the classic sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati...

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Recession to rob many of fried turkey this Thanksgiving

See the photo on the right? That's me a few years ago on Thanksgiving, holding a golden brown, succulent deep-fried turkey. It's considered the second most dangerous form of cooking known to man (after preparing fugu) and I've done it plenty of times since 2002. And especially for family and friends, who have always enjoyed the exceptionally juicy meat that comes from preparing the bird this way. It's a taste that I've become rather addicted to. And I was looking forward to doing up one or two or even more next week...

But this will be one Thanksgiving that I'm gonna have to do without my beloved fried turkey. So is everyone else who does this that I've spoken to. I wouldn't mind paying for it but the people around me keep telling me to "save your money".

The reason: the price of peanut oil has gone through the roof.

When I first started doing this, I could buy a three-gallon container of peanut oil for twenty bucks. Last year it was $25. I was in a meat market yesterday afternoon, one of the best places in town, and three gallons of peanut oil this year is a whopping thirty-five dollars.

I always have to buy two containers for my frying needs.

I chatted some with the manager and he said nobody is buying any this year... and usually they've done quite a bit of business selling it already.

"What's your take on why the price has gone up?" I asked.

"Bad biofuel decisions," he replied.

Doesn't surprise me. I've been hearing all year that biofuel subsidies have wrecked havoc with cooking oil across the board. And then you factor in that peanut production is down anyway, and the stuff does become a valuable commodity.

But the manager also told me that it's the economy in general which is the reason why most people are going back to basted this year. There's not as much free money to spend on what by all rights should be a gloriously prepared banquet to share with loved ones.

This was the first sign that really hit me upside the head, that we are in a recession. And there's been a helluva lot worse than "bad decisions" about biofuel going on lately, what with $700 BILLION of taxpayer money that Congress and the Bush White House is doling out with NO oversight. For sure, I don't see the lean times ending anytime soon.

For fiscal irresponsibility leading to desecration of an honored method to treat a bird as noble as the turkey, I've got just one thing to say about the miscreants who've wound up in charge of our money:

Boil 'em in oil!

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What I am thankful for in 2007

Last year for Thanksgiving, I posted here a list of things for which I am thankful. It seemed then that this might be a great thing to turn into an annual tradition.

So as Thanksgiving 2007 is winding down, I have to say that I am thankful for...

...my dear wife Lisa, who more times than I can possibly count over this past year has shown again that she is the most remarkable woman that I have ever met, in addition to being the most beautiful. I absolutely do not deserve to have her in my life, and I thank God every day that for whatever reason, He put the two of us together. And Lord willing, we will have children someday soon who will come to know how wonderful she is, too :-)

...for my family.

...for the many, many new friendships that were made over this past year. That was the most consistent thing that happened throughout all of "these crazy situations" (as Chad Austin put it).

...and I'm especially thankful for my brothers and sisters in POTSMOD and how that brought us together to not only stand up against a bad thing and put a stop to it, but also to have a lot of fun along the way :-)

...for the hardships. Yes, I am thankful for the adversities that have come up seemingly nonstop since this year began. Because each of those things caused me to grow, even when they sometimes almost broke me down completely. And I sincerely believe that this is the biggest testimony that I can offer about how God has been working in my life. The Chris Knight from a decade ago could not have stood up to all of these crises and situations. That Chris Knight would have tried to face them on his own and he would have fallen and been utterly crushed by them. Heck, he was crushed by them. The Chris Knight of 2007 has finally (or I like to think so anyway) learned to yield his life to God and let Him shoulder the burden instead. The Chris Knight of today has become a person who doesn't try to do it on his own... because he finally realizes that attempting it can only hurt and destroy a person, and comes in the way of what God would have for us.

...for the weddings of so many loved ones.

...for the arrival into this world of so many beautiful new little ones.

...for acing the Praxis II exam and doing so well on the GRE!

...for the start of what I hope will be a successful business, which will be the first time that I've really set out to make my own living. Whether I succeed or fail is not only in my hands but more importantly it's in God's hands... which is where it belongs to begin with.

...that I was able to make another short film (which was also an opportunity to meet some terrific new people).

...for Transformers: The Score, which to me became not only a beautiful piece of music but symbolic of something much more profound and wonderful. What I mean by that is something that would take too long to go into here.

...for Lost, which is the kind of television storytelling that I wish I could have grown up watching my entire life.

...for the Rockingham County Board of Education, which has been one of the most entertaining things that I have ever borne witness to.

...for finally getting to eat at Mama Dip's restaurant.

...for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was one of the most amazing and profoundly Christian novels that I have ever read.

...for Facebook, which has led to me getting back in touch with a lot of people that I've lost contact with over the years.

...for WGSR Star 39, which never ceases to entertain and enlighten with its oddball quirkiness (but please guys, no solid month's run of Cujo anymore, 'kay?).

...and speaking of WGSR, I'm thankful that I got to co-host an entire hour of Monday Night Live earlier this year.

...for Marvel Ultimate Alliance, one of the greatest video games ever (and I hope that we get a sequel someday soon)!

...that I will be finally attending Butt-Numb-A-Thon two weeks from now, after trying hard for so many years to be there.

...for a wonderful trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway around Boone last month, which ended up being very much the swan song trip for my trusty Toyota Corolla. I am sorry that it was totaled less than a week later, but I couldn't have asked for a better "going away" for it.

...for finally, after years and years of trying to comprehend and accept this, realizing that God's grace is sufficient.

...for so many other things that I'm trying hard to think of right now but am failing horribly at recalling, mostly 'cuz this has been such a long day.

...and as last year, I am just thankful for being able to say that I am thankful.

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Pics and report on Thanksgiving 2007's deep-fried turkey

I awoke at dawn, had breakfast but didn't bother to shower. When you know that you'll be working with searing-hot oil and will get blasted with steam rich in the aroma of garlic butter, getting cleaned-up for Thanksgiving dinner is kind of a moot thing.

Deep-frying a turkey is the only form of cooking that I know of that demands wearing extra layers of clothing and such demanding attention to detail. It's like being a combination firefighter, M*A*S*H surgeon and gourmet chef. This is masculine cooking to the max. In fact, I've only seen one woman deep-fry a turkey: the indomitable Paula Dean. But then, Paula Dean can do anything in the kitchen. That she is the only woman I have witnessed frying a turkey makes her all the more magnificent. Behold her awesome culinary skills and tremble, mere mortals!

Anyhoo, we had breakfast - just a little bacon and toast 'cuz I didn't want to eat too much and feel slowed-down by digestion. I decided to start the operation a little earlier than usual because the forecast called for increased winds and dropping temperatures later in the day.

Here's the turkey, after more than a day of preparation with lots of garlic butter marinade and Cajun rub...

Here's the setup for today's frying. When this photo was taken the peanut oil was already about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and steadily rising. That's Lisa's dad sitting in the background, oggling the flames and glory...

Closeup of the peanut oil as it was heating up...

Every time I figure out how long to deep-fry a turkey, I'm reminded of the official U.S. Army manual Procedure for Military Executions, which is the how-to guide that was used to dispatch the Nuremberg war criminals (among others). Just like the Army personnel had to figure in the weight and height of each condemned man so that they'd know how much rope to use on the gallows, so too do you have to take the bird's weight and then determine how long to cook it. It's a fairly delicate dance: the turkey must be fried at 350 degrees, but you want to heat the oil up slightly more than that (say, an extra 10-20 degrees) because the oil temperature is going to drop once the bird is fully submerged. Then figure that for each pound of the turkey that it must be fried for 3.5 minutes. Then tack on an extra 2-5 minutes just to be sure that it's thoroughly cooked. In the case of this turkey, I figured that 40 minutes exactly would be sufficient.

So here it went into the pot...

Lisa's dad took this shot of me still lowering it in. If you want to be safe (which you should) it ought to take you at least 30 seconds, maybe even a full minute to completely put the turkey in. Also make sure that the inside and outside of the bird is as dry as possible...

Putting the turkey in is the most absolutely scary point of the whole operation. When it's safely in, and you have unhooked the spit and can let the hot oil run its course... only then can you really relax (but not too much). But every time that it's finally in the pot, it's a moment of triumph and I couldn't help but let out a big huge rebel yell of "Yeee-haw!!!"

And there's the mad fryer himself!

Like a scene from Dante's Inferno. Ladies and gentlemen, behold the mouth of Hell...

After it was in the pot and I felt comfortable enough about it, I walked a short distance to my car (the one that we've rented 'cuz I'm still without one of my own after the Corolla got totaled) and started Transformers: The Score going almost full-blast out of the speakers. Because part of my turkey-frying tradition is to have good music for the event.

Finally, 40 minutes later, at 11:30 a.m. exactly and just as "Arrival to Earth" was reaching its crescendo, it was time to remove the turkey. Here now, be awed at how beautiful it turned out!

And here it is a short while later when we started serving it for dinner and had begun to carve it. Notice how well cooked it is... and after only 40 minutes of frying time! It also came out very moist and tender, not like traditional basting at all.

Along with the deep-fried turkey we had corn, snap beans, hash-brown casserole and biscuits. It was quite a good meal, and everyone said that they enjoyed the turkey. I certainly did, since it had been almost two years since I had tasted any!

And that was Thanksgiving Dinner 2007 for us. And there's plenty of turkey still left over and I'll no doubt be bloated to the max by the time this weekend is over :-)

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Thanksgiving 2007: Gonna fry now

So it's now early Thanksgiving morning and in case anyone is wondering: yes, this year I am deep-frying a turkey! It'll be the first I've done in two years. I didn't fry one for Thanksgiving last year because I had to work all day at the TV station. Here's a pic of the 2005 Thanksgiving fried turkey and the one I did the previous Christmas and Thanksgiving 2004. You've no idea how much I missed doing one and how much I've been looking forward to this Thanksgiving. I started prepping the bird yesterday and just gave it a checkup and even pre-cooked, it smells delightful!

It must be borne in mind however that deep-frying (or Cajun-frying) a turkey is an EXTREMELY dangerous procedure! Every year, there are dozens (hundreds?) of accidents involving turkey frying that result in damaged homes, some even thoroughly destroyed and worse: severe injury including second and third-degree burns. I don't want to discourage anyone from trying fried turkey (in my opinion the only way to cook so noble a bird) but you really must be exceedingly cautious and maybe even a little crazy if you want to even begin contemplating doing such a thing.

So if you ever decide that you can't resist "going in deep", remember: do the "water trick" before preparing the bird so that you'll know how much oil to use (because the vast majority of turkey-frying accidents stem from putting way too much oil in the pot), don't use a bird that's too big for your pot, wear plenty of protection (especially hands and face), make sure the bird is completely dry on both the outside and inside, never leave the fryer unattended, never do this alone, keep children and animals a safe distance away, do not operate while intoxicated (a good rule for anything), move all vehicles a safe distance away, do not operate the fryer indoors or under a shelter (you wouldn't believe the stories I've heard of people attempting this in their living rooms and I've never heard of it turning out in any way other than the whole house burning down), and perhaps most important of all be patient and do not try to rush things. Cooking at only 3 1/2 - 4 minutes per pound at 350 degrees, it will be ready to eat very soon anyway (this is one of the reasons why I prefer deep-fried turkey, compared to basting which is too slow and leaves the meat too dry for my tastes: Cajun-fried turkey is exceptionally moist and tender).

In addition to all of these rules, I would also say that as a personal preference, I do not use the tripod-stand fryers. My turkeys have always been fried on a four-legged fryer because this maximizes stability for the pot (i.e. far less likely to tip over). It may cost a little extra but the added safety and peace of mind are well worth it.

So with all that said, here are the pre-game stats for Chris Knight's Thanksgiving Deep-Fried Turkey 2007:

Bird: Butterball(tm) brand 11.5 pound turkey (one of these days I'm going to find and prepare a wild turkey)

Marinade: Cajun Injector(tm) Creole Butter

Rub: Cajun Injector(tm) Cajun Shake, used generously on the inside and outside of the bird

Type of oil to be used: Peanut (would like to try cottonseed oil sometime if I can ever find any)

Music: A very important part of my personal turkey-frying ritual is to have a CD playing to mark the occasion, and for entertainment while the bird is cooking. The last time I did this for Thanksgiving, in 2005, it was the soundtrack for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which given all the seared flesh that I was working with seemed quite appropriate :-) This year, for reasons which should be obvious for anyone who's followed this blog over the past few months, the turkey-frying music will be Transformers: The Score by Steve Jablonsky.

After dinner today I'll post some pics of the turkey and show y'all how it turned out (and maybe even some of it frying :-)

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Message on a church sign

Something I love to do whenever I'm driving around is look at the signs outside of churches. Because whenever they're not advertising potluck dinners and Cub Scout meetings, they will usually have some wise and often witty messages.

There is one on north Church Street in Greensboro (I forget which church exactly but it's one of the Baptist ones on the left-hand side as you're driving north) that has really stuck in my head since seeing it the other day...

Thanksgiving is good.
Thanks-living is even better.

Or something like that. Anyhoo, I thought it was a good thought that deserved a post here :-)

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