THATS THE NOBLE ANIMAL!!!
yay! it was tasty. the meat thermometer wasn't going up, maybe i stuck it into a bone, maybe it was broken, i don't know. but i called the crumblies and they said that 7 hours was too long, so i took it out. it was still juicy and delicious, but better last year, i think. oh well. then we all had many desserts, which were tasty. jon the brit had about 12 slices of cakes and pies. he could not stop eating dessert.

happy day after thanksgiving!!! two nights ago nickels and i washed the turkey and seasoned it up and got it ready to be cooked. we really need to invest in a proper turkey cooking pan, because we bought the tinfoil disposable one and the bird was erupting out of it. we did buy it before we knew we had been forcibly upgraded by 7 pounds, but still. a good turkey cooking pan is something that is passed down to future generations. unless future generations really do decide to exclusively make deep fried turkey. here is a story i remember about future generations celebrating thanksgiving: i was talking to a person in advertising one time about possibly getting involved with the business of advertising. i asked them what i would need to do, and they said that a lot of people get their start by storyboarding a few commercial spots that they think would be good, catchy, and indicative of their style/s. i told him i had a couple ideas i would like to run by him. i said, hey, let me pitch them to you and you can give me some feedback. he said ok. so i said, ok. it starts off with a very american /rockwellian thanksgiving scene, perfect family, dad carving the perfect turkey, golden brown, doilies everywhere. then, we cut to a calendar, and pages start flipping by, quicker and quicker. suddenly it is far into the future, and we descend from the calendar/space montage to a perfect family, of the future. it is thanksgiving 2125. the perfect family is sitting around a perfect table, doilies everywhere. the perfect future dad is carving not a perfect future turkey, but a huge Snickers bar for thanksgiving dinner. The fmaily looks pleased, and as we fade into space, the tag line appears/is heard. Snickers... THE FUTURE IS SWEET. (get it, it's a pun, bc they are eating candy for dinner) he actually thought it was kind of funny, and asked to hear another idea. i said ok, this one is for all state insurance. then i went into a setting where a car is parked outside of a home in perfectville anytown, usa. a ball goes through the window, and the insurance claim is in action! because they have allstate. then we go to a space montage where calendar pagesfly by, and we see we are in the future. a spacecar is sitting outside of a future house in anytown futureville, galaxy unkown. a spaceball flies through the future windshield, and future claims adjusters are ON THE CASE. then the tag line, all state insurance... the future is SWEET! at this point the adman started trying to tell me that I need to come up with different ideas for every account and that it isn't the ad company that makes one idea and applies it to different companies. what i don't understand is how does a person who trades exclusively with deceit not realize when they are being lied to?
now back to thanksgiving 2005. i almost dropped the noble animal when trying to turn it upside down (so that the juices collect in the breast - thanks for the tip crumblies!) but i caught it. myhands were then covered with butter, lemon juice, brandy, parsley and paprika. naturally i solved this problem by petting stray cats. then i put my hands back into the turkey. we let this thing cook for about 7 hours. i think our meat thermometer was broken, because it looked very brown and done, but the thermometer wouldn't go up to the safe poultry mark. a chat with the crumblies and they told me i had to take it out before it had no juice or flavor left. so i took it out. and here it is:

PICTURE TO COME
(this isn't uploading pictures right now...)



then we all ate. it was very tasty. i think it was a bit better last year, but still very tasty.

Nickels and I picked up the noble animal today. instead of the 18 pound bird we ordered, they only had a 25 pound bird. what gives, erewhon!!? but they gave it to us for 22 pounds, so that kind of made up for it? maybe?
either way, it's a pretty big bird, and it looks decent. i am a bit nervous about cooking something so large, and about keeping something in that kind of heat for 5 or more hours. it seems unnatural. i havenever tried a deep fried turkey, but it seems like there has been a new rule instated within the past few years that there must be obligatory conversations about deep fried turkeys any time turkeys or thanksgiving is mentioned. it is now eclipsing the mandatory 'turducken convo' in popularity. but these conversations that we have, they help us remain human. if i couldn't talk about jews getting chinese food and going to the movies on christmas at least once i year, i think i would forget how to love.

tonight i went to the movies to see the weatherman, starring nic cage. me, nicole, and land went to the grove. we stepped in and there was a longish line behind one of the automated ticket machines, and smaller lines behind two other ones, so we stepping into the smaller line. then we heard someone say hey i think they just cut us in line! we turned around. it was this guy:


















we then started to talk to him for a while about the line situation and what movies we were seeing and/or interested in seeing. he mentioned he was going to go see jarhead. we told him we had considered it but decided on the weatherman because a) we had heard that the weatherman was really depressing and b) we heard that the reports of full frontal gyllenhall in jarhead were false. he hadn't even heard the rumors. he said he had to see jarhead because his friend was in it. later he wandered into our movie (during previews) and we talked some more, and then he sat with his friend to kill time until jarhead started about an hour later. one could see land's mind actually fracturing because of our extended conversations.
go see the weatherman, really beautifully shot and very funny and depressing, and guaranteed to make you stumble into a celeb.