Thanksgiving

Today is thanksgiving in the US. It's a pretty strange day for someone not being from the US but a welcome day off from work and and an excuse to eat if nothing more. The food is pretty much a variation on the Sunday roast/Christmas dinner we all know and love in the UK, except with more American foods like sweet potatoes. The nice thing is that the build up to Christmas is not as visible as in the UK, so it's not saturated. Here are my experiences of two different thanksgivings.

My first was an annual bash put on by Andy as a pre-thanksgiving warm up before people head home for the holidays. It is also known as Turkeyfest. I was going to paraphrase the invite but it's quite funny so I shall post it:

Hello all,

The holidays are upon us. There is no better way to start the season that with deep fried turkeys (yes, plural), casserole as far as the eye can see, and desserts from pillars of the Triangle baking community.

It is time once again for the annual Thanksgiving gathering at the HQ II. For those new to the event, it promises gluttony, good times, and some of the most intense dining you can imagine. For those that were here last year, we're looking to break the record which means six turkeys over the course of the afternoon. In addition, if Luke shows up, we'll have at least two Indians, adding to the overall authenticity.

For those of you can make it, the rules are simple:

1. RSVP ASAP with what you are planning on bringing, anything from full turkeys to cranberry riddy to halloween cookies, we've seen it all. We'll have the deep fryer and a grill for use for those that want to cook another turkey and/or twinkies. We'll also have 2 turkeys, 1 oven roasted and 1 deep fried, and enough canned cranberry sauce for half of Marc.

2. Be creative, be generous, but don't be the napkin guy. Multiples of the same dish are fine, but please use common sense if there are already 3 green bean casseroles coming.

3. The event is socialist in nature, so overt sassiness regarding portion sizes is not acceptable.

4. We've finally removed "the beast" from the last party so let's not have that happen again.

5. While Helen [Andy's car] is a part of the family, she's not allowed to eat people food.

Feel free to bring significant others and the inevitable people who should have been on the guest list. We hope to see you all there, food/drink in tow.

It was great fun, in the end there was 5 turkeys and a Turducken (turkey-duck-chicken) all in one. Deep-fried WHOLE turkey is interesting! To say the least. It does taste good but it doesn't half spit when you put it in the fryer. All in all it was a good day out, the weather was fantastic so we could all sit out side, chat, watch the world go by, throw the American football about etc. I was so surprised at the quality of the food. Most of it was homemade and it was great. Also I found out if you try and deep-fry a turducken they do an alien chest burster impression except with birds and hot oil. I am going to try that one day, well maybe.


My thanksgiving today was a pleasant surprise. I felt bad for turning down LAM!LAM!'s thanksgiving bash but I had to study and go to bed early. I was just going to cook myself a little Sunday Lunch type affair. My landlord came round and asked if I wanted to come round to his, as his wife was away. So I got some turkey after all, and a chat with my landlord. It was a nice day, and I get to go to bed early. Boo. Hopefully I will be around next year for more festive fun.

PS just found this video, it's a quick tour of the Raleigh/Durham area.

Fall on Campus

Here are a few snaps I took today of campus while I was going to get my visa validated so I'm allowed back in the US. The weather is great at the moment, clear blue skies and still slightly warm. It makes so much difference not being grey, wet and windy all the time. We also get slightly longer days than the UK.

I will try and get some more autumnal shots later this week as the 'fall colors' will be gone by the time I'm back.

Duke Basketball

Here is my photos from a Blue Devils game. Apparently getting tickets for a 'Dook' (as the local say it, and the occasional ahem slip from me) basketball game is like finding rocking horse shit. How I found myself at the first game of the season I am still not entirely sure. I am guessing it was because the opponent was NCCU and are considered not as good as Dook even though they are also located in Dirty D. I was looking forward to it none the less. Andy was 'super pumped' all day and even skipped work to join the grad line. Here is where it all goes off, the Cameron indoor stadium. It's a pretty small stadium, clocking in at less than 10,000, but it's got a pretty good atmosphere.

I found a colonial to sit next too. Who of course was eating a BBQ sandwich (which was actually quite good). Ryan went to UNC Chapel Hill for undergrad, who are dook's main rivals. It's kinda like a Wednesday fan being at BDTBL. He looks happy though, bless 'em the locals do try.

Here is some particularly good photography of the start of the game.

A better action shot. Notice the guy on the floor.

Here are the Cameron Crazies in action. This is a free-throw. The crowd all hold their arms till the ball goes in. Unless the other team are taking it then it's all fair game. The best thing they did was all crouch down on the floor except for a semi-naked guy in lederhosen who proceeded to dance around making noise, I nearly wet myself.

A view of Cameron during the game. All the flags at the top are something that Dook basketball has won. They ain't bad these so called Blue Devils.

Here is a picture of the team during a time-out. The guy in the middle is Michael Krzyzewski (pronounced shuh-shef-skee) or coach K. I think he looks like Dr. Evil. He is pretty much a legend on campus, has been offered loads to coach in the NBA and swears like a trooper. He's that good they even named the floor after him.

Here is another pic of the crazies. The guys in the chefs hats are known as the shuhshefskee chefs. You can even pick Andy out in this photo. He is the one seen shaking a whisk at the opposition. It did indeed show them.

Crazy stuff happens during a time-out. Although disappointingly no time-out chicken is given out. Here is the Duke Blue Devil surfing on the band.

And of course American sports would not be complete without cheerleaders. They did look lovely.

Adverts on the BBC

Notice everything different?

Yes I bloody well did. They have been experimenting with the site and adverts all day. I am glad they took the banner off the top. I understand why they are doing it. I just hope us non-UK users get all the videos and radio feeds now we have to put up with the adverts.

You lucky buggers back in the UK

Ice Hockey

Yesterday I went to see the Carolina Hurricanes NHL ice hockey team in Raleigh. It was $10 for really good seats and a free coach thanks to the good people at Duke. It's not bad to say the nosebleeds are $20 and they were pretty high and the seat we were in were $90.

It was pretty cool. The 'canes won 5-0 against the Washington Capitols. There was even a fight. It was great. I loved the go-nuts for do-nuts competition, where the crowd went crazy for a 12 pack of dunkin' donuts. Only in America.