series

Friday Food on Tuesday. November.

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I’m sure it’s expected that November’s Friday Food would be related to Thanksgiving. It’s related not to the day of Thanksgiving, but the feelings of giving thanks themselves.

After four years of tension, stress, and for many PTSD, we have elected Joe Biden the 46th President of the United States. His Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is the first woman, first Black woman, first Indian-American woman to hold that office.

They were put over the top by the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and while this post is specifically about Philly, I would be remiss in not mentioning the role Black Women played in Joe Biden’s victory. We owe them a great debt of gratitutde.

In honor of Philadelphia’s role in pushing Biden and Harris over the 270 Electoral votes needed to win, my family went to a local place for cheesesteaks.

No better way to celebrate until Inauguration Day!

Cheesesteaks. (c)2020

Supernatural Lists: Jobs

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Here is a partial list of some of the jobs that Sam and Dean had, actually, pretended to have. I’ve combined similar careers, and kept the list to twenty. Did I forget any?

  1. Actors, Talent Agents, Talent Scouts
  2. Animal Control, Pest Control
  3. Art Dealers
  4. Author, Blogger, Journalist, Reporters
  5. Bartender
  6. CDC Agents
  7. Coach, Janitor, Research Assistant, Students
  8. Doctors, Medical Students, Orderly
  9. Electrician, Maintenance Technicians
  10. FBI
  11. Fire Fighters
  12. Game Wardens, Park Rangers, US Wildlife Service
  13. Grief Counselors, Priests
  14. Historic Preservation Society
  15. Insurance Investigators
  16. Law Enforcement, Police, Sheriffs, Deputies, SWAT, US Marshalls, Code Enforcement
  17. Personal Trainers
  18. Ranch Hands
  19. Teddy Bear Doctors
  20. Wedding Florists

Inspire. November.

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November is full of opportunities for gratitude – Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, colorful fall leaves, the smell of apples and cinnamon. We don’t think so much of Election Day as a day of gratitude, but for those of us who cherish our representative democracy, it is definitely a day to count our blessings.

After the last seven months of isolating and after 230,000 covid deaths (and rising), those of us who have been spared have much to be grateful for in addition to respecting the sacrifice made by others, not only the dead, but the frontline workers – in the health care field, in the food field and the fields that grow the food, our first responders, our teachers, and our parents, and so many other unsung heroes.

Tomorrow is Election Day.

It is the final day to vote for the candidate that best represents us, ALL of us. We have the opportunity to vote for the man (this time) who cares; who epitomizes decency and character; who truly feels the empathy this country needs right now. On a more pragmatic note, he also knows how to get things done without divisiveness, without distruct, with honesty and dedication to service, and that is Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. I proudly voted for them more than a week ago during early voting. You can join the majority of this country in turning around the hate train, the white supremecists who in the last two days tried to run the Biden bus off the road in Texas and closed highways in New Jersey and bridges in New York and today blocking polling places in California. We can take our country back, and it begins tomorrow.

“May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.“ – Joe Biden

What we do, we do together.

Supernatural Lists: Monsters

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Fifteen or so monsters we’ve met and other entities:

  1. Demons
  2. Djinn
  3. Ghost (also Vengeful Spirit)
  4. Ghoul
  5. Hellhounds
  6. Leviathan
  7. Phoenix
  8. Rugaroo
  9. Shapeshifter (aka Shifter)
  10. Skinwalker
  11. Vampire
  12. Vetala
  13. Wendigo
  14. Werewolf
  15. Witch
  • People (see The Benders [1.15])
  • Clowns (see Sam, Everybody Loves a Clown [2.2])
  • Jefferson Starships (aka Starships) (see Mommy Dearest [6.19])
  • Khan Worm (see And Then There Were None [6.16])
  • Faeries
  • Leprechaun
  • Zombie (but not really – see Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid [5.15])
  • Trickster (again, not really, but spoilers) (see Tall Tales [2.15])

Biblical:

  • G-d
  • Lucifer
  • Michael
  • Raphael
  • Gabriel
  • Lilith
  • Eve
  • Ezekiel
  • Gadreel

Who am I forgetting?!

Supernatural Lists: Geography

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The Winchester Brothers travel back and forth across the country in Baby, their 1967 Chevy Impala. I never much paid attention to some of the place names until in one episode Dean mentioned that he was going to Buffalo, New York because his Dad’s old storage locker was broken into. He was in Queens, New York, and said he’d be there in two hours.

I stared at my screen.

I’ve lived in New York my whole life, including spending my elementary years in Queens, and I’ve been to Buffalo. It is not a two hour drive, I don’t care how fast you’re going.

It’s almost 400 miles! That’s six hours and fifteen minutes IF, and that’s a big if, you’re going the speed limit, don’t stop off in any small towns where the speed limit is lowered drastically, don’t need to get gas, and there is no traffic.

Oh, and four hundred miles in a 1967 Chevy? You will definitely need to get gas. At least twice!

Here is a list of fifteen places the Winchesters visited during the series. I’ve included the episode when they first went there. Some places like Kansas, South Dakota, and Fall River, Massachusetts they’ve been to multiple times over the years.

Note: The notation: 1.1 is Season 1, Episode 1.

  1. Lawrence, Kansas [Pilot, 1.1]
  2. Lebanon, Kansas [As Time Goes By, 8.12]
  3. Buffalo, New York [Bad Day at Black Rock, 3.3]
  4. Lily Dale, New York [The Mentalists, 7.7]
  5. Ankeny, Iowa [Hook Man, 1.7]
  6. Sioux Falls, South Dakota [Devil’s Trap, 1.22] *
  7. Las Vegas, Nevada [Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!, 7.8]
  8. Vancouver, BC, Canada [The French Mistake, 6.15]
  9. Grants Pass, Oregon [Mommy Dearest, 6.19]
  10. Hollywood, California [Hollywood Babylon, 2.18]
  11. Cicero, Indiana [The Kids Are Alright [3/2]
  12. Sturbridge, Massachusetts [Malleus Maleficarum, 3.9]
  13. Monument, Colorado [Jus in Bello, 3.12]
  14. Fall River, Massachusetts [Mamma Mia, 12.2] *
  15. Windom, Minnesota [Jump the Shark, 4.19] *

* A couple of fun things:

Sioux Falls, South Dakota is where Bobby Singer lives. It’s like a home base for the Winchesters. The sheriff is Jody Mills, who becomes a close friend of Bobby and the boys.

Fall River is also where the Lizzie Borden House and Museum is, and Sam and Dean go there in a later episode.

Windom is where Sam and Dean meet their up until then unknown half-brother, Adam Milligan.

Which was your favorite place that the Winchesters traveled to?

Election Connection: 2 Weeks: Voter Suppression and Russian Disinformation

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This link will take you to the story of Corey Brotherton’s father who was turned away for not being registered to vote. Except he was registered to vote.

Know your rights and know where to get the correct information in order to exercise your right to vote.

Corey went to I Will Vote and was able to show the poll workers that his father was indeed eligible to vote. His is one of many stories of voter suppression.

I’m sure you’ve seen the long lines during early voting, especially in minority neighborhoods. Please stay in line. Bring water, food, a chair.

Another resource to keep with you or on your phone is Georgetown Law’s information sheets – one for each state – on what to do if confronted with unauthorized militia groups at the polling places.

ACLU’s information is also good to keep in your phone.

This is the election protection hotline if you are having trouble voting: 1-866-OUR VOTE (1-866-687-8683).

This week has been full of Russian disinformation and DNI Ratcliffe and Sen. Ron Johnson have been at the top of the list encouraging this sort of thing. I know it’s frustrating. I know it’s demoralizing. Try to ignore it. Pay attention to reliable news sources and ignore the Trump Administration’s sidetracking their voter suppression efforts with their screaming about the Biden family. Russia is very much at play in our election, as they were in 2016.

Ignore the polls. Make a plan to vote, and vote as early as you can.

14 days. (See the new countdown on my sidebar.) We can do this. Together.

Friday Food. October.

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Burgers and Pie. (c)2020

In celebration of the return of Supernatural’s final season, we had Dean’s favorites for dinner last Thursday. We picked up an apple pie (Dean’s favorite next to cherry), whipped cream, and burgers at our local Red Robin. We’re still deciding on the final episode’s feast.

In the photo: Red Robin sign, Fries, Diet Coke, Bacon Cheeseburger, Apple pie, Supernatural pins, apple pie and whipped cream, SpnFamILY t-shirt (with flannel, of course!)

Supernatural Lists: Music

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This is the first in a seven part series appearing here on Thursdays. Unavoidable happenings kept this part from publishing last week. The second part will publish tomorrow or over the weekend so it can coincide with the final seven episodes of Supernatural.

Music has been an integral part of Supernatural since the very beginning. When younger brother Sam complained about Dean’s musical choice, he was reminded of the number one rule of road trip music:

Driver picks the music,

Shotgun shuts his cakehole.

And so for fifteen years, we traveled across the country (and twice in foreign lands) with the brothers, listening to their radio or cassette tapes (until finally updating to the 21st century and iPods) while engrossing ourselves in the classic rock of our own childhoods. Their musical tastes also updated (a little) to some modern classics as the boys grew older, and there was even a fun musical episode complete with soundtrack.

I had originally picked out fifteen songs, but I just couldn’t stop, so I went to twenty-five. You can find all the songs wherever you get your music: Amazon, Pandora, Spotify.

Except for the first and the last, they are in no particular order. I did not place them by season or my favorites.

  1. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
  2. Space Oddity – David Bowie
  3. We Gotta Get Out of This Place – The Animals
  4. Renegade – Styx
  5. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
  6. Back in Black – AC/DC
  7. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  8. Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
  9. Cold as Ice – Foreigner
  10. Hey Man Nice Shot – Filter
  11. I Shall Not Be Moved – Johnny Cash
  12. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
  13. Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson
  14. Rock and Roll Never Forgets – Bob Seger
  15. Heat of the Moment – Asia
  16. Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi
  17. House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
  18. Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith
  19. Black Water – The Doobie Brothers
  20. O Death – Jen Titus (not on Spotify)
  21. A Well Respected Man – The Kinks
  22. World’s Collide – Louden Swain (not on Spotify)
  23. Simple Man – Lynard Skynard
  24. No One Like You – The Scorpions
  25. Fare Thee Well – Rob Benedict (not on Spotify)

I’ve curated this list (minus the three that weren’t available) for you to listen to on Spotify.

Election Connection: 3 Weeks: Know Your Ballot and FLIP THE SENATE

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Part of your voting plan is knowing who’s on the ballot. Some states will also have referendums and it is important to know what you are voting for. Not to put too fine a point on it, but some of the wording is intentionally confusing. You think you want to vote yes, but the opposite is what you want. Read the ballot.

Vote Save America has ballots for every state. Look at your ballot, check the boxes after reading and informing yourself of the issues and candidates, and then you can either print out or email the practice ballot to bring with you to the polls.

IMPORTANT:

THIS IS NOT A LEGAL BALLOT. DOING THIS ALONE WILL NOT COUNT AS A VOTE.

You still MUST go to a polling place and vote. This is only to help you be informed.

In addition to the presidential election, if we want to get anything done we need to flip the Senate BLUE. You can help by donating to the Get Mitch Fund.

You can also donate to Gary Peters who is running in Michigan and has a very good chance of winning his Senate seat with our help.

We can do this!

Together.

Election Connection: 4 Weeks: Voter Intimidation

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The President has called upon his supporters to be poll watchers. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just show up at the polls on Election Day and declare yourself a poll watcher.

It is against the law.

What’s worse is that the people he’s encouraging are armed militants; militants, not militia. The US does not have a militia and private “militias” are not legally allowed to act as law enforcement.

Not for the state governments, and not for the federal government.

Georgetown Law has put together this link highlighting the applicable law to turn away any of these right-wing, fascist members of the Trump fan club and keep them from intimidating voters trying to exercise their rights at the ballot box.

The link will take you to the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection fact sheets for all 50 states explaining the laws in each state barring unauthorized private militia groups and what to do if groups of armed individuals are near a polling place or voter registration drive.

State Fact Sheets Addressing the Rise of Unlawful Private Paramilities