Happy Thanksgiving to all the Iorrers
round the world!

While totally ignoring GasLightStreet's take on the holiday (and many others which resemble it), I'll choose to be thankful for the blessings I've received, the blessings I will receive, and the opportunities that present themselves to me to extend those blessings to others.

May Peace Be With Us ALL,
Mr DJA

now youre talkin'!

and wild rice with gravy.

and ham.

and maybe some really good Pinot Noir..

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mr_dja
While totally ignoring GasLightStreet's take on the holiday (and many others which resemble it), I'll choose to be thankful for the blessings I've received, the blessings I will receive, and the opportunities that present themselves to me to extend those blessings to others.

May Peace Be With Us ALL,
Mr DJA

Just curious, I'm not a native English speaker, what do you mean by blessings?

Happy Thanksgiving...don't eat too much turkey!



_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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mulecrowe

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GasLightStreet
Each year when this ridiculous holiday comes up I get more and more disgusted with it. It's such a vile day in American history that is completely ignored: Slavery, disease, murder and along with all of that the original terrorist act of the America's, the sweeping bulldozing force of christianity.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Woo hoo.

I think over the years most people have
adopted the view of being thankful for all they have and being able to share that.
Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone.

Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so). And, of course, there's the unique history that is associated with the holiday (as noted by Gaslightstreet above). Most who do celebrate it I believe simply see it as literally as you (mulecrow) have stated, without effort or thought of any historical circumstances surrounding it's holiday origins.

Now this can be considered wrong (as Gaslightstreet apparently does) or view it as sad and still use it as a day of thanks, etc. Honestly, I don't like the idea of beating somebody over the head for honoring the Thanksgiving holiday in this manner because...hey, don't you realize your giving thanks (and praise to God) to a day of slaughter of such and such Indian tribe?

Nobody in my family gives it a second thought on the actual day...just happy to be in each others company and giving thanks for what we have at that time. There's plenty of time before or after to think of all the injustices done by the European colonizers to Indians (indigenous peoples or native-americans) and of course later on.

I will not eat any animals for thanksgiving. blessings = the ways you are very fortunate, i.e., you did not starve this year, you have a shelter over your head. you had the fortune of sharing your life with your pets, friends and family etc. cute turkeys hairball! Also, Jamestown was the first place that had thanksgiving feast and they were just glad they didn't starve the first year. everybody thinks Plymouth was the first colony but it was Jamestown, Va.

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nightskyman
Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so).

All my Jewish friends celebrate Thanksgiving

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2000man

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nightskyman
Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so).

All my Jewish friends celebrate Thanksgiving

I stand corrected...see my ignorance on display here.

Yeah, Jamestown... a bit rough.

[bigthink.com]

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nightskyman

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2000man

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nightskyman
Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so).

All my Jewish friends celebrate Thanksgiving

I stand corrected...see my ignorance on display here.

This made my day!

Extremely thankful that the band that my brother introduced me to in 1964 (at five!) is still playing and touring and...

How lucky are we to still be enjoying The Greatest Rock n Roll Band of all time?? Extremely.

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nightskyman

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mulecrowe

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GasLightStreet
Each year when this ridiculous holiday comes up I get more and more disgusted with it. It's such a vile day in American history that is completely ignored: Slavery, disease, murder and along with all of that the original terrorist act of the America's, the sweeping bulldozing force of christianity.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Woo hoo.

I think over the years most people have
adopted the view of being thankful for all they have and being able to share that.
Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone.

Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so). And, of course, there's the unique history that is associated with the holiday (as noted by Gaslightstreet above). Most who do celebrate it I believe simply see it as literally as you (mulecrow) have stated, without effort or thought of any historical circumstances surrounding it's holiday origins.

Now this can be considered wrong (as Gaslightstreet apparently does) or view it as sad and still use it as a day of thanks, etc. Honestly, I don't like the idea of beating somebody over the head for honoring the Thanksgiving holiday in this manner because...hey, don't you realize your giving thanks (and praise to God) to a day of slaughter of such and such Indian tribe?

Nobody in my family gives it a second thought on the actual day...just happy to be in each others company and giving thanks for what we have at that time. There's plenty of time before or after to think of all the injustices done by the European colonizers to Indians (indigenous peoples or native-americans) and of course later on.

Here's a Jewish girl who most certainly is celebrating with friends and family.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-11-25 20:17 by steffialicia.

With hopes of not stirring up controversy I'm for GasLightStreets original comment. I still wish everyone a nice day and life for that matter. Instead of turkey I'm having my favorite meal, pizza.

As for GasLightStreet's assigning of the world's problems to Christianity and his blaming of Christians for the horrific events of 1637, I think it is all just a tad deeper than that simplistic view of it all. I did not grow up in a Christian home, yet we celebrated each thanksgiving day with a family, a feast, and football. It is called tradition. Whether Jewish, agnostic, christian, or anything else, any person is free to celebrate or not celebrate.

Each year we get together with our children, grandchildren, friends, and more to enjoy a feast together, and at some point during the day, each of us expresses what we are thankful for.

GasLightStreet's initial post was, to me, offensive and unnecessary. You're not going to change anyone's opinion, nor do you need to snuff out anyone's kind greetings. But, thank you for the history lesson of which we were all no doubt ignorant.

Ya,it really is a shame that there has
to be a special day to reflect on what
we're thankful for.
Unfortunately,especially nowadays, it
doesn't seem to be part of everyday life for most.

It's a harvest fest, almost every culture has one, and it happens to be tomorrow in the US (not "round the world" as the OP said ) and they call it Thanksgiving.

So those who celebrate it, enjoy!

I slaved away, as usual, making reservations for my extended family. Gonna be feasting at a lovely restaurant by the Bay, with a drink in one hand and some pumpkin pie in the other. I'm mostly thankful for the good health of me and mine...but I'll add the Stones and IORR and a few others to my list as well.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As I am Norwegian, I know nothing about this tradition, but I know it is about a great long meal and family. It was the late fall 2006, and I was on tour with The Rolling Stones as often. Current stop Los Angeles Wed. Nov 22. 2006. I knew it was Thanksgiving Thursday Nov 23, so on my way to the last show in Vancouver I did a stopover in San Francisco. My favorite US city. I took an early flight out of LAX at 7am, arrived into SFO at 8am, and checked into the Palace Hotel SF at 8:30am. If you haven't been at the Palace SF, then go there. It is paradise.

I spent the day in SF, Palace hotel and the city. The Palace hotel had a special Thanksgiving meal. It was sold out long time ago, but as I was a guest of the hotel, I was in. I spent all day planning for, semi-starving, semi-eating, preparing for my meal of the year, if not for ages. Eating slowly. Very slowly. Lots of families around me. I am alone but I feel like a part of the big party. A separate ballroom filled with Thanksgiving food, and one ballroom for us seated. The kids eat fast while the older enjoy the meal for hours. Everybody is dressed up like we dress up for our Christmas Eve meal. My Thanksgiving meal at the SF Palace lasted for more than two hours. It was one of my greatest meals ever. Next morning I flew off to see Keith saying thank you to his "headman", and to see one of my best touring friends getting married. Keith gave me his pick after doing IORR. What more could I expect from that week-end?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bjornulf

Canada has a Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Re the American Thanksgiving, I simply look at it as a day to get together with members of my particular tribe that are available, share some food, some laughs, some memories while creating new ones. I also send out an email to folks asking them to enjoy the holiday with those they love and care about, but I also ask them to remember those who have served and serve our country, their families and friends, and give thanks for what they do. It doesn't mean I condone all done in the name of the U-S-of-A. I just give a damn about the people asked to do their country's bidding.

Peace to all of you.

There's an old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all". Sorry I didn't heed this in my earlier post. Certainly there are mixed opinions about the premise of the holiday. But like politics and religion this sometimes brings out the bad side of people. I wish everyone a nice meal with friends and family. It's nice to be grateful for the good things we have in life. Another great old saying "always look on the bright side of life". It's sometimes easy to forget.

At first I was going to reply to gaslightstreet's reply to my post. After reading so many great posts since then, I don't think I'm going to bother more than just a few statements on the supposed facts on the origins of Thanksgiving holidays:

1. See Koen's post: "It's a harvest fest, almost every culture has one" and has had them for thousands of years.

2. Tumbled was right in stating that Jamestown was first as far as European-American celebrations on the North American continent go.

3. The horrific events of 1637 that gsl chooses to focus on, established an almost militaristic day of Thanksgiving (which I would say is more similar to something like our modern "D-Day", "V-E", "V-J" and "Armistice Day" celebrations, for example) were almost a generation AFTER the colonists at Plymouth celebrated a fall festival after their first successful harvest in 1621. In my opinion, it's kind of a shame that the term "Thanksgiving Day" seems to have been first used in 1637 as opposed to 1621 possibly due to the fact that in 1621 it was actually a multiple day festival.

4. Although the name of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday is the same as a non-related Massachusetts Bay Colony holiday, I'm pretty sure that when Abraham Lincoln established the current holiday, he was focusing far more on the intent of the 1621 festival than the 1637 day. Why? Because I read the Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863 and came to that conclusion.


Y'all can choose to focus on whatever you'd like tomorrow. Love/Hate, Dark/Light, Good/Evil, whatever. As I said in my original post, I'm choosing to focus on being thankful for the blessings I've received, the blessings I will receive, and the opportunities that present themselves to me to extend those blessings to others.

And Koen: regarding blessings, tumbled's definition and examples were pretty spot on. Especially the "etc." Life is good in so many ways when allowed to be viewed as so. To you I say tomorrow: "Happy Thursday!" Know that somewhere on my long list of things that I will be giving thanks for, are people like yourself who post here at IORR!

Peace,
Mr. DJA

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bv
As I am Norwegian, I know nothing about this tradition, but I know it is about a great long meal and family. It was the late fall 2006, and I was on tour with The Rolling Stones as often. Current stop Los Angeles Wed. Nov 22. 2006. I knew it was Thanksgiving Thursday Nov 23, so on my way to the last show in Vancouver I did a stopover in San Francisco. My favorite US city. I took an early flight out of LAX at 7am, arrived into SFO at 8am, and checked into the Palace Hotel SF at 8:30am. If you haven't been at the Palace SF, then go there. It is paradise.

I spent the day in SF, Palace hotel and the city. The Palace hotel had a special Thanksgiving meal. It was sold out long time ago, but as I was a guest of the hotel, I was in. I spent all day planning for, semi-starving, semi-eating, preparing for my meal of the year, if not for ages. Eating slowly. Very slowly. Lots of families around me. I am alone but I feel like a part of the big party. A separate ballroom filled with Thanksgiving food, and one ballroom for us seated. The kids eat fast while the older enjoy the meal for hours. Everybody is dressed up like we dress up for our Christmas Eve meal. My Thanksgiving meal at the SF Palace lasted for more than two hours. It was one of my greatest meals ever. Next morning I flew off to see Keith saying thank you to his "headman", and to see one of my best touring friends getting married. Keith gave me his pick after doing IORR. What more could I expect from that week-end?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fantastic post! What a memorable experience.

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steffialicia

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nightskyman

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mulecrowe

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GasLightStreet
Each year when this ridiculous holiday comes up I get more and more disgusted with it. It's such a vile day in American history that is completely ignored: Slavery, disease, murder and along with all of that the original terrorist act of the America's, the sweeping bulldozing force of christianity.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Woo hoo.

I think over the years most people have
adopted the view of being thankful for all they have and being able to share that.
Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone.

Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so). And, of course, there's the unique history that is associated with the holiday (as noted by Gaslightstreet above). Most who do celebrate it I believe simply see it as literally as you (mulecrow) have stated, without effort or thought of any historical circumstances surrounding it's holiday origins.

Now this can be considered wrong (as Gaslightstreet apparently does) or view it as sad and still use it as a day of thanks, etc. Honestly, I don't like the idea of beating somebody over the head for honoring the Thanksgiving holiday in this manner because...hey, don't you realize your giving thanks (and praise to God) to a day of slaughter of such and such Indian tribe?

Nobody in my family gives it a second thought on the actual day...just happy to be in each others company and giving thanks for what we have at that time. There's plenty of time before or after to think of all the injustices done by the European colonizers to Indians (indigenous peoples or native-americans) and of course later on.

Here's a Jewish girl who most certainly is celebrating with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving to you

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Everyone!

[digg.com]

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Yanks and, hell, to everyone! We have lots to be thankful for such as a new Stones tour

Anyway, this drummer is hilarious. Can't imagine Charlie drumming like this! Just wanted to lighten up everyone's day!

To me as a European and an outsider, GasLightStreet's first post was a refreshing read.

I can't believe that people feel they have to apologize for spending a day feeling thankful for their blessings and enjoying time with friends and family. This is a wonderful holiday that everybody of every ethnicity and religion (or no religion) can and does enjoy--however it may have begun, today it is an occasion that is overwhelmingly positive, and I say that as someone who grew up in Europe and would have loved a holiday like this. I give thanks for it, and feel very fortunate to be able to participate in it. Bah humbug to those who don't. Just kidding, it's the sort of day when I even love you too.

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nightskyman

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steffialicia

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nightskyman

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mulecrowe

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GasLightStreet
Each year when this ridiculous holiday comes up I get more and more disgusted with it. It's such a vile day in American history that is completely ignored: Slavery, disease, murder and along with all of that the original terrorist act of the America's, the sweeping bulldozing force of christianity.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Woo hoo.

I think over the years most people have
adopted the view of being thankful for all they have and being able to share that.
Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone.

Not sure if Thanksgiving is celebrated anywhere else but America (and I know many IORR members are in places not America)...thus perhaps a little more disclaimer needed in initial thread. Also, since America is a place of many immigrants, cultures, etc...not everyone here in America celebrates the holiday (Jews, for example, do not do so). And, of course, there's the unique history that is associated with the holiday (as noted by Gaslightstreet above). Most who do celebrate it I believe simply see it as literally as you (mulecrow) have stated, without effort or thought of any historical circumstances surrounding it's holiday origins.

Now this can be considered wrong (as Gaslightstreet apparently does) or view it as sad and still use it as a day of thanks, etc. Honestly, I don't like the idea of beating somebody over the head for honoring the Thanksgiving holiday in this manner because...hey, don't you realize your giving thanks (and praise to God) to a day of slaughter of such and such Indian tribe?

Nobody in my family gives it a second thought on the actual day...just happy to be in each others company and giving thanks for what we have at that time. There's plenty of time before or after to think of all the injustices done by the European colonizers to Indians (indigenous peoples or native-americans) and of course later on.

Here's a Jewish girl who most certainly is celebrating with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving to you

And you as well!