Part I: Thanksgiving
“Lost in the Supermarket” — The Clash: Let’s ignore the capitalist critique for a moment and think about the lyric, “I can no longer shop happily.” This is me in Safeway on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with all the ten thousand other folks who left their shopping until the last minute and are now suffering each other’s company. On top of that, I’m wondering, “What goes in that Green Bean Casserole again — half and half, or cream? And why would I want to combine green beans with either? Ah, yes: tradition. And the wrath of Aunt Phyllis.”
“A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” — Flaming Lips: Aunt Phyllis’s Green Bean Casserole (see above). I think that says it all.
“Everything in its Right Place” — Radiohead: Let’s see, all the beige foods go on this side of the plate; all the green foods on that side. Except there are no green foods. OK, all the ecru foods go in the upper right quadrant; the tan foods in the lower left, and the ivory foods in the lower right and upper left. There. Now it’s perfect.
“I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” — the Bettye LaVette version because it’s more forceful: Is there a polite way to say “If I eat one more bite of… anything… I will flume barf like Shamu during a red tide?”
