That rocking van flew back across PA, OH, IN and finally snaking its way up I-294 to get us home in a record 12.5 hours!

Many thanks to my lead-footed spouse for undertaking this year's Thanksgiving driving adventure.

It was actually quite a pleasant ride as we downloaded hours upon hours of charming material from the archives of 'NPR's "This American Life." Now I have a growing crush for Ira Glass and his sweet boyish voice. *sigh*

Likely the most memorable event surrounding this weekend was the Thanksgiving Night Movie my 60-year old, white, suburban, Republican mother selected for our viewing pleasure.

My parents refuse to subscribe to Cable television. After scanning the scant few channels they do get, my mom offered, "Well I ordered "Hustle 'n Flow" from Blockbuster. How about we watch that."

"Uh, Mom? Do you know what that is? Its a RAP movie!"

"All I know is that Terrence Howard was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance."

As our viewing commenced, it became apparent that we, in our Turkey & stuffing stupor,  would not be able to follow the thick, exaggerated southern-slash-ghetto accents affected by SOME of the actors. Thankfully (and what a good day to be thankful) close captioning came to the rescue and mom and I lounged on the couch taking in more deliberate misspellings, and overuse of the word "muthafuckah" to the point that we were utterly giddy. We were astonished at the level of crapitude to which the script sunk, not only in terms of the ridiculous plot, but mostly the outrageously laughable dialogue.

If you are familiar with some of the minor hit tunes spawned from the film, then you may be aware of what strong hooks they carry. The next morning I distinctly heard my mom, swathed in Talbots and tucking away the Williams-Sonoma wares from Turkey Day, singing to herself, "Its hard out here for a pimp..."