Wednesday, November 21, 2012

in

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND, BESIDES EATING
It's a Flea Market weekend, Nov 23-25th. There’ll be hundreds of vendors at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds through Sunday. Admission is free, parking is five dollars. www.nashvilleexpocenter.org or 862-5016.

CHEEKWOOD
Cheekwood has holiday music this Saturday and Sunday, featuring the Nashville Caroling Company, as well as Cheekwood’s annual Trees of Cheekwood Exhibit. www.cheekwood.org

TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM
See “Elvis at 21,” photographs of the King of Rock and Roll, at the Tennessee State Museum. Admission is free, but the museum is closed on Thanksgiving.  

FRIST CENTER
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville has some great exhibitions right now. They’re closed Thanksgiving day but open the rest of the weekend. www.fristcenter.org

SHOWS AT GAYLORD OPRYLAND
At Gaylord Opryland you can see the DreamWorks animated holiday TV special, Shrek the Halls, brought to life in an interactive world of colorful ice sculptures and 20-feet tall ice slides, carved entirely from TWO MILLION pounds of ice!

LORRIE MORGAN AT GAYLORD OPRYLAND
There's "Lorrie Morgan's Enchanted Christmas and Show,"

ROCKETTES, AND DISCOUNT TICKETS
And it’s become a holiday tradition for many people to see The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, featuring the Radio City Rockettes, at the Grand Ole Opry House. The show runs through Dec. 24th.  www.ChristmasAtgaylordopryland.com  
(On Mix 92.9 Thursdays, get a special deal: buy 2 tickets, get 2 free! details at www.Mix929.com )

ADVENTURE SCIENCE CENTER
And if you have kids, you may want to make a trip to Adventure Science Center. They always have lots of hands-on fun for families. www.adventuresci.com

WARNING: TOP 2012 HOLIDAY SCAMS
www.nashville.bbb.org
Scammers are busy as Santa's elves this time of year, trying to line their pockets with your cash. Crooks know people will be looking for bargains, expecting packages in the mail and using their credit cards, so they've designed scams to fit all those. Emails that tell you your package can't be delivered unless you enter more information, too-good-to-be-true deals on websites that'll take your money, but never send your order, and even phony e-greeting cards. Before you open one you weren't expecting, ask the person it’s supposed to be from whether they actually sent you one. Find out what to look out for so you don't get ripped off www.Nashville.BBB.org

MORE STORES OPENING BEFORE BLACK FRIDAY
There are more stores opening on Black THURSDAY this year, for shoppers who want the big discounts, early. Wal Mart and Toys R Us start their sales at 8:00 Thanksgiving night. Target starts at 9pm on Thanksgiving, Kohl's, Gap, Macy's and Best Buy all open at Midnight. It looks like the earliest door-busters of the season is Kmart .. which is always open on Thanksgiving... but in at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving, when Kmart will start selling high-definition plasma TVs for $199.99.

THE BENEFITS OF THANKSGIVING FOOD
Instead of telling you how bad Thanksgiving food is, since you're going to eat it anyway, how about the GOOD that some of the foods can do for your body?
The Turkey has Tryptophan. You know it as the thing that puts you to sleep. It's an amino acid that relaxes you. Stuffing has glucose, which lets your brain create serotonin ... and reduces tension. Cranberry sauce helps prevent UTIs, just as cranberry juice does the rest of the year. Plus, it has anti-oxidants that are good for just about everything.
And Pumpkin pie has that spicy-smelling cinnamon; Works as an anti-flatulent, making you less bloated after a big meal. That’s just one more thing to be thankful for.

THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS, “THE TIME SHARE” AND “THE CODE”
A lot of families will have multiple Thanksgiving get-togethers this weekend, with parents, step-parents and friends all hosting separate parties. One relationship expert suggests you just tell each group, ahead of time, that you'll be visiting someone else, so it won't be rude or surprising when you leave. Or, do like Doug Hannah does: just get up, put your coat on, and walk out the door.

TRAVEL
If you're traveling by air this holiday, the Nashville International Airport reminds you to get to the airport REALLY EARLY: two hours before your flight if you want to be safe.. You CAN wait till an hour before if you like taking chances and are ready to possibly miss your flight.

Local police and Highway Patrol will be out in full force looking for impaired drivers. So remember to get a designated driver if you're having some spiked eggnog. Police will also have extra security at malls and shopping centers to keep over-enthusiastic people from getting aggressive while shopping.

THANKSGIVING TV SPECIALS
There are some Thanksgiving specials on TV this week that you may want to check out. Glee is Thursday, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade starts Thursday morning at 9, with Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and more, and "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" airs tomorrow night and Thursday, 8pm on ABC. The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special originally aired in 1973.

NEW JERSEY BEACHES SMALLER AFTER SANDY
A new study says that the average New Jersey beach is 30-40 feet narrower after Hurricane Sandy washed them away.

SALVATION ARMY STILL NEEDS ANGEL TREE VOLUNTEERS
www.salarmy-nashville.org
The Salvation Army says it still needs volunteers to help people adopt angels at the angel trees at the malls. They need help at Rivergate, CoolSprings and Green Hills Malls.The shifts are just a few hours long and it'll be one of hte most rewarding things you do all year... helping people adopt needy kids and elderly folks. You can get the info at 242-0411. Just tell them you want to Volunteer to work at the Angel Trees at one of the malls.

SORRY I HIT YOUR CAR, I THOUGHT I SAW HONEY BOO BOO
Sorry I hit your car. I thought I saw Honey Boo Boo. That’s what actress Jennifer Lawrence, from the movie “The Hunger Games” had to tell a family she rear-ended when she was in Georgia recently. Lawrence says she came across a breast cancer parade and someone had a sign that said “BOOBS.” She thought it said BOO BOO (and she WAS in Georgia, after all), so she started craning her neck, looking for the little TLC star. Instead, she rear-ended the car in front of her and had to say that sentence no one ever wants to have to admit, “I’m sorry I hit your car. I thought I saw Honey Boo Boo.”

MORE AMERICANS THAN EVER BUYING HOLIDAY MEAL WITH FOOD STAMPS  
More people than ever before will buy their holiday meal with food stamps. 42.2 million people using them this year.