Carl Pettit
Carl Pettit is a columnist, editor and writer working for an array of colorful publications. He specializes in cultural and social issues, as well as East Asia, politics and satire.
Christmastime should be about family, generosity and good cheer, but sometimes there are a few baddies lurking about to spoil everyone’s fun. We’re talking about nasty Christmas villains here. Thankfully most of them are merely figments of some storyteller’s imagination. But not all of them. There are always a few real life Yuletide rogues out there just waiting to make a mess of the winter holidays.
Most people are familiar with the massive, and very impressive, Christmas tree that graces New York City’s Rockefeller Center every year. This tree has come to symbolize the holiday season for millions of people, and is something of national icon, appearing as a backdrop in countless movies and television specials.
This week, families will come together from all across the nation for Thanksgiving. They will stuff themselves full of turkey, side dishes and desserts. Some will laugh and joke with relatives, while others renew old feuds and bicker with their cousins and siblings. No matter how your particular Thanksgiving winds up, you can thank the American Pilgrims for starting this long-standing custom.
Thanksgiving is a time for the family to come together, tell stories, then sit down and feast on some tasty, belly-expanding deliciousness. Turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are all Thanksgiving staples, but if you want to really spice things up a bit this year, we have some ideas.
The weather may be getting a bit colder, but that doesn’t mean you have to hang up your hiking boots for the season. You still have plenty of fall left to head out into the countryside for some extended walks through America’s most stunning parks and nature reserves.
These days, most of the turkeys people gobble down are fattened up on farms. They’re only pale (under their feathers) imitations of the lean, mean turkeys roaming through the woods of North America
The universe is a pretty amazing place, from the unimaginably large, right down to the incredibly small. There’s an awful lot going on in this field we call "existence."
If you’re a TV and cinema buff, as well as a barfly, you just might be able to combine your passions together. The characters inhabiting our film and television fantasy worlds need places to hang out, just like we do.
A seductive woman shrouded in mystery and danger is sometimes said to be a femme fatale. The term is French for “deadly woman.” There have been many famous femme fatales in movie history, like Catherine Tramell (played by Sharon Stone) in "Basic Instinct," or the animated Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit
"Canyoning" to the rest of the world, known as "canyoneering" in the United States, is a sport that combines the adventure of rock climbing and bouldering with hiking and orienteering, as well as rappelling, cliff jumping and some very difficult swims.
Everyone knows that vampires suck … your blood!!!! Seriously though, do you know the history behind modern vampire lore? These creatures of the night have been lurking around for a very long time, although the princes and princesses of darkness have taken on different guises and mythologies throughout the ages.
Some towns don’t have a lot going on. They don’t have heavy industry, or Internet startups, or a booming population, or a prime location on a beautiful stretch of beach or a magnificent ski slope. Sweet Lips, Tennessee, may lack these things, but the folks who live there can definitely boast about their town's pretty "sweet" name.