Daily Dirt: Throughout the holiday weekend there will be pies — many, many pies

My only advice for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend? Let’s eat! Pass the taters and welcome to Vol. 136 of the Daily Dirt and today’s three thoughts.

1. By the time you are reading this, Thanksgiving will be less than two days away? What makes this time of the year so special. Here are a few thoughts:

• Thanksgiving marks the beginning of what we like to refer to as the “holiday season,” a six-week stretch on the calendar that also includes Christmas and New Year’s.
• Leftovers from Thanksgiving meals will feed us for the better part of a week. Or at least through most of the weekend.
• Thanksgiving Day through the ensuing Saturday always represents one of the most exciting periods of the college football season, accented annually by the Ohio State-Michigan game.
• Traditional movie marathons will also be part of the weekend on a variety of cable and satellite channels. (Somewhere, I’m sure, will be the first viewing of the season of “It’s A Wonderful Life”.)
• At some point Thanksgiving Day, each and every male in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Miussouri will take a nap. That is a given.
• Although “Black Friday” does not have the hold on us it once did because of online shopping, the day after Thanksgiving remains the official start of Christmas shopping for many adults. Most likely, it will be baby boomers who still take to the retails stores that day, leaving most of the online bargain hunting to the younger generation(s).
• Throughout the holiday weekend there will be pies. Many, many pies.
• And most will remember, above all else, how much there is to be thankful for.

2. The 1980s arguably provided us with the finest of collection of “sweet vehicles” in both television and movies. In no particular order, here are five of the finest:

K.I.T.T. Trans-Am from “Knight Rider”: I wonder if David Hasselhoff ever realized we all cared more about the car than him?

General Lee 1969 Dodge Charger from the “Dukes of Hazzard”: Granted the car was cool, but so were Catherine Bach’s short shorts.

“Magnum PI” Ferrari 308 GTS: “During the show’s eight-year run, the Ferrari changed to three models of the 308, but it’s the original that will reduce most American males … to a gawking pre-teen in seconds,” wrote Christian Ward in 2015.

“James Bond” Aston Martin V8 and DB5: These classics co-starred in a trio of 1980s 007 films, along with Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. The cars were actually the most interesting part of the 1980s Bond saga.

Ferrari Testarossa from “Miami Vice”: Don Johnson, pastel sports coats and this Ferrari were the highlights of many Friday nights in the 1980s.

3. A few days ago, I heard some tremendous words from Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel. They are words we can all use.

“If you’re going to ask somehow they are doing, you better be prepared to listen,” Vrabel said. And Vrabel meant really listen. Some solid words to absorb on this holiday weekend.

Steve Fact O’ The Day– Steve remains confident that he has a shot at being Daniel Craig’s successor in the James Bond franchise.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. James Bond? No. Archie Bunker? Steve has a shot.