Tinseltown talk: Have some holiday spirit

Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the US, second Monday of October in Canada.

For our favourite stars on the other side of the globe, Thanksgiving, an annual holiday celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year, is widely anticipated as they get a chance to dive in Turkey-centred feasts and spend ‘quality’ time with friends and family, reports E!Online.

Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the US and the second Monday of October in Canada. However, due to the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend closest to the day it is celebrated.

This week, celebrities also got into the holiday spirit by hitting the ice, handing out turkeys and going business-savvy on the holiday season.

Star couple Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise may be mega-millionaires, but it seems the two, who were recently in Pittsburg, still enjoy simple holiday pleasures like ice-skating with their daughter Suri, reports abcnews.go.com. The family was also spotted shopping and stopping for ice cream in Pittsburgh, where Cruise is filming his latest movie One Shot.

Meanwhile, some look forward to cashing in on holiday season; for instance “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum is also making the most of the holiday season by launching her new jewellery collection. “I got some of the cool cocktail rings for my ‘Wildlife by Heidi Klum’ jewellery collection that I have on qvc.com for my friends. I love something bold that stands out.”

However, not everyone thinks business: singer Lil Wayne, who visited his hometown in Louisiana, donated free meals to needy families. The multiplatinum rapper explained how it feels to share his good fortune with others.  “When I used to do it years ago, I was just a kid and I was just doing it. Now it’s a totally different feeling, because I feel I can actually provide for you. It’s a beautiful feeling overall,” he added.

While Wayne passed out turkeys, Ellen Degeneres revealed her vegetarian streak and  hoped to give the birds a free pass this holiday. For a second year in a row, the comedian and host is asking people to save, not eat, a turkey this holiday season. “Did you know that every year between 250 and 300 million turkeys are bred for slaughter in the US? More than 46 million for Thanksgiving alone,” said Degeneres. “So, this Thanksgiving instead of eating a turkey, please join me in adopting one from Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-a-Turkey Project, and you can give a turkey something to be thankful for.”

Thanksgiving tragedies

In the past, Thanksgiving weekends have turned out to be unlucky for some celebrities. For instance, Natalie Wood’s drowning: Thirty years ago, Hollywood movie star Wood accidentally drowned on the Thanksgiving weekend, reports E!online.

Then there is Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock’s unhappy holiday: Thanksgiving was the last straw for the on-again, off-again couple. Married in July 2006, the “Baywatch” star and the rocker’s relationship went south fast. In early November of that year, Anderson suffered a miscarriage. Then, on the Monday, after Turkey day, the two couldn’t wait for the courthouse to reopen so they could file for divorce, bringing an end to one of Hollywood’s briefest marriages.

Another tragedy to leave the rock world shaken was Freddie Mercury’s death during Thanksgiving holidays 20 years ago. Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, passed away from bronchial pneumonia resulting from Aids in 1991.

(With additional information from Abcnews.go.com and E!ONLINE)

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2011.