The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 357

Metropolis MAGGIE GALEHOUSE I i. 1 i j- 1' I Is there life after Beloved! Yes. Sharon Pinkenson, director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, reports that Beloved should wrap by the end of January. The next big film project is 77k Sixth Sense, written and directed by local Night Shyamalan.Two major television series are looking to develop and shoot stories here. Plus, in an utterly unrelated matter, Metropolis pretty much begged Pinkenson to tell us how she gets her beautiful blond hair so darn poofy.

"I have naturally big hair," she said modestly, declining to divulge her hairdresser. "You can't make a mistake with this hair. My father has the same hair and the good news is, he didn't get gray until he was very old." to Thanksgiving horror story The following is a true story. New Zealand woman ventures to the family home of Philadelphia boyfriend for strange American ritual: Thanksgiving. Trying to be helpful, she pulls the funny lever at the top of his folks' oven, lieving that she is somehow locking the door.

Wrong. Sadly, she self-cleans oven and bird, stuffing, sweet potatoes, gravy and pie, making the feast a veritable wash-out, and wiping out all hope of cordiality from boyfriend's mother. Unforgettable, and unforgivable, gifts Black Friday. Biggest shopping day of the year. In the spirit of buying and giving, we've compiled a short list of the most absurddepressingpathetic presents ever received: a Hawaiian shirt featuring row upon row of various brands of liquor bottles, a car phone for someone who has no car, a metal tin of popcorn from your paramour (a very bad sign), a stock market board game for a 7-year-old, figurines of any kind, an ant farm populated by dead ants, and a scarf depicting the cast of Hair in full frontal nudity.

Our reigning personal favorite, presented to a 30-year-old by her mother: A framed-and-mounted picture taken of her daughter at age 13 (bad skin, thick glasses, goofy hair) moments after winning the Greater Cleveland Spelling Bee. Write or e-mail us with any unusual memories of Christmas Gifts Past you'd like to share. Virile in Metropolis. Box 82()3. 1'liilmleliliiu 1()H)1 or e-mail in MciroMlislliillyufvs.ecmi City Lite Talking turkey Your average Thanksgiving turkey, according toTorrie Bolton of Bolton's Turkey Farm and Market in Bucks County, is anywhere from 10 to 40 pounds and 20 to 22 weeks old which means that some of them were born on the Fourth of July.

ley Farm in Morris County, N.J., which does lots of business here, reports plenty of annual weird-ness. One lady always requests that her turkey be cut in half, straight down the middle. Plenty of folks believe that 6 to 8 pound turkeys actually exist. There's the man who buysowr 40-pound turkeys each year for his extended family alone. And every Thanksgiving brings a few people who assume that their fresh, uncooked turkey just comes with mashed potatoes and stuffing.

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