1. Go organic. Say no to chemical fertilizers and pesticides in your feast (it will taste better, too.)
2. Shop locally. When you buy locally produced products, you reduce your carbon footprint because less fuel was burned to get it to your table.
3. Avoid packaging. Choose food items that come in recyclable packages (or no packages at all!)
4. Conserve water. Try to reuse pots, plates and silverware. Be aware of your water usage as you wash up after the big meal.
5. Cook just enough. Avoid excess servings and give away anything you don’t need (instead of throwing it away.)
6. Fitness first. Do something outdoors with the family. Make it a tradition!
7. Plant something. As you enjoy the harvest, give back by planting a tree or bulbs before the frost hits your neighborhood.
8. Unplug yourself. Give up the TV and computer and fast from electricity for a day. Get your family and friends to join you.
9. Compost. Start a compost in your back yard. You’ll be surprised how much less garbage you have to mess with!
10. Stay home. Celebrate with your neighbors and friends.

Read more at Green.com

It’s based on a world-wide best-seller. Its soundtrack was No. 1 on Billboard charts at least two weeks prior to the movie’s release. And Fandango reports that teen girls can’t get advance tickets fast enough.

Sounds like a “chick flick” vampire movie that guys won’t mind seeing.

For the uninitiated, Twilight tells the tale of independent-minded high-school student Bella Swan (what a terrific name!) who doesn’t fit in with the cool kids. But romance comes in the form of handsome bloodsucker Edward who looks dashingly youthful but is centuries old. He’s actually a sensitive soul. Being vegetarian, at least by vampire standards, he doesn’t drink human blood, preferring mountain lions and grizzly bears.

Meanwhile, on home screens, HBO’s vampire saga True Blood is mesmerizing large groups of spellbound couch potatoes.

Other noteworthy movies of the undead:

Interview with the Vampire (1994). Until Twilight, this was the most hotly anticipated vampire flick. Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice was mightily miffed when Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were cast, scoffing that they would seem like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. After viewing the film, she recanted, taking out ads in Hollywood trade papers apologizing for her judgment call. She also may have remembered that she had a share in the profits.

Queen of the Damned (2002) was another episode of the Anne Rice chronicles. Lestat is now a rock idol, played by Stuart Townsend rather than Cruise. R&B singer Aaliyah played Queen Akasha, christened “The Mother of All Vampires” in the ad campaign. A year before the film’s release, Aaliyah’s death in a plane crash at the age of 22 cast an eerie spell over the entire project.

Dracula, the most famous creature of the night, has had many cinematic reincarnations. Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) was faithful to the novel but met a mixed response. Gary Oldman, best-known to Harry Potter fans as Sirius Black, played Drac, while Anthony Hopkins, only a year after The Silence of the Lambs, appeared as his nemesis Van Helsing. In 1979’s Dracula, Frank Langella, soon to be seen as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, was the long-fanged title character, with no less than Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing. More successful was the same year’s surprise hit comedy Love at First Bite, which became George Hamilton’s lone box-office smash, helped by Richard Benjamin’s befuddled Van Helsing. Hamilton was so encouraged that he camped it up again two years later as Zorro, the Gay Blade. Moviegoers definitely preferred his Dracula.

You’re not alone.

For some of us, a smaller gathering is in order. Small, as in, say…two.

If being tradition-bound isn’t your thing, Forbes Traveler has put together a list of “Last Minute Thanksgiving Getaways.” Check ‘em out, and see if you can still make alternative plans:

Blackberry Farmhouse, Great Smoky Mountains, Tenn.

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Four Seasons Hotel, Boston

J.W. Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa, Cancun, Mexico

Woodstock Inn and Resort, Woodstock, Vermont

Buccaneer Resort, St. Croix, Virgin Islands

Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Avon, Colo.

Otesaga, Cooperstown, N.Y.

The Fairmount Southampton, Bermuda

The Ritz Carlton New York, Central Park

To learn more about these potential Turkey Day destinations, and to see a slideshow of all, visit Forbes Traveler.

Some lost big with AIG. Others had a little too much faith in Citigroup or Wachovia.

Sure, a person who still has $1.3 billion to spare might be able to afford a loss of $500 million, but that’s still quite a bit of money to kiss goodbye.

So, which of the rich has been hurt the most by the Great Meltdown of 2008? Forbes, as you might imagine, is on top of such things.

When the magazine released its 2008 Forbes 400 in September, the price of admission to that august group was $1.3 billion. With Wall Street in freefall, some of the names that graced last year’s list are no longer included.

Here’s a short list of the big losers, with their standing for 2007 and 2008 and the primary source of their loss:

To read more about these individuals, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes.
 

It could be too late for worrying. While Wall Street is reeling from the daily dose of bad news, the negative numbers keep on coming. “What if?” seems to be giving way to “How bad?” and “How long?”

In the third quarter of 2008, U.S. employers initiated 1,330 mass layoff events that resulted in the separation of 218,158 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to figures released
by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

How bad is that? The figures are down from the first and second quarters, but the number of events was highest for a third-quarter since 2001, while the number of third-quarter separations were the worst since 2003.

Year to year? Events were 312 higher than in 2007, and separations were up 58,134.

Here’s the list for the first three quarter of 2008:

January-March: 1,340 events; 229,858 separations
April-June: 1,756 events; 354,361 separations
July-September: 1,330 events; 218,158 separations

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Here’s a list of the five winningest programs of all time, through games of Nov. 15:

1. Michigan: 872

2. Notre Dame: 830

3. Texas: 830

4. Nebraska: 815

5. Ohio State: 806

Source: Longhorns Gameweek

Who’s No. 1 through the weekend of Nov. 13-15? A North Texas entry continues atop the list.

Here are the Top 10, according to Rivals:

  1. Trinity (Euless, Tex.)
  2. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
  3. Armwood (Seffner, Fla.)
  4. Gateway (Monroeville, Pa.)
  5. Poly (Long Beach, Calif.)
  6. Lowndes (Valdosta, Ga.) 
  7. St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio)
  8. Centennial (Corona, Calif.)
  9. Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, Va.)
10. South Panola (Batesville, Miss.)

Curious who else made the list? Check out the rest at Rivals.com.

Here are the final Sprint Cup standings:

  1. Jimmie Johnson: 6,684 points

  2. Carl Edwards: 69 back

  3. Greg Biffle: -217

  4. Kevin Harvick: -276

  5. Clint Bowyer: -303

  6. Jeff Burton: -349

  7. Jeff Gordon: -368

  8. Denny Hamlin: -470

  9. Tony Stewart: -482

10. Kyle Busch: -498

11. Matt Kenseth: -500

12. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: -557

Each week, star types would be dragged into the booth. Many of them made it perfectly clear that this minute or two before the cameras was the only reason they were within 50 miles of the stadium.

Game? What game?

Not all celebs are this way, of course. Many actually buy season tickets and enjoy making it out to the stadium or arena. Quite a few even know more about the home team than the average fan.

Here’s a list of some well-known folks who seem to be genuine sports enthusiasts. We probably missed a few, but, hey, these things happen.

Jack Nicholson: He’s there for the Lakers thick and thin. And, until the 2008 Finals, there had been plenty of thin since the Showtime days.

Billy Crystal: Yankees fan made the very respectable baseball movie 61. He’s also a Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder. Now that’s a fan.

Bill Murray: Longtime (and long-suffering) Cubs fan, not to mention a golf enthusiast who has been known to liven things up at Pebble Beach.

Spike Lee: Woody Allen is a diehard Knicks fan, too, but Spike actually participates.

Rudy Giuliani: Former New York mayor has been a fixture at Yankees games, particularly the ones on national TV.

Ashley Judd: University of Kentucky alum once posed in a hockey sweater (and, from the looks of things, little else) to help promote the Wildcat pucksters. When the UK men’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament, she’s a regular face in the crowd.

George W. Bush: Longtime baseball fan once was managing general partner of the Texas Rangers.

Mark Cuban: Mavericks owner bought the team when it was awful because he loved the game. Now, he’s a courtside referee-baiter. Also made a bid to buy the Cubs.

Eva Longoria: Wife of San Antonio point guard Tony Parker is a regular at Spurs games.

Stephen King: Longtime Red Sox fan co-wrote a book about the team’s breakthrough 2004 World Series championship.

Will Ferrell: Actor/comedian is a big supporter of University of Southern California football.

Matthew McConaughey: Actor attended the University of Texas and is very visible at Longhorn football games. 

George H.W. Bush: The elder Bush and wife Barbara are big fans of the Houston Astros.

Bill Cosby: A tireless supporter of his beloved Temple Owls.

Regis Philbin: Notre Dame alum is a big advocate of the Fighting Irish.

Recently, the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) unveiled a list of eight natural wonders to be added to the organization’s World Heritage List. The selection process includes extensive field work by conservation experts.

Here’s the list:

Monarch Butterfly Reserve, Mexico

Sanqingshan National Park, China

Lagoons of New Caledonia, New Caledonia

Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia

Surtsey, Iceland

Swiss Tectonic Area Sardona, Switzerland

Saryarka, Kazakhstan

Socotra Archipelago, Socotra

Source: Forbes Traveler