Month: November 2016

Party Down—not to be confused with reality show Party Down South—is a hilarious sitcom that ran for 20 episodes on Starz, from March 2009 through June 2010. Created by Rob Thomas, Paul Rudd, Dan Etheridge, and John Enbom, Party Down follows a group of Hollywood-based cater waiters who aspire to be something more than the pink bow ties they’re forced to wear. Henry (Adam Scott) gave up acting, while Kyle (Ryan Hansen), Casey (Lizzy Caplan), and Roman (Martin Starr) seek out acting and writing opportunities, and their boss, Ron (Ken Marino), wants to open an all-you-can-eat soup restaurant.

Jane Lynch (Constance) left the show near the end of the first season because of a contractual obligation to Glee, but Megan Mullally joined the cast in the second season as Lydia.

Each episode focuses on a different party and catering gig, with hijinks always ensuing. Because it aired at 10 p.m. on Fridays, hardly anyone watched the show. Through the power of DVD and Netflix, people slowly began to discover it, and Party Down eventually developed a cult following.

Despite the producers attracting esteemed guest stars like J.K. Simmons, Starz cancelled Party Down on June 30, 2010. Since the cancellation, rumors of a Party Down movie have been batted around, and a few cast and producer reunions have occurred. Here are 16 facts about the misanthropic series. Are we having fun yet?

1. IT WAS INSPIRED BY THE OFFICE.

Rob Thomas’s ex-girlfriend hooked him into watching Ricky Gervais’s original version of The Office. “It changed everything I had thought about television comedy,” Thomas told Details in an oral history of the show. “So I started calling my friends over, because I wanted someone to tell me that I wasn’t crazy and this was the greatest TV show that had ever been done. The guys I called over were the guys who ended up doing Party Down: Dan Etheridge and John Enbom and Paul Rudd.”

Thomas and friends met every week to watch the show, and then developed some ideas for their own series. “One of the very first ideas was, what happens to the ‘Can you hear me now?’ guy when that campaign dries up? What do you do if you’re 30 years old and you can’t get a job, or don’t even know if you want to do that anymore?” Rudd said. 

“If The Office is a show about people who have really given themselves over to the rat race, let’s do a show about people who’ve chased the dream for far too long,” Thomas said.

2. ROB THOMAS FILMED THE PILOT IN HIS BACKYARD.

In 2007, when Veronica Mars‘s episodes got reduced (and the show got canceled), Thomas found himself with a free month, so he called his friends to come to his house and film the Party Down pilot. He hired Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, and Jane Lynch, all of whom he had worked with on Veronica Mars.

Etheridge, Enbom, and Thomas co-directed the pilot and paid the actors $100 a day. The only casting differences were that Andrea Savage played Casey and James Jordan played Roman. The pilot was used as a demo and never was meant to be aired on TV. “We knew it could never be broadcast,” Thomas said. “We had a whole neighborhood Oscars scene in which we used plastic Oscar statues—just that scene alone meant it could never be aired because there is no one more protective of their brand than the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. We also used music that we didn’t pay for.”

Thomas initially sold Party Down to HBO, with Rudd slated to play Henry and Steve Carell as Ron. It didn’t work out with HBO or with the actors, so Thomas shopped the pilot around town. Starz wanted to get into comedy, so they signed on.

3. A POOR ECONOMY HELPED THE SHOW GET MADE.

In 2008, the world was in a financial crisis, and the Writers Guild of America had been on strike (it lasted 100 days). This allowed for many of the actors to be available. “I think it worked in our favor with the economy going to sh*t because that was one of the reasons why so many amazing actors [appear on the show],” Starr told /Film. “It made it much easier, because people were glad to be working at all and our show offered something much different.”

4. NO, IT WASN’T IMPROVISED.

“People ask all the time, ‘Was the show improvised?’ And I just take that as a huge compliment to the writing, to the performance, and also to the visual style,” Fred Savage, one of the show’s directors and producers, told Details. “Ninety percent of what you’re seeing is all scripted. The 10 percent that’s improv is some of the best moments.”

5. ADAM SCOTT TRAINED TO BE A BARTENDER.

To play a bartender on the show, Scott had a bartender friend give him some tips. “They actually did come in handy, because especially in season one, I had so much dialogue while I’m making drinks, that if it didn’t look like I at least sort of knew how to make a drink, it would just be distracting,” Scott told Details. “And I really had to make those things. I mean, they weren’t accurate. It was just pouring things into a cup. But I had to do it without looking like a complete dipsh*t.”

On the other hand, Hansen didn’t do any training. “I think we were supposed to be kind of sh*tty caterers anyway, so I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to take that bartending class,’” he told Details.

6. LIZZY CAPLAN LIKED THAT THE SHOW CATERED TO COMEDY SNOBS.

“Our fans, even though we didn’t have huge numbers, were exactly the type of people we were hoping to impress: smart and vocal and funny and almost snobby about their comedy preferences,” Caplan told HitFix of the series’s fan base. “You look at hugely-rated shows like Two and a Half Men that get like a gazillion viewers—I have the sneaking suspicion that not one of them watches Party Down. I think if a girl who liked Party Down found out that her boyfriend liked Two and a Half Men, she would break up with him.”

Caplan wished the show would’ve reached a bigger audience, but that wasn’t the point. “It always sort of felt like the appeal for our fans was that the show felt like it was theirs,” she said. “It belonged to them, and they discovered it, and they told their circles of friends. It was like a secret club of people in the know. Of course, secret clubs don’t usually lead to TV show pick-ups.”

7. HANSEN DESCRIBES PARTY DOWN AS A “VERY DEPRESSING COMEDY.”

Hansen’s character, Kyle, was based on the stereotypical Hollywood actor/musician/model who uses his good looks to get by. “Our show definitely captures the realistic side of what people have to go through, in order to make it in L.A. and do their dream,” he told /Film. “It’s realistic, definitely, but it’s also very depressing. This is very depressing comedy. Which is funny.”

Thomas and the other creators came up with the phrase “crealism” to describe the show—comedy realism. “How far can you push the universe and yet still believe it exists in the real world?” Thomas told Details. “Most comedies on prime-time television exist in a comedy universe. I’m an enormous 30 Rock fan, but that is a comedy universe. We tried to keep Party Down in a universe people recognize, because it makes the pain and the humiliation all hurt a little more.”

8. SCOTT DIDN’T CARE IF ANYONE WATCHED THE SHOW.

Not a lot of people watched the show when it aired—the second season finale drew just 74,000 viewers—but that didn’t bother Scott. “I think part of what was so special about it was us not knowing if it would ever be seen, or if people would ever be into it, or if it would ever even be as good as it was feeling to us,” he told Interview Magazine. “So we had this sort of gang mentality of it being us against the world. Who gives a sh*t if anyone ever sees this? So there was something really fun about that—that no one was paying attention to it, so we could do whatever we wanted.”

9. AN ADULT FILM-THEMED EPISODE LED TO AN AWKWARD ENCOUNTER WITH THE POLICE.

After filming the adult video film awards episode, “Sin Say Shun Awards Afterparty,” the prop person had a lot of adult paraphernalia in her car. She got into a car accident, and when she arrived at the hospital, the cops discovered the props. “And when the cops showed up to check out her car, her trunk was completely full of dildos and sex toys and whatnot,” Enbom said. “She was in no position to explain what was going on.”

10. THE CAST REALLY DID BOND.

In an interview with Details, Jane Lynch explained how spot-on the casting was, and how everyone “adored each other.” “We had such a good time,” she said. “I started smoking. Everybody was smoking. Except for Ryan. We would go out afterwards, and I never do that. I never fraternize with my coworkers.”

11. STARZ ENCOURAGED THE PRODUCERS TO ALLOW FOR SOME NUDITY.

“Let’s put it this way: We were asked by the network, and not in an offensive way, to explore premium content, and part of that was some nudity if it was possible,” Dan Etheridge said. “It made us all flinch a little bit. Porn awards [“Sin Say Shun Awards Afterparty”] was born from trying to take that request and figure out a way to do it that will enhance the show. Failed orgy [“Nick DiCintio’s Orgy Night”], similar thing.” According to Caplan, “[Starz] loved boobs. I think it was coming from high up. There were just random boobs flying around in our show sometimes.”

12. MEGAN MULLALLY BROKE HER WRIST DURING THE SECOND DAY OF FILMING THE SECOND SEASON.

As she was driving to work, Megan Mullally got into a car accident. “I broke my wrist,” she told Details. “The other person was fine, thank god. I’ve never had a broken bone, but it wasn’t a horrible tragedy or anything. Apparently, when Dan and John got the call that I’d been in a car accident, that’s all the information they got. They didn’t know if I was, like, dead, or fine, or anything. And then apparently the thought crossed their mind that I was just trying to get out of being on the show and it was all a big ruse.” The writers quickly wrote her broken wrist into the script.

13. KEN MARINO LIKED ENDING THE SHOW AS IS.

“I would have loved to do maybe one more season,” Marino told Details. “But there’s that feeling now that the show is contained in these five, six hours of story, and how much more story do you need to tell? There’s something quite nice about that. You watch it, and you’re done, and you say, ‘Oh, I like that nice piece of TV.’”

14. SCOTT DIDN’T LEAVE PARTY DOWN TO PLAY BEN ON PARKS AND RECREATION.

It may seem like Scott departed Party Down for the better opportunity to star on a hit show, but that’s not how it went down. In 2009 Chris Albrecht took over Starz and left the cast and crew hanging. “There was a misconception out there when the whole thing happened that I was leaving an active show,” Scott told Details. “They were in the process of killing Party Down when I took the Parks and Recreation job. What I did was go to Starz and say, ‘I’m getting an offer from one of my favorite shows. I would love to do it, but if you want to keep me around for Party Down we can have that conversation.’ And they said, ‘Have fun on Parks and Recreation.’ The message was very clear to me.”

However, Scott felt conflicted for “leaving” the show. “Ken and I had this long heart-to-heart on the phone where I realized halfway through I was kind of calling to get his blessing,” Scott said. “He was basically telling me, ‘You need to do this. It’s time to say goodbye to the show.’” In June 2010, Starz officially announced there would not be a third season.

15. CHILDRENS HOSPITAL HAD A MINI PARTY DOWN REUNION.

Ken Marino and Megan Mullally both star on the show Childrens Hospital. During the end credits of season 3 episode 13, from August 2011, Casey, Kyle, Lydia, Roman, and Ron—sporting those signature bow ties—appear to be catering a “Jew mitzvah” at the hospital.

16. A PARTY DOWN MOVIE IS PROBABLY NOT HAPPENING.

Since the show went off the air, Rob Thomas and cast members have constantly been asked about a Party Down movie. In a 2015 interview, Thomas said he hoped it would still happen. “I would say that if you were to ask every producer on the show and every actor on the show, everyone would love to do it,” he told Variety. “The problem is they all became big stars and have their own shows and trying to schedule that … everyone is doing too well for us to be able to schedule a Party Down movie.”

When HitFix asked Adam Scott about it in December 2015, he responded with: “I kind of doubt that’ll ever happen. I mean, if anything were to ever happen, it would probably be some more episodes, but I don’t know. I feel like it’s been a little while. It would be super fun, but I also feel like maybe it’s best to kind of leave it. Like, why screw something up? Or why take the risk of screwing something up? On the other hand, if everybody else was into it, I would totally do it.”

But if the movie did get off the ground, Thomas has an idea. “We talked about structuring it like Four Weddings and a Funeral,” he told Collider in 2011. “We don’t envision the movie as one long party. We think each act would be a new party and we’d stretch it out over the better part of a year so we’d be able to see the growth and do long arch stories for our characters and get some finality to some of the existing storylines.”

Have something you need to get off your chest? With Mike McMillan’s new WordArt generator, now you can say it in wavy, rainbow, 3D text—all without a 20-year-old version of Microsoft Office.

McMillan, the same designer who treated the internet to his Stranger Things font generator in August, created the online tool as a nostalgia vehicle. According to WIRED, in elementary school McMillan would spend more time creating WordArt titles for his book reports than actually writing them. To revive this cheesy bit of design in 2016, McMillan tracked down WordArt images through Google and recreated them on his computer. He told WIRED: “I now have a newfound appreciation for all the technology that went into such a silly part of Microsoft Word. It’s actually pretty difficult to create wavy or arced type.”

With Clippy the Microsoft paperclip as your guide, visitors to makewordart.com can customize any message they want in one of 15 styles and download the image or share it on social media. There’s even an option to custom-print your WordArt on swag like t-shirts, mugs, and hats. It’s almost enough to make you miss the Windows 95-era. At least we still have Clip Art.

[h/t WIRED]

It’s easy to forget that all proper nouns, including first names, surnames, and place names, are all just words in their own right, and as such have their own histories and etymologies behind them. But as the language develops and older words fall out of use, words can end up drifting closer to more familiar words until they eventually become identical—and that happens more often than not with place names.

As Old English became Middle English and eventually modern English, the ancient word elements used to form place names in Old English became obsolete, and as a result some of the names themselves drifted towards other pre-existing and more familiar words in the language. A tour of Britain ultimately could take in the likes of Badger, Droop, Lost, Nasty, Ogle, and Thong—and here’s why.

1. The village of ARROW near Stratford is named for the river Arrow that flows through it, which in turn might take its name from a long-lost Celtic word meaning something like “swift” or “fast-flowing water.”

2. The tiny village of BADGER in Shropshire probably derives from an ancient Anglo-Saxon first name, Baecg, plus ofer, an old English word for a flat-topped promontory.

3. BEER on the coast of Devon in southwest England has nothing to do with liquor: it’s a derivative of an Old English word bearu, meaning “grove.”

4. BOX, just a few miles outside of Bath, takes its name from Buxus, the Latin word for the boxwood tree. (Bath itself is named after the city’s famous Roman baths.)

5. Nothing to do with rabbits, unfortunately: BUNNY in Nottinghamshire is a compound of the Old English words bune and eg, and literally means “reed-covered island.”

6. CARGO in Cumbria, just south of the Scottish border, has a name derived from carreg, a Celtic word meaning “rock,” and haugr, a Scandinavian word meaning “hill.”

7. COTTON in Suffolk takes its name from an Old English word meaning “small houses.” Cottage and dovecot are derived from the same root.

8. Among the strangest of English place names, CRACKPOT in North Yorkshire takes its name from an ancient Scandinavian word for crow, krákr, whereas…

9. … the village of CROW in Hampshire likely derives from one of two ancient Celtic words, crie or crou, meaning “weir” or “sty” respectively.

10. The unfortunately-named hamlet of DROOP in Dorset takes its name from an Old English word, þrop, for an outlying village or farmstead.

11. EAGLE in Lincolnshire literally means something like “oak-tree wood” or “oak-tree clearing,” and derives from a combination two Old English word roots.

12. There are a handful of villages in Essex in southeast England named EASTER, which despite appearances probably take their name from an Old English word, eowestre, meaning “sheep-fold.”

13. Likewise, there are towns and villages all over England called EYE, including examples in Suffolk, Herefordshire, and Cambridgeshire. All of them take their name from the Old English word eg, which, as well as meaning “island,” was also used to refer to a relatively well drained area of land in an otherwise marshy or boggy landscape. The words island and isle, incidentally, also derive from Old English eg.

14. The Derbyshire village of FLAGG in the Peak District probably takes its name from a Scandinavian word for a place where turf could be cut.

15. The village of HAM in Gloucestershire—as well as the “ham” found at the end of countless place names like Birmingham and Nottingham—is derived from a widely-used Old English word, hamm, for a town or farmstead, or else an enclosure or otherwise isolated or enclosed area of land, like a hill or an area of land surrounded by a river bend.

16. An Old English first name, Haegel, is at the root of the name of the Lincolnshire village of HEALING.

17. Probably nothing to do with being high, the Wiltshire village of HIGHWAY actually takes its name from being a road for hay.

18. Like “ham,” HOPE is another common element in ancient English place names—as well as the name of villages in Derbyshire, North Yorkshire and Herefordshire—and derives from an Old English word, hop, meaning “valley” or “enclosed plot of land.”

19. The Isle of Wight off the south coast of England is home to “Seven Wonders”—namely seven local places (Lake, Ryde, Cowes, Freshwater, Newport, Newtown, Winkle Street, and The Needles) whose names seem to contradict their meaning: you can’t thread The Needles, there are no winkles on Winkle Street, you can’t bottle the Newport, drink the Freshwater or milk the Cowes, you walk in Ryde, and there’s no lake in LAKE. Instead, the village of Lake takes its name, somewhat confusingly, from an Old English word, lacu, meaning “stream.”

20. LOOSE in Kent takes its name from an Old English word for a pig-sty, hlōse.

21. The Aberdeenshire village of LOST is so small it’s probably impossible to get lost in it. It takes its name from a corruption of a Scots Gaelic word, taigh-òsda, meaning “inn” or “hotel.”

22. MAKER on the coast of Cornwall takes its name from an old Cornish word, magoer, meaning “wall” or “ruin.”

23. One of the smallest islands in the Inner Hebrides, the Scottish island of MUCK derives from a Gaelic word, muc, meaning “pig.”

24. NASTY in Hertfordshire isn’t as nasty as it sounds: it derives from a compound of the Old English words ēast and hæg, and literally means “eastern enclosure.”

25. OGLE in Northumberland derives from Ocga, an Anglo-Saxon first name, and hyll or hill.

26. The village of OLD in Northamptonshire was originally called “Walda,” then later “Wolde,” and took its name from wald, an Old English word for a woodland.

27. PLUSH in Dorset comes from an Old English word, plysc, meaning “pool.”

28. REDDISH near Manchester probably has nothing to do with color and instead combines the old English words hreod and dic, meaning “ditch by the reed beds.”

29. The “sand” of SANDWICH in Kent is precisely that, but the “wich” comes from the Old English word wic, meaning “trading place,” “dwelling,” or “farm.” Put together, it probably originally referring to a coastal market town.

30. SEND in nearby Surrey derives from the Old English word for sand, sende …

31. … while SETTLE in West Yorkshire comes from an Old English word, setl, meaning “high dwelling place.”

32. and 33. Both SHEET in Hampshire and SHUTE in Devon derive from sciete, an Old English word for a corner or bend of land.

34. Another fairly unfortunately named village, THONG in Kent derives from the Old English word thwang, meaning “a narrow stretch of land.”

35. TIPTOE in Hampshire takes its name from an old family name, Typetot, that has been recorded in the area since the 13th century at least.

36. TONGUE in the Scottish Highlands actually means “tongue,” in the sense of a projecting tongue of land. In that sense, it derives from an ancient Scandinavian word, tunga.

37. UPHILL in Somerset isn’t actually uphill, but rather “above the stream”—it would have once combined the Old English words uppan, meaning “higher” or “upon,” and pyll, meaning “tidal creek.”

38. WHALE in Cumbria is 40 miles from the coast, and unsurprisingly has nothing to do with marine mammals. Instead, it derives from hváll, a Scandinavian word for a rounded hill.

39. Likewise WOOL in Dorset has nothing to do with sheep, but comes from an Old English word for a spring, wiell.

40. And no one really knows why YELLING in Cambridgeshire is so called, but one theory is that it is named after someone who had the Anglo-Saxon first name Giella.

Starbucks is bringing back its red holiday cups, but there’s a twist. Thirteen different holiday designs will be served starting today.
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Why Did Kamikaze Pilots Wear Helmets? It’s time to set the record straight.
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This Psychopath Cult Leader Honed His Craft in Elementary School. Jim Jones learned his preaching skills at a very early age.  
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Clinical Trials Can Learn From Particle Physics. Here’s some ideas for streamlining the experimental process.
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The Tiny Kentucky Town That Eclipse Fans Are Obsessing Over. Just forget booking a room there.
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The History of Butter. The delicious creamy dairy fat goes back a long way.
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15 Continents that No Longer Exist. Unlike Atlantis, they did exist at one time.

Athletes, rejoice: We’ve officially entered marathon season. The New York City Marathon took place last Sunday, and in upcoming weeks, race participants will pound the pavement in Las Vegas, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Months of training aside, how are these competitors capable of logging so many miles? The American Chemical Society’s latest Reactions video explains what happens to the human body on a chemical and cellular level during a long-distance running session—from the reason your legs sometimes burn to what’s behind the highly sought after runner’s high.

[h/t Reactions]

Banner image: iStock

In the grand scheme of things, it really hasn’t taken humans very long to conquer the world. Modern humans didn’t evolve until 200,000 years ago, and didn’t start moving out of Africa until 100,000 years ago. Now, we dominate most regions across the globe, reshaping our environment, and encroaching on the environment of other animals. The American Museum of Natural History visualized just how quickly humanity has spread across the planet in this video spotted by Digg.

Each 1 million people living in a particular area is represented by a yellow dot, and labeled badges show the rise of specific empires, as well as notable population-changing events, like the bubonic plague or world wars. Over the course of just a few minutes, you can watch just how humans spread out of Africa, across Eurasia, and into the Western Hemisphere. Though booming populations and the spread of megacities aren’t always positive developments, the timeline will at least give you an appreciation for humanity’s long-lasting dedication to exploration.

[h/t Digg]

Teaser image by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Whether you’re a single young professional or just starting a family, conserving funds for the future is always going to be your highest priority. One of the best ways to free up income is to make sure you’re in an area where the cost of living is reasonable. To help you avoid budget-busting relocations, we’ve rounded up some of the most affordable cities in the country. Check out 11 areas where housing, living expenses, and entertainment will be kind to your bank account.

1. BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Buffalo offers low median housing costs without succumbing to some of the cultural deprivations common in “affordable” cities. Buffalo has major sports teams, a large map of museums and attractions, and a geography that means you can find a place to call home without having to compromise with a long commute: Professionals tend to drive an average of just 20 minutes to their job sites. For families with children, the Buffalo school districts have been cited as being among some of the best in the country.

2. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Inexpensive rental properties averaging $850 a month: check. Low-cost food and entertainment options: check. Mortgage amounts that would take up only a fraction of your monthly income: check. Despite being the hub for several federal government jobs, Kansas City has kept its cost of living at reasonable levels for decades. Gamers might also get a kick out of the city’s rise of arcade bars, which mix retro amusements with refreshments.

3. DAYTON, OHIO

Expect to pay just over $10 for a T-bone steak and roughly $70,000 for a quality home in Dayton, which frequently makes appearances in several best cost-of-living reports. Residents are always close to major highway crossings and a variety of diversions, including several fine arts programs. Small business owners can also get a boost from the city’s aggressive economic development resources. And if health care is a priority, Dayton’s hospitals tend to be on the forefront of burgeoning diagnostic and treatment advances.

4. OMAHA, NEBRASKA

Omaha has an impressive balance sheet: Residents tend to make more and pay out less than national averages. And if you’re looking to mingle with a younger crowd, the city has an attractive statistic—roughly a third of its residents are 24 years old or younger. Job prospects for white collar workers are also bright: With five of the largest corporations in the country within city limits, opportunities are always within driving distance.

5. BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

Known as the Magic City, Birmingham boasts a low cost of living and moderate temperatures; foodies are unlikely to tire of the city’s 500-plus restaurants. The area also has a wide cross-section of housing, from a burgeoning loft community to quiet, family-friendly neighborhoods. The city’s natural and architectural summits provide some of the most spectacular views you’ll find in any metropolis.

6. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

Anyone looking to save as much as they can will appreciate Louisville’s reduced food and health care costs, which can offer double-digit decreases from the national average. The same holds true for their utilities, which is an often-overlooked (and money-eating) expense for anyone looking to spare funds. For job seekers, Louisville has been able to resist economic downturns and keep employment high.

7. MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Great food and music makes Memphis a no-brainer in terms of quality recreation; a cost of living 14 percent lower than the national average is just icing. Residents are able to save in some unexpected ways, with Tennessee among the lowest-taxed states in the country. For first-time homebuyers, a typical mortgage payment in the city may only eat up an average of 10 percent of monthly earnings.

8. GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA

You won’t experience any wide weather or housing fluctuations in Greenville, which has some of the most consistent numbers for both. An afternoon car ride will get you to major hubs like Atlanta or Myrtle Beach, but you might be inclined to stay put: The city is famous for its food, museums, downtown district, and strong job market.

9. COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO

In addition to modest housing costs, Colorado Springs cuts health care costs by harboring some of the country’s fittest residents. Outdoor activities and pet-friendly areas keep people moving, and the city is a quick commute to ski towns that you can enjoy on weekends.

10. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

San Antonio tends to attract devotees who wear their citizenship proudly. That’s because the city’s economic appeal is balanced by a thriving arts community and a lot of beautiful scenery. For the health-conscious, the city’s medical infrastructure is so strong that it can attract out-of-area patients. And despite being the seventh-largest city in the country, San Antonio’s housing prices are often just a tenth of the cost of other major hubs.

11. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Providing you can tolerate both the heat and the temptation to gamble your disposable income away, Las Vegas ranks as a surprisingly affordable destination. Groceries, utilities, and transportation are well below the national averages. Plus, the state of Nevada has no sales tax. Coupled with some of the best entertainment in the country, Vegas might be the most fun and most affordable hometown on the map.

Whether you’re relocating to a new state or a new block, Allstate.com has the tools and resources you need to make your move a cinch.

The typical method for preparing a turkey is to put the bird in a hot oven and wait until it’s done—perfectly acceptable, if a little basic. Have a more adventurous Thanksgiving this year by trying one of these out-of-the-box recipes.

1. MOLE-ROASTED TURKEY

To create this delicious bird, Epicurious recommends marinating the turkey in mole overnight; at minimum, you’ll need to coat the inside and the outside of the turkey with the sauce and let it sit in the fridge for an hour before cooking. The chocolate sauce makes for one moist turkey; serve with Masa stuffing and spicy chili gravy on the side.

2. BEER CAN TURKEY

Beer can turkey is a variation on beer can chicken, in which a chicken is propped up over an open can of beer that bastes the bird from the inside. For a turkey, you’ll need to find two 24-ounce cans of beer—one for the interior basting, and one for the dripping pan and for basting the outside of the bird—and spices to season. Cooking can be done either in an oven or on the grill; either way, consider purchasing a special rack to help keep the bird upright while it’s roasting. Step-by-step instructions can be found at The Chew.

3. SPATCHCOCKED TURKEY

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt at Serious Eats calls spatchcocking “a method for lazy folks with great taste,” but it’s also a great technique if you’re short on time. The method—which allows a turkey to cook faster and more evenly—requires removing the bird’s spine, turning it over, and pressing hard to splay it out flat before popping it in the oven. You can find step-by-step instructions here.

4. 100-PROOF TURKEY

If you’re serious about adding alcohol to your turkey, you can emulate New York tavern PD O’Hurley’s by injecting your turkey with vodka. The recipe calls for the turkey to be marinated overnight in four flavors of vodka, and a vodka injection is done after cooking to retain the alcohol content.

5. BACON-WRAPPED TURKEY

There’s an easy way to make every food better: Add bacon. A turkey is no exception; when placed on top of a turkey, the bacon grease melts and flavors the bird’s skin. This recipe combines the flavors of bacon and maple syrup to create one delicious dish. To take the turkey to the next level, check out this recipe, which requires weaving a bacon jacket for your bird.

6. BRAISED TURKEY

To braise a turkey, you first cook it in the oven, let it rest, then slice it and remove the legs and wings, and cook the meat in broth. It won’t look like a traditional Thanksgiving turkey for the presentation, but it will taste delicious. Bobby Flay has a recipe for herb-roasted and braised turkey.

7. SOUS-VIDE TURKEY

Sous-vide is a method for cooking meat that involves encasing meat in a plastic bag and placing it in hot water to cook over a long period of time. Serious Eats has step-by-step instructions for making sous-vide turkey (with crispy skin cooked separately). Before getting down to sous-videing, you’ll need to remove the wings and legs from the bird, then cut the breast meat from the bone; next, place one half of the breast meat cut side up, and place the other half on top of it, cut side down, and tie into a cylinder, which is what you’ll place into a plastic bag and immerse in a hot water bath for cooking.

8. PUMPKIN SPICE TURKEY

Pumpkin spice is the ultimate fall flavor—and by following this recipe, you can even have a pumpkin spice-flavored bird. Create one-quarter of a cup of rub with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, then add brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Coat the thawed bird with canola oil, then rub in the spice; allow it to sit in the fridge overnight, then cook as usual.

9. TURDUNKIN’

Sure, you could make a Turducken—a turkey stuffed with a duck that is stuffed with a chicken—but it’s a complicated dish, since all the birds have to be deboned ahead of time. Those who love both Thanksgiving and Dunkin’ Donuts should try the Turdunkin’, which is “a turkey brined in Dunkin’ Donuts coolattas, stuffed with munchkins and served with coffee gravy and mashed hash browns.” Yes, it definitely sounds disgusting, but according to one of its creators, “The turDunkin’ was largely delicious” if “a bit too salty … The coolatta only penetrated the outer reaches of the white meat, but it was delicious and subtle in those places. … I was very happy with the turkey, the glaze and sprinkles, and the stuffing.” You can find step-by-step instructions at Unwholesome Foods.

10. WHITE CASTLE-STUFFED TURKEY

Cook the turkey as you normally would, but replace the stuffing with White Castle sliders (sans pickles). You can find the recipe on White Castle’s website, which notes that chefs should “allow 1 Slider for each pound of turkey, which will be equal to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.”