12.31.2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016


★★Happy New Year to you all..here's to a year filled with peace, love...oh yes & extra cash★★ xoxoK

12.25.2015

❤️❤️ MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015!


The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

Merry Christmas! xK

12.21.2015

GEARING UP FOR BETTER CALL SAUL SEASON 2 FEB 15 2016!!


Saul Goodman actor Bob Odenkirk discusses Season Two of Better Call Saul. Returns Feb 15th 2016. Listen to the very end of Odenkirk's comments. Sounds like we might have some of our favorite characters from Breaking Bad making guest appearances!


He wasn't always Saul Goodman, ace attorney for chemist-turned-meth dealer Walter White. Six years before he begins to represent Albuquerque's most notorious criminal, Goodman is Jimmy McGill, a small-time attorney hustling to make a name for himself.

 
He's a forceful champion for his low-income clients, an underdog whose morals and ambitions often clash. Jimmy works with private eye Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop and recent transplant to the Southwest. Mike has a specialized skill set -- he's a "fixer" of sticky situations -- that Jimmy soon learns to appreciate.

12.18.2015

FULL MOON ON CHRISTMAS: FIRST SINCE 1977!


This will be the first time the full moon has made a Christmas Day appearance since 1977, according to the Weather Channel. The well-timed occurrence isn’t expected to repeat until 2034.

Like full moons in all other months, Native Americans have special names for December’s. The moon is known as the Oak Moon, Cold Moon or Long Nights Moon, according to Space.com.

That website points out that the December full moon “rises around sunset and sets around sunrise; this is the only night in the month when the moon is in the sky all night long. The rest of the month, the moon spends at least some time in the daytime sky.”

Friday * 25th December 2015 * 06:11:28 am (EST)
Moon sign: Cancer 03° 19'

In other time zones:
WELLINGTON = Saturday * 26th Dec 2015 * 12:11:28 am (NZDT)
SYDNEY = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 10:11:28 pm (AEDT)
TOKYO = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 08:11:28 pm (JST)
BEIJING = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 07:11:28 pm (CST)
BANGKOK = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 06:11:28 pm (ICT)
DELHI = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 04:41:28 pm (IST)
DUBAI = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 03:11:28 pm (GST)
MOSCOW = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 02:11:28 pm (MSK)
BERLIN = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 12:11:28 pm (CET)
LAGOS = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 12:11:28 pm (WAT)
LONDON = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 11:11:28 am (GMT)
RIO = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 09:11:28 am (BRST)
SANTIAGO = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 08:11:28 am (CLT)
NEW YORK = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 06:11:28 am (EST)
MEXICO CITY = Friday * 25th Dec 2015 * 05:11:28 am (CST)
CALGARY = Friday * 25th December 2015 * 04:11:28 am (MST)
LOS ANGELES = Friday * 25th Dec 2015 * 03:11:28 am (PST)
ANCHORAGE = Friday * 25th Dec 2015 * 02:11:28 am (AKST)
HONOLULU = Friday * 25th Dec 2015 * 01:11:28 am (HAST)

THE WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY DECORATION TOUR 2015!

Blue Room 2015
 

This year’s theme is ‘A Timeless Tradition’. The decorations throughout the White House inspire visitors to celebrate long-held traditions while also creating new memories.


Reese Witherspoon at the Whitehouse

Honoring our Troops

This year’s White House decorations also pay tribute to our Armed Forces and their families.


The East Wing of the White House features a Christmas tree adorned with gold star ornaments, honoring the heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.


The East Landing is also on this landing where we honor the brave individuals currently serving; visitors are invited to pause and send a message of thanks to our troops serving overseas and stateside.


The East Wing is the normal visitor's entrance and is also where the First Lady and her staff have their offices. An older part of the executive mansion


In the Blue Room, an grand oval room overlooking the South Lawn and Washington Monument, is the official White House Christmas tree. This year's tree is a Fraser fir from Bustard's Christmas Tree Farm in Lehighton, Pennsylvania — standing 18 feet 1 inch tall from trunk to tip. Dedicated to our nation's service members, veterans, and their families, it is ornamented with holiday messages of hope for our troops and patriotic symbols of red, white, and blue.


Send a digital message of gratitude to our active duty service men and women. The USO will share your message with our heroes through their centers around the world where our uniformed men and women are currently deployed. Send a message now.


For more information on supporting our service members, veterans, and their families, please visit www.JoiningForces.gov. To engage online, please use #JoiningForces.

12.17.2015

21: THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE FILM ABOUT BLACKJACK


21, the “true-story” of a group of MIT students who took to Vegas and won millions of dollars thanks to their almost super-human intelligence, is one of those films that will divide a room. On one hand, you have people who love the film in all its rags to riches glory – Rolling Stone gave the film a decent 75 per cent when they reviewed it. On the other hand, you have publications like the Wall Street Journal who gave it 50 per cent, unequivocally stating that “very little adds up in 21”.

But isn’t 21 supposed to be a true story? Kind of – 21 is a story based on a book called Bringing Down the House, which was very, very loosely based on a true story. It may come as little surprise that Hollywood fudged some of the details to make a movie, although in this case “some” accounts for the majority of the movie. For a start, the team wasn’t led by Micky Rosa, the unorthodox math professor portrayed by Kevin Spacey.

Instead, Rosa is a composite of three separate individuals, none of whom were actually MIT professors. While the biggest influence in Rosa’s character, John Chang, was an MIT student until he graduated in 1985, he wasn’t even a mathematician – he was an electrical engineer.


With the head of the team being fictional, it makes you wonder about the rest of the team. Jeff Ma, the MIT student the protagonist Ben Campbell is based on, isn’t quite right either. When the film was released, the issue of ethnicity was a bit of an issue – it has since been pointed out repeatedly over the years that most of the team was Asian in real life, whereas they’re not Asian in reel version.

This isn’t a major issue though, as the real team have said outright that they weren’t offended or bothered by their counterparts, and to be honest, this is the least of the film’s character problems - Ben’s background is entirely wrong.

In 21, Ben falls into the world of counting cards as a way to pay for med school. Jeff Ma actually came from a fairly well-off family, and his father – notably absent in the movie for reasons of drama – was a guest at the Las Vegas premiere in 2008. That must have been awkward for Mr Ma to watch.


Even Ben’s love story is entirely fictional – Jeff and Jane (played by Kate Bosworth) were never romantically involved – it was all just added for the drama. Jeff recruited Jane back when she was a student at Harvard, not MIT. It wasn’t an MIT exclusive team in the slightest, punching another hole in the “true story” of Vegas’ most notorious card counters.

To quote John Chang on Bringing Down the House, “I don't even know if you want to call the things in there exaggerations, because they're so exaggerated they're basically untrue.”

So if all of the important characters are entirely wrong, surely the Blackjack is accurate? In fairness to the movie, there are parts of this that were correct. The team did use code words to signal what was going on. For example, if the count was 8, the spotter might mention that he was thinking about stopping by the pool later – the most important ball in a game of pool being the 8-ball, of course.


This being said, a lot of the casino-based plot is fiction. They wouldn’t walk in and out of the casino together as they wanted to give the idea that they had never met, and casino security never attacked and beat up any member of the team. Vegas, believe it or not, is not run by gangsters. On top of this, while it possible to get very, very good at Blackjack, card counting isn’t as sure-fire as 21 likes to make out you could have a better chance by bringing your A game with the help from this academy.

While the team won around $500,000 on their best trip, they lost around $130,000 on their worst day. There is still an element of risk in card counting – it doesn’t guarantee that you will win. On top of this, you don’t have to be a genius to count cards – you just have to have the patience to practice, a basic level of arithmetic and an average level of intelligence and you’re good to go.

12.15.2015

MOTOR CITY NEW YEAR'S EVE BASH 2015

 

DETROIT (December 15, 2015) – Detroit will be aglow when the Motor City New Year's Eve “D” makes its annual descent at Cadillac Square just before midnight Thursday, December 31. Thousands will unite in the heart of downtown Detroit to count down the final seconds of 2015, celebrating a new beginning and a New Year amidst dozens of fun outdoor activities for children and adults.

The sixth-annual Motor City New Year’s Eve (NYE) event – The Drop – supported by Opportunity Detroit and Bedrock Real Estate Services will be hosted from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Campus Martius and Cadillac Square. The free community event is loaded with outdoor activities for all to enjoy.

“We started this event six years ago because we knew Detroit was the place to be on New Year’s Eve,” says Tony Piraino, co-founder of Motor City New Year’s Eve and owner of Firebird Tavern. “We’re so proud the celebration has grown every year. We can’t wait to ring in the New Year with our biggest and best party yet with 20,000 friends.”

The highlight of the event will be a unique Detroit-themed ball drop. A grand 7-foot glittering "D" mounted on a 7-foot glowing sphere will descend, not once, but twice during the event. The D will drop once for a Kids’ Drop at 6:30 p.m., and again for the main event at 11:59 p.m.


Before the big moment, guests can enjoy live music, warm food, cold refreshments and cocktails (21+) prepared by local food trucks and restaurants. Partygoers will also find merchandise for sale from local retailers, ice skating in Campus Martius, and wood-burning warming stations positioned throughout the event. Carriage rides will be available for scenic tours of the City for a fee. And don’t miss the big game – see the Michigan State University Spartans play in the Cotton Bowl on 8’ x 14’ LED Screen.

Motor City NYE will present an inclusive Kids’ Zone featuring family friendly performances from 4-7 p.m. Cirque Among Us, the Detroit Youth Choir, John Davis (The VIBE Man), and a magician will engage and entertain. Enjoy face painting, bounce houses and jungle gym activities.

Need to warm up? Take shelter inside a massive 11,000 sq. ft. heated and carpeted tent raised in the Center of Cadillac Square. A second stage here will feature entertainment and live music for families until the family fun concludes just after the Kids’ Drop at 6:30 p.m.

The free adult fun begins on the main stage at 7 p.m. with performances by The Infatuations, Tosha Owens Blues Band, Angela Davis & The Solid Pocket Band, Athena Johnson Band and JUKEBOXX. Boji from Channel 955 will be dropping the beats from the stage all night long.


New this year is Motown Countdown, a ticketed event from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Step inside the 11,000 sq. ft. heated tent that will be transformed for nightlife fun. Take in clear views of the Detroit skyline and The D Drop. The price of admission ($55) includes live entertainment from the Cosmic Groove Band, eight drink tickets, midnight snack, party favors, a celebratory balloon drop, heated restrooms, coat check and access to numerous screens broadcasting the Cotton Bowl, all in a cozy setting.

A portion of proceeds will benefit Healthy Detroit. Purchase tickets at www.MotorCityNYE.com.

“We are so excited to be hosting our sixth Motor City New Year’s Eve in Detroit!” says Jerrid Mooney, co-founder of the event. “We’ve added so many new features this year and we are confident there will be something for absolutely everyone. We cannot wait to share this unique Detroit experience with the community.”

12.13.2015

*NEW* HUNKY HOLIDAYS FROM HUNKAPPELLA!


My friend Chuck Santoni (Detroit DJ) sent over his son Joe's (far right) new video HUNKY HOLIDAYS FROM HUNKAPPELLA'S !!!

It is really FUN!!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO


HAPPY HUNKMAS, from the Hunks!!
hunkappella.com / @hunkappella (Twitter, Instagram)

Featuring:
Sonya Vai (Sexy Grinch), Ben Palacios, Mike Viruet, Parker Wright, Joe Santoni, John Thomas, and Michael Thomas Grant

Directed & Produced by Ben Palacios
Arranged by Ben Palacios & Michael Alfera
Edited by Parker Wright with Phoenix Wing Productions LLC
DP: Stephen Tringali

KIMMER'S TOP 10 FAVORITE TV SHOWS OF 2015


My VERY favorite show of this year is FARGO Season 2. Perhaps the most compelling tv series I have ever seen! The acting is fabulous, the writing is so great and the camera work is mind blowing... Watch the Trailer HERE


I had never seen Game of Thrones and my daughter suggested I try that series. I watched one episode and then totally addicted, spent the entire week glued to 5 years of GOT. There just aren't enough adjectives to describe this epic tv series. Watch the Trailer HERE 5 ☆☆☆☆☆


Being a giant Breaking Bad fan made this an easy transition. Ethically challenged attorney, Saul Goodman is a great character and this first season was very good......took me a bit to get into it but it finished very well. Looking forward to Feb. 2016 for season 2. Watch the Trailer HERE


House of Cards Season 3 watch good, not as good as the first 2 but any show with Kevin Spacey is gift.....Watch the Trailer HERE


What a surprise! This show was fantastically poignant and hysterically funny as well. The entire cast should get Emmys.... Netflix signed them for 2 more seasons...Watch the Trailer HERE


Mad Men and Jon Hamm...all good things must end I suppose...This retro advertising show was magnificent in every way...Jon Hamm finally won and Emmy and the show is over....Watch the Trailer HERE


Another series my daughter recommended..Women in prison dramedy..can be scary,can be funny, can make you cry...perfect entertainment!  Watch the Trailer HERE


Humans is a British series about normal families owning Androids. Basically this is a drama about a family who own a renegade "synth", the doctor who helped create synths, and the police tracking them all... compelling and smart show...Watch the Trailer HERE


Rectify is another excellent ensemble cast..The story is about a man sent to death row by mistake is finally released.  How the towns folk and his family deal with his presumed guilt is the premise...excellent show. Watch the Trailer HERE


The first season was fantastic, the second one is not as good but still the cast is good. I love the young people and the music.....Watch the Trailer HERE

12.10.2015

HOW TO GET THE NARCISSIST OUT OF YOUR HEAD!

 

Why Narcissists Disappear (It’s not just the Silent Treatment!)

The early days with a Narcissist can seem like the most exhilarating time of one’s life. These individuals can be very charming, flattering, and come across as soul-mate material. Love letters, poems, candle-lit dinners, dreamy getaways, and insane chemistry can leave even the most composed person weak in the knees and dreaming of a fantastical future.

How to Get the Narcissist's Worms Out of Your Head
This is one of the very best articles I have read on how to get free from the grip of a malignant narcissist....

WORMS

Parasitic worms are a nasty image; they aptly describe what a Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) does to their victims. Like any parasite, they do not want to totally destroy their host (you), because without you (and people like you), the NPD would totally fall apart. Like most parasites, NPD’s have inborn abilities to find and attach to a host without the host realizing that they have been infested. By the time the host recognizes that there is something terribly wrong, the parasite has firmly hooked in to the victim, making escape very difficult at least.


And like all parasites, the NPD lies in wait patiently, until a suitable host comes by (usually stumbling by, actually). Like getting a tick in your groin while answering nature’s call in the deep woods, the NPD is always on the lookout for a vulnerable host/victim.

Many victims of NPD’s, if they are honest and examine themselves forensically closely in clinical counseling, will be able to recognize just how vulnerable they were at the time the NPD entered their lives. The NPD immediately began to administer the anesthesia best suited for the victim: compliments, charm, sympathy, economic support, or emotional security (or a combination of these).



Once the host/victim is numbed, a slow, subtle process begins of draining the victim of their life. Tiny digs begin about the victim’s imperfections and character flaws, and the use of repetition, proofing (citing endless fabricated ‘proofs’ for your stupidity), gas-lighting, and other brainwashing techniques escalate towards total possession.


 Each of these techniques are like parasitic worms that the NPD places in the host/victim’s head for further development and use. Some are left dormant for a time, but are planted at a vulnerable moment for later use. And the effort is relentless, it never stops, and is a constant process of parasitic infection.

Read how to get these worms out of your head HERE

GREAT INTERVIEW WITH ZAHN MCCLARNON FROM FARGO SEASON 2!!


I really enjoyed reading this big interview with actor Zahn McClarnon who plays Hanzee Dent on Fargo Season 2 and Mathias the Sheriff on the Reservation on Longmire.  Both of these shows are among my very favorites....This interview from the Wall St. Journal is fabulous.....


In these last few episodes, are we seeing Hanzee self actualizing, as Kirsten Dunst’s character Peggy might say?


Yeah, I think that’s a great way to put it. Becoming actualized. Reclaiming his identity and his autonomy. Hanzee’s a pretty complicated character, and he’s gone through quite a bit. I think he just came to a boil and took a different path.

The narrator used in episode 9 says historians have puzzled for decades over why the character turns on the Gerhardts. What do you think the answer is?

I think his agenda came about gradually, starting with being a young boy adopted and oppressed and growing up in two, most likely, very dysfunctional families. I don’t know if there’s a clear reason why Hanzee went where he went, but more will be revealed in episode 10.


How much do you know about his background?

What I know for sure is only what’s in the scripts. I have my own backstory for Hanzee. He’s a local Lakota Sioux Indian from the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. I think he was quite traumatized by growing up with the Gerhardts and being a tunnel rat in Vietnam, plus all that was going on in the 1970s in that area with the uprising of the Native American people.

Noah never confirmed it, but the name Hanzee translates as “shadow” in my language, Lakota Sioux Indian. I grew up in Nebraska and South Dakota. My mom was born and raised on the Standing Rock Reservation, then moved up to Browning, Mont., which is the Blackfeet Reservation. So I’m very familiar with that whole Interstate 29 corridor and growing up in the ‘70s both on and off the reservation.


Am I right that you’re also part Irish?

My father was Irish. He passed away about 10 years ago. He was raised up in Wisconsin and Colorado, where he met my mom in Denver. McClarnon! I’m very proud to be Irish. READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

12.08.2015

NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE IN BAVARIA!

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.
Neuschwanstein Castle (German: Schloss Neuschwanstein, English: "New Swanstone Castle" is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany.

The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle..Myself included in 1972.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

HARRY BENNETT PHOTOS SENT TO ME AS A GIFT PART 1

Overhead view of Harry Bennett Estate



Castle rock garden and towers

Arguably the toughest guy Detroit's auto industry ever produced, Bennett consciously burnished his macho image by firing guns indoors, shadow-boxing with visitors and by downplaying any sign of softness or sentimentality.

In 1937, he went so far as to inform Newsweek that he didn't even like flowers. Yet behind the guarded gates of his Ypsilanti estate he employed two gardeners who landscaped the property with flower-lined paths, arched walkway trellises entwined with rambling roses, stone planters brimming with multicolored vegetation, and, the focal point, a large mound garden with a spiral path filled with a lush, fragrant mixture of vivid flowers.

Visible above the garden are the castle's two towers, embellished with crenelations and gun loops and slits designed for defense against a home invasion by gangster assassins and union militants.

In later years winter snows weakened the mortar on the brick battlements, requiring their removal. The castle's second owner also leveled the mound garden.


 Castle view from river

Today most views of the Castle are obstructed by trees, but in Bennett's day the buff-colored brick home was visible from all directions on its perch overlooking the Huron River, c. 1943. 

Bennett planted a variety of shrubs and trees to beautify the original barren hillside. Several times a week neighbors heard the whir of power mowers as Bennett's gardeners cut grass from Geddes Rd south to the riverbank. 

Later owners of the estate, lacking Bennett's unlimited resources, found maintenance of the hillside unfeasible and abandoned it to the elements.


Baseball on Harsen's Island

Bennett, leaning against the fence in shorts, watches his oldest daughter Billie swat a softball delivered by pitcher Harry Kipke, the University of Michigan football coach and a member of Bennett's social circle, c. 1936.

Bennett bought secluded waterfront property at Harsen's Island on Lake St. Claire as a destination for his weekend cruises. He erected docks, a picnic area, a building with a rooftop observation deck, and a ball diamond. Ford photographers often filmed the games for Bennett, much as we take videos of family occasions today.


HB at helm of yacht

Bennett mans the helm of his steel-hulled yacht as his daughter sunbathes on the wheelhouse roof and guests move about the bow, c. 1936. Bennett invited relatives, friends, Ford customers and VIP's for weekend voyages on the Great Lakes from 1931 to 1941.

The trips, usually made in a caravan of yachts owned by his top lieutenants and friends, were family affairs; their young children and teenagers were regular passengers. Bennett stocked beer for adults, Coca-Cola for kids.


Dressed in cowboy attire, Bennett cooks steaks on an outdoor grill at his concrete "log house" on a man-made island across the Huron River from the castle, c. 1942.  The rustic single-story home, one of four on the estate, served as a gathering place for Bennett's weekend parties in the late 1930s-early 1940s.

Bennett transformed the property into a wild west dude ranch. Guests enjoyed horseback riding, rodeos, an open bar, petting zoo, swimming pool, and a large outdoor barbecue pit. Chefs from the Ford commissary catered the affairs. Beer flowed freely from kegs built into concrete trees.

Between 50 and 100 guests attended, including national heroes, sports celebrities and movie stars. Among the famous were Charles Lindbergh,Air Force Generals Emmett "Rosie" O'Donnell and Metal of Honor winner James "Jimmy" Doolittle, PGA champ Gene Sarazen, professional baseball and college football players and managers, and actors Tyrone Power, Joe E. Brown and Gene Autry, among others.

Henry Ford and his grandson Henry II attended Bennett's "roundups" on separate occasions.


 HB and family at Tiger game

Daughters Trudy and Billie join Esther Beattie, Bennett's future wife, and their father in Bennett's box on the first base line at Navin Field to watch the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs to win the 1935 World Series. Two bodyguards provide protection from the back row of the box.

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