HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

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

❤️❤️ 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

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.

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

 

Read the Official Tour Book Click Here

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.

Remarks by President Obama at Lighting of National Christmas Tree

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 2015 Christmas Tree Arrives at the Whitehouse

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.

First Lady Welcomes Military Families to Celebrate the Holidays at the White House

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.

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.

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.”