Through the Keyhole - November 2019

NOV 2019 Through the Keyhole Take a break from your day... Not your typical company OR newsletter

Can you guess the location? "This Kingdom is headed by a 51 year old bachelor where almost 50 percent of the population is under 15 years old. Probably one of the only places where a McDonalds is not found, this location has one of the wonders of the world and the only nation flag bearing a building.  Can you name this place?" Send your guess HERE It's Officially Hallmark Movie Season With the Holidays fast approaching, it is time to have some fun watching some of these heartfelt (cheesy) films made just for you... Below is from the Hey Kaitlin Mary blog that pretty much sums up what you will be watching... A Hallmark Christmas Movie is not critically acclaimed in any way whatsoever. Instead, it's more of a feel good romantic comedy with a holiday theme. If you've never seen a Hallmark Christmas Movie, don't worry each movie is pretty much the same. They all follow the same generic plot line. I'm going to break down the plot of what (almost) every Hallmark movie follows. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Hallmark Christmas Movie Formula. Now the first thing you need to know about what makes a Hallmark Christmas Movie a Hallmark Christmas Movie is the casting. The casting is crucial! Now you won't find an A List actor to star in the film. Normally it's a D List star or someone you've never heard of before. Think of people you've either seen on Dancing With The Stars or who you expect to make an appearance in the near future. Hallmark always has a go to star for each movie, I refer to them as their ringers. Stars like Candace Cameron Bure, Lacey Chabert, Lori Laughlin (recently banned) and Danica McKellar are basically Hallmark royalty. There are other actors and actress but those four are the faces of Hallmark and have starred in a majority of the movies. Now for the rest of the cast, you have the love interest, the family members, friends, co-workers, and towns people. Now most of these are played by nobodies as well. But sometimes, the love interest may be notable but most of the time he's just a pretty face.   Now that we have the cast all picked out, let's get to the basics of the plot. The story always takes place during, you guessed it, Christmas time. Literally the week of or the week before. The main character is typically a big city girl with some sort of cut throat career, sometimes you'll have a writer, a business woman, a doctor or veterinarian, or some other cliche profession. But what the real takeaway from her profession is that she's typically in line for a big promotion. But first, she has to relocate to a small town to help the struggling town and prove she's worthy of the promotion. Now while she's struggling to get adjusted to small town life she meets her love interest by some chance of fate. Whether that's by bumping into them accidentally or having some sort of argument, she has no idea this is who she's supposed to fall in love with. Things will typically start off rocky, since they're so different. Small town boy and big city girl never works right? WRONG! They end up spending more and more time together, because (you guessed it) he's the person she's supposed to help while she's in the small town. Things start to look up after that chance encounter, he helps her get adjusted and she helps him with the business. While they're working together, they also start to form a friendship and do things together outside of work, You'll find them participating in cliche Christmas activities, like baking cookies, building a snowman, ice skating, decorating the Christmas tree, etc, etc, etc. You get the point right? Their connection starts to grow and slowly but surely they're falling in love. The main character is finally used to small town life and slowly starts to forget about her old life. But wait! Her boss calls, and offers her the promotion, she's headed back to her old life. She tells her love interest and they're both sad realizing things would have never worked anyways. When she's finally back in the city and has everything she thought she wanted, she has an epiphany. She leaves her promotion to go back to the small town realizing all she ever needed was true love. So she makes it back to the small town just in time to celebrate Christmas and participate in some local tradition. She runs back to her love interest tells him everything she just realized, they kiss, then it starts snowing. BAM the movie is over and the credits roll.   There you have it, now you know the plot of every Hallmark Christmas Movie ever made and every movie to come. That's two hours of your life you just got back, and yes they are all two hours long including commercials. Now not to trash Hallmark, their movies are really enjoyable. Predicabale and cliched? Yes. But still enjoyable! Sometimes all you want to do is watch a cheesy holiday movie during this time of the year. In fact, someone actually created a Hallmark Christmas Movie drinking game. The game itself follows the Hallmark Christmas Movie Formula, which goes to show just how predictable they are. I know I'll be participating in this game this year! Adding fun elements like the drinking game or trying to predict the plot based on the title really shows what a Hallmark Christmas Movie is supposed to be about, fun times and celebrating with your friends and family. The Cubs got a new (and I mean green) Manager.  See the semi-awkward press conference here. Last month, I listed a bunch of events that happened this decade and was remiss by forgetting the CHICAGO CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES in 2016 I am very sorry to forget one of the biggest achievements in sports history! Millions attend the victory parade for the world champion Chicago Cubs in 2016 9th Annual TURNkey IT Chili Cookoff TOMORROW Guess the Location Game Last month the winner of the guess the location game was Anne Welch who guessed the right answer.  I appreciate all of the participation.  THANKS FOR PLAYING! Charleston, South Carolina "Voted America's #1 Small City 6 years and counting, this town played a large role during the golden age of piracy.  The City is world renown for its rich history, well preserved architecture, distinguished restaurants and hospitable people." Charleston is rich in history dating back to 1670. Thanks to forward thinkers back in the early 1900s, much of Charleston is preserved with thousands of historic buildings and sites. Walking through the historic district is like taking a step back through time. Charleston has survived the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War as well as pirates, hurricanes and social revolutions. She still bears the scars—yet a spirit of renewal makes this city special. The people who call Charleston home are a gracious, proud group, who take tremendous care in the preservation of the past and the hope of the future. Historic buildings are so well preserved they look as if they were built yesterday. In its heyday, Charleston was the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city in the colonies—loaded with rich merchants and plantation owners. As it is today, Charleston of yesterday was a tourist destination, attracting visitors with its culture, wine, dancing, and imported luxuries. Here is some fun trivia and facts about Charleston and South Carolina. Pay attention there may be a test later. Charleston boasts the first public college, museum and playhouse in the U.S. George Gershwin composed his well-known opera Porgy and Bess while living on Folly Beach, SC. Porgy and Bess are buried in the James Island Presbyterian Church graveyard. The first game of golf played in the U.S. took place in Charleston. North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge spans the Charleston Harbor. The Arthur J. Ravenel Jr. Bridge connects historic Charleston and Mount Pleasant, SC. The first shot to be fired in the Civil War was fired by Citadel Cadets stationed on Morris Island The salamander was given the honor of official state amphibian. South Carolina entered the Union on May 23, 1788, and became the eighth state. The state dance of South Carolina is the Shag! South Carolina is the nation’s leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi River. Before being known as the Palmetto State, South Carolina was known as, and had emblazoned on its license plates, the Iodine State. After the Civil War, it is said that the North donated black paint to spruce things up. But black was Yankee paint so they found mixing two parts Yankee black and one part Rebel yellow produced the signature Charleston dark green. A sea captain would spear a pineapple to his fence post to let friends know he was home safely and to please visit so he could regale his guests with tales of the high seas. The pineapple today is a symbol of hospitality. Charleston calls itself the “Holy City” because of its many places of worship and skyline full of church steeples. South Carolina was the first to secede from the Union and thus the federal postal system so; it had to print its own money and postage stamps. These Charlestonians signed the Declaration of Independence: Arthur Middleton, Thomas Heyward Jr., Edward Rutledge and Thomas Lynch Jr. Charleston’s first woman newspaper editor and publisher was Mrs. Elizabeth Timothy in 1739. Charleston is the seventh largest container port in the U.S. African slaves in the low country created a language and culture they called Gullah. The word may have come from the Gola or Gora Tribes in Angola. The language was made official in 1939 and is creole-based with English as its main base. The city’s first baseball team was the Sea Gulls, established in 1886, and now called the Charleston Riverdogs. Part owner and director of fun is actor Bill Murray. Dr. Alexander Garden, a Charleston physician first imported “Cape Jasmine” from South Africa in about 1754. The flower was renamed Gardenia after Dr. Garden. As early as the 1700’s, Limners (Traveling Artists) flocked to Charleston. Many were portrait painters like Samuel Morse, who eventually threw in the brush and invented Morse code. The old city market was first a meat market. Buzzards “Charleston’s Eagle” once trolled the market for meat scraps and kept the pace clean and were protected by law. The Isle of Palms was originally named Hunting Island and then Long Island, it’s thought to be at least 25,000 years old, and was first inhabited by the indigenous Seewee Indians. Sweetgrass basket making has been a part of the Mount Pleasant community for more than 300 years. On Nov. 2, 1954, Strom Thurmond became the first U.S. senator elected by write-in vote. Thurmond received 139,106 write-in votes to win his seat. He defeated Democratic nominee Edgar Brown, who received only 80,956 votes. This guy is a really fun guy who shows you some of the places to EAT in Charleston. ~9 minutes This is a beautifully shot Vlog that is very descriptive and fun to watch. ~20 minutes Travel + Leisure Tour of Charleston, SC ~2 minutes Windows 7 End of Life Support The end of the Windows 7 lifecycle is set for January 2020. "End of life" means Microsoft will discontinue all support, including paid support; and all updates, including security updates. Between now and then, the operating system (OS) is in an in-between phase known as “extended support.” During this phase, Microsoft is offering paid support, though not the complimentary support that comes with the license; and will continue to provide security updates, but not design and feature updates. Why Is the Windows 7 Lifecycle Ending? The Windows 7 "end of life" cycle is similar to that of previous Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft states, “Every Windows product has a lifecycle. The lifecycle begins when a product is released and ends when it's no longer supported. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps you make informed decisions about when to update, upgrade or make other changes to your software.”  Even though Microsoft says it will support Windows 7 until January 2020, it began blocking older machines, such as those using Pentium III, in June 2018. Microsoft can block support for any machine at any time, so Windows 7 users should be prepared. What Does "End of Life" Mean? "End of life" is the date after which an application is no longer supported by the company that makes it. After Windows 7 "end of life," you can continue to use the OS, but at your own risk. New computer viruses and other malware are developed all the time and, without the security updates to fight them off, your data and your system are vulnerable. Receive $100 when you trade up from Windows 7 to Windows 10 Pro PC It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas... This Really Happened. This is a real thing and it is cringeworthy... Thundercat Racing. A different kind of sport but fun to watch.  I am not doing this personally... The British people are just like US... Jim Gaffigan is hilarious. Just for FUN. Modern Wisdom Complete vs. Finished Grammar Lesson: Is it "complete", "finished" or "Completely Finished”? No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between these two words - "Complete" and "Finished”. In a recent linguistic competition held in London and attended by, supposedly, the best in the world, Samdar Balgobin, a Guyanese man, was the clear winner with a standing ovation which lasted over 5 minutes. The final question was:  “How do you explain the difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED in a way that is easy to understand? Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED.” Here is his astute answer:  "When you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE.  When you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED. And, when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are COMPLETELY FINISHED!" He won a trip around the world and a case of 25-year old Scotch! Bad Posture? A great way to get better posture and keep back pain away... BetterBack improves your posture by putting your back and body in a proper position when you don’t have the strength to do it yourself. With just 15 minutes a day (or more if you want), you can start feeling and looking great – it’ll change your life. These devices were seen on Shark Tank and are about $50. Buy them here. Millennial Rosary? Vatican launches $110 'click to pray' wearable rosary The device is designed to teach young people about the Catholic faith. The Vatican is hoping to attract tech-savvy youngsters to the Catholic Church with the launch of a "Click to Pray" eRosary -- a wearable device connected to a mobile app that's activated by making the sign of the cross. The device -- which can be worn as a bracelet -- is made up of 10 consecutive black agate and hematite rosary beads, plus a data-storing "smart cross." Once activated, the wearer can choose to pray the standard rosary, a contemplative rosary or a thematic rosary, which will be updated throughout the year. The device shows progress throughout each prayer and keeps track of each rosary completed. It's on sale now for 99 euros ($110/£85). Buy it here More FUN. Deer crashes into beauty salon.  Hilarious. Old School Harvest MULE Drink Something different for Thanksgiving.  And you don't need the copper cup. 1 Shot Vodka 1/3 Cup Apple Cider 1/4 Cup Ginger Beer Splash of Cranberry Juice Sprinkle of Cinnamon Lime Squeeze Fill a copper mug with ice (preferably crushed).  Add vodka, cider, cranberry juice and ginger beer.  Squeeze a small slice of lime into drink and sprinkle cinnamon on top.  Enjoy!