Posts Tagged ‘entertainment’

Spike Lee: Top Films and Unforgettable Controversies

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Spike Lee is one of the most influential and provocative American moviemakers. Recently, he celebrated the 20 year anniversary for the release of his remarkable debut film Shes Gotta Have It. His films are groundbreaking in their controversial approach towards social and political issues and offer different perspective on race, class and gender issues in contemporary America.

Spike Lee was born as Shelton Jackson Lee in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia to a jazz musician and an art teacher. When Lee was a young child, the family relocated to Brooklyn, which was used as a background for many of Spike Lee’s movies. Lee’s talent was recognized while he was still a film student in NYU. His thesis film Joes Bed Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads won 1983 Student Academy Award for best director.

Spike Lee’s debut movie Shes Gotta Have It was released in 1986. The movie was shot in 12 days in a budget of 175,000 dollars. The film was written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. Shes Gotta Have It tells the story of Nora Darling, a young, independent African American graphic designer who cannot commit to any of her three lovers. Tracy Camilla Jones played the role of Nora Darling. Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell along with Lee himself played the three men in Noras life.

Shes Gotta Have It was a landmark film in its presentation of African American characters in an American movie and part of the explosion of 80s independent movie industry. The African American community embraced the movie, which displayed a non stereotypical group of young, intelligent black American people. The film won the Prix de Jeuness at the Cannes film festival for the best new film by a newcomer.

The 1992 biographic epic Malcolm X is considered by many as Lee’s best film. The 195 minutes movie depicts the story of the African American activist Malcolm X, from his early childhood to his assassination. Lee uses the Malcolm X story to confront the audience with the racial discrimination and violence that black people went through during the 1950s and 1960s in America.

Spike Lee’s name was associated with many controversies. He was often accused of anti Semitism and racism for portraying Jews and Italians in his films a stereotypical manner. His 2001 television miniseries about one of the Black Panthers founders, Huey P. Newton, stirred another controversy, which helped establish Lee’s image as a provocative and radical figures in the American film industry.

Lee’s latest project is the documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, which tells the story of New Orleans post and pre hurricane Katrina. The four hours documentary is about the New Orleans culture, the damage caused by hurricane Katrina and the recovery efforts. Lee does not spare his critic on the government inadequate reaction to the destruction.

5 Top Movies Directed by Spike Lee

Do The Right Thing: this 1989 comic drama shows what happens in Brookline when the interracial tension heats up during the hottest day of the year. Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro

Mo Better Blues: Denzel Washington as a jazz trumpeter who makes all the wrong decisions regarding his musical career and relationships.

Jungle Fever tells a pessimistic interracial love story between an African American man and an Italian American woman.

Girl 6 looks at the life of a young black actress who prefers working as a phone girl than being abused by movie directors

25th Hour is dedicated to the last 24 hours in the life of a New York drug dealer before his jail term begins.

How to Recognize a gambling Problem

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

With more and more people gambling these days, there are more reported cases of gambling Addiction then ever before.

Gambling problems can manifest themselves in many different ways. Some problem gamblers will have all of these signs of their gambling problem and some others may only have one. Gambling addiction affects players of all different forms of gambling like Blackjack, Poker and even Bingo

The most important thing to remember is just because their life is not horrible because of their gambling does not mean there is not a problem, many people can have serious gambling addictions and still hold down a job and make it seem as if everything is fine. This just means that this person has not hit a bottom yet, but eventually it will catch up with them.

Most addicts will stop socializing with anyone not into their addiction, so if suddenly someone you know cuts out all their friends from their life and starts to isolate themselves this can be a sign.

A simple thing to look for is if they are overly interested in the sports scores, and if after reading them to they become ecstatic or depressed. No one likes it when their favorite team loses, but a gambler will have major mood swings depending on if they are winning or losing.

A big sign of gambling addiction is someone who is constantly having money problems and asking to borrow money but never pays it back, but sometimes out of nowhere this person will seem to have large sums of cash.

Lying and stealing is another good clue to a gambling addiction, they will make up all sorts of excuses for their odd behavior, and you may notice small, but expensive items missing from your home.

If when visiting this person if you notice that some of their things are missing, or if they tell you they have had to sell some things, then there is a good chance that what they sold either went to pay of gambling debt or to make new bets.

There are many other signs but these are the most common symptoms of gambling addiction according to addiction professionals. If you see 2 or more of these symptoms in someone you know you should immediately try to get this person to accept their problem and seek professional help.

Without help gambling addiction leads to the same place as drug addiction or alcoholism, eventually they will be overcome by their addiction. At this point they will be fully cut off from friends and family.

Most gamblers with bad addictions usually wind up jobless and in many cases homeless if their addiction is allowed to go unchecked for too long, and studies have shows that people with gambling addictions are more prone to illness because thy allow their health to lapse.

For more information on gambling addiction talk to your family doctor or look on the internet for the gamblers anonymous web site, or from one of the many internet web sites dedicated to helping gambling addicts to locate professional help in their area.

Poker Hands: Best and Worse Starting Hands in Texas Holdem

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

The basic poker lesson is when to hold and when to fold. Knowing whether your initial deal is worth staying in the game or if you should call it a day, is one of the most important decisions to make at the beginning of the poker game. One of the most common beginner’s mistakes is holding onto the worst pair of hole cards instead of folding and protecting your money.

Therefore, if you are a novice poker player, one of the first things you should memorize is which initial hands are worth holding and which hands leaves you no choice but to fold. Since Texas Holdem is the most popular poker variation, here you can find lists of the best and the worth Holdem poker starting hands.

Best Poker Hands

If you are lucky to be dealt one of these initial hands, you are definitely having an excellent beginning:

Pair of Aces: as known as American Airlines or pocket rockets, it is the best possible Texas Holdem starting hand.

Pair of Kings: not as good as a pair of Aces but still an excellent way to open a game of Texas Holdem.

Pair of Queens: if you want to look at the bright side, you will be beaten only by Kings and Aces.

Ace and King: if they are of the same suit, your condition is even better, since you can form the nut flush at ease.

Pair of Jacks: unless the flop shows either a Queen, King or an Ace, you have decent chances of winning with this promising starting hand.

Ace and Queen: the same as Ace and King, a suited hand would increase your chances of stepping out as a winner.

King and Queen: unless the community cards contain an Ace, you are in a good shape with this starting hand and even better if it is suited

Ace and Jack: even if appears unsuited, this starting hand is still worth holding.

King and Jack: still one of the best Texas Holdem starting hands, but be careful with it, especially when unsuited.

Ace and Ten: the Ace upgrades it to a pretty good hand, although requires a cautious play since it can be beaten by any of the starting hands mentioned above.

Worst Poker Hands

These hands would suit you well if you play some of the lowball variations, but if you play traditional Texas Holdem poker, the best advice would be to fold.

2 and 7: if you are dealt this hand, especially unsuited, you cannot even make a straight. Even if suited you should be so lucky to form a low flush or the lowest pair. In one word: fold.

2 and 8: same as the previous hand; pair of 8s is still a low pair.

3 and 7: although it can beat the previous hands, it still a worthless pair of cards

3 and 8: again, hardly even a low straight.

2 and 6: only if the community cards will feature 3, 4 and 5, you will have a chance of forming a straight. However, do not count on it, especially if there are more than 3 attendances in the game.

2 and 9: thanks to the presence of the 9 you are in better shape than with the former hands, still you cannot form a straight and even a pair of 9s would be beaten by pairs of 10s, Jacks, Queens, etc.

3 and 9: the same thing: higher than 8 lower than almost any other hand.

4 and 9: as mentioned above; foldem.

2 and 10: even though Doyle Brunson had won two WSOP bracelets with this starting hand, unless you have the talent and experience of Brunson, do not hold this hand.

5 and 9: also known as Dolly Parton, this hand would get you nowhere near the final table.

How to get back in shape

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Before starting to work out make sure you get a full physical from your doctor and a letter stating it is ok for you to do physical activity. Many gym and aerobic centers will require this before letting you start.

Depending on how long it has been since you last did regular exercise it is recommended that you start off slow and gradually build up your workout to harder levels.

It is generally recommended to start off at the gym with just the treadmill and the lifecycle for the first week or 2. This is to wake the muscles up and to slowly get you prepared for a harder workout.

You will generally want to find a speed on the treadmill that is a pace you can keep up with little discomfort and do it for 20 minutes. After this take a 5 minute break, stretch a little and have a drink of water, then go back and increase the speed just a bit then do another 20.

Remember that pushing yourself too far is taking a gamble that you may not be able to live with. In a casino you can put everything you have on the roulette table and maybe you win and maybe you lose, but in the gym if you push too hard you can die, so take things slowly.

Many people make the mistake of getting back into an exercise program and going all gung ho an trying to get back in shape in just one hour, well let me tell you this will not work. The only thing this will do is make you very sore the next day and you will not be able to workout that day, and it will make you lose interest fast in the gym. Discomfort in ok pain is not.

Depending on how long it has been since you last worked out, I recommend working out 4 or 5 days a week. This may seem like a lot but if you were trying to win a poker tournament you would go to a casino or an online casino and poker room to practice almost every day right? So you will have to do the same with the gym.

Working out 5 days a week does not necessarily mean you have to go to the gym every day. I recommend the gym 3 times a week and the other day or 2 you can just go for a long fast paced walk around your neighborhood. Try to vary the things you do so that you do not work out the same parts of your body 2 days in a row.

Most professionals will tell you that if you work out your arms and chest on a Monday do not exercise those muscles again for at least 48 hours. This is to give the muscles time to heal and grow. It is this straining and resting of the muscle that makes it grow not just the working it out. If all you did every day was work the same muscle group in a few days the muscle would be more likely to tear in a painful experience and the only thing you will be able to do for several months will be playing in an online casino from your laptop in bed.

How to Play Texas Holdem, For Beginners

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Texas Holdem is by far the most common for of poker played today due to is popularity there are even several TV shows of the game. Besides being popular texas Holdem is also the best game for a beginner to learn, the game can be learned after a few minutes and afte just a few hours of practice you can be playing fairly well against other beginners, but to really get good you must play often.

Texas Holdem is played the same way in the casino, online casinos and in your home with your pals.

Texas Holdem is played in the following manner:

1. Betting structures can vary. In Texas Holdem rarely are antes used. Most Texas Holdem games start with first two players on the dealers left placing predetermined bets. These players are called the small and large blind, and their bets are called posting the blinds.

2. Each player receives 2 cards face down. These cards are called you pocket cards and they are the only cards that are unique to you.

3. After each player is dealt their hole cards a round of betting takes place starting with the player to the left of the 2 blinds this round of betting is called the pre-flop. Just like in any other poker game a player can call raise of fold during their turn.

4. After the Pre-Flop round is over the dealer will remove the top card from the deck and discard it, this is called the Burn Card. This is done to make sure that no cheating is done. The dealer will then turn over 3 cards in the center of the table. This round is called the Flop. Any player may use any of these cards to make the best 5 card hand possible, but you are not allowed to actually touch the cards, each player can use the same cards if it help them, this is why your hole cards are so important.

5. As with the pre-flop there is now another round of betting, it is at this point you will start to see players folding.

6. After the betting is over, the dealer will burn another card, then deal the fourth of the communal cards. This card is called the Turn card

7. Again another round of betting begins and now is when you will start to see the size of the pot really grow.

8. One last time the dealer burns the top card before turning over the last card of the game, called the River card. Players now have all 5 of the communal cards and their own hole card to make the best 5 card hand.

9. One last chance is given to raise the bets or get out of the game. After this each player still in the game will show their cards. This is called the Showdown. The player with the best hand is declared the winner and wins the pot.

Now that you know the basic order of the game you are ready to start playing Texas Holdem. Holdem is a simple game to learn but if hard to master. This is the part that will take you many hand and many dollars, but if you put in the time you will be rewarded for it.

Party Jokes: Startling But Unnecessary

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Here, I focus on a range of items and features that we use in life without giving them a second thought such as Coca Cola, body muscles and holding ones own breath. Though, most of these notes are not fundamentally necessary, they are such that you can use them for a good laugh, at a drinks party or for picking up women or men.

1) Coca-Cola: Did you know that its original colour was green?

2) Mohammed: Did you know that this is the most used name in the entire world?

3) Geographical Letters: Did you know that the name of each of the continents begins and concludes with the exact same alphabet? Do not believe that? Look up Asia, Europe, Africa, America, Antarctica and the rest.

4) Muscle Strength: Did you know that the strongest muscle in the entire body is that one which we use to lick a popsicle? Your tongue.

5) Credit Cards: In the United States, were you aware that each and every person has at least two credit cards?

6) An Antique Machine: The word for an old machine that was once used for writing letters and other documents is the largest word that one can make if they click only on a single row of their computer’s keyboard: typewriter!

7) Blink: Men wink at women, but research has found out that the average woman blinks nearly two times more than the average man.

8) Suicide: Even though you might have wondered if it was possible, studies have discovered that it is impossible to kill oneself by simply holding in your breath.

9) Licking: However much you may try, you will never be able to lick your elbows.

10) Sneeze: Try sneezing. People will automatically answer you with a bless you greeting. Have you ever imagined why? Some say that this happens because a sneeze stops the functioning of the heart for a very tiny second.

11) The Blue Sky: Did you know that a pig, no matter how much they try, cannot look up into the sky?

12) Twisting Your Tongue: We have all dabbled with different tongue-twisters in our day. But do you know which is the toughest? Sixth sick sheiks sixth sheeps sick.

13) Ribs: Did you know that you should try not to sneeze too strongly. Why? A very powerful sneeze has the ability to cause a fracture in your ribcage. But, then again, if you try and withhold one, you stand the chance of breaking one of the many blood vessels in your neck or head. This could cause death.

14) Cards: Did you think that the Kings are all just random cards referring to random figures? No. Each one signifies a different king: Diamonds for Julius Caesar, Clubs for Alexander the Great, Spades for David and Hearts for Charlemagne.

15) And finally: Most everyone reading this (Caught You!) are trying to lick their elbows at this exact moment!

Conclusion: Most of these are not scientific facts, but they are hilarious, funny and can be used to lighten up the ambience when a conversation has gone dull. Use any and see your popularity rise up to great heights. Visit .gambling-portal.com for more jokes.

Blackjack Strategy Tips: How to Win in Blackjack

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Blackjack is one of the few casino games that are beatable in the long run. It means that by using a basic blackjack strategy you can have an advantage over the casino and eventually step away from the blackjack table as a winner. Here you can find the basic blackjack strategy explained in a simplified manner.

The blackjack strategy is based on the mathematical probabilities of the game and it provides you guidance on the best decisions to make at every possible situation during the game. It takes about an hour to memorize this strategy but it is worth every minute. This does not man you will win every single blackjack game from now on, but with the help of the blackjack strategy, patience and persistence, you can significantly improve your chances of beating the casino in the long run.

Note that some blackjack rules vary from one casino to another. In some casinos, both brick and mortar and internet casinos, blackjack is played with one card deck while in others the blackjack game occupies four decks or more. In addition, in some of the casinos the dealer hits on a soft 17 while in others he is required to stand and doubling after splitting is allowed only in some of the casinos.

Here you can find a basic strategy to a single deck blackjack game where the dealer hits on soft 17. Playing other blackjack variants would require you to make some adjustments for a few borderline occurrences.

First, here is a short introduction to the terms mentioned here:

Hard Hand: two initial cards that do not include an Ace.

Soft Hand: two initial cards that one of them is an Ace

Stand: when a player is not asking to be dealt more cards after the two initial cards.

Hit: when a player calls for an additional card to be dealt

Double: when a player doubles his initial bet after the initial deal, but it requires him to hit only one card.

Split: when a player separates the initial two cards into two individual hands and plays them as 2 hands.

Finally, here is a basic blackjack strategy:

When your initial two card hand sums up to 8 or less: hit

When your hand sums up to 9 and the dealer hand value is between 3 and 6: double if else: hit when your hand sums up to 10 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 9: double; if else:

When your hand sums up to 11 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 10: double; if else hit.

When your hand sums up to 13, 14, 15, or 16 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 6: stand; if else hit.

When your hand sums up to 17: stand.

when your initial two card hand contains Ace 2 or Ace 3 and the dealer has either 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.

When your hand contains Ace 4 or Ace 5 and the dealer has 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.

When your hand contains Ace 6 and the dealer has 3, 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.

When your hand contains Ace 7 and the dealer has 2, 7 or 8: stand; if he has 3, 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.

When your hand contains Ace 8 or Ace 9: stand

When your hand contains a pair of 2s or 3s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7: split; if else: hit

When your hand contains a pair of 4s and the dealer has either 4 or 5: split; if else: hit

When your hand contains a pair of 5s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 9: double; if else: hit

When your hand contains a pair of 6s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 6: split; if else: hit

When your hand contains a pair of 7s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7: split; if else: hit

When your hand contains a pair of 8s: split

When your hand contains a pair of 9s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7 and either 8 or 9: split; if else: stand

When your hand contains a pair of 10s: stand

When your hand contains a pair of 8s: split

How to throw a Poker game in your Home without your wife finding out

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

It is not uncommon for a man to want to have a night out with the boys, maybe play a little poker. It is also not uncommon to have the plans of men thwarted by their wives.

To help with this problem I am telling you the secrets about how to have some harmless fun at home without the wife catching on.

The best way to get rid of the wife so you can have a little “Man Time” is the easiest but most expensive way to do it. For her birthday you get her and one of her friends a trip to a weekend spa place.

Your wife will think you the best hubby ever and will never suspect you are going to throw a poker game in her absence, and the best part of this plan is that when it is over your wife will be so grateful for what you have done she may be more inclined to allow you to go out with the boys more often.

The next way is a little complicated and will only give you 4 or 5 hours of time at best, but it is much less expensive then a trip for 2. It may seem a little childish and yes I also have seen it on TV but a scavenger hunt scam can work.

The trick to the scavenger hunt is that each spot has to mean something. An example would be the first place you ever went on a date as one of the places she needs to go.

The end of the game is the most important make the last stop a restaurant and make sure to be there before she does. A good idea is to try to think of something meaning full in the area of where you live so you do not have far to drive, this will leave you the maximum amount of time to lay poker with your pals.

I have to admit this is not the ideal way to play poker, but getting away with even an hour of poker without her knowing is more excitement than any regular poker game could ever be.

Now that you have a plan to get her out of the house you need to be ready to go. The most important part of this is a large plastic drop cloth. This is so that if anything spills it will be simple to clean up.

Make sure you are ready to go with the table and chairs and make sure they get put back exactly the same as when you took them. You may want to use a digital camera to make sure you remember exactly how everything was before the game, because I promise you that you wife does.

If you send your wife on the trip I do not recommend using a cleaning service right before she comes back. If the house is too clean she will know something funny is going on

The last two tips I have is to make sure that you have a really nice gift around at all times just incase she finds out, and the other is that if your wife and your friends wives are friends do not invite those friends, if one guy gets caught you will all get caught.

Good Luck.

Conoce a la Realeza y Aristocracia Europea

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Una de las maneras m

Las Supersticiones en los Casinos

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

La mayor