November 29th is Black Friday

 Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, most major retailers have opened extremely early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many Commonwealth Nations. Black Friday is not a federal holiday, but California and some other states observe "The Day After Thanksgiving" as a holiday for state government employees, sometimes in lieu of another federal holiday such as Columbus Day. Many non-retail employees and schools have both Thanksgiving and the day after off, followed by a weekend, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate, have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation was made: that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss from January through November, and "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or "in the black". For large retail chains like Walmart, their net income is positive starting from January 1, and Black Friday can boost their year to date net profit from $14 billion to $19 billion.

 For many years, it was common for retailers to open at 6:00 a.m., but in the late 2000s many had crept to 5:00 or even 4:00. This was taken to a new extreme in 2011, when several retailers (including Target, Kohl's, Macy's, Best Buy, and Bealls) opened at midnight for the first time. In 2012, Walmart and several other retailers announced that they would open most of their stores at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day (except in states where opening on Thanksgiving is prohibited due to blue laws, such as Massachusetts where they still opened around midnight), prompting calls for a walkout among some workers. Black Friday shopping is known for attracting aggressive crowds, with annual reports of assaults, shootings, and throngs of people trampling on other shoppers in an attempt to get the best deal on a product before supplies run out.

Favorite Classic Soap Hunk for November 29, 2007

John Wesley Shipp
From:  Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 John Wesley Shipp (born January 22, 1955 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American actor best known as Mitch Leery, the title character's father on the television drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2001 and for roles in several daytime soap operas. Among his daytime roles, Shipp is probably best known as Kelly Nelson on Guiding Light from February 5, 1980 to November 6, 1984 and as Douglas Cummings on As the World Turns from April 17, 1985 to June 2, 1986, which earned him his first Daytime Emmy.

Shipp also played Martin Ellis on Santa Barbara in 1987 (for which he won his second Daytime Emmy), Blanchard Lovelace on One Life to Live in 1989, and Carter Jones on All My Children in 1992. For his work on ATWT, he won a supporting actor Emmy at the 13th Daytime Emmy Awards in 1986. He played a peeper on an episode of Fantasy Island. He played the title role of Barry Allen/The Flash in CBS's The Flash in the 1990–1991 season and was Lucky on NBC's Sisters in 1994 and 1995. In 2010, Shipp got involved with the Flash again by voicing the evil character Professor Zoom ("The Reverse-Flash") in an episode of the animated series Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Shipp co-starred in a feature film that was shot entirely in Geelong, Australia called The Ninja. He played Detective Matthew Reynolds. The film started shooting in early 2009 and wrapped up in May. His co-stars were Rob Baard, Tania Zaetta, Roger Cross, John Schneider and Jeremy Kewley.

 In November 2010, Shipp returned to One Life to Live in the short-term role of Eddie Ford. The popular, but villainous character was killed off in a murder mystery in mid-December. He taped flashback scenes of Eddie's murder in February 2011, which aired in early April, revealing the killer's identity. He also taped newly created flashback scenes involving the back story of the relationship involving Eddie's middle son James and his former girlfriend Dee Dee Forbes and how James broke up with Dee Dee, stole money from Eddie and his arrival in Llanview to be near his mother Inez and two brothers, Bobby and Nate. John made his final appearance during the soap's final week in January 2012 (the episode was taped on Veterans Day, 2011), when Eddie's oldest son Robert had an out-of-body visit with his villainous father in Hell.

In the summer of 2011, he guest-starred on the Lifetime TV series Drop Dead Diva, playing the ex-husband of the character played by comedienne Kathy Griffin.

 Shipp filmed three episodes of the popular series Teen Wolf, based on the 1985 Michael J. Fox film of the same name. The episodes aired during the Summer of 2012.

Also in 2012, he will star in the independent film Hell and Mr. Fudge, where he will play preacher Bennie Lee Fudge, the father of theologian Edward Fudge, played by Mackenzie Astin.

Shipp gave a keynote speech to the graduating class of Wake Forest Rolesville Highschool class of 1998 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

John's ass in NYPD Blue

 

 

 

 

 

 John in Dawson's Creek.

November 29th is National Day of Listening

The National Day of Listening is an unofficial day of observance where Americans are encouraged to set aside time to record the stories of their families, friends, and local communities. It was first launched by the national oral history project StoryCorps in 2008 and now recurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, when families are more likely to spend time together. It was proposed as an alternative to "Black Friday", a day many businesses see as a high volume pre-Christmas sale day.

Tens of thousands of Americans interviewed one another as part of the National Day of Listening in 2008 , including President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, who were interviewed by President Bush's sister Dorothy Bush Koch. National Public Radio personalities including Scott Simon, Liane Hansen, Steve Inskeep, Renée Montagne, Frank Deford, Susan Stamberg, and Noah Adams also conducted National Day of Listening interviews and broadcast them on the air. 

There are no restrictions on who may conduct an interview as part of the National Day of Listening or what type of interview format may be used. StoryCorps provides Do-It-Yourself Resources and equipment recommendations to guide people through the interview process. guides are available to help teachers and librarians to incorporate The National Day of Listening into the classroom and library.

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit organization modeled after the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s In addition to collecting and archiving interviews at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, StoryCorps helps Americans engage with oral histories at the grassroots level. 

StoryCorps' first book, Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project, was released in 2007.

Favorite Birthday Boy For Nov 29th

Andrew McCarthy
From:  Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 Former Brat Packer and Cutie Andrew McCarthy turns 51 today.

 Andrew Thomas McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor, award-winning travel writer and television director from Westfield, N.J. He is known for his roles in the 1980s films St. Elmo's Fire, Mannequin, Weekend at Bernie's, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero, and more recently for his roles in the television shows Lipstick Jungle, White Collar and Royal Pains.

McCarthy was born in Westfield, New Jersey. His mother worked for a newspaper and his father was involved in investments and stocks. McCarthy moved to Bernardsville, New Jersey, as a teenager and attended the Pingry School. He also attended the town's public school, Bernards High School, for part of a year.

 McCarthy gained recognition in Hollywood during the 1980s. His boy-next-door looks continually had him placed as the sincere and kind leading man. His breakout role was in the 1983 theatrical film Class. As McCarthy's career grew, he involuntarily became a member of the '80s Hollywood group of young actors known as the "Brat Pack"; McCarthy's better-known films include the Brat Pack films St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink. During the filming of St. Elmo's Fire, McCarthy took up smoking, a habit he dropped in 1995. He starred in the 1987 box office hits, Mannequin and Less Than Zero, a theatrical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' popular novel. In 1985, McCarthy starred with Donald Sutherland and Kevin Dillon in Heaven Help Us (also known as Catholic Boys) playing Michael Dunn. In 1985, McCarthy made his Broadway debut in The Boys of Winter. He quickly returned to Hollywood in 1988 to star in several films, such as Fresh Horses and Kansas.

He had another hit in the 1989 comedy film Weekend at Bernie's. In 1991, he played the lead role in the motion picture Year of the Gun, a thriller which received mixed reviews from critics. In 1992, he starred in the romantic comedy film Only You. In 1993, he reprised the lead role of Larry Wilson in the sequel to the box office hit Weekend at Bernie's, Weekend at Bernie's II, the sequel was successful in the box office. He also had a supporting role in the critically acclaimed The Joy Luck Club. In 1994, he starred in the motion pictures Getting In, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle and Dead Funny. In 1994, he starred in the motion picture Escape Clause. In 1996, he starred in the motion picture I'm Losing You, a theatrical adaptation of the novel I'm Losing You. He also starred in the period piece, Mulholland Falls. In 1997, he starred in the motion picture Stag. He also starred in the 1999 theatrical film A Twist of Faith as a police detective.

He returned to Broadway theater to star in Side Man, McCarthy's version of the play won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1999. In 2003, McCarthy was set to guest star in two episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Due to bad relations with actor Vincent D'Onofrio, series creator Dick Wolf decided against it. Wolf later stated, "Mr. McCarthy engaged in fractious behavior from the moment he walked on the set." McCarthy fired back in a statement of his own saying, "I was fired because I refused to allow a fellow actor to threaten me with physical violence, bully me and try to direct me." Despite this incident, he later guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (with Chris Noth, not D'Onofrio) that originally aired in November 2007. In 2004, he played Dr. Hook in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital. He appeared in five episodes of the now-cancelled NBC television series E-Ring. In 2008, he starred in the NBC television series Lipstick Jungle as a billionaire, but was eventually cancelled, and had a minor role in The Spiderwick Chronicles. He is ranked #40 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars of all time list. McCarthy recently directed several episodes of the hit CW television series, Gossip Girl, including Touch of Eva in the fourth season. In 2010 and 2011, he also appeared in the hit USA show White Collar; he was praised by several critics for his performance in the episodes. He returned to the series in the next season to direct the episode "Neighborhood Watch".

In 1999, McCarthy married his college sweetheart Carol Schneider 20 years after they first dated. He later stated his reasons for tracking her down after they had drifted apart: "I ran into someone who said they had seen Carol and her boyfriend and they seemed really happy, and for some reason it bothered me for a week. I called her and asked her if she was really with this guy and asked her out for coffee." In 2002, Schneider gave birth to a son, Sam. In 2005, the couple divorced. On August 28, 2011 he married Dolores Rice. They have a daughter, Willow.

In 2004, he announced that he once had a serious alcohol problem, which began at age 12. In 1992, he entered a detoxification program and has been sober since.

McCarthy has also become a travel writer, and is currently an Editor at Large at National Geographic Traveler magazine. In 2010, McCarthy was escorted out of an underground church in Lalibela, Ethiopia, for entering the site without documentation. He had been in the church on assignment for the travel magazine Afar. A book written by McCarthy, The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down, was published in 2012.