Trending This Mornin'

One more nice day, clouds gather today.  Hi around 60.  Tomorrow, some sunshine with a 60% chance of rain.  Hi 46.  Mostly sunny Wednesday.  Hi 47.  Then low to mid 50s rest of the week. Lows in the 30s.

Enhanced Fire Danger this afternoon for Amherst; Appomattox; Bedford; Botetourt; Buckingham; Campbell; Carroll; Charlotte; Floyd; Franklin; Grayson; Halifax; Henry; Montgomery; Patrick; Pittsylvania; Roanoke; Rockbridge. Winds will only be 5 to 10 mph, but the relative humidity will fall to 30%.

Black Friday retail sales online this year topped $1 billion for the first time ever. Online sales jumped 26 percent on Black Friday to $1.04 billion from sales of $816 million on the corresponding day last year.   Today, is Cyber Monday.   How big of a day will it be for online sales?

The Powerball jackpot has grown to a record $425 million, sending millions of Americans to supermarkets, shops, gas stations and other ticket outlets to buy lottery tickets before Wednesday's drawing.  The estimated $425 million up for grabs on Wednesday in 42 states.

Sunday around the NFL:  Cleveland 20, Steelers 10;  Atlanta 24, Tampa Bay 23; Baltimore 16, San Diego 13; Giants 38, Green Bay 10.   TONIGHT: Panthers @ Philadelphia.

Commonwealth Cup: Hokies beat Cavaliers 17-14 with late field goal.   The win puts Coach Beamer in his 20th Bowl Game.

Lookin' Back

Cyber Monday!: ("Welcome to the Internet, my friend. How may I help you?") This is the day to pretend you're working while you actually Christmas shop online. The term "Cyber Monday" first appeared in a Shop.org press release entitled: "Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year".    The term "Cyber Monday" first appeared in 2005.  

1789: President Washington declared Nov. 26, 1789, to be Thanksgiving Day, the first U.S. holiday by presidential proclamation. in 1863 President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving to be the last Thursday in November. In 1939 President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the 4th Thursday in November.

1864: Oxford University math instructor Charles Dodgson sent an early Christmas message to the daughter of a friend, 12-year-old Alice Liddell. It was a handwritten story entitled "Alices Adventures Underground." We know the story as "Alice In Wonderland" and the author by his pen-name, Lewis Carroll. 

1942: The movie "Casablanca," starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York.

1956  The Price Is Right debuted on this date.  

Cuttin' Cake

singer Tina Turner is 73;   singer Linda Davis is 51;  John McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 67; Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen Twilight films) is 39; Singer Natasha Bedingfield is 31; Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is 29

Joke of the Day

What did the ghost say to Santa?  ans - I'll have a boo Christmas without you. 

Smarter Than Question

A survey from Glamour Magazine says women are more likely to give out their phone number if they are approached here. Where is it?   Rhonda got the correct answer.  It's "a bakery".

Entertainment Buzz

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn _ Part 2" was No. 1 again with $64 million during the five-day holiday stretch that began Wednesday.   Daniel Craig's Bond adventure "Skyfall" came in at No. 2 with $51 million, while Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg's Civil War saga "Lincoln" finished third with $34.1 million.

The Rolling Stones made a triumphant return to the London stage on Sunday night in the first of five concerts to mark the 50th anniversary of their debut as an American-oriented blues band.

According to TMZ.com, actor Charlie Sheen rode to the rescue of Lindsay Lohan with a $100,000 check to help pay off the Internal Revenue Service.

primetime monday

abc: Dancing With the Stars: All Stars (LIVE), 2 new episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (the Wilson Family) 
cbs: How I Met Your Mother is new followed by a repeat of The Big Bang Theory. 2 Broke Girls and Mike and Molly are new followed by a new Hawaii Five-O 
nbc: The Voice is live followed by a new Revolution 
fox: Bones and The Mob Doctor are both new 
cw: 90210 and Gossip Girl are new

christmas specials this week

Thank goodness we have holiday specials on TV to take away from the stress of shopping... what's your favorite? Here's what's coming up this week...

Monday (11/26)

Christmas Every Day (midnight ABC Family)

Tuesday (11/27)

nothing

Wednesday (11/28)

Christmas in Rockefeller Center (8pm, NBC) 
Saturday Night Live - Christmas (9pm, NBC) 
Three Days (Kristin Davis) (midnight, ABC Family)

Thursday (11/29)

Mickey's Christmas Carol (6pm, ABC Family) 
The Christmas List (midnight, ABC Family)

Friday (11/30)

Santa Baby (Jenny McCarthy, 4pm, ABC Family)

Saturday (12/1)

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (7am, ABC Family) 
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (8:30am, ABC Family) 
A Dennis the Menace Christmas (10:30am, ABC Family) 
Miracle on 34th Street (1994, 12:30pm, ABC Family) 
Jack Frost (1998, 6pm, ABC Family) 
It's a Wonderful Life (8pm, NBC) 
ELF (8pm ABC Family) 
Snowglobe (midnight, ABC Family)

Sunday (12/2)

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (7pm, ABC Family) 
Miracle on 34th Street (1994 8:30am, ABC Family) 
Hoops and Yoyo Ruiin Christmas (10:30am Hallmark) 
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (11am ABC Family) 
The Search for Santa Paws (1pm, ABC Family) 
Jack Frost (1998, 3pm, ABC Family) 
Elf (5pm ABC Family) 
The Holiday (5:15pm TBS) 
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (7pm ABC Family)

Five things to know about "Dallas" star Larry Hagman:

1. HIS FAMOUS MOM

Hagman was the son of singer-actress Mary Martin, who starred in such classics as "South Pacific" and "Peter Pan." Martin was still in her teens when he was born in 1931 during her marriage to attorney Ben Hagman.

2. HOW HE FIRST GAINED FAME

Years before "Dallas," Hagman was on "I Dream of Jeannie," in which he played an astronaut whose life is disrupted when he finds a comely genie, portrayed by Barbara Eden, and takes her home to live with him.

3. HIS REAL LIFE ADVOCACY

Hagman was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and acknowledged that he drank heavily for years. He had a transplant after a malignant tumor was discovered in 1995, and it turned him into an advocate for organ donation and a hospital volunteer. He was also an anti-smoking activist who took part in "Great American Smoke-Out" campaigns.

4. WHAT HE WANTED ON J.R.'s TOMBSTONE

"It should say: `Here lies upright citizen J.R. Ewing. This is the only deal he ever lost,'" Hagman said in 1988.

5. WHO SHOT J.R.?

The answer to that cliffhanger was one of the most-watched television events in history. It was J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin (Mary Crosby) _ he had made her pregnant, then threatened to frame her as a prostitute unless she left town.

News from Nashville

For the fourth week - Taylor Swift's "Red" is Number One and It's the seventh for her single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

Shania Twain opens her Still the One show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 1, and she's already feeling at home in Sin City.  Her fellow Canadian Celine Dion was the first artist to perform at The Colosseum nearly 10 years ago, and Shania credits Celine with making the experience of performing at Caesars Palace so great for other artists.

Blake Shelton is trying to decide what to get Miranda for Christmas.  He tells E! News, this is a tough decision.  So he's thinking maybe a card or he'll make her something, draw her a picture or something like that. He looks at it this way, you don’t want to blow a bunch of money on her when she already has a bunch of money she can blow on herself.

Hunter Hayes recently dished to MTV he feels intimidated by Carrie Underwood.  Hayes is opening for Underwood on her "Blown Away" tour.   “She’s a sweetheart. She’s awesome. Her show is really impressive and it’s kind of cool ’cause I’m a production guy and I’m really into watching shows and she’s a consistent vocalist.”  The show is intimidating from the stand point Hayes asks himself ‘How do you that?’ It’s unbelievable.  It’s really cool.”  The two will be on the road through their Roanoke visit next year.

ACC Fanfest - Charlotte - Dec 1 - 12n to 7P.  Lee Brice at 3:30, Little Big Town at 5:30, followed by kick-off of the ACC Championship Game between Florida State and Georgia Tech.

Country label Big Machine Records — home of Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw — will release an 11-song soundtrack for the popular new drama on Dec. 11.

(Photo: ABC)

‘Nashville’ Soundtrack Track Listing:

1. Connie Britton, ‘Buried Under’ (Chris Destefano, Natalie Hemby)
2. Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen, ‘If I Didn’t Know Better’ (Arum Rae, John Paul White)
3. Hayden Panettiere, Charles Esten, ‘Undermine’ (Trent Dabbs, Kacey Musgraves)
4. Charles Esten, ‘Sideshow’ (Aaron Scherz, Brad Tursi)
5. Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, ‘Wrong Song’ (Marv Green, Sonya Isaacs, Jimmy Yeary)
6. Connie Britton and Charles Esten, ‘No One Will Ever Love You’ (Steve McEwan, John Paul White)
7. Jonathan Jackson, ‘Twist of Barbwire’ (Elvis Costello)
8. Hayden Panettiere, ‘Love Like Mine’ (Kelly Archer, Emily Shackleton, Justin Weaver)
9. Lennon Stella and Maisy Stella, ‘Telescope’ (Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsay)
10. Sam Palladio and Clare Bowen, ‘When the Right One Comes Along’ (Georgia Middleman, Justin Davis, Sarah Zimmermann)
11. Hayden Panettiere, ‘Telescope’ (Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsay)

Lar's This & That

It's the gift that counts

According to Consumer Reports, there's a 1 in 5 chance you'll hate a gift in your holiday haul. 44% of disappointed recipients said they "make the best" of unwanted gifts, 39% hide them somewhere out of view, 18% donate them to charity. 2% have posted pictures of the hideous gifts on the Internet so others could join in on the hilarity.  

Cost of the 12 Days of Christmas

Well, we all know the Classic Christmas song "12 Days of Christmas". What you may not know is just how expensive all of those items would be nowadays. Pretty astonishing… If it seemed generous then just take a look at the bill now!

- Partridge, $15; last year: same

- Pear tree, $189.99; last year: 169.99

- Two turtle doves, $125; last year: same

- Three French hens, $165; last year: $150

- Four calling birds (canaries),$519.96; last year: same

- Five gold rings, $750; last year:$645

- Six geese a-laying, $210; last year: $162

- Seven swans a-swimming, $7,000;last year: $6,300

- Eight maids a-milking, $58; lastyear: same

- Nine ladies dancing (per performance),$6,294; last year: same

- 10 lords a-leaping (per performance), $4,767; last year: same

- 11 pipers piping (per performance), $2,562; last year: $2,428

- 12 drummers drumming (per performance), $2,776; last year: $2,630

All coming to a grand total of… $107,000!!!

That's some Christmas Tree

A Japanese jewelry store is selling an-all gold revolving Christmas tree decorated with solid-gold Disney ornaments, including Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell and Cinderella.

The $4.2 million tree is nearly 8 feet high and made of 88 pounds of pure gold.

Ultimate Challenge

Tech writer Philip Bump of The Atlantic calculated, Kris Kringle will visit 526,085,400 kids on his Christmas Eve delivery route.  That's 22 million per hour, 365,000 minute and 6100 per second.  No wonder Santa needs all that sugar.

Oh, Oh, Oh

According to a new survey, married women are more likely to kiss someone at a  company Christmas party than married men.  48% of men say they've  kissed a married female coworker at the office party.  Only 22% of  women have kissed a married male coworker.   (Reveal.co.uk)

Here's an important reality check. 

No matter what the news says, an affair  is probably NOT going to bring down your marriage.  A new study of divorce  cases found that marriages are three-and-a-half times more likely to end over an  argument about housework, finances, or where to live, than over adultery.  (The  Telegraph) 

37% of Adults Believe in Santa?

Are there REALLY adults out there who still believe in Santa Claus?  Or  do they SAY they believe in Santa because he represents the spirit of  Christmas?  Either way, in a new survey, 37% of ADULTS say they  believe in Santa.  (Syracuse  Post-Standard)

Words to know

The Oxford Dictionary Online adds new words every three months . . . and they  just announced the batch going in for the last quarter of the year.  The  list is heavy on slang terms and technical jargon.  4G and LTE have been  added . . . they're both standards for cell phones.  And so has "deets" . .  . which is the annoying abbreviation for "details."   (Oxford  Dictionaries)

That's Some Chocolate

British scientists have developed a new melt-proof recipe for chocolate. The heat-tolerant chocolate, developed by Cadbury engineers, remains solid even when exposed to temperatures in excess of 104 degrees (40 degrees Celsius) for more than three hours.

Weird, But True News

This teen is very tired of sleeping. Nicole Delian suffers from a rare condition known as “sleeping-beauty syndrome.’’

The 17-year-old from North Fayette, Pa., once slept 64 days in a row, “waking’’ only to sleepwalk her way through meals.

There is no known cure for the disease, which afflicts only about 1,000 people around the world.

Staying Healthy Today 

Dentists hound us about it and scientists say it prevents heart disease, but an expert now says they've got it all wrong -- flossing our teeth may be a waste of time!

According to Dr. Ellie Phillips, flossing does nothing to reduce your risk of tooth decay. She has a study from 2006 to back her up that found no difference in the number of cavities suffered by adults who flossed and those who didn't.

But an independent dental hygienist says flossing does help reduce cavities and gum disease, and the reason studies don't show it is because too few people do it properly. "Properly" means to hook the floss like a 'C' around the tooth. Got it?

source

Good News Story 

A Las Vegas boy who began dedicating his birthdays to the poor when he was 6 is marking his 11th birthday by seeking his own non-profit.

Blaze Trumble, whose 11th birthday was yesterday, has been using his birthday funds for the past five years to pass out blankets and jackets to the city's homeless.

Trumble has been spending each birthday since his 6th birthday to pass out warm clothes to the less fortunate, and his mother said the family is planning to apply for a non-profit license to allow the boy to carry on his good works indefinitely.

Fannie Trumble estimated the family and their helpers have donated at least 3,000 blankets and jackets during the past five years. She said about 700 jackets and blankets were due to be given out this year alone.

Lar's Thought of the Day  

“A single day is enough to make us a little larger.”   — Paul Klee