Duckburg Gazette

Monday, April 28, 2025

'ello!

Who turned up the cold?? We finally got some "April Showers" but just for a day. At some moments it poured rain but it was fairly short, only a couple of hours. Along with that though the cold came in and that was nice to feel but at the same time, the price of gas has skyrocketed. What used to be around $4.00 a month is now up to $98 a month. That is insane increase since January and only getting worse. What will it be like when Summer weather rolls in and more electricity will be used? But, AC vs heater, I would go heater because I can do other things to keep warm like sweats, jacket and long-sleeves. So I can reduce the amount of gas I use compared to electricity because it is harder to cool down.

Weekly Update:
I helped my neighbor get some stuff at Costco as he has some problems time-to-time driving and getting around. He needed someone to drive him so I had the day off and took him. On the way back he mentioned this British grocery store called, well... The British Grocer! I never knew it existed but he did as he's originally from the UK but immigrated to the US when he was a little boy. This store is well hidden though inside a larger building but pretty cool find. The store itself is also kind of small but it had stuff that I have only heard about but never seen. HP sauce, different kinds of biscuits, "crisps" or potato chips. In the freezer section was various pies and English toffee pudding that a couple of years ago I had to order one on Amazon. Now I can just go to this store which is not that far from me! In fact, it's on the way and back from Costco! Now, prices are a bit high but I guess everything in there is classified as an import as unlikely any of it was made in the US. But, I definitely will be going back again!

At the movies:
Holding at #1 for a 2nd week is Sinners with 45 million and well over 100 mil now. It only had a 6% drop which is unheard of and on this pace it should hit 200 mil. New this week is the re-release of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith with 25.2 mil for the 20th Anniversary of the film. A very good number but likely will drop fast after this weekend. New at #3 is The Accountant 2 with 24.5 mil and decent opening post-Spring Break but pre-Summer. Drop down to #4 is A Minecraft Movie with 22.7 mil and very close to 400 mil cume, should get there by the end of next weekend. Rounding off the top 5 is Until Dawn with 8 mil and likely to disappear after the first week in release.

Quote of the week:
"Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Facts & Tips:
The oldest living land animal on Earth is a 192-year-old tortoise named Jonathan.

"This is a black hole. It consumes matter, sucks it in, and crushes it beyond existence. When I first heard that, I thought, that's evil in its most pure. Something that drags you in, crushers you, makes you... nothing." - Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan in the TV series Luther.

Monday, April 21, 2025

bzzzzzz

I spent a good chunk of my Sunday trying to get a humming bird out of my garage. I was about to leave to do some errands when I heard this familiar base buzz inside the garage. Sure enough, it was a hummingbird. Great and it would not sit still for more than 5 seconds before going to another beam or sprinkler head. I waited about 15 minutes to see if it would fly out but nada. Figured I would let it maybe tire itself out some and try to get it later so I left. I came back about an hour later and it was still buzzing around eagerly so I grabbed my pool skimmer and ladder to try and get it. It has been getting warm so after awhile I started to sweat also, I can't look up for very long due to my neck surgery so that complicated things a little. Another hour of that, I was getting tired and it was not letting up. I almost got it out at one point but then it flew back, dang it. So, I left the garage open and went to go lay down a bit because my neck was hurting. I came back maybe another hour later and it was buzzing but a lot slower... it was finally getting tired. It almost was trying to help me help it get out and landed on the top of my pool skimmer but every time I started to lower it, it flew back up, darn it! Finally after another hour or so, it was clearly exhausted and just laid almost flat on the net part of the skimmer on the outside and I was able to get it out and on to a nearby tree. I wish I had some sugar water handy now that I thought about it but I was just glad I got the little guy back outside and hope for the best.

Weekly Update:
I recently took a trip to one of my childhood and early adult-hood stomping grounds... The Orange Circle and wow has it changed so much. I was very sad to see Felix's closed, I used to love their fried plantains. But what surprised me was Watson's Soda Fountain Cafe had closed a few years ago! I had no idea and now it's some kind of other restaurant and just not the same vibe. That place was featured in various movies back in the day including That Thing You Do as well as other spots in and around the Orange Circle, some still there, others gone. It's sad when you remember things from your past and they are no more, you kind of wish you could back to what they were but I supposed progress happens every where. Even the old Wells Fargo Bank is now a huge expresso bar and Radio Shack is Blaze Pizza.

At the movies:
New at #1 this weekend is Sinners with 45.6 million, seems appropriate for this Easter weekend! Slight drop down to #2 is A Minecraft Movie with another 41.3 mil and past the 300 mil mark while on it's way to 400 next! Drop down to #3 is The King of Kings with 17.3 mil more and likely will drop faster after this weekend. Following the dropping trend to #4 is The Amateur with 7.2 mil and will quickly fade out. Rounding off the top 5 is Warfare with 4.9 mil and also quickly fade out.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just two this week, in at #7 is Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing with 2.8 mil. The title is longer than how long this film will last! At #8 is the re-release of Pride & Prejudice with 2.7 mil and that is really just extra money for this film since it originally was released in 2005.

Quote of the week:
"Perfection is the child of time." - Joseph Hall

Facts & Tips:
Bacteria on your skin cause your itches.

"Well, the best advice I can give is that you never know who's gonna grow up to be famous, so just make yourself available." - Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin in the TV series Family Guy.

Monday, April 14, 2025

Windows open!

It's interesting how pencil erasers (or the traditional pink erasers) dry up and become completely unusable. They get hard and are kind of cringe-worthy when you touch them. But how are some eraser still useable years later and the pink ones seem to dry up within a year, two at most? You would think all erasers are made equal but I guess not. So I wonder why the ones at the end of a #2 pencil dry out so much quicker than a hand-held type of eraser... clearly they are made of different materials but why? I have so many pencils but the erasers are bad by now, I have to either use a fresher pencil eraser or get a separate eraser. It doesn't make sense and also pretty annoying that they are wasted and they way they feel!

Weekly Update:
I started sleeping with a window open and it did get very cool but not freezing cool. It was nice but does this mean Summer nights (which means days) are here? We are almost mid-April and not a drop of rain. No "April Showers" anymore? Our weather has drastically altered and not for the better. The rate we continue to go, it will get worse and worse with no way of reversing it I'm afraid. Future generations will suffer and be forced indoors for most of their lives. Kind of sad really, all the science and what has happened has told us but majority of the world never listened or just simply ignored it. The Earth was left for us to care for but we are not doing a good job or any job of it.

At the movies:
Holding at #1 for a 2nd week-in-a-row is A Minecraft Movie with another 80.6 million and now closing in at the 300 mil mark. It should reach it by sometime this week easily. New at a very distant #2 is The King of Kings with 19.1 mil and will cap off soon but will find new life in the after-market. New at #3 is The Amateur with 15 mil and will fizz out quickly. New at #4 is Warfare with only 8.3 mil and is already out before it opened. Rounding off the top 5, and new is Drop with 7.5 mil and another fast burn film.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
At #6 is The Chosen: Last Supper Part 3 with only 6 mil and just releasing for the season and will be a very fast burn out like Part 2 was (87.2% drop).

Quote of the week:
"The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money." - Thomas Jefferson

Facts & Tips:
Hippos can't swim.

Not bad for a man of 133!" - Tony Amendola as Master Bra'tac in the TV series Stargate SG-1.

Monday, April 07, 2025

SO tiny!

Have you ever wondered when you get some fried rice, it isn't really fried. You get a fried noodle dish and the noodles are fried and crispy but fried rice, generally just saturated with oil and not really crispy at all. The protein and the scrambled eggs are fried of course or have like a slight char to them but never the rice. The brownish color you see (if it's white rice) comes from the sesame and/or soy sauce that is added for flavor and cooking. So why is it fried rice when it's not really fried? I would like some char but I've tried to get it crispy myself and I wonder if sesame oil just doesn't fry unless it's high heat?

Weekly Update:
I recently discovered mini avocados at the store! I've never seen them before and I would think they are 75% seed inside so is there anything left? I didn't get any, they were kind of expensive but so is everything in general. But they were almost like a toy avocado but found out these are real and exist. Wonder why I never seen them in the store before till now? I've seen avocados that were smaller than average but these were like miniature toy-like ones! Like, what kind of tree produces these tiny things and why?? I feel like one bite and it would be gone or it would take about a dozen of them to make up one regular avocado for guacamole or spread of some kind. Hope this isn't the new trend though, smaller fruits and vegetables for the price of a regular one?

At the movies:
Another new movie taking #1 this weekend at the box office. Earning a hefty 157 million is A Minecraft Movie which exceeded all expectations. Also not being a holiday weekend of any kind, this could be a solid sign the film will carry on for awhile. Drop down to #2 is A Working Man with an extra 7.3 mil as this one continues to burn out quickly. New at #3 is another The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2 with 7 mil and will be out before it even got started. But these types of films aren't meant to make money at the box office but in the after-markets. Down to #4 is Snow White with 6.1 mil extra as it struggles to reach 100 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is The Woman in the Yard with 4.5 mil more and also quickly burning out.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week coming in at #8 is Hell of a Summer earning 1.8 mil and soon to be out before Summer is actually here.

Quote of the week:
One way to get most of life is to look upon it as an adventure." - William Feather

Facts & Tips:
Bananas are radioactive.

"Is this a super secret surprise Navy exercise? Cuz if so, they've gone way to far." - Jesse Plemons as Boatswain Mate Seaman Jimmy 'Ordy' Ord in Battleship.

Monday, March 31, 2025

This past week it sure got chilly, both the days and nights remained in the 50's for the most part and never getting above 75 at it's peak. The groundhog was right, it will be a late Winter and supposedly due for some rain early next week but we'll see if that actually happens or not. Our rain this year (compared to last year) is zero! Last year it was raining almost every day through May and now, barely a drop except maybe a couple of days. It has been a very dry year for us and that is not a good thing considering recent events of the fires and losing our reserve water supply for the Summer thanks to the idiot in the White House who knows absolutely nothing about conservation and how water supply even works... and now we will suffer this year for that incompetence. It will only get worse.

Weekly Update:
I just started watching The Rookie starring Nathan Fillion and it's a pretty solid show. Now, I am only up to season 3 and they have completed 6 seasons with news of the 7th coming this year. I do hope it makes it to the covenant 10 season benchmark though. If a standard TV shows make it to 10 seasons then that usually means it can run in syndication year-round which is a good thing. But I have had folks tell me that it jumped the shark mid-way so we'll see if it did. But it also depends on how you view the show. Right now I am watching it as a crime-action drama based on the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) where as I can see lots seeing it as an LAPD show. There will be a lot of technical things I'm sure they get dinged on but again, seeing that as a back-drop and you can't show all the procedural stuff because then it will be drawn out and basically boring. I'm enjoying and binging it now so hope it makes it to 10 or more!

At the movies:
New at #1 is A Working Man, honestly just your typical Jason Statham action film earning a fair 15.2 million and will likely be a quick burn at the box office. Big drop to #2 is Snow White with 14.2 mil and it will still struggle to get to 100 mil at this rate. New at #3 is The Chosen: Last Supper Part 1 with 11.5 mil and not bad being this close to Easter. But look for this one to do better in the after markets. New at #4 is The Woman in the Yard with 9.5 mil and another quick burn out at the box office. New at #5 is Death of a Unicorn with 5.8 mil and not that impressive at all and will also burn out of the box office quickly.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one really and not even a new film but re-release is Princess Mononoke at #6 with 4 mil and also a decent per screen average considering it only (re)released to just over 300 screens.

"Where there is great love, there are always wishes." - Willa Cather

Facts & Tips:
Snails have teeth.

"She searches for you." - Idris Elba as Heimdell in Thor.