ITS RAINING!! Ok, a very light mist drizzle but still, after the heat wave and high humidity we had two weeks ago to last week ending with cooler temps and some drizzle rain, who flipped the weather switch?! How does this weather happen all of a sudden in SoCali? Our weather can be very extreme here however it doesn't change in the course of overnight, its very (or use to be) gradual.Weekly Recap:
Earlier last week traffic coming home has been really bad. I am not sure why because on a typical Monday it would take me under an hour. For some reason it took me almost 2 1/2 hours to get home, Tuesday was 2 hours and Wednesday was almost 2. Did something get announced to only travel the freeways when I am on the road and I missed the memo? I even tried going at different times but no go. Last Thursday I left at 8pm and got home at 8:45 which also includes stopping for gas and getting a sandwhich at Subway!!
At the movies:This is a summer for the race cars! However this week's winner isn't animated as the early summer winner was. Sony's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby takes the checkered flag with a 47 million opening. Struggling in a far second spot is the Paramount animated Barnyard with 16 mil. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" continues to lead the summer box office with an additional 11 mil and a cume of 379.7 mil which now makes it the #8 All Time Highest Grosses movie just passing "Spider-Man 2" and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (#10 and # 9 respectively). By the end of this week it should take the #7 spot away from "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith". Holding on to this week's #4 slot is "Miami Vice" with 9.7 mil and rounding off the top 5 is thriller The Descent with a falling 8.8 mil. Other films that did not make the top 5 was
The Night Listener with 3.6 mil however it was only released in 1300 locations so semi-limited.Q & A:None at this time.Other News:Fidel Castro (at 80) had some surgery last week from internal bleeding. In the meantime as he recovers, he gave temporary power to his younger brother. His younger brother is 75 and is considered more radical than Fidel ... how will this play out? Hundreds of people in Little Havana in Florida hit the streets celebrating when they heard the news of Fidel but is this pre-celebrating to something worse to come? Time will tell of course and I know nothing of the younger brother other than he is part of Fidel's current administration and was part of the coup that put Fidel in power.Tips & Facts:
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln grew a beard at the suggestion of an 11 year-old girl."No more conning! No more! If you're gonna be my wife, you're gonna live a respectable life, chopping cars!"- Ray Liotta as Dean Cumanno in "Heartbreakers"
Summertime BBQ ... or anytime BBQ, its all good!
So last year and the year before that, I use to visit the Fox lot over the summer every friday because they had a BBQ going on and it was great! There was the standard fare of hotdogs, hamburgers and then every week the third meat would change. It could be carne asada one week and then chicken another, once it was fried fish which went great as a fish taco. Now that I actually work on the lot, they change the rules and have it once every two weeks!!! What's the deal here?!?! So now I can't enjoy a great BBQ every Friday and sometimes when they do have it, chances have not been favorable and I have missed at least 2 BBQ's due to lunch meetings ... so sad, very bummed (photo above is not the lot bbq).
Weekly Recap:I went to another collector's convention type thing for Hollywood memorabilia ... its a nice geek-fest to attend and they have them about 3 to 4 times a year. Various B to D list celebrities, some repeats but mostly different and/or new. It sure does vary a lot in genres of entertainment too. From TV to movie, soap opera to wrestling, horror to sci-fi ... it's quiet a collection, almost a must see. I was able to snap some shots with:
Debbie Reynods- (Singin in the Rain) CLASSIC!
Bruce Boxleitner- (Tron, Babylon 5) very cool!
Cindy Morgan- (Tron) very nice!
Linda Blair- (Exorcist) great person!
Ray Park- (Darth Maul, Toad from X-Men) Extremely nice guy
Daniel Logan- (Boba Fett from Episode II) Nice kid
Marc Singer- (V tv mini-series and Beastmaster) Very friendly
Richard Herd- (V tv mini-series) Very nice
Fred Dryer- (Hunter tv series) Tall and nice!
Stephanie Kramer- (Hunter tv series) very sweet
Steven Williams- (21 Jumpstreet) very cool!
Terry Kiser- (Weekend at Bernie's) Still ALIVE, haha
Herb Jefferson Jr- (Boomer on Battlestar Galactica original series) Nice
Kevin McCarthy- (many credits) sweet man
Ken Osmond- (Eddie Haskel from Leave it to Beaver) cool guy
At the movies:
No surprised that "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" takes first in its second week of release digging up another 62.2 million with a 10-day total of over 255 mil. Debuting in the #2 spot is Sony's
Little Man with a sizeable 21.7 mil. Crowding its way to the #3 spot is
You, Me and Dupree squeezing in 21.3 mil. Still flying high is "Superman Returns" in the #4 spot with an additional 11.6 mil and rounding off the top 5 is "The Devil Wears Prada" with an extra 10.5 mil.
Q & A:None at this time.
Other News:
Can no one get along in the Middle East? Talk about an all out war going on between Israel and Beirut. Granted Beirut has been a hotbed of activity for so long and now its full scale bombings, artillery and missles ... yet when I watch the news there seems to be next to nothing on coverage. I thought Hezbollah was considered one of the top 10 terrorist organizations out there but I am not certain how high on the list it is. Again the US sits on the sidelines, probably working on sanctions when this and South Korea are VERY visible and openly bigger threats than Iraq was at its peak! But, this is coming from a president who hasn't a clue that a microphone would be on during a MEDIA/PRESS event and swears on air to Tony Blair (not AT him mind you).
Facts & Tips:Mt. Katahdin in Maine is the 1st place in the US to get sunlight each morning.
"If you're gonna steal from Terry Benedict, you'd better goddamn know. This sort of thing used to be civilized. You'd hit a guy, he'd whack you, done. But with Benedict... at the end of this, he'd better not know you're involved, not know your names, or think you're dead. Because he'll kill you, and then he'll go to work on you."- Elliot Gould as Reuben Tishkoff in "Ocean's Eleven
And the rockets red glare ...
4th of July last Tuesday and it was a quiet one for me. I played on the computer, did some odds and ends around the house and then went grocery shopping. I do enjoy time off once and awhile. The highlight of it all was sleeping in! But I do remember how I got these liberties (well, not so much remember as I wasn't there but more appreciation and
rememberance). So I wish a safe journey home to all the troops abroad in harms way and say "THANKS" to those in the past and present who ensured our countries freedoms. Picture on the left is a painting of the attack on Bunker Hill in 1775.
Weekly Recap:Last Tuesday night my friend's warehouse burned down due to fireworks (currently the reported cause). Luckily it was late evening and no one was working that day but its still a very sad thing. Its all fun and games till someone gets hurt or something gets damaged (or destroyed in this case). What is also sad is the place had years and years of movie history in there from probably 20 to 25 years (if not longer).
I decided to change the format of the blog text wise. Going with the normal size and font defaults because when I change it, there always seems to be some problem. At first I was just having general problems but that was due to Internet Explorer. MOST of the issues resolved when I switched to working on the blog on Mozilla Firefox. But as I go and change certain things ... some issues still arise. So, lets see how this works now.
At the movies:I am sure Disney is thrilled this Monday ... opening day for
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was just over 50 million and a total weekend cume of about 131 million. The film set many box office records (including highest opening day and highest 2-day gross). No other main stream movies opened against it ... which is smart because it would look rather embarrasing I would imagine. The #2 spot goes to "Superman Returns" flying in with another 21.9 which is a nice 2nd week number for the man of steel. Holding by a strap is "The Devil Wears Prada" at #3 fitting in another 15.6 mil which is a strong number as well. "Click" manages to stay in-tune for 12 more mil and rounding off the top 5 is "Cars" speeding in with another 10.3 million. A little indie film from WIP (Warner Bros Indepedant) titled
A Scanner Darkly opened this weekend in about 17 locations bringing in a nice per screen average of about 24k each. That is above the average line although not the highest.
Q & A:Not really a Q/A but a comment left about the penny ... I think it makes the arguement and the appeal of an electronic banking (or cashless) society more desirable and practical.
Other News:
North Korea launched 7 missiles which all fizzled out and crashed into the Sea of Japan. The US knew this program has been in the works for so long yet we are not reacting to it till they are at the stage of test firing. What gets me is they say the missiles were fired toward Hawaii ... and? They have to point them somewhere and the direction of the Sea of Japan and Hawaii are the same yet they say they were aimed at Hawaii ... serioulsy people ... Hey I just threw a rock out my window and I hit this tree 10 feet away BUT the tragectory was the same as the Getty Museum 10 miles away, I was aiming for the Getty Museum!! I CONFESS! In all seriousiness, Kim Jong Il is a nut case ... in my opinion he is more pyschotic than Saddam was and he keeps his people in poverty. Also Kim is reported (and doesn't hide the fact) he has WMD's ... and yet he still sits in power while Iraq is in ruins ... go figure. Can you spot North Korea in this satellite image taken at night?
Facts & Tips:
A queen bee can lay 800-1500 eggs per day.
"It costs nearly a billion dollars just to turn the lights on around here."- Don S. Davis as General George S. Hammond in the TV series "Stargate SG-1"
At the movies:
