HOLIDAY EDITION!
Its Christmas today so happy holidays to all of any and all faiths. If you celebrate this day or not, it doesn't matter. Joy, Peace and Safety to you and your family!! This is a good day to just relax, reflect maybe and wish good things to all. Ideally it would be great if this trend could catch on.Weekly Update:I must have been really tired toward the end of the week. The other night I was watching TV and I actually fell asleep!! That never happens to me ... so this past weekend and the coming week is all about sleep!! What is nice about work is I only have to work one day, we are all taking turns coming into the office and covering the phones. We do have to check from home our e-mail and messages but that is nothing.At the movies:
Looks like comedy takes the box office crown with Ben Stiller in A Night At The Museum with a big four day gross of 43 million. This laugher not only entertains but educates! Hanging on to the #2 spot is the heart-warming "Pursuit of Happyness" with an extra 19 mil for the 4-day forecast. New at #3 is the "not-waiting for" FIFTH sequel Rocky Balboa with 26 mil. The Rocky number may appear to be decent, this is actually a 6-day gross since the movie opened on a Wednesday. The number itself is "ok" however the per screen average of $5k would indicate otherwise. If it stays in the top 5 next week then MGM might actually have a semi-winner for a change ... if not, well ... In at #4 is the suspense drama The Good Shepherd with 13.9 mil which is NOT a good number for a 4-day box office. Rounding off the top 5 is "Charlotte's Web" with an additional 9.7 mil and a cume of 28.5, looks like its time to eat the pig.Other new movies that did not make the top 5: WB continues to impress with its growing list of box office misses and we add another to the recent list. The depressing drama based on a true story, We Are Marshall with only 9.4 mil. Personally, people do not go to the movies to be depressed during this time of year, why release it now?Comment Response:Most of the best food list is from San Francisco actually but yeah, come on out to LA! There are a ton of cool places to check out and have some good eats.
Other News:"It feels good ..." The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, died this morning at the age of 73. His music was unique and seat-jumping for me and he will be missed. He was hospitalized with pneumonia Sunday which lead to heart failure the following day. The legendary music icon who influenced SO many, his passing will leave a gap and ripple in the music community.Facts & Tips:
In 1634, tulip bulbs were a form of currency in Holland."Baking a cake is a lot like friendship. You put a lot of work into it, and sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you thought it would, but it still tastes good."- Erik von Detten as Andy 'Brink' Brinker in the TV movie "Brink!"
What a week this has been ... lets recap shall we? It started on Monday ...Monday- lunch meeting with a dinner meeting.
Tuesday- wow, JUST a lunch meeting!Wednesday night- Fox lot holiday party, FIVE In-n-Out trucks!!Thursday- Variety "Heart of Show Business" Award Luncheon and a Team Fox holiday dinner partyFriday- Morning meetings through lunch and then more meetings right afterSaturday- Early morning went to the Variety Boys & Girls Club to hand out holiday gifts to 1031 kids ... great timeIts been a really fun and full week, I'm tired.Weekly Update:I thought I would do a "Tony's 2006 Best of ..." of some various and even odd things. This may be beyond 2006 but thought it would be a good annual list. I might continue this list before the year is over but this is what I have so far:*Best Pastrami "dip"- The Hat in Southern California: hands down the best pastrami sandwhich I ever had.*Best Burrito- Gordo's Taqueria in San Francisco: Be hungry, these suckers are huge and oh so good!*Best Quesadilla- Gordo's Taqueria in San Francisco: This beats their burrito and its just as big, I highly recommend the Carne Asada.*Best Cupcakes- Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills: Incredible however expensive but I will gladly take them as a gift.*Best Napoleon pastry- Dianda's Italian American Pastry Co. in San Francisco: Getting them early is the best but they last for days in the fridge.*Best BBQ Ribs- Blue's City Cafe in Memphis: Fall off the bone ribs, AWESOME!!!*Best Lettuce Wraps- PF Chang's: This can be the main course for me!*Best Customer Service- Lexus of Mission Viejo: Amazed for a car dealership.
At the movies:Drama at the box office, seriously! Will Smith earns the box office crown this weekend with his heart-warming film The Pursuit of Happyness with 27 million. A little low for this time of year but enough to take the box office #1 spot. Right behind it is the new action adventure film Eragon with only 23.5 mil, enough for #2 and a so-so number. Will that number be enough for the film's sequel to be made? Time will tell ... In at #3 is the children's classic re-telling of Charlotte's Web with a VERY disappointing 12 mil. With the number of screens out there and the huge cast involved, this should have easily hit 30 but I guess something about it didn't take. Checking in at #4 is the dancing toons with another 8.5 mil for "Happy Feet" and a cume of 149 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Holiday" with another 8.2 mil for the weekend.
Comment Response:
None at this time
Other news:
Sad news from last Tueday when legendary actor Peter Boyle passed away at the age of 71 from multiple myeloma and heart disease. He was best known for the crabby father in "Everybody Loves Raymond" but my favorite was playing the monster in Young Frankenstein with the song and dance routine. Hollywood has lost a great one and he will be missed.
Facts & Tips:
Elephants are capable of swimming 20 miles a day
"This is the earth. And this is Pinky. You can tell the difference quite easily. One is a lump of inert matter hurtling blindly through the void. The other... is the earth."- Maurice LaMarche as The Brain from the TV Series "Pinky and the Brain"
Is 2006 going to be another summer winter? Its not that its hot but with no clouds, the sun hitting you, its pretty dang warm. All week its been sun sun sun, day time temps of 70 to 80 and night around 50 degrees. I know its SoCali but last year it was like this and I want some rain!! I guess its the theory of global warming come true ... why didn't we listen to you Al Gore!Weekly Update:This is interesting, last Wednesday night I went to the JTN Vision Award and got to meet some cool people:Rita Rudner- Very funny lady and MC of the night.Mandy Patinkin- Awesome guy and also a nice signing voice!Boyz II Men- well only 3 of the 4 members and they sounded great as they sung 3 songs that evening.Thursday was another interesting night, I ended up going to two different parties but didn't plan on it. Fox Publicity had their holiday party, dead and boring. Good to see the peeps but it was "not happening" there. Then went to the Searchlight party and wow, that was awesome!! Great food, company and dancing (not that I did any but it as fun to see it going on). I'm pooped!At the movies:
Mel Gibson takes the box office lead with this newest film Apocalypto with a winter season low of 14.2 mil. The number itself is ok but consider the season its in, it should have been higher but still taking #1. At #2 is the "chick flick" The Holiday with only 13.5 mil. Word-of-mouth is good on the film so hopefully it will carry it longer. Holding good ground at #3 is "Happy Feet" with an additional 12.7 mil and a cume of over 137 mil. Also holding right behind it since they both opened is "Casino Royale" with another 8.8 mil, a bigger drop than the penguins but now a total cume of over 128 mil. New at #5 is the drama Blood Diamond with only 8.5 mil.
New movies that did not make the top 5 is Unaccompanied Minors with only 6.2 mil but enough to take #6.Comment Response:The life span of that fly is till it gets zapped, swated or gas'd!Other News:
"To the mooon Alice!" Nasa announced plans to making additional trips to the moon in hopes of establishing an international base. That is very cool and I am sure the first thought on everyone's mind is "how much?" Well the cost is "WHO CARES!" because we need to start exploring as the world gets smaller. We could start much later than not but why? If you have the means to develop and improve, then get started. If man didn't land on the moon in the 1960's and waited till now, we would now be over 40 years behind and I'm sure that would cause ripple type effects on the advancement delays. I say aim high to the stars, we are in space, the moon next!
Facts & Tips:About 18% of animal owners share their beds with their pets."I don't know what beef is between you, but you'd better grill it up and eat it, because it is my ass that is on the line."- Orlando Jones as Dr. Lee in "Drumline"
The holiday is upon us, it really is. Christmas lights are up everyone now but I like them. I am not a big fan of lawn decorations in excess though. Nativity scene's and the big puffy lawn stuff is just too much. I also think the icicle light are very cool but I have also seen those done badly were the strands are all tied together ... what is the point then? Maybe they just don't understand the concept of lighted icicles I guess.Weekly Update:In keeping with the lights, I put up the outside house lights for the holidays. Took about an hour which is a pretty good time. A few years ago I put hooks and just left them up, painted the visible hooks white to match the house color ... worked out pretty well. The hardest part is trying to find the right combination of light string lengths so I can best make it all fit and get to the plug central without it all having it too bunched up. Other than putting up lights, this past week was pretty slow for the most part.
At the movies:The dancing continues for the 3rd week in a row that "Happy Feet" takes the box office crown at #1 again with 17 more million and a cume of over 121. At #2 still remains the famed British agent 007 with "Casino Royale" with an additional 15.1 mil and now a cume over 115 mil! Holding at #3 is "Deja Vu" with 11 mil extra. New at #4 is another version of the baby Jesus in The Nativity Story with a weak 8 mil opening. Rounding off the top 5 is "Deck the Halls" with an additional 6.7 mil more.New movies that did not make the top 5 this week include the first Fox Atomic movie Turistas which only had a grand opening of 3.5 mil, not a good number for a new division from Fox taking the #8 spot this weekend. At #10 is the sequel to a so-so comedy Van Wilder Deux: The Rise of Taj with a VERY low 2.3 mil, barely making the top 10 at all. The new MGM continues to wow the box office with its under performing movies ... way to go!
Comment Response:
You know I did not research the letter thing ... I normally don't just to keep the facts simple but if one comes back completely erroneous then I will go seek the truth!! Its out there!
Other News:
The holidays are fast approaching and this is where we see a lot of neat, new and hi-tech gadgets. I have to think most of these are for "him" but I am sure there are some cool things the ladies would like. So of the favorites I have seen: Wooden War Engines for the office. Seriously, wage war with your co-workers ... victory is
definite if you are the only one with the weapons too! Or how about modern warfare with USB Missile Launcher, then they really wont' know what hit them! Here is a cool space saver with the Bluetooth Virtual Virtual Keyboard, I wonder how well this item works though. There are many more cool do-hickeys (yes, that is an actual word ... I just wrote down) out there, you can check them out at Think Geek for more fun!!
Facts & Tips:
The average speed of a house fly is 4.5 miles an hour.
"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar."- Drew Carey as Drew Carey from the TV Show "The Drew Carey Show"
HOLIDAY EDITION!
Its Christmas today so happy holidays to all of any and all faiths. If you celebrate this day or not, it doesn't matter. Joy, Peace and Safety to you and your family!! This is a good day to just relax, reflect maybe and wish good things to all. Ideally it would be great if this trend could catch on.
Other News:
