Monday, July 30, 2007

There is this squirrel at work that runs around and has no fear of people ... in fact some people change their walking direction to avoid the little guy, I think that is funny. I walked into my building when the squirrel stopped 10 feet outside the door, I think he/she wanted to come in to get out of the heat.

Weekly Update:
Well this past week was pretty exhausting for me but I manage to squeeze in some fun stuff. On Thursday went to an annual event hosted by Ultrastar Cinema's primarily located in the San Diego, CA area. It was a day at the races at Del Mar Racetrack which is a nice place. The heat was high but some ocean breezes helped out some. I didn't do any betting this time around but just relaxed.

After the races, then headed to the Orange County Fair for some Dippin Dots and Funnel Cake ... good stuff! This has become an annual tradition now for at least 3 years. Can't break the tradition! Who will eat the dots and cake?!!?

At the movies:
DO'H ... or dough!? No surprise here as The Simpsons Movie hauls in a nice 71.9 million for its debut. After 18+ years in the making, a big splash on the big screen! Holding at #2 is "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" with an extra 19 mil. Also holding at #3 is "Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix" with 17.1 mil and now over the 240 mil cume mark. Super Hold formula at #4 is "Hairspray" with 15.6 mil and it looks like this little musical number may break the 100 mil milestone. New at #5 is the romantic comedy No Reservations with only 11.8 mil, I guess the reservation got canceled.

New movies that did not make the top 5: Couple of doozies here. First one up in at #9 is the suspense thriller I Know Who Killed Me with only 3.4 mil to its name. This Lindsay Lohan serious-side vehicle just couldn't get out of the garage. In at #10 is the urban comedy Who's Your Caddy with only 2.9 million ... way to go MGM!

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
One of my all time favorite actors/comedians surprised about 75 guests on Saturday with a wedding. Steve Martin had friends over to what they thought was a big party and in fact it turned to be his wedding. This is the second marriage for Steve Martin and the first for his new wife Mrs. Martin (haha, Anne Stringfield- writer and former staffer for The New Yorker).

Facts & Tips:
Today's "modern" wrestling moves have been seen in tomb drawings from ancient Egypt.

"Look! I have one job on this lousy ship, it's *stupid*, but I'm gonna do it! Okay?"- Sigourney Weaver as Gwen DeMarco in "Galaxy Quest."

posted by McDuck @ 10:45 0 comments

Monday, July 23, 2007

Heat picking up a bit but not too bad yet. This week the temps warmed up a bit but being near the coast helped keep it reasonable, I think. Which on last Monday was good because I did a walking tour of my work for the first time ... interesting stuff. Now I will have more fun facts to offer mixed with my fake facts when I give a tour at work!

Weekly Update:
Another semi-busy week with a couple of events I attended. On Wednesday I went to the premiere party for Who Wants to be a Superhero season 2. It was kind of an odd evening held in this little night club and I would have thought they would show the first episode but noooo. Handful of folks from season 1 and this new season were there ... in costume.

THEN, on Thursday I ended up attending an art show for The Simpsons at this very cool art gallery called The Wonderful World Art Gallery hosted by Fred Willard and Joe "Fat Tony" Mantegna. It was a very cool event with tons of awesome animation art from "The Simpsons", "Family Guy", and some Dr. Seuss original art.

At the movies:
This is a bit of a shocker as I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry take the box office crown with 34.8 million. Looks like the Harry Potter fans skipped this weekend to read the new book. In at #2 is "Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix" with 32.2 mil and now over 205 mil cume. New at #3 is the remake Hairspray with a decent 27.8 mil at the box office. Holding at #4 is "Transformers" with another 20.5 mil and well over 260 mil cume with still some legs on it. Rounding off the top 5 is "Ratatouille" with 11 mil more and now struggling to bench mark 200 mil but may fall short.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
The city of Dubai is constructing what will be the tallest skyscraper to-date. Plans for it to reach 1,680 feet mark and it is still under construction. This will surpass the current record holder which is Taiwan's Taipei 101 which holds at 1,667 feet since 2004. The tower in Dubai is expected to be completed by end of 2008. Amazing when you compare it to the likes of New York's Empire State (1,250 feet) and Chicago's Sears Tower (1,451 feet). But those are tiny as taller buildings are found outside the US such as Malaysia's Petronas Towers at 1,483 feet.

Facts & Tips:
The legs of bats are too weak to support their weight, so they hang upside down.

"Felicity Shagwell, CIA. Shagwell by name, shag-very-well by reputation."- Heather Graham as Felicity Shagwell in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

posted by McDuck @ 00:01 0 comments

Monday, July 16, 2007

Summer heat broke this week so it was sunny and remained in the high 70's with breezes ... nice! Although toward the end of the week it warmed up a little bit but not too crazy like the previous week. I do remember August last year having some insane temps ... hope they stay away this year!!

Weekly Update:
On Thursday I attended the premiere for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry at the Universal Gibson Amphitheatre. It was a fun and cute movie and I would see it again. Should do fairly well when it comes out but not a huge box office summer hit though. Also got some snaps with some folks:

*Kevin James- very cool guy.
*Ving Rhames- EXTREMELY cool and friendly guy, amazing range as well.
*Allen Covert- one of the nicest guys you can meet.
*Joel Moore- nice guy.
*Peter Dante- also a very cool guy.
*Nick Swardson- laid back cool guy.
*Seth Green- pretty nice.
*Demi Moore- AMAZING.
*Emma Stone- very charming.
*Dennis Dugan- pretty nice guy.
*Justin Long- such a nice guy, makes me want to buy a mac!
*Ian Ziering- so so guy.

I also met but no pics:

*Adam Sandler- so so guy, wasn't the nicest.
*Jessica Biel- very nice but was in a rush to get out of the crowds.

This is also cool (to me), went to the famous Hollywood Bowl to hear the music of the legendary John Williams. The night was perfect, music was awesome and most importantly of all ... John is one of the kindest people you could ever meet!! I was fortunate enough to go backstage prior to the start of the show and meet him ... amazing!

At the movies:
No surprise here as the 5th installment of JK Rowlings Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix takes the box office crown with 77.4 million for the weekend and 140 mil for the 5-day (Wednesday opening). Holding at #2 is "Transformers" with an extra 36 mil and a cume well over 222 mil now. Steady at #3 is "Ratatouille" with another 18 mil. Showing up at #4 is "Live Free or Die Hard" with 10.9 mil and now breaking the 100 mil cume mark. Rounding off the top #5 is "License to Wed" with 7.4 mil.

New movies that did not make the top 5: Only one made this list, Captivity in at #12 with a semi-wide release and coming in with only 1.6 mil.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
Former First Lady Bird Johnson passed away last Wednesday in her Austin, TX home. She was 94 and died of natural causes. Her husband and former President Lyndon B. Johnson passed away back in 1973. She will be greatly missed yet she lived an incredible life while leaving a tremendous legacy.

Facts & Tips:
Blackboard chalk contains no chalk.

"It's about fairness, Curtis. It's about people paying their dues. Isn't that what you keep telling me? "Get in line, Effie. Wait your turn". So why am I sitting here without so much as a B-side on a 45, when an amateur like Martin Luther King Jr. gets his own freaking album? I mean, can he even sing?"- Jennifer Hudson as Effie Melody White in "Dreamgirls."

posted by McDuck @ 00:55 0 comments

Monday, July 09, 2007

HOT!!! I think that sums up the week pretty well. It was a heat wave last week, I heard in Vegas it was 123 degrees one day, fry that brain up! Well from here where can it go?? I am hoping this was the peak but guessing its not.

Weekly Update:
Pretty easy week for me, nothing too exciting and on the 4th I pretty much stayed in and rested. I have been having problems just resting in general so I take all that I can get. It was nice of work to give us Thursday and Friday off on top of Wednesday ... I like these weeks! Its just a nice break-up from the 5-day work week for 4 weeks in a row. One 3-day week mixed in there just makes it ... nicer.

At the movies:
More than meets the eye as Transformers takes the box office crown this week with a big weekend opening of 67.6 and a 5+ day cume of 152.5 million (Wednesday opening). Holding in at #2 is "Ratatouille" with 29 mil more, not bad for just a 38% drop from the previous week and now has made over 109 mil cume. Also holding in at #3 is "Live Free or Die Hard" with 17.4 mil and slowly running low on bullets. New at #4 is the romantic comedy License to Wed with only 10.4 mil and a 5-day of 17.8 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "Evan Almighty" with an additional 8.1 mil and praying its way to try and reach the 100 mil cume before its done.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
The new Seven Wonders (human-built) of the World were announced recently and topping the list is The Great Wall of China. The others include: Petra in Jordan, Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer, Peru's Machu Picchu, Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid, The Colosseum in Rome, and India's Taj Mahal. More than 90 million votes had been cast to comprise this list. Some of the contenders for the list were: Britain's Stonehenge, Australia's Sydney Opera House, The US Statue of Liberty (although French built), and France's Eiffel Tower. To be considered for this competition, all structures had to be built or discovered before 2000. Although the Pyramids of Giza in Eqypt did not make the list and are considered one of the seven ancien wonders, Eqypt still objected and the Pyramids are been given honoray status on the new list.

Facts & Tips:
The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.

"We have two passes to be witnesses at an execution. I know we all want these, so we're gonna do this the way we generally handle these things and we're gonna have a scavenger hunt."- Thomas Lennon as Lt. Jim Dangle from the TV series "Reno 911!"

posted by McDuck @ 10:35 0 comments

Monday, July 02, 2007

Summer heat but the AC is finally working in the office! Just in time too because it was really starting to heat up this past week and its just the beginning! This coming week looks like we will be about 10 degrees warmer than the previous too.

Weekly Update:
This was fun, last Wednesday went to an Angel game and took some friends. The seats were great, only one section from the field and in the shade so it was perfect for that sunny day! Unfortunately the Angels lost to the KC Royals 0-1, so it was a good game but real bummer they lost. Both teams did really well defensively and there was 2 great scoring opportunities for the Angels but couldn't convert the hits to runs in. Despite losing the series 0-3 against the Royals, the Angels still maintain one of their best records in history so far.

At the movies:
The mouse's mouse takes the box office crown this weekend as Disney Pixar's Ratatouille pops in with an expected 47.2 million. No doubt this kitchen will be cooking up some business weeks to come. In at #2 opening on a Wednesday is Live Free or Die Hard as this 4th installment brings in a 5-day total of 48.2 mil and a weekend total of 33.2 mil. Holding in at #3 is "Evan Almighty" with an extra 15 mil but I think this boat is about ready for moth ball. Also holding in at #4 is "1408" with an additional 10.6 mil suffering only a 49% drop from last week, not too shabby. Rounding off the top 5 is "Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer" coasting in with another 9 mil making a cume of over 114 mil to-date.

New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week in semi-wide release is Evening with only 3.5 mil, I guess its lights out for this night.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
As we prepare to celebrate 4th of July and hopefully remember the general meaning behind it, US troops end June with 99 killed. The past 3 months saw 329 US troops killed which makes it the deadliest quarter since March of 2003. This surpasses a previous record of 316 killed between 11/04 thru 1/05. You can probably multiply that number by 4 to get a rough count of Iraqi police and civilians killed for a more complete picture. I have a feeling July 4th will be pretty bad over there which is sad as we enjoy our BBQ's and fireworks ... hopefully folks will take a short moment to just thank them and remember.

Facts & Tips:
Beavers can hold their breath for 45 minutes.

"Love is an ugly, terrible business practiced by fools. It'll trample your heart and leave you bleeding on the floor. And what does it really get you in the end? Nothing but a few incredible memories that you can't ever shake. The truth is there's gonna be other girls out there. I mean, I hope, but I'm never gonna get another first love. That one's always gonna be her."- Josh Hutcherson as the 11 year-old Gabe from "Little Manhattan."

posted by McDuck @ 00:01 0 comments