Monday, June 30, 2008

Another Week ...

It did cool down some which was nice but they say this coming week is suppose to heat up again. Well, at least we got a little weather break and I didn't have to crank up the AC till just yesterday when it got a little toasty ... mmmm, toast.

Weekly Update:
Last Tuesday night I attended the 34th Annual Saturn Awards for my 3rd year straight. It was another night of total geekness with a hint of nerdism. This year was pretty cool in general since our table was in front of the stage, one row back instead of in the corner in the back or way off to the side. I had all kinds of interesting people surrounding us and then with the after party being at the same hotel made it way better. As always, managed to get a few snap shots with some folks:

*Garret Wang- pretty cool guy, probably best know as Harry Kim in the "Star Trek: Voyager" series.
*Dolph Lundgren- That's right, Captain Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" and he was pretty cool too.
*Jon Polito- been in so many features and shows, he is a very cool guy!
*Malcolm David Kelley- of "Lost" TV fame, bright kid.
*Lindsey Wagner- she was very pleasant.
*Ben Browder- at first he threw me off but he turned out to be a really cool guy.
*Claudia Black- pretty hot and I am sure a geek's fantasy girl.
*John Saxon- a classic and total pro character actor.
*Camden Toy- really cool and nice guy and what is funny is I was hanging out with him the Saturday before at the same birthday party I met Grand Bush and Al White.

At the movies:
The little robot that could as Wall*E takes the box office #1 spot with a decent 62.5 million opener. Action in at #2 as Wanted heats up the big screens with 51.1 mil. Holding in at #3 is "Get Smart" with an extra 20 mil. Holding in pretty good at #4 is "Kung Fu Panda" with another 11.7 mil and over the 175 mil cume mark. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Incredible Hulk" with another 9.2 mil and a size-able drop from last week but enough for it to break the 100 mil cume.

Quote of the Week:
"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."- George Carlin

Other News:
No matter if its Southern California or Northern California, fire is fire! NorCal is being hit now with a slew of fires causing dangerous health conditions throughout the bay area. With nearly 1,300 homes threatened, the fire has destroyed over 35,000 acres and 16 homes in it's path. Apparently statewide there is over 1,420 active fires burning ... I wonder if you have two small bushes burning if that counts as 2? With that many fires going at once, the clouds must be simply black and the ash everywhere.

Facts & Tips:
One in six doctors in America was trained in Philadelphia.

"The White House reception committee greeted the Prime Ribroast Minister and... I do the cha-cha like a sissy girl. I lik-a do da cha-cha. I'm sorry we seem to be having some technical difficulties. In other news..."- Steve Carell as Evan Baxter in "Bruce Almighty."

posted by McDuck @ 10:30 0 comments

Monday, June 23, 2008

HOT!! That is pretty much what is going on around here. I am not sure if we had record temperatures but it is odd how we go from nice and breezy weather (high 60's to low 70's) and then just like a flip of a light switch we are at near 100 degrees heat. In the valley it was as high as 114 on Saturday. Some funky weather changes and patterns we are having and I heard just last week places like Toronto were hit with hail storms and the Mid-West had record flooding leaving thousands homeless. What the heck is going on here??

Weekly Update:
I had a pretty cool Saturday despite the heat!! First, I visited this guy (again) who does all the sculptures for Charlie Brown and the gang that you would see at places like Knott's Berry Farm. Then from there, I attended a birthday party that was outdoors ... both stops were very very warm as temps hit close to 100 degrees in both areas. But the cool part was the birthday party I attended. It was for this guy who I have gotten to know pretty well over the past several months and consider him a friend who happens to be a publicist. At the party I got to meet my semi-friend Doug Jones again (the Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four) and then met and took some pics with:

*Grand Bush- He was a very cool guy and has a lovely wife. You may know Grand from movies like "Die Hard" as Special Agent Johnson from the FBI.
*Al White- He is just a cool "cat" as they say. For me, he was most memorable as one of the "Jive" brothers in the film "Airplane."

It was a fun time, good drink, fun eats and great company!


At the movies:
He meant to do that! Comedy back on top as Get Smart takes the crown this week with 39.2 million to open. Holding strong at #2 is "Kung Fu Panda" with another 21.7 mil and now over 155 mil cume. As "Wall*E" opens this week, I am sure that it's hold will dip drastically. Holding in at #3 but with a significant drop is "The Incredible Hulk" with another 21.6 mil and just short of the 100 mil cume. In a very disappointing #4 spot is The Love Guru with only 14 mil to open. Not good at all considering the amount of media that went behind this movie. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Happening" with 10 mil more and the last time we will see this film in the records.

Quote of the Week:
"I smoke ten to fifteen cigars a day. At my age I have to hold on to something."- George Burns

Other News:
Famed and legendary comedian George Carlin passed away on Sunday from heart failure at an Los Angeles-area hospital. I had the privilege of watching him perform live once and overall enjoyed his rough and tough observational humor. Best known for being anti-establishment in which he achieved an iconic status in the 1970's with his famous routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." Constantly battling with censorship, the country, religion and institutional ideas and ideals ... he was a rebel without a country but a strong cause. George will be missed as his passing sends a big ripple on the comedy stage ... he was 71.


Facts & Tips:
New York taxi drivers collectively speak 60 languages.

"All my brothers and brothers-in-laws tell me what a good-hearted guy I am. You don't get to be good-hearted by accident. You get kicked around long enough, you become a professor of pain."- Ernest Borgnine as Marty Pilletti in "Marty."

posted by McDuck @ 00:07 0 comments

Monday, June 16, 2008

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Sunday was Father's Day and I know all the dads in the LA (and probably Southern California) area celebrated well with the LA Lakers beating the Boston Celtics in game 5 as the teams now head back to LA for game 6. LA down 2 to 3 still have a slight chance of hope. Aside from that, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's, grand-dad's and dad's-to-be out there! Hope you had a great day and didn't get too many new ties for the collection.

Weekly Update:
So I thought I would make a minor change in the format of the blog but only a little bit. Instead of "Comment Response" which I do not get many and that is totally cool, I am going to put in a random quote. It may be pro-found, it may be thought provocative ... but in reality it will probably just be plain silly. I think that is what we are going for here when you boil it down, silly and the right to be silly. If you find a quote that is serious, then you have issues all on your own. If I happen to get a comment then I will respond to it if it warrants one but I think I will enjoy the new change and I hope you do too.

At the movies:
Big green takes the box office crown this week as The Incredible Hulk earns only 54.5 million. I say "only" because that number is not great considering the openings of "Iron Man" and other super-hero related titles as of late. I personally do not care for green ... and it looks like a lot others do not either. Holding in at #2 is "Kung Fu Panda" with an extra 34.3 mil and now over the 100 mil cume mark. New at #3 is the latest from M. Night Shyamalan titled The Happening with 30.5 mil. Not a bad number considering his popularity of late has been slightly dwindling a bit. Hanging on to #4 is "You Don't Mess with The Zohan" earning only 16.4 mil and struggling to reach the 100 mil mark. Rounding off the top 5 is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with an extra 13.5 mil and now over 275 mil cume. This film will end very strong but I think its time for it to be beamed up.

Quote of the Week:
"The language you are about to hear ... is disturbing." - Dave Chappelle

Other News:
The US President visits Europe for the last time as our current Commander-in-Chief. During his entire visit, it was riddled with protests and very poor public opinion as he met with other Presidents and dignitaries. We all know how support for the president has effected other leaderships such as England's former Prime Minister Tony Blair. I do credit Bush for his downfall and departure from his position. I wish Europe would actually keep Bush and give us one of their leaders ... sort of like a sister-city exchange program!! Why not a country-sister exchange program for the remainder of this term!! Come on, Germany, you know you want to!!

Facts & Tips:
To fix a button about to fall off, dab a little clear nail polish over the threads holding it on.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"- Peter Berg as "Pistol" Pete Deeks in "Smokin' Aces."

posted by McDuck @ 00:01 0 comments

Monday, June 09, 2008

Have you ever driven down a busy street and there are big bushy trees along the side ... then you notice the tree's leaves and branches on the side of the road have taken the shape of an "7" because of all the trucks and semi's that have driven by them. I think it is both interesting and very funny how they look with one side having the form of the trucks and the other perfectly rounded. Next time you are driving around and see trees that have their leaves and branches on the road-side and it is also a truck route, check it out.

Weekly Update:
So a few months ago, actually several years ago, I started a hobby painting miniature ships of the World War II era. Originally I did this several years ago, at least 10 and did about 6 ships of a mix between American and Japanese. The thing about that is when I first did it, I would just spray paint them one solid color and then that was it. After that, I sort of put that hobby away and kind of forgot about it till about the start of this year when it resurfaced for me. I went back and re-painted the ones I did with different grey schemes based no their country and I even painted the decks in brown along with some other painting techniques to draw out more details in the ships. I eventually mounted them on magnet bases with some waves and such and have the makings to re-create some historic battles. I think I have a total of about 31 ships from battleships, carriers to subs and from countries like the US, Japanese, Great Britain, Italy and Germany. Kind of neat if you ask me.

At the movies:
No surprise here as one of the first animated films of the summer takes the box office crown. The action of Kung Fu Panda chops in with 60 million to kick it's self into the summer. In at #2 is another action comedy of You Don't Mess With the Zohan showing up with 40 mil. Holding ground at #3 is "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with an extra 22.8 mil and a big cume of over 253 mil. Big drop to #4 and no surprise is "Sex and the City: The Movie" with another 21.3 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Strangers" with only 9.3 mil.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
Looks like the political race for the White House has been drawn as Senator Hillary Clinton has bowed out of the Presidential prospects. What started off as a strong and promising campaign, she signs out with head held high and hopefully not the end of her political future for a White House goal. Obama had a strong start as well and his momentum was filled with ups and downs while Clinton's seemed to stay steady for the most part. Was the US ready for its first female Commander-in-Chief? I think so, we are in a new era and century ... I think we are ready and she would have been the best one to lead that change. Now as Obama leads the Democratic Party into the race for the White House against an aged and "old school" Republican Party ... I think the race won't even be close. While the Dem's push for change and bringing the US back under control, the Republicans are set on keeping things the way they are such as Iraq and I believe the American people are done with all of that. If Clinton was still in the race, or Obama, either way we will see history in the making.

Facts & Tips:
Sound travels quicker in water than in air.

"You're gonna get hurt!"- Kevin Durand as Booth from "Walking Tall."

posted by McDuck @ 00:09 0 comments

Monday, June 02, 2008

I think we are slowly starting to see the summer come into season naturally rather than BAM, 102 degrees! This past week started off with some rain, lot of clouds and very cold at night. Come mid-week it was more clear and warmed up a bit but still chilly. Now as we are at the end of last week and the start of a new week it is warming up but with some really nice breezes. So if you are in the sun, it is not too bad with the wind but if you are in the shade it tends to be a bit more chilly still (I have no idea who that dog is in the picture, just thought it was a nice pic to use.)

Weekly Update:
So had some issues with my laptop last week and first it was a bad hard drive which got replaced a couple of days later after I called in the situation. Then I tried to get it all up and running again when more issues turned up and now the whole thing is on its way in for repairs. Great, one problem turned into another problem and I lost all my data. The good thing is nothing on the laptop was necessarily important but still I hate losing stuff like that as I am sure we all do. I did get a back up hard drive for stuff now but of course this is in retrospect.

At the movies:
No surprise here as the women come out in force to see and make Sex and The City #1 at the box office with 55.7 million. I feel it's a little lower than what I thought it would be but the Friday to Saturday numbers fell flat. Holding in at #2 is "Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with another 46 mil and well over 217 mil cume. New at #3 is the thriller The Strangers with 20.7 mil. Holding strong at #4 is "Iron Man" with another 14 mil and now over 276 mil cume for domestic box office. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" with an extra 13 mil and probably the last time we will see it in the top 5.

Comment Response:
None at this time.

Other News:
Last Monday, award winning director Sidney Pollack passed away after a 9-months bout with cancer, he was 73. Pollack, long time director, reached commercial acclaim with his back-to-back films "Tootsie" and "Out of Africa" as well as having such memorable acting roles like in "Michael Clayton." Pollack did end up winning the Oscar for both Best Director and Best Picture for "Out of Africa" while earning nominations for "Tootsie" in the same two categories. Another icon in the realm of TV passed away as well, Dick Martin of "Laugh-in" fame passed away last Saturday of respiratory failure. He was only 86. Both men will deeply be missed.

Also in the news, legendary comedian and actor Harvey Korman died on Thursday 4 months after an aneurysm. Korman best known for his contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show," sneaky politician in the film "Blazing Saddles," and disguise master for Inspector Clouseau in the various Pink Panther films. He was always one of my favorite improv live performing comedians and will very sorely be missed. Harvey was 81.

Facts & Tips:
Replacing your car's air filter can improve gas mileage by 10 percent.

"Look who's talking. You thought that sleeping together meant I loved you."- Molly Sims as Delinda Deline from the TV series "Las Vegas."

posted by McDuck @ 00:01 0 comments