Monday, June 28, 2010

It's heating up!! The summer must finally be here because I had to turn on the AC a couple of times during the week at home. The nights still remain cool which is nice and the full moon came out which means either the month is ending or the start of a new month is here ... or a bit of both! New moons are kind of cool because its like God changed the light bulb in the nightlight or something. They say it makes people do strange and crazy things ... don't know why, it's just bigger and brighter for maybe a week. Enjoy it!

Weekly Update:
Not much to report on this past week. I had some nice lunch gatherings with some friends and stuff but that was about it. I did visit this office for a small independent movie distribution company and it turns out it was a big house on a hill. The view was pretty amazing and the house was very cool as well. The backyard has a big pool and nice green grass ... the company owns the house and just converted into offices which is interesting. So you are basically leaving home to go to work ... in a home.

At the movies:
Not a big surprise at the box office as "Toy Story 3" takes top honors again for its 2nd week with an additional 59 million and now with a cume of over 225 mil for its first 10-days! New at the box office at #2 is the comedy Grown Ups with 41 mil for its debut. At a disappointing #3 spot is the action movie Knight and Day with a 5-day opening of only 27.8 mil. Very low number for this high budget film and pedigree cast of Cruise and Diaz. Holding in strong at #4 is "The Karate Kid" with another 15.4 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "The A-Team" with an additional 6 mil as it struggles to get to 70 cume.

Quote of the week:
"Where there is not vision, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18

Other News:
This is interesting ... a list of the 10 most expensive cities to live in the world and some of it is not surprising while other things may surprise people of what cities are not on the list. Looks like this list is based on certain cost of living amenities. Starting at #10: Zurich, Switzerland - Lunch at a restaurant: $25 average, Can of beer from the store: $2.01, dozen eggs: $5.81 and for a movie ticket: $16. At #9: Geneva, Switzerland - Food: $30, Beer: $2.02, Eggs: $7.64 and movie ticket: $16. At #8: Copenhagen, Denmark - Food: $36, Beer: $2.10, Eggs: $6.99 and movie ticket: $15. At #7: Kobe, Japan - Food: $16, Beer: $3.09, Eggs: 2.81 and movie ticket: $20. At #6: Stavanger, Norway - Food: $33, Beer: $4.76, Eggs: $6.34 and movie ticket: $15.50. At #5: Yokohama, Japan - Food: $17.39, Beer: $3.26, Eggs: $3.72 and movie ticket: $19.50. At #4: Nagoya, Japan - Food: $19, Beer: $3.08, Eggs: $3.33 and movie ticket: $20. At #3: Luanda, Angola - Food: $47, Beer: $1.62, Eggs: $4.75 and movie ticket: $13. At #2: Oslo, Norway - Food: $43, Beer: $4.71, Eggs: $6.72 and movie ticket: $16. And the #1 most expensive city in the world as of 2010 is ... Tokyo, Japan! Food: $18, Beer: $3.37, Eggs: $3.78 and movie ticket is $22. Interesting enough, New York City only ranked 29th on this list.

Facts & Tips:
The first TV network kids show in the U.S. was "Captain Kangaroo."

"Arnold's always under my feet. I'll never have any privacy until he gets married." - Todd Bridges as Willis Jackson in the TV series "Diff'rent Strokes."

Monday, June 21, 2010

Oklahoma City?! Yeah, I was there and it was HOT!!! I thought we got some heat waves here in SoCali but they have us beat!! The days I was there it was easily in the 90's each day and the evenings ... high 80's with a ton of humidity! One or two days of that is one thing but several ... I think my brain is partially melted. Well, I am back home so hopefully the brain will re solidify and maybe into something better this time!! Oh and by the way, flying in and out of Denver sucks. Here is a good joke I heard once ... why does Oklahoma have so many tornadoes? Because Texas blows and Kansas sucks!

Weekly Update:
Not much to say about this past week other than it felt both really long and then really short. I think leading up to my trip it felt long because I was anticipating it and then when I was on the trip it flew by relatively fast. I guess that happens a lot. I wish I had more time on the trip but also at the same time, I am glad to be home. It is always nice to come home to familiar surroundings and you just have everything you need from foods, to resources, to ... everything! Short trips can be fun too and I think I may do a short trip at least once a year to some place I haven't been before in the US ... why not!

At the movies:
Big numbers at the box office which are both expected and unexpected. The end of an era as the animated hit Toy Story 3 takes top honors this weekend with a hefty 109 million!! This is the unexpected gross since the previous Pixar films over the past few years have been gradually building but not to this extent. The expected part was this was easily going to be #1 at the box office. Holding good at #2 is "The Karate Kid" with another 29 mil as this re-make is now past the 100 mil cume mark! Dropping to #3 is "The A-Team" with another 13.7 mil as it struggles along this summer. Holding on to #4 is "Get Him to The Greek" with another 6.12 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "Shrek Forever After" with 5.5 mil as it now passes the 220 mil cume mark.

New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week as the Western setting anti-hero comic book turned live action film of Jonah Hex comes in at #8 with only 5 million. This film is done before it even started and is this the end for Megan Fox since none of her films outside of "Transformers" have opened?

Quote of the week:
"People only see what they are prepared to see." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Other News:
Five brands of cars that ... faded away! We saw them and they died ... in no particular order, #1: Mercury - this was a brand of the Ford Motor Company that was around for over 70 years. Originally created to offer Ford customers a premium vehicle but after so long it became weak itself. #2: Hummer - This one is from General Motors (GM) and they are actually phasing this brand out at the end of the year. With the world on a "green" attitude, this gas guzzler and space consuming vehicle will never make it. #3: Pontiac - another GM but this was an attempt at a muscle car since the late 1920's and of course, it just doesn't have any appeal anymore. #4: Saturn - yet another GM brand aimed more at affordability and customer service. The company has only been around since the mid 1980's but its future is history. #5: Oldsmobile - GM can sure crank them out as this was a mass-producing vehicle attempt but just look at the name ... first three letters are OLD!


Facts & Tips:
There are 118 ridges on the edge of a United States dime.

"It's a girl! Get away from my daughter, Dan." - Charles Robinson as Court Clerk MacIntosh 'Mac' Robinson in the TV series "Night Court."

Monday, June 14, 2010

Summer time!! It did heat up this week or got a little humid most of the week. Which is odd because we don't usually get any kind of humidity. Still warm is warm and the nights were as cool as they have been. The summer has started kind of late for SoCali, usually the heat wave starts back in May and June gets hot, July hotter and August about the same as July. I wonder if this means September will be pretty warm but then again, its always pretty warm here. We could use more ocean breezes but I am sure there are tons of those but just not strong enough by the time it reaches here.

Weekly Update:
Cough cough cough ... I still have this lingering cough and its making me tired. It has gotten better over the past couple of weeks, I just hate it and i have had it before. It just ... lingers! A lot of times it feels like there is something stuck in my throat and I try to cough to get it out but its what I call an "empty" cough where it just makes the noise but nothing happens. So I keep coughing till like the 5th one it scratches the feeling and then I am good for awhile. GO AWAY!!!! Sleeping at night is the big issue, half the night I spend doing throat clearing or coughing but then the later half I am fine. But that isn't enough sleep, half a night? I have had minor coughs for months and even this current one before for a least a month. Oh well, ride it out, I am sure it will be gone eventually. Other than that, my week has been quiet and uneventful ... just the way I like it!

At the movies:
Surprise and flash-back weekend! Remake of the timeless classic of the The Karate Kid earns a hefty 56 million this weekend and enough to make it #1 above everything else. The second one of this film is already in the works before this one was even released! New at #2 is the TV to big screen adaption of the 80's show The A-Team with only 26 mil for its debut. A decent number but should and needed to be higher for the price tag on this film was not low. Drop down to #3 is "Shrek Forever After" 15.8 mil and now past the 210 mil cume mark. Down to #4 is "Get Him to The Greek" with another 10.1 mil which is a pretty good hold number. Rounding off the top 5 is "Killers" earning another 8 mil and the last we see this film in the top 5.

Quote of the week:
"The organization of American society is an interlocking system of semi-monopolies notoriously venal, an electorate notoriously unenlightened, misled by a mass media notoriously phony." - Paul Goodman

Other News:
GOOOOOAAAALLLLLL! That's right, the 2010 World Cup Championships kicked of a few days ago in Johannesburg, Africa and with the hundreds of thousands converged there to see it in person, millions around the world sit in front of their TV's to see it live. This is the most popular sport in the world and the US is decades behind on it. I'm not a big fan of watching it on TV but I do understand why its so tremendously popular world wide and it is a true sense of being "World Cup". When you look at baseball and see The World Series ... that is such a false statement because is solely Northern America. You don't see teams from Japan or Europe and are there any teams left in Canada? Soccer (or around the world known as Football) is a tiring game to watch and play. So far, the US is still in it but not in the top spot as they managed to tie against the UK in their first game. The leaders so far are South Korea, Argentina, Slovenia, Germany and Ghana ... with many more games to go!

Facts & Tips:
You breathe in about 13 pints of air every minute.

"I'm not a snitcher; I just tell it like it is." - Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady in the TV series "The Brady Bunch."

Monday, June 07, 2010

Yesterday was June 6th ... the 66th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy Beach during World War II which, in my opinion, was the turn of the tide of the war in Europe against the Germans. I like to recognize this day each year by just popping in a great movie called "The Longest Day" with an incredible cast ranging from: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Roddy McDowell and Robert Mitchum to name a few. This film is a classic and a great war movie to watch ... I enjoy it and recommend it to anyone interested in this day in history.

Weekly Update:
Not too much went on this past week which was also a nice thing. Everything is kind of quiet for the most part and enjoying the slow down of work while it lasts. Oh I did get another call from James Hong again last Wednesday for another event (movie this time) he was going to attend however I have this lingering cough going and going to an event and seeing a movie are two different things. I don't want to be in a theatre and start coughing for a minute ... that would be very rude and annoying. So I did decline on that one but hope he does ask me again, kind of fun hanging out with him and just hearing his old stories and future projects he wants to do. Well, time will tell and on to another week!!

At the movies:

A sort of disappointing weekend at the box office as the numbers for summertime are down. Coming in at #1 in its 3rd week is "Shrek Forever After" with another 25.3 million as it gets closer to the 200 mil cume mark. New at #2 is the comedy
Get Him to The Greek with only 17.4 mil. New at #3 is the action-comedy Killers with 16.1 mil. Holding on to #4 with a slight drop is "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" with another 13.9 mil as it will clearly fall short of 100 mil for this high budget film. Rounding off the to 5 is "Sex in the City 2" with another 12.7 mil as it will also fall short of 100 mil cume for this high ticket film.

New films that did not make the top 5: We have two this week which is pretty surprising. In at #6 is the family film Marmaduke with 11.3 mil and below expectations for both summer and family. At #8 is the horror film Splice with only 7.5 mil and from the word on the street ... about were it was expected for this low buzz film.

Quote of the week:

"I know that poetry is indispensable, but to what I could not say." - Jean Cocteau

Other News:
"Thank you for bein a friend." Another "Golden Girl" has passed away, Rue McClanahan died Thursday morning from a stroke. McClanahan is probably best known as of late for her role as Southern belle Blanche Devereaux in the hit TV series "The Golden Girls". She is one of four from an ensemble cast and the third to pass away (Bea Arthur April of 2009 and Estelle Getty prior to that). McClanahan has had a history of stage acting and other various TV appearances and some movies. Her stage acting was her main claim-to-fame outside the hit TV show appearing in many off-Broadway and regional stages throughout the 1960's. A breast cancer survivor from 1997 and having a heart bypass back in 2009. Rue was 76.

Facts & Tips:
Lemons ripen after you pick them, but oranges do not.

"When I was a kid, I was the victim of the most vicious propaganda. People told me that money wasn't everything and I believed it. Then I found out that the people that were telling me that money wasn't everything were the people who had a lot of money. Now there are two ways you can get money. You can steal it, or you can marry it." - Tony Curtis as Lt. JG Nicholas Holden in "Operation Petticoat."