Starting to warm up a bit ... but the evenings still remain cold but I like that. Last year, the summer here was unusually cool with maybe 5 days of record breaking heat. So far, we haven't had a really hot day but very cool days especially in the shade which is just perfect. I do hope the rest of the summer stays like this but I am sure it will get hot. At least it wasn't crazy humid like it was in Kansas City because that was just ridiculous! I don't know how people can live outside like that, I would be running the AC all the time! So, go find some shade and relax.Weekly Update:So this past week was VERY busy yet mellow at the same time. How can it be both? Well easy, I didn't have to drive all over town but I just had a lot of busy work at my desk and computer. That is one the reasons I hate travelling in general because if the purpose of the trip doesn't help the day-to-day stuff, I feel so backed up when I return. On the flip side though, if the travel is in relation to what is going work-wise then that is fine because when I do come back, not behind on anything. I would say 75% of the trips I have had to go in the past few years ... not necessary! Well, so many things in this world do not make sense ... I suppose this is one of them.At the movies:
No surprise for the weekend with the Disney/Pixar machine going and taking the crown this weekend with Cars 2 being #1 earning a nice 68 million. Coming in at #2 above expectation is the new raunchy R-Rated comedy Bad Teacher with 31 mil for its debut. Big drop to #3 is "Green Lantern" with an additional 18.4 mil, a 65% drop from its opening weekend and no new super-hero movie to be the cause for it. Slight drop to #4 is "Super 8" with another 12.1 mil as it comes close to the 100 mil cume mark and could be this Summer's sleeper hit. Rounding off the top 5 with a modest drop is "Mr. Popper's Penguins" earning another 10.3 mil.Quote of the week:"I like men who have a future and women who have a past." - Oscar Wilde
Other News:"Let me tell you a storybook story ..." this past Thursday, veteran actor Peter Falk passed away who was in one of my favorite movies, "The Princess Bride" as the grandfather coming to tell a story to his sick grandson. Falk was best known by many for his portrayal of lazy-eyed homicide police detective Columbo in the series titled the same in the 1970's. Falk has had a career that spanned movie, TV and stage where he has won several Emmy's, a Tony Award and two Oscar Nominations for his roles in the 1960 film "Murder, Inc." and in 1961 for "Pocketful of Miracles." Over the past few years, Falk was suffering from advanced dementia believed to from Alzheimer's disease. No doubt his two biggest contributions and memorable roles were from "Columbo" and "The Princess Bride" which back in 2009 he couldn't remember or recall playing Columbo. Peter passed away in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 83.Facts & Tips:
Broccoli is the only vegetable that is also a flower."It's a good thing the ground was here to break our fall." - Bill Dana as Bobo in "I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?"
Father's Day EditionYesterday was Father's Day, hope all the Dad's out there and soon to be Dad's had a terrific day. Probably a lot of ties given out, maybe some BBQ's ... interesting enough there are really no big sports events going on like a championship around Father's Day. One would think they would plan on that to give the Dad's a day to watch what they want and not be fighting for it. Well, who knows how that worked out.Weekly Update:
Not to bad of a week, just very busy! I did have an interesting and fun time on Friday night though. I attended this Asian Theatre play at the East West Players Theatre in downtown LA called "Krunk Fu Battle Battle," yes, that was the title. Not so much Fu and next to none krunk-style dancing ... I don't think they know what "krunk" means because it was more hip-hop and break'n style of dancing. But essentially it was a musical with street dancing, singing and a storyline similar to that of "Karate Kid" meets a little "West Side Story" mix in some "Grease." The dancing was above average which is what I wanted to see, the raps were pretty good and the acting impressive. All the cast pretty much were doing all three throughout the play so I have to give them credit on a good job. Before and after the play I hung out a place right around the corner called Far Bar which is a very cool bar/restaurant that I wouldn't mind checking out again.
At the movies:The hero takes the box office crown this week as expected. In at #1 is the Green Lantern with 52.7 million for its debut. I think this fell right were expected but will it have the summer legs as most hero movies have had? Slight drop to #2 is "Super 8" with another 21.3 mil as it draws closer to 100 mil. New at #3 is the chilly animal comedy of Mr. Popper's Penquins with 18.2 mil. Average drop to #4 is "X-Men: First Class" with 11.5 mil more. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Hangover 2" with 9.6 mil as it makes its way to 250 mil cume.Quote of the week:"Just give me the chance to choke." - Fuzzy ZoellerOther News:
Top 10 Worst Blockbusters in recent history ... ok, this list is about the top 10 worst movies that were HUGE blockbuster hits at the box office ... let's see if I agree with it. In at #10 - The Day After Tomorrow (2004): I agree this movie wasn't that great but natural disasters seem to sell with amazing special effects. #9 - Armageddon (1998): Classic Michael Bay bad with an all-star cast and simply terrible acting, waste of a lot of talent. #8 - Waterworld (1995): This should have been higher up on the list!! Talk about long and boring ... classic Kevin Costner! #7 - Battlefield Earth (2000): This should be #1 on this list!!! From terrible acting, writing and special effects, this movie is completely unwatchable! #6 - Pearl Harbor (2002): Another Michael Bay classic that was 1 HOUR too long and the love story, unbelievably bad and to continue this movie with Doolittle's Raid was just idiotic! #5 - Wild Wild West (1999): A lot of amazing talent put to waste. Making a western with high tech gadgetry just didn't work. #4 - Twister (1996): Should be on the list for terrible Helen Hunt acting however maybe not this high on the list. #3 - 2012 (2009): Special effects on this movie made it redeeming and again, natural disasters with said effects sell. I don't think this should be on the list because it wasn't that bad. #2 - Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997): Never bothered to see this because the concept was just ... lame. #1 - Batman and Robin (1997): Problem with this movie was ... wow, where do I begun?
Facts & Tips:One alternative title that had been considered for NBC's hit "Friends" was "Insomnia Cafe.""What about one guy, two guns?" - Brian Mahoney as Detective Duffy in "The Boondock Saints."
iWhat?! I think this is funny, I noticed the other day how someone was writing how cool their new ITunes app worked with their IPad ... um ok. Clearly they are not a real Mac user or pay attention to how things are spelled. Although technically they are spelled correctly ... and they are names of specific products but it is incorrect. Even if the word started at the beginning of the sentence, I think it would still be incorrect as the way to properly spell it is iTunes and iPad. Now they still bothered to capitalize the 2nd letter of each word along with the first. This might be petty but at the same time, someone took a lot of time and effort to brand this look and name(s). And if it a supposedly tech savvy person writing this, don't you you think they would get that little detail right?Weekly Update:So last Tuesday I was walking around near the Beverly Hills area with a friend and went into this restaurant to grab a menu to go for him. Well on the way out, coming into the place with his wife (and grabbed a quick photo with him) for dinner was:*Bob Newhart - best known for "The Bob Newhart Show" and eventually just "Newhart" and also a very nice guy.
So later in the week, this is crazy ... I had to travel for business! So Thursday morning (I mean EARLY morning like 6AM) I flew out of LAX for Kansas City, MO which I had a 2PM meeting and then dinner at 530PM. Stayed in KC overnight and then the next morning had another 6AM flight on Friday which arrived at Memphis, TN and then was suppose to continue on to Knoxville, TN for an 11AM meeting. HOWEVER, the flight from Memphis to Knoxville was cancelled and the next flight wasn't leaving till 230PM, by the time I would have arrived into Knoxville it would have been after 430PM and I wasn't going to ask the folks I had a meeting with to hang around on a Friday night ... this was actually a good thing because my original plans was to leave that same night from Knoxville to Dallas, TX back to LAX just before 12 midnight. So, I was lucky enough to get on the next flight out of Memphis at 930AM and head straight back to LAX and got home before lunch time ... I was so sleepy and exhausted. I don't want to do that again.At the movies:
Looks like the summer box office is slowing down a bit but also no surprise at who is #1 this weekend. Taking the crown is the new sci-fi adventure film Super 8 with 37 million for its debut. Average drop down to #2 is "X-Men: First Class" with another 18.5 mil as it is just shy of 100 mil cume at 99 mil. Further drop down to #3 is "The Hangover 2" with an extra 18.5 mil as it passes 200 mil cume. Hanging on to #4 is "Kung Fu Panda 2" with 16.6 mil more. Rounding off the top 5 is "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with 10.9 mil as it now passes the 200 mil cume mark.New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week and no surprise here as the children's film Judy Moody and The Not Bummer Summer which looks like it is a bummer summer for Relativity as this flopper earns 6.3 million for its debut.Quote of the week:"Musical comedies aren't written, they are rewritten." - Stephen Sondheim
Other News:Here is a fun list I stumbled across ... Top 10 Creepiest Anonymous Movie Characters! I am not a horror person by any means but lets check it out. #10: The Chatterer from "Hellraiser 2" - I guess he was a side villain but I don't remember this one at all. #9: Mr. Brown from "Reservoir Dogs" - never saw this movie so ... to me just looks like a hipster more than anything. #8: The Cowboy from "Mulholland Drive" - another movie I have never seen. #7: Mom and Dad from "People Under the Stairs" - I don't even know where they get these movies from! #6: Peeing Guy (Pictured) from "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" - Finally I know this one which was played by Jamie Kennedy and it was pretty creepy yet funny and random. #5: The Girl from "The Ninth Gate" - nope, never seen it. #4: The Voice from "12 Monkeys" - this film just looked long and boring to me so I skipped it. #3: The Derelict from "Hellraiser" - creepy and homeless looking. #2: The Tall Man from The Phantasm series - this was very creepy because he didn't say much and just looked threatening by just standing there. #1: Mystery Man from "Lost Highway" - I guess there is a reason I don't watch these kinds of movies ... I simply don't care for them.Fact & Tips:
Mosquitoes have 47 teeth."Pretty good. Pret-ty pret-ty pret-ty good." - Larry David as Larry David in the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Cool weather! The summer officially starts later this month but for Southern California it is typically end of April or start of May. This past week though the weather amazing with cool breezy sunny days and chill (not cold) nights. Just a windbreaker jacket is all you need and that suits me just fine. Now if it can just stay like this the rest of the summer, perfect!Weekly Update:
Pretty uneventful week again, for the most part. Got to sleep in a few times which is always nice but that will soon end as I start full time work again on the 13th. More on that later, after I start I guess but will enjoy the limited time off I have now while I can! What did I do this week? My life is SO exciting, I got new socks ... hey you laugh but that is serious stuff! People underestimate the importance of clean and comfortable socks but not me. It can make the difference to a bad or good day ... I'm tell'n you!
At the movies:Not a big surprise at #1 but the amount it earned is a little underwhelming this weekend. Taking the crown is the super heroes of X-Men: First Class as we go back to find out the origins of the group but only earns a weekend total of 56 million. It's predecessors with mostly less than favorable conditions yielded much higher numbers for their debuts. Hanging on to #2 is "The Hangover 2" with an additional 32.5 mil and now coming close to the 200 mil cume. Slight drop to #3 is "Kung Fu Panda 2" with 24.3 mil more as it reaches the 100 mil mark. Bigger drop to #4 is "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with 18 mil as it is mere inches from 200 mil cume. Rounding off the top 5 is "Bridesmaids" with another 12.1 mil as it now passes the 100 mil cume for another summer R-Rated comedy.Quote of the week:"In the long run, this country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a reasonably good place for all of us to live in." - Theodore RooseveltOther News:
Yet another star in Hollywood goes dim ... legendary actor James Arness who portrayed the iconic tall, quiet Marshall Dillion on the popular TV show "Gunsmoke" passed away at his home in Los Angeles, CA on Friday. The show lasted two decades and remains the longest running prime time live action scripted TV series in history (based on number of episodes). Prior to that, the show was a radio show about the old west and easily translated to TV. Arness' cowboy Marshall of the old west was more than the good guy of the show but the embodiment of a quiet and moral authority which became synonymous with the law of the era. Despite the show airing for 20 years, it was forever 1873 in Dodge City and Marshall Dillion pulled that six-shooter out only when it was absolutely necessary. Arness was also known for the horror sci-fi film "Them!and the TV show "How the West Was Won" which both brought him notoriety. Arness served in World War II and was part of the landing in Anzio, Italy. Because of his height, he was the first one off the landing craft on the beachhead to test to see how deep the water level was. Arness' younger brother was legendary actor Peter Graves from the movie "Airplane!" and TV series "Mission: Impossible" fame who died in March of 2010. Cause of death for Arness is believed to be natural causes, he was 88.
Facts & Tips:The average person spends two weeks of its life waiting for a traffic light to change."Good going dad. You've raised another mummy." - Luke Ford as Alex O'Connell in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."
Starting to warm up a bit ... but the evenings still remain cold but I like that. Last year, the summer here was unusually cool with maybe 5 days of record breaking heat. So far, we haven't had a really hot day but very cool days especially in the shade which is just perfect. I do hope the rest of the summer stays like this but I am sure it will get hot. At least it wasn't crazy humid like it was in Kansas City because that was just ridiculous! I don't know how people can live outside like that, I would be running the AC all the time! So, go find some shade and relax.
Other News:
