I am really exhausted this week ... lack of sleep and a LOT of walking ... but that is explained a little more in the next section. Other than that, traffic has been completely unbearable this week with average commutes almost 2 hours into LA and 1 hour home. That is plus 45 mins to an hour going in and 15+ mins coming home. I don't know what is causing all this and all the schools along the way are not even in session!
Weekly Update:Went down to the San Diego Comic-Con this past week and instead of my normal one day time trip, I actually stayed for 3-days! I am EXHAUSTED and actually got a blister on my foot from all the walking ... never had one of those before on the bottom of my foot. But while there and going to various parties each night, I ran into some folks and got some pics:*Kristen Schaal- various TV and movies like "Dinner for Schmucks" and was nice.*Yoshiki Hayashi- Japanese lead singer for a rock band and music composer, also overall cool guy.*Todd McFarlane- Creator of Spawn and now toy mogul and a really nice guy.*Rick Fox- Ex NBA player and all around cool guy.*Taylor Lautner- From the "Twilight" series of films and all around down to Earth and cool guy.*Kellan Lutz- From the "Twilight" movies as well and a way cool guy.*Channing Tatum- From "Step Up" and other recent films and a really cool guy.*Ellie Kemper- Known from the TV series "The Office" and very sweet.*Jason Mewes- Known as Jay from "Jay and Silent Bob" and a very cool guy!*Mick Wingert- Talented cartoon voice actor and an amazing person.*Peter Hastings- Amazing writer and director for various Nickelodeon shows and a great guy!*Pter Mayhew- Chewbacca from all the Star Wars films and a gentle giant.*Clare Kramer- From "Bring it On" and very sweet.At the movies:
The return of super heroes takes the box office face on this weekend and wins ... earning the crown at the #1 spot is Captain America: The First Avenger with 65.8 million. Suffering a HUGE drop to #2 is "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" with 48.1 mil. It's a huge drop because it is a 72% dip from last wast week. New at #3 is the comedy Friends With Benefits with 18.5 mil for its debut. Holding on to #4 is "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" with 12 mil more as it passes 320 mil cume domestic. Rounding off the top 5 is "Horrible Bosses" with 11.7 mil as it potentially makes its way to 100 mil cume.Quote of the week:"Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth." - Pablo Picasso
Other News:This past Friday morning, British singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London flat from an unconfirmed report of drug overdose. Winehouse who has a long history of alcohol and drug abuse during her life and career has been in and out of rehab. To be honest I know nothing of her music and I did see one video of a song she sang that was both terrible and unwatchable. The entertainment community is all a Twitter over her death but honestly, it all feels like they are jumping on board to just get some face-time or press exposure on this recent development. It seems like we are popularizing and glamorizing bad behavior. She has also been known to take on the paparazzi, curse, and clearly embracing her deadly addictions. Her path was predetermined as she was found alone, dead in her home. Oddly enough she has joined the unique "27 Club" which is a big string musicians that have passed away at the age of 27 years of age.Facts & Tips:
Tsiology is anything written about tea."When you're young everything feels like the end of the world. But it's not; it's just the beginning. You might have to meet a few more jerks, but one day you're gonna meet a boy who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. Like the sun rises and sets with you." - Zac Efron as the teen version of Mike O'Donnell in "17 Again."
Well, the whole "carmageddon" scare came and went. Friday when they were going to shut down the freeway that evening, there was reported no traffic anywhere. Now why can't that be the case each and every Friday?? The destruction of an overpass that went over the 405 freeway between the 10 and the 101 is the cause of the closure. They apparently finished the work ahead of schedule and opened the roads back up early Sunday evening as opposed to Monday night. Now if they can just finish the freeway itself because it has been under heavy construction for over a year now!Weekly Update:Busy week but I did have some fun. On Thursday night I went to a last minute screening of this little indie dark dark dramedy (Drama-Comedy) called "A Little Help" which was ok, very dark and more drama than comedy. The comedy was very subtle, almost sleeping in the background but while there I did get to meet some of the cast and other folks:*Daniel Yelksy- Kid star of the film and pretty good kid!*Kim Coates- Many various roles and a cool guy.*Lesley Ann Warren- Also many various roles and she was nice.*Rob Benedict- From the movie and some other minor things but a very cool guy.*Greg Germann- Best known from "Ally McBeal" and he was ok.Then on Saturday I attended the old Hollywood Collector's Show which I have sort of been avoiding the past year because it has gotten to be not worth it anymore. But I actually had a specific reason to go, for work this time oddly enough! But while there, my good friend was the official photographer of the place and got some shots of me with some folks:*Erika Eleniak- Best known for "Under Siege" and was nice.*Adrian Paul- Best known for "The Highlander" TV series and a very cool guy.*Pamela Sue Martin- Known for the TV series "Dynasty" and the movie "The Poseidon Adventure" and was very sweet.*Tracy Scoggins- Also known from "Dynasty" and for the TV series "Babylon 5," she was also very sweet.*Casper Van Dien- Best known for "Starship Troopers" and was a nice guy.*Kelly LeBrock- Best known for "Weird Science" and was nice.*Virginia Hey- Known for "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" and was amazing!*Maxwell Caulfield- I know him best from "Grease 2" as the male lead and a really cool guy.*Juliet Mills- From many shows from the '80's including "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," she was really great.*Julie Dawn Cole- From the original "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" as Veruca Salt and very sweet.*Denise Nickerson- Also from Willy Wonka as Violet Beauregarde and incredibly nice.*Paris Themmen - Also from Willy Wonka as Mike Teevee and a cool guy.
At the movies:No surprise at the box office this week but the numbers are very strong. In at #1 for the last time is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 as it earns a record breaking 168.6 million. No doubt this film will reach a billion world-wide as the world says good-bye and good luck to Harry and crew. Big dip to #2 is "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" with another 21.3 mil but it has now past the 300 mil cume mark for domestic. Slight drop down to #3 is "Horrible Bosses" with another 17.6 mil with potential legs to carry it to 100 mil this summer. Below average drop to #4 is "Zookeeper" with 12.3 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is "Cars 2" with another 8.3 mil as this films struggles to potentially reach 200 mil total but probably unlikely.New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week as the new Winnie The Pooh film earns a modest 8 million for its debut. I think folks failed to realize that the majority of this audience doesn't have to pay for a ticket.Quote of the week:"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." - George Bernard ShawOther News:
This week is a sad week for me ... the creator of many of the shows I grew up passed away on Tuesday. Legendary creator of TV shows Sherwood Schwartz passed away due to natural causes. He is credited for creating and writing for such shows as "Gilligan's Island," "The Brady Bunch," "The Red Skelton Hour" and numerous TV movies involving the characters from these shows. Sherwood ruled the sitcom era of the late 60's through most of the 70's with these shows. His shows and characters continue to live on today in syndication on various channels around the world and we all remember Gilligan as the little buddy and the rest of the castaways always trying to find ways to get off the tropical island. On the flip side of this, we grew up with The Brady Family of two previously married people each with 3 kids joined together to make one big family with the growing pains of not only boys and girls but the family. Even the family dog Tiger would get into trouble and the forever on again-off again relationship between the house keeper Alice and the butcher Sam left us wondering. It was the perfect dysfunction united family and every week you could be and feel a part of the Brady's learning a new life lesson and growing closer to the siblings. Sherwood gave us forever TV magic, a reason to watch and something we continue to quote from ... even nearly 30 years later. Sherwood was 94.
Facts & Tips:The woodpecker can hammer wood up to 16 times per second."What further instructions could there be, besides "kiss your ass goodbye"?" - Amanda Tapping as Lt. Col. Samantha Carter in "Stargate: Continuum."
Sure got hot in here! This past week the temps sure got high ... summer is here! Temps got into the low 90's which isn't record breaking but with little breezes, it was warm. The nights weren't as bad but some stayed pretty warm. Looks like the heat might have broken and just lasted a week but not going to hold my breath on that. It is almost he middle of July ... wow, that was fast, time sure does go by.
Weekly Update:This week was pretty crazy with a LOT of driving around. The commute lately has been pretty bad because of the 405 and its pending closure. I am not sure what people are thinking but they are closing part of the freeway next week for two days. Seems like folks think after that, everything will be back to normal?? Um, do they not realize that when it reopens it will be smaller by at least one lane? In fact I think the freeway situation in that part of town will be much worse and will take 2 to 3 years before it improves again. And of course I bet before they finish that part of the road, they will start another part of the freeway which will make the length of traffic even worse. I remember when they did this kind of work on the 22 Freeway in the OC and it was bad for almost 5 years. Of course now it is a great piece of road but it took that long before it got better. Another great example is Santa Monica Blvd right off the 405, they did some major work and what they claimed would take 8 months ended up being 3 years. Today that road is OK till you get within 500 yards of the freeway and due to that construction, it gets bad again. We are in for a LONG time frame of traffic!At the movies:
Robots continue to dominate the box office again for a 2nd week in a row ... "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" earns an extra 47 million and now has a 13 day total of 261 million cume! The speed at which the film is current dropping at is about average so should end around 360 mil domestically. New at #2 is the comedy Horrible Bosses with a decent opening of 28.1 mil. New at #3 with an above average than expected opening is Zookeeper with 21 mil. Slight drop to #4 is "Cars 2" with another 15.2 mil and is now just shy of 150 mil in what is being labelled as Pixar's worst movie (and opening) yet. Rounding off the top 5 is "Bad Teacher" with another 9 mil as it struggles to get that 100 mil cume.Quote of the week:"You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world." - Herman Melville
Other News:A nation, if not the world, mourns. Former First Lady of the United States, Betty Ford, passed away on Friday at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. Being a "no-hold-barred" lady, she always spoke her mind no matter how shocking. This quickly won her the hearts of many Americans besides being the former First Lady to President Gerald Ford who passed away on December 26, 2006 at the age of 93. In 1973, Betty was eagerly anticipating her husband's retirement from politics when scandal hit the White House. Within a year, Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford was sworn in and became the first President who wasn't elected as President or Vice President. Soon after moving into the White House, medical problems hit Betty such as breast cancer which probably offset the conservative right from her blunt comments. The public quickly embraced and supported her, she realized then and later wrote, "I was somebody, the first lady. When I spoke, people listened." She then used her new found influence to lobby aggressively for the Equal Rights Amendment and spoke out against child abuse. Betty Ford's legacy will live on not because of her status but for her contributions that continue on today. In 1982 she co-founded the Betty Ford Clinic helping various abuses from drug to alcohol. The clinics have helped the likes of celebrities to the average person treating their ailments and helping them back on their feet while overcoming their addictions. An amazing lady with an amazing life ... she was 93.Facts & Tips:
Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside."Oh, no, we're not asking you to lose weight. That would be illegal. We just want you to be healthy, by eating less. So go home, weigh yourself on a scale, write that down. Then subtract 20 from that number. And weigh that. Yeah." - Kristen Wiig as Jill in "Knocked Up."
4th of July EditionHOT! The summer is here! I guess last week I spoke to soon as the heat gradually came and then bam, close to 100 degrees on the weekend. Not sure what the extended forecast is but I am staying in doors as much as I can to avoid it. I guess this is great weather for us and the 4th of July weekend. I wish I had a big BBQ set up in the backyard to cook up some hamburgers and chicken. I should build one or have one built someday. I do love good bbq ... great bbq is better of course but good suits me just fine as well.Weekly UpdateHad a fairly busy week, lot of driving around and a TON of traffic. There has been so much freeway work lately and it will only get worse for months to come before it gets any better years to come. But aside from all that driving around, I did get to spend some time on set of a new Disney TV show that recently debuted called A.N.T. Farm which apparently stands for Advance Natural Talent. I guess the premise is this group of very smart kids who go to a high school and simply get into strange situations while another group of cheerleaders are the counterparts or the "good vs bad" to these kids. The first day of shooting, the show didn't seem that good but later on it did get better. The 2nd day was much more interesting and I think I might try to catch an episode or two if I remember. Pretty elaborate costumes going on in this particular episode. While on set I did get to grab some snaps with some of the cast:*Alexandria Deberry- From the show "A.N.T. Farm" and very sweet.*China Anne McClain- Also from "A.N.T. Farm" and extremely bright and talented.*Sierra McCormick- Also from "A.N.T. Farm" and very bright and funny.*Aedin Mincks- Also from the show and a little easily distracted but a nice kid.*Stefanice Scott- Another cast member and very nice.*Jake Short- Also on the cast and very smart and nice.*Zendaya Coleman- From the Disney TV show "Shake It Up" and very nice.
At the moviesNo big surprises at the box office this holiday weekend but the low numbers are bit concerning however. Taking the crown this weekend is the action sci-fi sequel of Transformers: Dark of the Moon of only 162 million. This movie opened Tuesday night so this number goes through Sunday (not calculating the Monday holiday gross in yet). Why is this concerning? The weekend business was only about 97.4 mil which is almost 30 million less than the previous Transformers film for roughly the same time line. I have heard this film was better than the previous but not as good as the first. I do believe the 3D is the factor that hurt the box office on this film with the surcharges scaring away the crowds a bit. Big drop to #2 is "Cars 2" with 30.6 mil, an unexpected 54% drop which should have been in the low 40's. However, "Cars 2" does manage to break the 100 mil with a nice 121 mil cume so far. Big drop to #3 as well is "Bad Teacher" with 14 mil more. New at #4 is the romantic comedy Larry Crowne with only 13 mil for its debut. Barely making the #5 spot is Monte Carlo with only 7.6 mil, just barely beating a movie that has been out for 4 weeks. I can tell how much faith Fox had in this film that they didn't even bother creating its own website ... clearly a throw-away film for them.Quote of the week:"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." - Sir Winston ChurchillOther News:
Ok now I found a very cool list (to me anyway) ... the top 10 greatest athlete cameos in movie history! Let's see how it compares for me ... #10) Wilt Chamberlain: "Conan The Destroyer" - Ok, not an actor at all but the role was fine for him because he was just massive and had to challenge Conan. Plus he was also a huge part of the story/movie! #9) Derek Jeter: "The Other Guys" - now this was a very brief 30 second cameo for a not-so-funny movie. #8) Lawrence Taylor (LT): "The Waterboy" - yet another very short cameo and also not that funny, the movie was but not LT. #7) Lee Trevino: "Happy Gilmore" - His random appearances throughout the movie were great, this definitely deserves to be on the list. #6) Lance Armstrong: "Dodgeball" - Funny movie, terrible scene because Lance can't act at all. #5) Brett Favre: "There's Something About Mary" - Another funny movie was a really bad cameo that sort of brought the movie down a bit if you ask me. #4) Mike Tyson: "The Hangover" - This was a GREAT cameo however in the 2nd film it wasn't nearly as good. #3) Reggie Jackson: "The Naked Gun" - I vaguely remember it as being ok but not great ... the cameo that is, the film was awesome. #2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "Airplane" - Not only is this film a classic but so was Kareem! He did an incredible job of basically playing himself! This probably should have been #1 which was ... Cam Neely: "Dumb and Dumber" - Ok, who is Cam Neely? I remember his part as Sea Bass which was decent but who is he?! I do think some others were overlooked that should have been on the top 10 such as Andre the Giant in "The Princess Bride" who did an amazing job and Alex Karras in "Blazing Saddles" as Mongo ... these two can easily replace some on this list and should have!
Facts & Tips:Pigs get sunburned."This is supposed to be my birthday party. Grandma is making out the invitation list. Sue Ellen is gonna hire some old-fogy band. And J.R.'s gonna use it for one of his big deals. And now you're gonna buy my clothes. I HATE THIS FAMILY!" - Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing Cooper in the TV drama "Dallas."
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