I never knew that Northern California could get so hot. I was in the bay area but in the East just north of Oakland and Berkley in a town called Antioch. The wind would be blowing pretty strong and it was about 8PM with the sun still out ... and it was freaking 88 degrees outside! I always thought the bay area was generally cooler than SoCali but I guess not! And also I noticed, the sun was blinding if you turned down any road heading West in the afternoon. Even with my sunglasses and sun shade down, I could barely see anything!!
Weekly Update:
Took a short trip to Antioch in the later part of the week to say goodbye to a dear friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago. He had a nice memorial service on Friday but what made it above the norm (and typical of my friend) is that as people walked into the service, playing on the monitor up front was "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back." Next to the urn that held his ashes was a full body Stormtrooper outfit watching over the ceremony. As you can guess, he was an avid Star Wars fan and in tribute, I wore my "Han Shot First" shirt because that was his favorite shirt of mine. It was a tiring, sadden and long trip but glad I went ... I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Was very sad to say a final goodbye however he will always be part of my life past, present and in the future.
At the movies:
Man has no hope if the apes keep taking over the weekend! Still holding ground with a decent drop in gross is "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" earning another 27.5 million this past weekend as it just barely crosses the 100 mil cume mark for its first 10 days. New at #2 is the drama-dy The Help with 35 mil for its debut (opened on a Wednesday). New at #3 is the suspense-thriller of Final Destination 5 with 18.4 mil and this could be the final one ... but probably not. Slight drop to #4 is "The Smurfs" with another 13.5 mil added to their break-through of the 100 mil cume mark this past weekend. Rounding off the top 5 is the comedy 30 Minutes or Less with only 13 mil for its debut.
New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week and its the concert movie from the TV series Glee: The 3D Concert Movie falls to 11th place for its debut. With over 2000 plus theatres, it earns a disappointing 5.7 mil which I am sure between costs of materials, marketing and distribution, they might break-even when it is finished ...might.
Quote of the week:
"Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing." - Hannah Arendt
Other News:
How about the top 10 most influential arcade games? Overall a very subjective list but let's examine it and see how it compares to my personal experiences (being an avid gamer). At #10: Asteroids - Released in 1970 by Atari and I remember seeing this in the bowling alley arcade but never really played it too much. A friend of my brother's use to play it and he could stand there for hours on one quarter, rack up about 100 extra lives, let someone else play it down to one life left (usually in under an hour), take back over and get it back up to 100 plus lives again. #9: Phoenix - From Centuri in 1980 and it was a very "space invaders" meets "Galaga" type of game. I did play this a little bit and thought it was pretty fun. #8: Galaga - Namco, 1981 and this one I did play a lot. I could pretty high (so I thought) in the low 30th level area. Fun game, especially trying to dodge the falling arrows when I had double ships going. #7: Q*Bert by Gottlieb in 1982. I never got into this game too much, didn't think it was all that great. It felt like a weird alien jumping around on an Escher puzzle. #6: Frogger - Konami in 1981 and this was such a fun and easy concept game ... it could have been a chicken trying to cross the road for that matter. #5: Mario Bros. - Nintendo in 1983 and continues to live today in so many variations and improved graphics. The original game was OK, wasn't a fan of the sewers though. #4: Space Invaders - Taito in 1978 and this is definitely one of the classics. Simple, great sound and probably could still be popular to a certain
extent today besides being nostalgic. #3: Donkey Kong - Nintendo in 1981 and I played this one a little bit but only got around the third round of it. I think something about primates just doesn't appeal to me. #2: Pac-Man - Namco in 1980 and I always thought this game was boring. And the #1 which is also considered the first arcade style game ... Pong - Atari in 1972 and I remember having this game with the paddle controls and would play for hours with my brother and friends over this simple game that started a revolution.
Facts & Tips:
A kangaroo can jump 30 feet.
"Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness to it." - Keri Russell as Jenna Hunterson in "Waitress."
posted by McDuck @ 00:47
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