Duckburg Gazette

HEAT EDITION

This whole week has been nothing but hot both day and night.  What is funny is I started the week in Chicago and it was cool to cold which during this time of year, it is suppose to be hot and humid.  Then I come home and it is a major heatwave!  But I did hear the last weekend was worse than this past weekend so I guess I should be thankful for that.

Weekly Update:

First part of the week I was still in Chicago and took a city tour, it was wet!  It started off with light rain but kept getting worse and worse.  Did the Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower) and it was cloudy.  Couldn't see a thing but I still enjoyed being in the 2nd tallest building in the world.  Coming back from Chicago, got bumped to First Class on Virgin America and that was nice.  I haven't flown first probably in nearly 20 years.  The food was good and Virgin overall is just a cool airlines to fly!  THEN, on Wednesday had the 2nd Annual Variety Poker Tournament at the Paramount Lot.  Had the usual suspects from last year but did catch the one new edition:

*Jason Alexander - Best known from "Seinfeld" and a really nice guy.

Thursday went down to the Del Mar Racetrack for the annual Ultrastar Cinema Day at the Races, that is always a GREAT time.  The rest of the week, non-stop busy!!  Helping with some weird project for China, who knows if it will even take off or not.

Then on Saturday I spent the day at the LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits for some work and it was freaking hot!!  But while there I ran into:

*Fay DeWitt - From various shows in the 1980's with random character parts and very sweet.

I am glad the weekend is over, it was too long and hot!

At the movies:

Not a big surprise at the box office but a little disappointing in the numbers coming out of it.  New at #1 is the action sequel The Expendables 2 with only 28.8 million.  A bit on the low end of expectations considering the price tag on this movie.  Dropping down to #2 is "The Bourne Legacy" with another 17 mil.  New at 3 is the family film ParaNorman with 14 mil.  Drop to #4 is the comedy "The Campaign" with another 13.4 mil as it makes it past 50 mil cume.  Rounding off the top 5 is the urban drama Sparkle with 12 mil for its debut.

New films that did not make the top 5:

Just one this week as it opens on a Wednesday, The Odd Life of Timothy Green opens with a 15.2 million 5-day gross but for the weekend it only lands 10.9 mil and the #7 spot.

Quote of the week:

"It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information." - Oscar Wilde

Other News:

"Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh!"  The lovable character from the 1970's sitcom "Welcome Back Kotter" Arnold Horshack played by the talented Ron Palillo passed away in his home in Palm Beach Gardens, FL on Tuesday.  Palillo suffered from an apparent heart attack in the early AM hours.  He was one of the members of the Sweathogs from the show and always raised his hand while yelling "Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh!" in class whether it was to be recognized by the teacher or to answer the question at hand.  Unfortunately Palillo never could get out of that typecast of his Horshack role and didn't see much additional acclaim in film or TV outside of that show.  He was only able to really get guest appearances in other popular shows in that time and into the 1980's like "The Love Boat," "Cagney and Lacey," "The A-Team" and "Ellen."  Palillo later spent his time teaching acting at G-Star School of the Arts, helping potential other Horshacks find their voice and place in the classroom.  "All of us have been or known one of those Sweathogs." Palillo said to the LA Times last year.  He was 63.

Continuing with more bad news, famed Hollywood film director Tony Scott passed away on Sunday from an apparent suicide.  Police said the director jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge which resides in Long Beach, California.  Scott is brother to other famed Hollywood director Ridley Scott.  Tony is know for such films as "Top Gun," "Man on Fire," "Enemy of the State" and more recently "Unstoppable."  He was also the director of the remake "Pelham 123" and was set to do "Top Gun 2."  He often partners up with his brother as producing partners in several films.  Tony is also credited for producing numerous projects such as the mini-series "The Pillars of the Earth" and "Numb3rs."  He was also known for his trademark faded red baseball cap which he also wears in his films when he appears in them.  Tony Scott was 68.

Facts & Tips:

French author Michel Thayer published a 233 page novel which has no verbs.

"From the top." - Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester from the TV show "Glee."