It is kind of neat driving down the 60 freeway here in Los Angeles and as you go from West to East, at night you can see a line of airplanes heading into LAX. I am sure pilot's utilize the freeways a s guide into the airport and as one passes over you, in the distance another comes into view as it makes its final approach. I wonder if there are other things like that in other major airports pilots can use to guide them in visually.Weekly Update:This week was still pretty miserable for me as I stayed home sick for almost all of it. I did go back to work on Friday but only stayed a few hours to catch up on everything and on top of that, we opened our second film from the company and in career I have never missed an opening and didn't want to start now. So at least I was there for a little bit of it but did not stay till the end of the day. Pretty much went back home (still took over 2 hours) and rested up so I can be better for next week. The cough is sure keeping me up at night and that is the biggest complaint. So when I try to nap or rest during the day, the cough prevents that as well!! It's like it is out out to get me or something! I just want it all to go away ... now please!At the movies:
Drama takes the crown this week as the new action-drama The Grey earns top honors with a decent 20 million. A slight drop to #2 is "Underworld Awakening" with 12.5 mil extra. New at #3 is the action-comedy One For the Money earns a modest 11.8 mil for its debut. Small drop to #4 is "Red Tails" which earns another 10.4 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is the action film Man on a Ledge with 8.3 mil, not a good number for a studio about to shut it's door.Quote of the week:"There is no problem in business that cannot be solved by more revenue." - Warren Buffet
Other News:Double bad news this week ... first off, we saw a distance star fade as comedy actor Robert Hegyes from the classic TV series "Welcome Back Kotter" passed away from an apparent heart attack while in his New Jersey home on Thursday. Hegyes is not know for too much except for making a few TV appearances on such shows like "Cagney & Lacey and "The Drew Carey Show." It was the mid 1970's comedy "Welcome Back Kotter" that was his most claim to fame as he was a member of the delinquent group of high school students called "The Sweathogs" stuck in the classroom of Kotter (played by Gabe Kaplan). Hegyes' character on the show was probably the first Puerto Rican Jew with his big fro and crazy mixed accent as he played Juan Epstein. Hegyes was only 60.
Also on Thursday, veteran actor Ian Abercrombie passed away in Hollywood. Of more recent fame, he was pegged as Elaine Benes' boss, Mr. Pitt, in "Seinfeld" but his career has spanned over the past 50 years. From guest TV appearances to re-occurring roles and some memorable movie appearances such as "Stalag 17," "Army of Darkness," and most recently a voice on "Rango." He has done TV to movies, drama to comedy and with his whimsy British accent, a bit of charm through it all. Abercrombie was 77.Facts & Tips:
President William McKinley had a pet parrot that he named "Washington Post.""We're sorta like 7-Eleven. We're not always doing business, but we're always open." - Norman Reedus as Murphy MacManus in "The Boondock Saints."
The Year of the Dragon!The Chinese New Year started this past week ... Tuesday ... I think? And it is the Year of the Dragon. Sounds pretty prestige's for some reason compared to a duck or rabbit ... is there a sheep? I don't know but it is pretty cool and from my understanding the whole country of China is in celebration and it lasts for weeks. Why is our New Year's only one evening and a day? I don't know, it seems like we don't care that much about ringing in the new year but then again, who knows how many holidays China has throughout the year. This could be it ... so I guess if that is the case, I would rather have them spread out over the course of the year than lump them all together.Weekly Update:Sick ... I hate being sick. The week itself was pretty quiet in general but on Friday morning I started to get a sore throat and through the weekend it seems like it got worse. On Sunday morning I had to use my fingers to help open my eyes because they were sort of encrusted together ... eww, gross, right?! I have no idea what it is but going to try and see a doctor today about it ... usually when I get a cold I can either fend it off or get rid of it within a couple of days and usually keep a cough for up to half a year but that is no big deal. This has stayed consistently bad with the congestion, slight cough and then add the eye junk, don't know what is going on. Some folks said there was a bug going around but was it like this?? I've heard of a flu-bug but this isn't a flu. Just make it all go away!!
At the movies:The underworld rises to the top this week as Underworld Awakening earns the crown this week with 25.4 million. The historical drama of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II soars in at #2 as Red Tails earns 19.1 mil. Dropping down to #3 is "Contraband" with 12.2 mil more. Big jump up to #4 from its limited release state is "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" earns 10.6 mil in its 5th week. Rounding off the top 5 is the action film Haywire with only 9 mil for its debut.Quote of the week:"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King, Jr.Other News:
"At last ..." Legendary rhythm and blues singer Etta James passed away at the Riverside County Hospital in California on Friday morning after a battle with Leukemia. James started becoming more ill with other ailments a few months ago which caused to her to hospitalized but she eventually got better to be able to return home. During that time, reports started coming in of her pre-mature death. James' health started to decline back in 2010 and she slowly faded out of public life. She was a recording artist and has wonderful hits such as "At Last," Trust In Me," "Something's Got a Hold On Me," "Sunday Kind of Love" and "All I Could Do Was Cry." She was a pioneer in the music industry and even though her song "At Last" was often imitated, she had the angelica voice to make that song what it is today and forever will be ... priceless. She has captured a couple of Grammy's in the early 2000's and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. James was 73.
Facts & Tips:The Saturn V moon rocket consumed 15 tons of fuel per second."I love the Caribbean. Too hot to wear shirts, too hot to wear pants and we're two hot young ladies. " - Ashley Scott as Amanda in "Into the Blue."
MARTIN LUTHER KING EDITIONI remember when this day did not exist and it was just another day, another time. Even today, some states do not recognize it as a holiday and I just have to wonder ... why? Here is a man who fought for equal rights for everyone, and used only peaceful means to do it. He spoke with eloquence, poise and determination. Not to raise your fists but to raise your voice so that all could be heard:"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.'… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today." I Have A Dream, 1963Weekly Update:Pretty busy week for me and glad it is finally over actually! But I did manage to a little fun. On Wednesday we had our first Los Angeles movie premiere for a film called "The Grey" which opens at the end of this month. I haven't seen the film but I did enjoy the party and got some pics with some folks:*Max Adler- Known as one of the jocks from the TV show "Glee" and a WAY cool guy!*Romany Malco- Known from the movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and a really great guy.*James Van Der Beek- From "Dawson's Creek" and another really great guy.*Maggie Grace- From "Taken" and other films, she was nice.*Joe Anderson- One of the cast from "The Grey" and a nice guy.*Dermot Mulroney- Also from "The Grey" and other films, very nice guy.*Nonso Anozie- another cast from "The Grey" and a gentle giant.*Joe Carnahan- the director of "The Grey" and also did "A-Team" and "Narc." A really great guy and I got a chance to hang out with him and talk shop.*Liam Neeson- star of the film itself and a terrific and incredible guy!!THEN, on Sunday I ended up going to the 69th Annual Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton. I didn't attend the actual banquet part but I went to a few of the parties there with my aunt who is part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. I managed to get a few pics with folks:*Chris Colfer- from the TV show "Glee" and a pretty decent guy.*Kevin McHale- from the TV show "Glee" and a really nice guy.*Amber Riley- from the TV show "Glee" and very sweet.*Mark Salling- from the TV show "Glee" and a really cool guy!*Iqbal Theba- from the TV show "Glee" and a very kind person.*Lauren Potter- from the TV show "Glee" and very sweet.*Dot Jones- from the TV show "Glee" and way cool person.*Ashley Fink- from the TV show "Glee" and very cool.*Jeff Garland- from the show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and a nice guy.*J.B. Smoove- from the show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and a cool guy.*Emily Deschanel- from the TV show "Bones" and very sweet as well.*Zooey Deschanel- from the new TV show "The New Girl" and other various TV and movies, very sweet.*Max Greenfield- from the new show "The New Girl" and a cool guy.*Lamorne Morris- from the new show "The New Girl" and a nice guy.*Morena Baccarin- from the TV remake of "V" and other sci-fi shows, very nice.*Jamie-Lynn Sigler- from the show "The Sopranos" and very sweet.*Steve Little- from the show "Eastbound & Down" and a really great guy.*Ed O'Neill- famously from the TV show "Married with Children" and a great guy.*Eric Stonestreet- from the TV show "Modern Family" and he was fine.*Sofia Vergara- from the TV show "Modern Family" and very sweet.*Raini Rodriquez- best known from the movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and very sweet.*Bret McKenzie- from "The Flight of the Conchord" comedy group and a nice guy.*Alexander Skarsgard- from show "True Blood" and a really nice guy.*Tony Hale- from various shows such as "Chuck" and "Arrested Development" and a very nice guy.*Scott Krinsky- from the TV show "Chuck" and a nice guy.*Damian Lewis- from mini-series "Band of Brothers" and the TV show "Homeland", pretty nice guy.*Morgan Saylor- from the TV series "Homeland" and was extremely sweet.*Analeight Tipton- From the film "Crazy Stupid Love" and incredibly charming.*Kate Flannery- from the TV show "The Office" and very sweet.*Ken Davitian- from the film "Borat ..." and a nice guy.*Christopher McDonald- best known from the movie "Happy Gilmore" and a cool guy.*John Stamos- best known from the TV show "Full House" and a really nice guy.*Tiffani Thiessen- from the TV show "Saved by the Bell" and really sweet.*Rupert Murdoch- the head honcho of 20th Century Fox, not just the film or TV but the whole company and a great guy.*Thomas Jane- from the show "Hung" and a nice guy.*Matthew Lillard- from the "Scooby-Doo" movies and a very cool guy.*Anne Heche- best know for "6 Days 7 Nights" and other films and was very sweet.*Michael Hitchcock- from movies like "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," very nice guy.*Tim Bagley- from the film "Employee of the Month" and a nice guy.*Mireille Enos- from the TV series "The Killing" and very nice.*Ewan McGregor- from so many great films such as "Robots" and "Black Hawk Dawn," very nice guy.*Rob Huebel- from all kinds of shows such as "Children's Hospital" and a cool guy.*Geoff Stults- from the new TV show "The Finder" and a great guy.*Sara Paulson- from the TV show "American Horror Story" and was nice.*Kathleen Robertson- from the original TV show "90210" and now "Boss," very sweet.*Connie Britton- from the TV show "Friday Night Lights" and was very nice.I'm tired!At the movies:
Not a huge surprise at the box office as the arrival Contraband takes top honors with a decent 24.1 million for its debut. Coming back to the big screen and in 3D is the re-issue of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" with 18.5 mil, sort of the same formula they did for "The Lion King" last Fall. Slight drop to #3 is "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" with an extra 11.5 mil as it goes to a crawl to reach 200 mil cume. New at #4 is Joyful Noise with 11.4 mil for its debut. Rounding off the top 5 is "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" with an additional 8.4 mil as it also continues to crawl and try to make the 200 mil cume but might come up short, too early to tell.Quote of the week:"Do not tell your problems to people: eighty percent do not care and the other twenty percent are glad you have them." - Lou Holtz
Other News:This is both a funny and interesting list I came across ... Top 10 Terrible TV Parents ... #10: Hank Hill from "King of the Hill" - I never watch this show because I didn't care for both the animation or the background setting ... plus when I did watch it, it wasn't funny and really boring. #9: Lois from "Malcolm in the Middle" - I enjoyed this show and I thought Lois and Hal were great parents that played off each other. #8: Frank and Marie Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond" - I don't think they were terrible but more just really much older parents but in fact they were grandparents in the show. #7: Rochelle from "Everybody Hates Chris" - never seen the show so can't really say. #6: Evelyn Harper from "Two and a Half Men" - yet another show I have never seen. #5: Don and Betty Draper from "Mad Men" - do not watch this show. #4: Peter and Lois Griffin from "Family Guy" - simply Peter is not a parent but more of a special education child but Lois seems to keep it together. #3: Homer Simpsons from "The Simpsons" - I disagree, he is a good father ... not great. #2: Al and Peggy Bundy from "Married with Children" - agree on this but poor Al, he had tough breaks after his short lived high school football career. #1: Jon and Kate Gosselin from "Jon and Kate Plus 8" - This is the only one on the list who are not fictional ... yes, these people exist but I do have to say that Kate Gosselin is definitely a fame-whore and her 15 minutes ended years ago but yet the reality TV world has kept her famous ... why people?!Facts & Tips:
Some bears build nests in trees for sunbathing and resting."What's up, Stanley?" - Tommy 'Tiny' Lister as Deebo in "Friday."
Kind of an odd week. Being back home in SoCali and it feels like a cool summer!! The temps during the day have been close to the 80's and night drops down to around the 50's. This is so strange and we are technically a couple weeks in to Winter now ... Winter where?!Weekly Update:
This past week felt extremely short to me which I did not mind at all. I had to get a double root canal on Tuesday and after that I was pretty knocked out for the rest of the day. The reason I had to get the double was because an old root canal I received about 7 years ago from a general dentist went bad. And because it went bad, it infected the tooth next to it! This time I went to an Endodontist which is a specialist for oral surgery. I can not recommend going to a specialist over a general dentist when it comes to this. The surgery itself was pretty quick and painless, just the feel of my jaw after the Novocaine wore off, it was pretty sore. Had a little upset stomach too but that went away after a little bit. Then on Wednesday, I went back into the office of over a week away and working remotely. I can honestly say I do NOT feel rested at all and I think it might have something to do with my tooth issue. It didn't necessarily hurt, just the majority of time made resting uncomfortable. Well, maybe next year.
At the movies:Horror kicks off the first full weekend at the box office as The Devil Inside scares up top honors with a hefty 35 million. Holding strong at #2 is "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" with 20.5 mil and now up to 170 mil cume. Also holding at #3 is "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" with 14.1 mil as it passes the 150 mil cume. At #4 is "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" earns 11.3 mil as it gets closer to the 100 mil cume mark. Rounding off the top 5 is "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" earns 9.5 mil as it passes the 100 mil cume mark.Quote of the week:"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - W.H. MurrayOther News:
Here is a list for those gamers out there ... which I am one of! This is a classic ... top 10 Intellivision games, I am assuming of all time, so let's check it out. For those who wonder what Intellivision is, a console gaming system that came out after Atari which was suppose to rival it in the 1980's. It had a spin disk on the controller with a number bad while Atari had just the joystick with one red button. At #10: Diner - I do not remember this one but it looks like a human cook fighting off food. #9: Beauty & The Beast - Another one I don't remember, I believe based on the old TV show. #8: BurgerTime - This one I do remember and it was a cook avoiding burgers! #7: Thin Ice - Another I don't remember! But it looks like a penguin taking out other Artic animals. #6: Worm Whomper - I vaguely remember this but don't remember playing it. #5: Atlantis - If I remember correctly, you are a futuristic craft battling to save the sea city of Atlantis. #4: Bump 'n' Jump - don't remember this one either, car game with derby like action. #3: Demon Attack - some kind of craft trying to save the planet from demons from space! 2: Lock 'n' Chase - This I do remember, fun basic game of you being the robber as you are chased by Keystone style cops. #1: Astrosmash -a sort of Space Invaders version and it was so-so. The one game that did not make this list that I enjoyed the most and remember the most is B-17 Bomber. It was a WWII flight game but you can fly and shoot fighter planes as you make your way to the target and then you have to drop your bombs and hit. It had classic lines like, "That was our target ..." as you missed. Loved this game!
Facts & Tips:Antarctica is the only continent with no owls."P-p-please, Eddie! Don't throw me out. Don't you realize you're making a big mistake? I didn't kill anybody. I swear! The whole thing's a set up. A scam, a frame job. Ow! Eddie, I could never hurt anybody. Oow! My whole purpose in life is to make... people... laugh!" - Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
NEW YEAR'S EDITIONSo ends another year and thus begins the one that is suppose to end the world ... simply because an ancient calendar from South America did not go any further. Do you think that maybe it didn't go any further was because they simply thought they had it covered long enough and will add more later if they got around to it but never did because they were conquered by the Spaniards? Or perhaps the one who started the calendar died before he could continue or pass it on to someone else ... I think the least plausible is because the world is ending ... but it sure does make for good disaster movie-making and it also brings out the freaks so you know who to avoid.
Weekly Update:Tiring week but I think that is mostly due to lack of sleep and trying to catch up on it. Still went to bed later than I should and woke up a little later than normal but not by much. The big drain was the long drive home from SF but made it just under 7 hours with 3 stops along the way which the first one took longer than the rest. So overall not bad with some minor traffic pockets ... I think I could have done it in 6 otherwise. I don't understand while traveling interstate and with signs every so often that people do not understand the concept of SLOWER VEHICLES TO THE RIGHT. I think that alone took me almost an extra hour because when you finally get by that traffic block of cars, you make your pit stop, they catch up to you that you have to go through them again. Simple rules are so hard to understand I guess.At the movies:
The spy action continues to dominate the holiday box office as "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" contains the #1 spot with another 31.3 million as it passes the 134 mil cume. Holding ground at #2 is "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" with an additional 22.1 mil as it also passes the 130 mil cume. Still singing a tune at #3 is "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" with 18.3 mil as it is very close to hitting the 100 mil cume. What is with all these titles with sub:titles?! Making a charge at #4 is "War Horse" which opened on Christmas Day earns 16.9 mil with this period piece drama. Rounding off the top 5 is "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" earning another 16.3 mil, uncertain at this stage if it will make it to 100 mil or not.Quote of the week:"People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for Spring." - Rogers Hornsby
Other News:I was thinking of reflecting on the past year of 2011 and then I came to the realization, there is way too much to do so! From the celebrities who passed away to historical events such as finding Osama Bin Laden make 2011 (as well as any other year) so significant that to do it justice would require way to much to write. I could just reflect on the most memorable but I know I will leave something out which might have equal importance but at this very moment of typing, it slips the mind ... even for a blink of an eye. So how to do justice to a reflection of another year gone by? I don't know nor I don't think I should spend the time to try and remember because that alone would require days! I think to do it the most justice and respect ... spend 2012 reflecting upon 2011 and always remembering the other years past. Some memories may come faster than others but give it time, they will come. With that, I leave you 2011 to your own memories and symbolizing all of this is the Reflecting Pool.Facts & Tips:
Manufacturing recycled goods uses up to 95% less energy than using raw materials."Your father was the creator." -Olivia Wilde as Quorra in "Tron: Legacy."
It is kind of neat driving down the 60 freeway here in Los Angeles and as you go from West to East, at night you can see a line of airplanes heading into LAX. I am sure pilot's utilize the freeways a s guide into the airport and as one passes over you, in the distance another comes into view as it makes its final approach. I wonder if there are other things like that in other major airports pilots can use to guide them in visually.
Other News:
