Can't say the weather has been nice, just crazy! Had a couple of days in the middle of the week where it felt like a mild summer and then it rained and then it went back to being the start of winter (well, winter as far as Southern California goes anyway). Not sure what to expect this coming week, more rain? cold? I would check the weather report but it is clearly accurate about 10% of the time these days. I thought our technology allowed for us to get a better grasp of what is to come and what to expect with a high degree of accuracy? I see 50% and 30% a lot, that doesn't seem accurate at all to me but just a wild guess really by looking out the windy and opening it.
Weekly Update:
So I can't even remember what I did this week ... I remember fighting off a cold and it was a win-loss fight. I think I did get a cold but was able to defeat it early instead of having it for more than 2 days. So that is a win yet a loss in my book. I thought I could fend it off but oh well. I had some business meetings in the middle of the week and one of them was unexpected so to avoid traffic (they were in the Studio City area), I went to the 1337 Lounge Live to wait it out and play some video games. What is funny is the night I went, they ended up having a pretty cool guest who is on the Conan Show from time-to-time and does their web marketing. He was pretty funny and bought us all pizza since he was hungry himself. The night turned out pretty cool and glad I swung by there to just chill out. The rest of the week, a blur to me.
At the movies:
No surprises this week, not even with the gross of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as it burns in a nice 161.3 million for its debut, making records as far as November releases go. As most predicted, a 150+ mil opener and with the solid word-of-mouth for even folks on the line with this film, this could be a nice 300 mil domestic box office. At a distance second, "Thor: The Dark World" earns 14.1 mil but is still on track to break 200 mil domestic. Average drop to #3 is "The Best Man Holiday" with another 12.5 mil. New at #4, probably came out for potential counter-programming but didn't work, is The Delivery Man with only 8.2 mil for its debut. Rounding off the top 5 (and sure to be its last time there) is "Free Birds" earning another 5.3 mil, probably will cap out around 60 mil but industry experts have it higher ... I don't know.
Quote of the week:
"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." - Buddha
Facts & Tips:
There are 21 "secret" highways that are part of the Interstate Highway System. They are not identified as such by road signs.
"It just goes from bad to worse." - Jamil Walker Smith as Master Sgt. Ronald Greer in the TV series "SGU Stargate Universe."
Hot and cold, mass crazy weather is upon us. So during the week it got extremely warm for some reason, almost 90 degrees and then the weekend it drops to below 70. All the nights were cold but those two random days where the weather reached high temps is pretty confusing for this time of year. Then the Philippines gets hit with a tremendous typhoon that leaves over 2,000 dead and thousands more missing. It also has left 1.9 million people homeless as aid from around the world comes in to help restore basic systems like plumbing, providing food and clothing. So many are displaced, missing and lost ... both mother nature and the Earth must be telling us something because in the US, certain parts of the mid-west got hit with tornadoes. The Mid-West is no comparison to what happened in the Philippines but a lot of insane weather patterns have erupted around the world or it feels like it is.
Weekly Update:
I had an incredibly insane week ... and I am glad it is over. But let me see if I can recap this ... Basically the insanity started on Wednesday when I visited the 1337 Lounge Live again but this time it was for the Stan Lee Twitterathon as they tried to get him to 1 million followers. I had brought in some guests to help with the event but while there met:
*Isaiah Mustafa - best know for Old Spice commericials but has been dabbling in other projects and a nice guy.
Then on Thursday I ended up doing some modeling ... ?? whaaaa? No, not building models but wearing different clothes, having make-up and then walking back and forth on a raised platform that had grass on it while the photographer took pictures. It was a real bizarre time and I thought I was doing a favor for a friend AND expecting to do other things like move boxes or hold a light or something. I should always ask "what will I be doing" rather than just saying "sure, where and when?" But it was interesting and fun and they fed me so I am good to go. Follow that with Friday when I then had another Stan Lee event for an art show. The place was tiny and way crowded but turned into a decent event. I got a quick pic with a couple of folks:
*Mari Iijima - best known for the voice of Lynn Minmay from the original Macross anime show and very sweet.
*Robert Trujillo - from the band Metallica and a great guy.
At the movies:
Big race at the box office but in the end, Thor remained at #1 for it's second weekend. With a moderate drop from last week, "Thor 2: The Dark World" earns another 38.5 million with a cume of 147 mil for the first 10-days. Showing up with a huge #2 opening is The Best Man Holiday which had a very strong Friday night and earns a very solid 30.9 mil for its debut. At #3 for the third week with a low drop is "Last Vegas" with an additional 8.5 mil. Also small drop to #4 is "Free Birds" with 8.3 mil more as we quickly approach Thanksgiving. Rounding off the top 5 is "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" with a nice week earning 7.7 mil as it closes in at the 100 mil cume and should get it by the end of the month or right after.
Quote of the week:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." - Mark Twain
Facts & Tips:
There is a town called Jackpot in Nevada.
"What will I do ... (singing)" - Elya Baskin as Nikolai Appolanov in the TV series "Northern Exposure."
VETERAN'S DAY EDITION
Another holiday but how many realize it? Yep it is Veteran's day today, another day to celebrate and remember those who have and are currently serving in our Armed Forces. The sacrifice they have made so we can enjoy our way of life and freedoms. Many say we don't have much in terms of freedoms, they should go abroad and compare. But in order to protect those many freedoms they think we have or not, it all comes to those who gave up a part of their life to ensure we maintain what we have. So please do not forget them and above all, respect them.
Weekly Update:
What a crazy long weekend it was. The week itself was OK, bunch of errands and running around but the weekend was VERY long. I went to Blizzard Entertainments BlizzCon for the first time which is the convention in Anaheim that is solely for Blizzard and their games. Blizzard only has three active games right now which are World of Warcraft (WoW), StarCraft (SC) and Diablo 3 (D3) which are all immensely popular and by having their own convention, that should prove it right there! This convention is one the VERY rare ones that sell out within an hour of the tickets going on sale. It sold out so fast this year, they created "Virtual Tickets" so people can watch it live stream online. Yes, people paid $40 to watch a convention online and see people talk and play games ... is this crazy or just me?? But I got to go this year since I had to help someone with a panel and it was pretty fun. Didn't get to play much but what I did I really enjoyed. While there, I did run into a couple people I knew plus a new one:
*Keone Young - does the main voice in the new WoW expansion and a very cool guy.
At the movies:
BOOM!!! The season is upon us! Disney/Marvel's Thor: The Dark World starts off with a resounding 86.1 million for the holiday weekend with Monday still left to go. Should post just north of 90 million easily. The sequel has very solid reactions which will mean a good hold-over for next week. Still holding solid ground is "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" with another 11.3 mil as it closes in on the 100 mil cume ... it may just fall short of it I think. With no other competition in the market place, "Free Birds" earns another 11.2 mil. Decent hold for it's 2nd week is "Last Vegas" with another 11.1 mil as the exploits of the senior crowd has fun in Vegas. Rounding off the top 5 is "Ender's Game" with a significant drop and earning another 10.3 mil.
Quote of the week:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please." - Mark Twain
Facts & Tips:
Between 1979 and 1999, the planet Neptune was farther from the Sun than Pluto. This will happen again in 2227.
"Came back to help me?? Came back to help yourself ... to my husband." - Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing in the TV series "Dallas."
DST EDITION
That's right, it is that TIME this of year where ... this is about my favorite time of year! Where we set our clocks back one hour! I woke up Sunday morning thinking, "HEY, I get an extra hour, snooze it is!!!" and did exactly that. As of late, certainly has been one thing to look forward to oddly enough. I do like it when it gets darker sooner than later, I don't know that is but I just do. This is becoming like my Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year all rolled up into one. Is that just weird or sad??
Weekly Update:
This past weekend was BUSY! Worked on so many various things for Stan Lee's Comikaze. Between charity and clients, it was just non-stop and rush rush rush for me. Saturday I knew was going to be crazy but not to the level that occurred. So many requests for this and that came in, talk about last minute and on the spot but managed to make it happen thankfully. I will always try to do what I can and thankful I have had a decent track record thus so far. But in the process of everything, I got to at least catch up with some cool people and grab some pics:
*Veronica Taylor - voice from various Pokemon stuff and just a terrific lady.
*Lori Petty - "Tank Girl," "League of Their Own" and "Point Break" and very nice.
*Elizabeth Daily - best known as E.G. Daily from "Rugrats" and "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and super cool.
*Sebastian Bach - rock and roller from Skidrow and a cool guy.
*Wesley Eure - from the classic TV show "Land of the Lost" and cool guy.
*Keahu Kahuanui - from the current TV series "Teen Wolf" and a very cool guy!
*Peter Shinkoda - from various movies and shows and a pretty nice guy.
*Bodie Olmos - son of Edward James Olmos and from "Battlestar Galactica," really cool guy.
*Michael Hogan - also from "Battlestar Galactica" and a very sweet man.
*Alyssa Milano - from "Who's the Boss" and "Charmed" and amazingly awesome.
At the movies:
When you know the ending to the movie, that might actually effect the box office! Lionsgate Ender's Game took the box office crown this weekend with a quiet 28 million for its debut. I am sure not what everyone was expecting thinking they had the next tween audience franchise with the young cast but the older audience, who actually know the books, I guess skipped out when the ending is shown in the trailer. This 110+ million budgeted film will unfortunately fall very short of breaking even theatrically. Holding some ground at #2 is "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" with another 20.5 mil as it closes that gap to the 100 mil cume mark ... it could hit it! Showing up in third place is the senior film of Last Vegas with a good 16.5 mil having veteran cast of DeNiro, Freeman, Kline and Douglas. All the money on this film clearly went into casting but it should do well overall. New at #4 is Free Birds with 16.2 mil and for some reason ... I thought this film was later in November, like closer to Thanksgiving seeing as it is a film about turkeys. Rounding off the top 5 is "Gravity" with another 13.1 mil as it now passes the 200 mil cume mark and should cap out just about 250 domestic. Clearly the Fall winner at the box office!
Quote of the week:
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tsu
Facts & Tips:
Karate originated in India.
"Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty... For tonight, we dine in hell!" - Gerard Butler as Spartan King Leonidas in "300."
Can't say the weather has been nice, just crazy! Had a couple of days in the middle of the week where it felt like a mild summer and then it rained and then it went back to being the start of winter (well, winter as far as Southern California goes anyway). Not sure what to expect this coming week, more rain? cold? I would check the weather report but it is clearly accurate about 10% of the time these days. I thought our technology allowed for us to get a better grasp of what is to come and what to expect with a high degree of accuracy? I see 50% and 30% a lot, that doesn't seem accurate at all to me but just a wild guess really by looking out the windy and opening it.
So I can't even remember what I did this week ... I remember fighting off a cold and it was a win-loss fight. I think I did get a cold but was able to defeat it early instead of having it for more than 2 days. So that is a win yet a loss in my book. I thought I could fend it off but oh well. I had some business meetings in the middle of the week and one of them was unexpected so to avoid traffic (they were in the Studio City area), I went to the 1337 Lounge Live to wait it out and play some video games. What is funny is the night I went, they ended up having a pretty cool guest who is on the Conan Show from time-to-time and does their web marketing. He was pretty funny and bought us all pizza since he was hungry himself. The night turned out pretty cool and glad I swung by there to just chill out. The rest of the week, a blur to me.
At the movies:
Facts & Tips:
