Monday, June 24, 2013

I'm not sure what is up with the weather but I am not complaining!  We are in mid to late June and it has been like Spring/Fall weather.  Easy temps in the high 70's to low 80's and the nights a cool 60.  Are we in for a scorching July and August?!  I sure hope not and we just stay around these temps all summer long, now that would be just great!  Well, I am sure it will heat up soon, I just know it with my luck but I will enjoy this cool weather while I can ... sure saves on the overall electric bill.

Weekly Update:
Pretty busy week, seems like its starting up to be just crazy for the next few weeks for me.  Hope I don't lose too much sleep going forward but we will see.  The week itself started off slow but then on Friday attended a little event at a shop that was entirely Harry Potter themed in Los Angeles.  It was a small and one of the host did not show up which I thought was odd in itself.  But otherwise got to see some old friends and made some new ones which was cool.  I did grab a quick photo with:

*Cassandra Peterson - Best known as "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" and a nice lady.

At the movies:
No major surprises at the box office as the animated prequel takes the crown!  In at #1 is Monster University with a strong 82 million for its debut.  Coming in with a nice second place is the sci-fi action film World War Z with 66 mil.  Average drop to #3 is "Man of Steel" with an extra 41.2 mil as it passes the 200 mil cume mark.  Slight drop to #4 is "This is the End" with 13 mil more.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Now You See Me" with 7.9 mil as it closes in to that 100 mil cume mark.

Quote of the week:
"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." - Theodore Hesburgh

Other News:
Sad news this week as Hollywood loses a rising icon ... actor James Gandolfini passed away on Wednesday from an apparent heart attack.  Gandolfini is best known as mobster boss Tony Soprano on the hit show "Soprano's" which ran from 1999 to 2007 with great success.  Playing the family boss gave him his mark on the Hollywood nut.  Gandolfini was in Italy on vacation and attending a film festival when he suffered the heart attack.  He also played a Warden of a military prison opposite Robert Redford in "The Last Castle" and most recently the CIA Director in "Zero Dark Thirty."  Also notable roles include "Killing Them Softly" with Nicholas Cage, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" with Denzel Washington and "All the King's Men" with Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopskins and Kate Winslet.  James Gandolfini was 51.

Facts & Tips:
The weight of the moon is 81 billion tons.

"Chaiwalah! Well ladies and gentlemen, Jamal Malik, garma garam chai dene walah from Mumbai, lets play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire!" - Anil Kapoor as Prem Kumar in "Slumdog Millionaire."

Monday, June 17, 2013

June gloom ... I love it!  What does it mean?  Basically when we have constant over cast (or marine layer of clouds) throughout the day in the month of June.  I think it has something to do with the weather fronts and forming an excess of clouds that cover the southland.  Why do I love it?  So far this June it has kept us pretty cool.  With the sun blocked, I think it would have been much warmer than it is by at least 10 degrees.  We did have one day which was pretty humid but otherwise, very nice weather!  Probably hanging in the  mid to low 70's which is great.  Despite little to know sun, it has been great weather to spend outside.

Weekly Update:
Kind of a cool week, had a bunch of meetings but that wasn't the cool part.  On Monday I saw in the first recording session for the upcoming "Kung Fu Panda 3" movie.  No official title so it will just be known as KFP3 till they get going and the film isn't due out till December of 2015!!!!  So we have to wait a whole year and a half (at least) till we see the finished product.  The storyboards looked amazing and I can't wait to see it already!  DreamWorks in general has really stepped it up with solid story telling.  The Animation was always there (for the most part) but a lot of times the stories were not that strong ... 90% commercial and 10% heart.  Now it seems there is a shift the other way, perhaps to stay on par with Pixar and Disney?  I don't know but they are getting pretty good though.

At the movies:
Cue John Williams music score ... the reboot of the classic "Superman" franchise Man of Steel opens to fly away with the box office on a 125.1 million cume.  Word-of-mouth is very strong on this one and this reboot looks to be a SUPER success!  Coming in at #2 with a two-day jump on the weekend (Wednesday opening) is the comedy This Is The End with an all star comedy cast playing themselves earning a decent 32.8 mil for the 5-day.  Slight drop to #3 is "Now You See Me" with another 10.3 mil as it approaches the 100 mil cume mark.  Hanging on to #4 is "Fast & Furious 6" with 9.4 mil as it races past 200 mil cume.  Rounding off the top 5 with a big drop is "The Purge" with another 8.2 mil

Quote of the week:
"Email is a to-do list given to you by other people." - Alexia Tsotsis

Other News:

Top 10 Influential People Who Never Lived ... here is an pretty interesting list topic I came across.  #10) Santa Claus - this one is pretty obvious and he is known as many different things in different regions and cultures but he brings out the best in folks ... most of the time. #9) Barbie - having changed over the decades as the times changed. #8) Robin Hood - a nice myth that was around during a dark time in England.  Some believe he did exist which can be possible but no definitive proof has ever surfaced. #7) Cowboys - the idea of the man on a horse with a six shooter roaming the frontier never really existed but aren't those folks more considered drifters? #6) The Marlboro Man - the rugged and outdoor look of a cowboy causing lung cancer in millions. #5) Rosie the Riveter (pictured) - used to inspire woman during W.W.II to support and do their part for the war effort. #4) Daedalus and Icarus - story of the flight of man. #3) The Little Engine That Could - inspirational children's story that despite the struggles, you can do it if you try. #2) Big Brother - usually implies the government watching over you and seeing everything you do but the original created by George Orwell. #1) Romeo and Juliet - tragic love affair between two families that were at odds but the children defied them with their love and death.

Facts & Tips:
On average a strawberry has 200 seeds on it.

"So much for my bustier." - Jacob Vargas as Abie Quintanilla in "Selenas."

Monday, June 10, 2013

Talk about some nice weather!  I was a little worried because in the start of the week the AC broke down (just a blown capacitor) but I got it fixed Tuesday.  But the nice thing was, the weather was so good!  During the day it stayed in the mid 70's but the breezes were cool and constant!  Night they dropped to mid 60's which can be comfortable but not too cold.  Really lucked out and I was worried since on Saturday it got warm and that is when I discovered the AC not working properly.  I am lucky that was the only hot day last week.  It was nothing but semi-clear skies and nice cool breezes.  NOW, if the rest of the summer can only be this way then it would be the perfect summer!

Weekly Update:
Had a pretty busy week with dog sitting and a lot of service folks coming to the house to fix various things ... the pool motor, AC unit (good thing it wasn't hot this past week!), water main in the house from the street, faucet (hard part to find apparently), outside spigot and .... I think that is it!  I still have a few more things to get done soon but these were the top priorities as the others can be held off a bit.  I do have one thing that is semi-important but not extremely ... it all adds up pretty fast too, sheesh!  But I got my list of 20 things down to 5 so that is pretty good, right?  Sure was a busy week though, and now onto the next one ... I do hope it isn't as crazy, I really do!!  It potentially could be but I hope the stuff mid
-week gets cancelled for me and I can concentrate on other things.  Don't you hate it when folks want you to do something and you just know it will be more problematic than it's worth?  I suppose that happens A LOT and I know many blow things way out of proportion but I'm serious!!  Just saying!

At the movies:
Very interesting weekend and a little surprising.  In at #1 is the suspense-thriller film (and low budget) The Purge with a hefty 36.4 million for its debut.  No one expected this film to reach these kind of numbers for an opening weekend.  Holding ground at #2 is "Fast & Furious 6" with another 19.8 mil as it reaches the 200 mil cume mark.  Good hold at #3 is "Now You See Me" with an extra 19.5 mil.  New at #4 is the comedy The Internship brings in a nice 18.1 mil.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Epic" with an extra 12.1 mil as if slowly approaches 100 mil mark.

Quote of the week:
"A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success." - Robert Purvis

Other News:
Top 10 Toys You Wish Your Mother Never Threw Away ... now let's see how many of these I had or know about ... 10) G.I. Joe "Mickey Mouse" Cobra Commander - this was a mail order item and not sure where the Mickey Mouse comes from but it retailed for 5 "Flag Points" plus 50 cents.  Current Value (CV) is now $300 and I never really got these figures but I wish I had. #9) 1988 Happy Holiday Barbie - never got these either but originally cost $19.99 and CV is $400. #8) Royal Blue Beanie Baby - another toy I never got into but this retailed for $10 and CV is $3005. #7) Star Wars "The Power of The Force" Ewok Combat Playback - I did get Star Wars sets from the original three movies from the 1970's through the 1980's but I don't remember this set at all.  I didn't get many sets, just a couple but this retailed for $17 and CV is $5,998.98 which seems like an odd amount. #6) 1978 Vinyl Caped Jawa - now this I had!  Where is it now? No clue but it retailed at $1.99 (I remembered it being a little higher like 2.98) and now worth $2000 (I'm sure with all original parts and in good condition). #5) 1972 Blythe Doll - say what? Retailed $25 and CV $2000 and up. #4) The Beatnik Bandit (Hot pink version) - no clue on this one but retailed at $.67 cents and CV is $15,250. #3) NTSC Nintendo Stadium Events - I sort of remember this one but never had it.  Retailed for $29.99 and CV is $22,800!  #2) Mego Elastic Batman - They had a Batman version of this?!  I only remember the regular stretch one ... this retailed for $16.99 and goes for $1,100.  #1) Where The Wild Things Are first edition (pictured) - I had this book and looked at it a lot but I have no clue what edition it was or if I even still have it!  Retailed for $3.50 and CV is $20,000!

Facts & Tips:
Approximately 16,500 people in the U.S. go by the last name Lemon.

"See - the Oneders, Lenny." - Johnathon Schaech as Jimmy Mattingly in "That Thing You Do!"

Monday, June 03, 2013

Beat the heat ... go some where that has AC!  It hasn't been terrible but still warm enough that it just makes you want to go somewhere that has AC.  I did that a couple of times this week and also hung out with some friends in the process.  Saved some of my electric bill but I later learned on Saturday my AC isn't even working ... so have to have a service call to see what is wrong because I fear it will be a very hot summer.

Weekly Update:
I can not even remember what I did this week ... did I do anything??  Had a few conference calls I guess ... oh yeah, went to a couple of mixers on Thursday night but that was about it.  OH WAIT, I did a 3 day survey for a friend at Pieology.  It's a kind of cool and hip pizza place near my house and his family is looking into investing in some but information they got was wrong (by my book) from the person asking who they themselves is a franchisee ... did that make any sense?  So they were telling my friend that it is all families that go there.  I was telling my friend, I don't remember seeing hardly any family in there, mostly college kids but I can do some surveys and let you know the results.  As it turns out, I was right!  I probably saw over 50% college and the 2nd largest group was older but in terms of family units, I may have witnessed less than 10 and I was there for 3 different days at different times for an hour each time.  The one thing that did surprise me was the amount of Asians there were that came to the pizza place.  But the first two days I went, it was non-stop packed full of people, lines as long as 30 people but it always moves so they don't mind waiting.  Another interesting thing is there are a ton of eating places in that area from Chipotle to Panera Bread to Burger King and many others but this one really draws them in for some reason.

At the movies:
Speed in deed!  Yet another win for "Fast & Furious 6" as it takes the crown with an extra 34.5 million to add to the 170 mil cume.  It could possibly win a 3rd week in a row!  New at #2 is the suspense-action film Now You See Me with a good solid 28.1 mil for its debut.  New at #3 is the sci-fi action film After Earth with only 27 mil to open.  My sound odd with only 27 mil but the expectations were much higher than what it performed too.  Slight drop to #4 is "Star Trek: Into Darkness" with another 16.4 mil as it makes its way to 200 mil cume, should get there in the next few days.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Epic" earning another 16.4 mil ... this animated film isn't fairing so well as its predecessor "Croods" did.

Quote of the week:
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde

Other News:
Oh now this is a fun list ... Top 10 Most Disastrous Summer Movie Flops ... lets take a look.  10) Catwoman (2004) - Estimated budget of 100 mil and made only 40.2 (US gross).  Never saw the film and no desire to either.  9) Battlefield Earth (2000) - Budget of 44 mil and made 21.  I did see this one ... I can't undo it either! 8) Hudson Hawk (1991) - budget 65 mil and made 17.2 mil.  Saw parts of this and thought it was mildly funny but not great. 7) Gigli (2003) - budget 75 mil and made 6!  Looked bad by just the name of it and considered one of the worst openings ever given its budget. 6) Speed Racer (2008) pictured - budget of 120 mil and made 44m.  Never saw, looked bad by the trailer and I was right. 5) Around the World in 80 Days (2004) - budget 110 mil and made 24 mil.  Saw this and thought it was cute. 4) Stealth (2005) - budget 135 mil and made 32 mil.  Never saw it but this was released due to the popular of Jamie Foxx in the film Ray otherwise this would have never been released theatrically. 3) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) - budget of 137 mil and made 32.1 mil.  Tried to watch this but it was incredibly boring and slow!!! 2) The 13th Warrior (1999) - budget of 160 mil and made 32.7 mil.  Never saw it but heard it was very boring. 1) The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) - budget 100 mil and only made 4.4 mil which pretty much ended Eddie Murphy's career.

Facts & Tips:
The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.

"There's something about movies that always amazes me, their transcendence of time. You can in one second, in one frame, see something that will spark you as divine or genius." - Oliver Stone