Monday, November 24, 2014

I am not sure where I am anymore.  It got warm again this week, in the mid to high 80's and it is November?  I am just not sure.  The nights are fine, low 60's to mid 50's which seems good but the days have been very warm, a bit windy but most of all, very dry.  I guess the dry weather would be fine if it was crisp and cold but it isn't so it doesn't make sense.  I don't know how this effects our drought but I am sure it can't be good ... cold doesn't mean moisture, dry sure doesn't but are we using less water in this case?  Probably not less but just the same.  WE NEED RAIN.

 Weekly Update:
This past week turned out pretty busy for me with super early mornings and late nights but what else is new.  We had a planned power outage for Saturday night to Monday morning, it was supposed to be from 10PM to 6AM, quiet a gap if you ask me.  I was watching TV and figured I would knock some recorded shows out of the way till it happened and it went off at exactly 10:30.  I wasn't that tired yet so dug up the old PSP and watched a movie on that but then I feel asleep and towards the end of the movie couldn't figure out how to turn it off, I was so sleepy I guess.  I kept hitting buttons and stuff and all I ended up doing was hitting chapter searches and ended up back at the start of the movie.  I finally figured it out in my half sleep gaze and went back to sleep.  The power came back on about 5:45AM, they sure did use up that time they said they would.  Then I went back to sleep and tried to get some extra rest for a few more hours.

 At the movies:
Let the Box Office Winter Games begin ... as "Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I" takes the crown this week with a hefty 123 million for it's debut.  Actually a bit under expectations but more than enough to be the biggest opening of the year surpassing Transformers from this past Summer.  A good hold onto #2 is "Big Hero 6" with 20.1 mil extra as this climbs it's way to a possible 200 mil cume.  Still flying high at #3 is "Interstellar" with 15.1 mil as this finally breaks the 100 mil cume mark.  Drop down to #4 is "Dumb and Dumber To" with 13.8 mil as it slowly makes a run for the 100 mil mark but I think it may fall short of it.  Rounding off the top 5 and still going after 8 week is "Gone Girl" with 2.8 mil more.

 Quote of the week:
"Only in bed you can be slow, everywhere else you work hard and fast." - Janusz Kaminski, ASC

 Facts & Tips:
A spider's silk is stronger than steel.

 "You don't appreciate the chaos and absurdity of life on this planet. You don't understand irony, or ethnicity, or eccentricity, or poetry, or the simple joy of being a regular at the diner on your block. I love that. You don't drink coffee or alcohol. You don't over eat. You don't cry when you're alone. You don't understand sarcasm. You plod through life in a neat, colorless, caffeine free, dairy free, conflict free way. I'm bold and angry and tortured and tremendous and I notice when someone has changed their hair part, or when someone is wearing two very distinctly different shades of black or when someone changes the natural temperament of their voice on the phone. I don't give out empty praise. I'm not complacent or well-adjusted. I can't spend fifteen minutes breathing and stretching and getting in touch with myself. I can't spend three minutes finishing an article. I check my answering machine nine times every day and I can't sleep at night because I feel that there is so much to do and fix and change in the world, and I wonder every day if I am making a difference and if I will ever express the greatness within me, or if I will remain forever paralyzed by muddled madness inside my head. I've wept on every birthday I've ever had because life is huge and fleeting and I hate certain people and certain shoes and I feel that life is terribly unfair and sometimes beautiful and wonderful and extraordinary but also numbing and horrifying and insurmountable and I hate myself a lot of the time. The rest of the time I adore myself and I adore my life in this city and in this world we live in. This huge and wondrous, bewildering, brilliant, horrible world." - Jennifer Westfeldt as Jessica Stein in "Kissing Jessica Stein."

posted by McDuck @ 01:12 0 comments

Monday, November 17, 2014

Did I see some rain??  Are we heading into our traditional raining season (despite not getting it last year)??  We need the rain but will we get enough?  My car needs a wash!  But the rain we received was early in the morning and very little, just enough to get the ground wet.  But I just hope it is the start of bigger and better dark clouds.  Kind of funny hoping for rainy weather but when you live in a desert, you want the water and lots of it otherwise everything just dries up and dies.  I just hope we are not in store for another dry winter because it is such an issue and problem that has been going on for the past 20 years in Southern California that it will take probably 5 years of good rainy seasons to recover from it, probably more as the population keeps growing the rate it does.

 Weekly Update:
What in the world did I do this week??  I don't think I did anything ... Tuesday was nice, no traffic anywhere due to Veteran's Day.  Kind of weird having it on a Tuesday rather than a Monday to make a three day week of it for people but at the same time, it is kind of nice to have a little broken up week.  I found this cute and inspiring picture which is just to the side ... looks like veterans on a hill with a younger generation saluting them but what I find funny is the quote they choose to use for it ... "Never was so much owed by so many to so few ... " by Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the United Kingdom during World War II.  A British quote used for a US image.  I know they are allies but still, we couldn't find a US persons quote to use?  But thanks to all vets ... they deserve more than just a day.

 At the movies:
Not to dumb to take the crown this weekend as "Dumb and Dumber To" earns the #1 spot with 38.1 for it's debut.  Just above expectations and word-of-mouth is fair on it.  Could potentially crack the 100 mil mark when it is said and done too.  Holding ground at #2 is "Big Hero 6" with 36 mil more and has broken the 100 mil ceiling as expected with a nice 111.7 mil cume so far.  Potentially 200 mil?  Also holding ground is "Interstellar" with another 29.2 mil and it is just shy of 100 mil but should hit it by Tuesday the latest.  New at #4 is "Beyond the Lights" with 6.5 mil and almost spot on for expectations.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Gone Girl" with 4.6 mil and hanging in the overall top 10 for the last 7 weeks in release!

Quote of the day:
"The best we can do is lean toward the light." - Joseph Campbell

Facts & Tips:
The pound sign, or #, is called an octothorp.

"Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig. Does whatever a Spider-Pig does. Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a pig. Look out! He is the Spider-Pig!" - Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson in "The Simpson Movie."

posted by McDuck @ 01:22 0 comments

Monday, November 10, 2014

That is strange, it got warm again during the days last week, in the 90's but the nights dropped so fast to the low 60's.  We are not use to this kind of climate change plus we are not use to having it so hot during this time but then again, this whole year has been a mess on so many different levels.  This isn't normal, something is happening and if people do not believe in global warming then they are incredibly blind.  I am not saying this is 100% the root of the problem but it is at least the main cause along with many other factors.  The resources are being used rapidly and the waste is piling up fast ... we are out of balance but what can we do?  Recycle should be mandatory for all businesses for at least paper.  I think that alone would reduce and reuse so incredibly much.  It is great that companies do that voluntarily but it simply isn't enough.

 Weekly Update:
Had a pretty busy week last week and to top it off, the weekend ended with BlizzCon, the annual convention that is specifically for Blizzard Entertainment and their properties which till Friday was only about 5 but now has jumped to 6
along with a movie in the works.  But the overall event was pretty cool, I got to meet a friend of an old friend as well as reunite two friends who have not seen each other in over 20 years ...

 *Tony Amendola - best know for his roles in the Stargate series and a super incredible guy.
*James Hetfield - lead singer for the band Metallica and I have met him before and spent almost 14 hours with him during SDCC when I was working on the film "Metallica Through the Never."  Great guy!
*Chris Hardwick - know amongst geeks as one of the Nerdest and host of many programs such as "The Talking Dead" which is a post "The Walking Dead" episode rap show.  Very cool guy.

 At the movies:
A new superhero flies big at the box office as "Big Hero 6" breaks the slump.  Coming in at #1 with a hefty 56.2 million, this one was on par with estimations.  Not to be out-done, the new sci-fi "Interstellar" also rockets at the box office with a debut of 50 mil, again as expected at the box office and word-of-mouth on both films is very strong.  Holding on to #3 is "Gone Girl" with another 6.1 mil as it makes it's way to 150 mil cume and should have it by the end of the week.  Drop to #4 is "Ouija" with another 6 mil and probably the last time we see it in the top 5.  Rounding off the top 5 is "St. Vincent" with 5.7 mil as it increased both in screens and gross from it's previous limited run.

 Quote of the week:
"More and more of our imports come from overseas." - George W. Bush

 Facts & Tips:
"Disco" means "I learn" in Latin.

 "All right, you two, up against the wall!  I don't know what you want but you should know I've killed a lot old people in my time.  And I'm not above doing it again." - Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever in the TV series "WKRP in Cincinnati."

posted by McDuck @ 01:54 0 comments

Monday, November 03, 2014

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME!!!

 My favorite time of year!  How sad is that?  But honestly, I do like it that it gets darker sooner than later and that we get that extra hour of sleep.  I mean I still work up what I thought was 8 but was now 7AM but knowing I could go back to sleep for nothing was still a nice feeling ... the POWER of time!  The one time we get it and must use it for good.  Unlike that nasty Spring where they take the hour away from us, strip us of this super power ... but to have it back.  Silly?!  Foolish mortal, this isn't silly, it is power!  POWER!!!  Ok, maybe it is a bit silly but it sounds like a lot of fun and still, I will take it because I like time but time doesn't like me.

 Weekly Update:
Had a very busy week and glad it is over but looking ahead to this week, going to be just as busy I think!!!  The days in general were hectic and had to deal with another sick dog.  Shadow got sick again but it is her own fault for getting into a bag of what we believe was a bad bag of dog food.  We know it was her because she would do that plus she got sick before eating a foster's food which is the same food she got into.  So poop everywhere again, fun times.  But then Saturday was a long busy day at the annual Stan Lee Comikaze convention.  It was bigger this year from last year and managed to snap some pics with some cool folks:

 *Jamie Bamber - I know him best for the "Horatio Hornblower" mini-series but a very cool guy!
*Gwendoline Christie - best known as Brienne of Tarth from "Game of Thrones" and super nice!
*Jewel Staite - from "Stargate: Atlantis" and very nice.
*Alex Borstein - from "MadTV" and "Family Guy" and very nice.

 At the movies:
Not the superhero but the movie, "Nightcrawler" wins the weekend with 10.9 million for it's debut.  Below expectations but still enough to get the crown.  Should cap out around mid 20 mil when it is all said and done.  Drop to #2 is "Ouija" with another 10.9 mil, just shy of taking #1 but to be honest, it may have been #1 but Universal may have conceded the week.  Hanging on to #3 is "Fury" with an extra 9 mil as it continues to roll along.  Still going strong at #4 is "Gone Girl" with 8.8 mil extra as it keeps heading to that 150 mil cume mark.  Rounding off the top 5 is "The Book of Life" with another 8.3 mil as it struggles to get to 50 mil cume.
New movies that did not make the top 5:
Two but honestly it should be just one ... "Before I Go To Sleep" comes in at #14 with only 2 mil which is pretty bad.  New comer Clarius Entertainment hitting solid ... brick on that one.  Re-issue 10th Anniversary "Saw" comes in at #21 with only 650k which is extremely below expectations for both films but Halloween fell on that Friday, people do not go to the movie theatre on the day of the event typically.

 Quote of the week:
"Only in bed you can be slow, everywhere else you work hard and fast." - Janusz Kaminski, ASC

 Facts & Tips:
The smallest mammal in the world is the bumblebee bat, which weighs less than a penny.

 "Reno is a lot like Mayberry on the TV except that everyone's on crystal meth and prostitution's legal. " - Robert
Ben Garant as Deputy Travis Junior in "Reno 911!: Miami."

posted by McDuck @ 01:55 0 comments