Monday, June 27, 2016

The week continued to be very hot but did go to warm which is nice.  Felt like as each day went, the temperature dropped about 5 degrees.  What is funny is that if I drive from where my office is at (about 5 miles away) to home, I can feel it getting cooler by at least 5 degrees.  Funny how a small distance can change in temps so easily.  probably geography base but just funny.  The dogs love car rides, they stick their noses out and it seems like all dogs do that.  I wonder why, do they like the feel of the wind and are prone to car sickness?  Why do they love going on car rides then if they know they will get sick?  I guess it is just a way to get out of the house or home in general to go out exploring.  Dogs are funny that way, their ears flapping behind them and eyes squinting in the sun/wind.  I think being in the car distracts them because they don't seem to bark at things when in motion or even idle but if parked, ANYTHING that walks by the bark at.  On the freeways I drive with the windows closed and they sort of hunker-down till we get off the freeway and I open the window so they can continue their observation.  What is also interesting is they know when I am pulling off the freeway even if its a level off-ramp.  Even when laying down in the car, they just know.

Weekly Update:
Took a visit THE park yesterday with some friends.  I went on a semi-fast ride, the Cars ride that you are racing in Radiator Springs.  It was kind of fun and the turns were not crazy sharp and actually smooth.  I have to be leary of fast rides or risk permanent paralysis from my neck surgery but I think what made this different is you see the turns coming and again, not a sharp turn but a smooth one which helps.  The ups and downs were a bit questionable because you don't see the down part but you see them all ahead of time before you reach them.  That did help but I kind of wish the ride was more of the touring party through Radiator Springs because that was nice.  It would have also been nice if there was a steering wheel handle to sort of hang out to instead of trying to find one.  But other than that the day was pretty good and the company was great.

At the movies:
As predicted, the fishes still win the box office for the 2nd weekend in a row.  Earning another 73.2 million, "Finding Dory" now close to 300 mil in only 10-days and should hit that by the end of this week easily.  Still on track to potentially earn 500 mil domestic cume.  New at #2 is Independence Day: Resurgence earning a respectable 41.6 mil and below expectations.  Slight drop to #3 is "Central Intelligence" with another 18.4 mil and could hit 100 mil when it is said and done.  New at #4 is The Shallows with 16.7 mil and right on expectations.  Also new and rounding off the top 5 is The Free State of Jones with only 7.8 mil and also so close to predictions.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this weekend as The Neon Demon with almost 1,000 runs makes only 610,000 and well below expectations, not even a million.

Quote of the week:
"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Facts & Tips:
Smile more - every two thousands frowns creates one wrinkle.

 "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!" - Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore in "Ghostbusters."

posted by McDuck @ 05:34 0 comments

Monday, June 20, 2016

We are in a heat wave!  Hit some high temps, almost 100 degrees but not quite.  But high 90's so it sure felt like 100 plus degrees.  I heard places in India were 130 degrees?  How is that possible ... I also saw a cool (well, neat) video of someone parking their car in the Arizona heat in the sun, put a cookie sheet with some cookies and baked.  They left it in the car for about 3 hours and had cookies.  I kind of want to try that now.  At least it would be interesting and if it works, neat but I wonder how long the cookie smell would stay in the car?  It may be a nice fragrence to have for awhile but not a long time I wouldn't think.

 Weekly Update:
What happened this past week ... I do not even know anymore.  With all the events I am working on and on top of the extra work hours, I am tired.  I do miss the 4-day work weeks during Summer when we had "Summer Hours" but what was funny about that was its a busy time for the industry.  Why we had Summer hours, not sure.  But I still think a 4-day work week is a good idea even if you work 10 to 11 hours in those 4-days.  Then you get a nice 3-day weekend and I know people who do that.  Is it good?  I think so if you plan accordingly but then I would probably work extra time on one of those 3-days.  I know a lot of law enforcement work 4 days and off 3 and I think some hospitals run on those schedules as well.  It would only make sense those if those 3-days off are consecutive though.  At least to me that makes sense.

 At the movies:
Swimming into the #1 spot is Finding Dory which was expected but earning a hefty 136.2 million wasn't!  This now makes it the highest grossing animated feature opening and also done on a non-holiday weekend! Strong word-of-mouth on the film and should easily coast into a 500 mil domestic cume.  New at #2 is Central Intelligence with 34.5 mil and very close to expectations.  Big drop to #2 is "The Conjuring 2" with an extra 15.6 mil but could possibly still get to 100 mil cume.  Also dropping to #4 is "Now You See Me 2" with 9.7 mil and struggling along unfortunately.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Warcraft" with another 6.5 mil and also struggling.

 Quote of the Week:
"Art is the daughter of freedom." - Friedrich Schiller

 Facts & Tips:
Charlie Chaplin failed to make the finals of a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.

 "I'm gonna catch up with you guys later. I'm gonna have a bathroom... go to the drink... in the bathroom." - Joel David Moore as Owen in "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story."

posted by McDuck @ 05:19 0 comments

Monday, June 13, 2016

Rain??  Well not quite but it did drizzle and mist a lot the last few days.  It was refreshing like a nice mist on a warm Summer day but without the warm.  We need rain though unless we get 365-days of mist then we may become like Seattle and its dreary weather.  But that might be worth it if he helps our drought problem!  But just a few days of heavy rain, we would be good ... for a very short time.  What is funny, reports said thunderstorms and what happened?  Yep, nothing as expected ... weather report and reporters are pretty much useless.  Apps on your phone work just as well and hook them up to some kind of radar device.  Then it will be up to the second probably and definitely more accurate than any thing we see on TV.

 Weekly Update:
It was a pretty busy week but the big part was being in a wedding on Saturday.  We had a rehearsal dinner on Wednesday at a pretty good tasty Filipino restaurant called Max's of Manila.  I did not realize how unhealthy they eat!  Everything was almost fried, lot of fat and all so tasty.  I always thought they would have a lot of fish or seafood but apparently it is mostly pork and chicken.  But it was good and then right after we spent probably another few hours at the church going through everything so it made for a pretty long evening.  But overall the wedding itself was great and fun, hope everyone had a great time too.

 At the movies:
Big surprise as The Conjuring 2 takes the box office crown with 40.4 million.  Well above all expectations and we have not seen a horror film with this kind of numbers in years, especially for a sequel. Word-of-mouth is good on the film and should reach the 100 mil cume mark.  New at #2 is the video-game to movie Warcraft with 24.4 mil which is close to expectations and honestly not a bad number despite all the bad reviews.  No doubt the movie will help the game itself and bring back some players.  Coming in at #3 is Now You See Me 2 with 23 mil and right at expectations.  Fair word-of-mouth on this but some how did not bring the magic like the first one.  Big drop to #4 is "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" with another 14.8 mil, almost a 60% drop from last week.  Unfortunately will now definitely fall short of 100 mil cume for domestic.  Rounding off the top 5 is "X-Men: Apocalypse" with another 10 mil as it quickly slows down after 3 weeks in release.

 Quote of the week:
"I don't have a girlfriend.  But I do know a woman who'd be mad at me for saying that." - Mitch Hedberg

 Facts & Tips:
A cucumber consists of 96% water.

 "I stopped caring a long time ago," Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton on the TV series "The Office."

posted by McDuck @ 01:39 0 comments

Monday, June 06, 2016

The Longest Day

 Today is the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy Beach in Paris.  This was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, turning point of World War II against the Germans.  A join effort of paratroopers and beach landings in heavy fortified coastal front, the allies broke through and made a war that had been raging nearly 5 years before end about a year later.  It is often referred to as The Longest Day because of the fighting that carried through the entire night before and the night of.  This was a marvelous triumph but could have been a huge disaster too.  Anything could have gone wrong from the weather, reinforced lines or a disarray of confusion.  Luckily, it worked.

 Weekly Update:
It got warm again but then cooled enough that I was able to take a friend and his family over to Blizzard Entertainment.  It is always fun to visit Blizzard and my friend with his out of town family, they are all gamers and all had a great time, so they told me.  But I think it is true and we were able to surprise their niece who thought we were just going to drive by it and not actually go inside, see stuff and have lunch there as well.  So all in all it was a really nice day and got to meet up with my friend at Blizzard and bring new people there who are big fan of all the games they have created and produce.

 At the movies:
Big surprise as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows comes in at #1 with 35.3 million for its debut.  RIGHT on expectations and unfortunately about half of the first film of this franchise reboot. Still puts this film to potentially break the 100 mil mark before it is done. Big drop to #2 is "X-Men: Apocalypse" with 22.3 mil which is a 66% difference.  Word-of-mouth and the opening of Turtles definitely made a dent in this.  It has passed the 100 mil mark but will fall very short of 200 mil cume.  New at #3 is the romantic-drama Me Before You with 18.3 mil and close to expectations as well.  Big drop to #4 is "Alice: Through the Looking Glass" with 10.7 mil and this film will fall very short of the 100 mil mark.  Rounding off the top 5 is "The Angry Birds Movie" with another 9.8 mil and pretty much done.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
One this weekend and as expected, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping coming in at #8 with only 4.6 mil.  It should end in double digits but with a struggle.

Quote of the week:
"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." - Voltaire

Facts & Tips:
If a sheep and a goat mate the offspring is called a geep.

 "Hawaii is one of those places that keeps topping itself - just when you think you'll never see a sunset as beautiful, there comes a sunrise that even Gauguin can only imagine. It kind of makes unemployment easier to take." - Tom Selleck as Thomas Sullivan Magnum III in the TV series "Magnum, P.I."

posted by McDuck @ 01:30 0 comments