Monday, May 30, 2016

MEMORIAL DAY EDITION

 Today is Memorial Day and a moment we take to remember the veterans who served and have passed.  We should remember all veterans but I guess the ones who have already left us should get a day to themselves if not all the time.  I think most people use this days for an extra vacation and a reason to have a BBQ.  Both are great to do but also remember those who served and gave their lives so we can do things like that.  They protected these simple little freedoms, no matter how big or small they may be but their sacrifice ensured we can continue from trivial to important things.  So we should remember to take just a small moment to say thanks.

 Weekly Update:
So I went to the grocery store on a weekend day and I never realized how many seniors shop during this time.  Now it could have been by coincidence but boy there was a lot.  And I noticed something else, they are pretty oblivious of their surroundings.  At least 2 or 3 times they had their shopping cards in the middle of the aisle blocking it.  One time I tried to sneak by but couldn't and they did not notice me at all.  I stood there for a solid 30 seconds and nothing so I finally said in a quiet tone, excuse me.  They looked at me like I just insulted them, moved their card begrudingly and I said in a nice tone (so I thought) "thank you very much" and squeeked by.  They watched me with such hated eyes that I made them move their cart.  I don't know what their problem was but come on people ... courtesy goes both ways.

 At the movies:
Summer officially kicked off but not the box office as expected.  #1 this week, as expected, is X-Men: Apocalypse with only 65 million, well below all expectations for a holiday weekend.  Word-of-mouth is fair on this film and may not make it to a 200 mil cume mark. New at #2 is Alice Through the Looking Glass and also below expectations with only 28.1 mil and may not see the 100 mil cume mark.  Holding some ground at #3 is "The Angry Bird Movie" with another 18.7 mil and still flying along.  Big drop to #4 is "Captain America: Civil War" with another 15.1 mil and at 373 mil cume domestic gross.  Should be able to break the 400 mil cume domestic by the time it is done.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" with another 9.1 mil and I think they can finally move away now.

 Quote of the week:
"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick." - Muhammad Ali

 Facts & Tips:
The "high five" was introduced by a professional baseball player in 1977.

 "Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me, huh? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!" - Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo in "First Blood."

posted by McDuck @ 05:31 0 comments

Monday, May 23, 2016

The weather continues to be  ... nice!  It remained nice a cool again, in the 60's so it wasn't freezing and it wasn't hot.  I really really hope this maintains itself for the rest of the season if not the year ... but that is definitely wishful thinking.  I wish we could have some more rain, any rain actually.  But it is a big tease and the clouds just make it look like it will rain.  It sort of smells like rainy weather too but nothing.  I noticed the reservoir had some water in it, just enough to cover the bottom or the surface of the concrete.  Before it was completely dried up and you could see all kinds of trash sitting around including a shopping cart.  So, now I wonder ... where did all that trash go now?  Where did that shopping cart go?  Did it all go out to sea or did someone clean it up.  I am thinking it went out to sea or at least most of it then.  I am sure some things will get stuck.

 Weekly Update:
Very sad news this week ... on Friday one of my all time favorite actors (mainly for his voice acting), Alan Young passed away.  Many know him as Wilbur from the "Mister Ed" TV show but to me, he is and always will be Scrooge McDuck.  From Mickey's A Christmas Carol to DuckTales, the mean miser but with a heart of gold under that tough exterior.  His voice was the perfect Scotsman and several years ago I did have the honor of meeting him.  At that time I did realize he was already in his late 80's because he surely did not look it.  He had other great voice credits from "Battle of the Planets," a TV series I used to watch when they re-ran them.  But, will ALWAYS be Uncle Scrooge to me.  He was 96.

 At the movies:
No surprises on the #1 this week as The Angry Bird Movie flies up to the top for its debut.  However what is surprising is the gross coming in with only 39 million.  Almost half of what was projected and another video game to movie failure as the cost on this was sure to be pretty high.  Holding on to #2 is "Captain America: Civil War" with another 33 mil in its 3rd week and just shy of 350 mil.  It should surpass that sometime tomorrow though and continues to be strong.  It has now surpassed Batman/Superman which capped out at 329 mil.  New at #2 is Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising with only 21.8 mil, and well below expectations also.  Expanding and moving up to #4 is "The Nice Guys" with 11.3 mil and also below general expectation but not by much.  Rounding off the top 5 is "The Jungle Book" with another 11 mil and looks like this film will ALSO beat out Batman/Superman.

 Quote of the week:
"If you don't act on life, life will act on you." - Robin Sharma

 Facts & Tips:
The word "facetious" features all the vowels in alphabetical order.

"Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream." - Sam Worthington as Jack Sully in "Avatar."

posted by McDuck @ 05:05 0 comments

Monday, May 16, 2016

I have to say the weather for May, usually the start of Summer, has been really nice and cool.  Borderline Fall-like with a lot of cloudy skies and in the 60's which is perfect for me.  It is chilly but not cold ... I am just glad it is not hot!  Not sure if these means the rest of Summer, Fall and Winter will be really hot again.  I think we need some sort of daylight saving month and not just an hour, I feel like our calendar is off a bit and we need to adjust it.  It feels like May is April with the light drizzles in the morning and the cloudy days (April Showers) which none of that happened last month.  So May is April and April ... well April can be April I guess but it was not the usual April I guess.

 Weekly Update:
I didn't realize it was May already ... it just hit me that April is over and what happened??  We are almost halfway through the year and time really does just fly by.  The terms blink-of-an-eye also comes to mind because if you think back to what happened in those past few days or weeks, it is like nothing had happened.  It is almost hypnotic in a way as you think of what you did or didn't do, who you saw or meant to see ... blink of an eye.

 At the movies:
As expected and almost right on estimation, "Captain America: Civil War" holds on to #1 for a 2nd week-in-a-row with another 72.6 million and now just shy of 300 mil cume domestic.  It should get that some time tomorrow.  Also holding strong at #2 is "The Jungle Book" with another 17.8 mil in its 5th week!  Now just over the 300 mil mark and should cap out shy of 400 mil.  New at #3 is Money Monster with 15 mil and close to expectations overall.  Also new at #4 is The Darkness with only 5.2 mil and below expectations but not by much to be honest.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Mother's Day" with another 3.3 mil and that day is over.

 Quote of the week:
"Don't go around saying the World owes you a living.  The World owes you nothing.  It was here first." - Mark Twain

 Facts & Tips:
Sea otters hold each other's paws while sleeping so they don't drift apart.

 "Wait I didn't steal anything!  I was returning something I stole!" - Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in "Ant-Man"

posted by McDuck @ 04:38 0 comments

Monday, May 09, 2016

Mother's Day Edition

 Sunday was Mother's Day, a Hallmark Holiday but still one that is worth observing for all those Mom's out there.  They gave us life, advice and love all in one and it all passes generation to generation. And if those who have pets, they are like our babies or should be since we take care of them but even more so as they will never grow up and move out.  We provide for them till the end of their days.  So Happy Mother's Day to all of moms out there from real babies and fur-babies!

 Weekly Update:
Another big week at work, many long hours and lost sleep.  Starbucks has been doing half-off Happy Hours between 3 and 6 PM ... curse them!  How can you turn down a half price already expensive drink??  To bad their star system changed because now it is based on dollars than drinks.  But it helps if you get a drink and snack since it will not count as one star but rather times the number of dollars spent.  I like the newer system in general but you also have to think, it is something extra for free that you get just by paying for something you were already going to get!  It is funny when a company changes their FREE program to give you more and many complain and say they will lose business ... they do not need this program to begin with but its nice to have.

 At the movies:
And the Marvel Universe continues its domination with this newest addition, Captain America: Civil War earning a hefty 80 mil and right on the money for our expectations.  Word-of-mouth is strong on this film and it should carry to a half-billion domestic cume when it is done.  Drop down to #2, also from Disney just like #1, is "The Jungle Book" with another 21.9 mil and this film is now just shy of 300 mil cume.  The Summer is looking great for Disney right now!  Up slightly to #3 is "Mother's Day" with 9 mil and likely will get a big drop next weekend.  Big drop to #4 is "The Huntsman: Winter's War" with 3.6 mil more and this war is coming to a quick end.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Keanu" with another 3.1 mil and that is about it for this kitten.

 Quote of the week:
"There cannot be a crisis next week.  My schedule is already full." - Henry A. Kissinger

 Facts & Tips:
Queen Cleopatra of Egypt was not actually Egyptian.

"Relax. I'm a doctor." - Willie Garson as Kevin in "Fever Pitch."

posted by McDuck @ 02:00 0 comments

Monday, May 02, 2016

It got hot again, what happened?!?  So we had some nice cloudy days but it was very warm.  Not humid but just hot because the sun did peak out a lot and some days it just was not cloudy.  Differently felt like Summer in Spring.  Just like how it felt like Summer in Winter and Summer in Fall where as Summer was just Summer.  Not sure why we bother naming seasons in Southern California but I guess just to be consistent with the rest of the world.  At least the pool is getting back to normal so I can use it soon!  It was getting bad but found a new pool guy and he is doing a great job.  A little pricey initially to get the pool back to normal but the monthly is much less so I think this first year it will almost balance out.

 Weekly Update:
Had a fun little work activity this past week, another scavenger hunt in the theme parks!  Was nice to get out of the office for several hours and run around ... of course we are broken up into teams and each team went on different days.  AND of course our team went on the hottest day than anyone else (mid to high 80's).  So we were exhausted pretty quickly but still had a pretty fun time and getting to know some new folks along the way as well.  But it is a fun thing to do in the parks and hopefully next time it is either at night or in the Winter where it is at least cooler!

 At the movies:
Still roaring at the top spot for a 3rd week-in-a-row is "The Jungle Book" with another 42.4 million and now past 250 mil cume for domestic.  On track to come close to 400 mil, word-of-mouth still strong though.  Holding on to the #2 spot is "The Huntsman: Winter's War" with an extra 9.4 mil and is quickly burning out, may not see 50 mil at this rate.  New at #3 is Keanu with only 9.4 mil and just below expectations.  Also new at #4 is Mother's Day and this should have opened next week ON the actually weekend of Mother's Day.  Only doing 8.3 mil and also slightly below expectations.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Barbershop: The Next Cut" with another 6.1 mil and this seat should be vacant next week.

New Movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one wide release as Ratchet & Clank comes in at #7 with only 4.8 mil.  Well below expectations but sadly only by around 5 mil which is not saying much.  In general, movies from video games have not fared to well.

 Quote of the week:
"A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work." - John Lubbock

 Facts & Tips:
A full-grown tree produces enough oxygen to support a family of four.

 "Ooh, that's nice." - Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett on the TV series "Community."

posted by McDuck @ 01:58 0 comments