Monday, January 30, 2023

100-years

Disney studios celebrates 100-years and Disneyland is more-or-less hosting everything.  I got a chance to try the new attraction and the temporarily closed Toontown in Disneyland, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway and it was cute.  But I feel like it should be Goofy's Runaway Railway as he is the whole reason it goes crazy in the first place.  So the story isn't as cohesive with the ride but the trackless system for this one is pretty amazing.  Some areas were a bit jerky when it really didn't need to be and the face of Daisy was kind of aff.  Everyone else's projections were near perfect but Daisy face just didn't fit that well at all.  Not sure if they will notice or fix it so it will always be awkward to me.  They said the ride is exactly the same as Walt Disney World but the big difference is the ride queue.  Since the one at Disneyland was built from the ground up, they had the flexibility to do more with it where as World had to build within the current structure.  Who knows when I'll get on the ride again but, it was cute.

Weekly Update:
It is both very dry... and very cold!  We hit a pretty good bad dry spell this week weather wise.  I always worry this will be reflective of our upcoming year.  It has been super cold too (average maybe low 50's at night) but without some kind of moisture, it's like being super hot and dry.  Where is the moisture?!  How about some rain?  Just a little bit, a drop... droplet, something! Our weather is just so bad and not what it used to be 10-years, even 20-years ago.  We used to have rainy season where it would rain for days and weeks.  It rarely floods here and I wish it was a problem we did have sometimes.  The only time I have flooding is when my pipes had roots in them so there was no flow happening so that doesn't count.

At the movies:
Holding ground for a 7th week is Avatar: The Way of Water with 15.7 million more and now just over 600 mil cume for domestic box office.  Very strong number but it continues to steadily drop and probably won't be at #1 too much longer.  Also, holding on to the #2 spot Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with 10.6 mil extra and good overall box office.  Up the ranks at #3 is A Man Called Otto with 6.8 mil and continues to do well in this time of year.  Dipping down to #4 is M3GAN with 6.4 mil and actually closer to hitting 100 mil cume, could get there!  New at #5 is Pathaan with 5.9 mil and a very poor per screen average, will probably disappear quickly.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one again this week as Infinity Pool comes in at #8 with 2.7 mil, just under 2000 screens and also a very poor per screen average.

Quote of the week:
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." - E.E. Cummings

Facts & Tips:
The summer solstice marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

"Oh, it has it's ups and downs." - JB Smoove as Reuben in Mr. Deeds.

posted by McDuck @ 01:00 0 comments

Monday, January 23, 2023

Rain today, gone tomorrow... well that did not last long at all, the rain was brief and not enough.  The upcoming forecast is all clear skies with it warming up a bit, this is not good at all.  We need so much more rain and we barely got any.  A few days here and there for a few hours, enough to get the mountains covered which is awesome but then it will not be enough to last us the year if we don't at least fill our riverbeds and reservoirs! Well hopefully more rain is coming as Winter isn't over yet but not having much this early (or mid-Winter) is a worry as always.  We need some consistency in our weather and yet, we do not have it... global warming is real and to deny it is denying factual science, or facts... or science!!  Let's try to make a little difference, a little can go a long way.

Weekly Update:
Over the holidays someone gave me a nice gift that you can order your own treats, snacks or popcorn.  I received it the year before and they had treats, snacks and dog treats then.  The bummer is you can't mix and match them so I couldn't get say get half snacks and half dog treats for the pup. But this last time, I wanted to try their popcorn flavors! They had some interesting ones and some standards. Got some fun one with peanuts and cashews, always love the ones with nuts.  Then I tried the red velvet, it is super sweet but good.  I need to watch how much I eat at a time though.  But the fun one I haven't tried yet but can't wait to is Fried Dill Pickle Popcorn.  Most of these have various colors but this one looks to be traditional popcorn (thought it might be slightly green) so an off-white.  So... hope it's good!

At the movies:
Still at the top is Avatar: The Way of Water with an extra 19.7 million and just shy of 600 mil domestic cume, should hit that in another day or two. Climbing up to #2 is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with 11.5 mil more and on a steady decline.  Dip down to #3 is M3GAN with 9.8 mil and could possibly hit 100 mil but will be a struggle to get there.  New at #4 is Missing with 9.3 mil and may be  quick burn and out.  Rounding off the top 5 is A Man Called Otto with 9 mil even and may drop out next week.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one again this week at #8, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond with 1.5 mil and obviously didn't do very well with less than 1k per screen average.

Quote of the week:
"Once you label me you negate me." - Soren Kierkegaard

Facts & Tips:
The color of chicken's earlobe is a good indicator of the color of the eggshell it will lay.

"There are some mistakes you cannot risk when you have children." - Paz Vega as Flor Moreno in Spanglish.

posted by McDuck @ 00:30 0 comments

Monday, January 16, 2023

It's back... water from sky!

Mass rain has come back and I hope it's here to stay a bit longer than last time.  The water is so nice to have... I mean to live, we need it to live people!  But I can't wait to see the mountains off in the distance covered with even more snow when it clears up but at the same time, I can wait for it to clear up!  More clouds, more rain or at least less evaporation with no sun for awhile. Also been extremely colder but not freezing, again another good thing. Up till this point our Winter has been very mild so if this means we are having a later Winter, that works for me. Wouldn't it be cool (pun intended) if it got cold enough we got some snow flurries?  I know it can happen, was it just last year one night we had ice all over because it rained and it was so cold... more of that, I like having actual seasons once and awhile.

Weekly Update:
Focaccia me? Focaccia you! This past weekend I wanted to try and make focaccia bread (again). I tried to make it before but I know I did something wrong as it came out as a very dimpled flat bread that was very hard like a cracker almost. So tried it again and it turned out much better but still not perfect (or the way I wanted it).  I think I put too much salt but it still is edible.  I didn't have the crystal flake salt so I used kosher and I guess that is more closer to table salt than being lighter and airy.  I also think my yeast wasn't as fresh as it didn't pillow but remained more flat however definitely not as hard as before so that is a plus!  I'll get it eventually as this is my only my 2nd attempt and it's not easy making it all the time because of the time it takes (8+ hours in the fridge to set and then another 4 hours before baking).  So though it's an easy bread to make, just a time suck because of the waiting. (Picture not my bread).

At the movies:
Hanging on to #1 for a 5th week is Avatar: The Way of Water with 31.1 million extra, another 32% drop which isn't bad but it continues to steadily decline with still a long way to go if it's going to do as well as the first one (domestically).  Also holding at #2 is M3GAN with 17.9 mil and it slowly will fade out.  Maintaining at #3 is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with 13.4 mil and passes the 100 mil mark. Complaining at #4 still is A Man Called Otto with 12.7 mil extra which is a massive increase for this movie. New at #5 is Plane flying in with 10 mil to open, really not a lot to say on this one and will remain grounded going forward.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week at #6 is House Party with 3.9 mil to open and it ended before it started.

Quote of the week:
"Living well is the best revenge." - George Herbert

Facts & Tips:
Early tales of leprechauns reported red clothing.

"Ooh... get a whiff of that.  Here comes the human." - Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale in Twilight.

posted by McDuck @ 01:00 0 comments

Monday, January 09, 2023

Catching up is hard to do!

I am just starting to play catch up on things from 2022.  We are now officially a week (going into 2) into 2023 and I'm barely up to like June of last year.  Where does the time go? It always feels like you are chasing something once you get an ounce behind and then you get stuck running after something as it pulls further and further away... like a train or subway or that cab you needed to grab! And then... it's gone or more stuff is coming and you just can't catch up.  Once I catch up to June 2022, I hope January 2023 isn't behind and we are already in February before I know it.  Ok, goal is to catch up to June AND July before February hits... 2 months down 1 month new, that is reasonable, no?  Ideally I will get further than that but who knows as of yet. January always feels slower and longer of all the months... kind of hoping it stays like that!

Weekly Update:
Attended an event on Saturday night, it was at someone's home for a film short screening.  I've been to these before at a home and they usually have multiple TV monitors throughout the home so you can watch it.  This house was pretty dang big (pool, guest house, tennis court) and turned one of their rooms into a small theatre with folding chairs.  It looked like it could hold close to 40 people but there was at least 80 at the event so they ended up doing multiple screenings.  The short was only 10 minutes and it was cute, the ending was confusing for me once the big reveal occurred.  But overall the event itself was really nice and met a lot of nice people!

At the movies:
Maintaining at #1 for a 4th week is Avatar: The Way of Water with another 45 million and now just over 500 mil cume for domestic box office.  The screen count went up this weekend however the box office went down (another 32% drop).  This next week should be fairly quiet with the award season starting up and we may see some re-releases occurring. New at #2 is M3GAN with 30.2 mil to open and a very decent number for this time of year.  Dropping down to #3 is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with 13.1 mil more as it slowly closes in at 100 mil cume.  New at #4 is A Man Called Otto with 4.2 mil, it opened mid-week so it has a cume of 4.3 mil.  This will be a fast burn-out. Rounding off the top 5 is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with another 3.4 mil as it looks like it will round out around 450 mil cume.

Quote of the week:
"Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so." - Galileo Galilei

Facts & Tips:
In the 1800s, Cadbury created the first heart-shaped chocolate box.

"Now dad remember. Smile, be polite, and whatever you do don't tell the pig joke." - Alyssa Milano as Samantha Micelli in the TV series Who's the Boss?

posted by McDuck @ 01:00 0 comments

Monday, January 02, 2023

New Year-ish Edition

Merry New Year!

Well, 2022 has come and gone and I can honestly say it was the worst year ever in my entire existence.  Sure you get days, weeks and even months but this entire year has had ZERO good days and all were bad that I can remember each and every moment of  it.  Will 2023 be any better?  It could but will it is yet to be determined.  I don't foresee it being worse but how much better?  Who knows and at the same time, it could be worse.  We don't know till it gets going but so far it hasn't started any better, just more of the same from 2022 thus so far.  So the term "Happy" doesn't exist for me as of now... Merry is a stretch but at least it's not happy.  To be honest I am not looking forward to 2023 since it feels like a repeat of 2022 so far... but the year is young, potential for it getting worse is on the horizon!

Weekly Update:
Lots of rain!! Wow this past week was nice with some rains and it rained all New Year's Eve which was even better!!  I heard a few fireworks go off but hardly any like previous years and it was complete bliss. My old pup can't stand the noise and he slept through the night for once.  I had everything ready too with some noise from the TV, calming treats and thunder shirt.  Didn't need any of it except I did give him one calming treat as, well, a treat. But he slept through the night for a change, we need more holidays with rain if there is the option for fireworks so 4th of July and Labor Day (for around here anyway).

At the movies:
Still holding the lead for a third week is Avatar: The Way of Water with another 63.4 million, Great hold from week 2 to 3 but will it be able to maintain.  Also hanging on to #2 is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with 16.3 mil extra and in striking distance for hitting 100 mil but does have a way to go still. Climbing back up to #3 is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with 4.8 mil as it continues into the 400 mil cume range. Drop down to #4 is Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody with 4.3 mil as it will fall off soon. Holding and rounding off the top 5 is Babylon with 2.7 mil extra and also will fade out soon.

Quote of the week:
"And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been." - Rainer Maria Rilke

Facts & Tips:
Before emojis, there were emoticons, which are icons created from keyboard characters.

"You can only put on so much lip gloss, princess!" - Alyson Stoner as Sarah Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen.

posted by McDuck @ 01:30 0 comments