just another week...
Weekly Update:
So this is interesting, I've seen a lot of social media posts about how stores like Target, Best Buy and malls are were completely empty on Black Friday. Also a lot of price tags on high end items were the Black Friday deal is the same as the ever day price once you lift the tag and they left the regular price underneath. Now I will say that Black Friday is no longer a day anymore and every where I know started their sales the first Friday of November. So why go out and shop and fight crowds when you can do it online, have it delivered and even go early to avoid crowds. Well I am not sure where these images are from but the places around me had busy parking lots and very full locations (the mall). I did venture out on Friday for dinner at a mall. I got lucky on a parking spot but it was a bit full. Once inside, it was also full but not overly crowded. I did see lines to get into some stores but otherwise, it was not empty at all. So either they took pictures of places on a slow regular non-Holiday season and tried to pass it off as Black Friday or they are in an area that wasn't busy, but that was not every where!
At the movies:
Holding on to the #1 spot for a 2nd week is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes with an extra 28.8 million for the Thanksgiving weekend and just shy of 100 mil cume. Should get that sometime tomorrow but with the long holiday weekend, this movie didn't fair too well in general. Should start dropping soon and fast after this week. New at #2 is Napoleon with 20.4 mil to open. Another very light number with so-so reactions, may get some award buzz but not much. New at #3 is Wish with 19.5 mil and it appears Disney is losing it's box office charm even with the holiday and an animated film. Not sure what they are doing wrong lately but they need to course correct soon. Drop down to #4 is Trolls Band Together with 17.5 mil as this animated film also is struggling along, still a long ways to hit 100 mil which is foggy right now if it will make it. Rounding off the top 5 is Thanksgiving with another 7.2 mil and doing OK for this type of film at this time of year.
Quote of the week:
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent." - John Donne
Facts & Tips:
A fire will burn faster moving uphill than downhill.
"Yes, we're tired. Yes, there's no relief. Yes, the Cylons keep coming after us time after time after time. And yes, we are still expected to do our jobs!" - Michael Hogan as Col. Saul Tigh in the TV series Battlestar Galactica.
zip zip you go!
Tis the season for cold weather! We got a little rain this past week but it did drop every night below 60 and rained just a little bit, not enough though. Still fairly dry but hopefully getting this cold weather now and some rain, it's a sign of much more to come! They say that we should be expecting the biggest El Nino ever but what does that even mean?! They keep saying we are going to get hit with El Nino and yet, nothing, nothing at all. Maybe some rain, a day of wind, and nothing else. So them saying this will be the biggest one yet... sure it will (sarcasm). Maybe instead of 1 day of rain it will double! I'm sure it will be the same as all the other years, disappointment in lack of rain.
Weekly Update:
I go to the university almost daily after work or in the afternoon that is down the street from me and just drive around. Right now it's a great time to go because it's practically empty as I am guessing everyone has left for the holiday. But when there are students around, I noticed a lot of these scooters or e-scooters as they are zipping around from place-to-place. Where were these when I went to school?? These things are great and I wish I had one but I don't have any short distances to go to. But they seem very speedy, maneuverable and practical. I do wonder if they are electric or gas powered. I am going to say electric as I haven't noticed any kind of gas tank. Now the next question, are these provided by the school and you can rent them or do the students actually own them. I haven't seen a place with a bunch of them parked, in fact not even one parked any where unless they are deep within the campus. I tend to drive around the outskirts for the most part. I would like to try one some day.
At the movies:
A very busy weekend at the box office but could be due to the SAG strike ending and Thanksgiving this coming week! New at #1 is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes earning 44 million. This is about 30% of the original release back in 2012 and less than 50% of the last Hunger Games film in 2015. So this one did under-perform, still a good number considering how many other movies opened. It might get a small boost for this coming holiday but likely not by much. New at #2 is Trolls Band Together with 30.6 mil to open. Also under-performing being the 3rd installment of this franchise but not as severely as its Hunger Games competition. Drop down to #3 is The Marvels with 10.2 mil more and at this rate this film may not hit that 100 mil mark. This is a pretty big drop and being a Marvel film to add to that sore. New at #4 is Thanksgiving with 10.2 mil and that is actually a respectable figure considering a horror film for the holiday. Rounding off the top 5 is Five Nights at Freddy's with another 3.5 mil and already did what it needed to do so this is just icing on that cake.
New movies that did not make the top 5: Just one this week coming from our former friends at Fox Searchlight, now just Searchlight, is Next Goal Wins with 2.5 mil to open and enough to take the #7 spot. This one will be the next one out.
Quote of the week:
"If I can stop one hear from breaking, I shall not live in vain." - Emily Dickinson
Facts & Tips:
Phantom rain are raindrops that never reach the ground.
"A palace is a lonely place for a king... without a queen." - Ben Lamb as Prince Edward in A Christmas Prince.
Crazy drivers!!
Weekly Update:
I saw the craziest thing earlier this week and hopefully I can describe it. I went to the cast store called Company D and there was a mini-van blocking both lanes of the parking lot drive way waiting for an handicapped spot. So I am sitting behind it while it waited for the car to pull out of the handicapped spot so I can can continue moving forward. If there was room, there was plenty of time for me to drive around it but because this mini-van blocked both lanes, couldn't but that is not the crazy part. So the one currently in the handicapped spot was finally pulling out and it pulled out going left so then it would then exit going right... make sense? Hope so but you would normally just wait for a car to pull out, continue on it's way before you pull into the empty spot. NO! This mini-van instead pulls forward into the spot as the car who just pulled out was about to move forward, hitting the front side of the car. WHO DRIVES LIKE THAT?! Wait for the person leaving the spot to clear out and what is even crazier is the car pulling out wasn't 100% clear of the spot which is normal, you back up as much as you need to so you can move forward to leave, we all do it, it's common practice. This mini-van even turned to the right a little bit squeeze in, so it clearly was in the wrong. If that car pulling out didn't stop, there would have been an accident, I would have witnessed it and I would have 100% sided with the car that pulled out. Some people have no patience or etiquette!
At the movies:
New at #1 is The Marvels earning 47 million. Not a bad number but well below expectations for a Marvel film but also not surprising by industry experts. This film will struggle to hit 100 mil, could get there but it will be a long while as the Winter films start heating up. Slight drop to #2 is Five Nights at Freddy's with an extra 9 mil and continues to suffer heavy drops. Following suite is Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour with 5.9 mil more and holding at #3 this week. Potentially could still get 200 mil but it will be a slight struggle. Holding it's place at #4 is Priscilla earning another 4.8 mil and only suffering a 5% drop! Rounding up the top 5 is Killers of the Flower Moon with another 4.7 mil and likely to be the last time we see it in the rankings.
New movies that did not make the top 5:
A couple this time, in a wider release pattern is Journey to Bethlehem coming in at #7 with 2.4 mil. Likely will remain low and out drop out of theatres fast but the after market should do well for it. New at #8 is Tiger 3 on a more limited run (under 800 screens) and earning 2.3 mil with a per screen average of only 3,000. This will also disappear fast.
Quote of the week:
"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them." - Benjamin Jowett
Facts & Tips:
Large rain drops can fall at speeds of 20 mph.
"I didn't love you, I hated you. We all did." Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess in the series The Boys.
Snooze for another hour
It's Fall and this is when we fall back an hour and get that extra hour of sleep (as most say) but how about an extra hour to stay up late? That is what I did playing app games and watching youtube, yeah I'm pretty exciting like that. What I never understand is this when it ends or when it starts? Is falling back the end of saving daylight or is it the start because we have less of it so we are saving on the light? So many people hate DST but honestly, I don't mind it at all. Maybe I'm just used to it, that it's become part of my culture and norm. Either way, it's just something we do twice a year and I've gotten so used to it, doesn't phase or bother me in anyway. I don't know why it annoys people, it's only twice a year people, not like say driving in traffic which is year-round.
Weekly Update:
I have been on a cheese kick lately and not sure why. But I do love me some cheese (except for blue cheese, that isn't cheese, that is just grossness). Sunday I had a hefty grilled cheese sandwich with bread I had made and needed to use up before it started to grow mold. The day before I had a grilled cheese, same sandwich as Sunday but bigger. Then a frozen pizza with stuffed crust so that is more cheese there. I bought tortillas recently with some cheese to make quesadillas for lunch in the coming weeks. Cheese is delicious and if I had the makings for salad, I would pile on cheese there as well. I should think about making some cheese bread or something. OH, and of course I had some Subway sandwiches earlier in the week with cheese on them as well! Cheese, you are my favorite.
At the movies:
And we end the spooky season with #1 holding for a 2nd week... Five Nights at Freddy's earns an extra 19.4 million but a HUGE drop from week 1 (76%) and with that number, it will be gone very quickly. It was still able to break 100 mil easily and enough to make it a big hit. Holding at #2 is Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour with another 13.5 mil as it gets closer to 200 mil domestic cume, might actually get there. Also holding at #3 is Killers of the Flower Moon with 7 mil and a small drop, it won't hit any records but will get the award buzz. New at #4 is Priscilla with 5.1 mil and another film aiming for some award recognition but very little on the box office. New at #5 and on a very limited run is Radical with 2.7 mil to open and likely to close on.
New movies that did not make the top 5:
Only one this week as What Happens Later comes in at #9 with 1.6 mil and nothing will happen after that.
Quote of the week:
"I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Facts & Tips:
Blue flames are the hottest, reaching temps up to 3,000 degrees Celsuis.
"Let's go? Don't you wanna see the rest of the movie?" - Elizabeth Daily as Dottie in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
