Duckburg Gazette: December 2024

Monday, December 30, 2024

Holidays are OVER!

The Holiday Edition

Wednesday was Christmas Day thus making Tuesday Christmas Eve and honestly... do not really care. I've not been a fan of the holidays for quiet some time now and to me they are just another day and nothing more. I am definitely a Bah Humbug type and proud of it. I hate the holidays and the one time of year you are supposed to be nice and cheerful and help others? Why not year-round, why does it have to be this day or even month? Seems like a bad and fake excuse to me to be at least civil, that you have to have a reason. The religious notation seems also forced and personally do not buy into it. This holiday can leave as far as I'm concerned, too much expectation around it and many fall short year round and act like this is their penitence or absolution. Like if you were to go to confession for your year of sin and be absolved. Nope, not buying into it.

Weekly Update:
When games end... I am not sure if I talked about this already and if I did, oops, sorry. But there is an app game I play daily called Simpsons Tapped Out and it's called that because you use your finger and just tap on everything, it's appropriately named. A few months ago they announced the game would be sunset (closed) for good on January 24, 2025 forever. I have played this game for a solid 9-years... NINE YEARS and just to be closed like turning off a light switch. I mention it (again?) because as that date quickly comes up, there are reminders in game about it and it's just.. sad. I guess all good things come to an end, I'm glad I didn't spend much money in the game as others I know have. I think, and this is just a guess, the most I spent was a total of under $50 over that 9-year span. Not bad if you think about it, that means I only spent about $5.55 per year, or $1.33 per month over 9-years... not bad, not bad at all given the amount of fun and entertainment it brought me. Not to mention the nostalgia of it since it has things from pretty much the history of The Simpsons show. I'll miss it, became part of my daily routine to check on my Springfield once a day.

At the movies:
Holding ground at #1 for a 2nd week in a row is Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with 38 million extra for the holiday weekend and now past 100 mil. It may struggle a bit to get to 200 but possible. Holding as well at #2 is Mufasa: The Lion King with 37.1 mil more and just past 100 mil as well. Much further to hit 200 mil and unlikely it will get there. New at #3 is Nosferatu with 21.2 mil (40.3 mil for Wed-Sun) and pretty fair word-of-mouth on this one. It may struggle to hit 100 and likely fall short. Drop down to #4 is Wicked with 19.5 mil as it passes the 400 mil mark! Rounding off the top 5 is Moana 2 with 18.2 mil and now only inches away from 400 mil domestic box office, likely to hit it in the next day or two.

New movies that id not make the top 5:
We have a few this week. In at #6 is A Complete Unknown with 11.6 mil (23.2 mil for the 5-day) and more of an academy push but still a wide-release. Coming in at #7 is Babygirl with 4.4 mil (7.2 mil) and no real buzz around this one. In at #10 is The Fire Inside with 2 mil (4.3) and another one that will fade out fast.

Quote of the week:
"Great minds have purposes; others have wishes." - Washington Irving

Facts & Tips:
Identical twins don't have the same fingerprints.

"If I'd a known that was the last time I was gonna talk to Bubba, I would've thought of something better to say." - Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump.

Monday, December 23, 2024

It's curved!

I did some shopping this past week along with my usual errands and despite it being the holiday season, people still do not care for others. I try to stay aware of my surroundings as much as I can, keep out of people's way so they can ship unhindered and I hope to be able to do the same. If someone needs help getting something, I'm happy to offer a hand if they want it. But, it feels like the holidays doesn't adjust people attitudes in helping others or being aware but just brings out more of those same people who only care about themselves. I must have encountered at least three times as many of those people who were blocking the entire aisle way at a store with their body and cart. One person was reorganizing their cart while this one lady waited so she could get by and I waited for that lady to go first after this a-hole finished with is cart before he proceeded to move on. He pushed his cart right between us, not even a clue that we were both being courtesy enough to wait. Tis the season to be selfish instead of selfless. I hate the holidays.

Weekly Update:
Recently I purchased my first curved computer monitor screen and I also decided to do a wall mount in hopes it might save me desk space and also, give me more flexibility in adjusting it when needed. The screen itself is pretty massive and may take me some time in adjusting to it but so far, it's pretty nice. The big challenge though was installing the wall mount. The directions seemed easy so I thought I would do it myself. I had an old stud finder I have no clue where it came from but I didn't buy it. It didn't work that well as it was beeping at everything (after using a fresh battery). So, I learned of the magnet method and it worked! I found the stud and drilled my holes after marking it and making sure the mount would be level. But then later screwing in the bolts to hold in place was a chore! But after a few trips to the hardware store the one thing I needed to help me get this mount in was... a 10MM socket wrench! I had 3/5", 7/16" and many others but it boiled down to MM's! We don't use metric here but fortunately the hardware stores use both! But after a full day of doing that amongst some other errands, the screen is up and computer in place... and so far so good!

At the movies:
Zooming into the #1 spot is Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with a nice 62 million for this pre-Holiday box office. Has fairly good word-of-mouth on this one and should hit the 100 mark by next weekend. New at a distant #2 is Mufasa: The Lion King with 35 mil and so-so reactions on this one. May do well this coming holiday week but might not hit 100 mil till later. Slight drop to #3 is Wicked with 13.5 mil and now inches away from the 400 mil mark. Could get it over the holiday break this week. Big drop down to #4 is Moana 2 with 13.1 mil and still in striking range to hit 400 mil but may not be for another couple of weeks. Rounding off the top 5 is Homestead with 6.1 mil and may carry for another week and after, probably will be gone.

Quote of the week:
"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." - Mother Teresa

Facts & Tips:
Giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people.

"FUBAR." - Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath in Saving Private Ryan.

Monday, December 16, 2024

EGGS!!!

I'm not sure what is happening over at Costco but recently people have been walking out with cart full of eggs! When I saw cart full, I mean stacked up 10 cartons high and these aren't the 2 dozen one but the 60-count cartons. Now, normally I buy the 2-dozne carton for 4.99 so about $2.50 per dozen. These are going for $9.99 per 60 which is 5-dozen and that comes out to $12.50 so these 60-count packages you are essentially buying 4-dozen, get 1-dozen free. But still, that is a LOT of eggs for people to buy at once! My only guess is these are bakeries and restaurants supplying up for the holidays. I've been told buying from Costco is actually less than buying from a farm direct. I am guessing because they get a bigger discount if Costco buys 50,000 eggs compared to a bakery that only buys 500 at a time. But, dang that is a lot of eggs to see rolling out of Costco at once!

Weekly Update:
Sending holiday cards is getting to be a lost art... any form of postal correspondence is becoming a lost art. Sure people still send a holiday greeting but I've noticed they are more a postcard type in an envelope with a picture or pictures of the family on a trip or something. But what is becoming lost is the written gesture, the classic card you open and there is a message inside. Sometimes it's lengthy, most times it's just a hand written "Hello!" and signed. I guess it also depends on how many you plan on sending out but I've done about a dozen plus some and all with a short written message. Is that old school now? And I still write out the address on the front, that is hit or miss as I get several that are labels. Nothing wrong with labels though, that might actually be a good idea because if your hand-writing is bad, the postal machines or a person may not be able to read to where it needs to go to!

At the movies:
For a third week in a row, Moana 2 holds the #1 spot with an extra 26.6 million as we are kind of in a mid-season lull that comes every year. Still solid numbers and continues to do well, remains on track to reach 400. Also holding at #2 is Wicked with 22.5 mil and should do well into 2025, also on track for 400 mil as well. New at #3 is Kraven the Hunter with 11 mil and word-of-mouth is just so-so on this one. Dip down to #4 is Gladiator II with 7.8 mil and stay remains steady. Rounding off the top 5 is The Lord of the Ring: The War of the Rohirrim with 4.6 million, a very soft number given the franchise it is following. Will likely peak out next week.

Quote of the week:
"Nothing can have value without being an object of utility." - Karl Marx

Facts & Tips:
Bats are the only mammals that can actually fly.

"They're saying it's some type of animal attack, probably a cougar." - Keahu Kahuanui as Danny Mahealani in the TV series Teen Wolf.

Monday, December 09, 2024

Another dry spell ahead

I'm not sure what happened to our weather but it continues to be very dry and also warming up a bit. We hit mid-70's this week which actually felt a lot warmer with no breezes (and we know how that goes with no wind). But the dryness is worrying me as we had a lot of dry brush this year. Also, my car is so dirty, it needs a bath soon! But so far no rain in site for the next week forecast. That big cyclone in the Pacific Northwest produced nothing for us down here, what was that about? It was nothing and then NorCal had an big earthquake off shore and got a tsunami warning but I heard nothing came of it or at least I saw nothing. All I want is some rain please!!

Weekly Update:
On Saturday, it was December 7th, the attack on Pearl Harbor 83 years ago that brought the United States into World War II. From my knowledge, Japan declared war on the US after the attack took place which was a mistake on the Japanese part (per the Geneva Convention) and it was due to decoding complications. The US lost 2 main battle ships, the USS Oklahoma and USS Arizona while many other ships were severely damaged. I still hold the thought this was intentional on the US part to allow the attack to happen to get us into the war. The losses, though great, the ships lost were extremely outdated from an WWI era. But shortly after, the US officially declared war on Germany (and Italy) thus bringing the US fully into the war. There is an amazing movie that depicts this moment in history that I always watch on that day and highly recommend, Tora! Tora! Tora!

At the movies:
Holding on to the #1 spot for a 2nd week is Moana 2 with another 52 million but a pretty sizeable drop. However, that number does include a 5-day gross from Thanksgiving compared to a regular 3-day weekend gross of this week. But, it was enough to hit the 300 mark and should have enough steam to reach 400 eventually. Holding on to #2 as well is Wicked with 38.9 mil extra as it also passes the 300 mil mark with some change. Staying at #3 is Gladiator II with 12.5 mil more and slowly running out of steam for this one. Also keeping its #4 spot is Red One with 7 mil and this film could still hit 100 mil but it will drag to get there. Rounding off the top 5 is Pushpa: The Rule - Part 2 with 4.9 mil and will likely be gone by next weekend.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
A few this week as folks are making sure their films quality for awards and also to clear their slate before the new year. In at #7 is Solo Leveling - ReAwakening with 2.4 mil however it did release on less than 1000 screens. Following that at #8 is Y2K with 2.1 mil and this was a wide-release pattern that didn't pan out for it. And at #9 is For King + Country's: A Drummer Boy Christmas with 2.1 mil and also on a wide-release pattern.

Quote of the week:
"Love has no age, no limit; and no death." - John Galsworthy

Facts & Tips:
The original name for the search engine Google was Backrub.

"Um I'm gonna need vodka in a water glass with ice, and I'm gonna be ordering "water" from you all night long, so one... "water," please. - Eliza Coupe as Jane Williams in the TV series Happy Endings.

Monday, December 02, 2024

Dry as a bone

I may have talked about this before but I find it interesting how all the car charging stations near a mall or some kind of school campus are so far away from everything. One would think that if you have an electric car, they would sort of reward you and have them close to say a mall entrance so you can charge the car while you shop or eat at the mall. The ONLY place I know of where the charger are pretty much at the front of the parking lot is Amazon Fresh. But when you go to the mall, they are across the parking lot in this remote area. Over at Cal State Fullerton, they are at the far end of the stadium parking lot. There are a few in this little area that is close but only about 3 or 4 where as the bulk of them are in that remote parking area. Not much of a convenience if you ask me.

Weekly Update:
Where is all our rain?! We were supposed to get a day or two of rain last week but nothing. We ended up just being very cold at night (around 40 to 50's) and not a drop of water. We were bone dry... with no rain in our forecast. We need some rain here folks and that massive cyclone was kind of disappointing (at least for us). I saw Central California did get some rain, not flooding numbers like they had projected though. And because of that, we didn't get a drop of anything further down here. I wonder how states like Washington and Oregon did with the cyclone. I didn't hear of any massive flooding or actually, I didn't here anything weather wise. In fact it's so dry, my lips are kind of chapped and my nose is very dry I fear I might get a bloody nose! So what happened to this weather?

At the movies:
New at #1 with a BIG-sized opening is Moana 2 earning 135.5 million for it's debut. With the Thanksgiving holiday, it earned a 5-day total of 221 mil and on pace to hit 300 possibly later this week! Slight drop down to #2 is Wicked with 80 mil and also on track to hit 300 mil by the end of this week. Following suit to #3 is Gladiator II with another 30.7 mil as it breaks the 100 mil mark and likely will start to decline more quickly now that the holiday is over. Holding on to #4 is Red One with 12.9 mil extra and still can hit the 100 mil mark in another week or two. Rounding off the top 5 is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with 3.3 mil more after it dropped out of the top 5 last week. The holidays are upon us, more big movies to come!

Quote of the week:
"Soul meets soul on lovers' lips." - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Facts & Tips:
Canada is south of Detroit.

"Please and thank you." - Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson in the TV series Parks and Recreation.

Duckburg Gazette