Duckburg Gazette

Monday, May 04, 2026

Remember Luke...

May the 4th be with you... Always.

Today is May the 4th which is often considered Star Wars day now since it now sounds like May the Force be with you. But then there is debate on if the 5th or 6th is Sith day, the anti-Jedi since both do sound close to the word Sith. I think the 6th is closer as both start with an S and it gives a day gap between the two dates. Also this should be an international observed holiday, I mean the movie franchise is world wide and has sparked so many new things like spin-offs and conventions all to itself. What once was part of something like San Diego Comic Con and other conventions is now on it's own PLUS that with Celebration that is generally heled in a rotation between Anaheim, Germany and Japan. This is definitely one of the few things that has spanned the globe and almost recognizable in some form or fashion that I think it deserves it's own day which should be today of all days.

Weekly Update:
This past Saturday I went to the Walt Disney Studio lot for an event called Mickey's Morning Mayhem. This was the 3rd annual of this event and it is fashioned after Disneyland's Minnie's Moonlit Madness. This year the weather was overall better (not 90+ degrees) and they had water throughout the entire event! I did get to test several of the clues beforehand and I have to say they were all pretty easy. The average clue time should take around 8 to 10 minutes each and I was able to finish them under 5 mins with the group I had during testing. With the clues being kind of easy, there ended up being a LOT of ties for each grouping. From their easy to hard, every one of them had a tie from 5 teams to as high as 11 teams! That was pretty crazy but with that happening last year (but not as many), they were prepared with tie-breakers and those worked out nicely. But overall a great event with a really good breakfast featuring breakfast burritos and steel cut oats. I was very full by the time it was the start of the event through the entire rest of the day! But also, I miss the studio lot and it was great to be back again, sort of felt like coming home.

At the movies:
New at #1 with a hefty 77 million is The Devil Wears Prada 2. Being a 20-year gap since the first film, this is a good number but the real test will be how it holds up in week #2. Slight drop to #2 is Michael with an extra 54 mil as it now narrows in at the 200 mil mark and should hit that by mid-week. Also slightly dropping to #3 is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with 12.1 mil more in it's 5th week and just passing 400 mil which is a fantastic number. Holding on to #4 after 7 weeks is Project Hail Mary with 8.6 mil as it slowly starts to wind down from it's run just passing the 300 mil mark. New at #5 is Hokum with 6.4 mil and this was barely in and will likely drop out next week.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
A few this week starting at #6 is Animal Farm with 3.4 mil on a very wide-release pattern only averaging $1300 per screen which is very poor. New at #8 is Deep Water with 2.2 mil on about 1600 runs and with an even less per screen average. And at #9, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea with only $100k but on less than 1,000 screens making about $1100 per screen. The movie title will be longer than it's theatrical run!

Quote of the week:
"The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

Facts & Tips:
A bee has five eyelids.

"Livin' in the ghetto, black is everywhere you go. Would have thought I'd love a girl whose skin was white as winter snow?" - Elijah Kelley as Seaweed in Hairspray (2007)

Monday, April 27, 2026

How fast is fast

I was having dinner during the week at Panda Express and I have always said, a panda is not a fast animal by any means. They do seem pretty indestructible though when it comes to falling, rolling and running into things. But fast? I don't think so but then it had me wondering about the name, Panda Express... as I was waiting in line to get food, the service was kind of slow and I was 2nd in line... with 2 people behind the counter helping and another 3 behind them cooking and such. But maybe this place is correctly named... since panda's are not fast at all, neither is Panda Express! It was like a lightbulb moment and it all started to make more sense! They work at the speed of a panda... enjoying their bamboo shoots and just kind of sloshing around. So, I guess Panda Express is correctly named after all.

Weekly Update:
I was recently told that McDonald's has sheet cake for birthday parties but so far, I haven't been able to find a location that has it. The internet does say very select locations and usually those with a Play Place. I went to two different ones with a Play Place and neither had it so where are they? The ones with Play Places makes sense too as families can hold birthday parties there for their kids but I guess not all of them have it sadly. It's a very simple white cake with white frosting and sometimes referred to as the Ronald's Birthday Cake. My quest will continue to find this cake!

At the movies:
New at #1 this week is Michael with a huge 97 million for it's debut. Solid word-of-mouth on this biopic and should easily get to 100 by mid-day or sooner tomorrow. Drop down to #2 is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with 21.2 mil extra as it's quickly making it's way to 400 mil cume and could get that by end of this week. Also dropping down to #3 is Project Hail Mary with 13.2 mil more as it slowly winds down and will cap out soon with just over 300 mil. Drop down to #4 is Lee Cronin's The Mummy with an extra 5.6mil and this one will also cap out soon barely making a dent. Rounding off the top 5 is The Drama with another 2.6 mil and also winding down and eventually out.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Two this week, first at #8 is Over Your Dead Body with 1.4 mil to open on over 1500 screens with less than 1k per screen average. In at #10 is American Youngboy with 1.2 mil with just over 500 screens, a very low number and will be out quickly.

Quote of the week:
"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." - Archimedes.

Facts & Tips:
Mosquitoes are attracted to people who just ate bananas.

"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88-miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit." - Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future.

Monday, April 20, 2026

I'm a fan!

Recently I purchased a new fan from Costco for the smaller downstairs guest room and a long time ago I bought a bigger, wooden fan for upstairs but just never got around to having them installed. With the way the weather has been lately, I thought I would get them installed sooner than later and hired someone to do both on Friday. Took them about 3-hours to install the fans but they were also removing existing fans. One fan had a broken light figure that could not be removed from the unit nor replaced by itself. The downstairs fan, the fan blades looked loose and was worried over time they became loose and figured I would just replace with a smaller fan with it being a smaller room. Both older fans were Hunter, great quality and lasted over 30+ years and the upstairs replacement was a Hunter brand again so ideally that will last another 30+ years. I figure if I need to replace the existing two other fans, I'll get the bigger Hunter ones again since those are also in bigger rooms.

Weekly Update:
The last two Saturday's I went up to Burbank to do some game testing for an upcoming event in May. It was easy getting up there at around 830 to 9AM but coming home around 1PM was insane. What took me about 40 minutes to get up there, took me closer to 2 hours to get home when I left around 1PM. Why was there so much traffic on a SATURDAY!!? Rhetorical question but why oh why was there so much and it wasn't even a work day! School's are out, no churches (Saturday remember), no big events that I am aware especially at that hour, and gas prices are so high across the country... that it feels like more people are out driving! I need there to be none to light traffic on a weekend, please!

At the movies:
Hanging on to the #1 spot for a third week in a row is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with an extra 35 million and still on a solid track to hit 400 in time. Also holding at #2 is Project Hail Mary with 20.5 mil and just shy of 300 mil cume, should get that by end of this coming week. New at #3 is Lee Cronin's The Mummy with 13.5 mil and I think the general audience is waiting for a different kind of mummy movie. Drop down to #4 is The Drama with 4.8 mil as it continues to wind down. Rounding off the top 5 is You, Me & Tuscany with 3.8 mil more and possibly will fall out next week from the top 5.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Several this week as we start with #7, Normal with 2.7 mil in a wide release and only $1300 per screen, won't be able to hold onto those screens. At #8 is Busboys with 1.6 mil but just under 1,000 runs, still a low number. And finally at #9 is Bhooth Bangla with 977k, also under 1,000 runs and didn't fair so well.

Quote of the week:
"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough." - Og Mandino

Facts & Tips:
Cats have over 100 vocal cords.

"I know there's a "D" in there, but it keeps moving every time I try and write it down." - Kaley Cuoco as Penny in the TV series The Big Bang Theory.

Monday, April 13, 2026

A drop is still a drop

We got rain!! Ok, just for one day... ok, just for a few hours... ok, maybe an hour but we still got some rain finally! At least when we do get rain, even a little bit, it brings with it cooler temperatures because we have been getting Summer-like weather a lot lately and it's barely Spring. What should bein the 50's and 60's is consistently in the high 80's to mid-70's so very unseasonal warmth. And the lack of rain is not helping our draught. This is the 2nd year in a row but last year wasn't as hot but still dry. So the less amount of rain this year, the higher temperatures we have been getting, this is adding up very badly in general. I think states who get regular rain fall are also seeing a decline in the amount of water they get per year.

Weekly Update:
It's funny how when you order some food that comes with a certain number of pieces and when you find an extra piece, it's like you won the lottery and discovered heaven all in one. But when you are short a piece, you go ballistic like the word is about to end. Great example is a 6-piece chicken nuggets from McDonald's and if you get a 7th nugget, you won the fast food lottery of all time! You don't care how it got there but you are 100% happy it showed up some how. But on the flip-side, you only get 5-pieces and you are furious that the one nugget never made and you are immediately calling them or writing the corporate office as to why something like a missing nugget happened in the first place! It is like all the systems that make the world function just all of a sudden shut down. Funny how plus one piece can make your world but minus a piece shuts it down.

At the movies:
Holding the crown for it's 2nd week is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with an extra 69 million, now hitting over 300 mil cume! At this rate, it could get to 400 in about 2 more weeks but it should get there in time. Also holding for another week at #2 is Project Hail Mary with 24.6 mil as it continues to make its way to 300 mil but will require more time to get there. No movement at #3 as The Drama keeps it spot and earns 8.7 mil with very little change. Though it's not doing huge numbers, it still is doing very well. New at #4 is You, Me & Tuscany with 8 mil to open and likely will be a quick burn. Rounding off the top 5 is Hoppers with 4.1 mil as it quietly wraps up.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
In at #6 is Faces of Death with 1.7 mil and it was a decent wide release pattern, just not grabbing the wide audiences. New at #7 is Exit 8 with 1.4 mil but this was on less than 500 screens. Still pretty low and will exit out of theatres quickly.

Quote of the week:
"Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn

Facts & Tips:
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backward.

"I have responsibilities, I have four kids." = Steve Little as Steve Janowski in the series Eastbound & Down.

Monday, April 06, 2026

April Fool's

This past Wednesday was April 1st, otherwise known as April Fool's Day! There used to be some great websites out there who did a lot of great pranks. I remember Blizzard Entertainment did a nerd gaming date site, Pokemon made some contest of catching all these Pokemon around the world in a day... and the best of the was ThinkGeek when they used to exist. Every year they did the best pranks with fake merchandise that people really wanted them that in most cases, they ended up actually making them! The best of them was the Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Tauntaun sleeping bag because you only thought they smelled bad on the outside! But since that one (it was several years ago), there definitely has been a lack luster of online pranks or they were really obvious or just flat out dumb. But, a new one has emerged this year, Jamba Juice! Jamba Juice did one for some pickle inspired beverages! They did an email blast and put it up on their socials and now, people want it! Will Jamba eventually make it? We'll see but pickle beverages do exist out there now!

Weekly Update:
Baseball has started another season and will the LA Dodgers get a third championship? They have showed a strong showing so far but from the start to the end is a long way to go and a lot of games to play. In MLB history there has only been 4 teams to win three World Series in a row and the New York Yankees own that title for 3 of them! The last one was from 1998 to 2000. The only other team to have a 3-peat were the Oakland Athletics which was from 1972 to 1974 which they are now the Las Vegas Athletics or will be. So, if the LA Dodgers win this year, they will make history by being the 5th team but only 3rd different team to win a 3-peat and a first for the LA Dodger baseball club. Again, a long way to go but here's wishing them the best this season!

At the movies:
New at #1 with a huge box office is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie earning an outstanding 130.9 million for the weekend but a 5-day total of 190.1 mil! This is an huge number and should get to 200 mil by tomorrow. Above expectations and Easter Sunday is usually not a very busy weekend too. Drop down to #2 is Project Hail Mary with another 30.7 mil as it now passes the 200 mil cume mark. Still going strong and will continue to do well. New at #3 is The Drama with 14.4 mil and not a lot on this film, may do OK overall. Hanging on to #4 is Hoppers with 5.8 mil and it will continue to lose steam and be out soon. Rounding off the top 5 is Reminders of Him with an extra 2.2 mil and likely the last we see of this movie.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week in at #6 is A Great Awakening with 2.1 mil. It opened on over 1200 screens so not a great number overall.

Quote of the week:
"Great mind discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Facts & Tips:
The average koala sleeps 22 hours each day.

"Devin, this is what happens when you do Minecraft instead of math! And neither of you should be eating Twinkies this close to dinner." - Ron G. as Brian in Just Swipe.