Paperless
Not exactly paperless but exactly paperless? Costco
Kirkland brand water has had an update to its look... or had an reduction in
their look? The removed the paper band that goes around the bottle and I
find that amazing. All the details you need to know about the water is in
the packaging so why does the individual bottle need a label on it? I bet
this is reducing some major costs and at the same time, reducing a lot of
waste! I think this is absolutely brilliant and why didn't anyone thing
of this a long time ago. I know the indents in a bottle (or can) have
reduced material costs over the years by millions of dollars so eliminating the
process of the label plus not making the label at all, that is like double
reduction in both material and production costs I'm sure. Also, the whole
bottle looks clear and clean, I kind of find that more appealing but just
really smart! Now, be nice if other companies follow along and reduce
their costs so instead of raising prices, they reduce cost and in that will retain
their profits instead!
Weekly Update:
I do not like this weather!!! As soon as I get out of like a nice shower,
I'm sweating. As far as I know, I'm probably sweating while taking the
shower! What is happening here? What happened to our dry
heat? More importantly, what happened to our cool ocean breezes or any
kind of breeze for that matter?! This is not normal weather for us, the
heat maybe but not this level of humidity. I do not like it one bit and
it has to change! It is only beginning of August too but supposedly the
official last day of Summer is end of the month. However, we know
seasonally that is not the case and it's more like beginning of October.
I just hope the nights will continue to be a LOT cooler but come on, where are
the breezes? I mean we don't get them all day but sometimes we would and
there has been zero, none, zilch.
At the movies:
BIG weekend at the box office as
Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes
a huge leap to #1 with 355 million for it's debut. What a way to make an
entrance and also at the peak of the Summer season. Word-of-mouth is good
on the film, look for it to hit 400 by mid-week and make it's way to 500.
Drop down to #2 is
The Odyssey with 51 mil extra and now just
inches away from 400, should hit that any day now. Moving up a notch to #3
is
Toy Story 5 with 6.3 mil more as it crawls to reach the 500
mark, likely will fall short but still did great overall. Hanging on to #4
is
Minions & Monsters with 5.8 mil and actually holding
better than expected. Drop down to #5 is
Moana with 5.3 mil as
this one slowly fades out.
New movies that did not make the top 5:
Coming in at #8 is
I Want Your Sex on a semi-wide release (700
runs) and only earning 600k which is less than 1k per screen.
Quote of the week:
"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to
understand and to be understood." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Facts & Tips:
On average a human being will spend up to 2 weeks kissing in his/her lifetime.
"I'm so Chinese, I'm an Econ professor with lactose intolerance." -
Constance Wu as Rachel Chu in
Crazy Rich Asians.
Did it get hotter?
Someone turned up the volume on the heat this past week! It got even warmer and stickier than the previous week, why? Our heat used to be just a dry heat but it has gotten pretty humid (for me and for here). This is not normal and one thing is I can't really turn on m AC (for long periods of time) because my the water run-off from my AC unit isn't connected yet as it went through my old bathroom sink which hasn't been installed yet! That and it's also expensive to use electricity here in general so I try not to use it as much as I can. But with the water collecting (in buckets) and then having to pour it out some where... its a hassle that I was trying to go out to like Panera and sit there for an hour or so to just enjoy their AC and my Panera sipper drink as long as I could. This heat sucks with the humidity added but I'm sure it's not as bad as other places with way more humidity though.
Weekly Update:
This past week had the 14th Annual Variety Children's Charity Poker Tournament on the Paramount Studio lot. This is one of my favorite events at one of my favorite locations. The day part of it was so warm, I just stayed in my car as long as I could and then went to the theatre there on the lot (since it was also part of our event) to enjoy that AC. Fortunately it did cool down a lot when the sun went down but at that point, I was already pre-sticky from earlier in the day. But, the event was great and food was good. Had a delicious pistachio cannoli and got to hand out with some good friends who were able to attend. Especially my friend from the show NCIS, Katrina Law who said next time she would invite her co-stars from the show! Now that would be great if they (or even some of them) could attend and just have a great time with all of us.
At the movies:
Holding ground at #1 is The Odyssey with an extra 87 million and now just over 250 mil cume. The drop from week 1 was only 30% which is very low by today's standards. In a few more days, this should hit 300 mil easily and continue on to more. Hanging on to #2 is Moana with 10.5 mil extra and this just hit the 100 mil mark! Coming up a notch to #3 is Toy Story 5 with 10 mil as it slowly wraps up its summer run. New at #4 is Hadestown: The Musical with 9.7 mil and may have only been in theatres for a limited time but did have a wide-release pattern. Big drop to #5 is Minions & Monsters with 9.6 mil and though it did good overall, it should be wrapping up it's run.
New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week at #9, Motor City earning 1.6 mil on a decent wide-release pattern so made only $1000 per screen average and will be out quickly.
Quote of the week:
"Let us sacrifice today so that our children can have a better tomorrow." - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Facts & Tips:
A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber."This is really all I ever hoped for - to be someplace amazing with my best friends." - Chris Pang as Colin Khoo in
Crazy Rich Asians.
Why so sticky?
Make the heat stop! It got very hot during the day and sticky?? We got some humidity out of no where and it was making me sticky which I hated. This is not our weather so not sure what is happening here. But the temps do tell us one thing, Summer has hit SoCali for sure now we just need to ride it out but for how long. I think last year the heat was through most of September... as long as the nights drop down 20 to 30 degrees than I'll just hunker in during the day and do nothing. But now my electric bill will likely spike high for a couple of months, I hate that. I wish I could get solar but at what point does it become worth it over time and also, my fear is the golf ball impacts it will get. AND, the recent news about a bunch of solar companies in trouble so it makes it even more weary to trust the company but we know the technology is sound. What to do.
Weekly Update:
Aldi vs Trader Joe's... I went to Aldi recently and I have to say their brands there seem pretty generic but are they Aldi brands like Trader Joe's has their brands? In my opinion the Aldi brands (assuming they are Aldi) are very generic in tastes and quality but way cheaper. Trader Joe's are very generic as well but way more expensive. I got a box of like mini-cheese filled crackers that was $1.99 but something similar at Trader Joe's (TJ for short) is $2.99 to 3.99 and the quality is the same. I often argue that TJ's stuff is kind of expensive and for what? Banana's are up to about .29 each when at Amazon (before they closed) were only .19 and Costco came out close to .10 to .15 if you buy them by the bunch. Another thing I bought at Aldi was a dip... regular French onion was about $1.99 but TJ's was $3.99 for half the amount but does it taste that much different? Not really. Though I appreciate the message that TJ is conveying but their quality doesn't match the price point as Aldi. Just that Aldi is very far and few between.
At the movies:
Big numbers return at the box office with a new #1! Nolan's The Odyssey earns a big 124.5 million and with very positive reviews. It will easily make it's way to 200 mil in a very short time and who knows from there. Drop down to #2 is Moana with 19 mil and should still reach 100 mil within the next 10-days. Following down to #3 is Minions & Monsters with 14.8 mil more and though this is past the 100-mil mark, it will tap out soon. Holding ground at #4 is Toy Story 5 with 14.8 mil as this will stay in the 400 mil zone but still an overall great number. Rounding off the top 5 is Evil Dead Burn with an extra 5 mil and this one is done for the Summer.
Quote of the week:
"We can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water." - Rabindranath Tagore
Facts & Tips:The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
"An old associate of mine speaks impeccable Cantonese. He lived about 200 years ago. You know him. Sun Lok? Course you do. You locked him inside the Grimhold." - Alfred Molina as Horvath in
The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
It's getting hot in here...
4th of July Edition
The fireworks were heavy over the weekend but of course, it was 4th of July on Saturday. On top of this date celebrated every year, it was also the 250th birthday of this country but it also feels like the death of this country as well especially when you see 1776 - 2026 every where... it had a good run I guess but how everything is, we are in utter turmoil. But aside from that chaos and uncertainty, the fireworks were plenty on Friday and Saturday but of course all I could think of were the animals. I wish there was away to see the colors of a firework without the sounds, that would be pretty cool. I guess that is where drone technology could come in handy but I'm sure it's not price prohibitive yet. Also it's hard to change such a long tradition but we need more integration to show what it can do and maybe over (a short) time, it will become the new traditional and norm. Then, people and their pets (plus all other animals) can enjoy it as much as people do.
Weekly Update:
It got HOT! Not sure who turned on the switch but towards the end of the week it got into the 80's which I know isn't that bad but also started to get a bit humid. I'm sure it's not like Florida humid but humid enough! I was installing a TV mount in the guest bedroom and had the ceiling fan on with the house fan going and the window open and it wasn't a hard job to do but toward the end, I was sweating. I could feel the air being a bit heavier too so all of that just added to my dripping some drops of sweat that day. On the bright side though I got the mount up all by myself and it looks and works great. Now, I just need to figure out how to hid the power cord coming down the wall. But looking at the forecast for this week, looks like we are going to get a mild heatwave. I just need some breezes to keep it cool!
At the movies:
New at #1 is Minions & Monsters with a 5-day holiday weekend of 61.4 million. Not a bad number but also, below expectations a bit. Week #2 will be a big dip with no holiday to bump it. Drop to #2 is Toy Story 5 with 31 mil as it continues to be on track for 400 mil domestic cume. New at #3 is Young Washington with 20.8 mil and that is a pretty solid number for faith-based company Angel. Big drop to #4 is Supergirl with 9.6 mil and this film won't reach 100 mil. Rounding off the top 5 is Disclosure Day with 6 mil as it finally reaches 100 and this will one is down and out after this weekend.
Quote of the week:
"A people free to choose will always choose peace." - Ronald Reagan
Facts & Tips:
Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work."The more they look at me, the less they look at you." - Gigi Edgley as Chiana in the TV series
Farscape.
