Duckburg Gazette

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.

Monday, March 30, 2026

Mmmmmmm

A friend introduced me to a drink called Chi and it is pretty amazing. Great taste, refreshing and the best part, no sugars and calories! Now the calorie part doesn't bother me but the no sugar is very important to me and I could drink these all day. A LOT of the sparkling water drinks have zero flavor to me and usually it makes me even more thirsty or my mouth dry. But this, it has a lot of flavor without any after tastes you would get from artificial sweeteners and the flavors are really good. I would say the cans are small (11.16 fl. oz) compared to a regular can of soda (which is 12 fl. oz). I think with the cans being skinnier but slightly taller it feels much smaller than what we are used to but one can is still a good amount. The pack at Costco only has four flavors which are lychee, peach, pomelo and my favorite, strawberry but honestly all four flavors are good. I have seen pictures of a grape and orange which I would very much be interested in trying both but I don't see any where that sells the individually (yet), just in that four pack of flavors at Costco. Maybe those are two new flavors but I'll drink them all!

Weekly Update:
One of the tools I am using to try and declutter my stuff is eBay. I can't remember if I talked about this before but it warrants another mention. Now, I am trying to declutter for the past several years and been doing it through eBay for the most part. It's semi-easy but not quick because you never know when someone may be looking for something you have so you just have to keep reposting it. But at least reposting is a simple two click process and that makes it using it very attractive. I would say I probably sell about 10 to 12 things a year but they range from something the size of a ring or pin to a big board game sized item. It is very random and when it's something small, I don't even notice the impact it makes in redeeming space in my house. When it's something big, that is awesome and I see the small difference but the challenge with that is finding the right size box to ship things in. You don't want to oversize the box because then you have to find extra packing materials plus the bigger the box, the more expensive the shipping. The smaller the item, the easier the shipping (an inexpensive) but the impact of space it makes, negligible. But what is the overall impact is the money that I can earn and set aside, that is the best part and I'm not just throwing stuff away... my junk is someone else's treasure as they say.

At the movies:
No surprise holding ground at #1 is Project Hail Mary with another 54.5 million and that is an incredibly small drop of only 32% from week 1. It is at 164 mil cume and should hit 200 probably by mid-week at this pace. Also holding at #2 is Hoppers with 12.2 mil more and gradually slowing down. New at #3 is They Will Kill You with 5 mil and probably a quick burn out. Drop down to #4 is Dhurandha The Revenge with an extra 4.8 mil and will continue to fade out. Holding again at #5 is Reminders of Him with 4.7 mil which is surprising but should be out by next week.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week at #10 is Forbidden Fruits with only 1.2 mil on a wide release and only doing less than $800 per screen.

Quote of the week:
"Where there is great love, there are always wishes." - Willa Cather.

Facts & Tips:
One brow wrinkle is the result of 200,000 frowns.

"Only a fool makes threats he's not prepared to carry out." - Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister in the series

Monday, March 23, 2026

Sprin... SUMMER is here!!

HOT HOT HOT!!

I went to the parks this past week getting some friends in and talk about a scorcher. Monday through Wednesday I would say the average was 95 degrees. Thursday and Friday were both in the low 90's and it didn't break till Saturday when it only hit 88. First day of Spring was this past Friday but I think we completely skipped it and went right to Summer! What does this mean for the Summer weather than? I hope we aren't for record breaking temperatures this year when we officially go into Summer. We already had record breakers for this past week in the start of Spring! Global warming and climate change are such a real thing. It is like if someone sees how green the grass is in front of them and say it isn't green simply because they prefer it to be any color but green. They end up saying I didn't see any green grass. They deny the truth to fit their own mindset and do nothing to correct or help the situation but simply make it worse and worse. People are stupid.

Weekly Update:
It is interesting how maps and map programs have changed over the past 20 to 25 years. Before it was all folded road maps or if you were lucky, a Thomas Guide which was detailed down to the street as long as no construction work had taken place. Then we evolved to things like MapQuest and other programs such as having a navigation system in your car. What was interesting about your car nav is it was only accurate up to the point of when you purchased your car and if you want a more accurate map, you had to get a new CD. Now, the apps for location are so accurate and car navs are connected to your own app or a global tracking system. They now knew traffic alerts or if a car is pulled over to the side that might cause some delays on the road. You can watch someone move blocks by just being connected to them and watching them walk down the street. Even games have mapping that can you help you get around like Pokémon Go! It uses probably Google Maps because I can see the roads and if it's a dead end street or not and my location on the map is so accurate! It is easy to know where anyone is now these days!

At the movies:
Big opening at #1 with Project Hail Mary earning a huge 80.6 million and very positive reviews. Should get to 100 mil in no time and continue it's way to a potentially quick 200 at the box office. Drop down to #2 is Hoppers with 18 mil extra and another 37% drop which is very good. Movie broke into the 100 mil category but 200 may be a stretch. New at #3 is Dhurandha The Revenge with 10 mil to open and this might be a quick burn. New at #4 is Ready or Not 2: Here I Come with 9.1 mil which isn't bad for this film. Rounding off the top 5 is Reminders of Him with another 8 mil and should fade out fast.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week in wide-release is The Pout-Pout Fish with 1.5 mil and less than $1000 per screen, this one will be out of theatres fast.

Quote of the week:
"Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier

Facts & Tips:
The first vacuum was so large, it was brought to a house with horses.

"You can tell she's a good dancer by the way she drinks her soda pop." - Oscar Nunez as Ramone in The Proposal.