LITTLE BOY, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 46 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, April 23rd, 2015, in Richmond, CA, at the CENTURY HILLTOP 16, for the 9:50 p.m. advance screening in auditorium 6, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 10th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $11.25. And I bought a 16.9 oz Dasani Water for $3.85 at the concessions counter. The trip back to Vallejo cost me an additional $5.00 at the Carquinez Bridge Toll Plaza.

THE LITTLE BOY THAT COULD

Quickie Review: A little boy who looks up to his father will do anything to bring his father home from the war alive.

Believing himself to be in possession of a super telekinetic power awakened in him by his comic book superhero, the one and only Ben Eagle ( Ben Chaplin ), "little boy" Pepper Flynt Busbee ( Jakob Salvati ) becomes obsessed with the idea that he has the power to teleport his father ( Michael Rapaport ) back to their ( fictional ) hometown of O'hare, California, during World War II. Especially after he hears the church sermon on faith the size of a grain of mustard seed ( Matthew 17:20 ). But Father Oliver ( Tom Wilkinson ) reminds him that such a faith can only be had if one is unselfish and cares for others. So, the priest gives him a list of things taken from the Bible ( Matthew 25:35-36 ) that he must do in order to acquire a mustard seed-sized faith. As he checks-off each task on his list, he befriends the town's pariah, gains the respect of the class bully and wins the admiration of everyone in town.

Would you believe it if I told you that I was the only one in the auditorium for this particular show? Well, indeed, I was! But I liked this charming movie. I especially liked how two "little boys" were interwoven into a seamless fabric of the movie's plot. This is a well-crafted movie ideally suited for the whole family. Go see this movie with your little brats.

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Driving to the theatre and back home made me worry that my car's "check engine" light might come on again. It didn't. The last time that it came on was over a month ago before and after my brother-in-law passed away. Will the engine light come back on again? I don't know. I don't want it to, whether the reason be that of a bad omen or whether it be simply that of a bad engine.

*

NANAK SHAH FAKIR, NR ( 2 hr & 25 min )

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I went to see this yesterday, Thursday, April 23rd, 2015, in Richmond, CA, at the CENTURY 16 HILLTOP, for the 6:05 p.m. showing in auditorium 12, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $10.75. And I got a free small Buttered Popcorn ( movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) to go with my small Powerade Zero Orange for $4.10.

Quickie Review: This movie is based on the life of Sikhism's founder, from his prophesied birth all the way into his adult ministry. In his travels, he sought to unite the Hindus and the Muslims through his revelation of Ik Onkar ( there is only One God ) in a mystical musical way.

There were just a few people in the audience. I wasn't able to gauge their reaction to this movie.

I liked this movie. It offered me a better glimpse at the life of one of World Religions' influential founders. This movie was banned because some Sikhs thought that their founder's portrayal was blasphemous. But Nanak's face was never shown at all. I would recommend this movie to any follower of Sikhism or to anyone interested in World Religions.

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This movie added to my understanding of my Yogi's faith. My Yogi is a Sikh, as I had mentioned in an earlier post. What I observed is that Nanak, in essence, preached what Jesus Christ, Himself, preached. But, then again, no matter who preaches what, the message is the same if it comes from one source, from One God.

"Hold on!" you might say in protest. "Christians believe in the Holy Trinity. How can you Christians say that you believe in One God when you worship God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit? These are three different Gods that you worship, not one."

But you proceed from the mistaken notion that God is incomplete. The very essence of God is that He is whole. No matter how many representations of God that you may have of Him, be it one, three, seventy-two or one hundred and eight--or more--He is still One God! You cannot add or subtract from God because He is completely whole. Here's a simple mathematical analogy: 1 X 1 X 1 = 1; and no matter how many more times that you multiply 1  by itself, the answer will still be 1. This is the same way with God. It is no contradiction at all when a Christian worships the Holy Trinity.

Allow me to illustrate further by adding to a simple analogy that my Yogi gave me and my fellow initiates. My Yogi said that if you go to the Ganges River and scoop some of its water into a vessel, say a glass, the water in the glass and the water in the Ganges River will still be one and the same, molecule for molecule and atom for atom. But the water in the glass will not be the Ganges River; it becomes part of the Ganges River only after it's poured back into the river! In the same manner, we can use this analogy to represent God, the Father, as the Ganges River; God, the Holy Spirit, as the water in the glass; and God, the Son, as the water-filled receptacle. God, the Son, i.e. Jesus Christ, became one with God, the Father, when he transmuted His ego-aware body ( the water-filled receptacle ) and "poured" the Holy Spirit back into its proper source which is God, the Father ( in much the same way that the water in the glass was poured back into the Ganges River in our earlier example ). And Jesus Christ can return in His humanly form, analogically speaking, in much the same way that a glass can be retrieved from the Ganges River if it was put in the river in the first place.

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When I bought my ticket at the box office, I asked the booth clerk how long the movie was because the movie listing didn't include the time length and even the movie rating, itself. She said that it was almost two hours. "Almost two hours," my butt! It was more than that as I kept checking the time on my watch after 8:00 p.m. to see when the movie would end because I hadn't had dinner yet. And I still had to come back to this theatre to see an advance screening of, LITTLE BOY. Well, it was past 8:30 p.m. when the movie finally ended.

When I stepped out of the theatre, I decided to try the food at the new Chinese buffet restaurant, Lee's Garden Buffet.

Ah, this is much better than the lame excuse of a "picture" that I took of this place a couple of weeks ago. Wouldn't you agree?

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I'd been at this Chinese buffet several times years ago when it went by another name and, obviously, was under different management/ownership. I took the above photo before I walked in. The sign on the door said that their Mon-Thu hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ( Fri-Sun hours are from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. ). I had less than 15 minutes to pig-out to my tummy's content! I asked the hostess if I could look at their buffet islands to see if there were still sufficient food left to feed a hungry movie blogger---There was!

I paid at the register first. I was charged a Senior Discount of $9.99 + $0.95 tax. And it couldn't have been because I looked old to the hostess since an old white man called me, "Kiddo," just a few hours earlier. But, then again, in today's "politically correct" society, I think calling a colored man, "Kiddo," is more acceptable than calling him, "Boy." Hey! wait a minute ....

Anyway,

I sat down at my table and gobbled-up food as fast as I could since I was in a race against time. When it was time for me to go back for seconds, a kitchen lady was already gathering-up the buffet pans. Another lady saw me going up to the buffet island and let the first lady know that there was still one hungry mouth to feed. The first lady just threw down into a pan with food still in it the serving spoons and tongs that she had collected. I quickly worked my way around that island as I piled "leftover" food high on my second plate. "This sure is one hungry pig at the trough! Oink, oink," one lady seemed to say in Chinese. Whatever .... I knew one thing, though: A Chinese lady would be going home with empty Chinese take-out containers tonight! Heh, heh, heh ....

"Mommy, why is this take-out container empty? I'm hungry! "

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And, just to be on the safe side, I piled a third plate high with food, too. Ha, ha, ha.

*

THE SOUND OF MUSIC, G ( 3 hr & 0 min )

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I went to see this on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 2:00 p.m. showing in auditorium 5, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $8.50. And I bought a $1.00 medium upgrade on a free small popcorn ( movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ), a $4.75 medium Mountain Berry Blast and a $1.50 Kernel Season's Cheddar-flavored Popcorn Seasoning at the concessions counter.

This is a 50th Anniversary presentation of a multi-Oscar winning musical classic.

Quickie Review:  An Austrian naval war hero refuses to serve in Hitler's 3rd Reich and hatches an ingenious escape plan. Based on a true story.

There was quite a turn-out for this particular show. Mostly, the audience was comprised of the middle-aged and the elderly. They liked this movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you're into Musicals.

This movie was banned in Austria until recently because the Austrians didn't want anything to do with something that would remind them of their past.

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I was about 6 years of age when I saw this movie for the first time in Kidapawan, Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. Of course, at such an early age, and with English as my 3rd language, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the sweet simplicity, innocence and beauty of this movie. All that I could remember from this movie were the songs, I Am Sixteen Going On Seventeen, Do Re Mi and its title song, The Sound Of Music. And these songs were played over and over on the radio, which served me as a memory aid. 

When I learned that this movie will be shown on its 50th Anniversary at select theatres, I knew that I would have to see it again to fully appreciate it. And I was glad that I was able to see it again. But, at the same time, this movie gave me a cause for worry ....

If you compare the movie dialogues back then to the ones that we are now subjected to, in the 50 years since this movie originally premiered, Spoken English has devolved into the current "trendy" vulgar vernacular in use not just by today's representative youths but by today's representative adults, as well! This is such a sad and worrisome commentary that I make based on my cinematic observation.

And even in today's G-rated movies, "Potty Humor" seems De Rigueur!

Where one goes, the other follows:

Written English, also, has fallen from grace. Today's folks don't seem to know how--or are too irresponsibly lazy--to spell ( or to even use "spell check" ) and use proper grammar and punctuation. Now, mind you, I'm not an English teacher--never had been and never will be. But Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation are educational tools that are taught in school and should be used conscientiously on a day-to-day basis. These are signs of a well-educated person. And one should strive to make a good impression of him/herself before others when one is writing a letter, a note, a text or an e-mail. Written English is different from Spoken English in the sense that its use must follow a stricter set of guidelines. For, you see, you are afforded the Luxury of Time to collect your thoughts and properly structure your sentences and paragraphs whenever you commit "pen to paper." In this way, your message or idea is presented in a clear and concise manner. To commit an error in writing due to laziness is almost unforgivable. And if you're ignorant of the Rules of Written English even though you went to school, why are you?

And none of today's youths seem to even know how to write a proper business letter! What they teach kids in school these days, I have no idea.

As I mentioned earlier, English is not my native language. And I was harassed and made fun of by my classmates, humiliated by my teachers and beaten by my own father for being such a slow and stubborn learner ( I had to go to summer school once and I flunked school twice ). I learned how to read by way of countless repetitions; and I learned how to write by paying close attention to how a sentence and a paragraph were structured, and why punctuation marks were chosen the way they were chosen.

In time, my valuable Learning Repertoire began to include Word Substitutions, Parenthetical Statements, Appositives, Modifiers, Prepositions and Transpositions. To this day, I still rely on these. They are my "fail-safe" go-to aids. 

*

UNFRIENDED, R ( 1 hr & 22 min )

I went to see this today, Tuesday, April 21st, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the Century 14 Vallejo, for the 10:50 a.m. showing in auditorium 10, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $6.25 ( All-Day Tuesday Special Price ). And I bought a small Buttered Popcorn for $5.95 and a small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast for $0.00 ( free offer on my movie watcher reward e-mail coupon with the purchase of any size popcorn ).

Quickie Review: The lives of 6 school friends become a deadly living nightmare one fateful evening when an anonymous hacker joins in on their video chat exactly a year after one of their friends killed herself when a shaming video went viral on-line.

There were only about half a dozen people in the auditorium, myself included. I don't know how they reacted to this movie. I think that this movie is geared more towards teenagers who will find this movie appealing and relatable to.

This is another one of those low-budget films that has a potential of becoming a cult classic.

This kind of evil entity would never harass me--I'm not computer literate enough! Ha, ha, ha. Heck, I don't even have Skype or a really fast Internet connection.

For some reason, I couldn't download the poster for this movie. I had to copy and paste it, instead.

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I've been in constant pain these past few days, what with my sore left shoulder, my bad left knee and, lately, a pain on the left side of my neck! The pain in my neck would get aggravated whenever I would drive my car and have to turn my head to look over my left shoulder before I merge with traffic or do a lane change. I think that my knee and shoulder problems are what created this pain in my neck, in the first place.

A few days ago, a customer told me that I should smile some more. I honestly said, I can't. I'm in pain. I have a really bad knee. And I didn't even tell her about the soreness in my shoulder and/or the pain in my neck. Suffice it to say, she understood why I wasn't smiling.

But there's nothing I can do about the pain in my neck today because my chiropractor's clinic is closed on Tuesdays. I will have to swing by his clinic tomorrow morning right after work.

*

IT FOLLOWS, R ( 1 hr & 40 min )

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I went to see this on Monday, April 13th, 2015, in Richmond, CA, at the Century 16 Hilltop, for the 7:55 p.m. showing in auditorium 14, 5th row ( counting from the front ), 5th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $6.15 ( Monday Senior Discount Day ). And I bought a medium Popcorn w/Butter ( $6.95 ) and a 16.9 oz bottle of Glaceau's Fruitwater Strawberry/Kiwi ( $4.60 ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  A hot teen is forced to have sex just to get rid of the boogeymen which come out of nowhere and sexually assault their victims to death! ( And I don't know why this isn't a porno movie, instead. )

The gist of this amateurish horror movie is that one can get rid of one's own boogeyman simply by having sex with some innocent and/or desperate sex partner, kinda like having "revenge sex" to infect someone--anyone--with your STD.  Ha, ha, ha---Snort! And forget "safe sex"! You definitely don't wanna use a condom for this curse to work effectively! LOL. Had I been the director of this B-movie, I would have made it more interesting to watch by having the female protagonist do most, if not all, of the nude scenes instead of having some plain, old and/or ugly women do the "crucial" scenes---But this is just me talkin'! Heh, heh, heh. In all fairness, though, in the interest of "equality", a scene shows an old butt-naked man standing on a rooftop in broad daylight for all of the neighborhood kids to gawk at ( but the scene is not hard--no pun intended--on the eyes because it was a cold day when they shot this particular scene [ 'get it? ] ). And for those of you who care to know, yes, there is also an obligatory scene meant to pander to the prurient interest of a certain segment of the movie-watching demographic: A porn mag called, of all things, Playpen ( obviously a play-on-words on, and a lascivious nod to, Playboy and Penthouse ) which a nerdy character conveniently peruses in a close-up shot---Cinema Verite, my butt!  I don't know if this has anything to do with the ( lack of ) quality of the movie, but it was mostly filmed in Lexington and in Detroit, Michigan ( I apologize to all of my relatives and in-laws in that state ).

I am not sure how much the audience enjoyed this movie. I didn't enjoy it at all. Wait for this to come out as a rental for a night when you have got nothing else better to do with your time.

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I had to start my day off with a trip to my chiropractor's clinic for a spinal adjustment. I took the bus to get there. But the bus route had been changed a few months ago. So, I still had to walk a mile-and-a-half with a bad knee to get there. I was just glad that I had the presence of mind to wear my articulated knee brace this time around. Well, at least I got some exercise done for the day.

After my chiropractic appointment, I walked an additional couple hundred yards to get to the Hertz Rent-a-Car to pick-up the subcompact that I reserved for today. I got a 2014 Ford Fiesta SE which I drove for a total of only 80 miles.

In the last 5 months, I've rented from Hertz a Kia Soul, a Kia Forte, a Mazda 2 ( twice ) and now this, a Ford Fiesta. I loved the Mazda 2! This Ford Fiesta is slightly better than the Mazda 2, though. And it's no wonder, Ford and Mazda co-developed these two cars, after all. The Kias were unimpressive.

The Ford Fiesta has a very solid and stable steering and its road manners are exemplary for a subcompact. And it comes with floor illumination in different colors; I chose the green lighting on my drive home ( the other colors are red, blue and pink? ).

But, although I liked the Ford Fiesta, for the life of me, I couldn't locate the rear window defroster. And the Fiesta's rear view is somewhat obstructed by the small size of the rear window, itself, and by the rear seat headrests. Plus, its side windows are small. And, just like the Mazda 2 before it, it's got that damn seat height adjuster that's only good at having its driver and front passenger accidentally bang the side of their head against the top door frame if really short people adjusted the seats to maximum height before returning the car to the rental lot!

After doing some shopping and after buying a couple of lottery tickets ( my "retirement" plan--LOL ), I went to East Oakland, CA, to visit with my friends and former co-workers at CVS, Hector and his son, Isma. I cooked a big batch of spaghetti for everyone. I didn't eat the noodles, though. I used the sauce as a salad dressing.

My friends' house in East Oakland, CA. And that would be the Ford Fiesta SE rental in the foreground.

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My friends, Hector and his 2nd son, Isma.

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After having dinner with my friends, I drove on over to the Rockridge District in North Oakland to take a look at the now boarded-up CVS Drugs, which was formerly a Longs Drugs Store, which was formerly a Rite Aid, which was formerly a Payless Drugstore. Safeway Supermarkets, which owns the shopping center, didn't renew CVS's lease because Safeway wants to build a giant "super" Safeway in its place.

Here's a picture of the now boarded-up CVS Drugs. In all of its various iterations, this drugstore was The Biggest drugstore in California, if not in the whole United States!

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Since the night was still young, I decided that I wanted to go see a movie. I decided on seeing, IT FOLLOWS. It's an R-rated horror movie. This movie is not playing in Vallejo. I had three choices on where to go see it at on my way home: Richmond, Napa or Fairfield. I scratched Napa off my list. And had I chosen to see this movie in Fairfield, I would have had to wait nearly one hour for the movie to begin at 8:40 p.m. That left me with Richmond as the most viable venue option with its 7:55 p.m. scheduled showing of said movie.

This is the Century 16 Hilltop in Richmond, CA. I like this theatre with its fancy facade and its trendy concessions area. But I don't like its relatively small and cramped parking lot!

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When I went to buy my movie ticket, the box office clerk sold me a Senior Discount ticket for $6.15---Damn! What was that all about? I turned and looked at the next movie patrons, a couple, standing in line behind me. I observed that they were sold regular adult price tickets. And the man and I looked practically the same age. Then, it dawned on me: I was by myself and the female box office clerk was a young woman who noticed that I wasn't wearing a wedding ring and gave me the discount to get me to come back for more ( and then some! ). Ah, the life of a single bachelor ....  I'll have to come to this theatre more often.

What I noticed differently at the concessions counter was a new line of drinks: Glaceau Fruitwater in assorted flavors. I picked the Strawberry/Kiwi to try out. When the movie began, that was when I opened the bottle for my first sip. It was carbonated!!! I haven't drank carbonated sodas since I swore them off back in December 28ht, 2012. But I didn't want to exchange it for a non-carbonated drink because the movie had already began. I just drank half of it and threw away the rest.

After watching the movie, I went to the Richmond Hilltop Mall's Walmart Store to buy two more Black Polo Shirts for use at work. The new owner of the company that I work for has allowed us to wear either Black or White Polo Shirts as options to what we now currently wear: Button-down Khaki Shirts. The first time that I showed up for work dressed in all-black, a female co-worker remarked that I looked like a Ninja--dang, my cover is blown! LOL. ( Or was she just being a "racist"? Hmm .... )

This is the Walmart Store at the Richmond Hilltop Shopping Mall. 

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And guess what I spotted across the street from the Walmart parking lot? There's a brand--spankin' new Chinese buffet restaurant, Lee's Garden Buffet. But it was already closed for the evening. I've gotta check this place out soon!

It is hard to believe. But this is actually a shot of Lee's Garden Buffet.

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I wanted to take a photo of Lee's Garden Buffet from across the street as I prepared to exit the Walmart parking lot. But there was a car behind me. Next, I turned right onto the road then made a U-turn in front of a nearby gas station so that I could stop my rental car in front of the restaurant to take a picture of it. But ... a car was approaching. So, I had to make-do with the above "drive-by" shot! 'Sorry ....


*

FOUR BLOOD MOONS

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I went to see this today, Passover Thursday, April 9th, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 4:30 p.m. showing in auditorium 1, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $12.50. And I bought a small popcorn ( $5.95 ) and a 16.9 oz bottle of Honest Tea Green Tea ( $4.60 ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: What do these four years have in common: 1492, 1948, 1967 and 2015? They have the lunar phenomenon, "Blood Moon," occur four times in each one. Christian minister and author, John Hagee, offers up the interestingly thought-provoking proposition that such is a sign reserved only for the Jewish people at pivotal times in their history. Interestingly enough, these Blood Moons are not visible in Israel. And the last Blood Moon in this year's tetrad will be on September 28ht ( Jesus' birthday ), the day of The Feast of Tabernacles/Harvest Festival, i.e. Sukkot.

The audience, comprised of believers, liked this movie.

I liked this movie, too. The evidence cannot be readily chalked-up to mere coincidence, although they did have a believing scientist as a guest panelist to temper people's zealous enthusiasm for the supernatural. Go see this movie when it comes out as a rental or buy the book that it is based on.

At some point, I was teary-eyed and was overcome by a yearning to visit Israel as I watched this documentary. I guess that it was the Jewish blood in me which stirred up the emotion. But I could never live there because I wouldn't belong there at all; and this self-acknowledgment made me sad. Now I know how Moses, himself, felt as he watched his people walk into the Promised Land.

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While the rest of you celebrated Easter, I waited until today, Thursday, April 9th, 2015, to 

commemorate Passover Thursday, a Chol Hamoed day on the 20th day of Nissan, in the year 5775. It 

was on this day that Jesus Christ held The Last Supper.

New International Version:

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for 

you; do this in remembrance of me." ( Luke 22:19 )

This Is The Only Day Of The Year That HE Told Us We Should Observe In HIS Memory. He never 

said anything about Easter or Christmas, for that matter.

I was gonna have some Matzo Bread with my Passover Seder meal but it's made of white flour! Why

they don't have an organic whole wheat Matzo Bread for the Passover Seder meal, I simply don't 

know. I mean, for thousands of years, the Jews used organic whole wheat flour--white flour was

popularized in the Middle Ages. So, it follows then that I couldn't have Gefilte Fish or Matzo 

Balls, either because they're made with white flour, too! There's nothing Kosher about white flour, if 

you ask me, since it has been altered from its true natural state. Go tell that to an Ultra Orthodox 

Rabbi.


According to Moses, a Jewish home must be kept free of mold and mildew. Which is why during 

Passover everyone in the household must ensure that there are no extra flour hidden somewhere 

because it might become contaminated with mold and mildew and become unfit for human

consumption. This is why white flour became popular and eventually replaced whole wheat flour 

because it is more resistant to molding and mildewing, provided that it is kept from getting wet or 

damp. Now, if you take a closer look at this provision, it is obvious to see that the Jews are to only use 

a sufficient amount of organic whole grain wheat which is to be made into flour on the very day that it 

is to be used for Passover! Store-bought flour, whether white or whole wheat, should be a "no-no" 

during Passover.

I substituted Totopos Multi-Grain Chips for the unleavened Matzo Bread. The grains that it's made

from ( corn, quinoa, maca and chia ) are all native to the Americas. But, it's not Kosher, you say.

Heck, they serve Kedem Grape Juice at a Passover Seder meal; and Kedem Grape Juice is made

from Concord Grape which is native to the East Coast of the United States! It didn't originate in the

Middle East. It was first cultivated in Concord, Massachusetts. Hence, the name. What's so Kosher

about that then? Go and ask an Ultra Orthodox Rabbi why he thinks that it's a Kosher juice.

And speaking of Rabbis, they just added the Charoset to the Passover Seder meal even though

Moses said nothing about it. I'm thinking that I should use Mince Meat as a substitute for Charoset

next year. Hmm ....

I used Horseradish Sauce as a dip for my chips. And I washed it down with the grape juice because I

don't drink wine. Note to a couple of my nieces out there ( you know who you are ): Don't give me

wine as a present because I can't drink it--unless you want to guzzle it all down for me. Ha, ha, ha.

Later on in the day, I went to the 4:30 p.m. showing of FOUR BLOOD MOONS, here in Vallejo, CA. It's

about Bible Prophecy and God's Promise to His People.

All in all, I had a wonderful solemn commemorative Passover Seder meal today.

>>> And speaking of the month of Nissan, I think that my next car will be a Nissan! 
wink emoticon

( My trail hike at the lake park in the morning before my Passover observation was an

altogether different matter: I slipped down an embankment and strained my bad left knee because I 

forgot ( "senior moment" ) to put on my articulated knee brace and was too lazy to go back home--just 

a couple hundred yards away--to fetch it---Yeah, lesson learned the hard way. Ouch! And I still had a 

mile to go to get back home. But my knee felt better as the hike progressed. It wasn't until the next day 

when the pain started setting in; but it is subsiding with each passing day. )

We all know the story of the Unleavened Bread that the Jews use to commemorate the Passover. They didn't have time to let the bread dough rise because they had to leave Egypt in a hurry. Well, that also tells me that they didn't have time to take a bath, either! And they couldn't even bathe in the sea because it parted for them so they wouldn't get wet as they ran away from pharaoh's army. Now this tells me that observant Jews should also not take a bath if they are to observe the Passover in the strict traditional sense. And since they had to wander around the desert for 40 years, I'm pretty sure that taking a bath was at the bottom of their "To-Do" list whenever it came time to decide on what to do with their precious supply of water ( and they wouldn't have shaved--both men and women--either ).  Yup, another two things to point out to a rabbi.

Heck, I'm a Passover revisionist, what else can I say!

I actually wanted to see this on Monday, March 16th, the day I returned home from my brother-in-law's funeral in Michigan. But the show was sold-out. I am just glad that I eventually did get to see this documentary.

And this is what I had waiting for me, around midnight, in my e-mail in-box from Lagos, Nigeria:

"Dr.John Ikenna" <rgueli@speedy.com.ar>

Apr 10 (2 days ago)

to

YOUR URGENT ATTENTION  IS HIGHLY NEEDED                            

Attn:

Your ATM Visa Card worth of $3.5Million United States Dollars we wish to inform you that the diplomatic agent conveying the ATM Card valued the sum of $3.5 Million United States Dollars is currently stranded at your International airport now. We required you to reconfirm the following information below so that he can deliver your consignment box to you today.

NAME: =================
ADDRESS: ===============
MOBILE NO.:=============
NAME OF YOUR NEAREST AIRPORT:========
A COPY OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION :===============
COUNTRY===============
COMPANY REGISTRATION NO: EG58945
CODE NUMBER: 0140479

Also make sure that you forward your Code Number and Company Re registrations to him because it is very important to enable him locate to you with your package. Please do contact the diplomatic agent with the email below with the information required.

Contact Person: Mr.YOUNG MARTINS, Diplomat Agent.
Email:  diplomaticyoungmartins76@hotmail.co* ( I omitted the last letter,  but you already know which one it is )
  
He is waiting to hear from you today with the information,

NOTE: The Diplomatic agent does not know that the content of your package is ATM Card worth of $3.5Million United States Dollars and on no circumstances should you let him know the content. The package was moved from here as Magazine Booklet, so never allow him to open the package untills its delivered to you.

Best Regard,
Dr.John Ikenna
FEDEX Courier Company Lagos
+229-6850536* ( I omitted the last number, but it's between 6 and 8 )

Seriously ...? Come on, now! These dumb-ass Nigerian scam artists are insulting my intelligence with their glaringly obvious schemes. ( 'Remember the 1st one that I reported on in my KICK-ASS 2 blog? )

Here, allow me to give them some good piece of advice: If you want your scam to have a better chance at  success,  work first on your spelling and on your English grammar and punctuation!

And, another thing, 3.5 million dollars might seem like a lot of money to some poor scheming Nigerians, but you'll need more than twice that amount to be considered a millionaire here in the United States just to adjust for inflation!

Lastly, there's such a thing called,  "The Internet." And it has records of your very, very, very stale scam for all of the World to readily access. 

And I "truly feel sorry" for the very patient "diplomatic agent" stranded at some airport somewhere who's still waiting for a response from me these last few days! Ha, ha, ha---Snort! May he rot in jail.


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p.s. 'Sorry for the differences in the format. I had to copy and paste from my Gmail and Facebook to save on time.

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FURIOUS 7, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 17 min )

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I went to see this yesterday, Easter Sunday, April 5th, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO for the 7:50 p.m. showing in auditorium 8, 2nd row ( counting from the front ), 2nd column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $7.90 ( another Senior Citizen discount--what are they trying to tell me? ). I bought a small Popcorn w/ Butter ( $5.95 ), a tray of Nachos w/ Cheese ( $5.25 ) and a $0.65 upgrade ( on a free small fountain drink on my e-mail movie-watcher reward coupon ) to a medium on a Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: Someone's vengeful big, bad-ass brother is out to get the gang.

The audience in the packed auditorium liked this movie. And the Pilipina lady seated three seats to my right really enjoyed this movie. As a whole, the audience gave this movie a big "Hands Clapper" ending, in a paid tribute to the late Paul Walker.

I liked this movie, too. Action-wise, it's the best in the franchise. Go see this movie if you're a fan of the franchise in particular or if you're a fan of Action movies in general.

Here are some things wrong in this movie: The lady agent would have already been well on her way home when the gunfight started. In the head-on crash, no airbag was deployed. Considering that it was a winding road with trees on either side, the parachuted vehicles would have to have been manually maneuvered to land on or near the road; the presence of the dirt road was too convenient. The car's windshield was too easily removed. As Brian ( Paul Walker ) was getting ready to board the bus, why were there no guards present to shoot at him? To tumble off a rocky hill like that, a neck brace would have been necessary. Why would her friend sell the device that was given to him for safekeeping? Keeping his combat gear at the ready in his hospital room seemed like an implausible scenario. Oh, sure ... fire your shotgun into the air at an angle within city limits! How did he know where and when to plunge the ambulance vehicle? The last scene was too obviously a CGI--the face was slightly different, suggesting that the "double" has a different cranial structure or is chubby-faced. And why is Gal Gadot's character "absent"? Lastly, some scenes would have lent themselves well to 3-D imaging.

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The following was shared with me on my Facebook page ( 'sorry for the format ):

Dwayne The Rock Johnson

Cool story to share on Easter… After my workout I'm driving in my pick up and notice these kids in the rearview mirror screaming and running after my truck. Thought to myself, "Should I stop or keep driving?". I stopped. I hop out of my truck and this kid runs up to me, hugs the hell outta me and says its been his life's dream to meet me and tell me how much Ive inspired him to fight cancer (Hodgkin's lymphoma) and hard core chemo and stem cell transplant treatments. He was a little teary eyed and said for months and months all he's wanted to do was find me and say this face to face. I told him what it meant to me to hear this story. I thanked him, hugged him (and his friends), took a few pics, got back in my truck and drove away. As I'm driving I start shaking my head (and tearing up) at how fragile life is and how amazing and cool the universe was to make this meeting between myself and this special kid Nick Miller come true. Let's always take a moment to count our blessings… cause there's always something to be grateful for. Happy Easter y'all - DJ

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Yes, HAPPY EASTER!

 ( belated, 'though it is )

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WITH SINCERE THANKS

I found this on the Internet.

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Thanks to all of you who showed concern upon learning of the untimely loss of my brother-in-law.

Within 12 hours of posting my previous blog, 252 of my readers from the United Kingdom and 16 of my readers from Ireland read the sad post.

It still registers "hits" as more and more of you, my readers, learn of my loss.

Once again, thank you for your show of concern and sympathy/empathy.

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