Monday, September 28, 2015

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2, PG ( 1 hr & 29 min )

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I went to see this 3-D movie today, Monday, September 28ht, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 1:10 p.m. show in auditorium 2, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $10.75 ( 1st show 3-D matinee price ). And I bought a Snack Pak ( junior drink, junior popcorn w/ butter and natural fruit gummies ) for $5.35 at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Count Dracula's daughter gives birth to a half-human baby boy. But is the baby boy just mostly human or half-vampire? Only time will tell.

There were just a few people in the audience. And I don't think that I noticed any brats with them. But they seemed to all like this movie.

I liked this movie enough. Your little brats might want to go see this movie.

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I started my day with a trip to my chiropractor's office for a spinal adjustment. He also popped my right shoulder back in place.

I hurt my shoulder almost two weeks ago. How did it happen? I dislocated my right shoulder simply by putting on a polo shirt! Yep, that was all it took to mess-up my already bad shoulder.

I first injured my right shoulder back in 1975 or 1976 when I went swimming across the path of a water duct which was filling the artificial lake, Lake Elizabeth, in Hayward, CA, with water. The water stream was strong enough to tear my rotator cuff.

And my left shoulder's rotator cuff was torn when I wrestled in high school back in December of 1977.

Both shoulders get dislocated every now and then. I just have to get a chiropractor to pop either one back into its socket. Believe me, it initially hurts to have it popped back in. But, when done right, the shoulder is once again "good-to-go" until ... it ... gets ... dislocated ... again! Oh, boy, it's not something that I look forward to.

After my doctor's appointment, I drove on over to Fed-Ex Kinko's new location on Admiral Callaghan Lane here in Vallejo to have some xerox copies made. This mail-and-print business relocated just a few yards away from their old location. Their old location was formerly a restaurant. Black Angus Restaurant, I think. Their new location once was an Indian lunch buffet restaurant, Stara Indian Cuisine.

There used to be three Indian buffet restaurants here in Vallejo. Now, there's none. The closest one is in the adjoining city, Benicia.

And I walked on over to the nearby Safeway Supermarket to buy some hairspray and a loaf of organic bread.

My periodontist's clinic is right behind the Safeway Supermarket. I swung by there to drop of a payment.

Before I did anything else, I debated with myself whether to see the 12:00 p.m. 2-D show or the 1:10 p.m. 3-D show. I decided to see the 3-D version, instead.

But that meant that I would have to while away the intervening time by having lunch first ( 1st meal of the day ) then shopping next. I drove on over to Selecta Pilipino Buffet Restaurant on Springs Road for lunch and to buy some lottery tickets. Then, I went next door to the 99-Cent Only Store to buy a protein shaker bottle and an over-door hanging hook.

The Selecta Pilipino Buffet Restaurant owner and I got to talking about last night's lunar eclipse. He said that since it was a special kind of eclipse, he had to watch it. Especially since the next one won't be around for another 18 years. He jokingly remarked that he might not be around by then.

Then the restaurant owner talked about the possibility of life after death, that we move on to another planet in our next life.  I said that that is quite conceivable since our Sun is at least a second generation star which would mean that there was possibly a solar system in place well before our current one was created. And I mentioned that Einstein's equation, E = MC squared, simply means that mass turns into energy--or soul/spirit, in our case. And that "for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction," meaning that the cycle of life and death goes on; therefore, the universe has got to be infinite. And he mentioned also that he was present at the moment of death of one of his patients back when he was a Navy corpsman; that the air current in the room changed direction at the patient's passing. He believes that it was the soul/spirit of the dead man leaving the room. And he added that scientists have noticed that a person is noticeably "lighter" at the moment of death. He said that this is proof of life after death.

The man ahead in line of me at the checkout lane in the 99-Cent Only Store had me go in front of him since I only had two items. That was nice of him. OR ... he didn't like having me stand behind his hot wife as I waited for my purchase to be rung up. Ha, ha, ha.

At the theatre, I learned that one of the employees lives in Benicia. He recognized me. Imagine that, he lives in Benicia but works in Vallejo. And I live in Vallejo but work in Benicia. We talked about last night's 4th Tetrad Blood Moon/Harvest Moon. He watched it down on 1st Street in Benicia, at the dock. I watched it across from the condominium where I live, at Dan Foley Park's Sports ( soccer/baseball ) Field.

As I was getting napkins and jalapeno peppers ( to put on my buttered popcorn ) at the condiments counter, I overheard a couple of black ladies deciding on what snack to buy. When one of them mentioned getting a Snack Pak, I showed them my purchase just to give them a good idea of what to expect for their money. Of course, most of the employees at the theatre know that I'm a regular customer and they always give me generous portions whenever management is not around to watch! Those ladies might get disappointed once they're presented with their portion sizes. Ha, ha, ha.

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September 27th, 2015, Sunday.  The Fourth Tetrad Blood Moon/Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse:

I found this on the Internet. As I mentioned on my FOUR BLOOD MOONS blog ( April 15th, 2015 ), tetrad blood moons are directly connected to events that solely impact Israel. We'll know in the next few days if there is substance to this claim.
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I went to the sports field at 7:40 p.m. and I left at 9:00 p.m. I saw the one-of-a-kind lunar eclipse just as it was waxing 'til it started waning. It was visible right above the field and to the left of it. How I wished I had the foresight to buy an astronomy telescope with an attached camera beforehand! The next such lunar eclipse is expected to happen approximately 18 years from now. I had better have an astronomy telescope by then!

Some kids remarked that the moon looked red. Funny, it looked brown to me! Whatever ....

There was an adult soccer match taking place as I watched the lunar eclipse. Actually, there were two matches, one after the other.

During the 1st match, I went to the snack bar to see if they had Cheese Nachos. But the Hispanic lady at the snack bar informed me--in Spanish, no less--that they were out of cheese, that she could just sell me a plate of nacho chips. Funny thing was, I understood her perfectly even though I spoke to her in English. I guess that if you drop me in the middle of a Hispanic crowd I'd be easily mistaken for one of them. Hey, Hollywood, are you paying attention here? You can use me as a "walk-on extra" in a Hispanic Crowd Scene. Ha, ha, ha.

As I watched the game, I noticed a funny-looking dog being walked on a leash. 'Thing was, it wasn't a dog at all. It was a Siamese cat that was perfectly fine being walked on a leash. A leashed dog approach the cat but nothing bad happened between the two of them. I think that the dog just thought of the cat as a weird-looking puppy. A little girl tried to walk the cat. But the cat got loose as it playfully chased after something. Its owner was able to fetch it, though.

I ended up with two mosquito bites on the outside of my right forearm,  just below the elbow, as a reminder of the time that I watched the rare lunar eclipse.  Two bites isn't bad, I guess,  because there were other human bodies at the field for the blood-sucking bugs to feast on.

At 9:00 p.m., I decided to leave because I wanted to see the last 2-D showing of this movie which was scheduled for 9:20 p.m. But, by then, it was too late and I didn't want to rush to the theatre just to see a movie in time. Besides, since I was off the following day, I could just go and see its 3-D 1st show matinee then at a cheaper price of admission!

Did any of you guys get to see the 4th Tetrad Blood Moon/Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse last night?

And September also marks the end of a Shemitah Year ( in Jewish tradition, a release from old debts ). People are expecting a stock market crash any time soon!


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Saturday, September 19, 2015

Double Feature Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

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Since it was a $5.00 All-Day Tuesday at the EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA, I decided to take my time going to the movies and have lunch first at Great Moon Chinese Buffet located at the opposite end of the Westfield Shopping Mall, in Fairfield, from the theatre. I haven't been there in about a year. It was my first meal of the day. I arrived there at 3:45 p.m., meaning I only had 55 minutes before the start of the 1st movie that I wanted to see that day.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that they really serve Mongolian Beef. Other Chinese buffet restaurants have taken to serving Mongolian Pork, instead--boo! And they had a couple of chicken dishes which I liked ( I forget their names, though ). But, I didn't have enough time for dessert because the 1st movie was about to start. I spent $8.49 for lunch plus $1.00 for tip.

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I went to see the 3:40 p.m. showing of 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN ( PG-13, 2 hr & 1 min ) in auditorium 15, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 5th seat ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $5.00---Cheap!

There were a number of people who turned out for this show which is based on a true story of a pastor who was killed in a head-on collision one rainy day but miraculously came back to life. The audience liked this inspirational movie. You might want to check this movie out if you like faith-based inspirational movies.

But I couldn't help but wonder why God would have the pastor go through all that pain and misery just to affirm his Divinity. Did the pastor do something terrible, or take God's name in vain, for God to allow him to suffer in such a way?

I had a one-hour break in between movies so that I was able to do more Zhunti Mantras in the privacy of my car. Then, it was back to the movies for me.

Speaking of Mongolian ....

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I went to see the 7:00 p.m. I-Max 3-D showing of WOLF TOTEM ( PG-13, 2 hr & 1 min ) in auditorium 12, 5th row ( counting from the front ), 6th seat ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $11.50 since it was in I-Max 3-D. I used my movie watcher reward to get a free small Fruit Punch and a $2.00 small Popcorn at the concessions counter.

There was only one other person in the auditorium with me which was too bad because this is a really good movie, a potential Oscar contender for Best Foreign Film, in my opinion. Go see this French/Chinese movie collaboration. It's in Chinese with English subtitles.

This movie is set in 1967 China/Mongolia. An idealistic college student and his friend are sent to Mongolia to teach the mostly illiterate nomads about the Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong. He and his friend immerse themselves in the nomadic way of life among the Mongolians. And they soon learn the delicate balance of life between the nomads and their main threat, the wolves. When some greedy enterprising people decide to upset this balance, unforeseen consequences take a toll on the nomads' very existence, with innocent lives needlessly lost. In the end, the two friends return to China forever changed and humbled by their personal experience, and learned the importance of responsible coexistence.

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Sunday, September 13, 2015

THE VISIT, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 34 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, September 10th, 2015, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the advance screening at 9:30 p.m. in auditorium 6, 3rd row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $11.25. And I bought a medium Buttered Popcorn and a medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast for $9.90 ( $2.00 Off Special with a movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ).

Quickie Review:  Two kids finally get to visit with their life-long estranged grandparents. But things are not as they seem.

The audience liked this quirky Comedy Horror Movie. But none gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

I liked this movie, too. M. Night Shyamalan did a good job on this one, if you don't mind the few obvious gaps in logic. Go see this movie if you like Comedy Horror Movies because it will more than likely not disappoint you.

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I've been busy for over a month now "Facebooking" on politics because election year is right around the corner. I'm normally apolitical, never even having bothered to register to vote. But in my 50+ odd years, I've observed a downward spiral in American politics and culture. And I am quite alarmed! Teens who are eligible to vote but are less than a third of my age have identified themselves with the radical and liberal party front-runners solely based on Facebook memes! Don't they know history at all? Well, of course, they don't! They haven't lived long enough to do so.

Yes, the whole country is tired of career politicians who will resort to anything to garner for themselves illegal votes! Yes, the whole country is tired of an emasculated Congress that lets anyone run roughshod on the US Constitution! Yes, the whole country is tired of politicians who renege on their campaign promises! Yes, the new generation of young voters want to carve for themselves a different political identity! But the career politicians that they want to represent their generation are all old enough to be their grandparents. And how is that supposed to represent their generation?

I've reminded them more than once on Facebook that Socialism doesn't work. It failed miserably as an experiment on Plymouth Rock, not once but twice! And it's now failing Venezuela and Greece. The United States will be headed down the same way if the Socialists/Communists have their final say on the matter.

Why would someone of sane mind romanticize the idea of a socialized welfare state wherein the few productive workers must work extra hard to support the lazy, irresponsible lowlifes who feel entitled to the hard-earned wealth of the few? Socialism will only drive businesses away and impose price hikes and limits on commodities as time goes on! And these teens, with their short attention spans, who take things for granted will just end-up being forced to impatiently stand in a mile-long line to buy one measly roll of toilet paper, to use Venezuela's recent predicament as an example, if their socialist movement comes to fruition!

Of all the present presidential campaigners, Donald Trump sticks out prominently with his politically uncouth manners and the fact that he's not a career politician. But are these two things good enough to qualify him to run the country as its president? A good president is someone who has a good cabinet to delegate tasks to. That is what it all simply boils down to. Donald Trump will use his business acumen to do just that. And, of all the campaigners, only Donald Trump was generous enough to give money to the needy everyday folks years before he even decided to run for president! The other campaigners never displayed such generosity. Therefore, Trump is someone who truly cares for the people and the country. And he is the one I would like to see in office who will work to make the US great once again and not renege on his campaign promises.

I had the opportunity to warn the public prior to the 2008 presidential election but I decided not to because I naively thought that people would vote using their minds; but people used their hearts, instead. The same thing happened in 2012! But, in 2012, I tried to warn people, only to have some lowlife shut down my internet connection with a virus!

I may just register to vote in the upcoming Primaries and in the Presidential Election. And I hope that my message will have gotten across this time around.

God Bless America!

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