SAVING MR. BANKS, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 5 min )

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where: CENTURY SAN FRANCISCO CENTRE 9 AND X-D in San Francisco, CA
when: Monday, December 23rd, 2013
show: 6:15 p.m.
costs: $11.50 + $5.25 large Pink Lemonade + $1.75 upgrade-to-a-large on a Free Small Popcorn  ( w/ my Cinemark Movie Watcher E-Mail Discount Coupon as shown on my Samsung Galaxy Mega ) +  $8.40 roundtrip BART Train ticket + $5.00 Carquinez Bridge Toll ( on my way back to Vallejo, CA ) = $31.90
auditorium: 5, 5th floor
seat: 5th row ( counting from the front ), 10th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: Mr. Walt Disney ( Tom Hanks ) made a promise to his daughters that he would make their beloved children's books, whose title character is Mary Poppins, into a movie. Easier said than done. Mr. Disney pesters the book's author, P. L. Travers ( Emma Thompson ), every year for 20 years, into selling him the movie adaptation rights to her Mary Poppins book series. By which time, Mrs. Travers' faltering book sales and insecure financial situation force her to at least consider Mr. Disney's offer. But disagreements soon ensue, putting the Mary Poppins project in limbo. Until Walt connects with Pamela in a personal way.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) "There's no more money, Pamela"; 2.) "I have final say"; 3.) "Will the child be a nuisance"; 4.) "Walking bus"; 5.) "It smells like chlorine and sweat"; 6.) "May I suggest you take employment in a laundromat"; 7.) "Absolutely no pears"; 8.) "We're all on a first-name basis"; 9.) "A man can't break a promise he made to his kid"; 10.) "I love Mary Poppins"; 11.) EXT.; 12.) Dick Van Dyke; 13.) "Unmake it up"; 14.) "You called Mrs. Banks neglectful"; 15.) "Does it matter"; 16.) "Swish ... swoosh"; 17.) "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"; 18.) "We can't make the picture without the color red"; 19.) "I will endure for the girls"; 20.) "Spoonful of sugar"; 21.) "This script is flim-flam"; 22.) "You said today is ice cream day"; 23.) "A mouse is family"; 24.) "I want to be just like you"; 25.) Allora Fair incident; 26.) Poem; 27.) Liquor  bottle; 28.) "It's blasphemy to drink tea from a paper cup"; 29.) "That's why I concern myself with the weather so much"; 30.) "I know you gave it to him"; 31.) "It's time to go home"; 32.) "Dollar-printing machine"; 33.) The Magic Kingdom; 34.) "I just won 20 bucks"; 35.) "Let's go fly a kite"; 36.) "Proper English would be, 'Let's go and fly a kite'"; 37.) "They're animated"; 38.) Autograph; 39.) "Who is Travers"; 40.) "I dropped the pears. I'm sorry, daddy"; 41.) "I think I'll have whiskey"; 42.) "Give me your precious Mary Poppins"; 43.) "We restore order with imagination"; 44.) "Invitation list for the premier"; 45.) "I don't know. She reminds me of me"; 46.) "Mary Poppins wouldn't stand for that"; 47.) "As I recall"; 48.) "How could I forget you"; 49.) "This is your night"; 50.) Hollywood premier; and 51.) Sketches and Bonus Scene during the Ending Credits.

audience reaction: The audience of about two dozen people liked this movie.

recommendation: I liked this movie, too--it brought back pleasant childhood memories. Go see this movie if you saw and liked MARY POPPINS ( 1964 ), and are curious about the "behind-the-scenes" events which led to the delayed production of the movie, itself.

spoiler alert! Shouldn't Mrs. Travers have specified exactly what kind of tea she wanted? According to on-line reports, this movie is not an accurate depiction of what really happened in real life---Bummer .... 'Way to ruin my enthusiasm for this movie, Disney!

fyi: Why is it that overhead storage bins on passenger planes are not strictly reserved for seats that they are numbered correspondingly to?

My father loved to break his promises to us, his children. I had been disappointed more times than I care to remember.

In the scene wherein the mother waded into the lake late at night, I felt like shouting, Get out of that water, woman! It's Australia. They've got crocodiles there.

I had a childhood crush on Julie Andrews.

I wanted to save this movie for Christmas Day. But, despite the "sign in the sky" which I saw eight days ago, I still forsook better judgment and watched this today, instead.

word of advice: Cherish the precious moments that you spend with your loved ones.

Learn to forgive yourself then do.

tidbits: I started-off my day with a 9:00 a.m. appointment with my Chiropractor. Lady Doctor Kenny was putting-up Christmas decorations on the storefront window, then laying-out plates of cookies and fudge brownies on a table in the waiting room---Great! I knew there was a reason why I skipped breakfast this morning.

After my spinal adjustment, I went to the MacDonald's Restaurant across the street to have a light snack and to check on my E-mails. Then, I went home to shower and rest for a while before I had to leave for San Francisco.

As soon as I found a parking spot ( # 533 ) in the parking garage at the El Cerrito Del Norte BART Train Station, the 3:31 p.m. Daly City/Millbrae-bound train ( my San Francisco train ) left. I should have left my place about 10 minutes earlier.

A black man approached me as I was adding money to my ticket at the ticket vending machine. He wanted to sell me a $40.oo ticket for just $30.oo. That brought to mind a BART Train advisory: Don't buy tickets from strangers. I declined his offer.

I asked the station agent when the next San Francisco-bound train would arrive. He said that it would get "here in about four minutes." I went up to the train platform and noticed the electronic message board display an arrival time three minutes later than what the station agent told me. So, I went downstairs because I needed to empty my bladder first before boarding the train. The station agent looked at me as if to ask, "Don't you remember the time that I told you?" There was a man waiting in line outside the men's room. That's okay, I said to myself, I still got time. Wrong! The San Francisco-bound train came and left while I was still in the men's room. I got on-board the 4:01 p.m. train. I should have listened to the station agent. Well, at least, I got to do more of my Zhunti Mantra. But, I really was falling behind on my schedule for the day.

While en-route to San Francisco, I got a call on my cellphone from my Puerto Rican friend, Hector. I waited until I got off at the Montgomery BART Train Station to return his call. I talked to Hector as I walked toward Chinatown. He told me that his eldest son has reason to believe that his youngest son is not the father of the illegitimate baby girl recently brought into this world through a "union" with a black woman of "ill-repute." His eldest son wants to have a DNA test done because of the dubiety of his youngest son's supposed paternity. I told Hector to tell his eldest son to save his money and just observe the baby girl: If it sprouts wings, flies off then bites a goat in the neck then it's a Puerto Rican, i.e. a Chupacabra ( it's a running inside joke between Hector [ Yeti, the Abominable Snowman ] and I [ Sasquatch, a.k.a. Big-Foot ] )!

I went to Chinatown because I still had the $60.oo that I wanted to donate to the Buddhist nun ( or a Buddhist monk ). I did my Namo Amitabha Buddha Mantra as I walked up and down Grant Avenue in Chinatown, in the hope that I would run into either the nun or a monk. But I was out of luck. So, I went to Gold Mountain Sagely Monastery on Sacramento Street. But the Buddhist monastery was already closed for the day. The monastery's Winter hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. I wasn't meant to donate the money today. That's three strikes in a row. I will have to come back--earlier--some other day.

After watching the movie, I walked down to the Powell Street BART Train Station to catch the Pittsburgh/Baypoint-bound train at 8:57 p.m. and transfer to the Richmond-bound train at the 19th Street Oakland BART Train Station. My train ticket somehow got demagnetized. I had the female station agent issue me another ticket. In the train, I sat in the window seat near the doors. Between my seat and the doors is the designated area where bicyclists lean their bikes against.

At the Montgomery BART Train Station, a white male cyclist wearing a jacket and a pair of brown shorts came and sat in the aisle seat next to me. His bike's rear rack had a case of Anchor Steam Beer bungee-corded to it. He held his bike diagonally as the train continued on its way. I just sat there minding my own business as I quietly did my Zhunti Mantra.

Don't drink this beer or you'll end-up with a false sense of bravery and toughness. And find yourself waking-up with broken bones, bloodied, and with a throbbing headache the next day in the gutter, smelling of urine, feeling pain in your butt with your pants and underwear pulled all the way down to your ankles, and tasting something unpleasant in your mouth!

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At 9:07 p.m., after some passengers got off the train at the West Oakland BART Train Station, the white man seated beside me got up and rammed his bike back at me!  He had an opened beer bottle in his case because some of its contents spilled on my left thigh. He didn't even apologize to me. Instead, he told me to go and sit somewhere else. I had never been more blatantly disrespected in my whole life as I was at that instance!

I got up and said, You could at least ask me nicely. Then I proceeded to sit in the aisle seat. This obviously irritated him as he told me, "Go sit somewhere else! There are plenty of seats around."

I said, No! I was here first. You move!

He moved, begrudgingly. He sat, facing me, in the window seat at the opposite side of the aisle from where I sat.  He was angry because he didn't get what he wanted from me. He called me names just to "save face".

I responded in kind. My Zhunti Mantra recitation was ruined by then and I just had to stop reciting it and put my tally counter in my right jacket pocket. ( I resumed my Zhunti Mantra recitation at approximately 8:20 p.m. [ between MacArthur and Ashby BART Train Stations ] after I cooled-down a bit. The asshole f-cking idiot stayed on the Pittsburgh/Baypoint-bound train. )

Because my long-dormant kill-mode trained mindset resurfaced. I had never been more sharply focused, more clear and so singular in thought on an objective of utter evil intent as I was at that moment!  I was like a coiled spring ready to unleash  my lethal moves on an unsuspecting adversary. Yes, I wanted to kill him--not just punish him--for totally disrespecting me!

And I didn't want to use any one of the four quick-kill moves that I know how to execute.  Instead, I wanted to use two destabilizing strikes on him first. Then, follow them up with three stun strikes, four maiming strikes and, finally, finish him off with five different death blows--all delivered within a 10-second span; if only to let him, and the rest of the passengers,  know that I could totally dominate him and totally humiliate him before I proceed to totally annihilate him! Overkill, yes. But I'm a very generous person ( my friends and co-workers can attest to this ); and generous to a fault.

Besides, in a street-fight where you could get killed with one lucky punch, there really is no such thing as "use of excessive force." Unless you want to get killed--luckily or intentionally--by the other guy then, by all means, pull back on your punches!

But for all of his macho posturing and bluster, he was clearly intimidated by the calm and collected composure evident in my face as I accurately assessed his threat level. Deep inside of me, though, I sincerely hoped and prayed that he would assault me so that I would have the excuse that I needed to teach him his last and final lesson in life. I probably intimidated him by the way that I was dressed in a hat, jacket, shoulder bag and loose pants which reminded the f-cking idiot of Kwai Chang Caine ( David Carradine ) of the early  '70s TV show, KUNG FU, whose famous line was, "I have no wish to fight."

Every time Kwai Chang Caine, a fugitive Shaolin Monk, said those words, you knew he was getting ready to kick some "serious butt"!!! Maybe, I should have used the same line on the f-cking idiot, if only to get him to start a fight with me so that I could proceed to kick his butt "six feet under"!

It is said that an unarmed Shaolin Monk knows how to kill a man a hundred different ways! But I, a Kriyaban ( i.e. Kriya Yogi ) householder monk, knows of only thirteen ways from my prior training in combat martial arts. The next time that I go visit Gold Mountain Sagely Monastery, I'm gonna ask them if they are Shaolin Monks/Nuns and, if so, if they would be willing to teach me their--ahem--"hundred ways".

Anyway ....

I would have easily won a fight against the f-cking idiot. But it would have amounted to nothing more than just a Pyrrhic victory. For I would have lost everything else: My house and personal property, my job, my savings accounts, my reputation, and the forty plus year's worth of spiritual cultivation that I devoted myself to! As I would just languish in jail on a manslaughter, homicide or murder charge over a fleeting moment of spiritual indiscretion. I was willing to sacrifice my whole future for a quick "ten-second" sense of personal satisfaction! Imagine that ....

Do you remember what I said in my blog on INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 ( Tuesday, September 24th, 2013 )? If evil spirits and demons cannot defeat you in the "Wilderness of Sin," they will try to do so in the Physical World by possessing a nonspiritual person and have that person do their evil work for them. This is why those on the spiritual path, such as myself, are advised to be HUMBLE ( "turn the other cheek," "love your enemies," "do no harm," "forgive and forget," etc. ) or our PRIDE will get the better of us. But it's so hard to be humble and contain one's swollen/hurt pride if one knows he is a better fighter than the foolhardy idiot who is provoking him at the moment!

And it's also the reason why some of us spiritual cultivators become reclusive and go live in a cave, away from the cares of the world, until the last vestiges of self-identity and pride are sloughed-off through Karmic cleansing. ( The reason why Jesus Christ "disappeared" for 18 years! )

Unfortunately for me, I'm not an "insulated" monastic monk but, rather, am a "householder monk," which makes it harder for me to clean my karma. But, if I win the lottery big-time then I'll be able to afford to live in a cave ( the irony of it all )! So, my dear readers, pray that I win the lottery big-time. Ha, ha, ha.

My Yogi ( also a householder monk, himself, by the way ) did ask me, shortly after my 1st Stage Kriya Yoga Initiation, if I would like to undergo the 2nd Stage of Kriya Yoga Initiation. But my honest evaluation of my self made me decline his generous spiritual offer. Spiritual cultivation cannot be rushed. And I shall take my time until I am certain that I am spiritually advanced enough to handle the next level of spiritual responsibility.

The goal of spiritual cultivation is to activate all of the Seven Chakras, one by one.  But, in doing so, you are also faced by three gauntlets in the guise of your 2nd ( sex ) Chakra, 4th ( heart ) Chakra and 6th ( third-eye ) Chakra that will all try to keep you from opening your 7th ( top-of-the-head ) Chakra. Your 2nd Chakra will try to hold you down sexually ( the reason why sex scandals seem rampant among "men-of-the-cloth" ). Your 4th Chakra will try to fill you with pride, jealousy, envy and covetousness. And your 6th Chakra will cloud your mind with psychosis, bigotry, prejudice, misanthropy, and everything else considered anti-social ). It's simply your physical body's ( the "Matrix" in self-preservation mode ) insecure way of telling you that you are safe and sound in the confines of the 1st ( base-of-spine/non-spiritual ) Chakra. You know well too well what happens when you deny yourself food ( governed by the 3rd [ stomach/solar plexus ] Chakra ): You get hungry. In the same sense, when you activate your 2nd, 4th and 6th Chakras, through celibacy and personal and social isolation ( i.e. sexual, physical and material denials ), you will experience an overwhelming sense of "HUNGER" in its various forms! And many spiritual cultivators cannot handle these kinds of "hunger" ( "... (M)any are called, but few are chosen." New Testament of The Bible, Matthew 22:14 )!

Well, nine days have come and gone and I can state unequivocally that the vision in the sky ( that I mentioned in the previous blog ) was meant for me, personally, as a warning! The above incident in the train happened on the 8th day. And in Bible tradition, the number 8 is the symbol of the Blood Covenant, of a sacrifice, and of blood-letting/killing. And I was willing to sacrifice everything that I have just to kill the f-cking idiot.

In the intervening time between December 24th, 2013, and the previous post's events, I also went to see ...

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, NC-17, on Tuesday, December 17th, 2013, at 8:00 p.m., in Emeryville, CA, at the UA Emery Bay Stadium 10.

I found this on the Internet. 'Remember how I told you that I could only watch a few minutes of a porn movie before I would doze-off? Well, I was wide awake throughout this movie's entire length! The English subtitles forced me to stay awake. And, to think, I've been blogging about Hollywood movies all along. I should watch more French movies, instead! Heh, heh, heh.

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ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, PG-13, on Saturday, December 21st, 2013, at 7:45 p.m., here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO.

I found this on the Internet. I like stupid-funny movies. But this movie isn't. It's just plain stupid!

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THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY ( 2013 ), on Tuesday, December 24th, 2013, at 5:00 p.m., here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO.

I found this on the Internet. I liked this movie. Character wise, I liked the affable on-line matchmaker character played by Patton Oswalt.

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47 RONIN, PG-13, on Tuesday, December 24th, 2013, at 8:15 p.m., here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO.

I found this on the Internet. I liked it, except for the ending. I imagined a different ending for it.

Note: I was supposed to go to a Christmas Eve party at my aunt's place. But because of the vision in the sky that I mentioned in the previous blog, I opted to stay closer to home on this day of the Eve.
      
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On Wednesday, Christmas Day, 2013, I went to the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO to see the 1:30 p.m. show of GRUDGE MATCH, PG-13.
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I found this on the Internet. I liked this movie. It was entertaining enough. But the love-triangle kinda creeped me out.

After watching GRUDGE MATCH, I went to Empire Chinese Buffet Restaurant here in town for a Christmas buffet dinner. By the time that the waitress handed me my check, I was too full to eat my fortune cookie. I took the cookie home with me and, at around 9:00 p.m., I read my fortune. See below:
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What a strange coincidence this is! Especially right after my self-imposed spiritual 9-day holiday moratorium. Does this mean to say that I will soon win the lottery big-time and can finally go live in a cave ( after I go on a 6-month world-wide cruise )?

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And speaking of Big-Foot, 'remember how a few months ago I mentioned that I used to wear size 8 shoes in high school but had to switch to size 8 and 1/2 shoes a few years later, and that I switched to size 9 shoes a few months ago? Well, lately, my size 9 shoes had been feeling uncomfortable to wear. So, I went to the Big Five Sporting Goods Store here in Vallejo, CA, today, Monday, January 6th, 2014, to buy a pair of work shoes. Out of a nagging sense of curiosity, I measured the size of my feet against their shoe-size chart. And, guess what? I'm actually a size 9 and 1/2!!! Oh, boy! I can't wait for the rest of my body to lengthen---Hey! I'm talkin' about my height; I want to be a basketball player. Yeah, right ....

If the rest of my body doesn't lengthen, I'll just end-up with feet the size of flippers! How fitting: A Flip ( derogatory term for Filipino/Pilipino ) with flippers. Ha, ha. ha.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

To One And All!!!

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THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 40 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Sunday, December 15th, 2013
show: 5:50 p.m. 2-D
costs: $10.25 Ticket + $6.75 medium Popcorn w/ Butter + $0.00 medium 30.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast ( free on my Cinemark Moviegoer Weekly E-Mail Coupon ) + $1.50 0.9 oz Kernel Season's Nacho Cheddar Popcorn Seasoning = $18.50
auditorium: 8
seat: 5th row ( counting from the front ), 9th column ( counting from the left )

2nd time

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Monday, December 16th, 2013
show: 7:00 p.m. 3-D
costs: $13.75 Ticket + $4.50 medium 30.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $18.25
auditorium: 1
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: Bilbo Baggins ( Martin Freeman ), Gandalf ( Ian McKellen ), Thorin Oakenshield ( Richard Armitage ) and a brave band of Dwarves embark on a dangerous journey to reclaim Erebor from the fearsome dragon, Smaug, as the power of the evil darkness strengthens and threatens everyone.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) "Someone wants you dead"; 2.) "That is our host"; 3.) The Path; 4.) Spiders; 5.) "That is my wife; that is my wee lad"; 6.) "Why don't you search me? I could have anything down my trousers"; 7.) "I faced the Great Serpents of The North"; 8.) "Other lands are not my concern"; 9.) Rune Stone; 10.) Wine cellar; 11.) Elves versus Orcs; 12.) "This is not a nice place to meet"; 13.) "We stuck him with a mortal shot"; 14.) "She went into the forest"; 15.) Fish; 16.) "Our house is being watched"; 17.) Outhouse; 18.) "You look like you've seen a ghost"; 19.) Weapons; 20.) "But I am not on my own"; 21.) Tapestry; 22.) Armory; 23.) "I have the only right"; 24.) "He's very sick"; 25.) "The desolation of Smaug"; 26.) "He is lifting the spell"; 27.) Secret door; 28.) "What's that above it"; 29.) "Don't move"; 30.) "Don't waken it"; 31.) "There is no light, wizard, that can defeat darkness"; 32.) "That ... was a dragon"; 33.) The Black Arrow; 34.) "Bilbo, his name is Bilbo"; 35.) Caged; 36.) "So, it is true"; 37.) "I'm going to save him"; 38.) "You cannot be her"; 39.) "The last of our kin"; 40.) Furnaces; 41.) "Perhaps, it is time I pay them a visit"; 42.) Giant golden statue; 43.) "I will show you revenge"; and 44.) "I am Fire, I am Death."

favorite scenes: I liked the Fat Dwarf Outrunning Everyone Else scene.

And I liked the Wine Barrel Rolling Down The Hill scene.

audience reaction: Both audiences liked this movie--and the first group gave this movie a "Hands Clapper" ending. But both audiences were disappointed at this movie's abrupt ending.

recommendation: I liked it enough. Go see this if you're a Lord Of The Rings fan.

spoiler alert! I don't think that spiders, in general, do frontal attacks while on the ground ( read my fyi ). It should have taken more than two chops to fell that overhanging branch. Did Legolas ( Orlando Bloom ) really have to aim his arrow at Tauriel ( Evangeline Lilly )? Why could Smaug smell one little hobbit and pinpoint its general location but could not do the same with the collective smell ( i.e. body odor ) of nine dwarves? The length of the Black Arrow was the same as that of the average height of a man; therefore, its relative size ( and heft ) to Smaug, the Dragon, is like that of a sewing needle's size ( and heft ) to a man's size--hardly threatening at all! All of that commotion with the Orcs didn't awaken the people of Lake town. When Legolas was grabbed from behind by the Orc, either he should have been not held too closely or the Orc's semi-circular cross blades on its chest should have killed Legolas. Okay, this movie established the "fact" that Elves are taller than Dwarves; but, in the close-up shot of Kili's ( Aidan Turner ) hand and Tauriel's hand, you could see that Kili's hand was definitely bigger than Tauriel's hand ( yet another reason why Hollywood should have hired my services as Cine-Man, Technical Adviser )--I am all for sexual dimorphism but not in this particular case!!! Smaug should not have been covered completely in gold coins, especially since it was an air breather! The molten gold didn't produce any dross at all! When the wheelbarrow landed in the molten gold, the difference in temperature between the two should have produced an explosion! Riding in that wheelbarrow would have become quite uncomfortable really fast! The mold used to contain the giant golden statue should have been too hot to stand on!

fyi:  Back in 1998, I witnessed a spider attack an ant. I was sitting in the toilet at my second sister's house here in Vallejo when I saw an ant crawling on the linoleum floor. Then, I saw a spider just slightly bigger than the ant go charging at the ant from the edge of the floor. But, instead of attacking the ant directly, it crawled around the ant in circles, repeatedly raising its abdomen then tapping its end on the floor as the spider did so. What it was actually doing was using its web to wrap the legs of the ant in place in order to immobilize the ant and render it helpless for the attack that was soon to follow. By which time, the ant was as good as dead!

I know about molten metal and dross: I used to work at a die-casting place where zinc, brass and aluminum were melted down to be cast into assorted items.

word of advice: Stand firm in your belief.

"There's gold in them thar mountains!"

tidbits: As I drove on Tuolumne Street on my way to work at 7:20 a.m. today, Sunday, December 15th, 2013, I couldn't help but notice something near the upper left corner of my blue 2001 Hyundai Accent's windshield: A sliver of bright light that tapered to a sharp edge at either end. If this object was stuck to my windshield, it would have measured about half-an-inch/1.27 cm in length. But this object was not stuck to my windshield; it was up in the clear distant sky. There were no clouds anywhere near it as it stayed seemingly suspended at a 5 to 10 degree angle from vertical. It was definitely not a contrail because it held its shape. Had I not already been running two minutes late for work, I would have pulled my car over to step out and take a picture of it with my 12 mp red Vista Quest Digital Camera.

When I merged with the I-80 traffic, I noticed that the bright object was still in the sky. But by then it was inching further south toward an Altostratus cloud formation. Soon, it was behind the cloud but still visible because of its inherent brightness. By the time that I was on 780 East, it had completely disappeared behind the Altostratus cloud.

All the while that I was driving, I was doing the fifth of my six morning mantras.

Before I could get on the Southampton Road Exit in Benicia, CA, at 7:28 a.m., it appeared once again in a clear part of the sky, larger and closer ( about 3/4 of an inch/1.9 cm, had it been a measurable object stuck to my windshield )! But its angle to perpendicular still stayed the same.

The object reappeared once again just beyond this bend, about 100 to 200 yards/metres  from the Southampton Road exit. I found this picture on the Internet.

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It seemed to have noticed me and had come back to observe me. But this sentient "object" was manifest for only one second, never (?) again to be seen by me.

This is the third time that I saw an ominous object in the sky. By ominous, I mean that something bad happened nine days after each of the first two visions occurred. But I saw the first two at night; and both fell down from the sky and into the ocean. I mentioned these first two visions on my blogs on PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 ( Oct. 21st, 2012 ), SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3-D ( Nov. 1st, 2012 ) and HEREAFTER ( Oct. 22nd, 2010 ).

But this third vision happened in the daytime--there is no precedent for this particular one. And it was of a pure, bright white light! If I am to venture a guess, something once again will happen in nine days' time, which would make it Christmas Eve. And it reappeared in the sky "closer" to where my car was at. So, if something is to happen around Christmas Eve this year, said event will be closer to my general vicinity. And I hope and pray that nothing bad will happen. ( But "God's Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven ..." )

I used my Samsung Galaxy Mega for the first time at the concessions counter in order to use my e-mail discount coupon. I kept it in my chest pocket and touched it occasionally so that it wouldn't power-off before I had the chance to show my e-mail discount coupon to the cashier; to a casual observer, it probably looked like I was tweaking my left nipple every now and then! Ha, ha, ha.

2nd tidbits:  It was a cold night last night. I had trouble sleeping because it felt like the front of my body was soaked in ice-cold water. Of course, maybe it had to do with the fact that I don't turn-on the heater at my condo in the winter-time and I always keep my bedroom and living room windows slightly open. Ha, ha, ha. But, seriously though, last night was the first night in my life that I can remember when I was awakened three times in my sleep by the cold winter temperature. ( Maybe, it had something to do with the vision that I saw earlier in the day. )

Parked across the theatre's parking lot from my car was a golden or brown colored Toyota Avalon with a brindle ( w/ white underbelly ) colored pit-bull inside of it. And that dog was barking constantly because its owners left it behind while they went to see a movie. I guess the owners couldn't afford to have a proper car alarm installed in their car---Which reminds me of a joke that I read years ago when I was still living in the Philippines:

>>> One day, a man bought himself a brand-new car. He lived in a neighborhood where cars get stolen. He had the idea to keep his ferocious dog inside his new car to guard it from theft ( remember, this was years before car alarms were readily available ). The next day, he discovered that his car was gone. And there was a note left in his parking spot. The note read: "Thank you for the free meal." <<<

I wanted to see this in I-Max 3-D at the FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA. But I wouldn't have gotten my money's worth on it because I am presently making-do with a 10-year old spare pair of eyeglasses ( so my eyesight isn't as sharp right now ). My newer pair of eyeglasses, a Nike Flex-Frame broke in half at work, right on the bridge, last week! Gad, I hate flex-frames. This was the second flex-frame eyeglasses ( the very same model ) that I had which broke in half ( a complete waste of the 600--something bucks that I paid for it )! I'm going back to titanium frames when I get my eyes examined tomorrow ( my last eye exam was six years ago ).

attention! According to an article which I read on-line, December 18th, 2013, will be the last time that the Federal Reserve will print money. I assume that what is meant by it is that they will be discontinuing the "Greenbacks" dollar bills. Because the new $5.oo, $10.oo, $20.oo, $50.oo and $100.oo bills are not completely green on the reverse side anymore. We'll just have to wait and see what happens ....

The new blue $100.oo bill--'looks kinda like play money. Don't you think so? ( I found this on the Internet. )

Greenbacks, by the way, are also a kind of Trout that can be found only in Colorado ( unless I smuggle some back to California and release them in the lakes! Heh, heh, heh .... ).

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THE STARVING GAMES, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 23 min )

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I saw this last night, just past midnight, Wednesday, December 11th, 2013, at home in my futon bed on my brand-spankin' new Samsung Galaxy Mega through movie4k.to.

Samsung Galaxy Mega is the one on the left. Samsung Galaxy Note is on the right. As you can see from the comparison, the Mega is bigger than the Note. And the Mega is essentially a Galaxy S 3, only much bigger and slightly faster.

Quickie Review: In a depressing post-Apocalyptic World wherein most people live a hard-scrabble life, two teens from each of 12 districts are selected to participate in a "kill-or-be-killed" competition in which only one is expected to survive and win a discount coupon for a foot-long sandwich, a half-eaten pickle and a ham to feed his/her family with for one meal. Yes, it's the 75th Annual Starving Games! And Kantmiss Evershot ( Maiara Walsh ) volunteers to take the place of her manipulative little sister while Peter Malarkey ( Cody Christian ) also volunteers himself just because he has a long-time infatuation on Kantmiss. And, so, the games take place with spoofs on recent movies, and funny references to pop culture characters and celebrities alike, with an interesting twist at the end.

I liked this stupid movie enough.

I liked the "Motorboat" scene ( I wasn't expecting it ), the "Cheerleaders" scene, the clever ad placements on someone's face, and the Outtakes.

Go to movie4k.to to see this movie--but be forewarned:

As I watched this movie, a "your cellphone might be infected with a virus, please do a quick free scan" pop-up appeared. And, later on in the day, when I revisited the website to watch a Hulk and Ironman movie, a note flashed on my cellphone screen, informing me that my cellphone was infected with a virus!

I private-messaged on Facebook my friend Hector's son, Isma, about it. He said that my cellphone could be infected. And I just bought it less than two days ago, on Monday!

Oh, swell, I said to myself. I should have known better than to visit the site. Now, I'm gonna have to shell-out more money just to get rid of the virus. I already spent around $500.oo on it and on some accessories for it!

So, I drove to the Best Buy store in town to see if they could get rid of my cellphone virus for me.

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The bearded clerk at the service center told me that all it needed was a "factory reset", and that I should check with my service provider first.

I drove to the MetroPCS store, my service provider, at 3315 Sonoma Boulevard, Suite 70, here in Vallejo, CA, to have someone do a reset for me.

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One of the two girls behind the counter did the reset for me at 2:22 p.m. It took her just a few minutes---Hell, it took me longer to re-add six ( that's 6, as in: only 6 ) 'phone numbers to my Contacts list, using my Tracfone "pay-as-you-go" flip-phone! I had the girl show me how to do the reset, just in case I get stupid enough to revisit movie4k.to once again to watch an illegally uploaded movie!!!

Boy, am I glad that a factory reset was an easy thing to do--and free!!! Whew ....

For her trouble, she tried to talk me into buying a case for my Samsung Galaxy Mega. But I told her that I already bought a blue case from them when I bought the 'phone two days ago. Then, she wanted to know if I'd be interested in buying a screen protector; but since the screen is made of "gorilla glass" it should be scratch-resistant. And, I added that I preferred to use the Nintendo hard case that I bought for it at another store because I could keep everything in it, including the charger and earphones.

These are Nintendo hard cases. I bought one in blue. I drove all the way to buy it at the Big Lots! Discount Store in Vacaville, CA, hours after I bought my new Samsung Galaxy Mega and minutes before I went to see THE BOOK THIEF's 8:50 p.m. show--which I liked, by the way--at the BRENDEN VACAVILLE 16.

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But I did ask the girl if they were ever gonna carry a shock- and water-proof case for the Mega. She said that they might eventually do so.

Maybe, I should go back to Best Buy in a few days' time to see if they already have the shock- and water-proof case for it. At the same time, I will buy a Micro SD card for it.

Speaking of Samsung ....

I just found out last night that an Apple Store in Vancouver, Canada, had someone working for them by the name of Sam Sung! Ha, ha, ha. Now, isn't that just ironic?


*

FROZEN, PG ( 1 hr & 33 min )

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I went to see this 2-D movie on Sunday, December 1st, 2013, in San Francisco, CA, at the AMC METREON, for the 6:25 p.m. show in auditorium 11 on the 3rd floor, 3rd row ( counting from the front ), 6th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $12.50. And I bought a $6.75 Kid's Pack ( w/ Chocolate Milk ) at the concessions counter. The BART Train round-trip ticket was $8.20. And the Carquinez Bridge Toll, going home, was $5.00.

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I went to see this 3-D movie on Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013, in Fairfield, CA, at the EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX, for the 6:20 p.m. show in auditorium 7, 4th row ( counting from the front ), 5th column ( counting from the left ). The price of admission was $15.50. And I bought a Medium ( ?--I think that I was overcharged ) Popcorn upgrade for $4.00 ( on a $2.00 Tuesday Small Popcorn Movie Watcher Rewards Card Special ) and a $1.50 Kernel Season's Jalapeno-flavored Popcorn Seasoning at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: When the Kingdom of Arendelle is unintentionally cast in an icy spell by its Queen Elsa, Princess Anna goes in search of the queen to convince her to remove the spell. Accompanying her on her journey is Kristoff, a mountain man and Sven, his pet reindeer. Along the way, they encounter an animated snowman named Olaf, trolls, and magic that may just put an end to Anna's life.

There is a funny disclaimer in the Ending Credits which is in reference to Kristoff's statement that "all men eat their own boogers."

And there is a Bonus Scene after the Ending Credits.

This movie was well-received by the enthusiastic San Francisco crowd.

But the reaction of the Fairfield crowd of about a dozen people didn't even register a "blip" on my audience reaction radar.

I liked this movie. Go see this with your little brats in tow.

Here's the major thing wrong in this movie: When you turn Summer into sub-zero Winter instantly, lots of bad things will happen to both Flora and Fauna.

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When I got to San Francisco via BART Train, I went straight to Chinatown first in the hope that I would find the Buddhist nun to donate the $60.oo to. But I did not find her even though I walked up and down Grant Avenue in the hope that I would do so. I didn't even see a Buddhist monk. I went to their temple, Golden Mountain Sagely Monastery on Sacramento Street near the corner of Grant Avenue. But the temple was already closed for the day.

I will have to go back to Chinatown earlier in the day the next time that I go to San Francisco.

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When I was at the concessions counter at the EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX, to buy my stuff, a black bitch behind me made the comment, "'Always happens when you're in a hurry." And it was just her and I in line! So, I paid in brand-new dollars bills that stuck together so that I had to count them off slowly one-by-one. And I didn't pull out of my wallet the exact amount of dollar bills just to slow things down even more! That will teach the bitch to get to the concessions counter earlier!
*

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 26 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Sunday, November 24th, 2013
show: 8:10 p.m.
costs: $10.25 Ticket + $1.75 upgrade to a large Popcorn ( on a Cinemark movie watcher reward's free small Popcorn ) + $5.00 large Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $17.00
auditorium: 14
seat: 3rd row ( counting from the front ), 6th column ( counting from the left )

2nd time

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Saturday, November 30th, 2013
show: 9:35 p.m.
costs: $10.75 Ticket + $$6.50 Lite Bites ( w/ Trail Mix and Powerade Mountain Berry Blast ) =$17.25
auditorium: 14
seat: 5th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: After winning the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen ( Jennifer Lawrence ) and Peeta Mellark ( Josh Hutcherson ) embark on a compulsory victory tour through all the districts just as a rebellion is brewing and President Snow ( Donald Sutherland ) plots their demise in the 75th Hunger Games, The Quarter Quell, which only happens every twenty-five years.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) "It was an act"; 2.) "You do have your virtues"; 3.) The unexpected visitor; 4.) Live TV broadcast; 5.) "Maybe, we have a shot at being friends"; 6.) "Did you see that"; 7.) "Our lives aren't just measured in years"; 8.) Execution; 9.) "You're mentors now"; 10.) "Everyone at school wears it like this now, grandpa"; 11.) The proposal; 12.) "It's for when you're full"; 13.) "We need to show that she's one of us"; 14.) "You don't want to shoot her"; 15.) "Hope"; 16.) "Her entire species"; 17.) Third Quarter Quell; 18.) "Peeta lives, not me"; 19.) Tributes selection; 20.) Rivals; 21.) Secrets; 22.) Flaming promenade; 23.) Elevator; 24.) "Good news"; 25.) "How are we gonna kill these people"; 26.) "Chosen skill"; 27.) "These victors are angry. They'll try anything to stop this game"; 28.) "Like a Mocking Jay"; 29.) "If it weren't for the baby"; 30.) "Presents for the boys"; 31.) "Let's watch her get her hands dirty, first"; 32.) Assault and battery; 33.) "Good thing we're allies"; 34.) "That's music to my ears"; 35.) Force field; 36.) "Edge of the arena"; 37.) Water tap; 38.) Fog; 39.) Mandrills; 40.) Sacrifice; 41.) "Tic-Toc"; 42.) "How'd they get that sound? Jabber Jays copy"; 43.) "I have a plan"; 44.) "I don't want to be the one that shoots first"; 45.) "You have to live for them"; 46.) "It's his plan. We all agreed to it"; 47.) "Stay down"; 48.) "Remember who the real enemy is"; 49.) "Get away from that tree"; 50.) "We couldn't tell you"; and 51.) "It's all gone."

audience reaction: Both Vallejo audiences liked it. And some gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation: I didn't like it that much. This movie is geared for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES series.

spoiler alert! Why was there a "Victors' Village" in District 12 when the district never produced a victor for each and every Hunger Game since the game's inception 75 years ago ( and District 12 only had 3 victors--so, shouldn't it have only 3 houses set-up instead of a whole village )? Here is yet another Hollywood movie in which the first person to get killed-off is a black man! Doesn't Hollywood know that there are other ethnic minorities out there at their disposal? For instance, I'm an ethnic minority. Hollywood can use me in a movie as its first minority victim--so long as the character that I'll be playing has a speaking part with at least a hundred words to say before he gets killed-off. "Everyone at school wears it like this now, grandpa"---Am I right to assume that "everyone at school" includes the boys, too? You cannot push your torso off a table with injuries to your back muscles like the ones Gale Hawthorne ( Liam Hemsworth ) had. At the beach, the rival team was just standing there; Katniss could have easily shot at them with her arrows! If the arena was self-enclosed, how was the wind generated with enough force to sway the tree branches? The blisters that they got from the poisoned fog should not have wiped/scrubbed-off easily: Blisters are caused when an irritant agent makes the superficial skin layer rise up as the body's immune response causes fluid to accumulate in subdermal pockets at loci points of contact. When blisters are ruptured ( i.e. rubbed-off, as shown in this movie ), the exposed subdermal skin will be raw, tender and reddish in color; and pieces of skin will be evident along the edges of the ruptured blisters--BUT THE SFX DEPARTMENT FOR THIS MOVIE FORGOT TO TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT--YET ANOTHER REASON WHY THEY SHOULD HAVE CONSULTED WITH ME FIRST, CINE-MAN, TECHNICAL ADVISER, par excellence!!! Mandrills, like other monkeys or apes, have a very powerful grip. Mandrills also have a strong pulling power. And just like monkeys and apes, Mandrills have grasping feet. In a fight with a human, a Mandrill would be expected to grab at the human's arms with its hands and feet to render the human defenseless for what follows next: Bites to the face and neck!!! ( Yet another reason why they should have consulted with me first, Cine-Man, Technical Adviser and top Anthropology student in college! ) After the encounter with the Mandrills, how was Katniss able to replenish her supply of arrows? Why was she not hit by any of the falling structural debris when she was directly within its debris field?

fyi: Was Primrose Everdeen's ( Willow Shields ) cat, Garfield, the World's Fattest Cat?

Garfield, the World's Fattest Cat. I found this on the Internet. But never mind Garfield--check-out the enormous hands on this woman!!!

In Ancient Rome, at banquets, people would stuff themselves with food then vomit it all out so that they could stuff themselves all over again! Hey! this gives me an idea for next time that I pig-out at a Chinese buffet restaurant.

Hey! Where's the manager? Your food is lousy. I can't keep it down

no matter how hard I try. I keep throwing it all up! I'm not paying

for any of this crap! 'See you tomorrow. 

If you find yourself in a position where you have to do CPR on somebody, keep this in mind when you do the chest compressions: The rhythm of the disco beat for the BEE GEES song, Stayin' Alive. Seriously, scientific research discovered that the Stayin' Alive rhythm is the perfect one to use when administering CPR chest compressions--and it would help to sing the song while you're at it ( to encourage the recipient not to give up on life ) unless you sound like William Hung when you sing--in which case, please, don't! With that in mind, here's my version of Stayin' Alive:

You can tell by the way I do CPR, I'm an EMT--no time to talk.

You're not dead. Your body's warm. You'd been thrown around,

singed--badly burned.

But it's alright. You'll be okay.

Folks, you may look the other way--

you just try to understand

an accident's effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,

you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

'See that you're breathin' and your muscles are twitchin'

'cause you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive, stayin' alive.

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive.

Well, now. We get low and we get high.

And if we can't get either, we'll really try.

'Got the wings of Heaven on our shoes.

We are blessed men. We just can't lose.

You know it's alright. It's okay.

You'll live to see another day.

You just try to understand

an accident's effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,

you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

'See that you're breathin' and your muscles are twitchin' 

'cause you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive, stayin' alive.

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive.

You're goin' somewhere. 'Hospital's near here.

I'll get the gurney. Yeah.

You're goin' somewhere. 'Hospital's near here.

I'll get the gurney. Yeah.

You can tell by the way I do CPR, I'm an EMT--no time to talk.

You're not dead. Your body's warm. You'd been thrown around,

singed--badly burned.

But it's alright. You'll be okay.

Folks, you may look the other way--

you just try to understand

an accident's effect on man.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,

you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

'See that you're breathin' and your muscles are twitchin'

'cause you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive!

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive, stayin' alive.

Ah, ha, ha, ha. Stayin' alive.

You're goin' somewhere. 'Hospital's near here.

I'll get the gurney. Yeah.

You're goin' somewhere. 'Hospital's near here.

I'll get the gurney. Yeah.

YOU'RE STAYIN' ALIVE!!!

word of advice: Fight for a common cause.

tidbits: I wasn't able to take notes the first time that I watched this movie because I was munching on a big bag of buttered popcorn. And it took me almost the entire length of the movie to eat it all up!

In the auditorium during the movie, some girl sat immediately to my left. Twice, she crossed her legs; and twice she hit my left knee when she shifted in her seat. Was she "hitting" on me? The dumb-blonde sure wasn't clear on the concept of "hitting on someone." Or, maybe, I was too stupid to take a hint. Whatever ....

2nd tidbits: I learned of Paul Walker's death when a twit on it was posted on my Cine-Man blogsite in the Twicsy's Top Twitter Pics Of The Past Hour section. I was at the MacDonald's Restaurant in Benicia, CA, at 1602 East 2nd Street, when I learned of the tragedy. How sad ....

At first, I wanted to see this for the second time at the EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA, where the theatre is showing this in I-Max. But, then, I realized that the show will be in 2-D only. And I refuse to pay extra for an I-Max 2-D show! Because whether or not the show is in I-Max 2-D or I-Max 3-D, the admission price is the same. So, I just decided to see this once again here in Vallejo.

The concessions clerk at the theatre refused to honor my $1.00-off discount on a snack pack even though the e-mail coupon sent to me said that the discount was good on any snack pack. The reason why I chose to have the Lite Bites snack pack in the first place. But the manager said that the discount was only good on the regular snack pack and the speed pack---What the "pack" is a speed pack?!?!?! They only had the regular snack pack and the Lite Bites snack pack available at the counter! What a rip-off! I'll complain about this to their corporate p.r. department. 

After the movie, I went to the Super Wal-Mart in American Canyon, CA, to buy a birthday present for a co-worker because it was her birthday today. And she insisted on getting a present from me even though she didn't say anything about a birthday party. But the jewelry section was closed for the evening--it was past midnight--and wouldn't open again until 7:00 a.m. Do I have an excuse or what ...? 

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