MIGRATION

I went to see this movie yesterday, Tuesday, December 26th, 2023, at the Century 14 Vallejo, in Vallejo, CA. The price of admission was $9.25! I brought a Jenny Craig Peanut Butter Bar & some unsalted Peanuts to have for lunch as I watched this show. I also had a bottle of Dasani Water. 

After being egged-on by his family, an overly protective papa Mallard 🦆 throws caution to the wind and takes everyone on a spontaneous adventure to the South, way down south! 

PG, 1h & 31m

Auditorium 13, B6

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This is a good movie to take your little brats to go see. There's a Minion featurette before this movie starts that the brats will also enjoy seeing!

My favorite scenes are the ones with the old Heron couple. 👍

And my favorite line is Chump's, "It's you with à L'Orange on top!"  😄

Since it's a kid's movie, I will go easy on the criticism, save for two. When the Sord went down the duck farm's bulkhead basement entrance, near the entrance are vines with green leaves on them. I don't know how they could be green if they're not getting any sunlight!  Also, what happened to the chef?  😕

TIDBITS:

I got up early to be at an automotive shop by 8:00 a.m. Because the "Service Engine Soon" light on my Saturn's dashboard came on since it had just passed the 60,000 miles ( 96,561 km ) distance travelled. But the shop took the Holidays off and won't reopen 'til January 3rd, 2024! I just went home to take a nap 😴 to make-up for not getting a good night's rest. 

Then, I took a walk 🚶‍♂️ around Lake Chabot. Interestingly enough, there are Actually 3 ( yes, THREE ) lakes here in Northern California with that name! And they're all within a distance of just 40 miles ( 64 km ) from each other❗😮 The other 2 are south of this one where I took a walk.

There are water birds here at the lake. Some of them migrated south for the Winter. But a bunch of them have called this lake "home." Damn Canadian invaders! Where are the US border Eagles 🦅 when we need them?

There are Canadian Geese here that are regular and there are those that are migratory. The migratory Canadian Geese come here by the dozens between late Summer and early Autumn. You can tell them apart from the "Green Card" holding Geese because the migratory Canadian Geese poop EVERYWHERE, especially on the foot paths ❗💩❗💩❗I have to be careful where I walk around here during this particular time of year so as not to step on Canadian Goose poop! 😠 And I have to stop reciting my 40-minute long prayer whenever I navigate this Poop Zone! Because it's sacrilegious to pray & look at poop at the same time---Despite what they say, there's no such thing as "Holy Shit" or "Ach Du Schiesse!" 😁

This is one of 10(?) resident Canadian Geese

with "Green Cards" who live here. It's about

to show me its green card. What makes

this goose distinctive is that its right

wing can't press flat against its

body; so, it has a good excuse

not to migrate further down

south. But I think that it has

violated its temporary

residency status!

It must love all of the socialist

"free stuff" that this sanctuary

city is giving it, courtesy of

US Citizen Taxpayers! 

There are Canadian Mallards & White Ducks here, too.

There are a few more in the surrounding

area. Most are migratory ones.

This Mallard was waddling up the boat ramp

and was just minding its own business. I

greeted it with a loud, Quack, quack.

But how was I supposed to know that it's a call

used only by FEMALE Mallards during the

Mating Season?!?!?! 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

The Mallard 🦆 glared at me and yelled, "Get

away from me, you Human Pervert! Go

'Choke a Chicken!"' 😜

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Here's where I was at on my Map App, dotted in blue:

The yellow stuff that you see on the lake's

surface is some kind of lake scum. I saw

the park employees scoop out this scum

just once in all of the years that I have

walked around here! It took two or

three dumpster trucks to remove

all of it. I don't know why all of

the scum only happens on

just half of the lake. But

it's the area where most

of the water birds hang

around in. The birds'

poop may be the

reason why.

And people are no longer allowed to swim

in the lake because of toxic algal bloom

build-up because the city cares more

for ILLEGALS than it does for the lake

that needs to be aerated and dredged

so as to prevent such a build-up from

taking place! As far back as in the '70s,

historical photos show people swimming in

the lake. But by the mid-80s swimming was

starting to get banned! 🚫 In the early 2000s,

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, across the lake,

stopped doing their water shows because of

Lake Chabot's water toxicity! We have the

city's wrong prioritization to thank for it! 🤬

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There are also Crows, Robins, Pigeons, Seagulls and Herons here ( and Hummingbirds, if you look hard enough ), too. Fortunately, I've never seen a Heron gulping down a duckling. And, a first time for me, I saw a Grey Heron! I think that it's the Heron from, The Boy And The Heron. It didn't like what I had to say about Miyazaki's anime movie and was planning to transport me to the World of The Dead to confuse me even further! 🙃

I saw a yt video once about a pair of Mallards waddling around in the Canadian snow. And a Lynx was stalking them. As it got within striking distance, it pounced on the pair. Strangely, the male Mallard flew towards the Lynx, sacrificing itself in the process❗ Chivalry is Dead; and it died along with that Mallard! 😕

While we're on the subject of ducks .... 

🤤

😋

When I checked back on the Baseball ⚾ & Soccer ⚽ Sports Field, I noticed that they had fixed the broken fence:

It was probably done earlier in the day.

And they put a new padlock on it.

We'll see how long it will last.

I went to CSAA to pay my annual membership fee. And some asshole employee pissed me off because he assumed that I was about to make a mess as I sorted out my stuff before exiting the building! He acted in a very condescending manner, assuming that I was going to leave trash behind!! I had to hold my tongue in check to keep from calling him out as the Prejudiced Racist that he is!!! I'm filing a complaint. 

When I finally got to the theatre's box office, I found out that they were not having a "Bargain Tuesday All Day" because a lot of patrons turned out to see movies❗ I had to pay regular price❗❗What a rip-off ❗❗❗

I should have gone to Fairfield, instead, since it's cheaper over there. But because of my car's service light coming on and because I wanted to show an employee here about the AQUAfinaMAN parody movie plot summary that I made for him, I decided to just spend the extra bucks here. 💸

And in my haste to get here, I forgot to bring my specially improvised pair of eyeglasses and my mini notebook to scribble notes in. I had to resort to using my car's travel log notebook--again!--to take notes with. 🙄

And as I've said it before, I wanted to 🥤🙂🍿 "popcorn" the Godzilla movie. I watched it after this Migration movie was over:

Auditorium 9, A6

I bought my ticket about 3 hours before this show

began. By the time that the movie started, it

was sold out! I like to think that my blog

on it helped it to sell more tickets! 😎

I bought a Medium Popcorn for $8.00!

A big Tub of Popcorn is cheaper at

the Regal Edwards Fairfield &

I-Max❗And just look at the

calorie content with and

without Butter. And

let's not forget the added Salt!

FYI: The difference between a Medium and

a Large Popcorn is about one cup of

popped corn---That's it❗The large

tub is designed to fool people into

thinking that they're getting a lot

more popcorn for their money.

But you only get your own

money's worth by getting

the Free refill, if you

don't OD on Salt,

First!  😵

I also used Snickers Shakers Chocolate

Seasoning blend on my popcorn. But

I used 2⅓ Tablespoons. A serving

is only 1 teaspoon ❗😧❗

And I ate some Dried Fruits along with the popcorn to counter the Sodium content of the popcorn. And I washed it all down with my Wyler's Light Island Punch Purple Berry Wave flavored Dasani bottled water. 

"Popcorning" the Godzilla movie made me catch the few nuances that I missed the 1st time around since I was too busy objectively scribbling notes down in the dark! 

I walked around the parking lot before I went home. 

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GODZILLA, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 3 min )

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Thursday, May 15th, 2014
show: 7:00 p.m. 3-D
costs: $14.25 Ticket + $5.85 small Popcorn w/ Butter + $4.10 small 16.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $24.20
auditorium: 2
seat: 3rd row ( counting from the front ), 5th column ( counting from the left )

2nd time

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where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Sunday, May 18th, 2014
show: 8:00 p.m. 2-D
costs: $10.25 Ticket + $5.85 small Popcorn w/ Butter + $4.10 small 16.0 oz Powerade Mountain Berry Blast = $20.20
auditorium: 7
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 8ht column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview:  A couple of monsters threaten the very existence of humankind as they go in search of their sole source of food: Radioactive energy. But Godzilla comes out of nowhere to restore the balance of nature.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Giant fossil; 2.) Freshly-made trail; 3.) "This is a pattern"; 4.) Nuclear power plant disaster; 5.) "I don't get much visitors"; 6.) "It's clean"; 7.) Electro-Magnetic Pulse; 8.) Cocooned monster; 9.) MUTO [ Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism ]; 10.) "Ancient alpha predator"; 11.) "There! Something responded"; 12.) Airport Shuttle; 13.) Russian submarine; 14.) "I have no power"; 15.) Tsunami; 16.) Flares; 17.) "Mommy, look! Dinosaur"; 18.) "I guess we're monster-hunters now"; 19.) "He's hunting"; 20.) "Where you put all your nuclear waste"; 21.) Las Vegas; 22.) Mating call; 23.) "He's here to restore balance"; 24.) Pocket watch; 25.) "This is what I do. This is my job"; 26.) Highway gridlock; 27.) Rail bridge; 28.) "All BART Stations are designated shelters"; 29.) Golden Gate Bridge; 30.) Falling fighter jets; 31.) Chinatown; 32.) "No extraction plan"; 33.) "Let them fight"; 34.) Nest; 35.) Twenty-seven minutes; 36.) Gasoline tanker; 37.) Skyscraper; 38.) Climactic battle; 39.) Helicopter; 40.) Reunited; and 41.) Reawakened.

audience reaction: For this advanced screening, I was surprised to see a bunch of old farts in the auditorium with me. They must be fans of the original Godzilla of the '50s and '60s fame. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any "Hands Clapper" from them.

2nd audience reaction: The audience gave this movie a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation: I liked this reboot. I specially liked how they wove the monsters' need for radioactive energy into the story. Go see this if you're a Godzilla fan.

spoiler alert! The term "alpha predator"--or even just "predator", for that matter, denotes a carnivorous creature which eats its prey--but nowhere do we see Godzilla eating either of the monsters. He didn't even bite the wings of the smaller monster or the neck of the bigger monster. Usually, a train car ( the airport shuttle train, in this case ) has emergency brakes and emergency door release handles near the doors--well, at least, in the ones that I have been on. The lead train car usually has a driver in it but this one doesn't have one. If his father died--presumably--in 1945, that would make him, by my calculation, at least 69 years old this year. But the actor playing the role is only 54 1/2 years old! So, either they cast the wrong actor to play the character or this particular movie character found the secret to the "Fountain of Youth"! When the husband called her at the hospital, the call was put on hold for her; but when she went to pick-up the telephone handle you can see that the "Hold" button wasn't even flashing! Was that a BURNING battle tank floating in the river? One BART Train Station in particular, the Powell Street Station in San Francisco, CA, is a Hobo Hang-out. But I didn't see any hobos taking shelter at a BART Station ( I guess because they were already there first? ). That bird hit the school bus window hard enough to crack the glass but it was still able to fly off? I'm not sure if a fighter jet can spin around like that as it falls down from the sky without any motive power. Why was there only one fighter pilot who was able to eject from his disabled jet? I've been to the Chinatown in San Francisco many times but the Chinatown Gateway in this movie looked different. What I've noticed about Godzilla movies are these two recurring scenes: Mt. Fuji in the background and a Temple. I didn't see a Temple in this movie. And why was the climactic scene set in Chinatown when there is actually a Japantown nearby? Twenty-seven minutes is not enough time to carry a nuclear warhead ( more powerful than either one of two Atomic Bombs dropped in Japan ) "one click" ( 1 kilometre ) to a dock, load it onto a boat--that has to be hot-wired first--and send it off far enough for it to detonate without harming any human population. Comparatively speaking, Godzilla was more massive than the skyscraper that fell on him and should not have caused him to fall down to the ground--it would be like a human standing next to a stack of EMPTY cardboard boxes that toppled over on top of him which would never cause him to get pushed down to the ground. When Godzilla got up and walked towards the San Francisco Bay, there were lots of people on the street in that traffic jam ( ? ) who would not have been able to get out of his way in time.

fyi: Do you guys remember the 1998 Godzilla? If so, can you tell me it that Godzilla was a female? Since it laid eggs, more than likely it was. I'm guessing ....

This is my "collector's item" Godzilla cup-holder from the 1998 remake. I never got to use it because it wouldn't hang on my car's passenger's side window. I bought it at the local MacFrugal's before it became Big Lots! and before the store went out of business. I wonder how much this will fetch on E-Bay.

They planned on doing some sequels for the 1998 Godzilla but decided not to go ahead with their plan when this particular remake bombed at the Box Office.

word of advice: Family is family.

tidbits: I started my day by taking my car in to the shop for a diagnostic and repair.

The sign reads: "SunShine Sanwish Original B.B.Q. Pork B.B.Q. Chicken Buy Five Gave One Free."

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I went to the Sunshine Bakery, a Vietnamese bakery, to have a light breakfast as I waited for my car to get worked on next door at Wheel Works.

This is Wheel Works. I took this picture outside the front door of Sunshine Bakery.

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That's my blue Hyundai Accent that you see. The mechanic just got done test-driving it and was in the process of parking it.

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I took my car to the shop because it was having a problem with acceleration and with keeping itself running when I go across an intersection after coming to a complete stop once I'm off the freeway. I thought that it was the fuel pump acting-up, or something to do with the vacuum system. But when it is at speed and I tap the accelerator, it would respond; and it would come-on fast when I turn the ignition key on. The mechanic determined that the problem was caused by fouled-up spark plugs. And, to think, I, myself, changed the plugs about two years ago. I know I've said that I mainly put Chevron gas in my car's tank but, to save on money, I've been using cheap gas occasionally--and it ended-up costing me lots of money in the long run. The bill for the diagnostic and the parts ( spark plugs and ignition wires ) and labor came to $360.81!

This is a new discount store here in Vallejo, CA, which took over the spot formerly occupied by Grocery Outlet ( which moved to another location across the freeway ). This new discount store, Dollar General, is on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets. There are a bunch of Dollar General stores in Michigan. Not everything is sold for a dollar at this store. I think of this store as a "mini-me" version of a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

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I checked out the new Dollar General because I've never been in one before. I bought a can of Mixed Nuts.

I went to see my doctor on Monday, May 12th. And he gave me two options: 1.) Go on a diet, exercise and lose weight or 2.) Go on blood pressure medication. I've been dieting and exercising ever since because he wants to check on me once a month for the next 6 months!

For my diet, I have a fruit and vegetable green smoothie for breakfast. I mix in a blender a couple pieces each of Strawberry, Pineapple chunks, Peach slices, Mango slices and Red Grapes. I also put in a tiny piece of Banana, three thin slices of Pears or some Blueberries. I add in a handful of Kale and another handful of Spinach. And I put in 1/2 teaspoon of Bone Meal and 1 teaspoon of Kyo-Green ( powdered mix of Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Brown Rice, Chlorella and Kelp ). And I blend it all up with a cup of water.

For lunch, I eat a slice of Cheese, a handful of Mixed Nuts and a piece of Banana. I wash it all down with a bottle of GT's Kombucha Raw Probiotic Multi-Green or a bottle of KeVita Raw Probiotic Living Greens.

For dinner, I have a huge serving of Green Salad topped-off with Cheese, Ranch Dressing and a piece of meat.

For my exercise program, since I live near a local park, Dan Foley Park, I decided to do trail hiking and trail jogging. The pictures below are of Lake Chabot at Dan Foley Park here in Vallejo. In the background, you can see parts of the local amusement park, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

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Interestingly, and for a reason completely unknown to me, there are actually three ( 3! ) Lake Chabots in the area. And they're not even connected to each other since they are cities far apart from each other!

2nd tidbits: In the lobby, after the end of the movie, I overheard a male patron say, "That was awesome!"

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