THE SHALLOWS, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 27 min )

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I went to see this yesterday, Saturday, June 25th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 8:00 p.m. show in auditorium 4, 5th row from the front, 5th column from the left. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $1.00 medium upgrade on a free small popcorn ( free on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter to go with the beef jerky stick that I smuggled-in with me.

Quickie Review: Nancy ( Blake Lively ), a med-student, takes a break from her studies to go explore a paradise beach that her late mother had visited. An avid surfer, she soon is in the water. But an angry territorial shark wants the beach all to itself.

The audience liked this suspense thriller. I liked this movie, too. Go see this if you like "shark movies".

Here's what I didn't like about the movie: If you see a known surfer, sans a surfboard, stranded on a rock, who frantically waves at you and warns you that there's a shark in the water, You Don't Argue Back By Saying That There's No Shark In The Water! You get the Hell out of there A.S.A.P.

It's movies like this that make me not want to be a surfer! But, not to worry, I don't like being in fresh- or seawater that's over 5 feet deep, in the first place.  Ha, ha, ha.

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I was at the Benicia, CA, Safeway Supermarket about two hours prior to the start of this movie. I learned the following day that I missed-out on what some lowlife did in the store, at around 6:30 p.m., in the back of Aisle 9: Someone defecated in that area and left a stinkin' "lincoln log" for somebody to clean-up after! I swear, this store is turning into a ghetto store.

Hours later, I dreamed of being on a beach watching the sun rise. As the reddish sun started to peak over the horizon, I said to myself, This would be a perfect time for me to start the practice of "Sun Eating". It was such a vivid dream that I thought I was experiencing it in a conscious state. I may try this practice someday to find out what it's all about. Scientists and debunkers are all saying that it's one of those crazy practices foisted on the gullible and the ignorant. But I still want to try it out before I arrive at a conclusion; an informed decision, you might say.


*

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 57 min )

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I went to see this today, Thursday, June 16th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:15 p.m. show in auditorium 7, 5th row from the front, 7th column from the left.  The price of admission was $8.00. And I bought a $4.15 1.25 oz. bag of Jack Links Beef Jerky and a $4.20 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter to go with the $1.00 bag of Salsa-flavored Almonds that I smuggled in.

Quickie Review:  A CIA agent, Bob Stone ( Dwayne Johnson ), and his former high school classmate, Calvin Joyner  ( Kevin Hart ), reunite for an action-packed top-secret mission.

The audience liked this Action/Comedy movie. I liked it, too. Go see this movie if you like Action/Comedy movies.

There are Outtakes shown during the Ending Credits.

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Last night, Wednesday, June 15th, I found out that the headphone jack on my ACER C70 Chromebook wasn't working. At first I thought that it had something to do with my Sony earphones; I switched to another set of earphones. But that wasn't the problem at all. The problem was in the Chromebook, itself. I tried Refresh + Power On but that didn't solve the problem. My only other option was a hard reset by doing a Powerwash. The only problem with that was the fact that by doing a Powerwash, my Chromebook would go back to a Factory Reset mode. And I didn't currently have my Google bookmarks saved onto another computer since I recently did a Factory Reset on my 2005 Compaq Presario Windows XP computer! And I wasn't exactly sure if my Samsung Mega smartphone was properly synced to my Chromebook.

And ... I still need to do a Hard Drive Erase on my Compaq Presario before I can try an upgrade on it.

Hmm, what to do ....  Oh, I know! Buy another computer. Yes!

I went to the American Canyon, CA, Wal-Mart Super Center at around 10:30 p.m. to browse the selections in their electronics department. I narrowed down my choices to a Windows 10-type computer for $299.00 with an 8-hour battery life and a Samsung Chromebook 3 for $189.00 ( $207.12 w/ tax ) with an 11-hour battery life. Obviously, I picked the Samsung Chromebook 3 for its out-of-the-box functionality and its built-in malware/virus protection.

It took me a while to figure out how to do a "caps lock" on this particular Chromebook, though. I had to go on-line to learn how it's done: Alt + Search.

I found this on the Internet. 

Starbucks and McDonald's Restaurant are REALLY Gonna Hate Me Now that I can walk into either establishment with my 11-hour battery life computer!  I mean, I don't care now whether or not they have electrical outlets for their patrons' use. Ha, ha, ha.

This Samsung Chromebook has a water-resistant keyboard.  It stays cool; unlike my Acer C70 which could melt an igloo, figuratively speaking. Its speakers are louder than those in my Acer C70. And the built-in battery is a fast-charger, too!  Sweet!

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On a somber note ...

The recent Orlando, Florida, mass shooting seemed suspect as videos showed people taking the "wounded victims" towards the nightclub instead of away from it. It gives me the impression that the whole thing was a "false flag/crisis actors" production meant to divert our attention away from the Bilderberg Meeting.  Or it was all staged to help outlaw assault weapons and disarm the citizenry in time for Martial Law.

Somebody sent this to my Facebook page today. 'Makes about as much sense.

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However the case may be, innocent people did die. Add to that the singer who was killed and the toddler who was attacked by an alligator. Three unforeseen tragedies which happened one right after the other. It is such a sad, sorrowful time for the people of Orlando, Florida, and for the rest of the world who are simply at a loss for words on how to come to grips with these triple tragedies.


*

NOW YOU SEE ME 2, PG-13 ( 2 hr & 9 min )

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I went to see this movie on Saturday, June 11th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, in auditorium 7, 4th row from the front, 6th column from the left. The price of admission was $8.00. And I bought a $1.00 upgrade to medium on a free small Buttered Popcorn ( free on my movie watcher e-mail reward coupon ) and a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: The Four Horsemen illusionists reappear a year later to do a spectacular take-down of a very unscrupulous tech billionaire.

The audience liked this movie and gave it a "Hands Clapper" ending. I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you liked the first one.

The one magic trick that I didn't like was the one which involved the private jet. The unsuspecting targets of that trick should have noticed something was wrong when the gravitational pull and the air pressure did not change at all.

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Fun Facts: The service adviser at the Vallejo Wheel Works Automotive Center looks like a younger Morgan Freeman.

The Japanese invented Hair Transplant Surgery ( micro-graft, mini-graft and follicular unit transplant [ FUT ] ) years before the bombing of Pearl Harbor which forced our entry into the war. If not for World War II, balding American males would have benefited from such a surgery sooner.

Micro-grafts, Mini-grafts and FUT techniques are more refined than the old, abandoned methods of strip transplant and "doll hair" plugs. And some patients actually died while undergoing strip and plug surgeries.

Nowadays, you don't even want to go to a doctor who only offers Micro- and Mini-graft hair transplant service. Take your money and run ... to another doctor trained in the more advanced techniques of hair transplant surgery.

Your better options now would be Neo-graft, ARTAS, and FUE ( follicular unit extraction ) which is slightly different from an FUT. Follicular Unit Transplant still involves taking a strip of flesh from the back of your head ( 1" x 7" x 1/2" ) to harvest viable hair follicles. Neo-graft, ARTAS and FUE harvest donor hair without taking a strip of flesh from the back of the head and are therefore less invasive and leave no visible scar tissue. Neo-graft and FUE are done by hand; ARTAS is done by a robotic arm. ARTAS can harvest donor hair faster which equates to a shorter stay at the doctor's office for the transplant procedure.

Micro-graft and Mini-graft hair transplant surgeries can take up to 7 or 8 hours at the doctor's office. Neo-graft and FUT/FUE take half that time. ARTAS is shorter still.

Neo-graft is usually done by a technician. Whereas, FUT/FUE are mostly performed by the doctor or a nurse practitioner under the doctor's supervision; sometimes, technicians are involved. ARTAS is either done by the doctor or the nurse practitioner.

ARTAS is mostly recommended for men with black or brown straight hair.

Yes, pubic hair has been successfully used as donor hair in some hair transplant surgeries.

But I don't know why hair transplant surgeons don't want to use beard hair as donor hair.  ( I guess they just want to use pubic hair to have a good laugh at their patients' expense! )


*

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

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I went to see this on Thursday, June 9th, 2016, here in  Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:00 p.m. 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 1, 4th row from the front, 7th column from the right. The price of admission was $15.00. And I bought a $0.00 small Buttered Popcorn ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ), a $4.85 medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast and a $4.15 bag of Beef Jerky at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: An Orc chieftain decides to form an alliance with the humans to help defeat an evil force which has consumed the Orcs' planet and is now starting to consume the Earth.

There were only about half-a-dozen people in the audience, myself included. I guess they liked this movie enough. I thought that it was just "okay". I never played the World of Warcraft video game so I am not really into this movie. But I'm sure that its die-hard fans will want to go see this movie.

The audience liked the Dungeon Guard scene.

Here are what I didn't like about this movie: The Orcs, the Dwarfs, the Elves and the Sorcerers all reminded me of similar characters in the LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT movies. And since the Orcs didn't have armor, why didn't the humans use arrows on them? And mass-produced pistols would also come into play against the Orcs. So, if there will be a part two, I expect the humans to have such weapons to give them a "reach" advantage against the Orcs.


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I used the toilet soon after I got out of bed. I flushed it then noticed that there was no water! The plumbers worked on the pipes without properly notifying the tenants, and they started at 8:00 a.m. when the usual time for such work is at 9:00 a.m. When I got downstairs, I noticed that some idiot posted small cards on the inside of the front and rear doors to notify everybody of the planned work. They should have posted the signs on the OUTSIDE of the doors the night before; and they should have used big, colored papers like they usually do! Some plumber probably ended up with a mouthful or faceful of my unwanted, unsolicited stinking "advice", 'sorry to say ( Eew! ) .

I had to go to the Vallejo Main Post Office, on Santa Clara Street, to get my mail because some lowlife once again vandalized the mail boxes at my condominium complex. On my way to my 9:30 a.m. follow-up appointment with my optometrist, I took a slight detour from Sta. Clara St. by making a left on the corner of Georgia and Sacramento Streets, instead of just driving up on Georgia Street. I turned right onto Virginia Street. On the corner of Main Street, I saw a cop ( one of two ) standing guard. I asked him, Officer, is there a movie shooting here on Virginia Street? He said that there was and pointed to a local business establishment just a couple of doors down from the Army surplus store where an indoor scene was being shot. I thanked him for the information.

A TV series is being shot here in Vallejo and at two other cities. The TV series stars Selena Gomez. The title of the series is, "Th1rteen R3asons Why." I couldn't stay to watch the shoot because of my doctor's appointment.

I arrived at the doctor's office only to find out that my appointment had been canceled because my doctor had some emergency to attend to! I thought about going back to the film shoot but I had some errands to do.

I mentioned the film shoot to some people in Benicia, CA. And a couple of them told me that the film shoot will last a few more months. Who knows, I might just get a chance at playing the role of a paparazzo so that I can post pictures of Selena Gomez on my movie blog.

Then, I went to the Benicia Library to go on Facebook to post about the film shoot. The table next to mine was occupied by an elderly tutor and a high school kid which he was helping with some math problems in Algebra and in Geometry. I couldn't help but hear their conversation. And I said to myself, "I wasn't a good student at math. But this kid is really having a hard time at it ( to say it nicely ).

On my way home, after I had a late lunch at the Empire Chinese Buffet Restaurant on Sonoma Boulevard, I swung by the Goin' Postal Store on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets here in Vallejo, at around 4:00 p.m., to return a package which I didn't order but which some company automatically sent to me, and billed me for, as I had ordered an online course from them before. I had to pay $18.98 to ship it back. What a waste of money ....


*

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 52 min )

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I went to see this on Thursday, June 2nd, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:45 p.m. 3-D Advanced Screening in auditorium 1, 4th row from the front, 8ht column from the right. The price of admission was $15.00. And I bought a $4.35 Hot Dog, a $6.05 small Buttered Popcorn and a $0.00 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  An alien warlord joins Shredder in his fight against the ninja turtles and in his quest for world domination.

The audience of about half-a-dozen liked this movie. I thought that it was just okay. This is a movie for fans of the franchise

The two scenes that got the most laughs were the "Giant Rat" and the "Tortoise" scenes.

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After I got out of work at 6:00 p.m., I went to my parked car and discovered that my front left tire was completely flat! I noticed tiny radial cracks on the tire's sidewall in the flattened area upon closer examination. The tires obviously were old and needed replacement. I bought the set of tires back in 2012.

I had wanted to go to the nearby Benicia, CA, MacDonald's Restaurant on 1st Street to have a light dinner before heading-off to the theatre to see this movie. That was not meant to be.

I opened up my car's trunk and unloaded some junk and personal items to get to the spare tire. Dang, my trunk was really loaded up with junk. Well, at least I got to do some cleaning up. It took me a while to locate the tire jack crank handle because it was attached to the underside of the floor carpet and I thought that it was just a support brace for the carpet!

Here's an image of the 2001 tire jack set. I found this image on the Internet.

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Whoever was the idiot who designed the tire jack's crank handle needs to get a good slap upside the head! This crank handle is small, flimsy and very hard to crank. And it was an unseasonably warm weather and I wasn't dressed appropriately for the task at hand---And I forgot to loosen the nuts before jacking-up the tire! Oh, boy .... Some driver offered to let me use his portable air compressor. I politely declined the offer because I was just about a hundred yards/meters from the nearby Chevron Gas Station where they have a free self-service automotive air/water station.

The spare tire was under-inflated---Why are car spare tires designed to be undersized and with a very limited speed recommendation? My Hyundai Accent's spare tire is designed only for a maximum freeway speed of 50 mph. My 1978 Honda Civic CVCC had a full-size spare tire which was a more practical consideration on the automaker's part. Of course, that was then and this is now. The car makers of today should really go back to installing full-size spare tires in all of their cars.

It took me more than 30 minutes to replace the flat tire with the spare tire because of that damn crank handle!

I informed my assistant manager that I would be coming in late the next day because I had to have the flat tire repaired first thing in the morning or I would be stuck driving with a spare tire 'til Tuesday, my next day-off.

I went to the Chevron Gas Station to inflate the spare tire to its maximum 60 psi recommendation.

I got on the freeway where cars were travelling at 65 mph to 75 mph. Driving at 50 mph only served to irritate the drivers behind me. To avoid being a road-rage victim, I upped my speed to between 60 mph and 65 mph; and cars were still passing me by! Obviously, someone needs to have a long, serious talk with car makers about their teeny-weeny spare tire policy.

I had to see this movie after all of that stress!

I took my car to Wheel Works on Sonoma Boulevard the next day, Friday, June 3rd. They recommended that I need to get a new set of tires. I expected that, judging from the condition of the flattened tire.

Saturday, June 4th, after work at 10 p.m., I swung by the Chevron Gas Station to clean my front tires, wheels and wheel covers in advance of the tire replacement.

Sunday, June 5th, I noticed that the rear tires, wheels and wheel covers needed to be washed and cleaned.

Monday, June 6th, after work at 8:30 p.m., I went back to the Chevron Gas Station to wash and clean the rear tires, wheels and wheel covers.

Then, I decided to go see the movie, POPSTAR: NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING, at the same theatre for the 10:30 p.m. show. I liked this pseudo music documentary. Go see it. Be forewarned, it has drugs, foul language and male nudity.

The "Stage Magic" and the "Limousine" scenes really stood out, in a "male nudity" sort of way.

R  ( 1 hr & 26 min )

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Tuesday, June 7th, I took my car back to Wheel Works on Sonoma Boulevard here in Vallejo for its 7:00 a.m. tire replacement appointment. All four tires cost me a total of $501.00 for a full 40K tire lifetime warranty coverage and for a car lifetime wheel alignment. The work was finished at around 9:15 a.m.

I then drove on over to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Store, two doors up the street from Wheel Works to buy a $4.99 can of Simoniz Nitro Xtreme Gloss Tire Dressing ( 13.75 oz [ 390 g ] ) to shine-up my brand new tires.

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