HANDS OF STONE / DON'T BREATHE

R   ( 1 hr & 45 min )

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I went to see this today, Monday, August 29th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJ0, for the 11:15 a.m. 1st-show Matinee in auditorium 13, 3rd row from the front, 7th column from the left. The price of admission was $6.25. I bought a $5.40 Nachos w/ Cheese and a $0.00 small Powerade Mountain Berry Blast ( free offer on my movie-watcher e-mail reward coupon ) at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Roberto Duran's ( Edgar Ramirez ) life is chronicled from his childhood in a poor neighborhood in Panama to his rise as one of the world's greatest boxing legends.

The audience of about a dozen liked this movie. I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you're a boxing aficionado.

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Is it just me or did boxing promoter Don King's stable of boxers all fall from grace?

I didn't know that Roberto Duran loves Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors ice creams.

Roberto Duran must have a very complicated personality! I found this on the Internet.

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Which reminded me of when I moved into my condo back in April of 2001. I stuffed my freezer with nothing but ice cream. I had 21 flavors of ice cream ( which qualifies me to be called, "Baskin-Robbins Junior"? ) at one time in my freezer. And that was all I ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack. Now, I don't even want to eat ice cream anymore!

I went to Selecta Pilipino Buffet Restaurant on Springs Road to have lunch and to buy some lottery tickets. I paid $8.00 for lunch and $9.00 on lottery tickets.

On my way to Selecta Pilipino Buffet Restaurant, I saw a black man, without a shirt on, walking west on Tennesee Steet, past the corner of Lassen Street, in the middle of the left lane. Dumbass idiot. I bet that if he got hit by a car he would sue!


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R  ( 1 hr & 28 min )

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I went to see this on the same day, in the same theatre, for the 4:40 p.m. show in auditorium 8, 6th row from the front, 8ht column from the right. The price of admission was $6.25. And I bought a medium Powerade Mountain Berry Blast for $4.80 at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Three burglars think that they have an easy target in a blind man rumored to have a big stash of money hidden somewhere in his house. But they are wrong.

The audience liked this movie. I liked it, too. Go see this movie if you're into Horror/Suspense movies.

The scene with the turkey baster was probably the best scene in the movie! The scene wherein a bad guy was shot in the head was good. And the dog in the trunk of the car was good, too.

As much as I liked this movie ...

There are some things wrong in this movie:  They break into someone's house without a flashlight, only relying on their smartphones' flashlight app that eats up battery "juice" too fast--doesn't make sense ( I carry two mini flashlights on my person at all times, and I'm not a burglar ). Since the gestation period was still early on, then a crucial event in the movie occurred within a three-month period prior to the break-in. Why was a newspaper clipping well within reach? How was a blind man able to procure a medical/scientific device for his own personal use during that time period? How was he able to set the device to the proper operating temperature? How was the "dungeon" built by a blind man? He hit that guy hard in the head with a steel mallet which should have killed the guy, I think. Shoving a turkey baster straight and hard into someone's mouth would produce serious injury to the back of that one's mouth. The dog couldn't reach her face but her breasts--not to sound kinky--were well within range. The cops who investigated the crime scene would have discovered the secret "dungeon" and the pair of shoes that couldn't be accounted for. This movie sends a bad message at the end.


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After the movie, I went to the 99-Cent Only Store on Sonoma Boulevard to buy allergy tablets and cough drops. I also bought a jar of salad dressing, a small tub of cream cheese and a can of cream of mushroom soup.

I bought the cream cheese and the cream of mushroom soup because I'm still tweaking a ( sour dough bread or corn chip ) dip recipe that a co-worker shared with me. Her dip only calls for the use of three ingredients: cream cheese, cream of mushroom soup and garlic. She gave me the wrong amount to use on the garlic. I asked her if the dip needed two bulbs ( heads ) of garlic or two cloves ( pieces ). She said to use two bulbs.

Well, when I first made the dip, it seemed to me that even one bulb of garlic was too much. I only used half a bulb ( 6 goodly-sized cloves ). It was still just too strong--but I'm sure that it killed viruses and germs in my body and kept the girls at bay, for sure! Ha, ha, ha.

The second time that I made the dip, I used just 3 cloves of garlic. The third time around, I'll use 4 cloves of garlic. And I'm thinking of taking this dip to the next level by adding other stuff to it.

When I got home, I called the mailbox company to inquire about getting my new mailbox key since I learned just last night that the new "theft-proof" mailboxes have already been installed. I mentioned to the man who responded that I specifically wrote them a note to put my mailbox key in an envelope and slip it under my door. I guess they forgot to take notice it. Anyway, after I spoke with him, I e-mailed him just to go over the specifics.

Even after I get my mailbox key, I will still make it a habit of going to the main post office twice a week so that I can check on the on-going Selena Gomez Netflix film shoot in Old Downtown Vallejo. Since I would like to be allowed on the set so that I can blog about it.


*

THE MECHANIC: RESURGENCE, R ( 1 hr & 39 min )

 

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I went to see this on Thursday, August 25th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 7:00 p.m. Advanced Screening in auditorium 2, 4th row from the front, 5th column from the right.  The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Arthur Bishop ( Jason Statham ), an expert assassin, is forced out of retirement by a bad guy to kill other bad guys. Or his girlfriend, Gina ( Jessica Alba ), gets it.

The audience liked it. I liked it enough. Go see this if you like Action movies.

I liked the Skyscraper Swimming Pool scene, as did the other audience members.

Here are some things wrong in this movie: The bad gal had her forearm pinned under the table but she should still have been able to move her hand and shoot at Bishop. Those Brazilian bad guys wanted him dead ( if he refused the offer, which he did ) but didn't shoot at him while he was slowly gliding away in the air. I was disappointed to see that Michelle Yeoh was not cast as a fighter in this movie. Shark repellent lotion? I don't think so.

I found this on the Internet.

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He would have been better served by using Dead Shark Juice Repellent! The first time that he boarded the yacht to kill bad guys, he used too many bullets on each one but he didn't have extra magazines for his handgun.


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Did I just die in my sleep ...?

That was the question going through my mind just before dawn today.

I got out of bed around 3:00 a.m. to empty my bladder.

Soon after I went back to bed, I found myself in a semi-transparent state, standing in "my" hallway. I felt like I was in a haze. But I was very calm about it. I knew that I was experiencing something supernatural so I checked the time on my watch. There was just one thing wrong about my watch, though.

I found this on the Internet. This analog watch looks similar to the one strapped on "my" wrist in the hallway.

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It wasn't my watch at all! I looked at the time which was approximately 3:18 a.m. I usually check the time whenever something supernatural happens to me so that I can log it accurately in my journal.

And I noticed that the hallway's wall paint looked different from my condo's paint color, which is cream. This supernatural event's hallway paint looked like a dull gray or a "dirty" faded blue. I stood in the 40-watt incandescent-lighted hallway in a semi-brainfog state. I marvelled at how I was able to see through my arms.

Next thing I knew, I was back in my futon bed in my darkened living room ( I haven't slept in my bedroom in so many years because I could hear my upstairs, next door, and downstairs neighbors in the middle of the night doing God-knows-what ). I looked at the watch on my left wrist. It was the one that I own, not the one that "I" had on earlier.

I found this on the Internet. This digital Casio Chronograph is my everyday watch that I also take to bed with me.

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Finally, I can check the time, I said to myself. I tried to push the "Light" button ( lower right corner ) with my invisible right index finger ( my whole right arm was still invisible ). But I couldn't get the light to turn on. And my left arm was completely transparent so that it was almost impossible to see it in the pre-dawn darkness.

As I kept pushing on the "Light" button repeatedly, I heard a man's voice say a word to me in my left ear. I don't recall the word. It might have been, "Hello." But I was too busy trying to find out the exact time to pay the voice any attention. I hope that I didn't disrespect the disembodied voice. If I did, it would be the 4th time that I had unwittingly done it ( in the past, I had intentionally disrespected certain disembodied voices as a form of challenge ). People these days are obsessed with their smartphones. I, on the other hand, seems obsessed with keeping track of time!

As a precaution, I recited the King James Version of Psalm 23.

I found this on the Internet.

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But I was in such a trance state that I found my tongue not cooperating with me. I had a hard time enunciating each word as a result. With each almost-unintelligible word that I uttered, I had to breathe. And the whole process was so very slow and so very labored. Have you ever had your tongue all numbed-up by your periodontist, for a deep-cleaning, and you tried to maintain a conversation with your doctor throughout it all? Well, that was pretty much how I sounded like.

Then, I saw myself standing before the glass sliding door of my deck. 'Only thing was, it wasn't my deck at all. I live on the 2nd floor of my condominium complex which has wooden decks on the 2nd and 3rd floors. This deck's floor is cement, not wood; and it looked like a patio in someone else's backyard. On the opposite side of the glass sliding door were three--somewhat fat--black pugs. This event seemed like it was happening during an early morning hour.

I found this on the Internet.

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The black pugs were happy to see me and wanted to be let in. Am I in my niece's home, I asked myself. Although I would've had no possible way of knowing  it because I have never been to Oregon where my niece, Anna, lives with her family, her cats, and her brown pug. I looked behind me. It didn't look like my living room at all. I decided not to let the black pugs in because, well, I'm a cat person. And if these black pugs were supposed to be my shamanic guides, well then, they picked the wrong species to disguise themselves as!

I was once again back in my futon. And I tried once more to find out the exact time. Finally, I could see both of my arms. And my watch finally lit up the time which was 6:56 a.m.---Actually, the real time was 6:41 a.m. because I keep my watch 15 minutes ahead of time so that I won't be late for work ( which almost always fails me because I never account for traffic delays on my 10-mile [ 16.1 km ] work commute ).

Why was I invisible? Did I die? They say that most heart attack deaths happen between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., when your blood is at its thickest/most sluggish because of dehydration. I cannot die now, what with my condo in such a mess. I need to tidy up first, I said to myself. I needed to buy me some more time. Yet, I was very calm the whole time, though. I never panicked, not even for a second.

But ... if there ever was a time that I needed to go to work, it was today. Really. Seriously. Today. Because I reasoned that if they could see me at work and interact with me then I'm still alive. Never mind the fact that I would have to physically drive myself to work first. ( If I could write this blog then I'm still alive! But can you guys read this particular entry? is the nagging question. )

From shortly after I emptied my bladder to the last time that I checked the time on my watch in my altered state of shamanic consciousness was approximately 3 & 1/2 hours of lost sleep. And I had to wake up at 8:00 a.m. to go to work! I spent the next hour or so flat on my back trying to make sense of what just happened to me, since I could no longer fall back to sleep.

My conclusion ...?

I guess that this experience is my very first non-drug induced altered state of shamanic consciousness ( ndASSC ). As I mentioned in my last post, I've had 100s of Out Of Body Experiences ( OOBE ). And this one is of an entirely different nature. Years ( decades ) ago, I read an article which said that an OOBE is totally different from an Astral Projection. I will have to agree with that article's findings now. I always thought that both terms were interchangeable since one ends up out of his/her body in either case. But they aren't the same because in Astral Projection, it occurs in stages until you fly out of your body ( like Superman ). However, in this altered state of shamanic consciousness, I left my body instantly, without the "running" or "falling down" or "flying" initial stage that occurs with Astral Projection. The second stage of Astral Projection is when you will hear and feel a tremendous surge of energy coursing throughout your body which leads to the third and final stage, Lift-Off! But what I experienced this morning had none of these three characteristic stages. That ... is the difference.

But I think that OOBE is just a general term as there are also the Clinical Near-Death Experience ( cNDE ), the Traumatic Near-Death Experience ( tNDE ), and the Psychotropic Out Of Body Experience ( pOOBE ) to consider. The cNDE occurs during surgery.  The tNDE happens because of a severe illness or because of an accident or because of an attempt at one's life.  The pOOBE is drug-induced either because a post-surgical pain killer was taken ( I had this experience twice ) prior to it happening or a narcotic was used to deliberately alter one's mind's perception of reality for a "spiritual quest" ( which I don't recommend )  or simply for "recreation". Please don't use narcotics to experience a different reality because if things get ugly--and they might--you will need every bit of your mental faculties to help you out of the predicament!

And, I might add, my Astral Projections were mostly accompanied by a foreboding sense of dread, that I was about to be attacked by evil other-wordly spirits. And I was mostly right, more than I care to remember. But such experiences molded me into what I have spiritually become. My bad encounters had done more to strengthen my faith in God than my fewer good encounters had ever done for me. Whereas, this non-drug induced altered state of shamanic consciousness ( ndASSC ) seems, at this time, geared towards calm and peaceful encounters with other-wordly entities. Only time will tell, though ....

Well, I'm totally "game" for this new experience! I will just have to write down a list of things that I want to address for when I do establish communications with spirit guides.

All in all, from the first time that I did the Shaman Isochronic Sound Meditation twice a day to my very first non-drug induced altered state of shamanic consciousness ( ndASSC ), it took exactly six weeks. But it is still too early for me to recommend this type of CD sound meditation. I still have to put more effort into it for me to achieve the desired results.

( I wonder if I can talk a spirit guide into punishing those lowlifes who vandalized my cars and those jerks who insulted/disrespected/unfairly treated me. Or will such a guide just tell me to "forgive and forget" so as to put an end to the give-and-take cycle of bad karma endured over many lifetimes.  )



*

BEN-HUR ( 2016 ), PG-13 ( 2 hr & 5 min )

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where:  CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when:  Thursday, August 18ht, 2016
show:  7:30 p.m. 2-D Advanced Screening
costs:  $8.00 Ticket + $6.80 Lite Bites = $14.80
auditorium:  9
seat:  2nd row from the front, 8ht column from the left ( as you can tell from where I was seated, there were a lot of people who went to see this movie--mostly older folks ).

2nd time

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where:  CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when:  Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016
show:  4:40 p.m. 3-D
costs:  $9.75 Ticket + $6.80 Lite Bites = $16.55
auditorium:  2
seat:  4th row from the front, 7th column from the right

synopsis/overview:  A Jewish prince, Judah Ben-Hur ( Jack Huston ), is betrayed by his adopted Gentile brother, Messala ( Toby Kebbell ), loses his family and property, is sold into slavery, escapes death by drowning, and swears to exact revenge on his estranged brother in a chariot race with the help of an African tribal chief, Ildarin ( Morgan Freeman ). He encounters Christians and Jesus ( Rodrigo Santoro ), Himself, along the way. ( They weren't called Christians back then. Their fellow Jews referred to them as, Ebionim, i.e. the poor and destitute. )

noteworthy scenes:  1.) Accident; 2.) "We have different Gods, Messala"; 3.) Family; 4.) Carpenter; 5.) A wounded Zealot; 6.) Life as a soldier; 7.) Pacified town; 8.) Sword; 9.) Cemetery; 10.) Brother's bow; 11.) "I may kill your brother, someday"; 12.) Death or peace; 13.) Assasination attempt; 14.) I confess; 15.) "You killed them both"; 16.) "He needs water"; 17.) New galley ship slave; 18.) "Don't care ... just survive"; 19.) "Keep rowing"; 20.) Chain; 21.) "All are dead to the last man"; 22.) "How long were you a galley slave"; 23.) "She couldn't keep pace"; 24.) On the road to Jerusalem; 25.) Message of Jesus; 26.) A gift; 27.) S.P.Q.R. ( Senatus Populus que Romanus ); 28.) "Where's my mother and sister"; 29.) "He brought you back to me"; 30.) "Twenty Jews from the street"; 31.) "There's nothing here for you anymore"; 32.) "In the circus, there is no law"; 33.) The wager; 34.) "The Gate"; 35.) "Bury us together"; 36.) "First to finish, last to die"; 37.) "She wants you"; 38.) "I know where your family is"; 39.) "If he wouldn't save her, I would save her from his own mistake"; 40.) Chariot race; 41.) "They want blood. They are Romans now"; 42.) "Find something for yourself"; 43.) The kiss of betrayal; 44.) "My life I give of my own free will"; 45.) The Crucifixion; 46.) Miracle; 47.) "Come, you are free"; 48.) "Come see what you did to me"; 49.) "What I can do is carry you"; and 50.) Reunited.

audience reaction:  The audience liked this movie but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

2nd audience reaction:  The audience liked this movie but didn't give it a "Hands Clapper" ending.

recommendation:  I liked this movie. Go see this movie if you like Action/Adventure movies. And especially if you're an old fart because most of the audience members were that old ( says the man who almost always is given a Senior Citizen discount--keep the discounts coming, baby! ).

But, seriously, my dear readers, pay no attention to the bad reviews that it got.

spoiler alert!  There were townspeople just standing around when they should have helped Messala carry his wounded and unconscious brother. Another Archaeological Faux Pas: Red Hot Chilis. No one back then had travelled to the Americas to gather hot chilis. And chilis are not to be mistaken for peppers. It was Columbus who mistakenly named American Chilis as Peppers because he noticed a similarity between the two types of spices. Black, green and white peppers from India would have already been in common use in Israel during Jesus' time. This movie presupposes that Jesus Christ remained in Jerusalem all of His life and learned His father's carpentry trade. So, Jesus' 18 lost years are attributed to His dedication to His vocation. And this movie downplays Jesus Christ's miracle works. Did the galley ship slaves get bathroom breaks? There is no mention of Jesus Christ stopping the stoning of a man in The New Testament. The setting for the stoning was all wrong. People that were found guilty of sin back then were first dragged out of the town before they were stoned to death. In this way, blood would not be spilled on the town's ground and made it unclean and defiled ( contrast that with today's execution chambers and abortion clinics that are operated well within a town's boundaries--people do anything and everything to turn God away so that they can claim that He doesn't exist! ). You would need more than two men to carry a chest full of thousands of gold coins ( they could just have used a wheeled cart )! The question should have been, "Not appropriate for whom?"  They didn't stone lepers to death back then; they just ostracized them since killing them would have been tantamount to commiting murder. There were no women in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus' betrayal by a kiss. Jesus Christ was crucified on a tree ( New Testament Book of Acts 5:30 ) which actually makes more sense and that I could effectively argue for. I don't recall a mention of rain when Jesus Christ died on the cross. The Bible mentions darkening of the day, ghosts going up to heaven ( Rapture? ) and an earthquake that rips the Temple's curtain; but rain isn't mentioned at all ( I think ). I'm not sure if I saw it or if my eyes fooled me, but there were no stirrups back then.

fyi:  I don't remember the Charlton Heston version of BEN-HUR because I was still very young when I saw it and my English vocabulary was limited to the words that I learned in English Nursery Rhymes and in simple sentences like, "See spot run," et cetera,  for the most part.

Back in Ancient Times, only the rich could afford to have fancy clothes. Others wore the same old clothes 24/7/365!

The sign's acronym, S.P.Q.R. ( Senatus Populus que Romanus ), as it was nailed on the front door, meant that the place belonged to a Roman citizen ( since Messala was adopted into the royal Jewish family ) of high standing. In other words, as it applies to this example, trespass only at the risk of death! Which is why the abandoned mansion was not ransacked.

I felt sorry for the horse.

According to Ancient Jewish tradition and superstition, Jesus Christ would have been hanged totally butt-naked to let everybody see the "nakedness of His sins"!

And His hair and beard would have also been cut short. Just like in this Veronica's Veil image:

I found this on the Internet.

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Since, more than likely, Jesus Christ took some kind of a vow, which would have made Him a Nazirite, just like Samson was. And we all know what happened to Samson after his hair was cut!

And speaking of Jesus's hair, He more than likely had sported dreadlocks, just like Morgan Freeman's character did, because He spent time in India, during His 18 lost years, where holy men and ascetics had dreadlocks.  (  https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Dreadlocks/  )

This movie should have been released around Easter time.

word of advice:  "Forgive and forget."

tidbits:  Early this morning, just past midnight, on my way home from watching HOW TO BE YOURS, some idiot drove fast on Admiral Callaghan Lane behind me and gained fast on me. We were coming to a stop sign on the corner of Rotary Way. I pumped my brakes to slow my car down and to let the idiot know that we were coming to a stop sign. I did a full stop and the idiot behind me had to swerve his car to the right to avoid rear-ending my car! What was it about pumping-my-brakes-to-slow-down-my-car-before-reaching-the-stop-sign that the idiot behind me did not understand? Some people are just so damn clueless.

Partway through my sleep, I had the beginning-stage sensation of an Out-of-Body-Experience ( OOBE ). The last time that I had a full OOBE was sometime around 2008.  The most OOBE experiences that I have had was when I was in my late teens and early 20s. They'd have had numbered in the 100s had I taken the time to document each one, I kid you not! My OOBEs became fewer and fewer and further and further apart the more I studied The Bible. Maybe, I'm being set-up for more of such experiences now that I am older and wiser.

I went to Benicia to pick-up my paycheck. And, wouldn't you know it. I was shorted. I had asked for an extra day-off for my anniversary date of employment. But I wasn't paid for it. I will have to request this paid day-off again.

At work, I met Cheyenne, a former co-worker, who was rehired. We hugged each other. I asked her how her brother was doing. He's doing fine, it seems, having been hired to replace their dad at work when their dad retired. He makes more money than I do, and he's just starting-off. He sure was lucky to land such a job at Berkeley Cement, Inc. I asked Cheyenne why she didn't have her dad help her to apply for a job position. She said that they passed on her because of the hard manual labor involved in such a job. I told her that she should sue for discrimination.

After checking my work schedule for next week, I drove to the Benicia Southampton Shopping Center to buy lottery tickets at the liquor store and to deposit money at the Chase Bank directly across the parking lot.

And I walked a few doors down to buy stuff at the health food store and at the Dollar Tree Store. I had to pass by Petco along the way. I couldn't help but look through the storefront window to admire the kittens and cats that were awaiting to be adopted into their "forever homes". If only I lived in a house instead of in a condo, I would have happily adopted a few of them. Why do I need to have a house just to adopt cats? Simple, I can just let them loose in the yard to do their "business" so that I don't have to spend so much money on cat litter. And they can fertilize the yard while they're at it. Ha, ha, ha.

At the health food store, Earthly Nutrition, I inquired about my special order, Natural Sources Raw Multiple Glandular.

I found this on the Internet.

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It still had not arrived. I will just have to order this on-line and save on $$$. In the meantime, I bought a bottle of Natural Sources Raw Male:

I found this on the Internet.

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Raw Male is made with prostate and orchic glands derived from bovine sources. Maybe it will help improve my libido.    ;-)

I also bought some Solgar Olive Leaf Extract as I was running low. This is supposed to be good for the cardiovascular system, and it also kills viruses--supposedly.

I found this on the Internet.

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At the Dollar Tree Store, I bought some cough drops and some take-to-work snacks.

Speaking of cough drops, I've been having coughing episodes for the past week. I don't know if it's because of an allergy or if I am coming down with a cold. I say that I don't know because my coughing doesn't come with most of the symptoms of either one.

But, last night, I read an on-line article that says eating lots of nuts can trigger a histamine attack. And I've been eating lots of nuts and seeds, and peanut/almond butters, for over two years now. I mentioned this to Michelle, a co-worker, who said that airlines have banned peanuts on flights because of such a possible reaction. She said that coughing in an enclosed cabin that has lots of people in it can help to spread germs and infect other passengers--'makes sense.

And I'd been coughing so much and so hard that it had given my lower torso such a good workout. My abdominal six-pack is well on its way to becoming more defined, as a result.  Ha, ha, ha.

Back to my conversation with Michelle. I told her that walking through a pine forest has an anti-histamine effect because pine trees release such an agent into the air whenever they "exhale".


2nd tidbits:  It amuses me whenever I see this pendant:

I found this on the Internet.

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Why does it amuse me? Simple, a small cross inside of a Mogen David translates to ... A bunch of Jews crucified a Christian! If you're a Jewish-Christian sporting this, you're showing the world your culpability---And it's bad enough that the whole world blames the Jews for anything and everything! It should be the other way around: A big Cross and a small Mogen David where the cross pieces intersect to denote that Pagan Law allowed for the crucifixion of a Jew. Yeah, as Jesus Christ would say, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's". ( Matthew 22:21 )

Peace Out ....

*

HAPPY BHAG JAYEGI / RUSTOM

NR  ( 2 hr & 6 min )

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I went to see this on Monday, August 22nd, 2016, in Richmond, CA, at the CENTURY HILLTOP 16, for the 3:35 p.m. show in auditorium 16, 3rd row from the front, 8ht column from the right.  The price of admission was $8.50. And I bought a medium Minute Maid Diet Peach for $4.85 at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review: A run-away Hindu bride inadvertently finds herself in Pakistan!

[   I'd be happy to have Happy ( Diana Penty ) as my wife since Asin Thottumkal isn't available anymore.   :-(     ]

The audience liked it. And I liked it. Go see this romantic Bollywood comedy.

Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan are in a tense relationship, supposedly over the water supplied by the Ganges River. This movie tries to reconciliate the two countries, if only through a comedy film. Because we really cannot afford to have both countries wage a war against each other now that they're both armed with nuclear missiles.

P.S. The Minute Maid Diet Peach had a disagreeable taste.

_

NR  ( 2 hr & 28 min )

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I went to see this on the same day, in the same city, at the same theatre, for the 6:30 p.m. show in auditorium 12, 3rd row from the front, 7th column from the left. The price of admission was $11.00. And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  A decorated Indian Navy Officer kills a lothario ( Arjan Bajwa ). His trial uncovers the dead man's connection to a scheme that could more literally than figuratively sink the Indian Navy. Based on a true story.

The audience liked this movie. I liked this movie, too. Go see this movie if you like courtroom dramas.

Once again, since this movie is based on a true story, and since I don't know which parts are true and which parts aren't, I will not comment that much on this movie.

But, first, I would like to say that the leading lady, Ileana D'Cruz,  is very beautiful--and the other main female character, Esha Gupta, isn't bad-looking either.

If I were the prosecutor, I would have demanded a retrial and bar the newspaper publisher from once again influencing the jury's decision!

This movie is quite a departure for Akshay Kumar. I usually see him in comedy films. I first saw Akshay Kumar in the 2009 movie, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, a silly Martial Arts film.

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*

WAR DOGS, R ( 1 hr & 54 min )

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I went to see this on Saturday, August 20th, 2016, here in Vallejo, CA, at the CENTURY 14 VALLEJO, for the 6:50 p.m. show in auditorium 6, 2nd row from the front, 7th column from the right. The price of admission was $11.50. And I bought a $6.80 Lite Bites at the concessions counter.

Quickie Review:  Two friends get the "Dream Deal" of their lives when they land a government contract to supply the Afghan forces with AK-47 ammo. But they soon discover that they are in way over their heads. Based on a true story.

The audience liked it. I liked it, too. Go see this movie.

The scene wherein one of them shot rounds into the air in that neighborhood, I found hard to believe. He could just have shot at someone's front yard to keep from hurting/killing someone with stray bullets. I felt sorry for their driver ( I hope that this role was strictly fictional, not based on an actual person ). I usually don't comment that much on "based on a true story" movies because I don't know which scenes are true and which scenes are embellished upon/fabricated for "dramatic purposes".

When I stepped out of the auditorium,  a man seating on a bench with his son, and waiting for the next show, asked me,  "How was the movie?" I said that I liked it,  that it fascinated me. He said that that was a good enough of a review for him.

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Yesterday, Friday, the 19th, I was at the 1602 E. 2nd Street McDonald's Restaurant in Benicia. As I took my tray to a table at around 6:10 p.m., I saw a cop standing in the lobby. He said that someone had called about a girl running out of the restaurant without any pants on! He was asking everyone for information. How could I have missed that?!?!?! Damn, my burger wasn't made fast enough!

But I think that it was really a guy. When I went to use the men's room, I noticed that someone had left a doo-doo on the toilet seat. And a pair of soiled pants was in the trash can. LMAO

Well, today, I went back to the same McDonald's. After I filled my large cup with half lemonade and half sweet tea, I started to walk towards the back lobby when, all of a sudden, at 2:49 p.m., the fountain drink machine started dispensing ice cubes all by itself. I looked at the woman seated closest to the fountain drink machine and made the comment, It must've been a ghost.

There are supposedly many ghost sightings here in Benicia, CA. It was even featured in a newspaper article and was shown as a segment on a ghost-hunting TV show.

I know the former owner of Char's Hot Dogs on 1st Street, here in Benicia. He told me, "Before I owned the restaurant, I didn't believe in ghosts."  Apparently, a male ghost haunts that place and was seen on occasion at night and after it closes for the evening.

I should eat at Char's someday--or some evening!



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