BOG IT BLOG

Movie Scorecard Update - Part 2

Okay, I did a lot better this week than the previous weekend. I was close, but alas, no cigar. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian came in at $56.6 million in domestic box office receipts. I had predicted $65 million. Considering I was 9 mil off, not bad at all. But then, it was still a loss.

Scorecard:

Box Office 2 - Bubba 1

This next weekend coming is a slim chance at best. Indiana Jones And the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull could be all over the board. I know it will be a blockbuster, but will it be a slim one, or some kind of record. Who knows... a real shot in the dark. If it falls within 5 mil of my prediction of $120 million, I guess I better buy that lotto ticket. My luck would definitely be sparking.

Weekend USA Box Office

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian TRAILER
Indiana Jones And the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull TRAILER

Be sure to check the original scorecard predictions (with trailers), and if you like, leave a comment with your own estimates.

Photography In Digital Form

I recently purchased a new Digital Camera (it is my fifth). With a 10 megapixel version, I expect to get back into some serious photography again.

Back in high school, I was the designated staff photographer for the Yearbook. I worked my senior year with the photo pros of Bryan-Alan Studios in Tampa. Whenever a school function came across that the studio people couldn't attend, you guessed it, I was there. Now with a little training and a lot of practice, I finally wound up taking some really good pictures. And the great thing is that I have a yearbook to be proud of, for all of my troubles.

Years passed, other pursuits filled my time, and for quite a few years I shelved my interest in photography. And then in 1995, I bought my first digital camera. It was laughable when you think it only created a 320x240 pixel image. Any printout over 3x5" would show some major pixelation. But as time past, I kept upgrading my cameras, and developed a year-to-year digital database of my children's teenage years. At last count, my family photo library is over 4 gigs in size.

Now with this new unit, I am back to the days of f-stops, shutter-speeds and ISOs. Most of the cameras that proceeded it were strictly consumer oriented. Considering I intend to use this one mostly for nature photography, the soccer mom specials will just not do. Now whether this one will do the trick, time will only tell.

I have noticed the past couple of years, with the advent of the cell phone and the Internet, there is a new breed of photographer out there. Photography has always been considered an art form. For years, people have spent countless hours and wealth in this endeavor. But now, most who take photos are of the click n' forget crowd. I guess when you have easy access to a phone camera by most people, capturing images becomes more a communication, and less what was once called the art of photography.

But still, if you ask anyone who takes photos for a living, there is art in capturing beauty and drama. And even though the digital cameras of today work different in some ways from film of the past, it's still a matter of subject, composition, color and emotion. Like all art, it is not the procedure that is important, but the emotional reality that rules the final product.

In the future, I'll try to share some of my creations with all of you.

Saturday Comedy: Dara O'Briain

This week we are going over the pond for Britain's best. His name is Dara O'Briain, pronounced "O'Brayn". The Times (London) considers him the best of comedy working the trade in England. In this segment, he is performing at the Apollo Theater (sorry, it is in Hammersmith area of London, not New York)...

So far, the only place I know that he had worked in North America was the 'Just For Laughs' festival in Montreal Canada earlier this year. This weekend, he is playing at the Hammersmith Apollo Theater in London.

Getting Ready for The Next Storm!

I read an article recently that has given me a better sense of security concerning the next big storm hit. It seems that Lakeland's hometown grocery chain is not taking anything for granted next time the lights go off. According to a Tribune report I read recently, Publix is in the process of purchasing internal electric generators for all their stores. Most will be in operation by sometime this summer. And all newly built stores have generators included in their blueprint designs.

Now other grocery store chains are taking different (and cheaper) approaches to the problem of keeping their stores lit and functional. Sweet Bay (formerly Kash N' Karry) Supermarket has bought 6 portable generators which will be delivered to stores that have lost power. However, some of them only have enough power to run cash registers and refrigeration equipment. Considering the chain has 101 stores in Florida, if there is a major hit by a hurricane, many a Sweetbay will still be dark.

Now Winn-Dixie seems to be taking the same path as Publix. They have large generators in most of their stores on the east coast. But I couldn't find any info on whether Central Florida would get the same treatment. Hopefully, with Publix getting all the publicity, it will spur the others to do the same.

Now Walmart is the most pragmatic of the local chains. They are not planning to permanently install any equipment. Like Sweetbay, they are planning to use portable generators stationed here in Florida. According to reports, the national chain has a deal with a generator supplier that promises to provide more if needed.

Well anyways, a little more piece of mind is nice. And with the news that at least 80% of Verizon's Cell Phone Network and most gas station/convenience stores having some form of generator capability, it is a lot easier to face the hurricane season this year. Now if only the house stays together.....

Barry Bonds Should Retire

With a newly revised indictment this morning to Baseball's Home Run King, and with no team willing to have him on their roster, it is about time for Barry Bonds to retire into history. My personal opinion is that he should also be stripped of all awards he has accumulated with his use of performance enhancing drugs.

Some would say I am jumping the gun on Bonds, since he hasn't been convicted. Maybe so, but there has been too many people disputing his claim of innocence. His perjury indictments shows his reluctance to accept that he did wrong and to fess up to his misdeeds.

In other endeavors, You would never allow someone to retain an award that was fraudently obtained. I just don't see the difference in sports. No matter what you call it, steroid (or growth hormones) is a dishonest way to obtain a physical advantage against others. Some say that it was standard practice, with nearly all players taking them.

But no matter what rationalization a person might claim, the use (or misuse) of these drugs goes to the core of competitive sports. We admire and annoit successful athletes for their abilities far above the common folk. Now if those abilities were not achieved as much for their athletic pursuit, but from a synthetic drug enhancement of their physiology, it is difficult to accept their achievements as being valid.

We would not accept a politician who 'rigged' the votes in an election. So how can we accept Bonds as the greatest player in history when much of his performance was 'rigged'.

Well anyways, that is my opinion. If Major League Baseball and its 'achievement records' are to maintain their integrity, Bonds must be expunged from the list. It is a moral imperative!

Movie Scorecard UPDATE

Well, I didn't do too bad this week. I predicted that 'Speed Racer' would have a tough time to get past $20 million, and my prediction was $18 million. This week's total is close enough to be considered a win. It made it to $20.2 million.

Now my prediction for 'What Happens In Vegas' was way off. I expected a $40 mil take. It wound up nearly tieing Speed Racer. The Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz movie came up with a $20 million take.

The more I think about it, I should of expected 'Ironman' to come in first place this week. It is such a strong movie. I expect it to drop to number 2 (at least) this week when Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian makes its debut on Friday.

Weekend USA Box Office

Scorecard:
(any prediction within $5 million is considered a WIN)

Speed Racer - (actual $20.2 Million) my prediction was $18 mil. +2 variation (WIN)
What Happens In Vegas - (actual $20 Million) my prediction was $50 Million first week -30 variation (LOST)

Current Score: Box Office 1 - Bubba 1

Be sure to check the original scorecard predictions (with trailers), and if you like, leave a comment with your own estimates.

'Healthy' Is Not Healthy

I saw a report the past few days on a health food guru. He had some interesting facts and theories on how and what we eat. It started me thinking (which isn't an easy task) about my own diet and how we, as a whole, have gotten lazy in our food preparation. It is too convenient to buy our staples in a pre-packaged, pre-processed form, ready for the microwave.

Michael Pollan is a very well known health food spokesman. He will tell you that he is not an expert of any kind. But his opinions in the organic debate is very well respected. He is a bestselling author with multiple books currently at the bookstore. Now you can ask why I single him out from all the self-help pundits, which seem to be as plentiful these days as a crabgrass infestation. Well, he has a unique set of rules in how we should shop and eat food. He also seems to hit the mark in how I've been feeling about the topic lately.

In Pollan's book "In Defense of Food: The Eater's Manifesto", he coins a new phobia he calls 'Orthorexia'. A unhealthy obession with healthy eating. He states that the food and nutrition industry always seems to have a 'good' and 'evil' additive on their agenda. He states that at this time, the good is "Omega-3", and the evil is "trans-fat acids". Now replacing one with another is not necessarily a good thing. He gives a for instance. When he was a child, the industry was villifying saturated fats. His mother was persuaded in using margarine in her kitchen. She selected it to replace the saturated fats in butter. As we now know, she wound up replacing a small evil ingredient with a really big one.

Also in the book, as the subtitle states, Pollan truely gives you rules on how to live and eat in this world. They are:

• Don't eat things that your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize.


• Don't eat anything that is labeled "Healthy".


• Be vitamin-conscious in your diet, but don't take supplements.


• Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Pollan states that not everything edible in a grocery store is really food. He says to remember that true real food Rots. He also states that a person should keep to the edge of the store. Most in the aisles are what he calls edible processed 'material'. Not necessarily something you should partake into your body. He says that produce, meats and dairy on the edge of a store is where you should shop.

And finally Michael Pollan states that most of our traditional recipes have been perfected over hundreds (if not thousands) of years. For instance, a greek fisherman, with his traditional recipes,is far healthier with his diet than what we put in our bodies on a daily basis.

Michael Pollan's books 'In Defense Of Food: An Eater's Manifesto' and 'An Omnivore's Dilemma' are readily available at most bookstores.

Saturday Comedy: Robin Williams

Today's Comedy Clip features who many consider the greatest living comedian on the planet. Of course I am talking about Robin Williams. Back in December, Williams decided to take his comedy sthick, along with a lot of energy, to our troops in the Middle East. One of his stops was at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. While starting his monologue, the base performed Retreat, the lowering of the American Flag. With his prepared show decimated, Williams did what only he could of done. He made a whole new routine with the interuption as the centerpiece...

Robin Williams is known for his albums, tv, movies, standup comedy and his humanitarianism. You know, considering all his accomplishments, I would'nt be surprised that he will be best remembered for this occurrence than for any other.

Bubba Bog's Summer Movie Scorecard!

I thought it would be fun to make some predictions on this year's blockbuster movie season. Now remember, I've only seen trailers at this point, so I'm gonna shoot from the hip. My opinions are going to be a true first glance only. They say that the first opinion is usually the best. So I'll give it a go for May, and I'll add the scorecard to the website soon. Here we go....

• Speed Racer - May 9th - TRAILER - I expect this to be the first BOMB.. a real loo loo.. I doubt it will clear $20 mil domestic in its debut. I'll place my prediction at 18.
• What Happens In Vegas - May 9th - TRAILER - Don't be surprised if this is the top movie next week. No blockbuster, but should be respectable. say $40 mil. first week.
• Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian - May 16th - TRAILER - A very slick preview, many are looking forward to this sequel. I expect it to do well. It may even get to blockbuster level. Let's say $65 million in domestic box office first week.
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - May 22nd - TRAILER - This might be THE premiere of the summer season. The appeal is right across all demographics. With such an established fan-base, it just might make $120 million.
• Postal - May 23rd - TRAILER - Even Mini-Me Verne Troyer can't save this movie. If the movie is as bad as the trailer, it just might cause physical harm to individuals unlucky to have selected this idiot-fest. Say $4 million.
• Sex In The City - May 30th - TRAILER - Another established fan-base movie. Considering the popularity of the HBO series, I expect it to turn out a respectable $40 Million in the US box office.
• The Strangers - May 30th - TRAILER - Great trailer, if the movie is anything like it.. this might be the sleeper of this season. I'm going out on a limb.. say $65 million.

Thats about it for this month. Be sure to add your predictions. I'll post them all at the bottom of next month's entry.

Ethanol By Any Other Name

With the high price of Crude Oil, a costly ripple effect is working its way through our economy. However many experts believe that the high price of food has mostly been caused by the farming community switching over to crops best suited for Ethanol conversion. It is a wicked cycle that hasn't finished altering our food supply and prices.

Farmers (and farming conglomerates) are switching more and more acreage to Ethanol corn production because of the amazing prices they can reap from such a crop. Land that was once used for Wheat, Hops, Barley and other grains is now being utilized for Ethanol. And most of the corn and grain capacity used last year for animal feed is now being shipped to fuel processing plants.

Now advocates are saying that the more Ethanol we use helps us relieve some of our dependency on foreign oil. The truth is a little different. Ethanol still needs to be mixed with that foreign fuel. A recent study states that if we converted all our corn, wheat, soybean and rice, it would replace only 5% of our fuel needs.

As for other disadvantages, Ethanol mixed fuel is not that fuel efficient. Your vehicle will get less MPGs from the mix. Also detractors say that the long-term use of alternative fuels can cause unusual wear and tear on an engine. Some even say that an engine will run 'dirty' by using the grain-alcohol mix. Also there has been a lot of talk of how it causes more enviromental damage than the process of refining Crude Oil.

Here is more information concerning Ethanol production:

• According to government estimates, nearly a fourth of all agriculture production this year will be for Ethanol production. That is a total of over 3 billion bushels of corn alone.
• Energy Information Administration forecasts that Ethanol production will rise this year by a third, to more than 8 billion gallons. If everything stays the same, by 2016, it will be at 14 billion gallons. Our overall fuel appetite this year is currently at 136 billion gallons.
• To help counter the skyrocketing price for animal feed, some producers are switching to outdated snacks and candies. In Pennsylvania, farmers are using returned/rejected Hershey products to augment the diet at pig farms. Also farms in North Carolina are feeding pigs and cattle cheese curls, trail mix, breakfast cereals, peanut butter and just about anything rejected by the food industry.
• And to make matters worse, the price of BEER is going up from an Ethanol based shortage of hops and barley. The price has already rose to 3% over last year. And government experts expect it to continue to rise this year.

Considering how our economy and government is so market-driven, I have my doubts whether we will ever put the 'Ethanol Monkey' back in the bag. But with new congressional hearings on this situation, and people screaming for reasonable food prices, I expect something to be done about how much farmers can plant in Ethanol crops. If it came down to it, we can always drive less, but eating less is too much to expect!