- Its numbers for the weekend were not overwhelming, but “Guardians
of the Galaxy” still hit a milestone this frame as it became the biggest movie
of the summer with $17.6 million in earnings. That gave the outer-space romp
$251.8 million in domestic earnings, good for a first-place finish on the weekend
and the summer earnings crown. Last weekend’s champ, “Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles,” dropped to second place with $16.8 million for the frame and has now
banked $145.6 million domestically in its first three weeks of release. Newcomer
“If I Stay” earned third place with a $16.4 million debut, more than making
back its $11 million budget. “Let’s Be Cops” continued its profitable run
through two weeks in theaters by adding another $11 million for an overall hail
of $45.2 million. Jim Caviezel’s uplifting football flick “When the Game Stands
Tall” didn’t exactly tower over the competition in its first weekend, making $9
million to finish fifth and earn back about 60 percent of its scant budget. “The
Giver” was next in sixth place thanks to its $6.7 million performance this
weekend, good enough to push it to the brink of profitability with $24.1
million in earnings after two weeks of release. Next was “The Expendables 3,”
seventh this time around with $6.6 million in domestic earnings and $27.5
million overall. The biggest disappointment of the weekend was “Frank
Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” which opened to $6.5 million despite
immense hype and promotion and fell well short of expectations. Critical
darling “The Hundred-Foot Journey” earned ninth place and $5.5 million in movie
goers’ dollars and has now amassed $32.7 million in three weeks. “Into the
Storm” snared the last spot in the top 10 with $3.8 million to place its
three-week tally at $38.3 million. “Hercules” (No. 17) and “Step Up: All In”
(No. 18) both tumbled significantly from their spots in last weekend’s top 10……….
- Wow…this is shocking. Iran, a noted do-gooder in the
international community, is not pulling a hamstring sprinting onto the scene to
assist a troubled nation in need. With Iraq teetering on the verge of collapse
in its battle with militant kooks ISIS and the world hemming and hawing about
what to do, Iran's
foreign minister says his country sees no need to send fighters to help the
Iraqi government battle the Islamic State group. Sure, Sunni militants are
inching closer to the Iraq-Iran border, but that doesn’t bother Foreign
Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who said "we do not believe that we need to
be present inside Iraq to help our Iraqi brothers. They are very capable of
doing that themselves." My, what great confidence you have in a government
that seems to have little capability to handle much of anything on its own at
this point. Iran can’t honestly look at the offensive by the Islamic State
group across northern and western Iraq, see how it has plunged Iraq into its
biggest crisis since the U.S. military pulled out in 2011 and believe that
Baghdad will be cool if left to its own devices, but give Zarif credit for his
ability to boldly and blatantly lie to the world. ISIS has pushed eastward in
recent days, taking control of the town of Jalula in Iraq's Diyala province,
located some 30 kilometers from the Iranian border, so Iran may have to take
action sooner or later, but now might not be the time. Then again, those nukes
Tehran is (allegedly) not developing could come in handy if this escalates any
further………..
- Putting down the bong and picking up the swimming goggles
is a wise idea for Michael Phelps. When he walked away from competitive
swimming following his eight-medal performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London, Phelps seemed to be a man destined for a life of getting baked,
continuing his 10,000-calorie-a-day diet and coasting through his existence
without much of a care for the world. Somewhere along the way, the competitive
itch crept back in and the most decorated Olympian in history decided he wanted to come back and swim at the
2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The comeback was rocky at first, with losses in
events he once dominated, but Phelps’ first foray back into international
competition ended on top Sunday as he nabbed a gold medal in the medley relay
at the Pan Pacific championships. Phelps narrowly lost to Kosuke Hagino in the
200 medley to start the night, be gained a measure of redemption by swimming
the butterfly leg of the medley relay and helping the U.S. continue its
domination of the event. After finishing the meet with three gold medals -- the
100 butterfly, 4x200 and medley relays -- and silvers in the 200 IM and the
4x100 relay, Phelps deemed the outing a great success. "It was, I think, a
successful year," Phelps said. "Obviously I'd like to win every
single race I swim in. But, (that) doesn't always happen. It was a learning
experience, that's most important." After 1 ½ years in retirement, getting
back into the water and looking like anything close to his former self is
something of a victory for Phelps, but there is a long way left to swim if he
hopes to show up in Rio in two years and compete with the best the world has to
offer………
- Smack-talking grandmas are the best. People like Richland,
Wash. resident Becky Powell make this world a better place and not just because
they tackle accused criminals on the street to prevent those criminals from
escaping the long arm of the law. No, folks like Powell are a positive force in
the world because in addition to stopping would-be criminal escapees, they take
a moment to stand up, pop their jersey - metaphorically speaking – and talk
some junk so their victim and the world around them knows who they are and that
dammit, they were there. Powell and her husband were driving through Richland
last week when she spotted a suspect who was running from the police. Rather
than assume the radios, cruisers and foot speed of the cops would ultimately
prevail, Powell directed her husband to drive faster so they could get out
ahead of the suspect. She then leapt from the car and bum-rushed the man to
confront him. According to Powell, the man attempted to stiff-arm her, but
despite being twice his age, she was able to take him down thanks in large part
to pulling down his shorts. After taking the suspect to the ground, Powell
stood up and let fly with Grade-A smack that included asking the man how it
felt to be taken down by a mother of five and a grandmother of three. Richland Police
Capt. Mike Cobb noted that while the department was happy to have an assist
from Powell, it does not recommend that citizens get so involved in the law
enforcement process. In this case, the man ran because he had an outstanding
warrant. It’s too bad his speed wasn’t equally outstanding……….
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