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WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND

So what am I doing for entertainment now that I'm back from my trip and the summer is here?

    • Yoga in the Solarium.  Nope, not me.
    • Strength training in the solarium.  I should, but don't.
    • Balance for You in the Wellness Center.  Again, I should, because falling is the bane of old people.  Maybe someday.  Soon.
    • Advanced Yoga in the solarium.  Well, no.
    • Mandarin Language Class in the theater.  But I'm not into learning anything these days, especially a new language.
    • There is an iPad session to help us know that device better.  I have an iPad which I never use.  Brought it with me to trip to read books, but never had time to do that.
    • There is tea time, but I'm not into that kind of thing.
    • Ah, Chair Tai Chi in the  Solarium.  I tried Beginning Tai Chi and gave up.
    • In our theater of Shogun:  Episode 10.  But I saw the series, which will have a season 2 arriving on FX early in 2027.
    • We are served breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room.

Lunch: Hamburger Stew
    L.S. Grilled Hamburger Patty w/ Lettuce, Tomato and Onion
    Vegetarian: Veggie Burger
Dinner: Pork Nishime
    Vegetarian: Chopped Greek Salad
Soup of the Day: Chicken Vegetable
Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Ice Cream


The above is just a flavor of what I can do in a normal day.  I still drive and go out for meals, but if everything here is free (actually, I'm paying for it with a $6000 monthly fee), why?  I still do my daily blog, but otherwise, I most enjoy doing nothing.  This blog site has tended to offer TV and fantasy sports as the only real entertainment, so here I go again.
  • ESPN Fantasy Baseball.
    • I left for Japan in mid-April when it was only 2 weeks into the season.  
      • My four teams were #1, #1 #2 and #3 in their leagues.
      • For some reason, I could not access the ESPN site to make changes to my roster every day.  Tragically, I had to abandon my teams for almost a month.  
    • When we arrived in Vancouver, I tried again, and was able to access my teams.  However, they were now #4, #6, #7 and #9 in those 10-team leagues.  Do I abandon them and try again next year?
      • As I'm not into the NBA, and there are all those Major League Baseball games on TV, not being involved in fantasy would remove those programs from my watch list.
      • So let's see how I can improve their now dismal standings.  There remain all of this month, June, July, August and September to catch up.
      • This will be a new way to play this game.  Not to necessarily win, although I still can, but to see how my managerial skill  can overcome a hopeless situation.
  • Rotten Tomatoes has a list:  300 Best Movies of All Time.
    • #1  The Godfather (1972) 97.  Interesting that there are a lot of 100 films on this list, but this one is #1.
    • #2  Casablanca (1942) 99.
    • #3  L.A. Confidential (1997) 99
    • #4  Seven Samurai (1954) 100
    • #5  Parasite (22019) 99
    • #300  Taxi Driver (1976) 89
  • Rotten Tomatoes has its Best New Movies of 2025.
    • #1 is Eephus at 100%.
    • The top ten can only be seen in your neighborhood theaters.
  • But here are Netflix's 100 Best Movies Right Now (May 2025).  These are not new releases, but the best also from a long time  ago.  For example, 97 rating from Rotten Tomatoes at #8 is Psycho from 1960.
    • #1  Wallace & Gromit:  Vengeance Most Fowl (2024), 100
    • #2  His House (2020), 100
    • #3  Godzilla Minus One (2023), 99
    • #100  Get  Him to the Greek (2010), 72
  • Similarly, Prime's 100 Best Movies Right Now (May 2025)
    • #1  Blow the Man Down (2019), 99
    • #2  A Fistful of Dollars (1964), 98
    • #3  The Big Sick (2017), 98
    • #100  The Hobbit (2013), 74
  • By now you know which films are opening in theaters this weekend.  However, looking ahead, these movies will open next week:


The latest Karate Kid has Ralph Macchio back, but now, Jackie Chan.

I woke up this morning to see that Roy Orbison was Crying, which he co-wrote in 1961.  Can you believe that his music has been around for just close to 70 years, his first hit being Ooby Dooby in 1956.

Did you know that he wrote or co-wrote most his hits?   

He wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of his own major hits. From 1960 to 1966, he had 22 singles in the Billboard Top 40, and he either wrote or co-wrote nearly all of his Top 10 hits. This included popular songs like "Only the Lonely," "Running Scared," "Crying," "In Dreams," and "Oh, Pretty Woman". 
Who is Roy Orbison?
  • Born in Vernon, Texas as Roy Orbison in 1936, passed away of a heart attack in 1988 at the age of 52.  A month later got another hit, You Got It.
  • Wore thick glasses at the age of 4.
  • From 1959 to 1963, he was the top-selling  American artist.
  • He and Joe Melson wrote Blue Bayou in 1963, and was a hit, but also later became Linda Ronstadt's signature song in 1977.
  • From Wikipedia:
in April 1963, Orbison was asked to replace Duane Eddy on a tour of the UK in top billing with the Beatles. The tour sold out in one afternoon.[6] When Orbison arrived in Britain, however, he realized he was no longer the main draw. He had never heard of the Beatles, and annoyed, asked rhetorically, "What's a Beatle, anyway?" to which John Lennon replied, after tapping his shoulder, "I am".[3]: p115  On the opening night, Orbison opted to go onstage first, although he was the more established act. The Beatles stood dumbfounded backstage as Orbison simply played through 14 encores.[45] Finally, when the audience began chanting "We want Roy!" again, Lennon and Paul McCartney physically held Orbison back.[3]: p117  Ringo Starrlater said, "In Glasgow, we were all backstage listening to the tremendous applause he was getting. He was just standing there, not moving or anything."[45] Through the tour, however, the two acts quickly learned to get along, a process made easier by the fact that the Beatles admired his work.[46] Orbison felt a kinship with Lennon, but George Harrison was with whom he would later form a strong friendship.
  • In 1964 he toured with the Beach Boys, and with the Rolling Stones the following year.  Note, he had top billing
  • In 1964 came Oh, Pretty Woman with Bill Dees, inspired by his wife Claudette.  Took all of 40 minutes to start and complete, and reached #1 on Billboard.  Became the movie Pretty Woman in 1990 with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.
  • Declined from 1965 as he divorced his wife that year.  But they were motorcycling in 1966 and she was struck by a pickup truck and died at the age of 25.  His home burned down in 1968, with two elder sons dying.  Bad location, for Johnny Cash bought that land, and his house later burned down.  Orbison got married to a 17 year old from Germany when he was 33 in '68.
  • He experimented with a new sound in 1969 and with Melson, wrote Only the Lonely.
  • Suffered physically in the seventies from various ailments.
  • Recovered to film a concert with Bruce Springsteen in 1987, also involving Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, k.d. Lang and others, which became a video, Roy Orbison and Friends.  Click on that and watch the 55-minute performance.
  • In 1988 co-founded the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.  Why?  As a youth Orbison adopted a  stage name of Lefty Wilbury.
  • Passed away in 1988 with an estate worth $20 million.
  • Won 6 Grammy Awards and was picked by Rolling Stone as the 13th greatest singer of all time.
  • Wrote 22 singles reaching the Billboard top 40 and two number one hits, Running Scared in 1961 and Oh, Pretty Woman in 1964.
  • He was never blind, but regularly suffered from stage fright.

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