According to Wikipedia.com, which movie is the only original feature film to make it into the the top 20 grossing films of this decade (so far)?  Finding Nemo, which lands at #15 with $864.6 million.

If you take a look at the top 30 films from this decade, there is only one other original film property among the bunch, that being… Kung Fu Panda, #30 spot with $631.7 million.

In fact, out of the top 50 grossing films of this decade, there are only 9 movies based on original properties. And five of those nine films were created by Pixar Animation Studios. How sad…

You can check out the full list below.

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003 
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

Sad but true...

-Rik Out.

Weekend Dilemma.  What's a DJ to do?

I've looked at all the weather maps,  listened to reports and everything is leading me to believe Saturday is going to be a nice, unseasonably warm day.  Now that coupled with the fact that I'm not n the air until Saturday evening means,  I have all afternoon to do something I'm not the biggest fan of... getting on the ladder and putting up the outdoor Christmas Lights.  All right, I know it's only the second week of November, but I feel I have the weather on my side and if I don't turn them on until after Thanksgiving,  I won't  be chronicled in a Gretchen Wilson song called "Redneck DJ".

Last Christmas I honored my father's memory by switching from the ice cycle lights we've had for the past few years to the old traditional large glass bulbs that were popular in the 50s and 60s.   My dad hung those old style lights on his house in Hobart Indiana until he died in 2001.  It looked predictable,  but it looked like home.  Something about it looked right and looked welcoming. So I put up several strands across our 60' front gutter. 

Knowing the inevitable chore was coming, I crawled under the stairs last weekend  to locate my storage tub of Christmas lights .  Now I'm pretty anal retentive when it comes to my lights.  I take good care of them and roll them ever so gently around what looks like a garden hose reel.  I place them in a cool dry spot under the back stairs every January.  Anyway,  I plugged them in and to no surprise, 8 of the 72 lights are dead.  Now I know there's some law of physics or engineering that can explain why I take lights that were fully functioning when I removed them from my gutter line, placed them nice and neatly in the storage container and gently placed that storage container in our safe and secure home for 11 months, pull them out , plug them and voila they have gone Tango Uniform.  Maybe they are being lazy, up of contract negotiations or maybe stage fright, regardless  I would have to make a trip to Wallyworld and get some new ones.

My other option is relax and enjoy the beautiful fall day and handle the lights another day.  It's Friday afternoon and I can't decide.  I do know they do look nice once they are up there and when there's a little bit of snow to accent them.  Oh well ... thanks for letting me bend your ear.

-Rik out (and up the ladder)

Parrot Heads Here’s Something for your Christmas Wish List

JIMMY BUFFETT RELEASES NEW STUDIO ALBUM ON DECEMBER 8

OK I admit it I’m a big Jimmy Buffett fan.  I enjoy his music, I've read all his novels and love the fact he’s accomplished pilot to boot.  So when I hear Jimmy Buffett news, I want to make sure you know about it.

I just heard today that Jimmy’s first studio album (CD) since “Take The Weather With You” will hit the stores in time for Christmas.  The new album, Buffet Hotel (one t), contains 12 new songs plus a 24 page booklet. Inside fans will find “Lost In The Sahara - A Desert Memoir From Jimmy Buffett,” a rich description of his adventures in Mali that inspired the record, plus liner notes for each song.  The album was recorded in London, Nashville, Chicago, Long Island, Muscle Shoals, and Bamako in Mali.

According to a press release, Jimmy said "I actually didn't go to the desert with the pre-conceived notion of returning with an album.  I went looking for stories.  And stories are still the things good songs are made of.  The story that sparked the song, 'Buffet Hotel,' which eventually turned into the title track and name of this album, began the minute we set foot on the patio of the infamous Hotel De La Gare Buffet in the Bamako train station, better known as Le Buffet Hotel.”

So Parrot Heads better let Santa know that you want the latest music from Bubba. I know I'm gonna.

-Rik Out

Hey does anyone know of a reputable Ark Dealer?

_{As I write my blog, I'm looking at all my weather radar links and pondering, "When the heck is all this rain gonna end?"  Right this second, the total for the month is just over 12" of rain in the rain gauge at my home over in the Metro East.  The weather models are all calling for an additional 2" overnight.}    

_{The reason I'm in tune to all this weather information, one I'm a bit of a weather geek and two I am taking Aviation Meteorology this semester at South West Illinois College (SWIC) in Belleville.}

_{Our instructor is Richard Korich. Richard is also one of the fine folks at the 15th Operational Weather Squadron at Scott Air Force Base.   Those outstanding men and women hosted our class for a field trip on Wednesday.}

^{Richard started the evening by providing us an overview of the mission, which includes providing weather briefings to pilots military personnel at all the military installations in the following states: North and South  Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, all of New England and of course the weather info for the President and Air Force One to fly safely.  Man I hope I didn't leave anything out.}

^{We next proceeded to the operations floor which was inundated with computers with all types of weather data.} 

  ^{Master Sergeant Pat Thompson briefed us the duties of each area of the operations floor which is broken into East, Central and West regions.} 

^{Airman First Class Hilton briefed us on the duties of the East region, Airman First Class McCutchan on the Central region and}

^{Technical Sergeant Kelly Lawless on the Western region which was pretty busy giving weather briefings for a blizzard warning in Black Hills of South Dakota.} 

^{A special note, many of these fine men and women have or will see time in Iraq and Afghanistan and have been in harm's way more than once.  I ask that you keep them all in your prayers and remember that they work 24/7, 365 days a year to keep our military mission functioning.}

^{My class and I had a wonderful time and thank each and everyone for their time.}

^{Time for me to check the rain gauge again and make sure the rain stays OUTSIDE.}

^{-Rik Out}

HALLOWEEN IS THIS SATURDAY  . . . . .

   Are you going to Trick or Treat this year?  Do you ask yourself that question EVERY year?  For the last 35 years?  Maybe it's time to just say no.

SIGNS YOU'RE TOO OLD TO TRICK OR TREAT .....

-  You get winded from knocking on the door.
-  You have to have another kid chew your candy for you.
-  You ask for high fiber candy only.
-  When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance.
-  People say "Great Keith Richards mask!" and you're not wearing a mask.
-  When the door opens you yell, "Trick or" and can't remember the rest.
-  By the end of the night you have a bag full of restraining orders.
-  You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.
-  You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.
-  You avoid going to houses where your ex wives live.
-  You're already lost and you haven't even left your yard yet.
-  You ring your own doorbell and get mad when nobody answers.
-  You're scaring everyone and you aren't wearing a mask.

Enjoy you Halloween.

-Rik Out