The Magic of the Movies

My wife and I went to go see Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix on Sunday. We went to the local 600 seat, full-THX sound digitial theater. I like the sound and the chairs at this theater better than the other local ones. Plus, their matinee prices are a -little- lower than the others.

I hadn't figured it out until now, but I think I realized why their ticket prices are lower. Because their concession prices aren't any lower, matter of fact I think they're higher -- and you don't get nearly the amount of drink or popcorn that you do at other local theaters.

I ordered a medium soft drink, a large Mountain Dew Freeze for my wife, and a medium popcorn to share. When they handed us our order, I took one look at and actually said, without even realizing I was saying it, "What the hell is this? I get way more than that for my money at the Hollywood 20." The guy behind the counter just looked at me and didn't say a thing, so I grabbed the stuff and we walked in and had a seat.

20 minutes into the movie I had totally forgot abot being frustrated with the price of the concessions.

I couldn't get over how much better this Potter movie was versus any of the others. From the first scene to the last, it completely outdid all of the others. It answered alot of questions, but created many of its own. The action, the emotions, the story, the CG was all so much more exciting. But what really made the movie was the acting. The cast, Daniel, Emma, and Rupert have all grown up so much since the first movie and have really come into their own as actors.

But the part that in the movie that got to me more than any other was during the main battle scene when visions of Harry from all the other movies are being interspersed and then the emotion as Sirious sacrifices himself for Harry.

Now I'm probably one of the biggest movie buffs you'll ever meet. I absolutely love watching movies --- but the best way to do so is to see them in the theater. That experience just seems to heighten every sense and every emotion involved in watching a movie.

Kamran over at PointOfOrder recently had some really interesting comments on the topic of movies,also.

There are several movies as a whole that I will never forget seeing in the theater: Star Wars (all of them, save the new trilogy which I'd rather forget); The Black Hole (which is the only movie I can vividly recall seeing in a drive-in); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (saw it at the on-campus movie theater when I was at Clemson); Goonies, Gremlins, and Back to the the Future (the first three movies I can recall not having my parents around in and just me and friends hanging out in the theater watching on our own); and Raiders of the Lost Ark (the first movie that I remember just me and my Dad going to see on our own).

Then there are others that I originally saw in the theater that I always associate with the memory of a certain emotion when I see watch them again. I got a little misty-eyed when Todd was dropped off in the woods in The Fox and the Hound; when Forrest asked Jenny if Forrest Jr. had problems like him; or when the brothers die near the end of Red Dawn.

I distinctly remember my jaw dropping in fascination at the air combat in Top Gun; and how much I laughed at so many of the lines from Ghostbusters ("Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!")

Then there are the sounds of the movies when you watch them in the theaters that you just don't get at home. The zooming of the car from one side of the theater to the other in Days of Thunder; the creaking and breaking apart of the ship in Titanic; blades slicing on ice in the Cutting Edge; or the blaster fire ricocheting around the garbage compactor in Star Wars....

And there is the smell of the theater (although the theater we used to frequent in college could have used some desperate help in this department) and the tastse of the previously mentioned, usually quite pricey, concessions. There is nothing better than that greasy, movie buttered popcorn to munch on while you're watching Rocky beat the crap out of Dolph Lundgren.

The movie experience is simply one of those slices of Americana that I hope never goes away. Sitting in front of a TV watching a DVD or Pay Per View may be convenient and cheaper, but the experience will never be the same.

No Fine, No Points, No Problem

I was involved in a minor fender bender a few weeks ago in Spartanburg, aka Sparkle City. I was at a stop light -- the light turned green, traffic started to move, I started to move. Then the guy in front of me slams on his brakes and I in turn slam on mine. Unfortunately, I hit his car -- I was going maybe 5 mph (at the most) at the time. Did very little damage to the other guy's Kia SUV but he insisted on calling the cops, telling me "Man, I gotta call the cops. You hit my car. I want my car fixed." I seriously think he's one of these guys who just likes to screw with people and their finances on purpose.

I was ticketed for following too closely. The Sparkle City police officer that responded wrote me a ticket for 4 points and $144. Neither the cop nor the dumbass that I hit showed up for court. This was the extent of my conversation with the judge:

Judge: Do you see the Mr. Dumbass here today in the courtroom?
Me: No sir, I do not see Mr. Dumbass.
Judge: Well, since the other party involved in the incident is not present, I am going to throw out this case.
--LONG PAUSE AS HE SCRIBBLES SOMETHING DOWN--
Judge: You can go now. Drive safely and have a nice day.
Me: Thank you sir.

I had spent the last three weeks dreading having more points on my license (I already have two from a speeding ticket earlier this year) and having another increase on my insurance. So I was one very happy camper as I walked out of the courtoom and turned on my evil grin as I walked toward the parking lot.

No fine, no points -- not a problem for me at all. LOL

Mine was the second case of the morning. In the case before mine, the girl who had been ticketed had her case dropped also because the other person wasn't there. We were lucky.

I wonder if the girl that was sitting beside me in the courtroom who looked like she had just done twelve lines of coke had a good day or bad day in traffic court. There was an old guy in the court room who reeked of cheap, stale beer. I wonder how his morning went. As I was waiting on traffic court to start, there was a girl who looked no older than 14 or 15 who walked in, pregnant to the nines, holding hands with a man of another race who appeared to be two or three times her age, walking in with a traffic ticket in her hands.

I'm a big people watcher. I have a very inquisitive nature about me and just like to watch how people act in various situations.

Traffic court is one of those places where you really get to see a diverse cross section of your community. You may see an attractive lady in a business suit looking at her watch every 30 seconds, or a disheveled teenager who looks like they were forced out of bed, being led into the room by what appears to be a very angry parent.

I kind of felt out of place because out of 40 or 50 people, I was the only one who had on a tie, other than the judge, and one of four or five people that looked like they had to cut out of their first couple hours of work to come plead their case. I can say that everyone pretty much had the same look of disgust that they had to be there at all. I liken traffic court to the lobby of the DMV. They're both like a box of chocolates - you never not what you're going to get.

But the highlight of the morning (other than, of course, having my ticket being dropped) was when the judge walked out. When I saw him, I almost had to stop myself from saying out loud "Wow, he really takes this naughty or nice thing really too seriously" or "Man, I bet the elves are having a party now with the big guy out of town." He looked like Santa. In fact, I'll bet he's been asked a time or two to play Santa. I'll bet he probably wouldn't have found it funny though if when I approached the bench I had said, "Mr. Claus, I've been a really good boy this year. So what I'd really like for Christmas (other than a totally tricked out Sony VAIO computer) is to have this ticket disappear."

I guess I got my Christmas wish early. Maybe Santa was reading my mind. So I got in my car, headed to work and heard the Kenny Chesney song "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" on the radio. I then came up with the name of my next blog.

More on the Water

Congratulations to Buckeye Timmy and his wife Patti. They've recently found out that they are expecting their second child.

I think there definitely is something in the water.

The Status of the Water

My sister found out for sure a few days ago that she's pregnant. So she and my brother-in-law are expecting a baby Clemson tiger in February.

I think there's something in the water.

At least five couples at mine and my wife's church are in various stages of pregnancy. I found out today a coworker of mine is pregnant.

My wife and I have been married 10 years. Through those 10 years we've had alot of ups and downs financially and careerwise. We've had probably more than our share of discussions on whether or not we're ready to have children. We both want children very much.

I've always been the one that's been more hesitant about having children than my wife, for this reason or that, or whatever. But we've pretty much agreed that now we're at a stage that we are finally comfortable at to have kids and hope to put some plans and actions in motion in the very near future.

We were at a local store this past Sunday and saw some really cute baby stuff (the theme of which I won't mention just in case my sister reads this blog -- and I can't believe I just publicly wrote down the phrase "cute baby stuff") that we bought for her baby. It was the first time I really got excited buying baby stuff. Of course we've got two nephews and a neiece all under age eight on my wife's side, and have plenty of friends that have had babies, so we've done our share of baby shower, baby gift, and young child gift shopping. I enjoy buying them gifts. I adore and love my newphews and neice dearly and enjoy watching them opening their gifts. But my wife could take spoiling them to an unprecedented level given an unending supply of funds.

This past Sunday when we were purchasing the gifts for my sister's baby, that was the first time I just wanted to really truly spoil someone to no end and they aren't even here yet. It must be a blood-relative thing. I wanted to buy up everything in sight within the theme we were buying. I know that's really weird and totally out of character for most guys to say. But I can't even imagine how much those feelings are going to increase when my wife and I have our own child.

We've had the names for a son and daughter picked out for a long time. They are both a mix of family names and original names (nothing off the wall and none of this last-name as a first name business that people are finding so popular these days for some bizarre reason) - James Bradley and Ashlyn Elizabeth. But the more I think about it, the more I know that when the day comes, I think I'm really going to enjoy being a dad.

Happy Birthday America

She doesn't look too bad at 231 years old. Yeah, she's got some battle scars. She's a little rough edges from time to time. And her family doesn't necessarily treat her right all the time, but the United States of America turned 231 this July 4th.

---

As with every 4th of July, there are people who truly do recognize the symbolism of this holiday -- and show their patriotism. For many people though, it's just a day off of work.

(Granted I did enjoy my day off of work. We grilled out and ate some hot dogs and some hamburgers, and went to see some fireworks)

But I wish more people would recognize the 4th for what it truly is. I wish on this day each year that every American would take time to recognize that the freedoms and liberties we enjoy as Americans are due to the people who 231 years ago signed their names on a document that turned them all into traitors in the eyes of the British crown and essentially laid down bounties on each of their heads (There was a great editorial in the Asheville Citizen Times yesterday about this); because of the more than 1 million American service members since that day who have given their lives in the defense of that freedom; and even because of each and every patriotic American who casts their vote for our legislators.

I wish so many things for this country and it's people. But we're 300 million sisters and brothers who don't see eye to eye and are not perfect. We don't all agree. We can be a factionalized bunch and are always split on issues -- from Iraq, to the environment, to family values. We try to tackle domestic issues and we make mistakes. We try to tackle international issues and we make mistakes. But we do things right also. We don't all get along. And we never will. The fact that we are all so different and we want different things for our country, yet we all have the ability to affect change in it is what sets us apart from every other nation in the world. That is the beauty of America. It's kind of a paradox.

231 years ago 56 men who led ordinary lives did something extraodinary. They put their own lives on the line so that the promise of a new nation, of new freedoms for generations and generations to come, could be born. I just wish I could travel back in time and thank each and every one of them.