| This will be my final entry for the year 2000. Huh. Last night Calvin, Marie and I went to the drive-in. I remember them from my early childhood, before they fell into disrepair, in Maine. A summertime activity (of course), we went once or twice that I can recall. We'd park next to those squawky, staticy speaker boxes and strain to hear the movie. One doesn't go to the drive-in to examine nuance and intricate detail on the screen. When I moved to Arizona, I was surprised to see that a couple of drive-in's existed, and even thrived. The weather being the way it is around here, drive-in's are open year-round, and are a fun change from the extreme prices and lines found at the THEATER SEATING DOLBY SURROUND SOUND RECLINING SEATS $4.00 BAG OF M+M'S movie theaters. The first time I went I anticipated the same deal - squawky speaker boxes, dirty and run-down playground equipment, dusty, humpy parking areas, and a questionable concession area. I got what I expected, except for the absence of the speaker boxes. When you drive up and pay, they hand you a little slip of paper with an FM radio station on it. You tune into the station, and the quality of your speakers dictates the quality of the movie's sound. In our Suburban's case, the sound kicks ass. We piled pillows, blankets, and coolers of soda and beer into the truck. We stopped on the way for $10 worth of candy at a convenience store, and Taco Bell for dinner. We pulled up to the ticket box, paid $11.00 for the three of us to see two movies (Miss Congeniality and Proof of Life), and picked our spot. Calvin took the "way back" seat out, turned it around so it was facing backward toward the screen, and we piled pillows and blankets around. The Suburban's speakers continue back to the very rear of the cabin, so we had surround sound - speakers to either side of us, and above us. This was a fun discovery, the first time we took it to the drive-in. I must say that yesterday was an unfortunate day for me and public bathrooms. Earlier in the day Calvin and I took a trek Downtown to find a couple of astronomy stores in order to purchase a 2x Barlow lens for his Christmas telescope. We were almost thwarted in arriving at our destination by the New Year's parade going on, but, with much swearing and detouring, we made it. The first place we stopped at, I asked to use the bathroom as Calvin talked to the hearty-har-har salesman. He directed me, and as I walked in I realized it was a) generally reserved for employees, and b) those employees were predominantly male. Toilet seat up, drips on the rim, soggy damp floor, filthy sink. Bleh. We headed over to the other astronomy store, about fifteen minutes away. Once again I had to search out a bathroom (hey, I'd been drinking iced tea). Once again I was directed into the bowels (no pun intended) of the store, passing two McFly-type Brill Cream kings huddled around a portable TV, through a storage area, and into the twin of the bathroom at the other store. My mother's voice echoed in my head, "Don't touch anything!" No toilet seat covers were available, so you know the drill, folks. Tear off two lengths of TP, double them up, and place them on the butt-cheek zone on the toilet seat. Gingerly seat yourself so as not to dislodge the TP, do your thing, nudge the TP into the bowl with your toe, and flush the toilet with your foot. Finally, the restrooms at the drive-in were the worst. Water on the floor *everywhere*, two-thirds of the stalls labelled "out of order", the ones not labelled had doors that didn't lock, or were out of TP, no handles on most of the faucets. And, good God, the smell. Ah, well, it's all part of the drive-in experience, right? Um, right? Yack. Well, the movies were good, at any rate. Although any dark scenes (and there were quite a few of them in "Proof of Life") were hard to make out. And the dumbshits in the projector booth kept knocking the film out of alignment, or screwing up the focus. When that happened, all the cars in the audience began laying on the horns and kept it up until the problem was fixed. Marie's exclamation of "Ew, what's that smell?" alerted us to the fact that the inhabitants of the truck next to us were indulging in some pot. Happens every time. Must be something about being outdoors at night, because whenever we attend a concert at Desert Sky Pavilion (another outdoor venue), folks are lighting up joints all over the place, too. We got home at about 11:30. Marie and I watched "Home Alone" on cable (making it a total of three movies I'd seen since 7:00), and Calvin and Michael (who had been at work) played some computer game. Today we take down the tree, and we'll be going to the REO Speedwagon/Journey concert at America West Arena tonight. I'm not fond of the idea of being Downtown on New Year's Eve, but I'm sure it'll be cool. Mostly, I just want to stay home on NYE. I must be getting old. Last year we just fixed up a bunch of munchies, watched the NYE coverage from around the world, and hung out with a couple of friends. I'm pretty sure we did the same thing the year before, too. One year, we went to Disney Land to celebrate the New Year. I will never EVER do that again. It was a truly miserable experience. Wall to wall people, miserable screaming kids, three hour lines for the rides... no way, man. All you out there, you be safe. Drive carefully if you're going out. People can be more stupid this night of the year than any other, although there's been significantly less hype for New Year's Eve 2001 than for New Year's Eve 2000. Good luck on all your New Year's resolutions, and I'll catch y'all on the flip side! |
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Your Mission, should you choose to accept it...
Have a safe, peaceful, enjoyable New Year. Or an exciting, drunken, goofy New Year. It's your choice!
Results From Yesterday's Mission Apparently, it was Calvin who taught Michael and Marie the games I mentioned in the last mission. They just took the rules and evolved them to the heightened state they exist in today. I myself never took extended car rides with a sibling or friend (unless you count the 45-minute school bus ride, and we never played anything during those). My sister is ten years older than me. My grandmother learned to like Aerosmith, though. She'd let me play whatever tapes I wanted. You've never seen anything so hysterical as my grandmother singing along to "Dude Looks Like a Lady". I grabbed the design idea for the box thingy from Anna.
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