Messed Up

Yesterday Patricia and I flew into Memphis and spent the afternoon cleaning her house so she could move out today. We finished around 4 and decided we deserved to spend the evening in an air-conditioned movie theater after spending the day scrubbing down a house with no central air. Since we seem to be the only two people we know who haven't seen Knocked Up (this includes our parents) we headed out to the edge of town to the only theater showing it. We were pretty early but found a bar where we could grab a drink before the show.

The movie started at 7:15 and we got our tickets and walked into the theater right on time. The theater was empty, with all lights on and no ac. Another couple showed up a few minutes later and we decided to let the staff know the movie wasn't playing. They had no idea what was going on, but after a few false starts the lights went down, the air cooled off, and the previews started. The projected image was about 4 feet taller than the screen but we could live with it.

Everything was going fine until the earthquake scene. Right as the earthquake hit, the image split and nothing on the screen made sense. At first we thought it was some kind of intentional effect but when it didn't correct itself Patricia went to talk to the staff again. They couldn't/wouldn't rewind it so we missed about five minutes. When they corrected the projection the image stretched four feet above the screen and about six feet below. Everyone's mouths were at the bottom of the screen but the movie finished without additional problems.

It could have been worse, though. About fifteen minutes from the end of the movie a couple walked in loaded down with drinks and popcorn. They looked confused but sat down and started watching. We later figured out they had arrived for the late showing but caught the end of the early one because of the delays we had. At least it wasn't The Usual Suspects or another movie with a surprise ending.

Off to Kentucky tomorrow where the internet is only a dream that exists in a far-away land. I have some good Florida pictures (mainly of shrimp feasts and shrimp eating establishments) but I'll upload those later. We're off to the pool now !