Our stay in California started winding down. We've been spending most of our time chilling out at the house now, playing games or installing software. Nothing much was said, though we were all thinking the same thing, as though in telepathic conversation:
Whaddaya wanna do? I dunno, whaddayou wanna do? While sitting outside and enjoying the air, I saw a shadow walk over me. I raised an eyebrow at this, since my chair was up against a wall and there was no way someone could be behind me. I looked up and saw Katie standing on the wooden overhang above the patio. She waved at me as she walked around, checking that everything would be alright for the 4th of July. We were hoping to sit on the roof and watch fireworks shoot up over the horizon that night. Out of curiosity I went upstairs to check things out, and she showed me the best point of entry to the roof and whatnot. I didn't try it out yet--I was leaving that for the next night. In the mean time, I had an idea for something we could do.
My cousin John moved out to California from Oregon some years ago to pursue a career in film-making. Since I was out here, I thought it'd be cool to hang out with him, so I gave him a call a few days prior and tried to work something out. I went ahead and dropped him a line one more time since time was running short--both for the day and the trip. He mentioned before that he might have plans on Tuesday, but they fell through, so we decided it was time to meet up and hopefully figure out something fun to do. John live sin Orange, CA, so it took a while to get here in afternoon traffic. When he got to the house, I introduced him to Dustin and Katie, along with Katie's family, and we stepped out to the back patio and played catch-up. After chatting for a bit, Dustin and Katie stepped out back with us and we began discussing plans for the evening. We figured that trips into downtown LA or Hollywood were a little ambitious, but maybe a trip to the mall at Redondo beach would be good. Thinking a bit further, we found out that John liked Lucky Strike, the bowling lounge Dustin, Katie, and me had experienced the night before. Since John hadn't seen Transformers yet and we had no problem seeing it again, we decided on going to Del Amo mall once again for a bit of bowling, drinking, and Transformers. It took us a little longer than expected to leave the house, however--it turned out that my cousin had never played Guitar Hero before, so Katie let him have a shot at Guitar Hero II. He got the hang of it very quickly (he's always had a musical gift) and became hooked. John, Katie, and Dustin took turns at the game for a while before we set out for the mall. I think we all had Trogdor stuck in our heads even when we got to the mall.
We all grabbed a bite to eat at the eatery, and I stayed as far away from Mexican Express as I could. While eating, Dustin pulled a
Jurassic Park quote, and soon he and John were quoting the movie ver batum until we decided to go. Lucky Strike was next on the schedule; we managed to surprise the bouncer again, and after seeing Dustin's Maryland ID and John's Oregon ID, as he took mine he sarcastically said, "...And Kansas." While waiting for our lane arrangements, John noticed a contest notification on the counter. Apparently, a red bowling pin would drop in a random position every time the pins reset. If the red pin is in the first, front center position and someone gets a strike, then they win a free game for up to 16 people. We reasoned that, should anyone win, then the coupon would go to John, since he actually lives in California and has a Lucky Strike near him. After a few minutes we managed to get a lane and ordered a few drinks. Katie mentioned a drink a few nights before called a "Surfer on Acid," which the bartender that evening happened to know. I ordered the concoction and everyone placed their respective requests before starting the game. When we started, I actually managed a strike on the first try, which blew me away. Sure enough, it'd be my only strike the entire night, but for Dustin it was a different story. he managed a couple strikes, but then started bowling gutter balls for almost three rounds. When it was his turn again, the red pin came up center. I went ahead and grabbed a bus-boy nearby to act as witness, just in case. Dustin picked up the ball, saying, "You know I'm not going to make this..." He stepped forward, let the ball roll and made it. Wait, he made it?! We started cheering and he dropped to his knees in surprise. We went ahead to the front desk and John filled out the coupon, as we had agreed upon earlier. After that, we were very excited during the rest of the game, the magic of the moment lingering for quite a while. Upon finishing our drinks and our game, we got a table near the bar and ordered a few more. I had another two Surfers on Acid, enjoying the cinnamony-coconut taste. We talked about video games for a little bit, a bit about movies, and then at quarter-to-eleven decided to line up for the movie theater across the lounge.
When we got to the AMC theater, our hearts sank. The line for Transformers wrapped around the side of the cineplex, past the escalators, and around the balcony. It was technically opening day for the movie, and everyone who saw the pre-release (like us) told everyone to go watch it, so no big surprise. Not long after we got in line, however, a worker at the theater came over and told everyone to get into three lines based on the theater the movie showed in. The lines were shorter, but we still managed to get the a spot at the end. We stood around, talking about WoW and whatnot, and finally the line started moving. When we got inside, we had the same problem as the night before, in that there were plenty of seats but not enough adjacent seats for our group. We ended up splitting up in groups of two, with Dustin and Katie in lower seats and John and me in higher seats. During the previews, the silly trivia and advertisement slides were still on, so they mixed with the footage on screen. They were actually kinda funny, though--everyone started booing until they showed the title for
I Am Legend and in the corner was a giant magnifying glass with the words "The Plot Thickens" plastered over the screen--then we started laughing. The lights suddenly turned on when the movie actually started, so we started raising a ruckus again until the lights turned off. Once the movie was underway, everything went smoothly. It was just as good the second time, though I was a little sleepy from the drinks and because it was a little late. We had another lively audience, giving the movie that great accent of applause. After the movie, we spent the entire walk back to the car praising the movie and discussing the state of modern computer animation. I'm glad we decided to go out that night.
Our stay in California started winding down. We've been spending most of our time chilling out at the house now, playing games or installing software. Nothing much was said, though we were all thinking the same thing, as though in telepathic conversation: Whaddaya wanna do? I dunno, whaddayou wanna do? While sitting outside and enjoying the air, I saw a shadow walk over me. I raised an eyebrow at this, since my chair was up against a wall and there was no way someone could be behind me. I looked up and saw Katie standing on the wooden overhang above the patio. She waved at me as she walked around, checking that everything would be alright for the 4th of July. We were hoping to sit on the roof and watch fireworks shoot up over the horizon that night. Out of curiosity I went upstairs to check things out, and she showed me the best point of entry to the roof and whatnot. I didn't try it out yet--I was leaving that for the next night. In the mean time, I had an idea for something we could do.
My cousin John moved out to California from Oregon some years ago to pursue a career in film-making. Since I was out here, I thought it'd be cool to hang out with him, so I gave him a call a few days prior and tried to work something out. I went ahead and dropped him a line one more time since time was running short--both for the day and the trip. He mentioned before that he might have plans on Tuesday, but they fell through, so we decided it was time to meet up and hopefully figure out something fun to do. John live sin Orange, CA, so it took a while to get here in afternoon traffic. When he got to the house, I introduced him to Dustin and Katie, along with Katie's family, and we stepped out to the back patio and played catch-up. After chatting for a bit, Dustin and Katie stepped out back with us and we began discussing plans for the evening. We figured that trips into downtown LA or Hollywood were a little ambitious, but maybe a trip to the mall at Redondo beach would be good. Thinking a bit further, we found out that John liked Lucky Strike, the bowling lounge Dustin, Katie, and me had experienced the night before. Since John hadn't seen Transformers yet and we had no problem seeing it again, we decided on going to Del Amo mall once again for a bit of bowling, drinking, and Transformers. It took us a little longer than expected to leave the house, however--it turned out that my cousin had never played Guitar Hero before, so Katie let him have a shot at Guitar Hero II. He got the hang of it very quickly (he's always had a musical gift) and became hooked. John, Katie, and Dustin took turns at the game for a while before we set out for the mall. I think we all had Trogdor stuck in our heads even when we got to the mall.
We all grabbed a bite to eat at the eatery, and I stayed as far away from Mexican Express as I could. While eating, Dustin pulled a Jurassic Park quote, and soon he and John were quoting the movie ver batum until we decided to go. Lucky Strike was next on the schedule; we managed to surprise the bouncer again, and after seeing Dustin's Maryland ID and John's Oregon ID, as he took mine he sarcastically said, "...And Kansas." While waiting for our lane arrangements, John noticed a contest notification on the counter. Apparently, a red bowling pin would drop in a random position every time the pins reset. If the red pin is in the first, front center position and someone gets a strike, then they win a free game for up to 16 people. We reasoned that, should anyone win, then the coupon would go to John, since he actually lives in California and has a Lucky Strike near him. After a few minutes we managed to get a lane and ordered a few drinks. Katie mentioned a drink a few nights before called a "Surfer on Acid," which the bartender that evening happened to know. I ordered the concoction and everyone placed their respective requests before starting the game. When we started, I actually managed a strike on the first try, which blew me away. Sure enough, it'd be my only strike the entire night, but for Dustin it was a different story. he managed a couple strikes, but then started bowling gutter balls for almost three rounds. When it was his turn again, the red pin came up center. I went ahead and grabbed a bus-boy nearby to act as witness, just in case. Dustin picked up the ball, saying, "You know I'm not going to make this..." He stepped forward, let the ball roll and made it. Wait, he made it?! We started cheering and he dropped to his knees in surprise. We went ahead to the front desk and John filled out the coupon, as we had agreed upon earlier. After that, we were very excited during the rest of the game, the magic of the moment lingering for quite a while. Upon finishing our drinks and our game, we got a table near the bar and ordered a few more. I had another two Surfers on Acid, enjoying the cinnamony-coconut taste. We talked about video games for a little bit, a bit about movies, and then at quarter-to-eleven decided to line up for the movie theater across the lounge.
When we got to the AMC theater, our hearts sank. The line for Transformers wrapped around the side of the cineplex, past the escalators, and around the balcony. It was technically opening day for the movie, and everyone who saw the pre-release (like us) told everyone to go watch it, so no big surprise. Not long after we got in line, however, a worker at the theater came over and told everyone to get into three lines based on the theater the movie showed in. The lines were shorter, but we still managed to get the a spot at the end. We stood around, talking about WoW and whatnot, and finally the line started moving. When we got inside, we had the same problem as the night before, in that there were plenty of seats but not enough adjacent seats for our group. We ended up splitting up in groups of two, with Dustin and Katie in lower seats and John and me in higher seats. During the previews, the silly trivia and advertisement slides were still on, so they mixed with the footage on screen. They were actually kinda funny, though--everyone started booing until they showed the title for I Am Legend and in the corner was a giant magnifying glass with the words "The Plot Thickens" plastered over the screen--then we started laughing. The lights suddenly turned on when the movie actually started, so we started raising a ruckus again until the lights turned off. Once the movie was underway, everything went smoothly. It was just as good the second time, though I was a little sleepy from the drinks and because it was a little late. We had another lively audience, giving the movie that great accent of applause. After the movie, we spent the entire walk back to the car praising the movie and discussing the state of modern computer animation. I'm glad we decided to go out that night.
No comments:
Post a Comment