Posts Tagged ‘concessions’
3 items.
Once again I’m taking pot shots at my local theater, the ever-so charming Wynnsong 16.
This situation has happened to me personally more times than I care to recall. It’s also the first example I cite when theater managers get pissed at how customers bring in their own food and beverages.
I realize that managing a theater can’t be easy. But in situations where the work force is so clearly imbalanced, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that poor resource management is afoot.
I would seriously hate to consider that the ones selling tickets are being instructed not to slip behind the concessions during peek business because of a lack of training. No one gave me any pointers on how to fill a bucket of popcorn when *I* worked at a movie theater.
Whenever I run into stupid crap like this, I always say a tiny prayer to myself asking God to flatten these cursed buildings and replace them with smaller, more intimately run family theaters. I doesn’t have to be anything fancy like a tornado. Just a loose i-beam in the ceiling structure. Of course, it would have to be just after the last movie gets out, so the only one who is crushed… is the manager.
Not much movie stuff going on. I mentioned Cradle 2 the Grave in Wednesday’s post. Yawn.
Lately I’ve been keeping close tabs on some of the other sites in the community and all the celebrating that’s been going on. It makes me jealous as all get-out because I want to start doing something special with Theater Hopper. The problem is, I don’t know what.
I’ve thought about doing another crossover, maybe putting together some stickers or t-shirts, but all of it takes more planning than I have time to commit to.
Don’t read me wrong. I’m not whining about how busy I am or how little sleep I get. I sleep fine, thank you. I just haven’t come up with a promotional concept that doesn’t seem contrived in some way.
I suppose the best way to go about things is just to plug along as usual. People will find me in due time. It seems to have worked so far. Traffic for the month of February has sky-rocketed to almost 1,100,000 hits – due in no small part to the link I received from News Askew as well as the generous mentions I’ve been getting on the front pages of some big name web comics.
I get e-mail every now and again telling me I’m doing good work and I appreciate it, but I just want more. Not e-mails (although that would be nice) but more for the site. More for the fans. I wish I just had more to give you. All in due time, I suppose.
I guess I’m concerned because February has been such a windfall in terms of new readership, I don’t want to squander this opportunity.
To that end, I’m making it known right now that I will be out of town the week of March 10 and there will be no new strips between March 10 and March 16.
I’m giving everyone a head’s up now before the weekend, but I plan on letting everyone know more about it next week when there is more to tell.
I can tell you that I will be going to New York and it is a vacation. I don’t want anyone thinking things are serious. But there was an opportunity to go that came up suddenly, and we’ve decided to take it.
That means there won’t be any strips done in advance. I simply don’t have enough prep time.
HOWEVER, if there are any of you comic creators out there interested in sending me guest strips to cover for me while I’m away, I would be more than interested. There’s no reason I couldn’t have Jared upload those for me while I’m away. E-mail me if you’re looking for a little extra exposure.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan on doing diddly-squat with mine. I just got Xenosaga in the mail and I’ll probably be spending Saturday and Sunday wading through all the cut-scenes before the actual game play really takes off. Wish me luck!
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Tom was totally prepared to spring of the line. He did stretches and everything. Drank a Gatorade, too!
I’m not entirely sure what headbands and tank tops have to do with watching movies, but the fact that Cami and I have only seen one of the four nominated films this year if a distinct reflection of our slack attitude this year.
Much has been made about Hollywood’s lackluster output in 2005 and I think by this point you would know that my stance is one of total agreement. You would assume in a year so rife with mediocrity, it would prompt one to search harder for the good stuff – the creamy nougat, as it were. Instead, like kryptonite, 2005’s abysmal line up drained my will to live.
But yesterday the Oscar nominations were announce and I feel reenvigorated! As has become our tradition, Cami and I make it a point to see all 5 films nominated in the Best Picture category. If nothing else than to be totally pompous after the fact when one of them walks away with the little gold man – "Oh, I knew they would win all along. That olther film wuz robbed!"
I was a bit surprised to see Good Night and Good Luck up there, but it’s a welcome change of pace. I haven’t seen Munich – and I know some people swear by it. But my question is, how could Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix be nominated in their respective acting categories and Walk the Line not be represented with a nomination? It seems as though it would be more deserving than Munich. But then again, I haven’t seen Munich. So maybe I’m totally talking out my ass. A situation I intend to remedey in the coming weeks!
This was a while back, but I read an interesting thought over at Hollywood Elsewhere in advance of the awards season. Another reader had written to the column pointing out that the field of (then) potental nominees appeared to be thinning out to what we essentially ended up with. Pointing out that the Oscars were originally created to celebrate the films of the major studios, has Hollywood painted itself into a corner with bottom-line thinking? In other words, has their reliance on blockbusters and sequels totally written them out of the awards ceremony they helped to create. Has quality been turned over to the independent filmmaker? In what way are the Oscars now different than, say… The Independent Film Awards?
It was an interesting thought – and I was kind of paraphrasing it – but is this a representation of either a more definative rift between art and commerce. Or does it represent the overall integration of "independent" movies into the American mainstream? Is the word "independent" being revised to mean something else? Used to be "independent" meant you sold off all your comic books and maxed out your credit cards to get your film made. Now it means that the "independent arm" of Warner Bros. or Sony has picked up your film, but the content is too obtuse for general audiences looking for popcorn entertainment. Still, they’ll finance your film essentially for the accolades.
Food for thought.
Switching gears.
Wanted to point out to you the little mailing list sign up form directly above this blog and directly below the comic. I encourage you to sign up for it. I’m going to be making some announcements soon and I like to keep the people on the mailing list informed early. It’s just a means for me to communicate more directly with you guys.
What’s some of the stuff I’m working on? Well, the Theater Hopper: Year One book, for starters. Plus, I might have some new t-shirt designs in the works. If so, you’d be tipped off to their sale early if you were a mailing list subscriber! Tease, tease, tease!
Another little something I want you to check out…
Remember last year when I designed a shirt for Threadless.com? Well, I have another design for sale over there that you should check out. Here’s a preview:
It’s called "Squirrels Are Nature’s Ninjas" and it’s on sale now. I didn’t come up with the title. Actually, someone else submitted it to OMG Clothing – also owned by the fine people at Threadless. Much like my previous design, the slogan was handed off to me and I went at it with a visual representation. I’m really happy with how this one turned out.
At any rate, I don’t get anything if the shirt sells except for the feeling of pride if it sells out an they later reprint it.
However, I *DO* get referral bonus points if I send you to the site and you buy something – anything! – in inventory. So, if you’re combing through the site and find another design you like, please follow this link before you make your purchse:
http://www.threadless.com/?streetteam=Tom%20Brazelton
That way, the referral points come back to me.
Many thanks.
Not much else to write about. Well, we’re having a little trouble in the THorum right now. We’re not sure what’s causing it. But I’ve gotten a few e-mails from people who are trying to create accounts and are getting errors. For now, the best advice I can give is to keep trying. If it doesn’t register you the first time, try again or even a third time. Eventually, it will go through. We’re working on resolving the problem soon. Thanks for your patience.
Here’s to everyone having a great Wednesday!
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Jared sure do love his soady-pop!
Have you guys ever tried mixing in Hot Tamales with your popcorn? It’s really good. A little bit spicy, a little bit salty, a little bit sweet. It’s like the poor man’s kettle corn.
I’m not sure where I first picked up the habit. I think it was from a babysitter that had weird taste in snack food. In retrospect, it is a little gluttonous. Popcorn isn’t good enough. It must have CANDY it in! Could be worse. I could be adding M&Ms. "Melts in your mouth" my ass!
I know today’s comic is a little ribald, what with the drinking going on in the fourth panel. But it’s not like this is the first time that alcohol has entered into the comic as a plot device. I wonder if Jared resents being characterized as a drunk from time to time? He’s actually a very respectable chap!
I want to remind everyone that I have two new shirt designs for sale in the store. The pre-sale ends Wendesday, March 8 – after which I’m going to remove them from the store so I can concentrate on getting them printed up and mailed out as efficiently as possible. If you don’t like the new designs, I brought back an old favorite!
I’m still working on the Theater Hopper: Year One book. Every time that I think I’m close to being finished, I forget about all the small details that need to be wrapped up first. Gotta go back and correct the errors Cami caught in her proof and I have to write up commentary for the photo tutorial I’m doing. I think since laying out the comics and writing the commentary for all 156 of them was 80% of the work, I keep thinking I can kick back a little bit. Last week kind of threw me off my work schedule as well, so now I have to get back on track.
It would be really great to get the cover artwork assembled and colored so I could share that with you guys. But I also have to finish doing my taxes and there’s a guy coming to the house to fix our washing machine.
It just doesn’t stop, does it folks? ;-D
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