Lyric Notes 6/25

Well, the second theater is open and awesome if I do say so myself. Josh and I really know how to make things work with what we have. And we're smart, and funny, and extreeeeeemely attractive, and good raquet ball players, and very flexible, and charming and modest. Everything anyone could want to be. And even if we aren't, we still have a pretty cool twin theater now. Though it was a process getting it up and running. We were supposed to have it up on Friday night...that didn't really happen. So then we were supposed to have the projector running by Saturday at noon....that didn't happen either. So then we were supposed to have it running by seven...and that DID happen, but barely. We were still adjusting the image and sound levels while we were selling our first tickets to that theater. Now the projection room looks like a film explosion when both projectors are running.

Not only that we got new mirrors for the first theater and so the image is exponentially better. I just have to get a new aperture for the projector so that the image and screen are sized more correctly. They aren't bad right now, I would just like to see it a little better.

All in all it was a very stressful, but very good weekend. Brewfest wasn't as big of a mess as we had thought, which was good. Our second theater increased sales, which is good. Our patio brought in people to just sit and enjoy the nice weather, which is good. And I got a pimple on my lip which hurt a lot...but is all good. I think my financial stress level will now begin a spiral down to the manageable level, since all of our figures were based on two theaters.

Lyric Notes 6/18

Boy, when it rains it pours. I don't know if my heart can take such dramatic swings in business. Just last week we were wondering how we were going to pay our employees, and this week we are going looking into investment strategies for the business. Not really, but that's really not very far off. Starting Friday we had money coming at us from all directions. Our contractor gave us a refund, we got a big discount on our second theater projection equipment, and we destroyed all our previous records this weekend. All that and we just got approved another loan for business capitol. But it doesn't stop there. This week should be pretty good as well. Our patio opens today (god willing), our second theater opens for BrewFest, we will start selling Boba or Bubble tea (the more common name), and our children's programs kick off this week, we are also getting some new mirrors this week which will make the picture quality better (it's been a complicated mess trying to project off of mirrors, and I didn't want to bore anyone with the physics of how it's done and all the problems that arise). Whatever happens though, we are definitely keeping Waitress. That movie is even better than The Namesake, as far as business goes.

Lets hope the hot weather stays, because it's awesome for business. I may start scheduling matinees during the week if it stays this hot.

Lyric Cinema Cafe 6/7

Well, if you see me walking down the street and I look like I just drank drain water, it's because we had the WORST WEEK EVER. I probably could have found more money in the couches than in the till. I expected Sweetland to be a bomb, but not After the Wedding and Inland Empire. I guess I just need to do a better job promoting these things. So, to remedy that problem, starting in July, once we get the second theater open, we will convert to a Monthly Schedule. At least in the big theater. We will put out a calendar at the beginning of each month so everyone can see what we are showing and research the movies, either on our new swanky site (that should be up by then) or by other means if they so choose. This way, you can print the calendar and post it on your fridge, or come see one of the 5 billion that we will post in the cafe and all over town. That ways I won't have to deal with newspapers anymore, and the pure panic of a miss print or of not knowing what I will be showing. There is simply no way of knowing, which direction we are going, though the rowers keep on rowing, and they show no signs of slowing....sorry, I forgot what I was saying.

For instance, had we scheduled monthly, you would have known on June 1st that we will be showing The Big Lebowski on the 15th, 16th and 17th at 10:45, and that if you dressed in costume you would get a discounted ticket (sorry, we can't serve White Russians). But, no, we don't schedule monthly, so you had to wait until the 7th to hear that. (What a shameless promotion.)

Well, here's to hoping the rest of the month goes better than the first week. The patio should be in by the end of the month and the second theater should be done in a week or two. I actually have the HVAC guys coming tomorrow, so all we will have left, really, is to install the projector, which is quite the process. So please come down tomorrow night and watch some live music at 6:00 before Wind that Shakes the Barley, and help us turn drain water into beer (or lemonade if you prefer).

Lyric Notes 6/1

I'm getting really bad at this blogger thing. I wonder if anyone reads this anymore. I think people have stopped listening to me completely, which is great because I seem to be wrong more often than not. Last night we had a spectacular Trivia Night. We must have had more than 30 people crammed into the Cafe, all because no one pays attention to me any more. Had they paid attention, they would have forgotten about Trivia Night as I did.

Over all, last night was a pretty good night, which was much needed after Sweet Land. Sweet Land was a good film, and definitely worth seeing, but not a big draw by an means. So with Memorial Day and Graduation last weekend, we had a horrendous week...well, it could have been worse, and I had anticipated worse, but it still doesn't change the fact that it was a bad week. But, things are looking up. I have seen more people staring at the After the Wedding poster than any other movie poster we've had, which I hope translates into sales, and of course Inland Empire is a draw because of all the avid Lynch fans, and Lynch gawkers.

I will write a few things about Inland Empire, but by no means will I review it. I don't think I could. There are two kinds of Lynchians. The Fans, who love everything he does. If he lit their favorite pair of socks on fire, the fans would proclaim it a violent and provocative work of art that should be inspirational and enlightening to all. The Gawkers, don't necessarily love everything he does, they may even hate everything he does, but they like to watch it like the like to watch popular political figures pick their nose. They just can't help it. Everyone else seems to be in the catagory of "couldn't give a shit about David Lynch". Inland Empire is the Lynchest of all Lynch films...whatever that means, so expect not to get much, if anything at all.
I may write more on this film, if anything more comes to mind.

Oh, I have to plug our new experiment. BABY BAWL'S are starting this next Tuesday. We will have a 10:30 and 2:00 show of After the Wedding for all the stay at home parents that can't get out much. Watch a good movie with your infant or toddler and don't fear the mob.