Lyric Notes Vol. 19

I was thinking last night that perhaps I should write an informative entry, for anyone who is wondering what exactly we are doing right now that is causing so much stress. The root cause of this stress is that we need to be open as soon as possible, because we are paying for space and utilities with no income. So time lost is money lost. Sooner is better. Oh and did I mention Josh and I aren't getting paid right now.

So what causes all the delays? Well, it's no one person or thing, it's a compilation of things, an ensemble, all-star cast of processes and problems, one might say. First, we have the building code, of which everyone has a hand in to one extent or another. Everything has to be handicapped accessible, down to the last inch. This is a major headache when remodeling an existing building, especially when that building is triangular...there are no accurate measurements of this building...none, so we are continually running into miss measured dimensions, which throw off the ADA code, which forces us to re-draw and re-figure. Then we have the fire code. This is pretty strict with a theater, as you can imagine. Everything has to be fire proof, and we narrowly escape having fire sprinklers. The health department doesn't even know what to do with us, which seems to be par for the course. We are a theater cafe, of which there are none in the vicinity to compare to, that only vends pre-cook items...what do you do with that? I don't know. Every morning Josh and I come to work and are notified of a new earth shattering problem, which we have to solve before lunch so that construction isn't delayed. Baring any other problems, it will still be a miracle if we get our certificate of occupancy.

Let's move on to materials, shall we? If you didn't know this already, Josh and I have been collecting materials, many for free and many for cheap, to cut the budget down. We are also doing a hefty portion of the construction as well. Juggling both is very difficult, not to mention all the paper work we have to fill out, but that will come later. Last week alone we made two trips to Denver and one trip to Boulder, loading and unloading two Penske trucks FULL of free and cheap items (chairs, trim, sound board) by ourselves, and still had to make time to pour concrete over the plumbing and tape and patch the walls in the cafe to get ready for plaster on Wednesday. I don't know if anyone knows this, but cast iron theater seats aren't light, and neither is concrete.

Now we can finally get to the paperwork. Josh and I have about 20 hours a week of paperwork to fill out. Tax forms, insurance applications, bills to pay, contracts to sign (still), and film distribution applications. The last of which is a pretty big deal. OK, lets go back in time 50 years, and that is the state in which film distribution is still in. We have to file an application with each distributor (Warner Bros, Universal, Dreamworks etc.), of which there are hundreds, so that we can exhibit there films which are still in 35mm format broken down into several pieces and are sent in big boxes via snail mail (no, I cannot rent a DVD or download it off the internet). Some are a one page application form, some are 30 pages, complete with credit check, funding info, your mothers maiden name and the sex of your roommates dog. And needless to say, these distribution companies aren't always the easiest people to get a hold of nor the most prompt.

You add all these things together (and I didn't even include everything) you have one full week. And if any ball is dropped, Josh will have to go back to Cozolla's and I will loose my house, wife, truck and dog...I don't really have a truck or a dog, but it sounded good.

End of informative blog entry, back to blathering nonsense.

Lyric Notes Vol. 18

Ok, I realize that in the scheme of things, everything has been going relatively well, but sometimes I get discouraged by the sheer volume of problems that are thrown at us in one day. Then you add the fact that neither Josh nor I are getting paid and I have two kids to feed and find child care for... it's exhausting. Right now I am daydreaming about the day when both Elizabeth and I are sitting on the beach in Costa Rica, Josh takes up golf to fill his free time, and my kids are running this place. But, as things are, we are currently knee deep in the proverbial cow bi-product and all we can do at the moment is keep on wading, pretend we are two happy-go-lucky guys and dream.

I could keep complaining and get into some real detail, but I'm positive I would offend most people and there is only so much bitching one can do in a day.

SO....Josh and I are doing wonderfully, and I can't believe how extraordinarily happy and go-lucky we are. Everything is going splendidly with little to no problems whatsoever. If things were any better we would be plated with gold and diamond studded.

Oh, don't forget to come to our plaster class on Wednesday 9-7, and Josh and I got the free chairs last week (that's a whole other issue) and will need help machining them to the specifications we need in each theater. We will probably also need help touching up some items here and there, but I will let everyone know as needed.

Lyric Notes Vol. 17

I'm a bad blogger. I keep saying I'm going to update this more often and then I promptly don't. But we are seriously smokin' on this whole construction thing. The little secret that I couldn't tell was that construction has been well underway for quite some time now and we have almost all of our walls built. So for this blog entry I will include pictures and some wacky descriptions that are bound to amuse all...I'm just setting myself up for failure right now.















To the left is Ian having a gay old time building the walls to the big theater. Thanks Ian. I don't know what else to write for this picture.















Here is Jack, Master Construction Baby. He's kind of a big deal. Dug that trench by himself, with a chisel and a delicious jello pudding pop...made a terrible sticky mess. At any rate, the trench is so we can plumb for the cafe...thanks Jack, now we can serve everyone their refreshingly cold beverages.







Here is the trench again.


























And here it is full of concrete and ready to frame for the cafe. All due to Jack's, superhuman abilities to manipulate chisels and pudding.















Something is wrong with my lens. I must have dropped the camera in a gravel pit or something because it seems to be severely scratched. Anyway, this is the progress of the big theater to date...with Ian working gaily in the background. We have all the walls up, and are getting ready for the electricians.
















And here is the small theater, but we aren't worrying about that for now.

So let's recap what we've learned today. Jack is extremely cute and good with pudding, I'm very funny, and Ian is pleased to be a carpenter.

Lyric Notes Vol. 16

These weeks seem to get busier and busier...I guess that means we are getting lots done. And since we have this new format I don't even know if anyone is reading these notes anymore, but I will write them anyway.

For my first order of business, please let me introduce the Beards:


Jack is still working on his beard, he only stopped shaving last week, but mine seems to be coming along...I'm trying to grow and handle bar mustache to go along with it.


This picture didn't turn out that well, but what difference does it make, this is the first picture Josh has ever taken where he doesn't look like a convict...congratulations Josh. His beard is more of the rugged mountain man variety, where mine still has an adolescent "give it two more years" quality to it. Either way, we've both been breaking things with heavy tools and killing large animals with swiss army knives, the only way a TRUE man kills a large animal.

As for the theater, it's coming along. Looks like we are getting the building permit on Monday and may have a little surprise for first inspector...but I won't ruin it for him, I will tell everyone what the surprise is next week when we can't get arrested for it. I will give you a hint though..."The ants are gathering food for the winter"... wink wink... "the bank vault is locked and the goose and left the building"...get it? "The sparrow flies at night and the cockroaches are scattering before the light"...

For anyone who's interested, we are having a plastering class on the 31st of January, which will be a "barn raising" of sorts (think Witness) where American Plaster will come in and teach anyone who wants to learn how to use this sustainable plaster on our walls, which will save a huge expense to us and promote this great material at the same time. If you are interested call John Gitchell at 484-3995.

Lyric Notes Vol. 15

Just in case some of you didn't know this, Josh and I are pretty sweet. We got all the stuff from the Rocky Mountain News building and more (i.e. trim, sound board, lights, bathroom stuff, more trim, door hardware). This is what happens when you have construction beards, you get to do manly things like ripping out walls and breaking wood without any regard for common decency.

Other than that, all seems to be going along as planned. The carpenters are coming in today, the distribution applications have been sent, our licenses are either in hand or on their way and we are currently poorer than we have ever been in our lives...we are well on our way to building a theater.
At the moment I'm trying to teach my four year old, Bailey, to count to twenty five. He's going to be the cashier after all.

LyricNotes, Vol. 14

Hi all, we got a new blog host. So this may look a little funny for a while until we fix it to look standard and professional, just like everything else on this site.

It's been a big week of major ups and downs, one of which was finding out that we don't have to have fire sprinklers. I can't mention the downs because I don't want to shoot myself in the foot. But in any case we may get our building permit soon which will be the start of the final sprint to the finish line. In which case I will be sending out mass mailings to our throng of dedicated followers to ask for help in the construction and marketing, as well as small favors like smelling my armpits and finishing our tax forms while we play video games and make fun of passersby.

Now don't everyone come rushing to our aid all at once...

LyricNotes, Vol. 13

Stop the press! What is going on?!! 2 blog entries in 2 days...must be a parallel universe.

This is going to be short because I'm the strong silent type and don't like divulging more information than I need to before necessary...just kidding, I just want to go home. But I thought I should mention that our email is pretty screwy right now. We can receive emails but we can't send them. So if anyone is waiting for a response from us with bated breath, you can breath now, because it's going to be a while.

That's all.

LyricNotes, Vol. 12

Ah, the holidays. A time for rest, relaxation and family...unless you are opening a theater and stressing about getting everything done in a timely fashion.

Not only has this been one of the more stressful holiday seasons of my life, but I also found out recently that I'm a total schmo and people are actually reading this site. Let me get this on the table right now, I don't know how to spell or how grammar works. Until recently I thought grammar was a bean dish served in Peru...WOW was I wrong on that one. At any rate, I also have not been updating this either, which I promised I would do. So now, for reals this time okay, I will update this at least twice a week with The Lyric happenings and my thoughts on said happenings.

Recent happenings with the theater are; we are waiting for our building permit...well, not really waiting more than working on getting it, which is more work that you would think. Apparently having two screens is not something that is done on a budget. The city code says we need to install fire sprinklers, and, after checking my wallet, $50,000 was not a "budget" price. But, it looks like there is something we can work out with the city...perhaps...maybe...with major to extreme difficulty. And if it doesn't work to avoid the sprinklers then, Hey! I have extensive experience with custodial positions, and I hear the school district always need a good janitor. Actually we will have to work something out because too many promises have been made to turn back.

Regardless of any problems we are running into, no matter how insurmountable, either because of stubborn persistence, a total lack of realism, or pure stupidity, we are continuing our demo in preparation for construction which means, of course, that Josh and I are growing construction beards. A necessity when doing such manly things as tearing up concrete, hammering nails, ramming our heads into walls and eating chili dogs. Sadly, when the construction is over, I will shave my incarnation of pure manhood so that the wife can pretend she is still married to a little boy, but my one triumph is that I have convinced Josh to keep the Tom Selleck mustache, which is pretty sweet if I do say so myself.