LyricNotes

Lyric Notes 6/25

2007-06-25T14:58:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-18T09:12:00.001-06:00

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

2007-06-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-01T12:50:00.000-06:00

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.

Lyric Notes 5/22

2007-05-22T21:32:00.000-06:00

I realized that I haven't written anything in this for a while and all my avid readers might be missing my witty insight on life and running a small theater.

We have just had one of the crazier weeks, though it pales in comparison to opening night. But remind me, next time we want to do a special screening of a movie, just do one special thing at a time. This time we had Articulate City, who wanted the Princess Bride, for a special show. Ok, that was fine, though I knew it would cause a lot of confusion, which it did, but whatever. Then we decided that, since we had the print why not do a "Service Industry" screening as well. Well, let's just say we have made better decisions. I say this with much affection, but what a nightmare. I have never seen so much broken glass and spilled beer in all my life...that may not be true, but it's fun to tell. Though we may have more service industry nights, because we made more money on $2 beers than we did on any show ever, I will never work on those nights again. And it was just Josh and I, which might have made it worse. So along with the Articulate City screening and Service Industry, we also had a Dinner and Movie night with Princess Bride, which would have gone fine if we knew what we were doing. Not that it went badly, it just added to the confusion, of which there was ample. So, less confusion and less broken glass, the better my weeks will be.

Other than that, I had a wonderful Monday watching all my Sunday meals regurgitate into the toilet. Who gets the flu in May? Who? Apparently I do. Oh, well this next week we have nothing too special going on. Just Sweet Land and Inland Empire...should be un-confusing.

Lyric Notes 5/13

2007-05-13T20:05:00.000-06:00

I normally won't do any reviews, or give my opinion on the films I'm showing, mostly because I'm very poor at articulating my thought process, and also because no one really wants to hear it anyway. But I do have to say, I've never seen anything like Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I don't know if I can recommend it to everyone, but I will say that it's not as graphic as you would think it should be. It is mostly just very strange. Strange because it leads you to believe that it's a regular movie, with an original through line (that being the bit about perfume and scent), then the last 15 minutes happen and leave you feeling...um...dumbfounded. I didn't know whether to like it or not, which, I have to say, is quite an anomaly. I was going to steel someone else's opinion because I feel incomplete without one, but I couldn't do that with a clear conscience. So I just talked to more and more people about it until I finally felt like I got it. Needless to say, this doesn't happen very often with movies. So, if you want to see this movie, make sure you get here before Thursday because I can't promise that I will keep it if it has as low of an attendance rate as it's had.

Lyric Notes 5/9

2007-05-09T14:53:00.000-06:00

I keep getting emails saying I need to do this or that to the website...I realize that it isn't in the greatest format right now, and I'm working on it. I'm not a web guy, I know nothing about this stuff, I hardly know how to turn on this magic box before me, so cut me some slack here. Hopefully in the next month or two we will have totally revamped the website, but everyone is going to have to be patient. One other thing while I'm ranting (which seems to be the only thing I do well), I DO ADVERTISE WITH THE COLORADOAN!!!!!! The last few weeks, my ad has kind of been all over the odd pages, but we are, again, working on that as well. When we opened we hit the ground running full speed, so we are bound to stumble a little. OK, the chip has been removed and may wackiness ensue.

If there is one thing opening a business has taught me, it's that I need to keep things simple. This last week damn near killed me, trying to keep up with the ads and times of shows and dis spell any miss information that may be circulating. So this next week and thus after will be much simpler and easier. But when all was said and done, last week was still our best week so far, so we must have done something right.

We are changing trivia hour from 5:00 to 6:00 due to complaints that people can't get here on time, or at all due to work schedules. So take heed, if you show up at 5:00 you will have to sit around, spend money on beer and great food and talk to two devilshly handsome and witty men for an hour. Or we could put you to work in the small theater.

I'm kind of all over the place in this entry so I mind as well mention the Myspace page we have. Look us up and be added to our friend list to get ground breaking news and perhaps a discount or two as well.

Lyric Notes 5/2

2007-05-02T12:01:00.000-06:00

Boy, I'm going to need to fine tune my booking skills. We are getting Raising Arizona this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I didn't find this out until yesterday afternoon. So I have about two days to market for that. Not only that, I'm also getting Iraq in Fragments next Mon, Tues, Wed. which makes my schedule this week totally wacky. So I will be surprised if anyone can decipher which movie is playing when. I suppose anyone reading the website would be able to figure it out, but my ads are all screwed up.

Here is the Schedule one more time this week to clear up any confusion.

Friday
6:00-Namesake
8:30-Namesake
10:45- Raising Arizona

Saturday
3:30-Namesake
6:00-Namesake
8:30-Namesake
10:45-Raising Arizona

Sunday
1:00-Raising Arizona
3:30-Namesake
6:00-Namesake
8:30-Namesake

Monday
6:00-Iraq in Fragments
8:30-Namesake

Tuesday
6:00-Iraq in Fragments
8:30-Namesake

Wednesday
6:00-Iraq in Fragments
8:30-Namesake

Thursday
6:00-Namesake
8:30-Namesake

I hope that clears things up.

On top of my scheduling mishap my mass email is acting up as well, sending off old emails and screwing up new ones. Seems like a week full of problems. I'm looking forward to next Friday when we get Black Book. One movie, two times a day and that's it. I'm also excited to see Black Book because I hear it's awesome.

Well, back to work

Lyric Notes 4/28/07

2007-04-28T21:50:00.000-06:00

The 4:30 show is killing me. It's a total waste of time. So I was talking to my film buyer Paul, which, now that I think of it, I haven't mentioned once. Quick rundown on Paul.

Paul is becoming the godfather of
low-budget-fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-independently-own-by-a-couple-snot-nosed-punk-kids, movie houses. He started the Ragtag in Columbia, MO seven years ago while he was pretty young (I don't really know how old he is), and helped Dan start the Moxie two years ago and is helping me as well. He gives me a list of recommendations to play, I choose and he tells me whether or not I chose well. It's kind of like the pupil trying to grab the pebble from the masters hand.

At any rate, Paul...I was talking to Paul about how my 4:30 show is doing pretty bad, and he said "Why are you doing a 4:30 show?" and I said "Uh...well....I don't know." Then he said "I've never had a 4:30 show." Well huh. I guess I never really thought about it to hard. So I'm doing away with the 4:30 show in favor of a 6:30 show and an 8:30 show relative to the running time of the movies being shown. That will not only eliminate the time wasted showing a 4:30 show it will also increase sales for the 6:30 show. Which will, in turn, help me, which will, in turn, help my family, which will, in turn, help all of humanity....because we are just that important. This will, of course, be advertised as to when I'm doing it which will be starting this next Friday the 4th.

On to more important matters. I wore flip flops today and have been wondering when the term was changed from "thongs" to "flip flops". I'm guessing it has something to do with that intensely clever Sisqo song. Either way, I love thongs.

Lyric Notes 4/24

2007-04-24T16:44:00.000-06:00

Well we did some number crunching and we are ok, for the moment, I think. Either way, I think we are going to survive our first month open. We will just have to see how the second month goes though. I think things will pick up once we open the second theater which should be in about a month or two. The reason I say that is because The Host is making a killing, especially considering the onslaught of mis-information that the general public was bombarded with regarding our days and times. If we were able to put The Host in a prime spot like 7:00, it would have killed it. But, as it were, Little Children is here until Thursday, and is the kind of movie that only really plays in the 7:00 slot, which it has also made some decent numbers as well, but probably not what The Host would have. It's a big game of cat and mouse, give and take, capture the flag, monopoly, shoots and ladder...I think you get the idea.

So that brings me to a little shameless promotion. If you want to see Little Children before it leaves Ft. Collins, better hop on it because it will be gone by Friday. In which case, The Namesake will take it's place in the 4:30/7:00 slot. (I have to do this because it is also another movie that plays best to an earlier crowd). On that same "shameless self promotions" topic, I would like to put a plug in for our Movie Trivia Thursdays @5. Last week we had a great crowd that did positively outstanding, and so this week we are going to make it a little tougher...but not much for all the new comers.

Well, enough about me, let's talk about the theater. We've gotten a lot of requests for a lot of different things, so I thought I would take this time to address these requests.

Yes, I do realize that the wall the screen is on is not perpendicular to the seats, and no there is nothing I can do about it. The screen has to be perpendicular to the lens of the projector, and since I'm shooting out at an angle, I have to angle the screen.

I'm afraid that I cannot put the aisle in the middle of the room, city egress codes make designing a theater tougher than you would think it should be. Not only that but I would loose seating due to wasted space.

I know that in some of the movies the beginning is soft and the end is loud. That's how they mix the movie, and baring me sitting by the volume during every show and turning the sound up and down, there is nothing I can do about it.

99% of the time I know that the screen is out of focus and am actively trying to remedy it. Shooting out at the angle and not being able to see the screen from the projection room makes focus a difficult task, and having to switch lenses once or twice a day makes that task even harder. And no I cannot NOT switch lenses, different films have different formats, scope and flat. I happen to have both formats right now.

There is nothing else we could have done with the layout that would have allowed us any more room and met all the egress codes. It is what it is because that's what we could fit into this building. And we did look for many many other spaces, all of which were either too long and narrow or too small in general for the specifications of a theater. This building was the best fit in downtown with the least outrageous rent. It's a retro-fit, what are you gonna do?

Because of the confusing nature of the lay out I also know we need more signs...I never imagined I would need so many signs, so we are working on it. It's hard to know that when you were the one that put up the walls and know ever inch of the space like the back of your hand. Hopefully everyone will be such loyal customers and know the place so well after a few months we won't need the signs in the first place.

I also realize that sometimes information is wrong, either in the papers or yes, even on the website. This is totally my fault and I'm trying to create a system of checks and balances to fix this problem, because if there is one thing I'm not, it's detail oriented.

I think that about covers it. If there are any other questions that I keep getting asked I will try to put some more answers up on the blog and create a FAQ section of the website.

Lyric Notes 4/20

2007-04-20T19:20:00.000-06:00

Ah, good old Hitler's birthday. Nothing to make you feel better about your life than knowing that it's Hitler's birthday today...I think. Maybe it's the 21st, I can never remember. It just puts things in perspective. I'm really tired and I keep screwing things up, but at least my name isn't synonymous with pure evil and the slaying of millions of people. Just a thought.

My projection skills have improved ten fold over the last week, especially considering I had no idea how to work one of these things until two weeks ago. But, as it were, I still suck at it. They are very complicated machines...go figure. Projecting is a funny business. I know Little Children by heart now, and I have nightmares about the closing title song. Thinking I missed it, or that I forgot to turn up the lights. On that same note, I have heard Kate Winslet have sex more times than...um...I'll stop there, but those scenes have led to some really awkward conversations with people in the Projection room.

Movie trivia night was a smashing success. We had a phenomenal crowd (considering I didn't think anyone would show) and it seemed like a blast, at least to me. I have to admit that everyone did much better than I thought they would. We came up with, what I thought were, real doosies, but we only had a hand full of questions that actually stumped people. We might have to make it harder next week, but we'll see what kind of a crowd we get. We might throw some easy ones out there to encourage new people to build up their movie trivia knowledge. I believe that this movie trivia thing will be the next big thing in Cinema Cafe's around the world...so, in that case, everyone should get in on the ground floor. You will be able to say you knew they two that invented this.

Lyric Notes 4/18

2007-04-18T19:25:00.000-06:00

Well we are through our first week and I have to say...we are definitely through our first week. I can't say we did great, but I'm optimistic that we will have a good turn out starting tomorrow. It's a shame more people didn't come to Air Guitar Nation, it was a great Doc. But I dropped the ball on the marketing side, so I'm to blame for that one.

We've gotten a lot of compliments and a lot of complaints, but all I can say is that we are new to this and everyone is going to have to bare with us for a little while, we will get the hang of it. Our menu will expand, our cafe hours will expand, our theater is still being fine tuned and all three of our staff are learning at a quicker pace than Josh and I, which might come back to bite us later.

I have to say though, it is a blessing we weren't busy this week. We've actually had time to figure some stuff out without upsetting too many people.

So here is my shameless marketing plug. We are getting the Host this week, a South Korean horror, that has gotten better reviews than any other movie I've checked out on RottenTomatos.com, which is quite a feet for a horror. We are also getting The Namesake next Friday, which has also gotten stellar reviews and I'm pretty excited to get as well.

Lyric Notes 4/16 (I wised up)

2007-04-16T13:44:00.000-06:00

Sundays officially suck...pardon the graphic language...but gosh darn it, they're the worst. We got a total of 21 customers all day yesterday. What is the deal with that. I also officially hate nice days now too. We would have gotten more people both Saturday and Sunday had it not been for the nice weather. I'm bitter and very disappointed.

So this weekend was a big wake-up call. We need a serious marketing strategy. We can't rely purely on people's excitement about this place, we have to make them feel like they are missing out on something, something big. So what we came up with is Josh and I will stand out front laughing maniacally to prove what a good time we are having, thus enticing more people to come into the cafe and spend money. I hope this works...

Actually, we are having a Movie Trivia Hour trial run on Thursday at 5:00, complete with drink and food specials. Which actually will be fun, even if it's just me and Josh quizzing each other. Actually our employees (yes we have three) are pretty good at movie trivia, but no one has stumped me yet...mmmmm....movie trivia....OK, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, good times. Along with the Movie Trivia Thursdays, we will have have Date Night Tuesdays, with ticket, drink and food specials for couples, regardless of sexual orientation and relationship status. I'm a big believer in platonic football buddies going out to a heartwarming movie and sharing and piece of cake and a nice glass of wine. There is nothing wrong with that.

I'm also open to suggestions, within reason, for specials and events and other cool things you would like to see at the theater and in the cafe.

And here is a NEWS FLASH to everyone. It's looking like I will be sending Air Guitar Nation off at the end of the week, so if you want to see it, you had better come on down before Friday.

Lyric Notes Vol 32

2007-04-12T18:52:00.000-06:00

I'm beginning to think that numbering these blog entries was a bad idea. Maybe I should just put the date on there like an intelligent person would. Hmmm...at any rate, maybe I shouldn't think out loud.

For my now "Bi-monthly" update I will give a good pat on the back to Josh and I for not totally screwing up our grand opening. I screwed it up a little in the 9:30 show on Wednesday when the platter got a Brain Wrap (when the film wraps tightly around the spools on the platter...you kind of have to see it to get it), a belt fell off and the sprockets jump the holes and stretched the film. Fortunately everyone expected us to be blundering idiots and waited patiently while we called for a projectionist in the audience to come help us out. I probably shouldn't count my eggs before the cows come home (we are only halfway through the third showing) but our grand opening seems to have gone splendidly. We sold out of both 6:30 shows and last nights 9:00 was two thirds full, which is pretty good for a Wednesday night.

Now, if I were a good blogger like Dan at the Moxie (moxiecinema.com), I would get into details of how much of what sold, and how many tickets we sold and all that, but I really don't know, all I know is that if it keeps up like this, considering inflation and cost of living expenses, I might be able to send Bailey to a community college by 2056, but probably not Jack. Woohooo! Hooray for money!!!

At any rate, I really would like to thank everyone that helped us with this project (even though none of those people read this blog) and all the people that attended our Grand Opening, solidifying our status and a pretty big deal, which in turn feeds our ego, which in turn helps create world peace...uh....sorry, what was I talking about?

Lyric Notes Vol. 31

2007-04-10T16:14:00.000-06:00

I'm getting a lot of requests to sell tickets for the grand opening in advance. So we will put tickets on sale at the opening of the cafe tomorrow at 2:30 in the afternoon for both nights, both shows. We highly recommend getting here pretty early for each show because we are going to start at 6:30 and 9:30 and want to get everyone seated before the show starts.

That's really all I have for this blog.

Lyric Notes Vol. 30

2007-04-09T19:27:00.000-06:00

Well, we are open. I know we haven't had our grand opening yet, but we are having a test opening to see what the foot traffic is like on our block. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I should fill you all in on why it's been so long since I've written anything. The short answer is that last week was pure hell on earth. Shall I elaborate?

It all started on Monday...oh god, I can't even remember back to last Monday. Let's see, Josh and I had just gotten off a weekend of nothing but construction, prepared for a week of untangling red tape in preparation for getting our certificate of occupancy. When I get into work I find out that our fridge is still in South Carolina and won't be here until the 10th...we are scheduled to have a soft opening on Friday the 6th with our final health inspection on the 5th. Now you might think I was frantic, but I think livid describes it more accurately since we had ordered the fridge three months earlier. On the same note, the sink we had special ordered because of it's odd dimensions had been sitting in a ware house in Denver for two weeks and they had no intension of moving until Thursday. You might say I lost it, but I think I held it together pretty well given the circumstances. On top of that, no one had bothered to order the special $500 dollar/square foot fire proof glass that takes 2 weeks to make. One, I suppose, could have called me violently angry, but I only ever take my pure rage out on innocent by-standards, so it's all good.

By Tuesday I had solved the sink problem by making horrible threats and accusations, and was halfway through the other two problems. This whole time Josh is trying to get a completely broken Point of Sale system up and working (which we had also been working on all weekend) and getting all our food and drink accounts set up and delivered by Friday morning. Finally I decide that it will be cheaper and easier to just order another fridge from the place that we got the rest of our equipment, and so I do and tell the other guy sending the other fridge to go to eat a bug (only in much more colorful language). So two out of three problems solved. Now what the hell do we do about the glass. Finally on Wednesday Kevin (our contractor) says that we will have the glass on Friday right before our final inspection, in the mean time we will have a preliminary final inspection to solve any problems that might come up before Friday. So we do, and just like we thought, we have to bring back all the sub-contractors to fix a bunch of stuff.

While all of this is going on, we have Allen and Jimmy installing our projector and needing more power, better angles, a special washer, more conduit, etc. There is a lot of stuff that goes into installing a projector...a very very lot.

By Thursday we have most of the problems resolved, but still a lot of touch ups to do (paint this, fix that, find this, re-fix that). So Friday morning rolls around and we are pretty much done with construction and waiting for the inspector. Randy (one of our carpenters) comes up to Josh and I while we are still trying to get the POS system up and running and says that the inspection hasn't been called in....uh....what?....did I just hear that right? To make a long story not quite as long, we ended up getting our Certificate of Occupancy at 4:00 in the afternoon and got the screen up and projector running by 6:00 and the show started at 7:00. Now, I have never run a projector like this before and didn't realize that it was this dangerous or complicated, but it is and I had about half an hour to figure it out. Fortunately I'm a superhuman genius and can learn by osmosis. So I rubbed my head against the projector and now I'm an expert.

Now we are just chugging along and having a grand old time.

Be sure to show up early for the showings on Wednesday and Thursday, it's looking like it might be pretty full. Show times are at 6:30 and 9:30 both nights, tickets are $8, champagne and popcorn are free, but we have much better food available at the counter if you need something more substantial.

See you all there.

Lyric Notes Vol. 29

2007-03-30T08:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't been updating the blog more, for some reason it seems really busy around here and I can't figure out why. Maybe it's that whole "opening" thing I mentioned last time. I also have someone helping me with the website and other tech related items, one of which is getting an easy way to send out mass emails without it sending half of them back.

I have a bunch of new pictures, but I'm debating on showing them, because first of all, they are now one week dated and the entire theater has changed since they were taken, and second because I think everyone should come and see for themselves, and third because I can't find my camera or the time to look for it. It's a tricky marketing ploy I learned...I think.

Another cool news item is that we were in the Coloradoan again, complete with wacky quotes from me and the same picture they used in October. I think it's a cool picture, I'm glad they could use it again. Seems like such a waste to go to all that trouble for one picture and only use it once. I think we also may be in the Ticket section next week as well because they came and took a couple new pictures, but we'll see.

On the construction front things seem to be wrapping up. We have a million things to touch up but all major projects are done. All we are waiting for to get our certificate of occupancy is the fire rated windows for the projection windows. So when ever those get delivered we should be good to go. We will be doing the last little touch ups this weekend and trying to get it so that Josh and I can spend all of next week setting up for our grand opening, so if anyone has a hour or two to waste this weekend, feel free to drop by and help out. Lots of paint touch ups, lots of cleaning, some base coving left and a ton of other 5 minute projects that Josh and I are having a hard time mustering up the motivation and the time to do.

On a lighter note, Bailey, my 4 year old, is having his first soccer game tomorrow and I'm going to skip out for an hour to go watch. I think it will be a good time. I watched a couple of these games recently with someone else's kid and it's a riot. I'm trying to predict whether Bailey will be one of the kids sitting in the middle of the field eating grass, or one of the kids huddled in a circle around the ball kicking furiously. He seems like one of the "kicking furiously" crowd, but he has his mood swings like everyone else. Or he might be the kid that sees a dog catching a Frisbee and runs off to go play with the dog. Either way, it will be fun.

Well, I have to go hang the speakers because the projection system is being installed today.

Lyric Notes Vol. 28

2007-03-21T17:04:00.000-06:00

We are almost done. We are shooting for our Certificate Of Occupancy next Friday and going to have our grand opening on April 11th. Yes, I just gave a date...much to my chagrin. But now I have something to hold over our contractors head, which is always fun.

So, to all those that wanted to help, here is your chance. We are having an open invitation work-off on Saturday the 24th from 9 till we finish, to help us in the final push to get all this little stuff done. We have a lot of painting, touching up, caulking, cleaning, filling holes with putty, putting up rubber baseboard and of course help with the seats. We need people to help move, paint, fix, and set the chairs. So to anyone who is masochistic enough to allow us to boss you around, you are welcome.

Another important announcement is that Jack says "uh-oh" now and it's absolutely adorable....that's all on that one.

Hopefully there will be a big announcement in one of the papers about our opening, but if not, you heard it first here. Oh, and we are getting our sign soon, which is awesome.

Lyric Notes Vol.17

2007-03-15T09:04:00.000-06:00

Well, we have already passed two of our projected opening dates, and are still a ways off. Good thing I didn't tell anyone what those projected opening dates were....hmmm....I really don't know what to write. I guess a lot has happened and is scheduled to happen, but I can' think of what any of it is. Um, thanks to Kelly and Julie we are almost done painting the outside. Now, talk about two dedicated people, Kelly and Julie are awesome. We sling all kinds of abusively terrible jobs at them and they still show up for more, of there own volition...with their children to help! Josh and I would honestly be in a big pickle if it weren't for them.

Hmm, what else...we painted the big theater. It's very red right now...very red...extremely red. I looked like I took out a whole village of hemophiliacs when I was done, and only got a few chemical burns on the soft tissue inside my lungs from the fumes. It's funny how gory I looked when I returned the paint sprayer and how little of a reaction I got from anyone. All in all, it went pretty well, and I now know a clever way to cover up a murder without cleaning up a drop of blood.

Oh, we also got the cafe flooring down, which looks stellar and was one of the biggest pains in the asses I've ever encountered. When some one tells you a certain flooring is easy because all you have to do is "clip" it together, run...run far and fast. It probably didn't help that we don't have a single right angle in the cafe and none of the walls are parallel, but still, tongue and groove is much easier. Another pain in the ass is the space ship I built this weekend in the projection room...they don't call them "rocket scientist" because they're dumb. That sentence sounds like a joke, but it isn't, I really did build a space ship in the projection room. I will take pictures and dedicate a whole blog to it sometime, it's a long story.

I am having the worst time concentrating this morning, maybe it's because it's Thursday and Josh and I have already put in 70 hours this week...but we all know that can't be the case, Josh and I are made of steel...no, titanium...NO, Animantium! NO, PLUTONIUM!!!! That's right, we are made of nuclear byproducts. Ok, the 8 year old inside me is starting to take over, I had better stop writing and pick up a few power tools.

Lyric Notes Vol. 26

2007-03-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

So, just in case you didn't know we were kind of a big deal, here is two articles that came out last week that prove it. Next NC cover article and The Scene Magazine (second article down). We even have a video tour on the Next web page. And apparently I have a sardonic sense of humor, which I'm not sure what that means, but I'm sure it's just code for "I'm a genius". I do get the sneaking suspicion that if Josh and I were old people wouldn't care as much...at least about our back stories. But that's neither here nor there.

As promised here are some pictures of our progress.

Josh's feeble attempt at reaching the projection window...come on Josh, you can try harder than that. Put your back into it. OH! In case you didn't know, due to limitation in the space we have a very funky set up with the projector in the first cinema. We have to project out at an angle, so that's why the window is so long and the screen wall is canted. Here is a view out the projection window.Like I say, kind of funky, but I like to think it adds character, and an intuitive nature to come up with this clever solution.Here is the big theater, almost ready to clean and paint, but at the moment we are focusing on the cafe...which is spectacular, if I do say so myself

Aside from all the crap lying around, I think it looks pretty good, and the counter top is looking sweet, but I'm not going to show any pictures of that, you will just have to come see it in person. Believe me, it's worth a trip in and of itself.

We are currently finishing the cabinets behind the bar and flooring, then I think we will be done in the cafe and Josh and I can head into the big theater and finish that while the trim carpenters and the electricians finish the cafe. When all is said and done, we are hoping that all of this can be finished in three weeks....we hope...

Lyric Notes Vol. 25

2007-03-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Holy moly (is that how that's spelled?)! I look like hell! I've got bags under my eyes...this is bush, bush league. Josh and I are beat, but we are coming right along. We got the insurance, we are getting really close to being done with the cafe, and our funds are seriously diminishing now, which is a good sign...right? We have more pictures to show you, but I'm going to hold everyone in suspense because I'm that cruel...actually I don't have my camera with me so it will just have to wait.

I have to admit, this is a tough thing to keep up with, and when in the thick of it, I can't really tell how well we are doing. I think we have all the theater stuff lined up, we get our projectors and equipment today and all the distributors have been contacted and applied to...I think; We have most of our cafe equipment bought (minus the ice machine and POS system) and we are lined up with most of our accounts on that side as well...I think; We have all the licenses we need and all the codes have been checked and duly noted...I think; We have plenty of money to finish construction and keep us going for a while...I think; and everything is built to withstand a massive influx of ravenous filmgoers...I think. I'm not sure on any of this because I found my frontal lobe on the coffee table this morning and tried to put it back in, but wasn't entirely successful. But, when all is said and done, at least everyone will have to admit that I'm a damn good tiler.

Lyric Notes Vol. 24

2007-02-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

Whew! It's been a hell of a week...and a half... since I last wrote anything. A lot has happened. We have sheet-rock up and taped, the texture is on the walls in the cafe and the carpenters are currently putting up the corrugated metal on the ceiling in the cafe as well...and just so you know, sheet rock sucks, but the one good thing about it is that Josh and I are now totally cut, which is a first for me. It seems like we are on our way to getting insurance as well, which is pretty crucial to opening the doors, and we are going to start installing the projectors in the next week or so. We are also aiming to install the sweetest counter-top on the face of the earth this weekend, and this you will have to see to believe how sweet it is. Our architect, Dustin, has devised this cast resin counter with movie images below the resin, which looks killer. It's such a great idea that we stayed up until two in the morning obtaining images...which is much later than I am physically capable of staying up, and I love my sleep. If all goes as planned we will have the cafe done by the end of next week and the big theater well on the way to being done.

It's been a lot of 15 hour days for the past two weeks, but hopefully it will all pay off. Needless to say Josh and I are perpetually crabby and tired, but we will be magically transformed once we get closer to opening...I promise...really.

Lyric Notes Vol. 23

2007-02-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

This insurance thing is a pain. We have been trying to get insurance for the past 3 months and not one agency knows how to insure a movie theater/cafe that sells beer and wine. How can that be? there are probably 60-70 in the United States, if not more, and they still haven't figured this out yet? Just make a call and find out. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!

Enough about insurance, I dislike insurance companies almost as much as I dislike green peppers. They are both over-baring and over-powering, yet add no substantial contribution to society. (I'm sure I offended at least 10 people with that analogy...sorry green pepper lovers.) Anyway, Valentine's day, what a wonderful holiday. It's a time for joy, laughter, family getting together and playing boggle, drinking absinthe and shooting BB guns...I love Valentine's day. Oh, wait, that's Columbus day. Valentine's day is always too wet for me, that's why Josh and I spent it drywalling. If all turns out well we will be painting and flooring next week, then trim and finish stuff, and finally the grand opening (note: several items were omitted to save typing and make a point). I'm hoping that we can get open by....sometime...in...the near future. AHA! You thought I was going to give a date didn't you?! Well, I'm not going to paint myself into a corner yet, that will be next week. HAHAHA, another pun...it's all pun-central here. I'm going to stop typing now, before I say something really stupid.

Lyric Notes Vol. 22

2007-02-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have had a productive couple weeks. Josh bought American Psycho and I watched that again...awsome movie. I have also been finding change all over the place and that never hurts...but before I get started here are the pictures of the plaster, before and after.

Here is Andy and Todd helping us smooth out the walls and fill all the holes in the cafe so we can plaster. I want to note that these two took a Saturday to help us doing this crappy job. Thanks fellas.

Todd expressing his exasperation at the sheer crappiness of the walls. Yes, Todd, they have seen better days.

Here is the grand finale of the plaster...

I don't know if you can get a feeling for the space with these pictures, but Josh is always in the same place, if that helps. Either way, the walls no longer look like something straight out of Baghdad, which is better for business.

On to more current affairs. If you were driving by our space on Mountain, you probably saw two extremely attractive men painting the building in a very manly way...that was us. Believe it or not, two big shots like us will occasionally meddle in common labor, such as painting. In case you didn't know what dire need this building was of a paint job here are a couple pictures.

No we did not keep the monkey. I know everyone's heart is shattered, but we are all going to have to get over it together. Maybe we can form a support group or something.

As you can see, a much needed improvement. Wait until you see the canopy painted.

Ooo, who is that lethally handsome man. Boy is he manly.

There he is again. I wish I were as cool as that intensely debonair fellow.

And here is the near finished product. Though we still have to finish it and touch it up, you can now understand the scope in which we are magically transforming this building.

Soon we will have drywall done, and our equipment is being seeped in as we speak, one piece at a time...used of course, but new to us.

Lyric Notes Vol. 21

2007-02-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

We are officially a delinquent establishment. We just had our beer and wine license hearing and they determined that we are of high enough moral fiber that we can now corrupt the next generation of alcoholics. Hooray for us! Actually, Josh needs to go to a alcohol training class so he can learn the intricacies of the trade...because of his rough and tumble past, actually it's mainly because he's the cafe guy and I'm not. So, now all we need to do is get our cafe equipment, our theater equipment, finish construction, paint and trim, set up all our accounts, and everything else and we are in business. But seriously, as far as licenses go I think we are gravy. We have our sales tax licenses (both city and state), we have our movie theater license, as soon as we finish construction we will have our vendor license, and we now have our beer and wine license.

Man, this whole process is cake...easy as pie. A blind man could do this while balancing a live grenade on his nose and teetering over a 5000 foot cliff with monkies flinging crap at him...Ok now I'm rambling, I'll go now.

Lyric Notes Vol. 20

2007-02-02T09:44:00.001-07:00

This has been a pretty amazing week...well, an amazing Wednesday anyway. We had the plaster class and it went splendidly. About 40 people showed up and plastered the hell out of our walls, so we owe a debt of gratitude to all involved. I will have to get some before and after pictures so you can see it (my camera is with my wife at the moment) but, in essence, our vintage WWII bomb shelter, complete with collateral damage, is now magically transformed into a vision of earth-friendly color and splendor. Boy does it look good in this cafe...I mean really good...Hey everyone, come see how good it looks!

On top of all the plastering on Wednesday, we had the carpenters frame a bunch of stuff, and are currently just hours away from being done with that, the heating guys put in all our duct work and Josh and I drank two pots of coffee in a 3 hour period. In short, it was crammed in this building, so Josh and I left and pretended to be on very important errands, it was our first day off in 3 weeks. But we are now back at it, and by the end of next week we should have all the framing, rough electric, rough plumbing and HVAC done so that Josh and I can insulate, drywall and begin the finish work.

Lyric Notes Vol. 19

2007-01-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-01-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

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.

LyricNotes, Vol. 11

2006-12-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

It is snowing like a banshee, and everyone has taken the day off…

Which means I haven't gotten anything done today. But yesterday...oh yesterday....yesterday, yesterday, yesterday...what a day yesterday was. We found ourselves free seats. Yes, that's right, FREEEEEEEE seats! Which saves us at least 6 grand. Then, you know what else we found??? HMMMMM????? That's right, you guessed it, FREE lights, FREE Acoustic board, FREE cherry trim, FREE granite (which we haven't figured out what to do with yet, but we will) and possible FREE bathroom fixtures. "Where did we find this?" you ask, well we have many sources. Our espionage team has been working day and night to find such materials to steal from the Chinese government, but, at long last, all we needed to find was a good salvage person like my wife. At any rate, this cuts our budget a great deal and at the same time will make the whole place seem higher class, hahahahahahahaha, woooohhh!!! That will be a good trick.

LyricNotes, Vol. 10

2006-12-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Send me lawyers, guns and money!!!!

No one ever said this would be fun, and a truer statement was never not spoken. We're getting into the thick of it now with permits, licenses and contracts. Lots of hands to shake, names to sign and catch-22s to grind our teeth over. But when it comes down to it, nothing is so serious that it will stop the process, and that, in and of it's self, is a relief. Had Josh and I been born with a weaker resolve we would have given up a long time ago, but we passed the point of no return about two months ago, so whatever choice we have has long since dissolved.

As you can see by our recently added "New Stuff" category (soon to be renamed) we are now selling T-Shirts, which, if you really want to help and support us, you will buy, because not only are they totally dudemous in a radical sort of way, they are also our only source of income. So, in order to have electricity to run the saws that will build the theater, we need to sell these totally dudemous shirts, which can be purchased by calling us at (970) 493-0893 or emailing us at mail@lyriccinemacafe.comThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . And if you are wondering why Josh is modeling a girls tee, it's because he looked so good in it we had to put it on the site.

LyricNotes, Vol. 9

2006-12-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Boy, it's been a while since I last updated this thing, we have been swamped these last few weeks, plus no internet does put a damper on things as well.

We have our office all set up with phone and DSL and fax, so I'm hoping the all will just fall neatly into place right now with little to no effort. We have had to do a few re-designs to get the budget down, make better use of the space and conform to the laws of physics and thermodynamics...don't ask it's a long story. But, depending on the speed with which our contractor can work, we will be able to submit for the building permit early next week and perhaps start demoing the few things that need to be demoed (I'm not sure "demo" is a word you can use suffixes on, but what the hell). And the lesson I learned this week is, no one likes to make it easy for small businesses. It's not that any given entity wants to stop small business development, they just like to see how long and frustrating they can make the process while not being discouraging enough to stop it. More blanket statements and rash generalities to come as we get deeper into the process.

As things set right now, I'm still trying to learn this whole "internets" thing, so that I can spruce up the site a little more, but as is, my sheer stupidity has proved a greater obstacle than previously anticipated. Josh, in the mean time, is growing his hair out for the first time in...um...more years than I know how to count in roman numerals, as well as a big bushy Magnum P.I. mustache. I would grow a mustache, but Elizabeth (my wife) would divorce me, and the business would collapse...so I'm going to grow mutton chops and limit my eating utensils to a ladle and tongs...yet another long story that's not interesting enough to elaborate on.

Well, my fine and loyal readers, now that I have the super speedy internets and an office that I regularly drop in on, I will cut my mindless ramblings off at this point and keep this site updated on a regular basis. If I can figure it out, we will also be selling T-shirts and stickers on this site, so look for that as well.

LyricNotes, Vol. 8

2006-11-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

You will notice that I am no longer numbering my entries in a dead language...we are already modernizing the theater and we haven't even bought a projector yet.

Ok, where to start? Well, we officially signed away our lives on Monday when the lease was signed. So now we can worry about opening, whew! Hopefully we will submit the building permit early next week, we will submit our beer and wine license today or tomorrow, I've started distribution applications, I'm completely ignoring insurance right now because I don't want to think about it, and I found out this Thanksgiving holiday that vomiting for 9 hours straight through the night isn't as much fun as it sounds like, which was a surprising discovery.

At any rate, Josh and I have spent the last couple days setting up a central office inside the soon-to-be theater so that we don't have all our papers scattered all over Ft. Collins. Here are some photos taken by Jan Kurbetez, the award winning photographer, of the space and us in the space.

A masterful depiction of where the large theater is. This is a wonderfully composed photo from the other direction.

Notice the use of light and shadow while Josh works. Could I look any more important? This man is a master.

LyricNotes, Vol. VII

2006-11-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

I realized now that I don't know roman numerals well enough to continue numbering my notes in them.

So, at the moment, we are still negotiating the lease which is holding everything else up. We still need to submit our plans for the building permit which we can't do until we sign, we can't move forward on any of our licenses, all our funding we've raised is a moot point until we can get this building, and I have decided to name my ulcer Christopher. Christopher seems happy, I bought him some daisy patterned water wings yesterday and took him to the indoor pool, he likes the slide the best.

Perhaps, whenever I become learned enough to do so, I will post our building plans so that everyone can see just how totally, utterly, and completely awsome we are. I still haven't gotten around to posting any pictures, of which there are...um...none yet, but I did find some cool old pictures of the building we want to lease.

LyricNotes, Vol. VI

2006-11-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well my finger is doing better, but I can feel my mind turning into a delicious bowl of cream-o-wheat and sweeten condensed milk.

We have hit a minor snag in the lease that is giving me nightmares. Trying to strike a deal that won’t bury us if we have a stroke of bad luck and at the same time won’t turn our landlord into the biggest philanthropist since Bill Gates is a tough one. He is already very gracious for even considering letting us use the space, seeing as how he was planning to move into it himself by now. So it’s hard to ask for much more than we already have, but here is where it gets complicated. He wants to make some money off this place, that is perfectly understandable, but in order for him to make money off this place we have to be successful. In order for us to be successful he will have to let us get our footing, which means he won’t make any money off of us for a while, which breaks the first rule, but he is willing to compromise. Now we start looking at the long term. He wants to make money off of us for a long time, which is great, but no one can foresee the future, so we don’t want to get ourselves in deeper than we can handle, but we also plan on being in this space for a while and don’t want terms to change for the worse if we have to renew. Yet at the same time, he doesn’t want us in too deep either because he doesn’t want to get stuck with a tenant that can’t make the payments and have to take them to court and blah, blah, blah. Then you factor in the remodel and what he will do if he is stuck with a theater that no one wants and the fact that we don’t want to make so many improvements to a place we don’t own that it would put us under.

It’s a mess.

This doesn’t mean that we aren’t getting the place or that we are at each others throats, it just means that I will be feeding an ulcer until I’m 40.

LyricNotes, Vol. V

2006-11-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Now, for a shameless marketing ploy...

Josh and I have set my lovely wife Elizabeth to the task of carrying out our shameless marketing ploy, which was tested on a slew of cute innocent animals and is assured to brainwash everyone, based on our cruel research. We will start our nefarious plan by taking over Bolivia...actually it's just a bunch of super keen shirts and stickers that we will sell at some outrageous price...well at least slightly outrageous, if not totally unreasonable.

So look out for those, they are coming soon and will be super keen.

LyricNotes, Vol. IV

2006-11-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wish Us Luck!

This is going to be a big week for us. We will, hopefully and finally, get the lease signed, finally get our financing one way or another, whether legally or illegally (see, I know this guy who...um...at any rate, it's a sure fire plan) and perhaps, PERHAPS we can get started on our licenses and permits, of which one could say there are a plethora. But don't hold me to any of this, if there is one thing I've learned from this process it's to brush my teeth at least twice a day (it's gonna be a while before we get dental insurance), but only slightly less so, I've learned to count on nothing. We need at least three back up plans for every step we take.

Also, we've been getting emails in regards to how people can help with this project. Well one excellent way to insure the opening of this theater and it's success is to become an investor, or let us know about someone who might want to invest. These are not donations, investors own a part of the business and get a share of the profits. But also know that no one is going to get rich off of this, including me and Josh. But the more investors we get, the more start up capital we have, the more start up capital we have, the more likely it is we will succeed, the more likely it is that we succeed, the better we feel, so eat your beans with every meal. So if you or someone you know has some money they would like to put into the community and get a modest return, let us know.

Lyric Notes, Vol. III

2006-11-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hooray for us!

We got a full page article in the Coloradoan, complete with an enormously huge picture of Josh and I reflecting really hard. Now, this has turned out to be a mixed blessing because people are actually reading the blather that I’m writing. So I guess that means no more deep contemplative confessions about my childhood or the crimes I’m planning on committing.

One thing I would like to clear up is that this last weekend was an extremely turbulent mess. We went from a two screen to a one screen and back to a two screen in a matter of two days. And our budget went from 170K to god knows how much and back down, then back up, and finally after four sleepless nights, we have come up with two very reasonable layouts for the theater that not only bring our budget back down to the original estimate (or lower!), but we will also be able to fit more seats in the large theater and open sooner. The only good explanation for how such a drastic change is possible is that I’m a genius that can not only manipulate money and costs, but also space and time, and everyone who knows me should count themselves lucky that they can be acquainted such a person. There literally are no limits to my powers.

Other than this last weekend, things seem to be going great. Our investors are coming right along, the banks are... banks, and our land lord is being very nice to us. Oh, and my mom doesn’t think that anything on this website is even remotely funny... Thanks, Mom.

LyricNotes, Vol. II

2006-10-28T19:56:00.000-06:00

I’m officially a cripple, now all I need is some government assistance.

Funny how these things work out, we are getting closer and closer to starting this theater. We have a place now, looks like we might get a loan, the investors are coming right along, then BOOM, you fall on a flower pot injuring one of the most vital appendages on your body….your pinkie. Never fails, happens every time. I guess it’s as serious as a pinkie injury can get…severed all tendons, nerves and arteries. The catch phrase for the doctors is “you did a good job with this one,” like it takes years of dedicated study and vigorous training to almost cut you damn finger off.

At any rate, enough about my flawless stupidity, the theater is at a pretty crucial cross road, we have to decide if we are going make this a one or two screen theater. The history here is that we had originally anticipated opening a one screen because none of the places we looked at were big enough to house two screens, then we found 300 E. Mountain and the owner was even willing to lease it to us. BONUS! It’s big enough for two screens, but it turns out that the sound proofing is a tremendous expense, plus redoing the already new HVAC system so that the sound won’t carry through the ducts. So, all in all, we are looking at bare minimum $50,000 on top of an already inflated remodel budget. Ugh. So it's either start later at a high cost with two screens, or risk making less money with one….and make no joke about it, this is a very serious conundrum, even our theater owner mentors don’t know what to say. There are serious benefits and costs to going either way that boggle the mind to compare….I think I would sever another finger just attempting to type down the complexities.

I will let all my avid readers know what we decide when the time comes.

LyricNotes, Vol 1.5 - An Introduction

2006-10-28T19:13:00.000-06:00

I realized I started this blog with no proper intro, or at least a really lame one.

So here is a little about the totally radically guys who are starting the best thing to come to Ft. Collins since the Hunt Club (that’s a really fancy restaurant for those of you that don’t know, I highly recommend it, great lobster).

My name is Ben Mozer. I’m writing these entries because I have access to a computer at work and Josh doesn’t. Josh Glossi is my business partner (“partner” is so insinuating anymore, not that there is anything wrong with that). I’m 27, he’s 26, and we are both outstandingly intelligent, good looking, well dressed, and completely modest (I’ll post our glamor shots later). Like I’ve said before we have been friend since before we can remember and have kept in contact to one degree or another over the years.

I moved to Bozeman, MT, to get my BA in Film (and skiing) only to realize that getting a BA in film is about as useful as getting a BA in baton twirling. But that didn’t stop me from marrying my high school sweetheart, moving to LA, having a child, deciding LA is not my cup of tea, moving back to Ft. Collins and having another child, all on about 400 calories (extra points if you can name that last quote).

While I was scattering a trail of brain cells across America, wondering how the hell I’m going to support myself, let alone a wife and child, Josh was livin’ it up in the Fort. Swingin’ and swaying that sexy bachelorhood all over town, and getting an impressive double hernia surgery in the process (that was a wild night) he landed at Cozzola’s and has been managing that longer than I’ve ever had a job. He can probably fill you in on the details when we set up our office.

Anyways, I met up with him in May of ’06, told him this idea and, both being innovators and movers and shakers, (probably more out of desperation than anything) we jumped right into the business plan, searching for a space that can house both a movie theater and a café in downtown, and of course money. (note: if anyone has $5,000 laying around and really want to see this theater happen, call us)

We got this website idea from the Moxie in Springfield…well I should say that we stole this idea from Dan at the Moxie. As far as websites go, he is Voltron to our Power Rangers. But we have to start somewhere and steal from someone. Can’t be expected to come up with our own ideas here can we?

LyricNotes, Vol. I

2006-10-16T19:08:00.000-06:00

Well, here is the first post on this site, and since I don’t know what to say, and no one is going to read this, I will probably make it short. First, I’ll give a little background. I was born a poor black child…that may be too much background...

How bout starting with me and Josh. Josh and I grew up together in the same church, his dad being the pastor, and mine being a guy that attended regularly, much to my childhood chagrin. After school we pretty much lost track of each other until I heard he was working in a restaurant downtown. So one day I stopped in and told him about this idea for a movie theater/café, and he was all “huh.” And I was all “yeah.” and he was all “cool” and I was all “Isn’t it though?” And I guess the rest is history. We’ve been working on it for about 6 months now and the opening date is on a very hazy horizon.

In case any of you theoretical readers are wondering, starting a movie theater/café is a tricky business. I won’t go into to much detail right now, or probably ever, because I’ve had to repeat myself too many times. If you would like to know how to open a theater go to The Moxie’s website. Otherwise this is mostly a blog about what the status of our theater is, and the status of my mood, and the status of the Josh’s love life, and a status of exactly how adorable my kids are.

Right now we are in limbo. We are waiting for a loan and waiting for a bid from the contractor and waiting for the lease to go through. Waiting sucks, but I suppose it’s something we will have to deal with.