theatres & sticky floors

Had fun with Jodi last night. We met at the Silver City cineplex complex at Yonge and Eglinton...one of the mega-theatre structures that have been popping up all over Toronto over the past couple of years. Part of me sorely misses the good ol' "one screen, one movie" theatres of yesteryear, like University Theatre on St. George Street (*** My friend Andy has gently corrected me. The University Theatre was on Bloor just west of Belair...sorry about that!).

Y'know, the type with old-fashioned seats and slightly sticky floors, where people lining up outside the building were waiting for a single movie. On the other hand, I find myself strangely drawn to the light-and-sound circus of the new mega-theatre complexes, sort of like a child compelled by the flashing lights and sound effects of a new toy. After I'm in the lobby I'll stand frozen for several long minutes, paralyzed by the barrage of choices. What movie to see? Sappy or adventure? And what about refreshments...Evian or Fruitopia? Plain pretzel or cinnamon sugar-coated? Ok, so maybe that last choice isn't really that hard, but you still get my drift...

But back to last night. The Silver City complex was in a mall just off Yonge/Eglinton; Jodi and I had dinner in the Pickle Barrel just beside it. Ironic, since we ALWAYS have dinner at PB on our Urban Tapestry nights (but up in Richmond Hill, in Centerpoint Mall), and could have chosen another restaurant. We couldn't help ourselves, we were compelled.

The Road To Eldorado was great; we both quite enjoyed it. Animated movies have certainly gotten a lot more sophisticated since I was a kid. Afterward, Jodi and I went back to the Pickle Barrel for coffee and to share a chocolate mousse cake we had lusted over earlier but didn't have time to order. Gabbed lots, finally went home around 10:30 pm.

Got home to find the last half of my book payment from Writer's Digest waiting for me, woohoo!

A FKO Highlight Scott Snyder has a great FilKONtario convention report online, for those interested. FKO Tidbits continued... Joel Polowin's Chocolate Butterscotch Buckle cake and Interfilk: I bought Joel's cake in the Interfilk auction. I had some as a late night snack. I had some for breakfast the next morning. I had some as an after-lunch snack. Yummmm. Here's the recipe, for those interested. Interfilk auctions are way fun to watch, by the way...I highly recommend them for those of you who have never attended. Lots of schtick, fun, laughter. GREAT environment for people-watching; observing how the runners coax an extra bid from an audience member (and what they will do to get that bid :-D), watching someone agonize whether or not to raise their bid or not...and beneath it all is the knowledge that it's all for supporting Interfilk. Allison, Jodi and I have always been super-grateful to Interfilk for their support. Interfilk was responsible for allowing Scott (and Amanda!) to get to FilKONtario this year (and Erica Neely next year, yay!). They were responsible for us meeting Phil and Lissa, and they're responsible for sending Annie and Tim to Gafilk next year. For a full lists of Interfilk guests, see the Interfilk website. If you haven't already, please do check out the Interfilk page and suppport it however you can...buying items at auctions (small silly things often go for a dollar or thereabouts...this may not seem like much, but every little bit helps!), donating items or funds, or just by GOING to the auction and supporting it with your presence.