NEW FAQS (MAY 1998)

Q:  Do you allow dogs in your theater?

A:  My dog can frequently be found lounging on the stairs up to the booth or in front of the lobby sofa (older Australian Shepherd). However, my dog biting someone is about as likely as Clinton taking a vow of celibacy. Also, my dog will not wander into the snack bar area and my wife is usually here to watch her so I don’t have to touch her when I'm working. I have let customers with lap dogs in for the movie (on very slow nights), after they swear on a stack of Gideons that they will not let the animal’s feet touch the ground and that if it barks once, it’s back out to the car. I would really think twice before allowing two dogs in at the same time.

There are some people who are allergic to animals, so I keep that in mind whenever someone asks if they can bring their dog in.

Q:  What happened to the small popcorn cups? Why bags?

A:  In our undying concern for the environment, we changed over to the recyclable paper bags. The real reason: Popcorn prices go up in the summer like gas prices (summer movies mean more people buying popcorn). It was a choice between raising prices or going to a cheaper container. The price will go up 50 cents in the future, but this should hold it for a spell.

Q:  Are all your movies going to run two weeks?

A:  We are getting to a comfort level with the movie companies where we can book a movie for a week with the option to go two if it takes off (or "has legs", to use theater-speak). Often we have a damned good movie, but the turn-out was low. So, I know there are more people out there to see it. I'll hold it over and whine at the Avalon-ites to get their butts in to see it.

In the real world, this means half the shipping charges, and I don’t have to spend my Friday building up and tearing down film.

Q:  When are you getting air conditioning?

A:  We are going through the contortions of installing an evaporative cooler in the auditorium. This should make a huge difference in the warm days ahead.

Q:  Your women’s room was very cold in the winter.

A:  You’re right, it was.

Q:  Are you hiring?

A:  I have two 16 year-old daughters who have allowances to earn. Our seating capacity keeps that to about all the help I need. However, if you walked in and knew how to run movie projectors...

Q:  Why don’t you train someone to run projectors?

A:  Any chimp can learn to thread a projector. It’s knowing what to do when something goes wrong that makes a projectionist. You have to be pretty anal retentive to keep the system clean and running at its peak. Since the distance from the screen to the projector is short, the image can very easily go out of focus as the glass (lens) warms up. Finding people who are mechanical and on the ball enough to make sure the presentation is as good as it can be, is a little tricky.

Q:  Are you going to make it?

A:  Jury’s still out on that one.

Q:  Sometimes it seems as though the image is flickering more than it should be.

A:  Big bulb, close to screen. When we show a Cinemascope picture, (Kundun, Hindi movies) you’ll notice no flickering. Still working on getting it gone from the flat movies.

Q:  Why is it cool in your auditorium?

A:  Because I'm not. Tell me it’s cool and I'll do something about it. Say nothing and the temp stays where it’s comfy for me.

Q:  Sometimes it seems the image is out of focus.

A:  Sometimes it is. Since I check the film a dozen or so times during the presentation, it is rarely my fault. More often than not, it’s the cinematographer. I just about went nuts during Mrs. Brown because she would be "soft" but the wall paper pattern behind her would be tack sharp. Nothing I can do about that.

Q:  When will you have beer?

A:  I'm having one now.

Thank you for the support and encouragement so many of you have shown.