There's a post at Marginal Revolution about the fall of Hollywood. I think that most of the points expressed are right on, but one important one is missing.

Theatres suck.

I went to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Friday and I was once again reminded that I hate theatres. The only time I even go to a theatre is when I have those super saver tickets that my mother in law gives us for Christmas. I always cringe when getting this present because it means that I once again have to go down to the local theatre and sit through a two hour bout of trying to buy into the fictional, fantasy world on the screen while the yelling, talking, baby crying, seat kicking of the real world keeps pulling me back.

I talked to one of my friends about this and they had no idea why I wouldn't want to go to the theatre. The conversation went something like this:

Them: "But it's fun going to the theatre."

Me: "No, it's not. The tickets cost way too much, the food cost way too much and I could have just as much, or more, fun doing something else with my time."

Them: "But then you don't see the new movies right away."

Me: "But I don't need to see the new movies right away. I can wait until my local library gets them or when they come out on NetFlix."

Them: "But the sound and screen are so much better in the theatre."

Me: "Actually, they're not. The sound in a theatre is usually way too loud and it usually has a bad echo where you can never tell what the female lead is saying. The screen is also crap, with rips and spit balls stuck to it. I can never take my eye off of that one extra bright spot on the screen that goes down the main character's cheek in all the close ups. My television screen at home is way better and the quality of DVDs are good enough that I don't notice a difference."

Them: "Well, you just don't get it."

Me: "You're right."

Okay, the conversation didn't go exactly like this, but this version makes my arguments sound so much better. She did end with "You don't get it."

The only time I like theatres is when we go to a movie that's been out for a while and we're the only ones in the theatre. That kicks ass, but it usually means that the movie sucks and there's no way to tell before hand if a movie will have no one watching it. If there was, I doubt the theatre would still be showing it.

Found via BoingBoing

I think I'm back from my summer blog vacation now.

Alert for all you Linux fans out there. The Ohio LinuxFest Pre-Registration is now open. I was at the Ohio LinuxFest last year, and for being a free event, it's worth every penny.

The Ohio LinuxFest is actually something I would pay to go to, which makes it being a free event even better. They don't have a schedule of talks up yet, but I'm willing to bet that they will be as good as or better than last year.

If you live in the area, I hope you'll come on down and check it out. And, Alan, don't miss it two years in a row!