Foolish Acts People Pull at Movie Theaters Across America

Movie tickets are too expensive these days for anyone to have to put up with rudeness at the cineplex. Yet, it’s common to find men, women and teenagers acting a fool in theaters across North America.

Someone brought their screaming baby to a theater where the Sci-Fi action film Insurgent was playing. Miles away at another theater, one woman played video games with the volume turned up on her cell phone during a showing of Marvel’s The Avengers; as if other people in nearby seats didn’t get enough of her earlier antics including scene-by-scene commentary with another moviegoer about The Hulk’s size.

Then there are those folks who recorded the big screen using their smartphone (Um… Isn’t that illegal?) when the martial arts action adventure Falcon Rising was on the festival circuit. Just a few states away, someone pulled the fire alarm during an evening showing of the romantic comedy Couples Retreat. It was the type of foolishness that caused movie goers to be evacuated until firefighters could determine it was a false alarm. One guy at a theater where the comedy Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain was playing decided to catch up on his Zzzz and started snoring so loudly that you couldn’t tell if it was part of the jokes or not.

A is for AmericaThese real life occurrences of individuals who didn’t think to be considerate for others around them include instances of people deliberately disrupting everyone else’s movie going experience. Even in everyday activities, it’s the simple things that really matter in the difference between whether we hold being respectful toward others in high regard or not. The foolishness going on at movie theaters in America is a prime example of how our “civilized” nation still has a long way to go in being the model of what we collectively like to deem good behavior.

What's the most annoying incident YOU ever experienced or witnessed at a movie theater?

Flashback Friday #8 - Spam and Fifty Shades of Me

Consider today’s post a companion to the 50 things about me that are live on the A-to-Z Blog! In my co-host introduction for the 2015 challenge, I also answer five questions from participants including Naila Moon who asked “What do you do with Spam?” It’s hard to tell if she was referring to spammy blog comments, the food, email or some other type such as junk mail. Still, her question reminded me of the time not too long ago when I came across this message from “Dixie” that gave me a good laugh:

Um....nope, I have my own but thanks anyway!

Did you read my Meet your Co-Hosts! Feature at the A-to-Z Blog today? Hop on over there and let me know if we have anything in common!

Every day I’m Shufflin’ - An A-to-Z Challenge Theme Reveal

“Freddy vs. Jason” scratch art by Scott Dyer, whose latest work includes Mystery Box sculptures made with single playing cards from theory11’s collaboration with STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS director J.J. Abrams. Today is the day where I join hundreds of bloggers who are letting our readers in on what we have in store for the 2015 April A-to-Z Challenge.

Having previously gone with a theme for three consecutive years and also winging it once before, I’m aware of the advantages as well as the drawbacks to both sides of the “theme or no theme?” coin.

Since then, I’ve made a wish, threw that coin in the magical fountain of nonconformity, and here is what washed up on nearby shores:

A Mixed Bag of Tricks

My editorial calendar for April basically consists of me pulling rabbits out of hats while blogging through the alphabet. In other words, my theme is to not have a theme at all and just write about subjects that I would normally post here anyway. While the title of this theme is inspired in part by the randomness of subjects I’ll be writing about, it also serves as a nod to the card shuffling wizards at theory11 who demonstrate that great art can even change the way you eat Oreo cookies. 

It still helps to have a sense of direction, even with no theme. Keeping this in mind, my upcoming A-Z posts are prompted by blogging ideas from Sara Lancaster at No. 2 Pen. Needless to say, I think my handful of years participating in this blog hop makes me pretty well versed in the overall A-to-Z blogging experience. Thus, I do not take the benefits of having a theme for granted. To that end, I’m using the best of both worlds so my blogging can still go according to plan, without me having to do too much of any planning at all…if that makes any sense.

You can expect to read about a myriad of topics including: unorthodox parenting advice, Rocky Balboa, poetry, being a superhero, hacking your movie theater experience, random acts of kindness and switching careers.

Some of my A-to-Z Challenge posts will be lengthy while others come in shorter than a paragraph or two. Most are on the verge of being medium sized blog posts. One thing to count on is they will all be related, in one way or another, to the hypnotic world of motion pictures. I plan to enjoy this versatile ride through the alphabet and I hope you do the same, whether that’s here or on your own blog.

Today as the A-to-Z community discloses our top-secret blogging strategies for April, I’m also happy to announce the release of theory11’s vintage Contraband book lamp!

The Contraband book lamp with a hidden safe is available at theory11.Made with an Edison light bulb, two 50 year-old books and an antique power switch, this functional lamp is full of surprises. Individually handcrafted by illusion engineer Ryan Edwards, the lamp slides open to reveal a wooden storage compartment, filled with four decks of Contraband playing cards.

theory11 also indicates that the deck contains secret imagery hidden within the interior design of its gold and black foil tuck case.

“There isn’t a set of playing cards with this degree of detail and execution,” says Acquire Magazine.

Who do YOU think would win in a street fight, Freddy or Jason?

How much progress have YOU made in YOUR blogging plans for April?

What was the most recent card game YOU played?