Ticket Stub Saga #2: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor
Director: Michael Bay
Release Date: 25 May 2001
Starring: Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale

This is another one I was really excited about. It was released on a Wednesday, Memorial Day of 2001, so I had to wait until Saturday the 28th before I went to see it. I apparently loved it so much that I went to see it again the next week. This happened quite often, but what I don’t understand is how I managed to convince Mom to take me twice. I was in 9th grade when Pearl Harbor was released, and I remember talking about it in Mr. Hocott’s Algebra class. Anyway. This was a movie that Mom actually watched with Crissy and me, and I’m pretty sure I embarrassed everyone involved. I was literally bawling at the end of the movie. I mean, I was nearly hysterical. To this day, I’ve never cried that much in a movie. The only thing I could compare it to (in the entertainment industry) was when I read the last couple of chapters of Marley and Me by John Grogan. I was completely beside myself in both cases. As we walked out of the theater I remember Mom looking at me like I was ridiculous. And I was, that’s for sure.

Ticket Stub Saga#1

Ok, so now I start the Ticket Stub Saga. In each post, I’ll include information about the movie (with the help of one of the most visited sites in the Jones’ household: IMDB) and a picture of the stub, as well as who I was with, what were up to, and any other insignificant details I’d like to include. 

Now for the first stub:

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Director: Jay Roach
Release Date: 11 June, 1999
Starring: Mike Meyers and Heather Graham

So apparently I was really excited about this movie, seeing as how I went to see it on opening night. Actually, no, it was opening…afternoon. It was during the summer, obviously, and I was only 13, so my mom must have dropped off Jessica and me at the movies while she went to see something else. That’s what often happened. It’s funny to think that Jessica and I were best friends at this time, especially considering our relationship, or lack thereof, today. But regardless, we were best friends (along with Crissy), and we loved some Austin Powers. The Spy Who Shagged Me became the movie we rented from the Midland Mini Mart every time we were bored for the next few years. We spent lots of weekends at Jessica’s house, Crissy and I did; somehow John Aaron always managed to be included, too. But anyway, that’s the story of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Just two 13 year old girls enjoying a lazy Friday afternoon in the summer, who never thought they’d run out of things they had in common in the years following graduation, resulting in the end of a friendship as the two grew further and further apart until they eventually no longer talked. But hey, at least we’ll always have The Spy Who Shagged Me.
 

Ticket Stubs

I love going to the movies. The whole experience is just something that makes me happy. The smells, the seats, the popcorn, the company, and especially the previews. In 1999, I began keeping my ticket stubs to the movies I went to. Well, to be more exact, I started keeping movie ticket stubs when they actually started printing information on the tickets. I have a few of the regualr red, generic tickets that you can get anywhere, but I couldn’t even tell you what movies those are from. But in 1999, I began keeping my stubs. Why? I don’t know. It’s just something I did, and to this day I still hold on to every stub I get. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for nearly ten years…

Anyway, the point to this is that I never really know what I’m going to do with the things. Right now they are kept in a little box inside my fire proof safe. That seems a little extreme, but for some reason the thought of them burning up in a fire, or getting lost, just really upsets me. These little stubs act as a record of all the good fun I’ve had over the years at the movies (and not so good fun, come to think of it). I can go through them and tell you a little story about every ticket stub. Who I was with, what we were doing, why I wanted to see the film, etc. It’s kind of like a scrapbook. It’s quite a collection, I might add. As a movie-theater-experience lover, I used to go to the movies a lot. I mean, A LOT. I don’t go as much as I’d like now, but I still go a fair bit.

In order to make use of these little puppies, I’ve decided to go through every ticket stub and write a little story about the experience. I can’t start it today, becasue I’m at work, and the stubs aren’t readily available. But I’ll start tomorrow, and it’ll be good. Stay tuned for the main event, after this preview!

Diets, Couches, and High School Musicals

Well, my new blog is coming along quite nicely. Lots of pictures of Cairns, and that’s always good. We all know that I have plenty of time to kill at work, so the blog is no trouble at all.

I’ve also started a diet. That’s not something I usually go public about, but oh well. The goal is to lose 20 pounds, and I’ve already lost between 3-4, so I’m on the right track. It’s a lot easier to do once you see your hard work paying off. 

Today Mom, Hailey, and I went yard-sailing in west Little Rock, and it was a success. I wasn’t expecting to buy a single thing, but the first place we stopped had this great couch that looked almost brand new. After we all tested it out, I decided to go ahead and buy it for a whopping $75. It’s a definite upgrade from the old black futon we use now. Poor Sparky isn’t going to know what to do now that he can’t get under the couch. At least now I won’t have to try to clean up his messes of ripped-up paper underneath it. Oh, and the couch folds out into a bed, so that’s a plus. 

After our morning of yard sales, we went to watch High School Musical 3. I’m not ashamed to admit that I loved it. I enjoyed the first two, and this one was just great. I think NPR had the best description of the movie. They said it was like cotton candy. It’s sweet, light, kids adore it, and to adults it’s slightly sickening. And that’s completely true. There were tons of little kids there, eating it up. While it is awfully teenybopper-ish, it’s still entertaining and fun for the adults that were there, also.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Few things in life excite me more than the release of a trailer for a much anticipated movie. In fact, about once every week or two I got to www.apple.com/trailers and watch every trailer that might even remotely interests me. If I miss any previews at the movie theater, I’m royally pissed. There’s just something about a teaser trailer that gets me really excited. Today I found out that the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released, and click here to see it. It’s great, and I’m pumped for November.

Oh, a new Twilight trailer was also released. It can be found at the official movie site. It’s going to be a good winter.

On a completely unrelated topic, what’s the deal with Kid Rock? He’s been, where, exactly, for the last couple of years? And then all of a sudden he releases this new song, and everyone loves him again. Ok, the only reason people like that song is because that song is pretty much Sweet Home Alabama. Come on! That’s cheating, Kid. That’s cheating. And I’m pretty sure Vanilla Ice got sued by Queen for doing something similar to that, right? Anyway. That’s my two cents.