With Eric working the Labor Day weekend, I’m thinking of catching a movie or two on base. So hopefully he’ll let me have the car for a day.

THE PRO’S OF SEEING A MOVIE ON BASE

• It’s free…zip…zilch…nada. Don’t even have to show my military ID to get in.
• It’s never packed (as evidenced above).
• I can pull off great butt shots like this one.
  • The girl didn’t pull her top down when she got up.

Top: Army slang for the jacket-like uniform piece. Minds out of the gutter, please.

THE CON’S OF SEEING A MOVIE ON BASE

• Well, it’s not so much a con, but before any previews start, we all have to stand at attention -
  • once for the playing of the Korean national anthem,
  • then for the playing of the American anthem…
  • and well, I tend to forget. It’s just not something that’s done in any theater back home. So inevitably I’m the last one up.
• Movies are shown in an auditorium, not really a theater – so the screen deceptively sits back a ways.
• There’s only one movie screen that plays twice a night during the week & 3 times on the weekends.
• They generally play one movie a day for two days straight, then it’s on to the next one in line.
  • For example, Public Enemies plays Wed & Thurs this week.
• They don’t dim the lights until the movie actually starts.
  • Never realized how much that little difference makes to the movie-going experience.
• The minute the movie ends…and I mean the absolute split-second minute the movie ends…the lights all come up.
  • No sitting in the dark enjoying the credits roll as you savor the movie you just saw before getting up.
  • (I’m a sitter – I like to watch the credits. Maybe not all of them, but at least some & with the lights on, again – not such a great experience.)
• When going to the movies by yourself, there’s no real opportunity to slip in quietly & not be noticed. I always run into at least 4 people who work with Eric.
  • So when taking shots like this one, I really have to be sneaky about it. Because it wouldn’t look so good for me to get caught without my hand over my heart during the anthem.

I’m giving you this little teaser because what I really want is to highlight the dramatically different propaganda visuals used between the Korean anthem & the American one.

But I need to go back to the theater this weekend & see if I can’t sneak out a few more pictures. Maybe if I can position the camera just right on the back of the chair so I don’t have to hold it, I can record them for you.

So what are your plans for the holiday?