where: AMC VAN NESS 14 in San Francisco, CA
when: Monday, June 14th, 2010
show: 11:45 a.m.
costs: $6.00 Ticket + $8.10 Bart Train Ticket + $1.00 Bart Parking Fee + $4.00 Carquinez Bridge Toll = $19.10
auditorium: 9, on the 4th Floor
seat: 4th row, 6th column
synopsis: A family, the Winslows, moves to Orange County, CA, with their cat and dog. The dog, Marmaduke, has a hard time adjusting. Awkward moments and chaos ensue.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Doggy door; 2.) "Wait for it"; 3.) Ejector; 4.) Company car; 5.) Bark Park; 6.) "I was a lawyer"; 7.) Pig-cow; 8.) Dance machine; 9.) Bosco's party; 10.) Surfer; 11.) Doggy make-over; 12.) Mock fight; 13.) Dog surfing contest; 14.) Dog training; 15.) Junkyard; 16.) New clique; 17.) "My wife's rule"; 18.) Party gone awry; 19.) Lap top; 20.) Old Yeller; 21.) Day after; 22.) Broken water main; 23.) Aqueduct; 24.) Dalmatian dog; 25.) "It's Mr. Winslow"; 26.) "Claiming the spot"; 27.) Bee; 28.) Dancing dogs; and 29.) One last time.
audience reaction: None. I was the only one in the auditorium. And I almost dozed-off a few times.
recommendation: This is for kids who love dogs, especially the kind of dogs that talk and dance.
spoiler alert! Since this is primarily aimed at the very juvenile crowd, I shall skip on the details. Suffice it to say that two things predominate this movie: Bathroom Humor and Advertising for a Pet-Store Chain!
fyi: One of my friends had a Rottweiler once. He trained it to fart in a crowd. It was not uncommon for that dog, Dozer, to walk across the living room as we're all watching TV and to "break wind" quite audibly for all of us to hear. But if a Rottweiler wants to fart, who am I to tell it, "No!" huh ...?
The first and only other time that I was here at AMC Van Ness 14 was about 9 or 10 years ago.
word of advice: Pets are family, too!
If you're a sufficiently good-looking enough kind of guy, don't go walking down Polk Street in San Francisco or you'll be solicited by members of the wrong sex. It happened to me 9 or 10 years ago. I avoided this particular street like the plague this time around!
tidbits: The first thing that I did today was to go to CSAA to make a payment on my monthly car insurance because I might be driving around in Michigan these next few days and the post office prematurely put all my mail on hold so that I couldn't mail my payment in. Also, I made sure to get an Indiana map this time around.
When I arrived at the El Cerrito Del Norte Bart Station, I noticed that they now have a week-day parking fee between 4 a.m. and 3 p.m. And they changed the automated turnstiles somewhat so that I had a hard time getting through. In frustration, I asked an approaching passenger how the thing works. She told me to go through the one with a green light on--I guess that that's supposed to be self-explanatory. Duh ....
Then I asked the booth agent where I should go for my parking fee for parking space # 1363. He gave me a round-about answer so that he finally had to accompany me to the parking fee machine to show me how it works. Well, that made it two "Duhs" for me.
I got off at the Powell Street station at around 9:50 a.m. And as I was adding value to my ticket, a middle-aged Chinese lady was singing for "spare change" Bette Midler's, "The Rose" , in an off-key and "bored" way. Who knows, she might be related to William Hung, my idol. I put two quarters in her "tip/alms" hat for her efforts.
Then, I walked up Powell Street to the nearby Burger King for breakfast. The security guard posted at the door must have been, at least, seven feet tall! Holy, Goliath! For my meal, I ordered the # 4: Breakfast Wrap with Decaf ( plus 6 sugar packets, 3 creams, and 4 ketchup packs ) for a grand total of $5.79.
After breakfast, I walked up Powell Street to make a left on Post Street. I talked to my friend, Hector, on my cellphone, partway up the street.
I had a doctor's appointment today in San Francisco, just two and a half blocks away from this cinema. So I decided to "kill two birds with one stone."
I got a Free Small Popcorn on my movie watcher card. But I'm saving that freebie for Thursday, when I'm in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with my sister and her family, where we're gonna watch the KARATE KID movie.
I was just gonna buy a small soda, but there was nobody at the concession counter on the fourth floor. So I just skipped on this one and made a bee-line for the auditorium.
Strange as it may sound, there are actually streets in San Francisco where you can detect the scent of marijuana wafting in the air! I could smell it in three or four places--that, and human urine!
As I continued on down Hyde Street towards the Civic Center Bart Station, this skinny Chinese guy who's a few inches taller than I am beat me at walking! I can walk at a pretty good clip, but I guess he had the advantage of having a longer stride. I lengthened my stride a bit to keep pace with him. But the ball of my feet started to feel like they were about to get blistered so I slowed down to my usual pace just as he made a left down a side street from the United Nations plaza.
At the Civic Center Bart Station, this teenage blonde asked me if I had a dollar. I said, No. People, if you ask for money, don't go walking around with the attitude that the world owes you something--that's not how it works. Be polite! And, remember ... "Beggars can't be choosers."
I was gonna head on home after the movie, but I changed my mind and swung by the El Cerrito Safeway because I haven't been to that store in, at least, 16 years. I bought a can of Safeway evaporated milk, two 2-Litre Safeway sodas ( Diet and Root Beer ) and two Safeway French Bread Loaves. Then, I dropped them off at my friend, Hector's, place in Oakland since he's addicted to Safeway French Bread!
After dinner, I left promptly since I still had a "last-minute" shopping to do and because I still had to finish packing for my vacation trip.
I hope that, together, both of my bags will weigh under 50 pounds or I'll be charged extra by United Airlines.
