Dave's Thoughts of the Day: December 5th

Hidee ho...

The Lakers really made me upset last night.   This team is so disorganized and pretty worthless with closing out games.  You know what though?  There's a good reason for that, and it's very sneaky.   It's also a point that EVERY single person on ESPN/NBATV/TNT has missed so far.  Wait until you hear what it is... It will be on our podcast tonight: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/daveinthecity/2012/12/06/lakers-struggles-nfl-random-qs-12-05-12

The more I think about this theory the more I'm buying into it.  I CANNOT wait to go public with this. To be honest, some of my theory has already been posted on Twitter but I'll flesh out the deets.

Last night included a trip to the Cheesecake Factory.   After a brutal loss like what the Lakers did last night, sometimes what you need is Cheesecake.  I went with a friend of mine and we talked all sorts of fun things.

The friend was amazed at my recall with popular music.   A song would come onto the sound system at Cheesecake Factory, and I'd identify the artist, song title, and in some cases even the year.  This was the impetus for my skill at SongPop.   Years and years of listening to "American Top 40" in reruns coupled with my religious tuning into 80's night on the local radio station helped me get very good at identifying songs and artists.   The 70's were filled in with the help of XM Radio plus AT40 reruns on XM Radio.

The 60's were a little tougher, but fortunately I used my memories of listening to the old KRTH 101 when it was a 50's and 60's station.  The 90's occurred through osmosis and research.

It occurred to me why I was in such a funk over the last two days on the blog.  I didn't get out much those days.   It's a cautionary tale of what happens if you become a homebody:  without going out there are no stories to tell no memories to share with other people.   That's no way to live.  Watching things on TV are insufficient to me.   TV is not real life and real life is not TV.

Speaking of "things that are not like other things," have you seen the concept of the "Dine-In" theater?   Movie theater companies take old, rundown theaters and refurbrish them for the purpose of installing easy chairs with mini tables in each auditorium.  So, it's a regular theater (not even with stadium seating) with these easy chairs and buttons and tiny tables, akin to a first class flight.  Push the button and you can order a full 3-4 course meal.

All right, so that sounds good on paper, but let me be honest here:  I don't go to the movie theater to eat dinner, and I don't go to a restaurant to watch a movie.   Trying to combine "Dinner and a Movie" into one amalgamated sequence doesn't do it for me.  Think about this for a second...   You're watching whatever new movie is out, say "Skyfall," and it gets exciting... Bond's hanging off the edge of some building... now do you want a waiter to ask you for dessert WHILE THE SCENE IS HAPPENING?  Haha!  Now that would be nuts!

How could you even see with the darkened theater?   Trying to slice a prime rib as the previews start.  It just sounds like a mess.   Or, consider this:  imagine you're in a decent 3-4 star restaurant.  You sit down, and you get a nice view of the Marina, but THEN the windows fog up and become a giant movie screen.  Instead you're seeing campy quick hits for Adam Sandler's latest release, some other "the world is going to die unless our hero does something" action thriller, and a dopey romantic comedy.  What a distraction!  When you go out to eat, don't you just want to eat and talk?

That, in a paragraph, is why I feel like the Dine-In Theater doesn't make sense.  With that said, I send my best to all the movie theater companies who are trying to give their old screens one last hurrah.   Best of luck.

and with that I am out.  Have a good one everyone.