Karen’s Opinion

Hubby and I enjoyed a night out on Saturday. We had heard that the old Eagle Theater in Wabash had been newly painted, carpeted and generally refurbished. My husband has many memories of attending the old Roxy Theater where he grew up. Some of the memories include sticky floors and throwing red hots over the balcony. He was a bad boy! Sadly, the Roxy was torn down and a parking lot marks that spot. Thankfully, someone had the insight and fortitude to raise funding for the renovation of the Eagle. Many volunteers worked hard and are still working as even the kids behind the candy counter are volunteers.

We arrived at the theater and were greeted by the aroma of freshly popped popcorn. There is nothing better than movie theater popcorn! We, much to my trepidation, climbed the stairs and sat in the balcony. I told my husband he would need to behave himself, no popcorn throwing. The lights dimmed and the commercials began. Does anyone else think there are way too many commercials before the actual movie starts?

The screen, which sits above a stage, was a bit blurry and had streaky lines appearing during the beginning, making me think to myself, oh no, is this movie going to be difficult to see? Thankfully, the streaked lines only occurred during the first commercial. It actually made me feel like I was at an old movie. Perhaps that was the plan. If so, it worked.

The Dilemma was the movie for the night. I was prepared for a cheesy, slapstick comedy but hey, I was at the Eagles and that would make up for a bad movie. I was pleasantly surprised at the story line. It was great. Another couple went with us and my friend, Linda, and I laughed so hard that at one point we were snorting!

The Dilemma, in case you haven’t heard, is about two best friends who are on a mission to invent a motor for an electric car. The motor has to make the car sound and drive like a muscle car. The idea is to get people to buy electric cars and not feel like they are driving something wimpy. Lab coats and laptops complete the garage type atmosphere of the business where dreams are put into motion.

The personal lives of the two buddies is where the story gets interesting. One of the friends witnesses his friend’s wife smooching with another man. She is cheating on her husband! Vince Vaughn played Ronny, the guy with the dilemma, and Kevin James was Nick, the friend with the cheating wife. During the scene where Nick’s wife is cheating, Ronny, in an effort to spy on the scandalous scene, falls into a poisonous plant. I thought the people in the white medical uniforms might have to carry me away, I was laughing so hard. It is hard to explain how good the timing of the actors was as they bantered back and forth. At times, I had a huh? moment. I would guess that the actors, themselves, found it hard to say their lines with straight faces.

As we walked to our car, we laughed again at the antics of the characters in this movie. It was definitely not a cookie cutter movie, with a predictable story line. Have fun, go see this movie!

I think that Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. That sounds like a very odd statement since my husband and I agreed, a long time ago, not to exchange valentines gifts on Valentine’s day. My birthday is the very next day and it would just be too much celebration for this household! The reason it is a favorite for me is because of the sentiment of the day. The object of the sentiment doesn’t even have to be limited to your significant other. The projection of thoughts of love towards all the people you care about is highlighted during the day. These thoughts can be shown through a simple act of a hug or as grand as sharing hot air balloon flights. I have heard that florists are very busy around this holiday.

Do children still have a Valentine’s day party at school? Mom would send me to school with cupcakes decorated with pretty pink frosting. I guess we didn’t worry about food allergies in those days. I can remember working on my valentines, signing my name in the best penmanship I could produce. We decorated a paper bag and then taped it to our desk. On THE day, we would drop a valentine into each bag. Those little, decorated, cards were treasured. I would take them home, spread them out on my bed and sort through them. They would be considered vintage these days. LOL

We have been visiting friends the past few weekends and now I am feeling a bit guilty. We really should invite this couple to our home but I keep putting it off. It is crazy but when I don’t know someone very well, it makes me nervous. I especially dislike lulls in the conversation and tend to chatter a bit more than is necessary to fill in the void.

I thought it would be a good idea to have some conversation starters like coffee table books. We have a large, square coffee table that is big enough to share a snack and coffee and still have room for some great books. I have a small collection of beer steins in my china cupboard. It might be fun to have a book that tells the history of beer glassware. Another great book to have ready would be a book about Hisey glass. I am slowly getting a few pieces of that glassware and would love to show it off.

I could share a book on both breeds of dogs in our house. I’m sure Brody and Elsie will introduce themselves to this couple. They are great ice breakers.

I feel better already. It is time to invite this couple to our house!

You Are Charlie Brown

You are a good person, and in a way, you don’t get what you deserve in life. You are kind, honest, and brave… but you always seems to have the worst luck! You’ve don’t give up easily, but sometimes you can’t help but get a little depressed. Life is hard! You might be surprised to know your friends like you just the way you are. Others can see your heart of gold.

Have you ever heard of Duckpin Bowling? I never had until a friend was telling me that she and her family played. There is only one place in Indiana where you can play and that is at Fountain Square.

As described at Fountain Square’s website:

the game was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1900 and it was one of Babe Ruth’s favorite games! Ten-pin bowling used to strictly be a winter sport and most alleys closed during the summer except for a few that remained open to play odd bowling games using the smaller balls. Summer bowlers suggested that it might be interesting to trim the standard pins down to match the size of the small ball. Because it was much harder to get strikes and spares, the rules were changed to allow three bowls on each turn but only counted as a score of ten if all ten pins were knocked down with the third ball. Duckpins became so popular that during the 1920′s duckpin bowling spread along the east coast, from New England to Georgia. Today duckpin houses are still found only in the eastern states with the exception of our two locations here in Fountain Square, the only authentic Duckpin Bowling in the Midwest!

We might have to try this after the Butler ballgame this afternoon.