Monday, August 07, 2006

WTC Sneak Preview & BJs

Tonight, QB and I went to the sneak preview of World Trade Center at the Oak Ridge Mall Century Theatre. The movie was due to begin at 7:30, and we were there by 6:15. The line was amazingly long already and I was sure we'd get pretty crappy seats. But, I'm a luckbox.

Turns out that there were two types of passes. You either had a physical invite card, or you had a printout from that link I posted up last week. Well, would you possibly believe that those with the printout were ushered to the front of the line and let in first. Yay... we win.

We were probably the 10th or so couple in the theatre, and we basically got great seats. In the next half an hour the room would fill until there were no more empty seats, and the rest of the people in the line outside were turned away. The ushers apparently miscounted too, as some who got into the theatre were led out after it was clear no more seats were available.

Enough with the logistics... the movie was very good. I was quite impressed. I went into this knowing nothing at all about the movie except that Nicholas Cage was starring in it. While I do show my emotions, I rarely get emotional during a movie. But, I can say that I did tear up a bit during this one. It was never boring, really. A few scenes were kind of stupid, but perhaps they were necessary to tie the story together.

And, even though I was far from New York during the 9/11 attacks, the movie still hits home. After all, we're Americans. I think that 9/11 is the only major non-personal event that I can clearly remember where I was at the time. I could not say the same for a lot of other events... fall of the Berlin Wall? Chernobyl? Russian coup d'etat? No idea.

But, on 9/11 I was in a hotel room in Long Beach getting ready in the morning before attending a class on Matlab. That class was not even canceled that day, but as you'd expect, nothing was really taught. Everyone was on the internet keeping up with the news. The next day I was scheduled to fly back to the Bay Area, but the airplanes were all grounded. So, I drove the rental I had back up. I was lucky to have a car at all. I heard lots of horror stories about those who could not make it home easily.

If I recall correctly, one of my friends was on a flight to Europe when his plane was sent back to the States. He was then stuck for many days trying desperately to make it home.

Anyway, the movie was enjoyable, but sad. Check it out if it sounds like something you'd like.

After the movie we went to BJ's Pizza for dinner and a couple of drinks. And, let's not forget the Choco Chunk Pizookie. Delicious!

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