I drove over to Charlie’s Truck Stop this past week to pick up some bread and a few other items. It has finally let up raining, but it looks like we are trading in the rain for some sincere winter temperature. It hasn’t actually been all that cold up until this week. It has been chilly and we have had a good scattering of frost, but it has mostly been cool and wet up until now. There is no point in complaining. We are due for some cold about this time of year. Christmas is coming up next week and Christmas just wouldn’t seem right all warm and soggy. We need some cold weather for Christmas.
I saw my friend Bob Havershold over by the pot belly stove with Mister Johnson as I came in the front door. He had one of those looped ribbons you see all over these days, only this ribbon was black and a little thicker than you normally see. I picked up a loaf of bread on the way over. That pot belly stove was all fired up. There wasn’t anybody propped against it talking what with a hot fire inside. Mister Johnson was taking his ease in his regular chair and Bob was sitting on an old nail keg as he showed off his ribbon. As I came closer I saw it was not a ribbon at all but a strip of movie film looped and fastened together where it crossed. Bob looked up and handed it to me. Out of reflex I asked him where he got it, though I had a pretty good idea. The obvious source would be the movie theatre in Corinth, though how Bob might come to have this movie strip was more problematic.
“They gave it to me,” he said. The film I was looking at had pictures of some actors and a cartoon looking dog. The pictures were in a string with little square holes along the side of the film. The individual pictures looked all the same, though that’s mostly the case with a short strip of movie film. Changes from frame to frame are so minimal they are not readily apparent to the unaided eye. I asked how the folks at the Malco happened to just give Bob a looped strip of film. It was obviously a promotion of some kind. Bob laughed and asked if I ever read the paper. Usually, I told him, and then I remembered the news item from last week. There had been some kind of promotion connected with one of the movies the Malco was showing. Turns out Bob and his family had gone to see the BLADE movie that was playing and there was a motorcycle display in the lobby. People in the area who own bikes had signed up to bring in their bikes for display and the bike that won the most votes got recognition for the effort.
Votes for the best bike were made by donations into a paper cup. All the money collected went to help the local cycle club buy toys and gifts for local children that otherwise might not have a Christmas this year. It seems a lot of people like to think most bikers are Neanderthal thugs who pass their time riding around on noisy bikes, drinking beer and getting into fights. The truth is that a lot of local kids would wake up Christmas morning with empty stockings but for the local motorcycle clubs.
It seems Bob knows the manager of the Corinth Cinema. They both enjoy riding cycles and they met shortly after the Malco opened in Corinth. Bob helped introduce the manager around and it was then the manager hit upon the idea of the movie promotion and tie in with the BLADE movie. There have been three BLADE movies including this latest release. In every movie, the Blade character drives this super charged car and he gets on a hot cycle at some point in the show. The manager thought it would be a natural to have a cycle show and a car show to tie in with the movie and to help make Christmas for some of the children of the area. New Line, the company that releases the BLADE movies is always eager to donate items to promote their movies. They sent a box of mini-posters, T-shirts, and other BLADE items to help with the promotion. The film strip ribbons were sold to help raise money for St. Jude Hospital in Memphis. All this good work in Corinth because the manager of the Corinth Cinema likes to ride on his motorcycle and because he came to know some of the local bikers in the area. You never know what will happen when you start making new friends.
The motorcycle show was in the lobby of the Malco on Friday night, then the car show was in the parking lot outside the next Saturday. The manager said the lobby was just too small for the car show to be held inside. In addition to the cars and bikes, there was also a karate demonstration as well as a small sword display. Aside from the bikes and cars, the BLADE movies are all about karate fighting and exotic sword contests, so the karate and sword displays were a natural extension of the movie promotion. After wandering around the lobby and talking for a few minutes with the manager and his wife, Bob and his family had gone in to see the movie.
Bob said it was a fun movie, much better than the second and almost as good as the first. I’ve seen the first two on DVD and may just catch this new one this coming week. After all, it would be a shame to see the first of a trilogy and miss out on the final one. At any case, the hype is this third one may be the last. You never can tell with Hollywood.
Mister Johnson asked about Mutt and I said he ran off a couple days back chasing a female dog with romance on his mind. I have it in my own mind to nip Mutt’s romantic ideas with a visit to the vet in the spring. There are enough unwanted puppies in the world without Mutt helping contribute to the oversupply of new dogs. I paid Jake for the items I had picked up and went out to the car. If I drove straight home and fixed something to eat, I still had time to catch the seven o’clock showing of BLADE. I was thinking it might be a good way to spend the evening.
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