Chocolate is Saltier by the Sea

I went to see the latest blockbuster "Pacific Rim" at the theatre near my house.  They haven't converted to digital and still show 35mm.  When I walked in, a friend who works there asked me if I was an expert at filing aperture plates. I said I've done it but I'm not an expert.  My friend told me the picture had a shadow in the lower right corner.
I told him I'd check it after the movie.  I watched the movie.  I saw the shadow.  The movie started good and then it just went on too long.  140 minutes later I went up to the booth, fiddled around with a screwdriver and a file and most of the shadow was gone.  My friend looked really happy and I told him he could do the rest.
"How am I going to pay you?  I know!" he said to himself. Then he got a pleased look in his eye and went downstairs.
I was thinking he'd give me a bunch of passes because I know he wasn't going to give me a twenty.
I went downstairs and as I passed by the concession stand my friend gave me a salted caramel bar made by some guy from Santa Cruz.  Bartering is good. 

Sa weeeeet!

At my work, when its someone's last day, the management goes to Safeway and buys a cake for the staff member.
The theatre closed for remodeling this week so everyone was laid off and that meant everyone would be getting cake!  It started with a German chocolate cake that one employee wanted on his last day.  Another employee who also shared the same last day hates coconut and was  a little peeved that he couldn't eat any of it. 
The next day someone wanted a pie. The Safeway pies didn't look all that great according to the manager who bought two bags of Chips Ahoy.  Regular and Reeses peanut butter cup flavor.  I tried both cookies and thought the Reeses was terrible.  Too soft.
On my last day I was thinking it might be nice if we just had a watermelon.  People seemed to like that idea but instead, the manager bought mini chocolate cupcakes and an Oreo ice cream cake. I had a cupcake but skipped the frozen Oreo.
As I was walking through the lobby I saw "Candyman" who was taking advantage of the last day at the theatre by seeing two movies.   He brought his usual old ass chocolate but this time he also brought cookies tied with a ribbon that suggested Christmas.  Since its almost the 4th of July I didn't eat one.

The Chocolate Taster (conclusion)

When new stock comes in at the theatre it is supposed to be rotated.  New in back ,old moved to the front.  Someone forgot to do that and 40 boxes of chocolate almonds were damaged as their shelf life passed the expiration date by only two days.
The staff have been eating them and it seems there is always an opened bag lying  somewhere within easy reach.  The almonds have a really shiny coating on them that scares me.
A few weeks ago I noticed a bag of Godiva chocolates in the back staircase.  An usher must have found it after cleaning a theatre.  They were brought to the lost and found at the end of the shift.  Today since no one had claimed the chocolates, they were opened.  I looked around the box for a date and saw nothing. I tried one and it tasted good.  It tasted fresh and in my opinion it was the best chocolate I had eaten all week. 

expiration date- 2010 AD!!!!!

There is an old chocolate maker who loves movies. He comes to the cinema with his boxes and bags of treats which he barters for tickets.  Naturally the staff welcomes any treat to supplement their dollar menu diet. 
I like the bittersweet. "Candyman" came to see the newest offering  and brought his usual variety.
I looked at the date and it had expired only three years ago. I once drank three year old soy milk. Since it was packaged in one of the large juice type boxes I thought it couldn't go bad.
It tasted a bit off.  I was imagining the chocolate would probably taste a bit off too.  It did.

Last week a box of hot dogs were damaged because someone left them out.  The hot dogs were tossed in the garbage.  I was thinking that since the dogs have so many preservatives in them, they were probably OK to eat but I was told not to do it.  I wonder what movie I can see for 4 dogs with a 2013 expiration date?  Hello IMAX!!!

I've Got a Golden Ticket

I read Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" last week in preparation for a gig as a chocolate taster for Scharfen Berger.  I imagined an endless table of delectable treats that would give me a chocolate high and keep me awake all night.
When I got to the marketing research firm I was led to the room where the tasting would take place.  I saw a few plates of truffles and several plates with four squares of chocolate marked W,X,Y and Z.
There were some small water bottles as well as a plate of saltines on the table.
We were told that our conversations would be taped and we were being watched by some people who were behind a darkened glass window.  It was sort of creepy.  I looked above me and saw three short gooseneck mics pointing in various directions and each one had a tiny red LED light on them.
We discussed various ad copy which used generic terms like "hand crafted, and highest quality" but no where did I see "mixed by a chocolate waterfall"
W tasted "chalky".  X tasted like Nestle's Crunch without the crunch.  Y reminded me of a chocolate Easter rabbit and Z just tasted like good milk chocolate.

Next we looked at a bunch of truffles on two plates.  The first plate had mostly round and curved truffles with various patterns and the second plate looked like the pieces that you might see on the surface of the Death Star.  We all picked our favorites and discussed them.  Just after that some guy with a digital camera came in the room.  "I know I'm not supposed to do this"  he said as he took a photo of the truffles.  His face was very red like he had been drinking a lot.  Maybe thats what they were doing behind that window.
Our next task was to rate packaging.  On a large table was  about 50 or so packages from all sorts of high and low end chocolate companies.  I liked a French gift box the best and when I said that the Lindt bag "looked like it tastes like crap" an elderly woman sort of gasped.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't get to taste truffles.  They looked good too.
We signed some sheet and they gave us a VISA gift card for our time.
I think I'll buy some new shoes.

At the Halloween Parade

I went to the Giants parade and found a spot that was only 5 deep in people. I saw all of the players who made the team a success and even my childhood heroes Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

Arthaus 2015A.D.

More theatres are going digital which means the job of projection will fall into the hands of the manager and the position of projectionist will be eliminated. This makes me sad. Even though everything is programmed on a timer, you still need to be there to make sure the bulb turns on or make adjustments to the picture. I am imagining a theatre with an automatt, one scanner and automatic doors like in BART. No ushers will be needed.  Rhoombas will be released when the show ends. This is the theatre of the future.