No improvement at Aberdeen, South Dakota Carmike Theater

     The last word spoken in the movie “Inglourious Basterds” was “masterpiece” and it perfectly describes Quentin Tarantino’s latest film. This is truly one of the best films I have ever seen. Unfortunately I live in a town with a theater that has no clue how to set up their equipment or run a theater. The people of Aberdeen, South Dakota and its surrounding area also to include visitors, have no other choice for a theater if they want to see a movie in Aberdeen. The following was my experience on the evening of Saturday, August 22, 2009.

     After paying almost $18 for 1 movie ticket, Fisher Peanuts and a medium Diet Coke, I enter one of the theaters in the new section of the Aberdeen Carmike Theater. This little theater reminds me of a large home theater that needs a little work like putting some weather stripping at the bottom of the door so light is not shining under it.

     About 5 minutes after my arrival, a noise like the sound of a needle touching a record of an old phonograph crackles through the speakers as some kind of welcome plays before the previews. The previews start as the lights dim and the light under the exit door next to the screen becomes more apparent but it would be much worse if this had been an afternoon show due to the sun being much brighter than a street light. The previews look like they are cropped by some amateur or equipment problems. All of the previews and the movie were the same height, it was the width that changed dramatically and the top of the film and previews appeared to be cut off by something blocking the front of the lens creating a blur and a lack of scene height. About 8 inches of the bottom of the movie appeared on the bottom masking.

     As the previews were showing, the lights came back up in the theater for a few minutes. Then the sound from the preview cut away and was replaced by music as the preview played. Several of the 15 or 20 people at this movie started laughing and commenting about this presentation. I got up along with someone sitting behind me and we went to the front lobby to get this problem corrected. We arrive back at the theater to find the problem corrected.   

     I was notified by Twitter that Carmike Cinemas follows my blogs on Twitter. I emailed Carmike Cinemas 11 days ago on 08/12/2009 asking when the problems would be fixed and they have not responded. The automated response advised to allow 3-5 days for a response. This is one of many complaints I have made to Carmike Cinemas without improvement in the presentation of previews and of the movies shown at this theater. What do we need to do to get a new theater in Aberdeen?

Menards Needs Better Cart Corrals

After finding a parking spot at Menards, I put a shopping cart away that was left by someone that was too lazy to put it away. This cart was about 25 feet from a covered shopping cart corral. As I pushed the cart into the corral, I noticed the corral did not have a bar to stop the carts from hitting the car parked in the spot across from its location. They expect you to park at your own risk; I guess they want to up the risk.

Lunch

I wanted to have lunch outside today. The Palm Garden patio was full so I decided to try the new patio at Shenanigans. With only one table in use on the patio at Shenanigans, I was seated immediately. A ½ hour later I quietly walked out due to no service. Now back to the Palm Garden for some fettuccini alfredo, shrimp and an interesting type of flat bread. The meal and atmosphere were great…….. at the Palm Garden.

Flight 447 Crash – Could this be an unauthorized ACARS transmission?

     Investigators continue to study ACARS data and visual inspection of the remains of the Air France owned Airbus A330 that crashed into the Atlantic on June 1^st. It is reported that the jetliner did not break up in mid-air but is believed to have hit the water belly-first.

     I have read that some aircraft have ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) data link that allows for software changes from the ground. The changes can be made without the pilot’s knowledge. Could this incident be an act of terrorism? Could a computer hacker gain access to an aircrafts ACARS and reprogram it to become uncontrollable?

PETITION AGAINST SMOKING BAN

The smoking ban in South Dakota could be on hold after a report that a sufficient amount of petition signatures have been gathered to bring the issue to a vote in November 2010. This shows the selfishness of some smokers that they override the public’s health and enjoyment of public life for their selfish pleasure. I think we should introduce another tax on cigarettes to add $20 or $30 a pack.

I am sure there are many more but here are 3 improvements I would like to see in Aberdeen, SD.

  There are three problems with Aberdeen that make it substandard when compared to other communities. I may be comparing Aberdeen to larger communities but I feel the following would benefit life here and create more of a reason for people to travel to Aberdeen.

     Aberdeen lacks restaurants with quality food. My favorite choice is the Ward but then the quality quickly goes downhill. Maybe Aberdeen lacks the population for better restaurants.

     A movie theater with stadium seating has become the standard in many communities. While Aberdeen may be several years from this upgrade, they could at least set up their equipment properly.

     Aberdeen does not have a large venue with proper acoustic treatment. The Barnett Center would be a nice place for concerts or even a basketball game if the walls were properly treated to absorb the sounds, stopping the echo. Don’t we build auditoriums to communicate with a large audience? Back when the Barnett Center was built, a study found that it would cost around $100,000 to sound condition the basketball courts (upper and lower). This could have easily been recouped by the community with revenue from many possible other uses than the present.

     Life could be REAL GOOD in Aberdeen. Maybe we just have bad luck in contacting the right investors. If you give a $1,000,000 to 10 different people, you will probably get 10 different outcomes.

Aberdeen, South Dakota Carmike Theater Needs Improvement

I think for most people, the movie theater is a place to escape the normalcy of life. Without using vacation time from work or getting a passport, you may get the experience of travel to a faraway land and witness something extraordinary or dangerous, all from the comfort of your rented seat. Like a grocery store or gas station, a movie theater is an expected part of most communities. A movie theater usually has good popcorn and candy but really only has one product, the showing of a movie.

     Aberdeen, South Dakota has a movie theater – Carmike 9 – but it fails in several areas in creating an environment that I find acceptable. At the Aberdeen Carmike, I have yet to see the masking set correctly. I usually notice part of the picture appearing on the curtains. Before the theater added DLP projection, the picture was usually out-of-focus. I walked out of a movie last year when after 3 complaints to clean the film plane, they could not complete the task. It is very annoying to see a few pieces of dust enlarged a few hundred times dancing in the corner of the picture.

     Have you ever tried to watch a movie at home with someone pointing a flashlight at your face from the side of your television? I am not comparing this to the usher checking for a violation, I am talking about light shining through the exit doors next to the screens at the Aberdeen Carmike Theater. If you go to this theater, it is best to go at night when the only lights you will see are the street lights and lights form the cars driving by.

     Stadium seating is the best for a movie theater and not available in Aberdeen. The closest theaters with stadium seating that I am aware are located in Sioux Falls and Fargo. The seats at the Aberdeen Carmike feel ok for the first half hour then become uncomfortable. If you are lucky, no one will sit in the row in front of you in the old Carmike theaters and the 3 rows in front of you in the new Carmike theaters in Aberdeen.

     There are other issues like muffled sound but I think the DLP projection system takes care of that and some other issues. I have contacted management at Carmike headquarters with responses that they are working on the problems. After several years of contacting Carmike Theater headquarters, they don’t appear to care how a motion picture is shown in Aberdeen, South Dakota.