Some wine, some magick (oh, and f*** Regal Cinemas)

Today consisted of some good tech progress on my website and some other run activities. I spent the morning working toward a personal goal of bumping the quality of photos I upload to this site. At work we use an image processing capability called ImageMagick and, as I've discovered, it's far more versatile than what I'm using now. The list of filters/features is pretty massive and seems to beckon a web version of Photoshop be created. Anyway, I ran some tests this morning to get some color balancing and sharpening enabled without increasing the size of individual image downloads too much. I finally found a pretty good balance and have integrated it into my photo uploader so next time I have a good batch for y'all to see I'll be sure to run them through the new process. Here's an example of just what I can very easily make my photos look like:

Before

After

The bottom shot is balanced and sharpened a bit and seems to have much more life than the above version. The cost here is about 6K which, even on a modem means only a second or so more time to download. Hope it's worth it. I certainly think so.

Moving on, Sarah's mom came up for the day. We headed out to the nearby Proctor District and had drinks and dinner at Pour at Four, a newly opened wine bar. The atmosphere was warm and had a nice family feel to it. Great care was taken with us when choosing our wines and no one pre-judged us or gave us any attitude. An older gentleman sat down at the piano with his wife looking on and played all through dinner. The food was also fantastic and proportioned such that we didn't feel stuffed before we were done but were definitely satisfied. We'll be heading back there especially since it would be just a short scooter ride away. ;)

Oh, and f*** Regal Cinemas. We headed out after dinner tonight to see Transporter 2. With a few minutes to spare before the preview started I headed towards the theatre while the ladies utilized the restrooms. Just after my ticket was torn and I walked away, someone said something about a bag. Not thinking much of it, I turned my head and the ticket boy said he needed to check what's in my bag. I walked back and showed him my digital camera. He then told me I couldn't take it into the theatre. Stunned and not wanting to cause a scene in front of a local Lakewood police office stationed behind the ticket boy, I waited for Sarah so I could get keys to take my contraband out to the car. Thinking briefly about this issue, I shouted back to the ticket boy for all to hear, "So do you guys allow camera phones?" He gave an affirmitive and I pointed out that they shouldn't allow such devices if I can't come in with my camera. Sarah said she also took it up with him after I left and made the valid point that most modern camera phones are just as powerful when it comes to quality as my camera is. She also learned that this has been their policy and that some ticket boys/girls just choose ignore the rule.

OK, so f*** Regal Cinemas. They need to be consistent and either search my bag every time I enter the theater or post some simple signage (like a camera with an "X" through it) to make their expectations clear. It's complete B.S. if they think I'm going to bootleg a movie with the video capabilities of my camera or take photos of the screen. They'd look like absolute crap! There are plenty of better places I could download pirated copies if I wanted to. Some people just don't understand that I carry my camera around because I do. No harm intended. I just get that feeling that between movie piracy and post-9/11 terrorism gitters I can't take my camera anywhere and not look suspicious. Camera phones are just as bad and if the theater was smart enough to ban those, they would also help eliminate the ringing cell phone during the movie issue. I took a couple shots looking up the side of a Tacoma building and worried, WORRIED, that someone might summon any nearby cop landing me, before I knew it, in a detention cell in Guantanamo. Ugh.

I will give the local Regal a call and talk with a manager about the issue but will try and avoid them and their stupid "The 2wenty" as much as possible in favor of our local Galaxy 6. I like to take pictures -- that's why I carry a camera! That should be all the reason I need. Oh, and when I say I won't take crappy, blurry pictures inside your dark theater, I mean it. Have a little faith in humanity, for goodness sake. Rank complete.

Comments (1) | To Top

9/12/2005 @ 9:31am

Feedback just sent from me to Regal's website:

I was recently in to see a movie and, for the first time in my 8 year patronage of this particular theater, the bag over my shoulder was checked. I carry around my digital camera where ever I go because I take pictures. It's the way I document life. Upon showing him that it was my camera I was turned back to take it out to my car. I don't have a problem with this accept for a few points:

- my bag had never been checked before whether for security or piracy reasons
- although an employee I spoke to on the phone said signage was posted about cameras it hasn't been visible enough for me to ever notice
- it was also pointed out that the same signage was posted for cell phones even though they are clearly allowed into the theatre but must be switched off
- camera phones are now of such quality that match my digital camera in photo and video features and should be banned outright if my camera is as well

I never intend to take still photos of the theater screen because such a shot would come out completely blurry and useless nor would I use my camera's video capabilities because it also would look crappy and the memory wouldn't allow much of the film to be captured. If you still won't allow the cameras in, signage needs to be clearer and camera phones need to be turned away as well. Until such a time as camera phones are banned I will not be attending movies at your theatres and will advise friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

I appreciate your time and, up until this point, a quality theater going experience.

With kind regards,

Kevin Freitas
Tacoma, WA

I was assured by a local Regal employee over the phone that they would review signage and employee search issues. I urged the same employee that they convey my message of consistency between digital cameras and camera phones to the corporate level. Just in case, however, that's why I wrote the comment above.

by KevinFreitas