This is where we came in

I went to the cinema recently for the first time in years. I felt old and out of place. The film (and the audience) were too loud. I even had trouble focusing on the fast moving images. I just came out with a headache. There was a time when I loved the whole experience of going to the cinema. Can you remember when even small towns had at least two with managers in bow ties standing in the foyer, and usherettes selling Kia-ora soft drinks and strange brands of ice-cream you never saw anywhere else. The saturday kid’s matinee of the mid 1960s was still showing cartoons and cliff-hanger serials from the 1940s and 1950s. But they were new to me. And I loved going to the cinema with my father (1928 – 1978). Having grown up with it he preferred the cinema to TV. For the period of approx 1964-1970 I often accompanied him if a film was suitable, and sometimes even if it wasn’t, for pleasant evenings of passive smoking. One of his favourite films was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid which we saw a number of times, and he continued to whistle and hum the tune “South American Getaway” (you’d recognise it if you heard it) for the rest of his life. For various reasons we rarely managed to arrive at the cinema on time. The main feature would always be 10 or 15 minutes in. So at the end he would always stay seated until the second showing. When the film reached the point at which we had first encountered it, with a cry of “This is where we came in!” he’d jump up and we’d leave the cinema.

This is where we came in. Five years ago today I began this blog (having deleted an earlier one) with a brief mention of the multi-talented Shari Elf. I thought I’d better re-visit her website and see what she is up to now in the second decade of the C21st.

At first glance things looked very much like they did in February 2008. After a few clicks I discovered along with the good and sturdy art there were now trendy  T Shirts for sale. The (great) music is still the same though. Give it a listen. But don’t you think we’re overdue for a new CD now Shari??