Serenity

Last night's feature was Serenity. We had two couples over for dinner. The weather was so warm, we decided to have grilled pork loin and fettucini with shrimp cream sauce. Even after this hearty meal, we managed to polish off 2 kettles of popcorn. After the movie, we broke out the propane tank and had creme brulee and creme puffs for dessert.

The movie kept everyone's attention. A fight broke out over who would get to borrow our Firefly series, so we knew they liked the movie. We won't mention the argument over whether or not Jayne was a Baldwin boy or not. Even though Adam is a Baldwin, he is not related to Alec, Stephen, Daniel, William, or Joseph.

Underworld

Last night we presented "Underworld" to 3 friends of our coven. The movie was a Superbit version, and although dark it was extremely crisp and clear. The soundtrack is DTS and gives the amp a decent workout with sporadic explosions and excessive gunfire. The movie was enjoyed by both Vampyre and Lycan alike, though I still prefer Blade 3 and Van Helsing. Plenty of action to sink your teeth into and keep the sleep deprived zombies awake.

This was our first showing after completing some work on the underside of the platform. We had re-seated the buttkickers and added more insulation between the joists. I also readjusted the input levels to the kicker amp through the dvd sub out. I did not hear the annoying "rattle"in the platform that we have been experiencing, but I did not sit on the platform seating.

Not so "Fantastic Four"

Last night we had a mixed group of friends over for authentic homemade pizza and movie. The pizza's were delicious, especially the artichoke, anchovies, mushroom and pepperoni ones (others may have differing opinions).

The movie did have some decent sound effects, but the story didn't seem to go anywhere. Even for a short movie, it took forever for some resemblance of a storyline to develop. By then it was too late, and the movie was over. Oh well, we still had fun channel surfing after the movie ended.

Battlestar Galatica 1 & 2.0

We finished the last of the BG season 2.0 discs a few nights ago, in preparation for the continuation of Season 2 on Comcast. We had watched the first two seasons on dvd. Much to our disappointment, watching this series on the Sci-fi channel is hard on the eyes. We were spoiled by the no-commercial 16:9 DD presentation on dvd. The SD, 4:3 presentation on Comcast is like watching the series through a small dirty window. As anxious as we are to continue watching the series, we may decide to wait for the discs again. Sad, but why can't they broadcast these shows in HD!

The Island

We watched "The Island" over the weekend. It reminded me so much of Logan's Run, to the point that it was almost predictable. There were a few good action scenes, but for the most part I would have to give this a thumbs down.

Krieg der Welten

Tonight we watched "Krieg der Welten" with my friend Christian. He is the distributor for our products in Germany. We started the evening with a selection of beers; bud select, Old Dominion Winter Ale, Pete's Wicked Red Ale, and Amstel Light. After some goat cheese, apples, brie, and crackers, we sat down to some mutton stew and dill noodles that my roommate prepared. Our stomachs full, we headed down to the theater to relax in the soft leather recliners. This was his first experience with ButtKickers, and I think from his comments he liked them very much. We ended the night with discussion of motorcycles. In the end, a good time was had by all.

WotW with our friends in Middleburg/Arlington

WotW is now my favorite movie to show off the sound system (Chronicles of Riddick previously). I was happy to have eliminated some 'rattling' that plagued the first showing of this movie last week, and none was noticed this time around. I am not sure what was causing it, but happy that whatever we did fixed the issue, and the sound was tight and crisp. This movie definitely tests all components in the audio stream. Any misadjustments, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Since the first showing, I had upgraded the 635 firmware and recalibrated the EQ. We had also added more sound insulation to the platform.

While others may complain of the lack of sharpness in the picture, I like the effect it gives. It makes the picture more 'eerie'. Chinese Take-out from P.F. Changs was provided by our company and it was extremely tasty. (Wonton soup, lettuce wraps, fried dumplings and calamari for appetizers. Peking Duck, Mongolian Beef, Sweet &Sour chicken, Spicy chicken, and BBQ ribs for the main courses). The lemon cookies were a nice finishing touch. This was the first time that we didn't fire up the popcorn machine, so you know the food was plentiful.

This was the first time that our guest had watched a movie at the recently completed G-SPoT, and from the enthusiasm and request for the next showing, I would venture to guess that they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Equipment Pics

Gold Medal Retro-4 Popcorn Machine (Above)


Panasonic AE-700 Projector
AccurianHST 6000 HDTuner
ButtKicker Amp
Oppo H971 DVD player
Harmon Kardon AVR635

Seating Pics

The Equipment

For those seeking more spec's, here are the details of the Theater:

Screen: Da-Lite 106" High Contrast Cinema Vision Perma-mount screen
Projector: Panasonic AE700 Front Projector with 81EF color correction filter
Receiver: Onkyo TX-805 Receiver
Triplite Smart UPS 1000
Belkin PF 60 Line Conditioner
Remote: Harman Kardon Take Control TC-30
Speakers: 5.1 Surround
Front: Definitive Tech BP7001SC (Pair)
Center: Definitive Tech CLR-3000
Surround: Definitive Tech BPX bipolar (Pair)
Surround Back: Infinity SM-100 (Pair) No longer Used
Subwoofers: Definitive Tech SubPro 200TTL- Used with Surround
Tactile Transducer: ButtKicker LFE with 2100 Watt Amp (Front and Rear)

DVDO Edge Video Processor
Panasonic BD-35 Blu-ray Player
MS XBox-360 Game Console
RCA HDV-5000 Ver 2.4
DVD Player: Oppo Digital DV971H with Russian Firmware Hack
HDTV Tuner: Accurain HST 6000
Platform Seating:
Berkline 088 Burgundy Leather motorized recliners with buttersoft texture
Popcorn Machine: Gold Metal Retro-4 with Etched Glass and Stainless Steel EZ-Kleen kettle
Paragon Hot Topping Dispenser