Tonight was the inaugural Cinema Brittahytta and everyone had a great time!
What, pray tell. is Cinema Brittahytta, you ask?
A few months ago, I saw a “Zoombox” by Hasbro on the Costco weekly specials for about $300. It was a small home projector that uses an easily-accessible & not too expensive halogen bulb, with built-in DVD player & speakers, with inputs for computers, game systems & other AV. I thought that could be cool idea to show movies in my backyard in the summer, a la Cinema San Pedro that San Jose Cinequest hosts on San Pedro Street downtown in the summer, only a smaller scale, choose our own movies, and have access to my patio bar, grill & potluck. Well I researched the Zoombox, found out it is really cheap for a reason, definitely not home theatre quality, and discovered a ton of them used & new on eBay. I bid on several for awhile & finally got one including shipping for only $140. Let’s just say aside from the summer movie series, I have some other party plan usage in the works as well!
Almost a month ago, Cyd & I watched Music & Lyrics as a test run to see what kind of screen I needed, if we needed extra speakers, how much ambient dusk could still be around, and it went really well. We had my firepit going and the patio lights on, and as long as it was dark outside, we were fine just watching the movie on my tan stucco wall. Now, what movie would be first & when? I thought Young Frankenstein would be perfect! No detailed effects, no intricate plot, just good rip-roaring Mel Brooks fun! I sent out an Evite and got 14 people (and 2 dogs!) here tonight, grilling away, gorging on the potluck that ended up gigantic somehow, enjoying my silly light-up martini glasses & drink stirrers (hey, you have to be able to find your drink in the dark while the movie’s going, right?), and bundling up when the wind picked up after dark…who knew with such a heat wave going on lately? We started the movie just after 9pm, and the volume is mastered lower on Young Frankenstein than more recent movies so the volume was cranked to max, but we all had a great time! Not bad for a weeknight event either, since even with people helping clean up, my house was empty before 11:30pm, which is an early night lately considering my other evenings!
Now the question is with the choir competition, 4th of July, then my giant party chaos up to July 21st, when can we have the next Cinema Brittahytta? Perhaps for my birthday…hmm…we’ll see!
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oh, that sounds like so much fun!
speaking of parties, i got your awesome invite and yet again, you floor me with the detail and intricacy (sp?) — it was absolutely gorgeous! (just don’t show JKR, she’ll sue you, heh.) i STILL don’t know when my next trip to CA for business will be, and i likely will not know until another couple of months, but i will do everything in my power to swing it to coincide with your party. so put me down as a ‘tentative’ for now!
It was indeed great fun, especially for a Tuesday night! Thanks Britta!