Well, Gang... its finally happened... "For whom the Fat Lady sings; she sings for me"After 8 years of pumping out the arenacinema.com web site for one and all, the folks who have taken over the Arena Theater have decided to show me the door... *sob*
Yuppers, I've been fired... canned... given the boot... Oh, the cruelty... think of my poor, poor children, huddled on the steps of our humble abode, shivering in the snow and bitter cold, dreading the time when we're sure to get evicted... oh, wait... my 'children' are in their late 20's and haven't lived @ home in many years... and it's warm and sunny as can be... hmmm, better come up w/ a better sob story, 'eh?
Anyway, it seems as if the husband (¡?!¿) of one of the Arena Theater Association Board members, aka ARC, took offense to an offensive line I used in an internal email, (which was perhaps not for the faint-hearted or mindlessly censorious*), and was so deeply put off by this remark that he rallied the troops on the ATA/ARC Board to get rid of me once and for all; since said husband controls the theater ($$$) I didn't stand a chance - visualize the Board members standing around collectively clucking, shaking their heads in disgust, dusting off their hands, all the while basking in the glow of a job well done... anyway, this was all the excuse they needed & used. I actually thought it would have happened much sooner. (And I didn't even get a FAKE gold watch:))
But I do want to tell you all how cool it has been to have had this opportunity (thanks to Bill Golly & Raven, who never wavered in their support) to put out the good word from week to week re: what's up on the Silver Screen; Dances, special events like Berlin & Beyond, Brubeck, Pickle Family Circus, SF Mime Troop, memorials; the list goes on; 8 years, once a week... that's 416 weeks worth of arenacinema.com - and the last few weeks including the newer live shows, the Film Club, the Opera, etc. Also the back and forth with a bunch of you in emails discussing this and that, suggestions, criticisms... well, I'd best not get too sentimental... the Fat Lady is singing up a storm...
Peace, Tom Reid
*This line was stolen from Andrew Sarris, New York Observer, in his review of the wonderful black comedy In Bruges... the last line from the film being from Ray (Colin Farrell) "I really hoped I wouldn't die... I really hoped I wouldn't die..."
Here's another last line, also from a great flick, There Will Be Blood, the last line from Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) "I am FINISHED!!!"
You can contact me @ the nearest homeless shelter :) or by clicking here4-18 Important Note! In many of the emails I've gotten in support, people have alluded to the the notion of going elsewhere for their entertainment; please, please, please, don't do that... The Arena Theater has been here many years, and has weathered many storms, this latest situation being just a very minor blip on the radar screen. The theater was here for a long time before these putzes (putzi?¿) got here, and will be here a long time after they are but a dismal memory, much like "President" Bush. So keep on putting yer fannies in the seats and chomping on that deeelicious popcorn; the theater is a grand old dame, and deserves our community support.
Tom4-20 Yet another entry to this saga, but an important one... "Let me make one thing perfectly clear" ACK!!! Let me re-phrase that... something I want everyone to know... there were a total of TWO, count 'em, 2 board members who supported me ever since the theater was turned into the corporate entity it has become... Tim Brooks & Cornelia Reynolds... if it was not for these two long time coastal residents not only would I have been history when the above mentioned takeover went down, but the movie side of things would have been dumped as well... as the ARC/ATA types figured out in time, running a theater is a MOUNTAIN of work, which was done for years by Billy Golly, all by his lonesome... these clowns can't do it even w/ multiple people trying to run it... sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and PAY people to do the grunt work... work up in the booth, work behind the consessions counter, sell the tickets, and yes, keep the web site up to date, jobs that will not get done unless someone is paid a decent wage, because I promise one and all, running a movie theater is a ton of work, week after week, ad forever... so the first thing that was on their short list of things that could be dumped was the movies... and the attendant costs; i.e, a projectionist, consessions workers, Sue in the booth, etc... and three guesses who else?
WOW! Talk about digressing... the point was to thank Tim & Cornelia for backing me up... yuppers, thanks, you two... I hope this 'Thank You doesn't get you two kicked off the board, although that would most likely be a blessing...
Peace, me
