Station Identification Break - tonight's main feature (backdated)

[hard_talker]

[this Thursday, at 10 PM, the journal's cracked open to the sounds of music drifting out - but it's not Leonard Cohen. instead, it's a ballad, and it turns out to be the opening track of a movie, which keeps on going in the background as Mark talks over]

Okay, so, uh, yours truly happens to be trapped in the theatre, in case you guys hadn't figured it out by now. But I'm gonna try and make the weekly news happen anyway, because HEY, it's somethin' to do. And tonight's offering, Windmill Cabaret? Looks like it's got enough music in it to pass for a playlist, anyway.

Soooooo, newbies! Have a less-than-orthodox Hard Harry shout-out for Lee, Arrietty, Klavier, Solf, Kristoph, James, Rin, River, Chie, Peter, Naomi, Santa Claus, Kankri, and Edward. .... JESUS, if it takes me gettin' locked in a goddamn theater for some fresh meat to show up, I guess maybe I should do it whenever we hit one of those creepy slumps. And here I was afraid we were headin' into Libet territory for a little while. WHOOPS, sure showed me, Paradisa, you crazy bastard.

[he scoffs exaggeratedly and flops back, sticking his feet up on the back of the seat in front of him]

And now, the rest of my report: there are no less then twelve different colors of gum stuck to the backs of the seats in this place. Danny looks remarkably dashing with a Sharpie moustache. Alex, Jennifer and Daryl are all in the running for Loudest Snorer. Mitsuru sleeps with a stuffed ... plane ... yeah, no, I didn't know they made 'em either, you got me ... and the rest of you locked-in louts are super fuckin' boring while you're asleep. Just so's you know. As for how I GOT this delicious dirt, well, YOU try stayin' awake when the only things to drink around here are caffeinated. It ain't. Gonna. Happen.

Also, the number one activity of choice for the bored seems to be testing our hand-eye coordination. I've seen flying popcorn, M&Ms, malt balls, spitballs, you name it. I'd say I feel bad for whoever's gonna clean the place when it finally lets us out, but I'm pretty sure it'll be back to abnormal for anyone who actually feels like comin' in here this --

Wait, wait, HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE, ARE THEY ACTUALLY COVERING NIRVANA --

[yes, he actually does shut up, sit bolt upright like a meerkat wired to a nine-volt battery, and gape at the screen]

-- holy shit this movie is awesome.

[sorry, folks, you've lost your DJ. he'll be back with you once Nicole Kidman dies and everyone in the theatre is sniffling horribly. post is (obviously) open for action to anyone else in the lock-in!]

Comments

[hard_talker]

Oh geez, um - [quick headcount] - 'bout twenty of us. We all went in to watch some movies, last weekend, and one of 'em ran late ... past midnight. By the time we got to the door, it was locked. Castle won't let us out.

I mean - nobody's hurt? But the seats aren't the best things I've ever slept in, and all we've got for food is popcorn, nachos, candy and soda. Oh, and those little tiny bite sized ice cream things.

And some of the movies have been reeeeeeeally fuckin' bad.

[ensorceler]

There must be a way to free you. I know of a woman who can cast spells...

[ A beat. She's too curious not to ask. ]

Movies?

[hard_talker]

Spells aren't gonna be much good, I don't think. Since the castle did it. I mean - it wants us here, it's gonna fuckin' keep us here till the doors open. [not that he sounds happy about it.]

But yeah! Movies. They're, um -- [how did he explain this to Goku, and how can he make it sound less dumbed-down since she is not a little kid like he was...] It's like going to the theatre and seeing people act out a story, only they have a way to record it, so you can watch it without having to be there. And you can watch it whenever you want. Some of them are really, really good. One of my favorites is about a boy who gets pulled into the world of a book he's reading, and has to help the characters in it save their world before it gets destroyed.

[yes The Unending Tale is his favorite movie ever, don't you judge him]

[ensorceler]

[ She listens, more entrances by the description of movies than of the entrapment. ]

So, you say...it works much like this radio instrument?

[hard_talker]

[he figured she would be, since she likes hearing about everything] It's the same idea, yeah, only radio only records sound, and movies record everything. It's like ... looking through a window at people doing things. Depending on where you watch them, the window can be small, or it can be larger than life.

The theatre's the place where you can watch them bigger - the screen for the pictures is the size of a whole wall. So if you're watching a movie about, say, someone's really big epic journey through a world full of exciting places you've never been before? It's like you're actually there.

[ensorceler]

When you are freed, perhaps we can find another, more trustworthy theatre in the city. I wish to see, and you will escort me.

[hard_talker]

Oh, yeah, there's a really neat old one in the city. Ino and Nora and I go once in a while. ... And I think I know just which one to show you.

[it involves repeated use of the word "inconceivable", some Rodents of Unusual Size, and a Dread Pirate. he has a feeling she'd approve]

[ensorceler]

Are those women you court? You are devious.

[hard_talker]

[he laughs] Only one. Nora's my girlfriend, and Ino's our best friend. We just go to have fun, it's not like ... well, not like what it sounds like.

[ensorceler]

I see.

[ Judgmental forever, but in that amused sort of way. ]

Well, I will look forward to this Mark I have heard so much about escorting me to the...movies.

And I will pray for you and the people within. Please do not lose hope. God is with you.