Shawarma

Not everything yesterday happened the way that I expected it to. In fact, almost nothing happened the way I expected it to, apart from my usual afternoon nap. Even that was cut woefully short.

My shower was cut short by the interesting experience of having the light bulb in my bathroom die. If I were at home I would have just finished my shower and changed out the light bulb. Here, though, I had to put in a "maintenance request" online. Who knows when those guys will get out here to replace that bulb? We're looking at a couple of days of showering, not to mention peeing, in the dark. Perfect.


The Lindi Hop "Boot Camp" that I went to, which I expected to kick my butt was more of an exercise in patient than a physical exercise. Not to say that it wasn't fun, but there are only so many times you can practice a swing out in three hours without starting to intentionally step on people's toes.

 And finally, the thing I had been looking forward to all day, the 10pm showing of The Avengers, the one thing I thought would go perfectly right, ended up being the worst part of my day. I thought going to see the show would be great. And for the most part it was. But it was also painful.

Of course, I'd seen it before, but since it was playing at the Student Life Center, I decided that meant it was high time I saw it again. Besides, who doesn't like seeing their favorite movies on the big screen, even the ones they could watch from the comfort of their own home?

The line to get in was ridiculous, but fortunately we arrived an entire hour early. This might seem overkill, but considering we had to stand in a nasty corner that smelled like old sweat for only about thirty minutes and we got moderately acceptable seats, I'd say that it was well worth the time we invested.

Before I talk about the movie, I'd like to say a few things about watching a movie at the SLC: it is always freezing which means that it is a proper movie theatre; they didn't turn the lights all the way down which was mildly annoying; people like to clap at funny, touching or meaningful moments in the film, so if you're one of those people who likes to hear every line the actors are saying, then the SLC might make you angry on occasion. And by occasion I mean every time you go to watch a film.

The concessions at the SLC are nice; they come in sizes like "Yoda", "Batman" and "Godzilla".
 What's not nice are the lines to buy concessions. You might have gotten in early, but good luck finding a seat after waiting to buy popcorn! Or you could just do what I do, which is to forgo the popcorn buying and then listen to your stomach growl loudly and obnoxiously during the quiet parts of the movie. Why doesn't my stomach decide to let me know about its hunger strike during the car chase instead of the heroic death scene? That's an excellent question. I wish I knew the answer.

Back to The Avengers. I'm not going to pretend like this is a movie critic's blog, mostly because any of you who HAVE seen The Avengers know that it is an unparalleled paragon in the world of film and those of you who haven't seen it have been advised to do so by numerous people.

One thing I will say, however, is that you need to stay through the credits. If you are watching it play in a dollar theatre somewhere or if you purchase the DVD sometime later down the line, watch the whole thing. Disney loves to give you a sneak peek of the up and coming sequels after the first few minutes of credits and now that Disney owns Marvel (no comment) it is to be more than expected that Marvel films will do the same. In the particular case of The Avengers, there is cause to stay until the very, very end for one specific purpose: shawarma.

For those of you who are unaware, shawarma refers to Levantine Arab meat preparation which consists of placing meat (usually lamb or goat) on a spit and roasting it for up to a day. The meat is then shaved off into slices which are ether eaten alone, deli meat style, or, more commonly, used in the making of pita sandwiches. It is a fast food staple in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

If you watch the credits of The Avengers until the very end, not only will you realize just how much visual effects went into the making of the film, but you will also be treated to a rather awkward scene in which Earth's mightiest heroes are seated around a small table, shoving their faces with shawarma. I'd have to say that it is worth the five minutes of brain-numbingly dull credits. Although if you end up buying the DVD, I suppose you could fast forward through those.

"So, what about all this was the worst part of your day?" you say to yourself. "That you didn't buy popcorn? That the theatre was cold? That people clapped too loudly?" Not exactly.

See, The Avengers was the last movie I watched in the theatre with my dad. He was out of the hospital for a stint and he had really wanted to see it all summer. So on the last possible day that it was showing in town, we drove down to the theatre, bought some popcorn and soda (not something we normally do) and watched it together. A relaxing, regular day.

It wasn't really a regular day, but it was nice to pretend for a little while, and we had a lot of fun. We laughed, I cried (because I always cry during movies) and when we left the theatre, we talked nonstop about the funniest moments.

Last night was the first time I've seen The Avengers since then. I wasn't even thinking about it, I just wanted to see this great movie. Sometimes things bother me, sometimes they don't. Last night, for one reason or another, shook me. I don't think I will be sad every time I watch The Avengers, at least I hope not, because it is such a great movie, but memories are memories and even good memories can hurt.

I'm not sure why I decided to share that, maybe because it's easier to talk about it here than out loud or maybe because I'm banking on the likelihood that no one will even read this. Either way, it doesn't really matter.

Next time, I'll try to think of something more positive to write about. In the meantime, however, I'm pretty sure that there's a shawarma place near here...