Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: What do you eat in the booth?

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Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 01-15-2002, 01:22 PM:

When I'm working i'm used to go to McDonald's to take my dinner. We have a microwave oven but I don't know to cook in a MWO...I would like to learn some tips because I'm tired of McHamburger...I'll try to cook pasta...

Posted by Howard Johnson (Member # 62) on 01-15-2002, 03:07 PM:

German, please don't eat in McDonalds!! if you value your health!! In the UK you can buy prepared pasta dishes like spaghetti bolognese that cook in about 4 minutes in microwave. I often take a large potato and cook it in its skin for about 12 minutes in microwave then cut open and put in filling such as butter, cheese or whatever you like. This is easy to do, nourishing with plenty of fibre.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-15-2002, 03:17 PM:

Hot dogs. The kids know me as the "weenie man" in the theater.

Posted by Joe Beres (Member # 678) on 01-15-2002, 04:12 PM:

German,
I would recommend that you cook a lot of pasta at home, enough for several meals, and then put individual servings into microwaveable containers with sauce or veggies or whatever you like. bring one with you to work, stick it into the microwave for a few minutes and you are good to go. It's really cheap and easy.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 01-15-2002, 04:12 PM:

Paul,

This is a true story that ocoured at Norton AFB, CA. when I was stationed there just prior to its closure!

I was a C141 Flightline Crew Chief in the AGS squadron. We shared the same hangar space and worked with our counterpart EMS Squadron. Anyhow, each squadron had its own snack bar, the proceeds being used for barrack improvments, squadron parties, MWR, etc.

Anyhow, a young Airman from the EMS Squadron was pulling his squadrons snack bar detail. He was supposed to have locked up and gone to lunch during his break. Well, one of the CMSGTs had to get into that locked EMS snackbar for something. Well, that Airman was in the snack bar. Guess what the Chief cought him doing with frozen hot dogs! ........Well, that EMS snackbar lost just a little business, everyone always teased the Chief about the situation, and the Airman was Courts Martialed !

Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 01-15-2002, 06:50 PM:

How about hamsters and cats?

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-15-2002, 07:15 PM:

Anything that I can get into the booth........
Paul, "The weenie Man"????? Ya got to be kidd'in.....
MArk @ GTS

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 01-15-2002, 08:34 PM:

Ethan, I read your post but I'm full right now. I will meet you at Rachel's for breakfast.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-15-2002, 11:57 PM:

Yeah, Mark. We eat alot of them around here.....

j/k

Actually, the owner thought of buying me a case of them, since he doesn't make any money because I eat them all as soon as they get warmed up on the weenie roller. Then, there is no weenies for the customers.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 01-16-2002, 01:25 AM:

Paul, did you ever cook hotdogs by just electrocuting them (stick a wire in each end and plug it into the wall?) I used to do that when trapped in a booth all day in those days when microwaves were still a bit to expensive to have for a booth. Sometimes, if you didn't put a slit in them, they would explode.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-16-2002, 01:36 AM:

Will, when I was running an electronic shop in the USN on board an aircraft carrier, some of my crew filled condoms with water and put them in a freezer. I opened the door once and saw them. I asked one of the guys what those were, and the reply was, "Didn't you ever hear of a ****sickle, Chief?"

I Immediately left the shop and proceeded to the CPO mess to have a cup of coffee where I was muttering to myself about my crew having too much time on their hands.

I see Brad picked up on this, too. I just LMAO when I caught the title above the picture. I am still laughing. Thanks, Brad. I needed a good laugh today.

John, we have one of those weenie roller heaters, but when we have a cold weenie, we stuff it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.....any longer than that, they look gross...

I never electrocuted them, but that method has its merits.

The "Weenie Man Strikes again"..

Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 01-16-2002, 07:58 AM:

Was once at a food related trade show. Some guy had invented a machine to cook hamburgers in 5 seconds! (Imagine being able to offer your customers fresh cooked hamburgers in 5 seconds, was the schtick.) I offered to try one (and was immediately consumed by the dread that I was about to die by eating uncooked hamburger). Yep, it was a little "grill" and they electrocuted it. He plops down a bit of ground beef and - Zzztt! Tasted alright really. Still convinced I would die, I didn't buy one....

Posted by Betsie Beadling (Member # 591) on 01-16-2002, 09:27 AM:

Wouldnt Eating in the Booth Ruin the Film or Equipment???

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-16-2002, 10:22 AM:

Youll only damage the equipment if you spill something on it and dont wash your hands after you eat.
If you throw your stuff away, clean the table, and wash your hands, itll be ok.
The only problem is some people dont know how to do that.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-16-2002, 12:00 PM:

Ideally, food, drink, and smokes should be kept OUT of the projection room.

Practically, keep it away from film handling areas or sound/electronic/computer equipment to avoid the risk of a spill, crumbs, or grease getting on the film or equipment. Wash and dry your hands after eating or smoking, and before handling film.

Smoking and/or cooking in the projection room can put tars and oils into the air that will coat optics and port glass with scum that degrades performance.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 01-16-2002, 12:39 PM:

Darn, I guess the barbecue grill has to go...

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-16-2002, 12:50 PM:

Personally I am a sack-lunch kind of guy when it comes to booth meals. Nice dry sandwiches, etc. Sometimes I will have a microwavable item which is prepared in another room and then eaten at the booth desk. And having a drink at the desk is almost maditory. You should have 8 glasses of water a day (or is that 8 gallons of water per day?) and it is not always a good idea to walk down to the drinking fountain. Care and common sense go a long way in keeping the food and drink that you have in the booth from affecting the quality of the presentation in any way. Always keep your booth desk neat and change the trash. It will look nicer and the flies won't get caught in the film because they won't be in the booth in the first place!

As far as smoking in the booth goes, this should not be done. If you are a person who just HAS to smoke, then go outside. You are the one who made the decision to smoke and you have to deal with the stuff that comes along with it. No special rights for you! Go outside---but only on your break! I actually knew a guy who used to smoke in the booth, but he only did it when the projector that was furthest away from anything was not running. He'd then blow his smoke into the lamphouse of that projector and let the exhaust take it away. But that was probably because he didn't want people to find out WHAT he was smoking!

Cooking in the booth? I would be fearful to see someone fryin' up some burgers in a projection booth. It would be kind of hilarious at the same time, though.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-16-2002, 01:16 PM:

Joe said: "I would be fearful to see someone fryin' up some burgers in a projection booth."

Unfortunately, I've seen it done at one theatre.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-16-2002, 02:46 PM:

Food is near and dear to my heart. At the Rialto we have several restaurants nearby. On one side we have the Parkside Grill, which does Hamburgers, and barbecue. On the other side we have a bad Italian restaurant that does a decent Pizza. We have eaten so much pizza and hamburgers around here that we sometimes look farther afeild.

Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 01-16-2002, 05:41 PM:

I bet you could make a mean grill cheese sandwich by placing bread and cheese in the lamphouse and striking it for a few seconds.

------------------
--"That's my story and i'm sticking to it!"--

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 01-16-2002, 05:51 PM:

Ethan--

I have a friend who was a emerengcy room nurse at a major Tucson hospital. Some years ago she was sickened by the rash of homosexuals comming into the emerengcy room in the middle of the night with hamster problems!

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 01-16-2002, 05:57 PM:

A practical hot dog/sausage joke that we devised in the military:

take a hot dog or sausage. Put a condom on it. Dress it up in condiments..er..mayonaise. Stuff it in an envelope, and mail it to that someone special!

Posted by German Marin (Member # 918) on 01-16-2002, 06:14 PM:

Well, I've eaten "pasticho" for dinner tonight, a kind of flat pasta filled by layers. I hope i'll get little fat than now (I'm too thin). I cook far from the equipment 'cause we've a breakroom near to the booth. Thanks for all this cook tips....mmmmm

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 01-16-2002, 10:19 PM:

I have always felt as JP does: Idealy, NO food or drink in the booth, but practically, keep it away from the equipment and wash your hands!

I used to allow food and drink in my booth providing that people clean up after themselves and throw their trash away DOWNSTAIRS. I didn't want any bugs! Did they listen? Of course not. So I have made it a rule, no food or drink at all in the booth. I don't mind drinks, as long as they are kept at the desk, but I myself do not drink in the booth because I do not want to be one of those "do what I say, not what I do" people. I cannot ask someone to follow a rule that I am breaking.

On the rare ocasion that I have to scarf down lunch in the booth because of time, it is a dish that I can throw in the microwave and eat with a fork, not my hands! (No sandwiches, burgers, etc....)

-----------------
This one time, at Projection Camp, I stuck a xenon bulb....

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-16-2002, 11:20 PM:

Germain, Do you deliver? That sounds really good! Plane fare is really cheap right now too and I think that would pass through baggage inspection easily. Yummy....

About ......
I can vouch for one person here and thats . He eats in between reels, don't know what it is that he's eating cause its alllablur when it happens. He's never missed a changeover as of yet either. He figured that his average eating time for dinner is just over 9 minuites. This leaves him plenty of time to re-thread the other machine, get the film rewinding, trim the lamp, clean up his mess, and brush his teeth and gargle. Whew! I've actually seen him do this too. Makes ya dizzy.
Mark @ GTS

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-17-2002, 01:13 PM:

Well, I know that these fellows can eat.

I had the pleasure of helping demolish a seafood buffet with them last year in Las Vegas. I'm lookin forward to the return engagement.

Check out the page titled Film-Tech Drink 2001 on the pictures section for all the gory details.

Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 01-17-2002, 07:48 PM:

what ever happened to 101 meals in an Ashcraft lamphouse

I tried to warm up a muffin in a peerless once, after the reel it was stilll frozen, maybe if I had put it next to the arc rather than the other end. any other thing you can cook during a reel?

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-17-2002, 10:00 PM:

I have kept hot dogs piping hot by setting them (wrapped in foil) atop a pair of Altec 1570B amplifiers at the drive-in... worked great!

and Josh you need something a little more substantial than a Magnarc to cook in... try a Futura II

-Aaron

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-17-2002, 10:35 PM:

Well I have to confess that I have been to the Seafood Buffet with a co-worker since the Film-Tech drink night. I finished off all the Shrimp and he polished of all the crab legs! Looking foreword to it again! I am sure glad that whomever suggested we go there suggested it.
MArk @ GTS

Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 01-17-2002, 10:57 PM:

actually a pair of corelites would be cool if I had the headroom and if they could be converted to 6 and 7mm carbons.

Maybe if you build a metal rack to put above the arc, just above the mirror dowser mechanism in the exhaust stream you could get something done. everything would have to be wrapped in foil of course, and would come out with ash all over it.

Josh

Posted by Rick Long (Member # 213) on 01-17-2002, 11:51 PM:

Yeah I know, I have told this story before, but hell, I'm gonna tell it again.

In 1956, the Centre Theatre, Peterborough closed and my dad was out of a job. He got a job erecting t.v. antennas for a local furniture store during the day, and doing whatever relief projection work was available at night.

He had just got home from his day job when the business agent phoned. "The man at the Paramount showed up drunk. Get the hell down there right away!"

Having not had supper yet, dad decided to stop in at the convenience store next to the theatre for something to take to the booth to eat.

He decided on a can of pork and beans.

He got to the booth, convinced the guy there to go back to the beverage room, and took over the shift. The can of beans was put in the Peerless Magnarc to warm up.

They were running some feature in four-track magnetic (35MM) stereo at the time, and he was studying the threading and sound system to make sure he had the switching right in his mind.

He forgot about the beans.

All of a sudden, with a BOOM, the side doors of the Peerless Magnarc flew open, and closed again. Beans all across the booth floor.

The manager of the theatre, hearing the explosion, ran upstairs, looked into the booth, and walked away, shaking his head.

11 years later, after I became a projectionist, we cleaned out those E-7's and still found traces of beans in the shutter housing.

Posted by Ken Lackner (Member # 1002) on 01-17-2002, 11:55 PM:

ROFLMAO!

------------------
This one time, at Projection Camp, I stuck a xenon bulb....

Posted by Paul Harnden (Member # 1034) on 01-18-2002, 01:32 AM:

That was probably THE funniest thing I've read!
For myself I just stuck to eating Hot Pockets when I worked the night shifts. And only in either the office where the MWO was located, or the miniature booth office that was set up away from all the equipment even the build-up table.

Posted by Heyward Garner (Member # 722) on 01-19-2002, 03:39 AM:

DAMN... I eat at the desk. Regularly. I do have a substantially large booth, though... I have three different work-locales, my desk not being one of film. (This is my "blah blah blah fill this out blah blah copy this down blah do this for me) desk. I wouldn't get food crusties on our film though... That would be BAD. =) And as for drink, I must have it. I drink tons of fluids all day long because I am a HOT person.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 01-20-2002, 04:51 PM:

As for myself, I generally drink coffee or have a cup of soup.

We have a small refrigerator and microwave and allow operators to eat at a table in the operations area away from equipment. Everyone cooperates and they wash up afterwards.

We also have a Nathan's Restaurant and Ben & Jerrys as part of our complex. Our projection staff gets a 25% discount. They also get all the coffee and soda they want during their shift, but it is kept at the op center desk. If you work a mid shift (ten hours) you get a meal voucher from me.

However, I do have my rules in the booth:
-clean up food areas after eating
-throw out trash daily
-remain IN THE BOOTH AT ALL TIMES during the shift
-absolutely NO smoking

I look at it this way- if you do your job responsibly, you get the perks. Do it any other way and you're toast. I've burned a few since we opened almost two years ago, but those who do it my way are great people and I treat them with respect.

I gets results. We just went 179 days without a scratched print(13 screen complex running 14 plus hours a day) until a trainee had a mishap on Christmas Day. You can now butter him up. The jelly is optional.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-20-2002, 04:57 PM:

John, Im curious, have you ever made a mistake?

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 01-20-2002, 05:44 PM:

James, none of us have ever made a misteak, ever. That is why we post here of film-tek.

I used to eat in the booth all the time, and I suspect if you asked the direct question of John P. he would admit to it as well. There are times when the owners don't allow sufficient break time to eat proper meals.

FWIW, I never had a problem as a DM with operators eating in the booth. Some things are important, some things are petty.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-21-2002, 08:35 AM:

Jerry said: "I used to eat in the booth all the time, and I suspect if you asked the direct question of John P. he would admit to it as well."

Note that I said:
"Ideally, food, drink, and smokes should be kept OUT of the projection room.",

followed immediately by:
"Practically, keep it away from film handling areas or sound/electronic/computer equipment to avoid the risk of a spill, crumbs, or grease getting on the film or equipment. Wash and dry your hands after eating or smoking, and before handling film."

"Film Done Right" doesn't require a "neat-nick" saint or starving martyr in the projection room, but messy slobs don't belong there either.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 01-22-2002, 07:29 PM:

James R. Hammonds, Jr wrote:

"John, I'm curious, have you ever made a mistake?"

Of course, James. Can't think of anyone who hasn't.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-22-2002, 10:09 PM:

Mistakes are a part of life. But we need to learn from them, and keep them from happening again. Learning from one another's mistakes often can save us from making them ourselves. We all learn from each other here on Film-Tech --- friends helping friends.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-23-2002, 02:20 AM:

"Of course, James. Can't think of anyone who hasn't."

Well why "toast" a trainee who made a mistake while training?
What about the person who was supposed to be training them?
Did they suffer the consequences of not catching the mishap?
Or did it happen when in such a fashion that the trainer couldnt catch the mistake (like doing something after the show had started that caused it that the trainer didnt see until later)?

Dont take this the wrong way and think that Im attacking you for the way you run your booth, but I think that people should be able to learn from their mistakes and be given the chance to improve so that they dont happen again.
I hate scratched prints as much as anyone else, and if someone makes that mistake, I think some form of diciplinary action should be taken, but they should also be given the chance to not make that mistake again.
For example, if someone works for a year and does everything right and one day lets their guard down and a print gets scratched, then works for the rest of their life and never scratches another, Id say it was best to keep that person around that to have fired that person for that one mistake.
However, if it becomes a trend and happens frequently (or a second time in a predetermined timespan), I would then have no problem with letting that person go.