Sometimes there is nothing going on in Austin, especially in the middle of the summer. This is the best time to go to Dobie Mall to see a movie. The funky parking garage is not so full and the dilapidated mall is indolent as well. The training screens are very quiet, but you can focus on your feature better. I usually meander about the mall some before the show, and a lot of memories come back of when I was a student and roomed here in the early seventies. Many friends had worked at Dobie Screens back then and seem to have fond memories of their days there.
My first job had been as an usher at Northtown Six Theater in the late sixties-Dallas. That mall is no longer there, but many of my memories of the sixties are (or were-see "1408") lodged in that building. Some of the films that showed were "Five Easy Pieces", "2001 A Space Odyssey", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Bullet". I would see these films over and over again until I memorized them down to each scene. I have fears that Dobie too will be torn down now and when looking at the theater, I fear that it will close soon. I haven`t confirmed that for sure, but do fear it. Memories are erased when something leaves, even if it is just a building, and as a result the footage of the mind starts to fade away as well! All things go at some time, I suppose? Just look at the way Drive-Ins have drifted away. All of this makes me sad, and it makes me realize I am getting old. I see the moms dropping their kids off to college and I recollect similar occasions in 1972. Funny how fast time goes by.
As I am flitting about I still imagine that some of 
the shops are present from when I was student. I`m not as bad off as Vanessa Redgrave in "Evening" yet, but I prefer some of the funky little shops from then. Like the Magic Mushroom -where you could buy electric candles, and incense and such. Or like the Bakers Dozen-which had pretty good donuts. I saw my very first expresso machine at BD and had my very first expresso in there. Okay, I know...there is nothing going on at Dobie, but that is what makes it cool. You can channel through the past, present, and future in there. It`s paranormal, dude! It will experience the wrecking ball sooner or later, but I will try to hold on to my glorious recollections...until I too fade.
the shops are present from when I was student. I`m not as bad off as Vanessa Redgrave in "Evening" yet, but I prefer some of the funky little shops from then. Like the Magic Mushroom -where you could buy electric candles, and incense and such. Or like the Bakers Dozen-which had pretty good donuts. I saw my very first expresso machine at BD and had my very first expresso in there. Okay, I know...there is nothing going on at Dobie, but that is what makes it cool. You can channel through the past, present, and future in there. It`s paranormal, dude! It will experience the wrecking ball sooner or later, but I will try to hold on to my glorious recollections...until I too fade.The first year that Dobie opened I lived on the top floor. The cafeteria was pretty good and I 
remember that everyone was talking about "The Last Picture Show". I would just attend my classes by quickly popping out of Dobie, then scurrying over to Sutton or Garrison Hall, a mere 2 or 3 minute walk from Dobie. Convenient to say the least! In those days I would spend the whole day studying medieval history, puffing on a little smoke, and playing my guitar constantly, and writing dreamy songs, like "The Captain`s Mystery Home". I had a small two-track Sony recorder which I used to work on demos for countless hours. We would call it The Tower of Babel back then because you could buy any kind of drugs on some of the different floors. This is not a brag, but I am simply stating how it was back then.
remember that everyone was talking about "The Last Picture Show". I would just attend my classes by quickly popping out of Dobie, then scurrying over to Sutton or Garrison Hall, a mere 2 or 3 minute walk from Dobie. Convenient to say the least! In those days I would spend the whole day studying medieval history, puffing on a little smoke, and playing my guitar constantly, and writing dreamy songs, like "The Captain`s Mystery Home". I had a small two-track Sony recorder which I used to work on demos for countless hours. We would call it The Tower of Babel back then because you could buy any kind of drugs on some of the different floors. This is not a brag, but I am simply stating how it was back then. 
This is me from around that time, say 1972. Not that I really looked all that different from lots of other students that would be walking across the West Mall on UT campus at say high noon. Remember the expression he has long hair, wears bluejeans, a tee-shirt, and likes The Rolling Stones? That about sums it up. However, I have never liked bluejeans, but have rather always dug cords.I would listen to rock music all day long. I believe to this day I am a little brain damaged from too much rock. I know my hearing is a little ify. Okay, I`ll confess, at that time I would smoke pot the entire day and just live in an unreal world! That one seemed better to me than parents, Vietnam, and Nixon. Yea...infinitely better.
But Dobie really does a lot for me. When I was younger I would comb the malls doing nothing, but when I worked at Northtown Six I usually went to Yankee Doodles and played pinball and had my normal chili-cheese-dogs for lunch. I liked ushering and I dug the uniforms that we wore. I would bring home a check too and learned responsibility at the age of sixteen. And did you know that our Dallas AMC Theater was the first multiplex in the country? I believe that some of my friends got a similar buzz from working at Dobie Screens. Currently, I favor the Egyptian Room for the delightful murals painted on the walls. 
Your experience with a film is always a pleasant one at Dobie-very cozy and intimate, as if you are in someone`s parlour. Recent pleasant experiences have been "The Motorcycle Diaries", a travelogue of Che Guevara and "Maria Full of Grace", a harrowing story of how a young girl gets caught up in the drug trade just to get money. I saw that one twice. I love to see foreign films also like Claude Chabrol`s "The Bridesmaid". We couldn`t see many French flicks when I was growing up.
Your experience with a film is always a pleasant one at Dobie-very cozy and intimate, as if you are in someone`s parlour. Recent pleasant experiences have been "The Motorcycle Diaries", a travelogue of Che Guevara and "Maria Full of Grace", a harrowing story of how a young girl gets caught up in the drug trade just to get money. I saw that one twice. I love to see foreign films also like Claude Chabrol`s "The Bridesmaid". We couldn`t see many French flicks when I was growing up.Hey, I`ve always been a mall rat and have always been a big movie goer. Maybe I can enjoy Dobie a little while longer before it endures the blows of the wrecking ball. A memory killer indeed! Hal...hal...Hal...can you hear me hal?
*(I have overhauled my Best of 2006, so look at it under February. The piece is on NewsBlaze and has 1,626, 266 this month, visits so far!)
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