John Mc

This is a collection of my thoughts. Some of the thoughts that I once had, I no longer do. Some thoughts I have now I have never had. Yet none shal be discounted. This blog is soley for the enjoyment of the author and the readers. On occasion the views expressed are overly exagerated in order to prove a point. Also there may be a dirty word or thought in some of the posts. Grow up and take this for what it's worth - a blog that barely anyone will ever see.

2/17/2006

Questions Answered

For those of you wondering how our friend Luke did on his radio audition - he didn't get in. It was fixed. A local DJ who goes by the on-air name of "Freak" got the job instead. (Pictured on the left.) What was interesting was while the contest was going on, the website kept hinting that Freak was the winner already. An inside source let me know (Yes, I have inside sources! All large publications like my blog have inside sources!) that Freak "signed on the line" as one might say before the auditions were even half over.
Oh well, Luke has some other possibilities before him. I'll let him tell you about them once they can be released to the public.
Oh, who am I kidding? I wrote this just so I could use that picture. Damn these are crackin' me up!

New Evidence

It is rare that I get political on here. I agree with my friend Billy D. that arguments of politics and religion rarely solve anything. But, informed discussions based on fact could prove benifitial. That is why I'm showing you this story that my friend Mark (You can link to his blog on the right) e-mailed to me. Here is the story and a link so you can validate it's authenticity.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20060216/bs_ibd_ibd/2006215issues

WMD: Did Saddam Hussein possess weapons of mass destruction? We've always thought so. But proof positive may soon be forthcoming if secret tapes of the Iraqi dictator turn out to be real.
The tapes in question, 12 hours in all, represent recordings of Saddam Hussein discussing the possibility of a terrorist attack on Washington, D.C., and the use of WMD.
The tapes are held by John Loftus, a former U.S. prosecutor, who says they were given to him by a "former American military intelligence analyst." Loftus will officially reveal the tapes on Saturday, during the opening session of the Intelligence Summit, a private conference of former defense and intelligence officials from around the world. ABC News' "Nightline" scheduled a preview of the tapes for broadcast Wednesday night.
Loftus insists the tapes provide the "smoking gun" of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Meanwhile, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich., head of the House Intelligence Committee, said the tapes are authentic and show "Saddam had a fixation on weapons of mass destruction and he had a fixation on hiding what he was doing from the U.N. inspectors."
That's not surprising, since the recordings fit with what we already know: that Saddam had a program to make WMD and likely had some stockpiled -- though he also probably shipped them to Syria or Libya shortly before the March 6, 2003, U.S. attack.
That scenario has become clearer in recent days, as two former Iraqi military commanders have come forward to admit that, yes, Saddam had WMD and hid them.
Two weeks ago, we wrote here about Georges Sada, the former No. 2 in Saddam's air force who says Saddam moved his WMD to Syria six weeks before the U.S. invaded -- a claim bolstered by Western intelligence at the time.
Now Sada's claim has been confirmed by Ali Ibrahim al-Tikriti, a key commander of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and a close, hometown acquaintance of the former dictator, who says this was all part of Saddam's plan.
Ibrahim told Worldthreats.com: "What we are witnessing now is many who opposed the war to begin with are rallying around Saddam saying, 'We overthrew a sovereign leader based on a lie about WMD.' This is exactly what Saddam wanted and predicted."
Yes, it worked. Americans have heard repeatedly that "Bush lied" about WMD in Iraq to justify war. War critics agree that Saddam once had WMD, but they contend he destroyed them when sanctions were imposed after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
In fact, inspectors did find WMD -- 53 of them, to be exact, according to the Duelfer Report, the CIA's 1,500-page account of its intelligence mistakes in Iraq. And that report concluded: "We have clear evidence of his intent to resume WMD production as soon as (U.N.) sanctions were lifted."
U.N. arms inspector David Kay's report found much the same thing: "We have discovered dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the (U.N.) during the inspections that began in late 2002."
It'll be interesting to hear what's on Loftus' tapes. They may indeed be a "smoking gun." If so, the case that so many have made against the war for so long will have been blown out of the water.

I missed the "Nightline" show, but I'm sure that once these tapes are released we'll hear even more about this... provided the liberal news media lets it out.

P.S. Yes, those were the actual pictures used in the article. I had NO fun what-so-ever finding those to include on this post. (You can click on each one to see it's full size!)

2/14/2006

The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of The Whole Damn Thing!

The Olympics are back and in full force from Italy. And I couldn’t care less. I have never really cared much for the Olympics, and I think it stems from the fact that they mess up my regular TV viewing. I have become really addicted to “My Name Is Earl” and “The Office” and I won’t be able to see them because America would rather watch sledding. Really? You’ve got to be kidding me.
I know. I’ve heard all about the “spirit of competition” and “International harmony” and all that crap. But, come on. Did you see the opening ceremonies? They made about as much sense as Mush Mouth becoming a motivational speaker. They had the running of the tree people, mega man with fire coming out of his helmet, a blimp that gave 1/2 the world nightmares for 3 days, plastic cows and other stuff that I wasn’t able to identify. And the countries were introduced with 70’s and 80’s music. NONE of it made sense. I now know what an acid trip feels like. Did Pakistan really want to be introduced to “YMCA?” Did they choose that? Were they in a big huddle off camera going “Ok, we have to choose between ‘I Will Survive,’ ‘Like A Virgin’ and ‘YMCA’ - any thoughts? The only good part was the pyrotechnics. Those were better than any Metallica show I’ve been to, but they did not make up for Yoko Ono. Who the hell invited her? What was the Olympic Committee thinking when they made that selection? Surely they could have gotten someone more likable like... Saddam. What does she have to do with sports anyway? Or world unity in general?! If she was for world unity, she wouldn’t have broken up The Beatles.
At least I didn’t see any lame mascot like we had in Atlanta. I never understood that. To this day NO ONE can even remember its name let alone its purpose. Who was it rooting for? America? We developed a mascot to root for our own team when we hosted? That’s a bit rude. So, it must have been rooting for... everyone? Then what the hell’s the point? It served NO purpose. SOMEONE ALWAYS WON! They had to. Otherwise the games would have been as pointless as the mascot.
The worst part of this whole experience is the news coverage. Due to the time delay, the news outlets know who won what and where everyone placed BEFORE it is broadcast here. And because it’s hosted on NBC, and there isn’t an NBC news radio station, the CBS or ABC owned news outlets don’t care about spoiling the surprise. They are hoping you say “Well, what’s the point in watching now, I’ll just check out ‘CSI: Canton’ instead tonight and hope that they don’t do that again tomorrow.” The news coverage is like that annoying friend that we all have that always gives away the ending of movies.
“Did you see ‘King Kong’ yet?”
“No, don’t spoil it for me.”
“Man, Peter Jackson took some liberties with that one.”
“I don’t want to hear about it.”
“The ape dies in the end.”
“Damnit!”
“And I didn’t see how Mothra fit into everything, but it worked well.”
“Will you just SHUT UP!”
Call me unpatriotic or whatever you’d like. I can’t stand to see another minute of this crap. So, say a prayer with me that the closing ceremonies come soon so I can go back to watching my regular TV and not have to put up with this much longer. It only lasts a week, right? Please tell me it isn’t more than a week!

Tampon Over Troubled Waters

So, when you are watching a TV show, the commercials are geared toward the demographic that advertisers are assuming make up majority of the audience. That’s why you see beer commercials during football and make-up commercials during “The View.” If you watch that liberal biased gab fest.
So, I don’t know how I saw this particular commercial, but I did. Maybe it’s because I like E’s “The Soup” or “The Ellen Degenerous Show” (Hey, she’s one of the few female comics that I actually find funny. So back off.) or it might be something else completely different, but I saw it. It hasn’t been on for a while, I’m assuming because of all the complaints that it probably got, but if you saw it even ONCE, it is forever stuck in your mind. The commercial that I’m talking about is a tampon commercial.
Let me set the scene for you. A couple is in a boat (you know which one I’m talking about if you’ve seen it by just those six little words) and they are obviously on a date. The guy is going on about what a perfect day it is until soon they realize that their little row boat has sprung a leak. They guy panics and tries to calm the girl down. He reaches behind him to get his tool box to fix the situation before they are at the bottom of the lake. The girl (probably from her Girl Scout training or something) thinks quickly and pulls a tampon out of her purse and plugs the hole in the bottom of the boat. We watch the thing expand to the size of the hole creating the air-tight seal that they were going for.
I swear to you, I’m not making this up.
Let’s take a few steps back and examine what has happened here. First they are on a date. They obviously aren’t too far into their relationship if the guy is still doing romantic stuff for her like this (let’s face it, we start running out of ideas by the third or fourth month). So, they are both trying to put their best foot forward for each other. Dispite the fact that this was a desperate time, her impulsive thinking lacked any regard for tact. I don’t care how long I have known a woman, I like to pretend that her “time of the month” doesn’t exist. I know I’m fooling myself, but its a world that I enjoy more than the real one. By her busting out this tampon in their time of need like a McGuyver with overies, she has done nothing but make a potentially dangerous situation into a complex and awkward one. We won’t even go into how de-maculating this action was because it works on so many levels.
I have to admit, I don’t know what I’d do in this situation. I might swim for shore or encourage her to do so with a gentle nudge below her center of gravity. In any event, the date is over - and probably the relationship. Why? Because she has proved herself insane.
And just how bad does she have it that her tampons have the same absorbency as an entire warehouse of Bounty? And apparently the sealant qualities of industrial strength caulk. This type of PMS is where wars come from.
Let’s be honest - why do we even HAVE tampon commercials? Most women know that they need to have ‘em and already know what brand they are going for. Are there really women out there who visit the doctor once a month wondering what the hell is wrong with them? Do we need commercials informing the female public what their solution is to this problem? I’m just glad that they use blue water in their demonstrations. I’m actually quite surprised that those demonstrations don’t confuse the hell out of the male viewers.All these commercials are doing is trying to draw me out of my dream world. Especially this one. And I don’t like it.

2/08/2006

Guilty Pleasure

We all have guilty pleasures. Mine is “Cheaters.” Man do I love that show. It’s like cops for lovers. As a matter of fact, before I go into the greatness that is “Cheaters,” I’ve noticed something that will help our law enforcement out in the future. I have been watching “Cops” for nearly two decades now. Not that I set my VCR (No, I don’t have a Tivo yet) for it each week or anything. I catch it by accident, really. But, I have noticed something that should make their jobs a helluva lot easier: Look for the guy without a shirt. He’s usually guilty of something. Check his pockets, there is usually drugs in there. If not, he has probably beat a woman recently or owns an illegal fire arm. Essentially arrest him and ask questions later. He’s so dumb, he’ll admit things that you didn’t even know he did.
Man do I love “Cops.” It is my second favorite reality show behind “Cheaters.” I love the episodes with the drunks. (Which is nearly every episode.) They threaten to fight the cops (never a good idea) or are without pants or will even read the rights to themselves. “I know opesir. I have... oh. I gots da right to remain silent. Things I do and say will be brought to me with a case of slaw.” And there is always the police chace that ends with the suspect slamming on the breaks, diving out of the car and the out of shape police officer has to tackle him and then complain about having to run. Genious! Long live “Cops!” (as a small side-note, did you know that everyone must sign a release form to have their face on TV? When you see a dumb criminal on TV, they have signed on the dotted line - WHILE SOBER! Idiots!)
Anyway, going back to “Cheaters.” What an incredible show. If you are unfamiliar with “Cheaters,” you are missing out on life. Well, on low-life’s lives. The whole premise of the show is someone feels that their mate is cheating on them. So, private investigators trail their significant other for a few weeks. Their servaliance is recorded on video tape and then brought to the origional person who contacted the show in the first place. Here’s where Joey Greco comes into play. Greco is the show’s host. They had a diffrent host to start the program, but then switched it up with Greco. Apparently he was more snake-like. He shows them the video tape and presents it in such a way that the emotions of the innocent person HAVE to be manipulated. His phrazing and tone enrage and upset the poor person in such a way that revenge is the only solution. This makes for great TV.
Now comes “The Confrentation” after a commercial break. About a dozen vans of trained camera men and boom operators close in on the cheating spouse being caught red handed. This is when the pay off comes. The fists fly, insults are exhanged and the third party has the opportunity to play the “I didn’t know you were seeing someone/married” card. They do their best to flee the scene.
In the most recent episode, this blonde chick (the third party) said she didn’t know that the guy was seeing someone and ran out of the house without her pants. Several of the camera crews followed her running down the street. A kind car stopped by the side of the road and picked her up. It spead off for a few blocks and came to a hault. The woman then jumped out of the car screaming “I’m no hooker! I will not do that!” Priceless.
There are usually two stories an episode. Each has a recap at the end where we find out if the origional couple has tried to work things out or has completly broken up. But, one of the best parts of the show is that they offer their own online dating service. I’m not making this stuff up. The TV show “Cheaters” has their own online dating service at www.nocheaters.com Can you imagine finding your soulmate on there? At family functions you’d be asked where you found your new girlfriend. “On the internet.” “Oh. Where? Match.com? E-Harmony?” “Nope. Joey Greco’s No Cheater’s site.” “Oh... well, good for you... pass the mashed potatoes.”
Wow. What a great show. What a slimey host. What a stupid way to waste an hour. Enjoy it on me.

Comedians Can Now Stop

I have been watching a great deal of Comedy Central in the past year. And as many people know, they deal a great deal in comedy. If you didn’t know that, you are an idiot. Anyway, I have seen my fair share of stand-up specials to know what is tired and over-used. Here is my list of things that the standard comedian should avoid for fear of it no longer being relivant.
The toilet seat. We all know that men leave it up and that women are upset with this. Why? We are not sure. It is a simple arm movement for either sex to rectify this situation. Why do men leave it up? Don’t know. Why can’t women put it down? An equally perplexing situation. In any event, we get it. Stop talking about it. This horse has been beaten to death so much that the flies have stopped buzzing.
Men asking for directions. We get it. Men don’t ask for directions when lost. Women do ask for directions. Pea whipped men ask for directions. Regular men drive in circles and drive the women nuts. Is this really a big deal? How many times a year do you go somewhere that you are unfamiliar with. And out of those times, how many situations have resulted in you being lost? The situation is rather small, yet this joke is way too big. Stop it. You’re done.
Ethnic jokes are done. I saw a special on Lisa Lampanelli recently. 90% of her act was making fun of ethnic steriotypes. This is cheap comedy. It is so easy to fall back on this that it is no longer funny. As a matter of fact, it is offensive. And to those who say that it isn’t (like Lisa) you are mistaken and unable to come up with original material, so you hide behind this and claim that we are being “too sensitive.” Nope. We are just “too tired” of hearing it.
I’m also done hearing about the Catholics and pretty much any Christian demonination. We don’t ridicule any other religion. Why? Probably because Christians account for 86% of our nation. We are not ridiculing a helpless minority. We are making fun of the majority, which has become the norm for American Society. Emo Phillips (a great comic) once said “Why make fun of someone becuase of their race, religion or creed when there are so many other GREAT reasons to make fun of people.”
I don’t want to hear any more jokes about what people can’t change. Things like weight or physical imperfections or those with disabilities. These are daily struggles that are difficult on their own - why add to that? I’m not saying that those with these can’t be productive members of society. What I am saying is that I’m sick of the jokes.
Political or religous rants in your set are unecessary. I want to hear some funny stuff. I don’t care about your political views - no matter what side of the aisle you rest on. George Carlin used to be hysterical. Now he’s nothing more than a bitter old man pushing his political beliefs on those who fell in love with the “Hippie Dippy Weather Man” in the 70’s. This goes for pretty much any celebrity. You are given box office money or ad revenue to entertain. I do not EVER want to see you on a soap box for ANY political party. And if you are going to be a lunitic like Tom Cruise and try to tell me that Scientology is right and Psychology is wrong - I’m never going to see your movies ever again. Which is fine with me because Magnolia and Mission Impossible II sucked. I won’t be in line for Mission Impossible III because of that - and because you are a dilusional nutball.
Back to comedians. It was once said that “There is nothing new under the sun.” Essentially, everything has been done before. This does not mean that you are able to lift routines from other comics. I once paid good money to see some comedians in Lisle. (Ok, it wasn’t GOOD money, but I paid none-the-less.) The main comic that I saw recited Jerry Seinfeild’s disk that I had bought a week prior nearly word-for-word. You are a hack and will never make it in this industry. May God have mercy on your soul and not take revenge upon your future generations.
Is it at all possible to keep it clean? I understand the noteriety in “shock value,” but in a society with cable and the internet, shock value comes not from a few dirty words and discussing sex graphicly, but in the ability to do an act like Bill Cosby or Jim Gaffigan that doesn’t involve cursing. It is actually more difficult to get through a comedy special WITHOUT cursing than it is to go for the easy laugh with a four letter word. And the audience will appreciate that. But, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a good dirty joke now and again. But, when your whole act would make Richard Prior blush, (God rest his soul) maybe you aren’t trying hard enough.
That’s all that I can think of right now. If you can come up with more stuff, let me know. Either post a comment or send me an e-mail and I might re-address this in the future.

Notes For A DJ

Being in the radio industry I’ve picked up a few things that I’d like to share with you. Whether you like it or not. There are certain things that I’ve heard on the radio that annoy the hell out of me, and I’m assuming you as well. First of all, “The DJ Voice.” This is the most disgusting form of the DJ. This is a condescending voice that comes from the back of the throat and sound like Don Pardo announcing songs. It works well for Don Pardo. It worked well in the 80’s. It even worked well for that guy who wears the shinny ties on “The Price Is Right.” In modern day radio, however, you are doing nothing but insulting the listener by doing a fake voice. As a matter of fact, any DJ that relies upon voices (aka Jim Shorts of Kevin Mathews fame) and impressions to create a foundation for their show may find that their program has been placed upon a bed of sand.
I also don’t want to hear anything from this list:

“Gotta pay the bills.”“Keep it locked on.”
“Rip the knob off.”
“To the __ caller.”
“Stay tuned!”
“We’ll be right back.”
“My favorite band/album/song.”
“Don’t touch that dial!”

These are all either tired phrases that are EXTREAMLY outdated or insults to the listener. To demand that a listener “stay tuned” does nothing but create the desire to see if there’s anything better out there. To say you’re about to “pay some bills” sounds stupid in the first place, but more importantly has been said to death. If you are holding a contest and are about to give something to the ___ caller, you lack any form of creativity what-so-ever.
The true secret to radio is to be a combination of three things: a friend, real and reliable. The above does not accomplish ANY of these things. If you were out in a bar with a friend, none of the above sayings would make any sense. If one of my friends said “stay right there, I’ll be right back,” the first thing that I’d do would be to find a different part of the bar to be in when he or she returns just to mess with them. I hate being told what to do as if I were a child.
One of the most important things I learned from my internships came from a guy by the name of Greg who works at WBBM FM in Chicago. He once said “Assume that your listeners are as intelligent or more intelligent than you are at all times.” Thus, never ever talk down to them. Who knows if a doctor is listening to you. (Yes, we have those in Effingham.) Or perhaps someone who is a great deal more read than you are is listening. Go ahead and tell a joke that has literary or historical roots. Some listeners will get it and appreciate that you are willing to cater to their needs, while the rest of the audience is awaiting the next joke about gas. They, too, will appreciate that you respect them enough to discuss matters that are of higher intellect.
However, one of the important things that I mentioned before is relatability. How do you accomplish this when you are trying to cater to such a large demographic? You can’t. You can’t always be everything to everyone at all times. It would be impossible. Therefore, you should find out who it is that your station is targeting, and be able to relate to them. Who is MY target demo? The 30 year old female. So, what do I do? I watch E’s “The Soup” and make sure I’m up on Ben and J-Lo’s relationship - they are still together, right? I had a woman on recently explaining football in female terms right before the Super Bowl. Would most guys get into that? Perhaps on a level that I wasn’t trying to accomplish, but the 30 something female that I’m relating to probably appreciated knowing a bit more about the game that their husband or boyfriend was so into and MAYBE they got more joy out of the Super Bowl than just watching the commercials. (Although, this most recent Super Bowl left A LOT to be desired!)
Another component is to be real. Talking in the Don Pardo voice IS NOT real. Talk in your normal voice. The days of the “radio announcer” are over. With IPods and Satellite Radio becoming more and more popular, the only real difference is the person in-between the songs. It is this person that has to be relatable and real. People are smart. They can detect a phony a mile away. (Just like Holden Caufield) And no one appreciates someone pretending to be something that they are not. Therefore, talk in your regular voice and talk about regular things. And don’t use the word “as” instead of “because” to make yourself sound smarter. This goes for people off of the radio as well. This is my number one grammatical pet peeve. But, no one is going to remember the great set of music that you had lined up in the 4:00 hour. But, people still come up to me on the street and ask why I don’t match my socks. And even demand to see the socks that I have on thathe listener what is coming up so they have a reason to listen. Telling them that you have to “pay some bills” is far from compelling. Telling them that you have a list of locations where they can register to win tickets IS. Think like the average listener and be able to relate to their level. Never forget to be real and be their friend. After all, it is YOU that they invite into their bathrooms in the mornings and YOU that rides shotgun on their way home from work. The music they can find on satellite, IPod, CD or another station. The person between the songs makes the difference. If you can think of anything else a DJ says that annoys the hell out of you, please let me know, and I will include it on a second post. If you can think of a DJ that has said something memorable, let me know, and I’ll put that on there as well.

2/07/2006

Web Junk

We all have seen some VERY strange stuff on the internet. (Some things that man should not have ever seen) There is a show on VH1 called "Web Junk 2.0" that is HYSTERICAL if you can ever catch it. It is one of the few programs (other than My Name Is Earl and The Office) that make me laugh out loud when I watch it. Here are some of the greatest aspects of the most recent show: (Some of this crap might not be safe for your workplace - be mindful, damnit!)

http://www.ifilm.com/viralvideo/collection/webjunk20

Check out The James Brown video, Boom Goes The Dynamite (this has been around for a while. Poor guy!), The Proper Words Song and DEFINENTLY check out The Wendy's Training Video with the singing All Beef Patty LaBelle's.

Damn, this stuff cracks me up! Enjoy - on me... and the people at IFilm.com and VH1, but mainly me.

Oh, P.S., this stuff will only be on the site for a week or so. So, if you are reading this post more than a week from now, you'll see different junk up there. And if anyone can find me a link to "The Llama Song," send it to me! More posts later!!!

2/06/2006

Eh, Deal.

The next post is longer than most. But, it is there because I thought you might enjoy it. Read it when you have time. Pass it when you don't.
Then again, you don't have to read it at all. But, you won't know what everyone's going to be talking about at the water cooler tomorrow morning if you don't!

First Date

Women will never understand the hell that men go through for them. I know, I know. You all have your own frustrations and complex worries when it comes to relationships. However, I would like to present to you the things that go through a man’s mind during courtship. I will present the man’s point of view because I have NO idea what the hell women are thinking. First, I would like to let you know that both of us suck at flirting. I was talking to a female friend of mine that was upset because a guy that she was flirting with did not pick up on her signals. She was waving him in, but he just didn’t get it. At first, I assumed that this was just the standard chump that didn’t understand what was going on. But, I soon realized the true story behind what was going on - she didn’t know how to flirt with men.
She told me that she dangled her shoe before a guy and he didn’t understand that she was interested. “You what?” I asked. She explained that she dangled her sandal towards a guy and he didn’t get that she was interested. What kind of bull shit is this?! Dangling a shoe? This is the best thing that women can come up with to attract a guy? This will not work, because only freaks with shoe fetishes notice the feet of a woman. If she was trying to attract a guy like that - more power to her, but I would not have picked up on this cryptic sign that she was sending out. Women, let me level with you, men are stupid creatures. We need to be beat over the head with things before we understand them. If you want to let a guy know that you are interested in him, you pretty much have to tell us. We are not going to pick up on the preverbal shoe dangle that you think is so clever. Unless you come out and say “I’m interested in you,” we won’t get it. However, that is a double - edged sword in the sense that you might be coming on too strong. But, if you are into the guy - risk it! Like I said, we are dumb creatures.
What you don’t understand is the amount of testicular foritude it takes for us to even approach you is an accomplishment in itself. Then to carry on a conversation with you and to present ourselves as witty and someone that you would enjoy spending time with is such a great deal of pressure many of us would rather sit alone at the bar! We all know that you run us through a series of tests from the second we meet you until our dying breath and we are NOT ok with that. Geez! Why can’t you make it easy on us. If you’re attracted to us, why not save us the trouble and begin writing your name and phone number on a cocktail napkin as we are walking over so that we can skip to the end result that we are all hoping for. I only wish that one day we can cut through the bull shit and get right to the chase. Wouldn’t that be nice? To always say what we were thinking and give our true intentions and thoughts at all times? If inner monologues didn’t exist it would be a different world. Scarier in some respects, but a different world all together.
So, we get your number. That is the first hoop that you have us jump through. The next is to call you. When do we do it? That night? No. Way too soon. The next day? Might seem desperate. Two days out? Probably just right, but then don’t want to look too formulaic. Three days out? Don’t want to make it look like you were a second or even third option for someone to go out with. But, then again, why not a little competition? When do we call? And you have the option to not pick up. That is where the trouble starts! If you don’t pick up, do we leave a voice mail or not? And if so, what do we say? We only have a short amount of time to decide to hang up and try again later, or formulate a creative, enjoyable and most important - likable response to the automated answer of your cell phone (if that’s what you gave us) without sounding like a rambling fool. Unfortunently should we make the decision to stick with the voice mail, we sound like the rambling fool. In the bar we were cool and confident when we talked to you. Now it sounds like we are trying to order take-out using the Spanish that we were taught in high school years ago. “Um, hey. Looks like I missed you. Sorry about that. I was calling because... because you gave me your number. Oh, this is Jim from the bar the other night. Don’t know if you remember me. Of course you remember me, I’m not saying that you are some sort of slut that gives out your phone number to thousands of guys each night, but I am letting you know I’m the guy who was in the blue shirt. We talked about dolphins and the issues in South America? You should remember me. I hope. Um... well, I guess I missed you. Wait, we covered that already. Um... well I’d like to talk to you again. Maybe even see you again. But, um... you didn’t answer. You’re probably at work or school or have something else to do. That’s why you didn’t answer. Or maybe because you didn’t recognize the phone number on your caller ID and wanted to see who it was. Well, it’s me. Jim. I already said that too, didn’t I. Well, give me a call back when you get this. I’m going to be available all night. Well, not ALL night, I do have a life. I have things to do tonight, but I can still make time for you. If I wasn’t able to, I wouldn’t have asked for your phone number in the first place, right? Well, I’m available. But, not always. Call me back. Talk to you then. Um... bye?”
Then we hang up and curse for 15 minutes straight. We know this won’t accomplish anything, but we also realize what a bumbling fool we have just sounded like and the fact that it has been digitally recorded for future generations to hear doesn’t help much. We think about you putting your phone on “speaker” and letting all of your friends know about the looser that just left you a voice mail. We then wonder if you have a radio or TV show where you will share us with your audience and we wish now that we had cursed in the middle of it so that you would have to edit out SOMETHING of our mindless rambling. But, we didn’t. It is out there. It is saved. And we have to live with it. Some of us make the mistake of calling right back in order to make a fleeting attempt at saving the voice mail that we’ve just left you. Of course, we are only digging the hole deeper. “Um, hey. This is Jim again. Guess you didn’t pick up this time either. That’s ok. We all lead busy lives these days. Just wanted to let you know that I didn’t mean to leave such a long voice mail the last time I called. Actually, just disregard the last phone message that I left you. (which we know, deep inside, that you won’t) Um, just wanted to let you know that I’m not some sort of rambling psycho and that I would like to see you again... soooooooo um, yeah. Was hoping you’d pick up this time. Um. Well, I guess you have my number now. If not it’s ___-_____. You can call me whenever. Leave a message if I don’t pick up. You don’t have to leave two like I did. Ha, ha, ha - eh. Well, anyway... um, done with work now. Just hangin’ out, as the kids would say. Not saying that I’m old. Or that you’re old. But, just that ‘hangin’ out’ is the current lingo of today’s society and stuff. Um, yeah. Ok. Well, I’m going to let you go. Not that you haven’t had the option so far, but um... yeah. Well, I’m here. Call me back when you get this. I’ll look forward to talking with you again. Thanks for giving me your number and stuff. And maybe we’ll hang out after you get this. But, call me first. Ok. Bye.”
Then we sit and wait. And each time the phone rings, we jump. Then we realize how hard it was for us to call you. How much courage it took for us to enter those seven digits into our phone and then hit the “send” button. We then begin wondering why we gave you the same amount of pressure before we even talked to you out of a drunken bar scene scenario. We second-guess our actions ALL THE TIME! After every voice mail we leave, a slap mark is left on our head from us reminding ourselves how useless what’s behind the forehead really is. What doesn’t help is that we know that you have a recording of us acting like complete asses that can be played over and over again. And our friends have asked us “did you call her?” And our response of “Yeah, but I got her voice mail” is always returned with “Oooh. Did you leave a message?” When our dumb-ass friends find out that we did, it is never good it is usually the same response “Dude! What were you thinking?” And we don’t know. We honestly don’t know. As soon as the words left our mouth we realized it was a bad idea, but they flowed freely irregardless. In all their stupidity. We know what dumbasses we’ve sounded like. We are well aware of that, but there’s nothing you can do.
Now, let’s say that a miracle occurs and you call us back. Or even better, you picked up when we called an a first date is made. We know that you’re nervous. We’ve heard stories about how you try to pick out the best outfit and have your make-up and perfume perfect for a first date. However, we are so nervous that we don’t even notice these things. We are just so overjoyed that you’ve agreed to see us a second time that we don’t even think about what you have gone through. This would make us even more of a wreck.
The standard movie date is usually what we go on. This is tried and true. We don’t know much about the female side of our race other than the fact that you like movies and that we live movies. Chances are, if we take you to a movie, we will both enjoy ourselves. The problem then becomes what movie to see. We have heard that you are a fan of romantic comedies. For some reason if Julia Roberts is in the movie, you consider it a good movie. However, we don’t care for movies like that. We enjoy gratuitous nudity and things blowing up. While we know that this does not constitute a good movie-going experience for you, we are tempted to go see this type of film. So, right off the bat we are faced with the challenge of not only deciding what to do on the date, but what movie to see. Most guys will go the safe route of the romantic comedy. Some will go with the horror film so that you are scared and we can protect you. However, some will try the buddy cop movie where stuff gets blown up and the witnesses to the crime always seem to end up naked. In any event, it’s a movie and we have to go see something. It’s a good thing that Hollywood has been releasing such quality recently.
But, the movie choice is not the first of our worries. The first worry comes in the preparation for the date. Most guys will prep themselves physically for the date. Through a standard shower, calonge and actually shaving. These are things that we don’t even do for the standard wake or wedding (in some cases - the same thing). However, we read somewhere or heard from a friend that you like this, so we do it. It doesn’t matter, because we sweat a full gallon while driving to your home. This negates any kind of prep work that we’ve done to get ready for you.
Meanwhile you are fixing your hair or even have a few friends helping you prep for your date with us. This is something that we NEVER have. We don’t have a friend that will stop by the house to make sure that our hair is perfect and that we don’t use so much calonge that you can smell us coming 2.3 miles away. If we have a roommate or friend present while we prep for our date, they are of little or no help to us what-so-ever. These people are usually more interested in our premium cable package than how presentable we are. All I’m asking is that you take this into consideration when we visit you with one dark blue sock and one brown sock for the date. We don’t know. We honestly don’t. Men are ALL color blind. It’s a trait. Women have developed colors like salmon and aqua that might as well be a foreign language to us, because we have NO idea what you are talking about. We see only the primary colors and then assume the rest is some sort of female scheme to mess us up.
Anyway, we get to your home about 5 minutes before we are supposed to be there. We are then left with a very important decision to make. Do we show up early? Do we circle the block some more? Do we park in the driveway and do some checks on our scents? (AKA calonge and breath) What do we do? We’re early. And what if our watch is fast? What if it’s slow? What does this mean to you? If we show up early, are we too eager? If we show up late do we not respect you? Where is the test? How do we pass? Why does it have to be different for EVERY one of you?!
So, we ring the doorbell. What happens? Someone other than you answers. You are NEVER ready. And this person that answers has a higher criteria for us to meet than the president of the United States. This could be your parents or your friends. (Sometimes we still get the angry dad!) Either one will grill us silently on our character and our personality. We know that whoever this is, we HAVE to pass. Otherwise, you will be given some sort of silent signal of our acceptance as you walk down the stairs 20 minutes late. Did we make it? Did we pass all the tests? Only you and the test give know. We have NO idea. We are still checking to make sure that we don’t smell. That is our main concern, not whether or not our future career paths meet the qualifications put forth by your test giver.
But, you come down the stairs looking better than we remember. Probably because we were either drunk, or you have just experienced a full night of dancing seductively with your girlfriends and were not in the best physical state when we first met you. In any regard, here is where the ultimate degree of nervousness hits us. You ALWAYS look better than we were picturing. Then we check our arm pits again to be sure that we aren’t smelling like a pig farm after the slaughter.
After a few seconds, we pick up on the signals that you are giving us that you want to get out of there. (This is one of the few times that your desires and ours meet perfectly. This is why we are able to read it perfectly.) We want to be gone out of the watchful gaze of your parents or friends so that we may begin enjoying the evening. We soon realize that on a first date, no joy has EVER been found. It is a long, stressful job interview that we must pass if we expect to get a call-back.
But, we take you out to our car. The first thought that runs through our mind is “does she like my car?” And the first thought running through your mind is probably something like “Can he see my panty line?” We aren’t thinking about that, trust me. We are hoping that the mode of transportation provided for your evening is up to your standards. Please don’t tell us about the Ferraris or Lamborginis that you’ve been in during previous dates when comparing them to our Ford Escort. That doesn’t help either of us. (To be perfectly honest, we don’t want to hear ANYTHING that has to do with your previous boyfriends. We want to pretend that we are the first guys that you’ve ever gone out with. Deep down we know this isn’t true and that one day we will find out the truth, but please keep this dream alive for as long as possible for us!) We are mainly focused on making it to the car without tripping and getting your door open for you. To toss that at us will only cause the forces of nature to have us land face first in your front lawn.
Now, every guy worth his salt will open your door for you. Here comes one of the few tests that we give you. Once inside the car, and once we have secured you in by shutting the door for you, you now have a few options to prove to us what kind of person you are. Yes, ladies, we have tests for you. Granted, they are as plentiful as the millions you toss at us, but they are there. You can either put on your seat belt and wait for us to enter the car on our side, hit the electric locks to unlock our door as well before you put on your seat belt, lean over and unlock our door manually or go the full nine yards and open our door as we walk around. I DID date a girl that OPENED my door EACH time that I walked around. She was my favorite. This shows us how selfless you are on a date. If you just sit there with your seat belt on and look straight ahead, we assume that you think of no one other than yourself. And unless you are some sort of super model that we don’t deserve, we don’t look kindly on this behavior. As a matter of fact, I think twice about taking you out again after that. Unless you make up for it throughout the remainder of the date.
So, now we are left with one of our many decisions to make throughout the date. How do we drive to our destination? Do we drive like we normally would? Do we impress you with the speed of our four cylinder car or do we take it easy because it’s been a while since our last oil change? This also hinders on how late you’ve made the start of our date due to your preparation time. If we have a very short window to make it to the theater on time, we will speed and weave in and out of traffic to make it on time. Why? Because we know that the next showing after our set time is a full 20-30 minutes later and this would cause us to come up with extra material to discuss during this time that we didn’t prepare for because we were under the false impression that you’d be ready on time and not give your roommates or parents the freedom to quiz us before the date.
So, we arrive at the movie. We let you out of the car and we walk to the theater. Because it’s a Friday or Saturday night we have to park far away. (The couples that have been together for a while and know the time schedules of one another have had the opportunity to start their evening before we did and have parked a great deal closer.) This enters one of many awkward moments of our first date. Do we hold your hand while we walk to the theater? Would this be too soon? How do we show that we desire a connection with you if we don’t? Are you wondering if we are embarrassed to be with you if we don’t hold your hand on the way in? Would we be pushing things if we did? Is this a major step for you at all? These thoughts are racing through our head with each step. Constantly cycling until we get to the ticket window.
All good guys will pay for two tickets, at full price, (even if we still have our college ID and can get the student discount) for our date and ourselves. We then enter the movie theater. I have yet to experience a woman that has wanted to purchase popcorn on the way in. Why? I don’t know. This is one of the many mysteries of the universe that man has yet to discover. Even on the second, third or thirty-fourth date they don’t want popcorn. When I go to the movies with my friends, this is nearly a required stop on our journey, but I fore-go it each time I’m with a girl. Why? Well, we are usually late anyway and would be lucky to enter the theater before the previews end.
So, deciding on a seat in the theater is usually another test that we have to pass. Most people like to sit in the middle of the theater. With “surround sound” this provides for the best movie-going experience. But, the couples who have been dating for a while and know each other’s schedule have already taken these seats, so usually we have to sit on one of the side aisles. This is ok, because this gives us the opportunity to make sure that you are on our “good side.” Now, what this means is that, when and if we decide to make our move, our proper arm is around you, not the other one.
So, being the guy, we need to select a row and find a seat in a darkened theater and hope that this works for you as well as we hope it will. Now, let us pretend that by some miracle that the movie has not already started. This movie scenario is a test. It lets us know how intelligent you are by how well you are able to follow the plot. If every 5 minutes you have to ask us “Who’s that guy” on the screen and we have to respond with “That’s the main character,” you’re not doing so well. As a matter of fact, many guys, like myself, disapprove of talking at all during a movie. Telling a character not to go into the scary room has NEVER prevented them from doing so. Please keep this in mind. It only annoys those around you and embarrasses the hell out of your date.
Guys are now left with SEVERAL nervous situations before them. We don’t EVER watch the movie on the first date. Instead, we watch you. We look for signs to put our arm around you and to make the first move. We know that you are expecting it and it is up to us to go through with it. We are constantly checking our pits to make sure that it is a viable move that we put our arm around you. But, when to do it is the crucial aspect of the situation. We can’t do it while someone is getting killed on the screen. And if we do it at a very romantic part of the movie, are we seeming too cliché’? And if we do it at a boring plot driving scene, are we seen as boring as well? When do we do it? HOW do we do it is the better question. We go back in our mind to see when we did it with previous girls and can’t remember a DAMN thing about the first date, because we were so nervous and it was such a train-wreck in our mind that we have blocked it out like a bad childhood memory.
You know what I do? I make a joke out of it. I’ve found this works the best. Men, take note. I make it so ridiculously obvious that it reduces the amount of stress to the situation and makes it fun for everyone involved. I do the “fake yawn.” However, I make it so obvious what I’m doing that the woman has no option other than to laugh when she realizes that my left arm has wrapped around her in the most obvious of situations. The way that you can tell that this works is if she leans into you when you put your arm around her. Most girls will pretty much fall into you as if to say “About damn time!” If she remains as ridged as she was early while you put your arm around her, you’ve gone in too soon. Or she is too much into the movie that she forgot that she’s in there with you. However, a great deal of thought has gone into this move, and you should be careful about taking it away. Guys will look into every aspect of the situation to see if you are ready for this. I told you that we NEVER see the movie on the first date. We are too busy analyzing the situation to see what you are ready for and what you are not. Are her legs crossed? Are they crossed in my direction? Yes, yes they are. Wait, she has just uncrossed them and now her right leg is on top putting her focus on the other side of her body away from me. Does this mean that she isn’t interested anymore or that she wants to lean into me when I do it? Her hand is on her knee. Does she want me to hold it through the movie? Wait, she just moved it. What does that mean? Did I miss my window of opportunity? Where did it go? I can’t just look at it directly to see where it is, but I have to know. I will use my perifial vision. Damn. That isn’t getting me anywhere. I will continue to look directly at the screen while my eyes will be forced as far as they’ve ever gone to my left so I can see where she is and what she’s doing. I don’t see her hand. Wish that I had rigged up a series of mirrors to keep constant check of her body language. What does mine say? What is she reading off of me? Why am I slouching? I should be sitting straighter. But, not so straight that I am ridged. What did that guy on the screen say? Damn. I know that there will be a conversation about the movie afterwards and I haven’t seen a damn thing because I’m wondering how her legs are crossed and where her hand went. Did she even have a hand to begin with? Where did her right hand go? Oh, there it is. It’s not accessible. I should go for the left arm around her. Is this the right place in the movie to do so? Nope. Gotta wait. Too soon. Plus the scene doesn’t work well with making my first physical move. Damn. Lost track of the right hand. She has crossed her legs toward me again. Is this a sign that she wants me to hold her? Or did her other leg just fall asleep? Surely it isn’t something as simple as that. Damnit. I just missed an important scene here. Hopefully she doesn’t ask me about this. Ok. I’m going in. No backing out now. 5-4--3-2- damn. Why did that guy have to get shot? There’s blood on the screen. Not a good time to hold her. She’ll think that I’m some sort of psycho that gets off on blood. She has to know that I don’t care for blood. “I don’t like blood.” Damn. Why did I say that? Now it seems that I’m some sort of pansy that faints at the sight of blood. How many episodes of “ER” did I watch before it got silly? Damnit! She doesn’t know that. Fix it! “But, I do like ER.” She just nodded. Does that mean “I agree with you” or was it a polite way or saying “Shut up, I’m into this movie.” Just missed ANOTHER scene. I’m going in. I think that these two embalmers have it for each other. I don’t care. I’m goin’ in. 5-4-3-2-1. Geez. Why do I always puss out. She’s probably wondering why she’s sitting alone in that seat wondering when I’m going to go in and hold her. It’s NOT a big deal. People all over the world are probably doing it right now. Why can’t I? People for all of time have been holding their girls on the first date. But I had to choose a movie with too much blood and I can’t make a move without looking like a psycho of some sort. I’m NOT Hannibal Lector, yet, how to I convey that to her while holding her? I can’t. I MUST find a way. I MUST! Ok. Here it is. Do or die. 5-4-3-2-1 Fake yawn and I’m in. Wow. She leaned into me. She must have been waiting for me to do that. Why did I waste all of that time? She’s been wanting me to do that for a while. Whoa. Wait a minute. How are my pits? I guess they are ok if she leaned into me. Good thing I got that “turn up the heat” crap. I don’t smell anything. I do smell her shampoo. Very nice choice. Very girly and fruity and crap. I like it. Ok. My right hand is free and so is hers. Do I go in for her right hand now? No. Her head is in the way. I can’t see where it is. Plus my left hand isn’t doing anything. Slow bicep massage. Here we go. Gentle rubbing of the bicep. Show her that I’m doing something in addition to holding her. I can multitask. I can hold her and rub her bicep at the same time as well as watch the movie - DAMNIT! What the hell just happened? Who’s that chick? She new or someone who’s storyline I should know. Better not ask. That would break the hold. Plus that would make me look bad. Look for context clues to figure out where she’s from. Where the HELL did her right hand go? I bet it’s on her right knee. I’m going to find out. Got to venture to the right knee. I’ve gone this far. It’s only a progression from here. Right knee, here I come. 5-4-3-2- I can’t do it. I’ve come this far, I don’t want to botch it up. Damn. Her head is on my chest. I bet she can hear my hear beating faster than a jack rabbit running from a team of wild dogs. She must surely know how nervous I am. Wait. Did she hear my stomach just gurgle? Oh, please. Not now. Anytime but now. A burp is forming. Why am I focused on my stomach? I knew that once I did, a burp would come up. And there’s no hiding it this time. Once it’s there, everyone is going to know. There’s no way to hide it. Here it comes. I can feel it accelerating up my esophagus faster than any burp I’ve ever had in my entire life. Gotta keep my mouth shut. Gotta keep it in. Gotta keep it in. Here it is. Brrrphfff. Kept most of it in. She didn’t move. Did she not hear it? Did she not care? Did she just chalk it up to “a natural thing?” Maybe I can fart around her too. Don’t push it. DON’T push it! I think we are both going to pretend that the burp didn’t happen. I need to go in for that right hand. My right hand isn’t doing anything but annoying the guy to my right as I guard that right hand rest as if it were some sort of acquired territory. I might as well have pissed on it to claim it. But, I’d rather hold her hand. I’m going in. 5-4-3-2-1 got it. Kind of. Got her finger tips. She was kind enough to help me out. We are now holding hands and my arm is around her. This is great.
Let’s pause for a moment for an exercise. Put both of your hands together. Hold them there. Lock the fingers and make sure that your palms are touching. That feel comfortable? It will for a few moments. Until you realize the byproduct of two hands touching. Let’s go back to the inner-mind of the male on a first date, shall we?
Ok. Things are good. I’m holding her and she has responded by moving into me. I am holding her right hand and she has responded by making sure that we have as close of a contact as possible by locking her fingers around mine. How tight are they? Oooh! Go back to rubbing the bicep! You forgot about that in the quest for the right hand! What were you thinking. Gently rub that. Let her know that you are still there. Now also gently squeeze her right hand. There you go. What is this movie about anyway? All I know is that there’s a bunch of white people doing stuff. I might have as well just taken her to an episode of “Friends” on the big screen for all I know. But, got the rub and the squeeze going. Wait, be careful. A sweat build up is beginning to form in our right hands. What do we do? Normally a broad rub of the palm on the shirt would solve the issue, but I can’t do that. She might take offense. But, we’ve made that connection. Surely she feels the sweat to! What do I do? I have to think of something quick. Think. THINK! What did that guy say? Damn. It sounded like a turning-point statement for the movie! I don’t even know what his role is in this damn thing. Right hand. Right. Forgot. Keep rubbing with the left what do I do with the right?
Guys, I’m going to pause here with an easy solution. You want to rub your hand to get rid of the sweat, right? Well, so does she. She is JUST as aware of the sweat build up between two hands touching as you are. However, you being the man, she doesn’t have as much freedom as you do to rectify the situation. So, before she pulls away and you bein to wonder whether or not it is the sweat or because you have moved too fast on the first date, here’s what you do. Simple and understandable by both parties, you take your hand to YOUR knee and rest hers on it. This gives you an opportunity to free your hand and give her the opportunity to be free of the hand sweat while also having to rub it on your knee. Your pants have become the towel instead of hers. She should appreciate this. And she will be rubbing your knee on the first date. It’s a win-win situation for both parties. You have your hand free and she’s rubbing your knee while you are massaging her left arm. And, when she’s done, you have the option to rescue her hand with yours once again, or leave it on your knee.This becomes the decision. Did you leave her there uncomfortably or is she ok with resting on your knee? Should you get her hand again so it isn’t awkward? Or is she ok with it. If she’s ok with it, should you read too much into it and wonder how she could be so ok with it on the first date? How far up the leg is she going? Is she remaining stationary? What the hell do you do now? Do you rescue her to have it happen all over again? What THE HELL is this movie about? Is it almost over? That makes a difference. You could hold her hand until the end, IF you could predict when the end would be.
Go for it. Risk it again. Go through the same motions while still massaging her left bicep. Surely it is VERY relaxed by now, but you need to keep up some intent for going over there. Maybe you can leave her right hand on your chest. She can use your shirt as the next sweat wipe off. Plus this would give her more contact with you in a more intimate matter. But, is she ready for this? Are we moving too fast, too soon? Is this a big step at all? I don’t know. There isn’t a handbook for this kind of thing. Guess I just have to feel it out. What if she pulls away and then feels awkward about returning? Should I get her back and let her know that it’s OK, or should I let her go for fear that I would jeopardize her comfort level?
Then the movie ends. FINALLY. I have NO idea what has happened throughout the movie. I’m assuming that she does, but don’t dare ask her any specific questions like “What do you feel about the cinematography” or “How did you feel about ____’s character” or “What the hell happened in the past hour and a half?” That only leads to follow-up questions and that is something that I’m not ready for.
So, the lights come on and you are now holding her with your left arm (which is WAY beyond asleep at this point) and you need to make a decision. When to get up. Do you leave during the credits? Does she care who the “Best Boy” was? Did she know the “Key Grip?” Is she concerned which movie house distributed it? Better get up. But, this would cause the loss of all that was accomplished during the movie, right? Not if you play it right. The secret is the small of the back.
As you are walking out, let her walk before you. Give her a gentle nudge (not a push) on the small of the back. This will allow enough contact without being forceful or sexual. This shows her that you are still there without you being all “up in her grill” as the kids say. A gentle nudge on the small of the back can turn into a full waist hold in the parking lot as you walk to the car. See where she puts her arm that is closest to you for her acceptance of this. If she puts it around your shoulders, you’re doing good. Your waist, you’re doing great. If she doesn’t respond, you’ve failed somewhere. Back up and try again.
Get her car door once more and give her the same test again. May the test never end. This is one of the few that guys can give to women any and every time they get in our cars. You now have the choice to 1) take her home. 2) take her for drinks or ice cream or something else light. 3) take her to your place. You can tell by the way she looks where to take her. If she looks a great deal less than when you picked her up, take her home and see if she invites you in for a drink. If she looks like she’s still ready to party, take her to your place. Don’t take her to a bar where she could get hit on by some other guy who DIDN’T spend $23 on a movie for her that night. Take her to your place that you have had cleaned up just in case and have drinks ready to go. If you are undecided, ice cream is a great option. There will USUALLY be a place open that is serving ice cream as you leave the theater. This is a good opportunity to talk to her to find out if she is the appropriate personality type.
If she talks about how much her work sucks or soely about the movie, she is either a very negative person or doesn’t have much to contribute other than the obvious commonalties between you. Thus, she isn’t confident to provide new information that might be controversial in the sense that it MIGHT not be a common ground topic. But, in any regard, you have her for about another 1/2 hour in any respect. Make good use of the time and be willing to provide topics of conversation that she can relate to. And if she doesn’t prepare to switch it up at any time to compensate for her comfort level.
The question becomes, is she one of those women who appreciates a good-night kiss. Even on the first date? If you have gotten a kiss during the movie, you’re golden for the good-night kiss an the envy of the rest of us. But, for the rest of us, you have to make it happen. You have to set the mood and let her know that it’s ok to kiss on the first date. The way that you do this is with great caution. You must be sweet and gentle while confident at the same time. I’d go into details... but I can’t give you ALL of my secrets, now, can I? Geez, haven’t I given you enough?!