international nut of pastry - I think this lines mostly filler.

I used to enjoy going to the cinemas when I was younger. There was a cinema near me that was owned by the same people that had a hardware store. They had a deal going where if you spent $30 at the hardware store, you would get two free tickets to any movie they had showing. For the 6-12 months that this deal ran for, we took advantage of this deal and I saw many movies that came out that year. A lot of things also got done around the house at this time too because of the money being spent at the hardware store.

This was back in 1993. I know this because Jurassic Park was one of the movies that I saw... Twice.

After that, I don't believe I saw too many movies at the cinemas. At least not that I can really remember. But there was probably the odd movie that I did see. There was a long period of time where I don't think I saw a single movie at the cinema, until I heard about Movie Marathons.

It wasn't until around year 7 or 8 of high school that I started attending Movie Marathons. Often it was Luke, Adam that would be there as well, and since they were usually aired during school holidays, afterwards we'd crash at my place, which would involve plenty of network games we when all eventually woke up the next day.

At some point, I gave up entirely on attending cinemas. My eyes must have got worse because I found it too difficult to focus on what was happening on the screen no matter where I sat in the cinema. And watching an entire movie sitting forward and straining to focus isn't a comfortable way to spend a few hours.

Eventually, I had some friends involved in a "movie night" where I would set-up my garage with some old couches, my TV, a bucket of popcorn and a few drinks. I think in some small way I tried to bring the cinema experience to me. Watching a movie with a few other people usually makes the movie more enjoyable, no matter what movie its.

I don't think I actually ever intended on creating my own home cinema set-up, but that's how things have worked out. Looking back, it started when I bought my PlayStation 2 around November-December 2001. Soon after, I started getting DVDs and now I have what I call a reasonable collection of movies and TV shows.

Earlier this year I started looking at surround sound set-ups, and eventually decided on the Logitech Z-5400's - which I picked up when I was in Queensland in July. Running an optical cable from my PS2 to the controller produced great audio quality. And now that I have a new tv and had the chance to watch a few movies on it (and play some games) I can look back and see that it's been building up to this for awhile.

Movies and TV shows have always been a great escape for me. A guaranteed few hours of entertainment even if I watch something on my own or with friends. Even though I still don't go to cinema, it bothers me less now as I have created my own cinema experience at home. Maybe I subconsciously worked towards the "home cinema" that I now have. In any case, I have the set-up that I'm getting enjoyment from and that's the main thing.

The only thing left now is to re-watch my collection again.