So, we are not allergic to the American Southwest. We both really enjoyed the first few breaths of damp Saint Louis night air when we got in. Then we coughed. Gary coughed in the car and then choked out “Urg! Ack! I coughed up something in my mouth that’s like an EAR.” Still, since then our coughs have become progressively more fluid, and now that I’ve been in bed for a week I think I’m on the upswing.
Gary’s a little better off than I am, yet still not well enough to upload photos, which means my first vacation post will need to be photo-free, and only one event happened that was not photographed.
That would be the Marvel Super Heroes 4D Experience at Madame Tussauds Las Vegas.
On the way out of Madame Tussaud’s, you pass through a room into which they have dumped the four Marvel Comics related dummies, and then you go in to a 3-D theater that is equipped with special seats that (in time with actions on-screen) squirt a mist of water at your face, blow a puff of air at your ear, and lightly whip plastic string at your legs. Cheesy, but effective when timed with the action sequences on screen.
We didn’t know any of this when we sat down and put on our 3D glasses. A group of boisterous ladies took the row of seats behind us. The ten minute movie started.
The ladies behind us continued talking. They believed in the time honored tradition of talking back, or interacting with the movie on screen. I’ve been in one movie house where this happened, and I wasn’t expecting it, and at the time my reaction was, “Is this a dollar-cinema thing?” because I hadn’t been to the dollar cinema in a while. However, these ladies interacting with the movie took it form a cheesy “4D interactive experience” to a marvelous 5D interactive experience.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s Tony Stark. I love him. I LOVE YOU TONY!”
“Is that Doctor Doom? TONY YOU BETTER LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT TONY!”
(Tony Stark swings some sort of weapon at Dr. Doom: whoosh. We all feel a puff of air.)
“WHAT WAS THAT! I FELT IT! DAMN!”
(Someone is tossed into the ocean: spritz. A fine mist of water touches our faces.)
“DAMN! MY WEEEAVVVVE! YOU JUST GOT MY WEAVE WET DR. DOOM!”
I tell you; it was the first time I have ever enjoyed an action sequence. I want these women to come home with me and narrate every stupid action movie Gary makes me watch. In fact, that night we rented the latest Jack Ryan movie, and when the first interminable car chase started, I tried a feeble little “Wooo! Jack, you’d better run!” but Gary shut me down.