At the movies

(Regular Guy Grub, by Buddy Hurlock) During a quick trip Monday to visit my brother in New York City, we went to see The Dark Knight and then a Yankees game, my second and probable final trip to Yankee Stadium.

I didn't end up getting any pizza up in New York this time, and the hot dogs at the game were just fine, but going to the movies led to some observations.

Has anyone noticed that more movie theaters are pre-bagging their popcorn? This is no good. When they do this, you get popcorn that isn't nearly as fresh, and it makes me question if it's popcorn that was even popped within the last hour, or even popped on site at all.

Note No. 1 to movie theater owners: We want to see you put our own popcorn into our own bag. And if your answer is that pre-bagging makes the lines move faster, that's not a good excuse. We don't mind missing the 20 minutes of commercials.

Also, whenever you get anything larger than a small bag of popcorn, it disappointingly means you're only getting butter on the very top and, nothing more.

Note No. 2 to movie theater owners: Cut us break when we order the larger sizes of popcorn. Fill it up halfway, put on some butter and proceed. Go ahead and charge us 50 cents more. We're already paying a lot anyway.

As for candy, what candy do you like to get at the movies? I went with Mike & Ikes on Monday. And OK, you caught me, I hardly ever do this, but this time I brought in the candy from outside. But usually, I don't mind buying my candy right at the theater.

Note No. 1 to movie-goers: Don't get too mad about the high prices of food at the movies. Theater owners make very little off ticket sales.

In another issue, I always be sure to take my trash with me when I leave, since the bins are right there when you exit. Since when did it become OK to just leave your trash on the floor at the movies, or on the ground at baseball games? You should see all the trash that's left after Blue Rocks games. Disgusting.

Note No. 2 to movie-goers: Clean up after yourselves.

Anyway, make your case for the best movie candy. Is there a certain candy that you only get at the movies? For me, that's Sno-Caps, a perfect fit with salty popcorn. Milk Duds and Sour Patch Kids are two more of my favorites.

Lastly, I still want to hear about Delaware's hidden hot dog places. I know there's one in Seaford right on Rte. 13, but the name escapes me. Anyone know?