Yesterday the Ninja and I were given the opportunity to attend the LACMA 3D: Double Vision exhibit opening on behalf of my Aunt whose University had contributed some pieces from their collection to the exhibit.
We had no idea what to expect and so erred on the side of business casual. I have been slowly building up my work clothes attire and was able to pull out an appropriate 3D-ish looking top, but the Ninja was in need of something and so purchased a super cute flowing black and silver number for the event.
Ten. Ten minutes before our "leave at 4:30 by the latest" she discovered that some nincompoop had failed to remove the security tag from the shirt she was planning to wear.
Awoogah! A-WOOH-GAH!!! Emergency. Emergency, this is not a drill.
One look at that face and I knew, that contrary to both of her valid solutions (cutting it out or wearing something else) I had to try my very best to fix it.
I scampered downstairs, grabbed all of the supplies I thought I might need... hammer, screwdriver, towel, zip-lock, smaller towel... and ran back upstairs. Also keep in mind that it is HOT... hot enough that I haven't put my dress pants on yet.
"Are you sure this is a good idea" she asks?
?!*?! Ha! Of course I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but we're going to at least *try* it.
While I set about wrapping the garment in the large towel so as to expose as little as possible to the potential (likely?) ink explosion it occurred to me that I should probably remove my own shirt as well... at the same time the Ninja started reading me excerpts from the internet detailing 7 different ways to attempt removing said security devices... with the eye rolling disclaimer that they should never be used for shop-lifting.
I'm not sure that I believed all of them, some of them sounded like an entry for a competition "Hit it with a hammer" I mean sure it might work, but you probably won't quite get the results you were looking for...
Nonetheless, the first suggestion was to use an elastic band to help lever the pin out. This sounded the least likely to break/trip the internal ink pack so I scrambled back downstairs to obtain some rubber bands.
One broken elastic band later, and other instructions involving a screw driver and I'm attempting it but only because the hammer claw doesn't fit when *snick* ... it's a small sound, but enough to catch my breath in my throat. I slowly turn the device over to see if it's leaking, as the bottom half falls off in my hands dropping the antenna(?) out with it.
What the... ?
As I poke and prod, still leery that there's still a hidden inkwell around the pin the damn thing falls apart in my hands and leaves only the pointy bit of the pin poking through the material.
Dun-dun-DAH-dum!!!!! *trumpets*
I got it *beaming* its only 4:34... and I didn't even wreck anything. The moments of urgency, and the moments of hot uncomfortableness wither to insignificance in the thankful gaze of my best friend.
Fixed. In a very satisfactory manner. I am most pleased with myself *buffs nails*
The rest of the evening was fantastic! It turned out that the opening meant that us as invited guests had the opportunity to view the exhibit *before* it was opened to the public which was SUPER COOL!
Since we had eaten beforehand and didn't know any of the fancy people to schmooze with we were able to duck into the small 30 person only theatre ahead of the crowd and see the entire loop of 3D use in movies from the 50's through current day. It was amazing! It also gave us a huge list of movies that we want to watch which brought up the "where to get old movies now that there aren't movie rental places" conundrum... Nevermind, it looks like we can rent them on Amazon!
I was also able to find the University of Manitoba's contribution of seance photos which are really bizarre and interesting. Having read about them before I knew they were odd but that did not prepare me for seeing them up close, they truly are remarkable. Whether they are an advanced trick of film processing (for the time), or truly otherworldly remains a mystery but they are indeed something to behold up close and personal.
The rest of the exhibit was really cool, with some displays that prompted the Ninja to whisper back "I don't get it... am I missing something?" to which I replied with a small chuckle "No, this would be 'Art' "
