Friday 5 for September 12: Spending

Help fund Honokaa Peoples' Theatre digital projection system.

1. What crowd-funding projects have you supported? If you haven’t supported any, were there some that really intrigued you?

I am helping Honokaa Peoples' Theatre fund the purchase of a $60,000 digital projection system. The theatre in my hometown is somewhere that I spent a lot of time during my childhood and teen years going to and enjoying movies. It is one of those old, standalone, single screen theatres that surprisingly is still in business today showing movies, thanks to the dedication of its current owners. The place was built in 1930.

Time has caught up with the theatre and the distribution companies that send movies to theatres large and small are going 100% digital by the end of the year. That means no more film for small theatres like the one in Honokaa. They have to go digital or not be able to show movies at all. It would be sad if the theatre that I went to see such classic movies as The Sound of Music, Planet of the Apes, 2001, Mary Poppins, Star Wars, Patton, The Love Bug, Paradise Hawaiian Style, and many others would go dark.

The theatre has become famous in recent years after the Japanese movie Honokaa Boy was made there and premiered at the theatre in 2009. My Dad had a bit part in this movie and today the theatre has permission to show Honokaa Boy almost in perpetuity. I just saw the movie during my most recent trip to Honokaa, even though my family already owns a copy on DVD.

To find out more about Honokaa Peoples' Theatre and the crowd sourcing project to get the digital projector go to their website.

2. How much of your monthly bill-paying is done online?

I pay my storage bill, web hosting and domain bills, some credit card bills online. I still use old fashioned checks to pay other bills sent in the mail, like homeowner's insurance and taxes!

3. What are some of the more memorable things you’ve bought or sold in online auctions?

I've never sold anything in an online auction. I frankly don't use eBay very much, but I have been happy with some vintage Minolta camera lenses that I bought a few years back.

4. What experience do you have with purchasing digital entertainment (music, movies, TV shows, or live web shows, for example) online?

I'm an Amazon Prime customer and subscribe to the Prime streaming service where I get streaming movies, TV shows, music and free shipping for almost anything I buy there. I like Amazon Prime. Even at $99 a year it still is a good bargain if you spend a lot of time watching streaming video (with no commercials) and listen to record albums you never got around to actually buying. I also like to occasionally buy actual CDs and they have free MP3 files that go along with some CDs you buy, which means you don't have to rip them yourself.

I like Amazon Prime not because of the videos, music and free shipping but the fact that I only have to pay the bill once a year. That I really like because I am not a fan of monthly billing. Got enough of that.

I also buy digital music from Amazon as well as iTunes and occasionally smaller venders like CD Baby or even the music artists themselves.

I don't "buy" digital videos. I rather stream them from the many free sources available or through Amazon.com.

5. What kind of stuff have you bought or sold from personal online craft stores, such as are found on Etsy?

Nothing.

Questions generated from the Friday 5 blog.