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Wrong #1: Where's all the drive-in movie theaters? In case you haven't noticed they're being torn down to make room for condos and shopping centers. That's what's wrong with America (among other things).
Don't you miss being able to get a six-pak, a bucket of chicken, a bag of candy and watch a movie in your car? Bring the kids, the dogs, all the people you can pack into the car trunk to avoid paying extra admission - I miss those things as well you should, too.
Wrong #2: Going to the movies and having to sit through 20 minutes of commercials. Paying 8 bucks to get in and then having to endure commercials is adding insult to injury. Add this to the list of what's wrong with America.
Back in the day instead of commercials there were cartoons before every movie. We looked forward to that. The cartoons were funny. We laughed. Everyone laughed. It was an American thing.
Sometimes there were two cartoons. We clapped and cheered when the theater played three cartoons. It was cartoon bliss when there were four cartoons shown in one night.
Tom and Jerry was everyones favorite. Grace and I have been watching Tom and Jerry nearly every day on Boomerang. That's a cable station. We count every Tom and Jerry cartoon we see. After the first is shown Grace looks at me and says, "That's one!" When the following cartoon is over I look at Grace and say, "That's two!".
NOW GET THIS: In yesterday's Wall Street Journal they listed the top selling TV series DVDs for the week of June 24th.
Number one: Planet Earth.
Number two: Deadwood Season 3 (holy cow, a lot of swearing merits number 2?)
All the way down to number 6 on the list:
TOM AND JERRY GREATEST CHASES!
I've been a trendsetter and didn't know it. Nothing but the best for the grandchild.
That's all, folks!
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4 comments:
Yes Bob...where did they tear down the drive-ins? One charming way...
Glad there are the dvds today (sh...we've collected several hundreds now). Don't like cinemas as there's too many commercials... and the tv programs!
Example: 1958 Texas - 382 drive-in theaters. 1998: 13 drive-in theaters. 1963 New York - 153 drive-in theaters. 1998 - 33 left. It's like that all over America.
And to boot, the American birth rate is declining all due in fact to the closing of the drive-in theater. Think about it. Drive-in's were not called Passion Pits for nothing! For a fact, I was conceived during Gone With The Wind in the back seat of a Ford parked in a drive-in theater. And people wonder why I'm whacky!
Why are the closing? Surround sound, brighter screens, comfortable chairs, climate control, and all the other advancements offered by conventional movie theaters. Drive-ins were part of a generational car fetish. Heck, today a lot of people don't even go to theaters, they download and watch at home.
There is a drive-in about 100mi from you in Crescent City, check it at http://www.drive-ins.com
There's also a drive-in in Seoul, the screen is portable and I guess the audio is broadcast over the radio. But I've seen it many nights playing down under an overpass parking lot on the Han River. Doesn't look too popular though.
Max, you had to have been there to fully appreciate how utterly American the drive-in was. Moms and dads sat in the car while the kids played on the swings (located near the front of the screen). You could car hop from one car to another and talk with your friends OR, check out who's dating who. It was a place to drink lots of beer and not get busted. If the movie was long enough, you could even sleep it off. During intermission cars with spotlights could participate in "Catch Spotty" - a little circle that ran around the screen.
Drive-ins are being closed and sold because of the value of the property exceeds the yearly net income of a drive-in business. In Santa Rosa the Village Drive In was sold to make room for condos. In Rohnert Park the Redwood Drive-In has become a shopping center as did the Starlight in Santa Rosa.
There's a drive-in in Lakeport. I might stop by and check it out Saturday.
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