“The land never dies”
is the last line spoken Lynn Redgrave’s character,
Charlotte to her grandson in the 1978 mini-series “Centennial”. The series is a time period piece about settlers
in Colorado during the 1700’s. Roland had watched the movie shortly after
watching a documentary featuring the rise and fall of Blockbuster video.
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| https://www.netflix.com/title/81354557 |
I remember Blockbuster. I remember going to the video store to find
videos when they were available on both VHS and Beta. I remember the days long before Redbox and
Nextflix. I had never thought of the
details or evolution. I remember going
for VHS – I don’t remember ever
having checked out DVDs. But there is
still evidently one location in which renting DVDs is still a commodity.
Bend, Oregon is home to the very last
Blockbusters. Wow.
I remember things in my childhood that
Jenna will never experience or relate to.
Video rentals weren’t
even part of my childhood but rather my teenage years. Patrick had saved up his money to purchase a
VCR. Eight hundred dollars in cash. Somewhere there exists a photo of Kayla
wearing headphones and holding eight one-hundred dollar bills. Shocking! I
know. First VCR and the remote was not even wireless.
My aunt and uncle had also purchased a
VCR. It was around Christmas time and
they had gone to the video store to look for a family movie. It was before Blockbusters and the selection
was thin to start with – but especially
during the holidays. With little choice
left (nothing Christmas themed at that) they settled on an early version of Gullivar’s
Travels. Oh, what a treat that must have
been.
I don’t remember renting so much as
recording. Patrick had recorded a televised copy
of Capricorn One. This scene had been
cut to make room for sponsers' ads.
Though the scene may seem dull on its own, it’s a pretty
crucial piece for the viewers to fully comprehend the scenes that follow, and
thus Patrick would pause – holding the
remote and wiring at a specific angle so that even with the wire intact, the
VCR could read the remote signals.
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I honestly don't even remember the brand though
it probably wasn't this photo I found on pintrest |
He would then explain the scene that
had been cut out.
Eventually we did join
the novelty of going to the video store and looking at a huge assortment of
shelves filled with movie titles. We
rented movies. We physically left the
house and loaded ourselves into the car to drive to a location which rented movies
– now a nostalgic
thing of the past. Something that my children
will never understand as they had grown up with cable and a variety of channels
and not just the three that were available when I was a kid.
They don’t understand the inconvenience of the phone
cord getting tangled as they are all younger than the cell phone. They’ve grown up in an “instant
gratification” society where
as I was only introduced to the door not long before they came along. I remember a world before cell phones, before
ipods, cable, DVDs or even VCR. My mom
remembers when it was rare to have one TV – let alone one for each room. I remember black and white TVs, huge monitors and TV repair. Today is a “throw-away” society which
has taken away the professions of so many who had learned the trade of repairing shoes,
televisions, vacuums, cameras, etc.
Today
technological equipment is considered out dated the minute it’s
purchased. Anything over two years is
considered a relic even if there’s no damage to said item. Take my first Doro for instance. I would still use it if the company would
allow for it to connect to the towers – but maybe they really don’t have the
control. IT WAS A DECENT PHONE! NONE of the replacements have been. It’s as if when my Doro was disconnected
so was my life (it was the beginning of 2020 after all)
It’s nice to know that somewhere out
there the nostalgia is not completely gone.
Bend is nearly a four hour drive – not that we’d go there to
rent movies. It’s now a
historic landmark. People will take
selfies in front of “the last
Blockbusters on earth”. When you come to Oregon you’ll want to
visit Crater Lake – but hey, why
not just pop over to Bend. It’s not that
far.
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| https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2018/11/old-tucson-overview/ |
The land may never die – but it
certainly changes – though not on
its own. Men change the appearance. They build empires and empires get torn
down. Evolution changes. Landscape changes. But the land is always there.
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| Neumann Developments |
