Last Chance to Save Your Drive-In

I've been remiss in failing to call attention to an imminent threat facing one of the last vestiges of mid-20th century nostalgia left in the United States.  As many (if not most) of the world's drive-in theaters close up for winter this year, it will be for the last time.

Just like human beings who have abandoned cameras that use film, preferring the convenience and high definition of digital photography, Hollywood has decided that the days of shipping large 35 millimeter reels of film to theaters should come to an end, opting only to distribute their movies to theaters with digital projectors.


The cost of equipping the nation's drive-in theaters with these projectors runs about $80,000 each, an amount out of reach for many drive-in owners who operate their small businesses by the skin of their teeth for the sake of preserving the history and nostalgia of the drive-in experience for the enjoyment of future generations. Many of them will simply become extinct.

If there's a drive-in theater that you love and don't want to see go out of business, there are ongoing efforts to help them make the switch to digital, but time is running out (and by running out, I mean within days). Project Drive-In, sponsored by Honda, is having a contest that will award 5 digital projectors to the drive-ins that get the most votes. You can click this link and see if your drive-in is in the running, vote for it, and encourage everyone you know to do the same. Like I said, time is running out so act quickly. Here in Kansas City, the I-70 Drive-In has a chance has a chance to be rescued.  Click here to cast a vote for the I-70, and you can also cast a vote by text... share it on your Facebook wall, tell your friends, etc...

Our local Twin Drive-In didn't make this list. Having two screens, it needs two projectors. Movie Night at the Twin Drive In is tonight... an effort by the most devoted drive-in enthusiast I've ever known, a young man who calls himself KChistoryman Meade.


KChistoryman has spent the whole summer working tirelessly to save the area's last two drive-ins, and if he succeeds history and movie buffs all over the area will owe him a huge debt of thanks.

So if you ever loved a drive-in, no matter where you are, show your support: vote at Project Drive-In, tell your friends, take in a movie this weekend, spend freely at the concession counter, and thank the people that have kept it all going for as long as they can... it could be your last chance.

Funny Video ~ Must See!

First watch this "funny" video

Then be HERE tomorrow, Saturday, May 25!

Great Expectations

Yesterday I asked some of my Facebook friends to complete this sentence:

"What I'm hoping that the March Against Monsanto will accomplish is..."

Here were some replies:

Roger: "What I'm hoping that the March Against Monsanto will accomplish is an awakening of the people of what they, their children and pets are eating."

Kim: "show people that The People are tired of corporations buying politicians, Supreme Court Justices, government entities. We're AWAKE, AWARE and not going to stand for it any more."

Bennette: "to bring awareness to the destructiveness of Monsanto's bedlam of so called safe Scientific Technology, their monopolization of our Governmental entities and seed supplies worldwide."

Diana: "raise public awareness, about the health risk with the GMO foods being grown and sold to consumers."

Bonnie: "at LEAST labeling healthy food for my family."

Louise: "To STOP the big corporations from taking away our basic rights - to fresh food - NO ONE or Corp has the right to brand a seed as their own and limit us to what we can eat and what we can't eat... they want full control.. I SAY NO !!!"

Kansas Conni: Increased awareness that includes the revolving door between big companies like Monsanto and congressional representatives and why regulation is not a bad word.

Dylan: "for people to realize that it is critical for us to begin to sustain and liberate each other."

Marcy: "to bring awareness to the food crisis, so that we may band together to defeat Monsanto.

Here's a video of Kansas City people explaining in their own words why the March Against Monsanto TOMORROW, May 25, in hundreds of cities all over the world, is important to them:

My own reasons mirror all of the above.  I also demand that Monsanto executives and stockholders be barred from holding decision making positions within the USDA, FDA, EPA, or any government agency that regulates the products that this company manufactures.

Also, I'd like strict labeling laws. No Frankenfood for me.

(This picture is not as farfetched as it looks: all of the food mutations pictured above have either been experimented with or are being experimented with.  Scary...)

Three Cinco de Mayos

Cinco de Mayo 2011

Cinco de Mayo 2012

Cinco de Mayo 2013

Coming May, 2014: Four Cinco de Mayos

Our New Book ~ Early Kansas City

There are more pictorial histories of Kansas City than I can count, but Prof. Ulichne and I have added our own contribution to the historical record of this town in the just released book from Arcadia Publishing called, "Images of America: Early Kansas City, Missouri."  We are hoping that even the stoutest Kansas City history buffs will open this book and say (more than once), "I never knew that!"

Another goal in doing this project was to call attention to people and things that have been forgotten or diminished in the official narrative.  In many books about local history, Thomas Bullene is called an early settler and a shopkeeper, if he's mentioned at all.  Theodore Case, if mentioned, is generally referred to as a physician.  These men were so much more than that, and their impact was lasting and should be remembered. There are numerous examples of people such as these that all Kansas Citians should grow up learning about in school, but instead these early leaders have largely been forgotten.

There are also a few pictures and stories of some people whose names grace our roadways.  We see their names every day, but who were they?  And in at least one instance, we're hoping readers will wonder why we continue to honor people whose behavior might not have warranted such a lasting legacy.

I've been told by the publisher that the book is "in the stores" today, but I'm not exactly sure which stores they're referring to yet.  If you're a KC history buff, you can get the book on Amazon, or ask for it at your local library!   Hope you enjoy it :)

P. S.: You can get an even closer look at early Kansas City history by reading the news of the day... from back in the day.