Break Me Off A Piece Of That Calling Card

Kit Kat Calling Card
Frontier Communications (1995)

The breakup of the Bell System in 1982 resulted in a wide variety of new long distance carriers throughout the 80's and 90's.  One of the ways that these companies promoted themselves was through the distribution of phone cards.  Each card allowed the holder to place a long distance call on their network for a certain number of minutes which could be replenished for a fee.  It wasn't long before partnerships arose to create collectible phone cards, like this Kit Kat calling card from the mid 90's.

Catching Simplex At The Drive-In

July 2022 Simplex Members-Only 35mm Screening
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA

As much as I love the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, I was reluctant to sign up for a Patreon membership.  My hesitation had nothing to do with the theater or the benefits that they offer to members.  It's just that with all of the various streaming video, music and video game services, and spam from ridiculous companies like Dollar Shave Club, I had gotten to the point of subscription fatigue.  A few years ago, I cut back on the number of monthly subscriptions I had, and I decided that I'd hold off on any new products or services that had a monthly subscription fee attached to them.

After a few months of debating with myself about it, I took the plunge earlier this month to become a Simplex Member at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater, and I'm very glad that I did.

The Simplex Membership is named after the twin Simplex E-7 projectors that have been in continuous operation at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater since they opened in 1949.  Membership comes with quite a few perks, including early access to show information, half-priced popcorn, 10% off of the snack bar and merchandise table, and a library of photos, videos and podcasts with new material frequently added.  You also get a membership card, an enamel pin (see above), and best of all, you are invited to attend members-only film screenings.  These come in two different forms: virtual screenings, where you can stream the Mahoning Drive-In experience at home, and private screenings at the theater.  So far, I have been able to attend one of each - a virtual screening last week, and a private screening at the theater last night.

 

Here is where writing about my experiences at the Mahoning is going to get a little bit tricky.  The features that are shown during the members-only screenings are meant to be kept private.  The staff and the customers alike take that commitment to keeping it a secret seriously, and it's a commitment that I take seriously as well.  Therefore, I won't be mentioning any materials that are shown, or sharing any reviews or title card photos or anything like that.  In fact, I don't know what was screened in the months before I became a member, and I don't expect anyone to tell me.

I will say that if you are a fan of movies and the drive-in culture, it is absolutely worth your time to become a member.  Give it a shot for one month and see if you like it.  I'm pretty confident that it's a membership that you'll want to keep. 

One thing that I can share is that attendees of a members-only screening at the Mahoning receive a free desert from Val.  Last night's treat were cookies called The Inside Dope (it's a movie reference - the cookies contain no actual dope).  They reminded me of the Cowboy Cookies that I used to love when I was in college, but Val's are a lot heartier with more goodies mixed in.  They were delicious and made a perfect snack for watching a movie under the stars.

I'm already looking forward to next month's Members Only screening!

I Have No Concept Of Time Other Than It's Flying

Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill 25th Anniversary Tour
Bethel Woods Center For The Arts - Bethel, NY

This concert is a dream come true.  I can't begin to count the number of hours I've spent listening to Garbage and Alanis Morissette when I was in high school and in the years that followed.  I've been fortunate enough to see Garbage in concert before, but on Tuesday night, I finally was able to be in the audience for an Alanis Morissette show, and nothing I could write here will do justice to how incredible it was.

Over the years, Bethel Woods has become one of my favorite places to see a concert.  The lawn seats are very affordable and it's pretty easy to scout out a good location with a full view of the stage.  You run the risk of an uncomfortable night if it rains, but it was warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky for the whole day.

The only thing that wasn't absolutely perfect was the fact that we set up not far from a little boy who didn't seem to understand how beach balls work at a concert.  Most folks bat the beach ball up into the air, then the next person does the same thing so that the ball happily bounces around the crowd.  This boy decided that it would be more fun to spike the ball directly at the heads of his neighbors.  He didn't get either of us, but more than a few concertgoers were shocked to have been smacked in the back of the head by this young man's balls (wow... that sounds terrible out-of-context).

 

This was our third time seeing Garbage.  They opened for Blondie at a show at this venue five years ago, and they opened for Tears For Fears last month in Philly.   They performed a different setlist at each show that I've seen and it was incredible every time.  I really want to see them headline a show sometime, and I had the opportunity on my birthday this year at Wilkes-Barre, but I had tickets to a Phillies game so I couldn't make it.

In between songs, Shirley Manson spoke for a little bit about an interaction that she had with a fan the last time she played at Bethel Woods.  It was on July 29th, 2017 at the Blondie show.  We were at that show too, and while I was too far away to see what the fan was doing, I definitely remember what was said on stage.  Shirley is an absolute badass!

I've wanted to see Alanis Morissette in concert since I was 15 years old and her show was everything I hoped it would be and more.  She's on tour in celebration of the 25th anniversary of her breakout album, Jagged Little Pill.  The album actually came out 27 years ago in June 1995, but the tour has had a few hiccups since it began in February 2020 - right at the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

 

I'll write more about this show either this weekend or early next week.  It's been a busy week and I need to sleep.  For now, here are the setlists for Garbage and Alanis Morissette.

Hometown Farmers Market

Hometown Farmers Market
Tamaqua, PA

This has been one of my favorite places to go on a warm summer day for as long as I can remember.  A lot of the photos of strange foods and products that I've shared over the years have come from here, including Four D's Blueberry Pizza, Steve's Chicken Stand, and random toys, shirts, clothes, groceries, and other products.

I've been going through some of the photos I've taken over the past year and a half and found quite a few that I've taken at this place, so if you're the kind of person who enjoys looking through random photos of products for sale at a small town farmers market, enjoy.