Helping my mom clean out some old stuff from her attic, we found some old newspapers. (One as old as 1918.) There are some interesting articles in these rags — interesting from the angle of “what was going on in the world and town way back then.”

The movie listing to the right is from August 20, 1981. (I was 14 at that time.) We had four movie theaters in our small town, but two of them wouldn’t last out of the 80s; one didn’t see ’85.

The Paramount and the Park Theater were old-style theaters — one screen, velvet red seats; the Paramount had a balcony, and the Park had mirrored foyer and restroom hall. Neither theater lasted out of the 80s.

The Mall and Plaza theaters were more contemporary for the 80s — dull and boring. They both lasted through the late 90s, but they’re both now churches.

Of the movies shown in the newspaper listing, I saw Zorro the Gay Blade and Heavy Metal in the theater. I saw History of the World on TV many years later. Weapons of Death, I’ve never seen. Of the others mentioned, I think I’ve seen at least part of The Blue Lagoon, on TV many years ago. Deadly Blessing and The Jade Claw don’t sound familiar.

I don’t remember anything about this version of Zorro other than I think I thought it was funny at the time. I remember parts of Heavy Metal and I remember those parts as interesting enough that I’m considering renting it to watch again. History of the World is a beautiful Mel Brooks classic that I remember many parts of.

I considered adding some quotes, here, from History, but the ones I can remember are slightly vulgar or rely on visual gags.

Although all these listed theaters are closed now, there is a new theater in my hometown — it opened this decade — but the couple times I’ve been to it have been disappointing. It looks all modern and good on the outside, but the inside is not as advertised, and the employees are slack at their duties. But then, I’ve been spoiled by the grand theaters in my current home city.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Sometimes a name and mascot just don’t fit the business.

Or maybe this one does. I haven’t seen the dancers.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I’ve been in my hometown for a couple days helping my mom with some stuff. All day yesterday we were working pretty hard, getting things done, and by 4:00 in the afternoon, we were both pretty tired. By 6:00 I was laying on the sofa mindlessly surfing through the TV channels.

We watched part of a movie, then Mom went to bed. I watched a couple of TV shows, and just generally went completely brain dead all by myself in the den. I wasn’t ready to sleep yet, but just wanted to lay there doing nothing. By 10:30 p.m., I was barely conscious, blurry-eyed, and just a vegetable. Then at 11:00, I realized I hadn’t written a blog post for today. Oh crap!

I hopped up fast and made my way to my mom’s office. Since she was already in bed, all the lights through the house were off (except in the den where I had been watching TV), so I had to slowly feel my way down the hall.

I know my own home well enough to navigate blind from one end to the other without needing to feel about me. But my mom’s house is not so perfectly well known to me. (I didn’t grow up in this house.) I know the general lay out, but the details aren’t ingrained in my mind.

I made my way to her office and went in. First thing I did was stub my toe on that chair right in front of the door. In the office I flipped the light switch on the wall — no light came on. (I think it just turned on the ceiling fan.) Then I had to think about where the lamps were in the room.

I stepped forward to reach the nearest lamp, and I tripped over that chair again. Dammit, I had just kicked it, you’d think I would remember it was there.

I found the lamp and worked my fingers up the neck to find the switch. Click, the room lit up. Thank goodness. I walked around the desk and sat down at her computer.

And this is the post you get for all that effort. Sorry that it sucks.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

While in my hometown, my mom and I stopped by the local grocery store to pick up a few items. You can’t find Piggly Wiggly stores everywhere in the country, but they’re scattered here and there at least in my home state.

We went to the store to pick up some steak and other items for a standard grill out, but while in the meat section I saw some items I haven’t seen in a few years.

I’ve known people who ate these things, some in my family, but I don’t know anyone who eats them now. (No, I’ve never eaten these things.) I would have thought this kind of fare was a lost taste, but finding them in the grocery, prominently displayed in a large selection tells me there’s still folks who like this stuff.

Pig feet. The only way to make these look and smell nastier is to pickle them.

Pig feet for the whole family.

Pig ears. The dropped blood on the package just shouts, “Come and get it!”

Pig skins. Okay, I’ll admit that I have eaten these — although not in at least 25 years.

I also took a picture of a package of chitlins (pig intestines), but the image was too bad to tell what they were.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com