In With the New and Out With the Old — or maybe no!

 Isn’t it strange how every time a new technology comes along we embrace it (mostly) and the things that went before are so quickly forgotten?  That is how it seems.  Movies for instance — movie going was a huge part of my youth and young adulthood.  Babies came along and we still went, just less and then bingo, along came the VHS player with movie rental places all over the place. 

The kids loved it because they could keep up with the current trends without breaking our bank.  Friday nights were great — we would go to the video store on San Pedro (I think it was Sound Warehouse) and pick up pizza from the pizza place next door (Shakey’s?) and we had a great Friday night.  

Then cable came along with all it had to offer — we didn’t have to go to the video store to watch the movies.  The VHS player sat quiet on Friday night.

Then, DVD’s came along which required yet another player and back to the video store we went to rent them but it didn’t have the same flair and excitement of those Friday nights when the kids were smaller.

Now we have streaming.  You can almost get everything you want to see provided you subscribe to a streaming service — or six.  We do subscribe to several and they are great - until they aren’t.

There is a series on Netflix right now called “Yellowstone”.  I have wanted to watch it but just can’t get into it.  So, I decided I needed to watch the two prequel’s — “1883” and “1923”.  Easier said than done — ok, not easier but let’s just say I am stubborn.

“Yellowstone” is on Netflix which I have.  The other two are on Paramount which I don’t have.  I looked at the line up on the channel and decided that I wouldn’t use it enough to warrant subscribing.  So, what is a girl to do?

Obviously the logical thing would be to fork over the 4.99 for the subscription but I was having a moment and, instead, ordered the DVD.  My husband looked at me like I had lost my mind.  But, it came and we have watched 3/4 of it (outstanding, by the way, but grisly) and I have to say I am enjoying it immensely.

So much so that I went to Amazon and bought two more “old” movies for my collection and yes, we have quite a DVD collection stashed away in two big drawers in the tv cabinet.  This is what I bought.

“Young at Heart” with Frank Sinatra, Gig Young, Doris Day and Dorothy Malone — circa 1954.  I don’t remember seeing this movie in a theater but, in all likelihood I did.  I just know I have always loved it and have always been a huge Frank Sinatra fan — my generation was supposed to crush on the likes of Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger but not me — Frank Sinatra.  So, anyway, I did have a copy but loaned it to my daughter and, as they say, possession is 9/10 of the law! So, now I have it again.

“A Summer Place” — circa 1959 — and I did see this in the theater with my mom, my aunt and my cousin.  I remember my mother asking if it was suitable for me as we were standing in line for the tickets. (Fine time to ask Bette!) and my aunt said “of course” and in we went.  They didn’t have age guidelines and the reality was it was fine, just a little bit more of an adult story line than I was used to.  It did, however, become one of my favorite teenage movies and I always liked Sandra Dee.  Of course, the theme song was lovely and we even danced to it when I took ballroom dancing a couple of years later.

So, the whole point of this post is to point out that “everything old is new again?”, maybe, or maybe that not everything that comes into our lives should be so easily discarded. Of course these two movies are easily found on several streaming platforms and can be watched at will but there is something so reminiscent of those long ago Friday nights, grabbing the pizza, searching for the perpetually lost remote and settling down on the comfy plaid couch in the dark to watch the likes of “Teen Wolf’ or “Back to the Future”. 

Today we have a severe heat day and because the power grid here in Texas is so uh, “fragile”, we have to conserve energy so, I won’t be running large appliances including the television.  I have some Girl Scout patches to sew on and I am deep in the middle of my latest read — “Easton Island, The Christmas Gift”.  So, I am looking to a quiet day and that is ok.  Quiet days are very good things and shouldn’t be discarded.