Drive-In Theaters: Happy Birthday

Every summer has to have a story about Drive-Ins. It's the law, apparently. Well, this year has a better reason than most: Eighty years ago yesterday, the drive-in movie theater was created.

Growing up in Fargo, we patronized the Star-Lite. (Moorhead, across the river, had the Moon-Lite.) I have a dim memory of running around in the playground, right below the screen, in footie jammies, but perhaps I just like to think I did, because it's such a perfect example of idyllic childhood summer nights. I know I went there in college, and saw bad B-movies with friends. Heater going. Windows fogged. Crackly dialogue coming from old speakers that weighed nine pounds.You know, these things:

Want more? I have more.

Apparently you could buy a drive-in as a kit. Three levels, starting with the Poor Boy:

Anyway. The best memory of the Star-Lite: before the interstate came through, we drove home from the Sunday visits to the farm on Highway 10, and as we rounded a curve that took us into Fargo, I could see the big movie playing silently on the screen - a sight that filled a five-year-old with wonder and awe.

Some ads from the golden era of the drive-in:

GAMES From Doug TenNapel, the creator of Earthworm Jim, a "new adventure game made of Clay." It's a stop-motion project being funded through Kickstarter:

(Obligatory disclosure: Mike's a friend; I heard about this from Doug through Twitter, and I have no financial interest in the project. They're just good talented guys and I'm helping to get the word out.)

TOLD YOU A few days ago I wrote about the obvious successor to Google Glass - contact lens that do the same thing, connected to some wearable computer that chats with the Great and Powerful Oz in the clouds. I figured it was a decade away, perhaps. Well:

I'm not sure how grasping one's buttocks prepares you for smart lens, but who am I to say how other people cope.

SLEEP TIGHT "The Purge," a scary movie with people wearing masks doing horrible things, is supposed to be the next big summer hit. It cannot be as frightening as this. I post it at noon so you'll have the rest of the day to forget it before you sleep tonight.

And good luck with that.