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Photo by Matt Love
Video Horizons is starting to retire its OKI
Microline 320 Turbo dot matrix printer,
which prints receipts for customers.
An occasional feature by MATT LOVE
S E R V I N G B R E A K FA S T,
LUNCH & SUPPER
European Style Coffeehouse by day,
intimate bistro offering neo-regional
cuisine by night.
Regional selection of beers, wines and
vintage cocktails available.
243 11th Street, Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-1787
www.AstoriaCoffeeHouse.com
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PAPA
Once Upon a
Mattress
Video Horizons
On my irst night living in
Astoria — Nov. 13, 2013 to be
exact — I rented a DVD from
Video Horizons. I was enor-
mously pleased that my new
hometown had a real, old-fash-
ioned video rental store of the
variety almost disappeared
EASTER BRUNCH
Sunday, March 27 th • 11 AM - 3 PM
For the rollicking, sidesplitting spin-off of The Princess & the Pea!
Not your average hum-drum fairytale!
Lemon Pepper Salmon with Poached Prawns
Roasted Pork Loin with Mushroom Gravy
Honey Glazed Ham
Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Glazed Baby Carrots
Scrambled Eggs & Fried Potatoes
Bacon & Sausage Links
Waffl es
Biscuits & Gravy
Assorted Salads & Rolls
Homemade Desserts
from the American cultural
landscape.
As I later wrote, “I filled out
the rental agreement and the
clerk processed it through
an ancient DOS application
with its blinking green text
and cursor. I handed her two
dollars, she pushed a few but-
tons, perhaps pulled a lever,
and one of the dot matrix
printers chugged to life. The
machine was printing my re-
ceipt and I could not believe
my eyes or ears. I love the
sound of dot matrix printers
in the evening; they sound
like victory.”
As luck would have it, I
became friends with Neal
Cummings, owner of Video
Horizons, and I continued rent-
ing DVDs and VHS tapes from
this charming establishment.
When my book about Asto-
ria came out in 2015 and was
summarily banned in multiple
retail outlets around town (by
people who didn’t even read
it), Neal gladly carried the title
and displayed it prominently
at the front counter close to
my beloved dot matrix printer.
In the last year, I’ve sold close
to 40 copies out of Video Hori-
zons, which has to be some
kind of unoicial literary record
for Oregon.
It was to my everlasting
horror last month when I
walked into the store that
Neal casually announced the
dot matrix printers were i-
nally going to be retired. I
couldn’t believe it! Was this
another terrible story of Asto-
ria’s ongoing gentriication? I
told Neal I wouldn’t stand for
it! I had to hear that soothing
matrix sound in a digital world
gone mad.
Neal sympathized with me.
He said several other custom-
ers felt the same way. And then
we worked out a deal because
that’s the kind of store Video
Horizons is — you can’t talk to
a Redbox, and Netflix streams
mostly endless crap.
Neal told me he’d rig it up
so that when I rented a tape
or DVD, I would continue to
receive my receipt courtesy of
the trusty OKI Microline 320
Turbo printer. He wouldn’t
scrap the machine.
Now that’s real customer
service in Astoria and one small
victory against gentriication.
Matt Love is the author/editor of 14
books about Oregon, including “A Nice
Piece of Astoria.” His books are available
through coastal bookstores or his web
site, nestuccaspitpress.com
Adults $ 25 95 • Seniors $ 23 95
Children $ 12 95 (Five & under: Free)
Milepost 18, Hwy 26, Elsie
RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED
503-755-1818 • 800-874-1810
www.camp18restaurant.com
Lyrics by Mary Rogers and Marshall Barer
Book by James Thompson, Dean Fuller and
Marshal Barer
22 | March 17, 2016 | coastweekend.com
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