Addison Del Mastro
@ad-mastro.bsky.social
Writing with a focus on urbanism, culture, and popular history. I write The Deleted Scenes, a daily, mostly-urbanism newsletter on Substack. a.delmastro2@gmail.com.
It’s satisfying, in a deep and almost subconscious, almost metaphysical way, to stand at a pinball table and see and feel the machine work. As if digital devices starve our brains of a certain kind of engagement.
Archive Dive: All You Can Ball
Unlimited pinball in Purcellville, Virginia
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 19, 2026 at 2:09 PM
It’s satisfying, in a deep and almost subconscious, almost metaphysical way, to stand at a pinball table and see and feel the machine work. As if digital devices starve our brains of a certain kind of engagement.
I love Google Maps's PlayStation 1 mode
February 19, 2026 at 1:50 PM
I love Google Maps's PlayStation 1 mode
Was a whole bronzini (pictured here)
February 19, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Was a whole bronzini (pictured here)
Tonight's homemade Chinese New Year feast!
February 18, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Tonight's homemade Chinese New Year feast!
Reposted by Addison Del Mastro
The original Krystal was in downtown Chattanooga. Location is long gone, but the building is still there (albeit heavily remodeled:
February 18, 2026 at 5:27 PM
The original Krystal was in downtown Chattanooga. Location is long gone, but the building is still there (albeit heavily remodeled:
Reposted by Addison Del Mastro
So-called 'local control' cannot be a cudgel to violate property rights and the rights of the city's own people to have housing. Local control gone amok is offensive to working class voters of all ages who need affordable housing, not the status quo.
**Important update**
Some new details on what property owners can build by right on land zoned for residential under Pritzker's plan:
≤2,500 sq ft: 1 unit
2,500–5,000 sq ft: up to 4 units
5,000–7,500 sq ft: up to 6 units
7,500+ sq ft: up to 8 units
Some new details on what property owners can build by right on land zoned for residential under Pritzker's plan:
≤2,500 sq ft: 1 unit
2,500–5,000 sq ft: up to 4 units
5,000–7,500 sq ft: up to 6 units
7,500+ sq ft: up to 8 units
February 18, 2026 at 5:18 PM
So-called 'local control' cannot be a cudgel to violate property rights and the rights of the city's own people to have housing. Local control gone amok is offensive to working class voters of all ages who need affordable housing, not the status quo.
A reader points out that this is somewhat rare because it's a fast-food chain concept that was designed to be in downtowns, not suburbs/commercial strips
Snow White And The Nine Grills
What Do You Think You're Looking At? #254
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 18, 2026 at 5:04 PM
A reader points out that this is somewhat rare because it's a fast-food chain concept that was designed to be in downtowns, not suburbs/commercial strips
February 18, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Labubu boo-hoo, and "monetizing" brick-and-mortar customers
Robbing 'Em Blind
Labubu boo-hoo, and "monetizing" brick-and-mortar customers
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Labubu boo-hoo, and "monetizing" brick-and-mortar customers
This was a funny little fad in restaurant naming: I wrote about the Snow White Grill, a defunct burger chain. One of its old locations started as a Blue & Gray Lunch; one of them became the Blue White Grill.
Snow White And The Nine Grills
What Do You Think You're Looking At? #254
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM
This was a funny little fad in restaurant naming: I wrote about the Snow White Grill, a defunct burger chain. One of its old locations started as a Blue & Gray Lunch; one of them became the Blue White Grill.
Ooh, a signature Rachel rant!
February 18, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Ooh, a signature Rachel rant!
I went to look that up too and noticed that. My guess is also a car hitting it.
February 18, 2026 at 2:20 PM
I went to look that up too and noticed that. My guess is also a car hitting it.
I wrote about an erstwhile hamburger chain that existed from western Maryland to Baltimore with a couple of Virginia and West Virginia locations. Only one of them remains in business today. www.thedeletedscenes.com/p/snow-white...
February 18, 2026 at 2:05 PM
I wrote about an erstwhile hamburger chain that existed from western Maryland to Baltimore with a couple of Virginia and West Virginia locations. Only one of them remains in business today. www.thedeletedscenes.com/p/snow-white...
He doesn't think the violent criminals are also welfare loafers?
JD Vance: "What we have consistently said is that we want to deport violent criminals, people who came in under the Biden administration, and get them out of the country so Americans' wages can go up."
February 18, 2026 at 1:16 AM
He doesn't think the violent criminals are also welfare loafers?
Reposted by Addison Del Mastro
The other of the rich men said to him "Master, what good thing shall I do and live?" He said to him "Man, perform the law and the prophets." He answered him "I have performed them." He said to him "Go, sell all that thou hast and divide it to the poor, and come, follow me."
Finally, one of Elon's posts on X has broken through to the Fox News audience.
February 18, 2026 at 1:06 AM
The other of the rich men said to him "Master, what good thing shall I do and live?" He said to him "Man, perform the law and the prophets." He answered him "I have performed them." He said to him "Go, sell all that thou hast and divide it to the poor, and come, follow me."
Second night of Chinese New Year homemade feast
February 18, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Second night of Chinese New Year homemade feast
Suburbia does not have to mean stripping away almost all of the pre-automobile features of towns and cities, because *it did not always mean that.*
Silver Spring Forward
The suburbia we almost had, and could still have
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Suburbia does not have to mean stripping away almost all of the pre-automobile features of towns and cities, because *it did not always mean that.*
I love to find stories that seem hidden in plain site, and I wonder if that curiosity can become this sort of default suspicion, if fed with the wrong sources or cultivated in the wrong way?
Angel, You Can't Be Serious
Thoughts on suspicion as a state of mind
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:21 PM
I love to find stories that seem hidden in plain site, and I wonder if that curiosity can become this sort of default suspicion, if fed with the wrong sources or cultivated in the wrong way?
Reposted by Addison Del Mastro
"The radiating housing crisis pushing people further and further out from urban cores is interpreted as a plot to forcibly urbanize the suburbs, not as a symptom of our failure to properly and fully urbanize our cities."
When I Say "City," You Say...
A brief low point in American urbanism became an anti-urban ideology
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:30 PM
"The radiating housing crisis pushing people further and further out from urban cores is interpreted as a plot to forcibly urbanize the suburbs, not as a symptom of our failure to properly and fully urbanize our cities."
I’ve had people in central Jersey, full of pharma and logistics and other firms, swear there are no local jobs; no real reason to put housing here except to prove the point that you will never be allowed to escape or opt out.
When I Say "City," You Say...
A brief low point in American urbanism became an anti-urban ideology
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I’ve had people in central Jersey, full of pharma and logistics and other firms, swear there are no local jobs; no real reason to put housing here except to prove the point that you will never be allowed to escape or opt out.
I have to wonder how much of what we think of as “extreme politics” or conspiracy theories is really just an outlet for this loneliness-induced psychology.
Angel, You Can't Be Serious
Thoughts on suspicion as a state of mind
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:49 PM
I have to wonder how much of what we think of as “extreme politics” or conspiracy theories is really just an outlet for this loneliness-induced psychology.
You think you are watching the world becoming more inscrutable, but you are really experiencing a shrinking of your mental world.
Angel, You Can't Be Serious
Thoughts on suspicion as a state of mind
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:00 PM
You think you are watching the world becoming more inscrutable, but you are really experiencing a shrinking of your mental world.
"The radiating housing crisis pushing people further and further out from urban cores is interpreted as a plot to forcibly urbanize the suburbs, not as a symptom of our failure to properly and fully urbanize our cities."
When I Say "City," You Say...
A brief low point in American urbanism became an anti-urban ideology
www.thedeletedscenes.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:30 PM
"The radiating housing crisis pushing people further and further out from urban cores is interpreted as a plot to forcibly urbanize the suburbs, not as a symptom of our failure to properly and fully urbanize our cities."