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As you may know, I have a bit of a mania for collecting recordings of movies. I subscribe to several of the premium channels, and keep an eye out for showings of films on my (absurdly long) wish-list. Now, back when I was on C-band, I subscribed to "Satellite TV Week", which allowed me to plan ahead, a week or even a month at a time. With the withering of the C-band market, though, that magazine went under a few years ago, and soon afterward I switched to Dish Network. Unfortunately, Dish's on-air guide only goes about 24 hours into the future, and sometimes I wind up getting caught flat-footed1.
A few days ago, TCM ran a Laurel & Hardy marathon, and I took the opportunity to add Sons of the Desert and Way Out West to my collection. The next night, I saw that TCM was showing The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. That's one that's been on my list for a long time, and I don't recall them ever showing it before; not knowing when if ever they'd show it again, I eagerly programmed the satellite box and recorder, only to discover that, not only was I out of blank discs - I'd used the last one for the Laurel & Hardy - but I didn't have any more blank tapes either. Fortunately, I found a spare copy of North Dallas Forty (which I'd accidentally taped twice), and I rededicated it to this higher purpose.
Anyway, today I ran over to Target to avoid a recurrence, and picked up a ten-pack of blank discs and an eight-pack of T160 tapes. I also bought a couple of DVDs - I went for silly stuff, Bubba Ho-Tep and Corpse Bride - and two CDs, the "Sergeant Pepper" album and "The Essential Journey". I'm not that familiar with Journey; the only song I definitely recognized on the album was "Faithfully", but I like that one a good deal and decided to take the chance. Bubba Ho-Tep got mixed reviews, but the idea of it is outlandishly appealing: an old man who thinks he's Elvis joins forces with an old man who thinks he's JFK (despite being black...) to stop a 3000-year-old mummy that's prowling the halls of their retirement home.
It looks like a pretty good haul, and I'm ready now - at least for a while - for anything TCM and its peers can throw at me.
1 I suppose I should bookmark the websites of the channels themselves and use those, but I haven't gotten around to doing that.
A few days ago, TCM ran a Laurel & Hardy marathon, and I took the opportunity to add Sons of the Desert and Way Out West to my collection. The next night, I saw that TCM was showing The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. That's one that's been on my list for a long time, and I don't recall them ever showing it before; not knowing when if ever they'd show it again, I eagerly programmed the satellite box and recorder, only to discover that, not only was I out of blank discs - I'd used the last one for the Laurel & Hardy - but I didn't have any more blank tapes either. Fortunately, I found a spare copy of North Dallas Forty (which I'd accidentally taped twice), and I rededicated it to this higher purpose.
Anyway, today I ran over to Target to avoid a recurrence, and picked up a ten-pack of blank discs and an eight-pack of T160 tapes. I also bought a couple of DVDs - I went for silly stuff, Bubba Ho-Tep and Corpse Bride - and two CDs, the "Sergeant Pepper" album and "The Essential Journey". I'm not that familiar with Journey; the only song I definitely recognized on the album was "Faithfully", but I like that one a good deal and decided to take the chance. Bubba Ho-Tep got mixed reviews, but the idea of it is outlandishly appealing: an old man who thinks he's Elvis joins forces with an old man who thinks he's JFK (despite being black...) to stop a 3000-year-old mummy that's prowling the halls of their retirement home.
It looks like a pretty good haul, and I'm ready now - at least for a while - for anything TCM and its peers can throw at me.
1 I suppose I should bookmark the websites of the channels themselves and use those, but I haven't gotten around to doing that.
