I hear there's a remake on the way! |
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I was out for drinks the other day with a friend of mine and I mentioned something I just added to my queue. It turns out everyone I work with has seen LOGAN'S RUN. I have not. She was surprised, almost mocking, not because I haven't seen LOGAN'S RUN, but because I still pay to watch movies. She hasn't paid for a movie (in the theater or at home) in a couple of years. This got me thinking about some things. Are those of us who still pay for our entertainment chumps? Heck, earlier this week, I started up the desktop with the purpose of getting some specific music (no browsing, no impulse buying) I'd heard on Pandora. I spent over forty bucks on iTunes without even trying to find the items for free elsewhere.
But as much as I like iTunes, this change does make me a bit sad. I hardly ever buy CDs anymore. I remember when I got my first CD player in 1991. On my first post-CD player trip to Northern Lights, I bought Pretty Hate Machine, Ten, and Disintegration, all in long boxes, which I saved for a long time. I still have all of the CDs, although Disintegration is so completely scuffed that only two songs on it will play (I miss it a lot, but I'm holding out for the reissue). I am feeling the same nostalgia for CDs that I once felt for vinyl, and will soon feel for DVDs, I suspect.
I guess the point is that, like most Americans, I like stuff. And I like the idea of having a library. I remember an old 
Who you gonna call? |
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interview where Robert Smith* said that keeping books was stupid, and that if you enjoyed a book you should send it along to someone else when you've finished reading it (I'm paraphrasing, of course). And I like that idea in theory, and sometimes in practice, but I also really like having quick access to my favorite books, or kooky books, or signed books. even if I don't reread them regularly. The same is true of CDs and DVDs-- I like knowing that those things are nearby if a certain mood strikes.
What if I'm home sick? I might really need to see the Kids In the Hall, UHF, or DOG PARK. Or what if I'm a little tipsy some night while I'm home alone? I might really need to hear Tom Waits' Rain Dogs from beginning to end while I write letters. And it might sound the same, but it's less romantic to put the iPod on its dock and scroll through to find Rain Dogs. (Yes, I do realize that if I'm going to romanticize, putting the album on the turntable would be ideal).
My collections (or libraries, as I prefer to call them) are not all that impressive, even just comparing to those belonging to my friends. TJ's Elvis Costello collection, for example, is larger than my entire music collection. It's not about quantity for me, though; it's that many items are just too sentimental to imagine giving up.
And that's why I hope the DVD isn't completely lost to electronic formats. I've justified the purchase of many DVDs (like 
It didn't take long for him to rush his way into my heart. |
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The Simpsons, AMERICAN HISTORY X, EASY RIDER) by saying I need them for my profession, which is totally true. I've not only taught a class on The Simpsons, I use episodes in non-Simpsons classes whenever possible. And my humanities class is packed with film. But putting the practicality of such purchases and the financial investment aside, when I'm 64, I want to be able to watch that episode of The Gilmore Girls when Rory meets Logan for the first time, if I feel like it. Or maybe WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (I'm certain I'll still adore it when I'm getting senior discounts).
Moving in with someone is always a little weird, especially when it comes to mixing collections. Our CDs are mostly in boxes, but our books and DVDs are pretty well combined now. Joe loves to organize them, and only he understands the organizing principles. Early on, when I suggested alphabetical order, he gave me a look that said he thought our relationship had as much a chance of survival as Spinal Tap's next drummer.
The system has to be much more complicated than that, you see. He goes by genre, subgenre, director. Some organizational strategies seem logical, like the way the documentary section, including my Michael Moore DVDs, shifts to DON'T LOOK BACK, which morphs into the dance film section (SAVE THE LAST DANCE- yes, I own that DVD. I admit it), and then a lovely segue from music into comedy provided by EVERYBODY SAYS I LOVE YOU. But 
NPR's Robert Smith, nice voice, perfect name |
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there are curious links that only he understands. How in the world does THE SWEETEST THING link to CASA DE LOS BABYS? And why isn't Freaks and Geeks next to ANCHORMAN? He reorganizes often but can always find what he's looking for. He gets happy, almost giddy, when he comes up with a way to streamline his system or when an entire section fits nicely onto one row (for example, he loves that all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls fit on one shelf perfectly).
Frankly, I'm fond of alphabetical order. But, as in all relationships, for them to work, it's all about compromise and choosing battles. He let me move in with two cats. He lets me do the laundry and reorganize the furniture. For him, I can suspend my need for alphabetical order. The look of concentration --and later, joy-- I see on his face as he tackles the conundrum of where to house the DVD of BROKEN FLOWERS I picked up for him because it was way cheap . . . well, it's worth it to me to let him have that one control in the household. And one day, if our collection grows and gets even more complicated, I'm not above asking the librarian for help.
*"Robert Smith" is a little vague, so allow me to specify. I am referring to Robert Smith of The Cure, not Robert Smith formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, nor am I referring to Robert Smith of NPR's "Morning Edition," although I enjoy the work of all three.
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| Take Your Queue From Du |
Every other Sunday
Semi-wholesome Midwestern girl and certified Geek Magnet offers her suggestions - often new, sometimes classic - for DVDs that are definitely queue-worthy.
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| Denise DuVernay |
9 out of 10 librarians think Denise is a hoot. The 10th one couldn't corroborate because she was dead.
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