Boys and their Toys

A little more than 6 years ago, I bought my DVD player. DVD hadn't quite gone mainstream yet...it was still seen as a toy for movie geeks like myself. But I always said to myself, "This is it, now. It's a slippery slope. Won't be too long until I get a surround sound system."

Last year, when I started working up here in Athabasca, I bought a nice, medium-sized TV, mainly because my little 10" screen which had been my constant companion since my college dorm days just no longer cut it. I got my new TV all set up and said, "Gotta get that surround sound system now, so I can fully appreciate it."

Finally bought my surround sound system back on the weekend. I was blessed with a tax refund that was a little bit more than I thought it'd be, and thought I should by myself something nice. I had it narrowed down to either the sound system or a digital camera. I asked my family for their opinions, and my mother and sister said the same thing: "Your birthday's in three weeks. Get the sound system."

I followed the same pattern I always follow when buying electronics like this. I spent months of careful planning, preparing a budget, shopping around, and following the sales. And, when I finally chose the day and store, I walked into the shop, threw out my plan, and bought the one that was really shiny.

But yeah. After work yesterday, I went home and finally sat down and hooked it up. Took me two hours to do, but that's only because I was really persnickity about speaker placement and stuff.

And then, I fulfilled one of my dreams with a surround sound system.

I popped in The Transformers: The Movie. The whole place shook when Unicron spoke. Then I thought that it's probably not healthy to have the subwoofer cranked up that loud, and turned everything down to a reasonable volume.

Spent the afternoon watching 10 minute snippets from a ton of my favourite films, just to break in the sound system. I watched Titanic hit the iceberg...watched the Burley Brawl from The Matrix Reloaded...the rescue of Palpatine from Episode III...the climax of Back to the Future...and, what I've used to break in every TV and/or sound system since I was 14 years old, the destruction of Praxis from Star Trek VI.

After work today, I'll be breaking it in proper. I went to HMV and hit their "2 for $30" bin and picked up some 2-disc special editions that belong in my library. Actually, I was a little shocked at HMV. Now they have a 2 for $25 bin, a 2 for $20 bin, even a 2 for $10 bin! But what I was after was in the 2 for $30 bin.

First up was the 2-disc special edition of Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction...I managed to catch the end on TV a few months back and thought to myself, "Wow. I forgot what a great movie this is." The 2-disc special edition, which has been out for quite a few years now, is fully stacked. You've got cut scenes, a documentary about the making of the film, various gushing reviews of the film. Probably the coolest feature is this episode of Siskel & Ebert. See, back when Pulp Fiction won the Oscar, Siskel & Ebert did this special episode all about Quentin Tarintino, declared him the greatest filmmaker working today ("today" being 1995) and went on and on about how Tarintino was ushering in the new era of independent cinema. That whole episode is on this special edition. The only thing the disc lacks is a Tarintino running commentary.

The other one is the 2-disc special edition of Fight Club. I used to have Fight Club, but it wasn't mine. It was a long-term loan. Back in 2001, I had a friend who loved Fight Club so much that she ran out and bought the 2-disc special edition as soon as it came out. Only problem was, she didn't own a DVD player yet. Since I was her only friend with a DVD player, she said I could hang onto it until she got one. She finally got a DVD player, and I gave it back to her, in 2005. But still, ever since, it felt like there was a gap in my colleciton....

So, now that I'm getting my home theatre more or less how I want it, the question is, what's the next step? Where do I go from here? I think, by then, it'll be time to get one of those little digital satallite dishes. No offence, but cable TV here in Athabasca is kind of crappy. I miss Space, Teletoon, and the Comedy Network.

But until then, I can make the walls shake with Unicron.