Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by petew on November 09, 1999 at 19:29:56:

In Reply to: ...and now go back and get that S VHS too... posted by Victor Khomenko on November 08, 1999 at 06:21:21:

Mr. Khomenko,

You are a kind and generous man. As a bibliophile, I can't imagine lending a book I love to anyone but someone who loves great books as much as I do--someone who would never accept such an offer. So let me say, I deeply appreciate your offer, but couldn't possibly accept it, since I would not only view the lent films with rapt appreciation, but I would go out of my way to return them under circumstances that enhanced the gesture.

Perhaps I've mentioned here, that I did see "Ran" when it was first released, at the Ritz in Phila (when it was a real theater). Now THAT'S a movie! I have seen "Pi" too (with at title like that, how could I resist?), but I must say I was disappointed that it wasn't more techinical (like the Richard Feynman lectures at Cal, simple and yet profound).

I did a brief visit to the websites where they have rentals, but I admit, when I lived in the Acadamy House in Phila, there was a TLA video store literaly right outside the door on Locust St., and nothing beats browsing the Foreign Films section in a place like that. It's like a treasure hunt, and you never know what you'll find, and when the staff sees what you're renting, they alwasy clue you in to several titles as good or better. Nothing like that anywhere but in a big city. I can't wait until my toddlers are grown and we can move back there. It's so true what's said about the suburbs: "There's no There there".

The wife and I didn't own cars when we lived in the City (not owning a car, and being an American, is a unique experience!), so when we moved out here we went out to buy our first car at a Mercedes dealership on the Main Line. When the sales jerk asked us why we didn't own cars (!) we went on about how wonderful city life is: "...right ouside our door we could walk to 50 restaurants...!". His reply, "I can drive to fifty restaurants..." Well, we've tried, but you can't. He lies. I'd rather eat dog shit than what passes for "food" out here. Lunch at the Four Seasons is worth $100 just to watch the waiters do their craft without ever being seen. If you ever needed reasons to be rich, dining at a fine restaurant has to be near the top of the list, and Philadelphia has plenty of places to exercise that privilage.

Oh but I digress. I hope you went short on MRK. Bad news is about to break.

Thanks again.
dy/dx