(no subject)

This is a well-thought out article with a premise that I find disturbing (and probably true): that the old-style movie geek, as a social grouping, is becoming obsolete. In brief, it holds that searching for obscure movie titles such as The World's Greatest Sinner was a bonding experience for people, the shared love of which led to such movies developing obsessed followings; that now, with Netflix and eBay and who knows what other means of locating previously obscure films, there aren't likely to be such film cults. (On a related note- it's definitely good that things such as the LoTR movies and Harry Potter have brought geekdom into a more widely- distributed social framework (I still remember with glee the first time I heard two ostensibly non-geek coworkers discussing whether or not Harry would kill Voldemort in the end); Netflix and its ilk are definitely helping with that. Still... speaking as someone who's met every single documentary subject of Cinemania, this makes me more than a little sad; it really is the passing of an age. (In 1989, I saw roughly a dozen movies a week in a theater, including film series 16mm screenings; now, I can't remember the last year in which I saw that many.

It reminds me of something I've been saying for years: how in the old days, favorite movies/TV shows would be carried with us in our memories, and we'd describe them to our friends, sounding like pop culture Homers: "And there's this family, and they go through a waterfall, but it's really a hole in another dimension, and they meet dinosaurs, and these really cool things called sleestak..." Now, on the other hand, it's the work of a moment to see just how cheesy that Grumpy puppet roaring at the TV screen in the opening credits (which used to have me hiding behind the sofa, peeping between my fingers) really is.

(Still, it could be worse...)

ETA: Huh- there's a Cinemania movie trivia game show; I feel a tiny bit better.

(no subject)

As the plane landed, my thoughts were on Bobbi: what sort of condition would she be in? The cancer had spread from colon to liver to lung; further chemotherapy was being discussed (the idiot who prescribed her initial treatment overdosed her, to the point that she couldn't eat solid food, even in between regimens). Would she... uff, and I was being tacklehugged, and she was grabbing my one small piece of lugagge, even as my sleep-deprived brain was trying to frame words along the lines of, "Hey- aren't you sick?"

Well, she is; it didn't take long to see that she tires much more easily than she used to, and there's a patch of gray hair in front that wasn't there previously. Still, her spirit- her will to live- hasn't abated at all; she keeps up the same old flow of teasing banter with Darin¹, with her daughter M, with me. On a day-to-day basis, we've mostly been sitting around their house, talking or watching movies; ther are long patches when I could almost forget why I'm down here, and I'm just visiting one of my oldest and dearest friends (although we never dated as such, I took her to my high school prom, and to hers). Then, every once in a while, she'll give me a big hug, and I'll feel her heart beating, and I'll think This. Only this, and it's enough.



¹Darin- who had cancer himself a few years ago, and recovered- had dated Beej in high school; after she left He Who Shall Not Be Named, and gotten sick, he came up from Tennessee to take care of her; more than once, she's told me she wouldn't be alive except for him. He's good people.

(no subject)

When I got to town two days ago, it was 70 degrees and sunny. Now, it was snowing(!) when we went to pick up dinner; Beej has spent the day in bed (bad health/energy day); even reading something about how fire damaged the Deathly Hallows sets (mild spoilers for the story) is hitting me harder than it probably should. Still- health care reform; 2012 in the DVD player (odd to see this just after Better Off Dead- JC, you grew up!); three insane but loveable dogs (one of which is a near-twin for my Dad's last lab, which tugs at my heartstrings). What that's good is happening for you, flist?