Yesterday I tried again to find 'The Glass Mountain' on YouTube and found that I could watch it via Amazon for a mere £10, so I looked for it on eBay and discovered I could buy the DVD for £2.70, including delivery. I haven't seen it since about 1960, so a few more days to wait means nothing, even in these times of instant streaming gratification. Also we will be able to watch it more than once.
All the big media corporations hate DVD. There isn't enough money in it for them. Our old iMac has a slot for DVDs in the side, but the newer versions don't. Apple wants us to pay on demand.
Even though we have a large collection of them, it is amazing how soon you know them too well. This, of course, doesn't apply to John's favourite film, A Canterbury Tale, which we never tire of.
Young people used to laugh at me for how large my mobile phone was. Now they laugh at me for how small it is. It was only a few years ago when people actually had huge collections of VHS tapes which were the same size as a medium hard-back book. When DVDs arrived, people threw out all their tapes and after a while, charity shops refused to take them. DVDs could not get any smaller without doing away with the box, and now they have disappeared altogether, except in charity shops or eBay.
Young people really don't realise how they are being milked for their expendable income, but the more new things are taken up by them, the cheaper they become. It is very kind of them to be fashionably pioneering. Without them, my monthly phone bill would be a lot more than the £6 it is right now. Good old Giff Gaff.
This does not apply to trainers though. Spending £450 on a pair of Crockett and Jones boots made my eyes water, but the trendy young seem to think nothing about spending twice as much on sports shoes which will last for one season.
Years ago, I used to see a lot of old people wearing trainers. I thought they looked ridiculous on 70 year olds wearing ordinary 1940s-style trousers. Then, a few years ago, my toes began to curl down like my fingers did.
The last time I wore my Crockett and Jones boots was to walk around Venice for 8 days, and that was over a year ago... or was it two? It nearly crippled me - actually it did cripple me. I was in such pain that I had to sit down every few hundred yards, and we ended up taking a vaporetto wherever possible. I had always said that Crockett and Jones were the most comfortable shoes I had ever worn, but then my feet let me down.
I refuse to buy a pair of Nikes. I cannot afford them these days in any case.
I only learnt what streaming meant two months ago. I don't like trainers, cheap ones or expensive ones and I have never had a dvd collection. I don't think I am the best person to discuss the contents of your post with.
ReplyDeleteThat's ok, you are excused.
DeleteHave you seen Steven Tyler's feet? Now there's a problem.
ReplyDeleteI once did see the snazziest sneakers EVER for men at Fortnum & Mason, I believe. They were made out of olive green tweed! I did not dare ask for the price.
I don't even know Steven Tyler's face, let alone feet. I might consider tweed trainers, but only in the Prince of Wales livery.
DeleteIt’s the Aerosmith guy.
DeleteI offended my toes at my daughter's wedding. The shoes were magnificent. Let me recommend New Balance 990's with a big toe box for curled toes. You must get past the company's owner being a bigot, a misogynist, and all the rest of those words. I do for the shoes, some of which are made in this country.
ReplyDeleteI am trying hard not to look any more like Frankenstein's monster than I do already, and dark shoes with high toe boxes do not sound attractive to me. Maybe I am a slave to fashion after all.
DeleteOne of my nick-names at school was 'Lurch'.
DeleteI have a collection of DVDs covering 6 shelves in the dining room. I buy, often used ones, via Amazon traders for nominal prices plus postage. All my favourite and new interest films at nominal prices plus postage. I have never "streamed" and never will.
ReplyDeleteDecent trainers are cheap enough if you don't go for the "fashionable" brand names which seem to be a must for the young. In the same vein why would I pay an enhanced price to buy a tee shirt which advertises a popular brand (e.g. "Guinness"). They should be paying me for being a walking billboard.
If you use BBC iPlayer or any of the others, then you stream content already. I too have never worn branded clothes for the same reasons. Moschino was the worst offender for unpaid advertising.
DeleteI get the feeling that fashionable can mean shoddily made...
ReplyDeleteI like a certain shoe warehouse shop beginning with B that stocks larger sizes as normal...suits me and one son with size 13s was surprised to see up to size 17....and top brands at good prices too
Starts with B and ends with...?
DeleteAnd the letters in the middle?
DeleteBrantano...sadly reduced the number of shops..hope it survives the present situation
DeleteThousands of shops have already gone under here. It will get worse before things change - hopefully for the better.
DeleteI am a disgrace to gay men
ReplyDeleteI have no fashion sense whatsoever
For a moment I had forgotten you are gay.
DeleteDarling Tom,
ReplyDeleteWe have never owned a pair of 'trainers' or 'sneakers' or any other kind of footwear which might remotely suggest that we have gym membership or athletic prowess.We have neither, of course.
Your Crockett and Jones boots sound fabulous. We even looked them up...'Chelsea' 'Chiltern' and 'Chukka'..... imaginatively named and creatively priced but they do look wonderful. However, the calles of Venice might not have been the best to try them for comfort and, of course, there is nowhere to sit down.
I have three pairs - two Derwent and one black, the name of which I forget. The first pair I bought in London and left them on in the shop, then spent all day and all night walking around in comfort. They did not need breaking in. My feet have let me down. There are more benches in Venice than you might think!
DeleteWe know where they are....:):):)
DeleteNikes are extortionately expensive. I wear Birkenstocks, with and without socks most days. They do my feet good.
ReplyDeleteWe call Birkenstocks 'pasties' here. As a traditionally dressed Brit (maybe ex) I would not willingly wear them.
DeleteI should say that this has more to do with my age than anything else - I am not dissing your choice of footwear!
DeleteWe have a big DVD collection and I am 100% with you on the subject. They live in a sideboard we use as a TV stand affectionately known as Drawerflix since they are all in drawers! The extensive ones such as all of Midsomer Murders, have been deboxed into sleeve holder things. As for trainers, I gave up on them in the early 90s when they went from sensible looking things to what appeared to be prosthetic feet covers for people playing dinosaurs in Jurassic Park - all crags and crazy colours. Gah.
ReplyDeleteThey are getting worse. One particular brand makes it look as though the wearer is walking backwards.
Delete