Sunday, May 08, 2005
Self preservation
We decided to take our clients out to dinner. So we don’t have to talk to them too much, we went to a very smart local hotel that has a small 16 seat cinema. The invitation, rather swakily put together by yours truly, offered a choice of three movies: Butch & Sundance, Groundhog Day, and Rear Window. Picking the movies was a very long and not very democratic process, within the constraints of no sex or violence. You don’t want to be watching movie stars doing the wild thing whilst seated in the dark next to your client’s wife. Anyway, to my surprise, most people chose Rear Window.
At this point, I got on the phone to the video store to reserve it on DVD. You’d think I would have done that first, wouldn’t you? “Sorry sir, we don’t have that one.” Different store, specialising in old movies. Nope. Local Amazon wannabe websites. Nope and nope. At this point I’m wondering if it has even been released on DVD. Off to Amazon, where I find it, and order it. While I was there, I bought a copy of the Italian Job too – the proper one, obviously. Got them shipped to my brother in law, and delivered here by him just in time. So now I own two DVDs. And no DVD player. I am the only white man in South Africa in my income band who does not have a DVD player or satellite TV. Bet I wouldn’t have been able to find the original Italian Job in local shops either. Sometimes I miss civilisation.
At this point, I got on the phone to the video store to reserve it on DVD. You’d think I would have done that first, wouldn’t you? “Sorry sir, we don’t have that one.” Different store, specialising in old movies. Nope. Local Amazon wannabe websites. Nope and nope. At this point I’m wondering if it has even been released on DVD. Off to Amazon, where I find it, and order it. While I was there, I bought a copy of the Italian Job too – the proper one, obviously. Got them shipped to my brother in law, and delivered here by him just in time. So now I own two DVDs. And no DVD player. I am the only white man in South Africa in my income band who does not have a DVD player or satellite TV. Bet I wouldn’t have been able to find the original Italian Job in local shops either. Sometimes I miss civilisation.
