Good movies and lacklustre online shopping possibilities
When I climbed out of bed to find a coffee cup this morning, the thought that I’d watch two different rounds of swordfighting wasn’t on the horizon. We had rented videos last evening, but in the excitement of a pre pre-Christmas the viewing session had been put aside until the tree in the middle of the living room was fully decorated. Today, the early afternoon took us to the end of the world, with Jack Sparrow as the travel guide.
This is the third, but I doubt the final, episode in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series. Decent, albeit confusing. Too many teams on the field at the same time, which is why soccer, hockey and other sports have perfected the two squad model. I watched the movie, glad that I’d seen the previous ones; otherwise, I would have had no clue who the good guys were. King Swann did look better than the rest.
While the marathon of wrapping was underway (three hours and counting), it was time to start the second feature of the late afternoon. I’ve read and enjoyed a selection of Neil Gaiman novels, and I’ll be reading this one, even though I have seen the movie. Stardust is simply superb. I’d lost track of Claire Danes, after My So-Called Life finished its run. Now she’s almost twice the age, but her expressions have remained a constant. There were other famous faces on-screen but she outshone the rest.
The movie is a visual feast, with landscapes and fantasy machines and witches and a whoopsie. Fishing for lightning bolts, glass knives, a bluejay that flips up to a slavegirl; this movie has it all. Did I mention that Clare Dane glows when she’s happy? If I hadn’t already returned the DVDs to the rental shop, I’d watch it again.
It’s still early in the evening, but Future Shop is out for the count. They advertised a Boxing Day sale that would be available online this evening. I came, I chose and I waited. After an hour, the company simply put up a page that admitted they’d underestimated the number of people who wouldn’t want to stand outside in line for hours. My order is showing as “in the cart”, but I’ll find out some other time if my impulsive desire to own yet more stuff will be met; pity about their servers, just before the holiday starts.
To end the story, my order was processed. Only three hours and five minutes from the initial signon with their servers. I’ll receive my merchandise in a few days, which means that I won’t really have saved any time, but since I don’t particularly like to queue up with hundreds of strangers in sub-zero temperatures it was “worth it”. How would I rate the experience? For the persistent.
