Sunday, September 21, 2014

ghost of ghostbusters (blu ray)

Wow.  I feel a hole in my soul.
GHOSTBUSTERS and GHOSTBUSTERS II came out on Blu ray on the 16th.  I've not only not yet bought it, but I have no immediate plans to.  I'm not even sure I want to.  The transfer is supposedly vastly improved, which is more of a big deal to those who are looking for a "True Blu" experience rather than those, like me, who noticed some serious room for improvement when watching the Amazon Instant Video presentation.  I was watching some of it a few days ago, at night, and didn't notice anything wrong w/ it though.  I don't know if Amazon swapped my old digital copy w/ an upgraded version or what...it may have just been that I wasn't continuously watching the screen enough to really notice...
Anyway; I bought GBII on Instant Video @ Amazon earlier this month, on a whim, b/c A) I already owned GHOSTBUSTERS on Instant Video (via Amazon), and it was on sale for $8, which, compared to buying the twofer, was $10+ cheaper, although it was actually more like $5 or $6 cheaper, since BestBuy has it for $18 + tax, and I have a $5 off manufacturer's coupon, which makes it...a little under $15 w/ tax, vs. $8 = $7 apprx.  Eh, close enough...maybe...
The whole idea of owning media (cds, dvds primarily) lost its meaning a long time ago.  Its appeal had remained long after though - I'd buy something "cool" or quasi-useful, and get rid of it shortly after.  I tried to hold onto my CDs for as long as I could.  I think I broke a record w/ the umpteenth copy of Phil Collins' NO JACKET REQUIRED - I bought it in December or late November of 2012, and just got rid of it about a week ago.  That's **almost** two years !!!!!  Gosh, yes, I'm pathetic.
I got rid of a bunch of other CDs at that same time or thereabouts.  I just don't see the point in owning 8-12 songs by the same band that I rarely want to listen to.  You can fill a 30-CD holder rather quickly doing that.  This "artistic achievement" and that "emotionally charged" album, and before you know it, you've bought just about everything you've ever had the presence of mind to stop and look at.  Truth is, "Losing Your Memory" by Ryan Star is the greatest song I've ever heard, and I discovered that about 2 years ago and have been sick of it for at least the past year now.  Matthew Mayfield's "Element" comes close.  I tell Pandora radio to play a station based on those two songs and they start playing every "adult alternative" song in existence.  The Fray and The Script are OK.  The Fray are more of an "album" band, with one or two, maybe three, songs that come across as being stand-alone achievements that I'm not sick to death of by now.  The Script have a large handful of songs that range from "A-Ok" to "Great", but only two or three that are great, and I'm sick of those now, too.  Vertical Horizon's EVERYTHING YOU WANT was a good CD, I think there's a reason the band hasn't replicated the success of it, and that album offers a hint as to why.  It's just not **that** good.  It's got little pockets of greatness and a bunch of serviceable-if-you-don't-expect-it songs, but repeat listening isn't something I can do much of with that album.  The song "Everything You Want" was a great song that took a lot longer to get overplayed than other songs.  But it did eventually get overplayed and I'm still sick of it.  I guess I shouldn't say "sick" of it, it's just boring.  I've heard it so many times, it's nothing more than a late 90's/early 00's nostalgia song.  I have no reason to feel nostalgic when I hear that particular song.  That's probably because there was absolutely nothing going on in my life that's the least bit noteworthy.  I tend to feel what I would consider nostalgia about songs that I hadn't heard in a while.  I went like 5 years without listening to Aerosmith's ROCKS.  Then I heard "Combination" and suddenly it was like I was transported to another time and place.  Same deal when I heard "Long Long Way To Go" by Phil Collins from NO JACKET REQUIRED after what at the time felt like a lengthy absence from my life.
but anyway; I still have probably at least a dozen CDs, maybe not quite that many, I'm not sure, but there's plenty of times I have no idea what to listen to.  I think of something I don't have that I would like to listen to and nothing comes to mind.  How can I buy something that I don't know I want?  Most of the stuff I own sounds akin to something else I own.

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