I have a new toy!

It's a chess set! They used to sell these in the bargain section of my store and I kept telling myself I would get one sometime. Then they ran out and no new ones were forthcoming. Darn. Then I looked in the computer and found that the Buckhead store had four of them. Hooray! I trotted over to Buckhead and found that the computer was mistaken. Drat. But one of the gals there took my name and said she'd call me if any came in. Whoo-hoo!



As you can see, one did come in. The box was battered and the pieces slightly flawed (I'm guessing it was purchased, found lacking, and returned) but, hey, it was EIGHT BUCKS, what the hell else do you want? And that was eight bucks before my spiffy employee discount, too.

I played a game with myself (the picture is of the outcome--the pennies are there to show how tiny the board actually is) and it was an interesting exercise. Obviously, I won (snerk snerk) but it was a fairly complicated battle considering I knew exactly what the other side was up to. I had to act and react to each stratagem and each time I screwed myself to the wall I had to turn around and go "Well, I'm screwed to the wall. Now what?" So I figured out ways to unscrew myself from the wall. I'd like to see how well I'd do against an actual opponent. Might be fun to invite people over for tea and chess.

Film Meme . . . by request of azewewish

1. Total number of films I own on DVD/video:
[looks in drawer] Twenty-two films, if you count multiple copies of the same film as one film (I have The Crow on VHS and DVD, for example) and if you count the MST3K DVDs that provide the film uncut and commentariless for your viewing pleasure.

2. The last film I bought:
Again, counting MST3K-with-uncut-version DVDs, The Hellcats. If you want to be fussy and insist it has to be a straight film, probably a double-feature DVD of Carnival of Souls and Horror Hotel that I got for cheap at Book Nook and still haven't watched.

3. The last film I watched:
Manos: The Hands of Fate, as a double feature with the MST3K rendition. And it does count, because I watched it on a completely separate DVD.

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me:
Yellow Submarine. I love this film and I'm completely boggled that people got away with making it. It's like a Beatles album you can watch. I bought the DVD and rented a DVD player so I could have a viewing party of it (green apples and submarine sandwiches were served) and eventually acquired a DVD player of my own to play it on.

The Crow. Brandon Lee is the bomb, okay? This film isn't brilliant because of his death, it's brilliant because of his life. Ignore all the gothies who glomped onto the angstness of it and just watch a great actor do great things.

Citizen Kane. I had to study this film in college and surprisingly this didn't turn me off of it. If anything, it made me appreciate what Orson Welles (and so many others) did to make it happen. If you've never seen this film, go, now, and do so. Don't be scared away by the hyperanalysis of a bazillion film critics. Just rent it and watch a great story being told. It's still worth watching even if you already know what "Rosebud" is.

The Lord of the Rings. I'm counting all three films as one, because in a way, they are. Do I even need to explain to LiveJournal why?

Plan Nine From Outer Space. I don't own this yet, but someday I will. This is the shining example of what I like to call "folk art cinema"--it's made with the materials at hand, it's not made very competently, but you can't help but smile at the sheer weirdness of it.

5. Five people I'm passing this onto:
Oh, I don't do that sort of thing. If anybody sees this, I'd love to see what they have to say, but I'm not going to name names.