Whither Withnail?

I’ve been getting into DVDs lately, in anticipation for when I buy my Playstation 2 in (hopefully) October. I’ve even bought a couple of disks (“Rushmore-Criterion Edition” and “The Matrix”) and ordered some more that will ship in late August (“Magnolia” and “Boogie Nights” special editions). But it vexes me how some classic films are not yet out on DVD and nobody has any idea when they’ll be released, by whom, or what, if any, special features they will have. The one that bums me the most is “Withnail and I.” This is probably one of my top 5 films ever, and it would be perfect for DVD. The sound could really use some cleaning up, so that all the wonderful dialogue can be heard, and I could dream up tons of supplementary material for it, especially commentary tracks from director Bruce Robinson and actors Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann. There was a tenth anniversary VHS released in 1997 and I think it was even rereleased in the theatres, but no DVD yet. If anyone knows anything at all, please let me know. Until then, I’ll just have to keep mumbling the dialogue to myself and laughing, drawing all manner of funny stares.

Meme

I was going to post that story, you know, that story that’s been going around the blog community, started by Jason or Meg or who knows. But…I found a spelling mistake and I would have had to change it (ok, “peddle” should be “pedal”, so there). I couldn’t just join in like everyone else, I had to correct something. That’s me, throwing a wet blanket over the entire blogging thing. But just to show that I’m not totally humourless, here’s a tidbit from a dinner party a few weeks back. Brooke and I are having dinner at our friends David and Jen’s and we’re talking about psychiatrists:

DAVID: Yeah, my uncle’s a psychiatrist…….He’s f***ing nuts.
ME: I didn’t think they were allowed to do that.

Everyone laughed, except David.

Also, bought The Guardian newspaper this weekend (shameless Anglophiles that we are), and in their Saturday magazine, they had excerpts from Dave Eggers’ “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.” The title alone makes me want to hate the guy, but in reality, it was really well written and moving. For those not in the know, Dave Eggers publishes McSweeney’s, both in print and on the net, and when he was 21, his parents both died of cancer within a few weeks of each other, leaving him as the guardian of his 8 year old brother. I’m thinking of buying the book now, but I think I’ll wait for paperback, and then buy a remaindered hardcover. If anyone has read it and has an opinion, please email me.

ID Magazine

Hey, I’m going to have a letter published in next month’s ID magazine!! I actually just sent a cranky email to them asking why there was no CD-ROM with their Interactive Annual this year, and how I could get one. The assistant editor emailed back and said that they no longer produce one but that they were getting a lot of inquiries so she was going to publish my letter and their response in the next issue. It was kind of cool, although if I’d intended to have it published, I probably would have been more careful and diplomatic. She even emailed me to ask me which of our company’s two offices I worked out of, Toronto or Ottawa. It’s very funny, because our company has precisely two employees in Toronto and two in Ottawa. It really made us sound like a big firm. Maybe we’ll get some free publicity out of it, though!

The Specials

My friend Brent sent me a URL for a new movie called “The Specials.” It’s another “Mystery Men” type movie, but looks like it actually might be funny. I’ve always loved “The Tick” and was bummed when it disappeared, so anything to do with this weird superhero type genre appeals to me. My idea for a superhero: Iran Man. (ie. “I….AM…..IRAN…..MAN!!”). Along with my sidekick and romantic consort, Iran Maiden, we fly around fighting the excesses of godless Western culture.

New Camera

Finally got my digital camera back from the shop after 5 weeks. They couldn’t fix it!! So I got a brand new one! All because I tried to do a firmware update. I clearly followed the instructions on the website and the camera just went dead. A thousand dollar paperweight. I was really worried, but since it was under warranty, I took it back, and now, only 5 weeks later, I have a new one. Finally be able to take some summertime photos and maybe post a bunch here. I promise I’ll try to be interesting, if not frequent, in updating.