Yes indeed. So today after work, I took Tobias on a little journey to what seems to have become one of my favorite locations for acquiring little treasures: Best Buy.

Braving the excessive crowds, insanely long lines, and babbling hype, the mission was clear: A must-have DVD title known to us Americans as Princess Mononoke.

As I entered the store, I began to have second thoughts as I saw the lines at every register reaching back into the cd section. But forward I pressed.

The movie section of the store was more of a mess than I've ever seen it. Carts full of assorted merchandise for sale, apparently just left in the middle of the isles for people to pick and hunt for items they want. Cardboard boxes, filled a similarly uncategorized mishmash of titles were scattered randomly. The floor in front of the Disney section was almost inaccessible due to the clutter in front of it.

I noted many titles on the shelves had had their prices marked down further. Customers wandering up and down the aisles like a bunch of crazy monkeys.

For a time, I became one of those crazy monkies, searching high and low in every category conceivable where my movie might reside. No sign of it anywhere. Surely, with today being the release date, I would think they would have it well stocked.

Along the way, many a movie tempted my eye, all of which I resisted. All but one. Another new release. The Cell. $19.99. Complete with 5.1 Surround (Not that I have the audio system to support it, but still...), double commentary tracks, deleted scenes, documentary titled Style As Substance (which sounds utterly fitting for this particular film), and all those other random goodies which we, the spoiled DVD people, have come to consider standard fare.

But still, there was the movie I originally came to buy, and was having utterly no luck finding. I finally managed to ask an employee in the vicinity (who seemed utterly swamped with customers asking various questions). I overheard him telling the person in front of me that whatever they were looking for was out of stock (I didn't hear which title), and more copies would probably be arriving in a couple days. I hoped that my situation would not be the same.

"Do you guys have the Princess Mononoke DVD?"

"Yeah. We sure do." He immediately proceeded directly towards one of the nondescript boxes sitting at the end of an aisles, and extracted a copy from within. Goodie! Price marked $24.95.

Not exactly the most obvious place to have item which are supposed to for sale. But I had my copy in my hand, and I was happy.

I proceeded immediately to the shortest line I could find, and was through surprisingly quickly. A few people ahead of me, all of which had small items, and moved through nice and efficiently. My items get scanned. Happy bank account depletion card comes out. The clerk prompted me to sign on the electronic pad almost immediately. Items bagged. Receipt in hand. And I was out of the store. Actually, I think this ended up quicker at the checkout line than a lot of previous trips on "normal" days, simply because they were trying to get people moved through as fast as possible.

Stopped at an ATM on the way home, followed by the Arby's drivethru. (I never was much of a fan of Arby's until recently, after having gone there a few times with coworkers. Now, I can't seem to get enough of those curly fries, giant roast beef, and bbq sandwiches. Now if only they'd open a branch a little closer to the house, I'd be set.)

Came home to discover the rest of the family eating some sort of mysterious stuff that my dad had cooked. I'm never quite sure what to expect anymore. Some nights, I come home, and everybody does their own thing with regards to food. Other nights, the family might go out to one place or another. And still others... well, who knows. On this night, I had decided I didn't feel like playing guessing games with regard to what was going to go in my stomach. I made my provisions, and stuck to them.

After dinner, I could feel my DVD player calling to me. (It was, I tell you! It was!) But I stuck around in the living room long enough to participate in the ritual of hanging ornaments on the green piece of foliage which had found its way into the house. (For some reason, images from XWP season 2 episode "A Solstice Carol" kept flashing back into my brain. I swear, I think my mind has willfully formed symlinks to every cultural, religous, or literary issue that show has ever referenced. A topic once referenced comes up... so does the relevant portion of the show. In my screwy mind, at least.)

I offered to put the movie on in the living room if any other members of the family also wished to partake in this great piece of art. All parties declined. I took my leave into the Lair, promptly inserted the Mononoke disc, made myself comfortable, and proceeded to commence.

Awesome stuff. (I know this should really be in a movielog entry. The code is actually very close to working, but the backlog on the content.... ew. I'm thinking I might just leave a gap, and resume entries from current time. Given the hassle it would be to remember/reread rambling entries to figure out which movies were seen when over the past 2+ months, and then try to commentate without having it fresh in my mind.... Better to just pick up at the present. Especially since the majority of the titles are in my collection, which means I will see them again, and make movielog entries for any viewing dates at my leisure.)

I could also note that both of the DVD titles I purchased today were awesome movies originally seen in theaters under rather sucky viewing conditions. With Princess Mononoke, the theater was sold out and packed, and although the projection/sound was good, there were a couple of really annoying idiots behind me, which I did my best to ignore, say "Ssssh" to, and wish they would disappear into another dimension. With my theatrical viewing of The Cell... well, that one was pretty much hopeless in every regard. On a home viewing system, such annoyances are nonexistent. :)

But what a great movie. I watched it with the English audio. Next time, I'll have to try Japanese, and turn on English subtitles. (But French? Who cares! Neither my native tonge, nor the original movie recording. I guess the more languages included, the merrier.) Then watched the featurette. While short (only about 5 min), it was interesting. A bunch of little soundbites from interviews of the American voice actors. Yadda.

Okay, Bitscape is tired. While he thinks it would be great fun to do more DVD viewing on this night, that might be bad for alertness at work tomorrow and in the coming couple of days. So I think I'll call it a night, and contemplate on the wolves and the forest spirit as I pass into dreamland. Power off.