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Older dude checking in. I threw out my Divx collection about 10 years ago. I have precious little time to spend watching 2-hour films, and I recognize that the
by steelframe 8y ago
Older dude checking in. I threw out my Divx collection about 10 years ago. I have precious little time to spend watching 2-hour films, and I recognize that the number of films I will watch before I die is on the order of maybe 300. When I do get a chance to watch a film, I want the experience to be as great as it possibly can be. I want as high a resolution as I can get with the best color. Compared to 4k HDR stuff available today, the Divx stuff looks like total shit. I have grown to despise my fellow human beings in groups larger than about 7, so I've built a home theater where I can watch a movie without having to deal with the bullshit that is the general public. I'll invite 4 or 5 of my friends over on occasion. Specifically, the ones who respect my rules of watching a movie. No talking, no phones, that sort of thing. I'll buy a Blu-ray disc brand new so I don't have to worry about random scratches or whatever from previous renters. I don't stream because I no longer tolerate any of the bullshit that happens half the time, like random degradation from the service resulting in pixelation or pauses.
For music, I just subscribe to a streaming music service where I can download ("pin") stuff to my phone. Mainly because it's ridiculously cheap and convenient. I don't care about "owning" music, like it could somehow forever "go away" and I'd be sitting in the corner of my basement crying about how I can't listen to such-and-such a song any more. But honestly I'm more likely to listen to audiobooks these days, which I do immediately strip the DRM from and store separately on my phone.
When I go on vacation, I take a pathologically small number of photos, and I only take them on my phone. I can't be bothered with lugging around a huge lens and camera body everywhere I go when I'm trying to experience some place new. Whenever I show the photos to people, they often say, "Wow! What camera did you take these with??" And I say, "A used Pixel 2."
- derekp7 8y agoThe fancy camera is for people that enjoy photography as a hobby in itself, and use trips as an opportunity to practice their skills. But I definitely agree with your "living in the moment" stance. For me, I never take pictures because I can't ever tell in the moment that this would be a good picture that I'd want to show people (that, and pictures never are as good as actually being there).
- spc476 8y agoI tend to take pictures that tend towards the surreal, such as a life sized plastic cow as a lawn ornament [1] or a bear dressed as Goldilocks serving a human skull [2]. Or a human sized teddy bear just chilling out on a park bench [3]. [1] http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/29.2 http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/29.2 [2] http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/30.3 http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/30.3 [3] http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/31.2 http://boston.conman.org/2014/10/31.2
- JohnBooty 8y agoand I recognize that the number of films I will watch before I die is on the order of maybe 300 This kind of thing seems morbid, but as I tiptoe into my 40s I find it hilarious. Got my home's roof redone lately. Allegedly has a 50 year warranty. Mentally added 50 to my current age and was like... well, yep, that oughta do it. hahaha.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago"This will last until I die" is quite the value prop.
- CalRobert 8y agoA bit morbid but also incredibly important. When my colleagues say "I worked on this over the weekend" I get pretty upset because 1) Dude you're in your 40's. If you're lucky you've got ~2100 lazy Sunday afternoons left. Probably a third to half of those in decent health. That's not very many. How many of those do you want to spend doing stupid shit (aka most jobs) for somebody else for free? 2) Don't normalize that behaviour so I have to do it too.
- j_b_s 8y agoIt'll help with re-sale (still 22 years to go!) - one likely outcome before you kick it.
- felipemnoa 8y ago>>I have grown to despise my fellow human beings in groups larger than about 7, so I've built a home theater where I can watch a movie without having to deal with the bullshit that is the general public To each their own of course. A lot of us go to the theater to enjoy a film with a large crowd.
- scotty79 8y ago> A lot of us go to the theater to enjoy a film with a large crowd. Wait. Really? And there's a lot of people who enjoy watching things in crowds?
- reidjs 8y agoYeah and there are people who enjoy going to concerts, and festivals, and events.....
- sokoloff 8y agoConcerts and festivals are made more enjoyable by the shared energy. Other than concert movies and maybe Rocky Horror Picture Show, I struggle to think of movies where I’d rather walk on sticky floors to see it with 100 other coughing, talking, texting, etc humans than at home in a decent home theater.
- lenzm 8y agoComedy and horror movies come to mind as being shared experiences.
- scotty79 8y agoAh. I see. I explicitly avoid these genres. Maybe that's why I never experienced any positive influence from other people in the cinema.
- headsoup 8y agoWhile not a status statement as it used to be, one element is the "I was there" thing: being able to tell others later that you were there for the opening session of X blockbuster/defining movie...
- fouc 8y agoI watch movies at an accelerated speed, usually around 1.5 to 1.7x speed. That means I can easily watch 2 movies in the span of a couple hours. So basically I'm pretty well caught up on all the obviously good movies. I have some trouble finding hidden gems, mainly because netflix/prime video are so horrible at recommendations. Because of my accelerated watching I'm actually more selective about movies & tv shows especially TV shows, because only the good ones are tolerable when watching episodes back to back. Anyways 300 movies, 1 per week, 5 years?