05.25.01
When I found out that I was getting an amended $311 refund from 1999, I decided to put that money towards a playstation 2. My reasoning was that not only does it play old psx games, several of which I am a fan, but also future psx games, music cds, and dvds, so it'd be like 4 household appliances for one price. However, at a $299 pricetag, I decided to wait for the price to drop a bit first.
4 months later, the price is still $299, and I figured out that to get the setup I want (cordless/remote game controllers and memory cards), I'd have to pony up a lot more money than that.
But then, I have dvds that I bought when I thought I'd be babysitting someone's dvd player for more than a couple of weeks -- I was thinking months, by the end of which I would have gotten the psx2 -- and I really don't have the time to play video games, anyways.
So, when I walked into Best Buy today to get a usb-hub-thingy so that I can plug all three usb appliances I have into the computer, instead of switching back and forth between the two available ports, I found myself inexorably drawn to the visual media area of the store. And I found myself staring at a shelf of extremely low sale-priced dvd players, costing less than half of what I would have spent on the psx2 and accessories, without games. And then I found myself walking out of the store with no usb-hub-thingy, and a dvd player and a copy of Leon (the European cut of The Professional).
And, all I have to say is, "Whoa."
They weren't kidding when they said that the European version of the movie was a little more, ahem, mature than the one released here. We lost 24 critical minutes that really put a different spin on the movie.
