Netflix alternative and landfill prevention

Old DVDs. Rich pickings now for those without televisual streaming services as the charity outfits are full of them. VHS - Video Home System were launched in 1971; 1997 for the first Digital Versatile Discs. That's an awful lot of landfill . . . some attempts at recycling have been made, including some rather incredible artworks but on the whole I imagine that much plastic burying has taken place over the years and increasingly now as Netflix et al take over our screens.

                DVD installation: Leticia R. Bajuyo

Our internet connection is limited here and streaming films not in the equation so re-watching our film collection and adding to it has been a feature of these cold winter nights. Emmaus, our local brilliant charity/recycling emporium has a large and ever changing DVD section and this weeks cull provided the films pictured below at the mighty cost of two euros for all. 

We've watched three and all were excellent very different ways - marvel at pre-mask times, and cutting edge, back in time 80s/90s/early 2000s computer and phone technology! I'm sure we are missing out on magnificent streamed series, but when we did have Netflix a large percentage of the evening seemed to disappear in trying to decide what to watch, much checking Rotten Tomatoes and occasional slight sulking from the person who's choice was ignored.

Buddhism and boot sales

Vide grenier, in this case - literally, empty your attic. I've blogged about these events many times as they figure quite high on our list of activities. Not quite so much lately as I'm in a bit of a purge phase feeling a move may be on the horizon . . .
Anyway, we did go to one this morning, and quite exceptional it was in its leafy, sun-dappled autumn way - held on a piece of ground next to the rugby stadium which has thoughtfully placed ancient plane trees for shade.
Sometimes on approaching a Vide Grenier I have an overriding sense that it will be a waste of time - an ocean of plastic and baby garments; this one had an air of possibility. Lots of great clothes, which we didn't have time to rummage through as Mark had a rehearsal in the afternoon, but within five minutes we had deniched (uncovered) several bargains.
Little worn Italian leather boots for two euros, a selection of videos including three volumes of Betty Boop; Casablanca, Grease and a bio-pic by Clint Eastwood and an excellent Paul Auster novel all for ten euros, and a beautiful unused Japanese metal teapot with stand for three euros.



Such joy.

So, the Buddhism bit . . . or Stoic, or anything else that encourages us to live in the moment. I equate the Vide Grenier experience as being similar to walking - except walking is healthier and generally requires no money being spent unless one happens upon a tea shop (unlikely in France) - in that one enters a small space of time where general worries and planning disappears as one peruses other humans' weird and wonderful/not wonderful collections of stuff. Of course there are moments (for me anyway) of: Holy shit, look at all this stuff - landfill, panic, there is no hope, etc, but on the whole it's a gentle, harmless and lazy Sunday morning activity which swages the desire to consume and recycles otherwise neglected things which would probably have headed to the bin.



re-homed teapot with its new companions.

Pecking order

In winter I used to hang 'fat balls' in the pear tree, but the birds were not overly keen due to the cat being able to climb up and watch/eat them (birds, not fat balls).
This year I've hung them from the metal vine-holding construction (what is it called? - can't remember, but can't recall much this morning due to head being full of cold residue) at the front of the house.
This is good! Great, in fact. They can't see us, and we can see them. There's a sort of air-traffic control system of stacking in place now. Each fat ball has usually two or tree birds (tits of all sorts, sparrows, nut hatches, and once, a wily starling) attached to it, while other same-species fowl wait on the bare branches above and around. A second layer of birds hop around on the flower pots - sparrows, robins, dunnocks, etc, picking up 'fall out', and on the ground: blackbirds, thrushes, robins, starlings and occasionally, magpies, peck at grain and toast debris.
For the price of a cut price DVD, a bag of fat balls provides them with food and us with endless enjoyment at their arial acrobatics free of cat threat.