Life before lockdown

After two months of being closed, the state of Tennessee partially reopened last week. I know that this is a hot-button topic for a lot of folks (is there anything that isn't these days?), half of the masses seem to want everyone to hide under their respective beds until a vaccine is created (a vaccine that's starting to sound rather improbable at this point), and the other half are calling for public orgies to build up the herd immunity. Not wanting to delve too deeply into the subject right now, I'll just say that, like with most matters of this nature, I fall somewhere in the middle, and can (sort of) see where both sides are coming from, but don't agree with either. Also, even for someone like myself who doesn't go out a whole heck of a lot, it's been a long two months of not being able to go anywhere but the grocery stores.

My county, as well as all of the surrounding counties, have been pretty lucky, and have had very few "reported" cases so far, as such I've yet to have any real fear about going to get groceries, and won't have any hesitations about visiting any other newly reopened local businesses. One such business is the Book Cellar, which is the only semi-local bookstore, and is a place is that I usually try to go into at least once a month (I've blogged about it many times, but every trip doesn't always yield enough to warrant a post). So like most places, they just reopened, and I didn't waste any time in going!

Unfortunately, this was one of those times where I didn't end up buying much, and the four things that I did buy will end up going to two people who read the blog, so showing them would ruin the surprise -- but fear not, I also went two months ago, just a few days before the shutdown, and walked away with many things, things that I've been very slow to get to. I also hit up the thrift store (Threads of Hope) that's kitty corner to the bookstore, and found a few things there as well, which will act as this post's closer (hey, look kids, I can make the baseball references too!).

I haven't got to this one yet, so I don't have much to say, but it certainly sounded like it would be worth a buck. Oh, and a brief  message to all publishers, past and present, pasting a photo of Sophia Loren on the cover is a good way to sell more books :)

I had such high hopes for this book, and everything was going pretty good until I hit about the 60% completed mark, then it went completely off the rails, or at least it did in my mind. It was at that point that the killer was revealed, and more importantly, the killer's motive, which I found to be rather gross, and completely killed (pun intended) any interest I had in finishing the book, so I didn't! It may have a great ending, but either way I'll never go back to find out.

Hitchcock anthologies are always money, and this one was no exception! I don't know what it is, but the older I get, the more I enjoy short story collections, my only complaint is that books themselves always go by too quick, more often than not I seem to be left wanting more stories.

That covers (another intended pun) the books, but seeing as how the Book Cellar sells more than just books, it's almost impossible for me to go in there and not pickup a few videos/DVD's as well...

I thought that I had seen this one before, but it became apparent that I hadn't after just a few minutes in. Turned out to be pretty darn good, although I had little doubt that would given the cast. Having viewed Tombstone a number of times over the years, I thought it was kind of interesting to see the elements that it borrowed/reused from this film. Also, I know this will probably be considered sacrilege, but I liked Kirk Douglas' Doc Holiday more than Val Kilmer's, Kirk's portrayal was much more believable.

Here's one from "How did this come out, and me not know about it?" files. 1999... TNT original movie... I should've been all over this! As such, I had never even heard of it. This one wasn't great, but was good for a late 90's TV movie, I mean I could, and probably will, watch it again at some point. A bit predictable, but still fun.

The next couple of films here are ones that I've seen many times, but don't own, and was in the mood to watch again, so I grabbed them.

I can't remember who or where it was, but I was listening to somebody talk about Labyrinth not too long ago, and even though it was never one of my favorites, hearing someone wax nostalgic for it, made be nostalgic to see it again... still not one of my favorites BTW!

This used to be on TCM rather frequently, but with me not having cable/satellite for a couple of years now, I've had no way to watch it. I thought it was interesting to find that this copy has an old McKay's price sticker on the front too, and seeing as how it's a rather hefty price, and knowing that McKay's doesn't really sell videos anymore, I'm guessing that this sticker might be in the ten years old or older range.   
 
As mentioned, I also went to Threads of Hope that day, which isn't my favorite thrift store, mostly just because they don't normally have much for me, lots of clothes, and I don't look at clothes very often, so going in there isn't must when hitting up the bookstore (even though it's within spitting distance of the bookstore). All that being said, I'm glad that I decided to go in on this particular day, not only because I ended up finding two things of interest, but also because of the shutdown that would occur just a few short days later.

It's not very often that I come across 1,500 piece puzzles, but when I do, and their only a buck, I'm probably going to end up buying them. I'm actually working on this one right now, and it's moderately difficult, which has been nice. Also, I hadn't been familiar with Pieter Bruegel, or his work, before getting this puzzle, but would now consider myself a fan. My crappy picture here certainly doesn't do this piece any justice, but if you enjoy art, and like the looks of this puzzle, I'd highly recommend checking out more of his paintings.

One of the primary reasons for me not going into this thrift store very often, is that they don't have a large selection of videos/DVD's, and true to form, they didn't on this particular day either, but the small selection did yield a rather big find, at least for me! I hadn't seen Teenage Doll before, but knew that the other two films were worth the $2 price tag, and after watching Teenage Doll... I can still say that the other films were worth the $2 price tag :)

With most businesses now open again, I was also able to finally get back to the antique mall, and even though I didn't buy a lot, I think I'll keep this non-card post streak that I've got going, and write up a quickie on those purchases for Tuesday (technically speaking, there will be cards in that post, it just won't be an only cards post).


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.