I came across this blogathon via Twitter and #TCMFF acquaintance Aurora (aka @CitizenScreen) on her Once Upon a Screen classic film blog. It seemed like a fun endeavor to put my love of film into pictures. The concept was first put into motion by film enthusiast Margaret Perry as a social media experiment… as part of her Cultural Heritage Management course at the University of York. She’s dubbed this a “Flash Blogathon” (and that sounds very exciting!) with the purpose of connecting heritages all over the world. Naturally, the classic film community loves such a challenge, and Margaret has tailored a set of requirements just for us. She’s outlined the details in her ‘flash blogathon’ announcement post, but basically we’re here to participate in a scavenger hunt of our own cool film stuff. Head over to Margaret’s page to check the guidelines and come up with your own #CurateMyLife entry.
First, however, I’ve got a few things to share. I stuck mostly to Margaret’s categories… but perhaps enlarged the notion of what constitutes a classic film. If you’ve read this bl-g at all, you’ll know I’m kinda stuck in 1985. So now let’s start exploring how classic and classic-ish film plays a major role in my everyday life.
30/007Hz #CurateMyLife – A Celebration of Stuff
1. DVD/Blu-ray Collection
Talk about starting this scavenger hunt with a bang. I’m a compulsive collector. I’m a student of film. I love libraries. I love being surrounded by libraries of books, DVDs, records. I collect the films I love. I collect the films that have affected me personally through my collegiate film education and beyond. That said, my DVD/Blu-ray collection is threatening sentience. I don’t believe in owning digital copies (unless that version is the best version of the film available). Physical media plays an important role in tactile appreciation. Owning a physical copy of a movie is a commitment of space. It means something. I won’t go into my specific ideas about the meaning of physical media here, but I’ve published a piece on why vinyl records are important that you should read if you care to indulge my eccentricities further.
And on the seventh day, Wilco created Star Wars, the record nobody f’ing new about. One day it just appeared, a fluffy white cat on the cover, apropos absolutely nothing. I thought I was being pranked, quite honestly. I didn’t take it seriously at first. Then slowly the album opened up. I just kept coming back, uncovering new moments of that rough and irascible Wilco beauty.
