Well, folks… I hope you’re all enjoying yet another lovely Nopocalypse afternoon! It wasn’t the first time the less scientifically literate among our fellow Earthlings thought the world was coming to an end and it surely won’t be the last. I know the planet’s continued existence today is probably a bit of a surprise to those who’ve been watching The Hysterical (read: History) Channel from the fully-stocked panic bunker, but hey… if they were savvy shoppers all that freeze-dried food will still be good when the next big scare comes along! And I’ll bet the Christmas tree looks great down there underground.
By the way, I don’t think even the Mayans thought the world was really going to end today. If I’m not mistaken, their long-form calendar was just supposed to start over again like ours does on January 1st. But nobody ever sold a lot of books telling that story. ‘Cause you know… zombies!
For my part, I slept in a little bit this morning and then enjoyed my coffee while watching John Sturges’ 1957 classic Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. As some of you may know, I’ve got a real soft spot for a good western... especially those about the infamous Tombstone incident. Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas really deliver as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, and what I especially like about the film is the slow, deliberate pace Sturges uses to establish the friendship between the two men. It’s a great flick that Paramount should release on Blu-ray one of these days. For that matter, I’d love to see Fox release John Ford’s My Darling Clementine on BD too, but then I’m still hoping against hope that they’ll do more Master and Commander movies, so… you know.
Today’s column headline doesn’t just refer to the total lack of Mayan-themed chaos and carnage, by the way. Near as I can tell, there is almost no Blu-ray, DVD, high-definition or home theater related news to report this afternoon. Hollywood’s a ghost town by now – the studio execs have all flown off to Bermuda with their families and only lowly production assistants and interns remain in the office today to board up the soundstage doors and shutter the windows until after the New Year.
So… really… my only purpose here today is to shout out a friendly hello to all our readers – we hope this finds you well! And of course, all of us here at The Digital Bits wish you and yours safe travels this weekend as many of you head out to visit loved ones for the Christmas holiday. We’ll probably check in from time to time over the next week or so and we’ll be back for sure on Wednesday (and maybe Thursday too) with quick news updates. But in the meantime, all of you have a great holiday, eat lots of fine food, watch tons of excellent movies and just enjoy flat-out yourselves. Given all the crazy politics and tragedy and what have you of the past year, I’d say we’ve all earned a break and a much better 2013. So here’s to it!
Merry Christmas and whatnot! And always know that we’re really thankful to have such fine and admirable folks as yourselves as readers. Peace out!
- Bill Hunt