... for a total of $13, a bunch of public domain silents. Quality of prints is almost certainly mediocre, with film run at the wrong speed, but the films are excellent and will do until Kevin Brownlow or someone similar does The Perfect Restoration:

Blood and Sand 1922 [One of Rudolph Valentino' hits.]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920 [John Barrymore in the dual role]

The General 1927 [This is one of my favorite movies, and I'm sure the print doesn't come up to the magnificent Brownlow restoration of the Buster Keaton classic, but it was part of the set.]

The Hunchback of Notra Dame 1923 [A Lon Chaney classic.]

The Mark of Zorro 1920 [Douglas Fairbanks buckling swashes.]

Pollyanna 1920 [Mary Pickford playing "the glad game." Hayley Mills was great 40 years later, but I'm curious to see this earlier version.]

Robin Hood 1922 [Douglas Fairbanks at the top of his form.]

Every so often, I head for Madison, Wis., which is where my son and his family used to live and which is one of my favorite cities, though I moan about my inability to sleep over free, now that Stephen and his crew live in Maryland just so's he can produce music for National Public Radio.

This time around, the Madison expedition came about because Four Star Video announced to its Gold Card Members (of whom I'm one) that it was going to start a two-for-one sale on its pre-viewed DVDs this morning.

I was apparently one of the first in the door to take advantage of the sale and, ever on the alert for the opportunity to suggest cool pop culture purchases, I thought I'd tell you what today's pile stacked up to be. (Top price per DVD was $10, and I haven't bothered to check to see whether I got two for $10 or two for $15 -- since $15 is the price non-Gold-Card Members pay. I mean, what a deal, right?)

Breathless, 1959, 1:30 Maltin 3.5 stars [Hey, it's a classic I haven't seen since the early 1960s.]

Confidentially Yours 1983, 1:51 Maltin 3 stars [Truffaut's last film with summary sounding very Hitchcock.]

Deja Vu 2006, 2:06 Maltin 2.5 stars [Fantasy, intriguing premise, Denzel Washington, what the heck?]

The Departed 2006, 2:31 Maltin 3.5 stars Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing Oscars [Obviously, "must" viewing.]

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story 1965, 1:30 Maltin 3.5 stars Best Documentary Oscar [Ditto.]

The Great Rupert 1950, 1:28 Maltin 2.5 stars [George Pal, Jimmy Durante, fantasy -- again, what the heck?]

Hollywoodland 2006, 2:07 Maltin 3.5 stars [I should have watched this a year or so ago, right?]

Hot Fuzz 2007, 2:01 Maltin 2 stars [Maltin isn't crazy about this, but I admire Pegg and Shaun of the Dead and figure this'll be at least a turn-off-the-brain-and-enjoy sort of film -- and maybe better than that.]

The Man in the Glass Booth 1975, 1:57 Maltin 2.5 stars [Hotly discussed when it came out; I'm curious.]

Severance 2006, 1:36 [OK, this was a total gamble and is probably not going to be to my taste, as a "horror-comedy." But the one-paragraph summary sounded intriguing.]

She 1935, 1:34 Maltin 3 stars [Hey, it's H. Rider Haggard produced by Merian C. Cooper; this I want to see.]

Suspect Zero 2004, 1:39 Maltin 2 stars [Again, a total gamble, but I like to give fantasy mysteries a try.]

300 2007, 1:56 [Yes, I should have bought this ages ago. Heck, I tried to schedule getting to a theater to see it, and that didn't work out. Now, though, it's mine, mine, mine.]

Val Lewton Double Feature The Leopard Man 1943, 1:06 Maltin 2.5 stars; The Ghost Ship 1943, 1:09 Maltin 3 stars [Lewton's usually worth checking out, and I don't think I've seen either film, not to mention that Leopard Man is directed by Jacques Tourneur.]

And for $50 extra total (that is, for $25 each) I bought Volumes 2 and 3 of SCTV (which still annoys me, because what I want is earlier SCTV material that remains uncollected to this very day; how could I not yearn to have John Candy as Curly of the Stooges as Ben Hur?).

I must say that Four Star Video makes it worth my while to check out the stock every few months. Do you have a DVD rental place that has this sort of material on sale as used videos?

If anyone tried to access the Collins post just preceding this and was bewildered at the absence of text ... Well, so was I.

I had to leave immediately after hitting "Post to Weblog," so I didn't catch that, yet again, The Blog Gremlin chuckled to itself and failed to enter the text. Tiresome.

Satellite Media Production, P.O. Box 638, Walkersville, MD 21793 has been recording the past few years of the Newark Friends of Old Time Radio Convention. I have a flyer that encompasses events from 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 -- and 2007 will be available ere long.