Sand Pirates

The other day they opened up a little "haji-mart" trailer down the way. For those of you that were unaware, these establishments are where one can pick up local trinkets and odds and ends, as well as movies. Naturally, I'm not talking about the kind of dvd's that you might find at Target or Blockbuster...these particular editions are not usually found in your neighborhood. For instance, they have a boxed set of Disney movies...containing over 400 titles...then there are complete series of some tv shows (not just one season, but the entire run), and the more run-of-the-mill single discs. The packaging is often wrong or amatuerish, but, after all, they are what the industry likes to call "pirated" movies. Not that I condone piracy or the like, but these are very reasonably-priced collections. You have to consider these things from the deployed servicemember's point of view: This young man or woman (well, middle-aged too) is in a hostile environment, bored to tears or getting shot at...do you think they are going to pay 25 dollars for a single movie, or pay 50 and get five seasons of "Alias", 25 of the best dramas of the twentieth century (in some critics' minds, anyway), and every single movie with Antonio Banderas in it? Folks in the entertainment industry might complain, but when one is making below minimum wage, it is hard to sympathize with the plight of millionaires.

Of course, the movies aren't always the best quality. You might have to watch them with Russian or Arabic subtitles, and some given you the complete theater experience to include people walking in front of you to get to the bathroom in the middle of the movie.

Now, if you think this kind of piracy is deplorable, you probably should just stop reading now...

...anyway, most of the guys I know either brought with them or ordered the new "portable" computer drives. And why, you may ask-in order to put tons of movies on, naturally. Not only that, but these massive film stockpiles logically lead to the further proliferation of movies through sharing, and so on. Back when I was starting my career at the university, dabbling in the now-infamous (and likely forgotten) music sharing "Napster" program, I had no idea how such "sharing" would grow, and looking back on such times certainly makes them seem extremely tame in comparison.

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