[Excalibur] Pleasant St. Video

[Zachary]

To all Excalibur members, I hadn't posted sent this around yet because I had
hoped it was a hoax, but alas it is not.  Sadly, the wonderful treasure
trove of a rental store, Pleasant St. Video, is going out of business.
 They've supplied Excalibur with many hard-to-find DVDs for all of us to
enjoy without issue or worry for some time.  If you can help them out in
anyway, please do.  Read their statement and understand that if enough money
is raised, their entire collection will be preserved at the Northampton
Forbes Library for everyone's enjoyment.

I ask of you, my fellow Hampshire students, to help preserve a rare and
bounteous collection of film that can be available to us and future members
of the Pioneer Valley community for years to come.

Please donate here: http://pleasantstvideo.com/

Thank you all for your time and care.

> The last video store on planet earth will hand out it's last rental on
July
3rd.   Pleasant St. Video  is rolling credits after twenty-five years.
>
> There are a lot of ignominious ways to close out a business.  We could go
out
whining and blame the internet or the world's cruel behavior.  Or we could
have
a blow-out kiss-our-ass-good-bye sale of anything and everything... from
refrigerator magnets to the dust bunnies from the ceiling fan.
>
> But, those options don't work for us.  While we may not have much... we do
have a sense of dignity and a sense of community and... a distinct sense of
pride.
>
> We did a good thing.  We collected a remarkable archive of the best films
ever
to transmit light over the course of the last quarter century.  Our
inventory is
the product of love, obsession and scholarship.  Cinephiles named John
Morrison,
Richard Pini and Dana Gentes curated a peerless archive.  I know you all
know
this (this is a form letter, if you haven't picked up on that yet).  I just
feel like bragging.
>
> So, with those constraints we were left with one simple, elegant and
inspired
solution.  We approached the public library in Northampton, the Forbes
Library,
and asked if they could raise the money to buy the lot. They were excited to
try
and thrilled with the prospect of offering a comprehensive catalog of film
to...
not only the people of Northampton and neighborhoods.... but for the
region...
the entire state, via inter-library loan... for people and places that don't
have access or the bandwidth to see these great things.
>
> The social networking phenomenon took over.  The damn thing's gone manic.
 It
started innocently enough, when a woman came and asked to donate a specific
title in her father's name for Father's Day (It was "The Jerk" which is
probably another story). Now, people are in a frenzy... donating to preserve
stars, directors, genres and themes.
>
> So... here's the "ask" part:  Many of you have already contributed to
this....
I'm just asking you to alert any film fans you know who would consider this
effort worthy or cool.  For $8 per title they can dedicate a gift of a film
they feel deserves to be preserved and available for the public to see.
>
> Have them go to our website catalog to see what's left (there's a total of
over 8,000 to choose from) and then make a donation at the Forbes donation
page.
>
> It's that simple.  Well, it's not all that simple, I realize... but we're
trying to keep up with the organic evolution of this fundraiser.  It's
designing itself.
>
> Thanks for considering this.  It cuts the curse of losing something
personally
significant.  The enthusiasm and comments from the community reaffirm my
absurd
choice of remaining a video clerk for two and a half decades.  I love where
I
work and I love what I do.  And I'm not looking forward to expressing that
sentiment in the past tense.
>
> Please feel free to forward the hell out of this.
>
> B

-- 
Best,

Zachary
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