Katie Cadet

I've picked up the Dirty Dancing (1987) 2012 double pack on Blu-ray from a book sale to compliment my 20th anniversary DVD that I got earlier.

The Dirty Dancing Blu-ray featured in the pack is the 2010 Keepsake Edition released in Canada in Late 2011 by Lionsgate/Alliance/eOne Films. It contains 22 extensive bonus features compared to other releases, a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Lossless Surround Soundtrack with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX backup, and an expanded 1.78:1 matted aspect ratio with a better quality transfer unlike the earlier Blu-ray releases. (Maybe someday I'll get around watching this 80s collectible!)

I also got the first season of the original 1992 Sailor Moon series of the 2014 Viz Media dub from the thrift store, which I enjoyed sharing clips from the show with you guys sourced from YouTube, on DVD (the Blu-ray is worse in video quality, literally no point for an old show like Sailor Moon), and I also got the first season of the Simpsons television series from that same place because of Matt Groening's work of parody and humour.

So that's my update for today! More coming soon!

-Katie Cadet, February 2024, Canada

P.S. I also got Star Wars Rebel Strike for the GameCube for my Nintendo Wii!

Acquired a CECHL01 PlayStation 3 FAT Model from the Thrift store as a backup to my PlayStation 3 Super Slim that is attached to my 4K Home Theatre. I previously acquired a CECHH01 PlayStation 3 FAT, but it had the Yellow Light of Death and wouldn't boot. I've linked to a video of My Mate Vince below this message on doing the fan test and finding free games on FAT PlayStation 3's, but to my disappointment, there's nothing inside both the CECHH01 or the CECHL01 models.

The CECHL01 seems to be the reliable model to a certain extent, but it appears that the hard drive inside is on its last legs, so we are currently investigating. Here are the discs that I tried in order:

1. PlayStation 3: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

2. Standard Blu-ray: Minions Rise of Gru (from 4K combo set)

3. DVD-Video: Jason Bourne

4. PlayStation 1: Sabrina the Teenage Witch Twitch in Time

5. Audio CD: Billie Holiday Tribute Compilation

Other than that, I'm happy with my backup PS3, so more to test in the future!

I've recently acquired a Nintendo Wii on Halloween, courtesy of thrifting! Isn't that amazing?

Wii Remote: Works fine (From Flea Market)

Nunchuk: Untested (From Flea Market)

GameCube Controller: Works fine (From Flea Market)

GameCube Memory Card: Works fine (From Flea Market)

Incredibles GameCube Game: Works fine (From Flea Market)

Go Diego Go Safari Rescue: Works fine (From Thrift Store)

Safari Adventures Africa: Works fine (From Thrift Store)

Toy Story Mania: Works fine (From Thrift Store)

Wii Fit Plus: Untested (From Thrift Store)

Nintendo Wii: Works fine (From Thrift Store)

Movies that I've watched so far last year:

1. Disney Fantasia (1940's, Late 80's/Early 90's Laserdisc with original narration from Deems Taylor, not a re-dub) (January)
2. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1994, Laserdisc) (February)
3. Disney/Pixar Toy Story (1995, 10th Anniversary 2005 DVD) (May)
4. The Wizard of Oz (1939, 75th Anniversary 2013 Blu-ray) (June)
5. IMAX The Dream is Alive (1985, Blu-ray) (July)
6. BONUS: Toy Story that Time Forgot (2015, Television Special, DVD) (July)
7. IMAX Rocky Mountain Express (2011, 4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray) (September/October)

The 4K Home Theatre right now:

• Hisense U6 4K ULED Roku TV
• Vizio SB3651-E6 5.1 Surround Sound Bar
• Sony PlayStation 3 Super Slim
• Toshiba DVR630 DVD VHS VCR Combo Recorder
• Sony PlayStation 4 Pro
• Microsoft Xbox 360 S
• Panasonic LX-K770 Laserdisc Player (connected via composite to Roku TV)
• MediaSonic HomeWorx HW-150PVR ATSC Antenna PVR with USB
• Generic 4k 5-port HDMI Switch Box
• eSynic 4-port Digital Optical Switch Box
• Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Player with SACD (attached to the 80s stereo system in my office)
• WireLogic 8k/10k HDMI 2.1 cables and AmazonBasics 4k HDMI 2.0 cables (except for a 50 feet HDMI cable that comes from the Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Player to my HDMI switch box)
• Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player
• Sony UBP-X800M2 Universal 4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray Player
• Nintendo Switch OLED docking station with HDMI

The 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray movies so far as of September 2023:

• The Wizard Of Oz (1939) (2019 UHD release)
• The Jason Bourne Collection (2002-2016) (2022 UHD release)
• IMAX Rocky Mountain Express (2011) (2016-2021 UHD release)
• Minions The Rise Of Gru (2022) (2022 UHD release)
• BBC Earth: One Amazing Day (2017) (2017 UHD release)
• Dunkirk (2017) (2017 UHD release)
• E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982) (2022 UHD release)

Here’s what I still have in my UHD collection:

CGI - Minions Rise of Gru (2022)

Nitrate 35mm - Wizard Of Oz (1939)

IMAX - Rocky Mountain Express (2011)

Super 35 - The Bourne Collection (2002-2016)

Pure 4k Footage - BBC Earth One Amazing Day (2017)

70mm - Dunkirk (2017)

Acetate 35mm - E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Bought two DVD VHS VCR Combo Players from local thrift stores with built-in DTS decoding (stereo only) via analog and digital outputs:

1. JVC HR-XVC37U (with Unified Progressive Scan VHS and DVD outputs, no extra DVD-Audio functionality)

2. Panasonic PV-D4754 (with extra DVD-Audio functionality, VHS is composite only)

The DVD portion of the Panasonic PV-D4754 wasn't working at all (faulty laser/motor), but the VHS portion works fine without issues. The JVC HR-XVC37U has both the DVD and VHS portions working properly, and also comes with a proper remote that the previous HR-XVC33U didn't have (that model came from Kijiji in 2013, and requires composite for VHS, and a DTS DVD has to be routed to an external decoder via digital output, not analog or Dolby Digital/PCM).

A fun fact is that I tried the Panny on my Commodore CRT (as it has no unified output for VHS and DVD, VHS is composite only), but on the Progressive Scan VHS JVC machine, I used a 1080p Samsung LED monitor with Component Input for the best quality of the VHS and DVD outputs.

While I was out last month, I found Plumo at the Farm for Windows 3.1 and 68k Macintosh on CD-ROM from 1999! Among the other titles I recently got is the 4-disc edition of the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia 2000 for Windows 95. This was a major upgrade to the 1-disc edition that I got previously during my childhood!

Other acquisitions include Jeopardy for the PlayStation 3 by THQ, and LEGO Batman 2 for the Xbox 360.

I recently got a hold of a copy of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40th Anniversary 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray combo set from Amazon, and it appears to be one of Steven Spielberg’s foray into family adventure films from a far away planet to our own home: Earth!

I do know that I have the 1996 and 2002 VHS and DVD releases of E.T., two of them actually being the 20th Anniversary edit that everyone, even Spielberg himself, did not approve. The 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray combo set has the correct version, and contains a DTS-X track for both discs. The 4K transfer from the original 35mm film prints is a highlight of this release; you can see every little detail of film grain compared to the earlier releases where it’s a blurry mess. A perfect match for my Sony UBP-X800M2 and my HiSense U6 4K Dolby Vision Roku UHD HDR TV! The Standard Blu-ray would also be great for my MacBook Pro Retina (Catalina) with the Verbatim USB 3.0 drive so that I can watch E.T. wherever I go!

Kijiji Laserdisc Acquisitions of June 2023:

-Beverly Hills Cop (1984) (1994 THX release) (Eddie Murphy)

-Beethoven's 2nd (Early 1990's)

-The Bodyguard (1992) (Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston (R.I.P))

-007 From Russia With Love (1960's) (Sean Connery) (1993 Digitally Remastered release)

-Groundhog Day (1993) (Bill Murray)

-Sister Act (1992-93) (Whoopi Goldberg)

List of Bourne Films on different formats in Katie Cadet's collection (June 2023):

Bourne Identity:

DVD (2002)

DVD (2004)

DVD (2007)

HD DVD

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Supremacy:

VHS

DVD (2004)

DVD (2007)

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Ultimatum:

DVD

HD DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Legacy:

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Jason Bourne (2016):

DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

List of Bourne Films on different formats in Katie Cadet's collection (May 2023):

Bourne Identity:

DVD (2002)

DVD (2004)

HD DVD

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Supremacy:

VHS

DVD

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Ultimatum:

DVD

HD DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Legacy:

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Jason Bourne (2016):

DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

List of Bourne Films on different formats in Katie Cadet's collection (April 2023):

Bourne Identity:

DVD (2002)

DVD (2004)

HD DVD

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Supremacy:

DVD

Standard Blu-ray

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Ultimatum:

DVD

HD DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Bourne Legacy:

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Jason Bourne (2016):

DVD

4k Ultra-HD Blu-ray

Watched a Weston Woods/Scholastic DVD of Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab (my childhood) (1987, book, 2015, DVD) on my 4k Home Theatre using my HiSense 4k Roku TV, and my Sony UBP-X800M2.

Here's a collection (As of March 7th, 2023) of 12-inch 1990's Dance-era Vinyl Singles that I collected from thrift stores and flea markets. These records are also cataloged in my Discogs collection. The 1990's was an era when House and Techno music was on the rise after the 1970's Disco backlash, and the reason why I'm collecting these vinyl records is because I have fond memories as a kid/teenager listening to that kind of music since the late 2000s. In the late 2010s, I recently got in to Vinyl after I tried an automatic turntable from my parents and wanted my own (Technics SL-Q200, to be exact, which is currently in my stereo system), and this was the result!

KC Flightt - Bang (1996)

Jan Driver - Yo! What? (1999)

No Mercy - Please Don't Go! (1997)

Club 69 ft. Suzanne Palmer - Muscles (1998)

Jocelyn Enriquez - A Little bit of Ecstasy (1997)

French Connection - I Don't Like Reggae (1993)

Haddaway - Life (1993)

Culture Beat - Take me Away (1996)

Le Click - Call Me (1997)

Mestizzo - El Tongoneo (1996)

Freaky Baby - Give it to me Good (1996)

Umboza - Cry India (1996)

Outta Control - Sinful Wishes (1996)

France Joli - Touch (1996)

Albita - Valga El Brillo De Tus Ojos (1996)

Technotronic - Rockin over the Beat (1990)

Odyssey - Riding on a Train (1994)

Mr Lee - I like the Girls (1990)

The Handbaggers - U Found Out (1997)

Monik Garo - Natural Desire (1994)

Black Box - Ride on Time (1990)

Black Box - I Don't Know Anybody Else (1990)

ATB - Killer 2000 (1999)

Kaylee - Love U More (2000)

DJ Noah and DJ Tremendous - Funky Runner (2000)

Killer Bunnies - I Can't Take the Heartbreak (1997)

ICE MC - Give Me the Light (1996)

Strike - I have Peace (1997)

Jocelyn Enriquez - Get into the Rhythm (1998)

Suzann Rye - Because You Loved Me (1996)

D.C. Project ft. Alexa - Mary's Prayer (1996)

Lonyo -> Comme Ci Comme Ca - Summer of Love (2000)

Clubland ft. Quartz - Let's Get Busy (1990)

Seiko - Let's Talk About It (1996)

Diana Dee ft. Obsession - Anytime (1996)

2 in a Room - Carnival (1995)

Happy 25 years of Mia the Mouse! – When CGI educational computer games became a thing!