Moving Pictures

Spouse and I bought our first movie camera in the 1970s. It was a Bell & Howell model with a light attachment that was so blinding to its subjects that it may have been visible from outer space. The movie reels lasted only three minutes. Nonetheless, we were excited to be on the cutting edge of technology. Spouse preferred to let me be the photographer.

In the 1980s, we got a camcorder that recorded small cassettes, and didn't require a light attachment. None of the full sized VHS tape stuff for us. We wanted the latest technology. The cassettes fit into a VHS-sized adapter, which then fit into the VCR. One of our offspring was a bit camera shy, and the other was not (by a long shot). This made for some fantastic and memorable vacation video still talked about today. Spouse still preferred to let me be the photographer. Our offspring would occasionally use the camera, with increasing talent, and some of the results were even used as school projects.

In the 2000s, the latest thing in camcorders was the mini DVD burner, and we had to have one. This camera was smaller, lighter, and easier to use than ever before. I still found myself playing family photographer, but, on a coast to coast road trip, decided to assign spouse the job of shooting the Grand Canyon, as I was busy with the digital camera. My training was more sketchy than I realized. I have several photos of spouse with the camera held in filming position.
However, spouse apparently confused "on" with "off", and we got barely any footage of the Grand Canyon, and all kinds of footage of spouse's feet and lap in the car. On a different day, there was also some interesting upside down footage of the Hoover Dam. To this day I am not sure if these blatant examples of filming incompetence were deliberate. Also to this day I have not handed the camcorder back to spouse.


The new latest thing in camcorders is digital uploadable to Youtube. This is something we must have. Our DVD camcorder still works fine, but I can't upload the video. Our offspring and her spouse got a Flip a couple of years ago, and proclaimed it foolproof. Perfect for us (me)! This same offspring and spouse will soon be presenting us with a grandchild, and now that we have our very own Flip, we will be ready to record and upload every little thing that precious baby does. Great-grandparents, great-aunts and -uncles, first cousins once removed (or is that second cousins?) will all want to watch that sweet baby grow and change. And we will be set to go, as soon as we (I) perfect filming techniques on the cat.

Smile for the camera, Rooster!

Technology Triumphs

Yesterday I revived the kitchen clock with a new AA, and the pendulum started swinging, and all was well. Additional kitchen timepieces are the stove clock, the microwave clock, our watches, and our phones. Beyond those, there are the VCR clocks, which look festive with their blinking lights, and once we figure out how to reset them they will be useful, too.

My alarm clock is a duplicate of one we had in a Best Western in 2006 that was so cool that it made it worth discarding the 20 year old Panasonic classic. The newer one has a CD player and even better than that, it knows about Daylight Savings, and it reacts. The unfortunate part is that it only knows about the old DST, not the more recent March/November changes. This has resulted in Sunday morning surprises of either gains or losses at the wrong times, but fortunately I have caught on before we reached Monday and corrected it. The time change buttons are kind of hard to adjust, and I am thankful that there are only two changes a year. The station buttons at the top make it really hard to replace the cover after those corrections, so over time they have been removed and thrown out. The cover really does not fit all that well, and I never screw it back into position because it is too labor intensive.

Last night before I turned out the light, the alarm clock said 8:49. Hmm, later than my usual winter bedtime, but it was Thursday, so close to Friday. And of course the clock is ten minutes fast, just in case. This morning the alarm went off, and it was a struggle to stay awake for the customary three songs, but I managed, and then staggered up to start the day. Yadda yadda, and down to the kitchen for the usual breakfast, and a quick check at the newly batteried clock, and it was an hour behind what it should have been. What is this? A bad battery? I checked the stove clock, then the microwave clock, then my watch. They were all in sync at 4:21, just an hour ahead of what I thought they should be. Back to the alarm clock with the loose top and the missing buttons and the arrogant attitude, and sure enough, that appliance from hell decided to Spring Ahead on a Thursday. It's close to the correct day, but I know that the clock doesn't know that. I will still have to watch for another Spring Ahead in April, the traditional time for DST to begin. And apparently at random times before and after that. Guess it's time to start using my phone as an alarm.

I am going to keep a close eye on that pesky alarm clock. Who knows what it's planning to do next?