Not sure why I'm talking about this, as this has nothing to do with my art, but I suppose this journal stuff is some kind of blog and oh well, social networking and all...

I've always been fascinated by classic cinema. Classic cinema in the technical sense, the threading-celluloid-film-through-a-projector sense. My education was in classic animation. My graduation project -a seven minute animated feature- was filmed on 16mm film.
Some time ago, I was able to purchase a second hand Eumig film projector, an 8mm device from the mid seventies. Silent, as it can't read the magnetic soundtrack some of these films had. For a pretty cheap price I was able to take it home. Bought a couple of 8mm film reels on the local flea market, and I was good to go. So I thought.

When I was running my newly acquired Laurel&Hardy reel, suddenly the image "froze", and within a fraction of a second, an ugly brown spot rapidly expanded on the projection screen. Immediately I turned of the projector. But it was too late, the super hot halogen projection lamp had burned out a frame on my film reel, which had somehow halted in mid-projection. Taking off the reel, and restarting the projector, I heard the motor running, but not the mechanism... Opening up the device revealed what was wrong. The more than thirty years old drive belt had snapped, sending the motor into free-wheeling, and halting the film transport. So I needed a new drive belt, but where to get such a component for a thirty year old device?

I tried various things, rubber bands, sewing elastic bands... nothing quite worked... until -almost by accident- my dad discovered a little shop in my city, a shop that still did projector/camera repairs, and one that specialized in Eumig products... what are the odds!

So through this store I was able to obtain a replacement drive belt. Once again I'm good to go to experience the classic cinema feel. Had a lot of fun just a couple of evenings ago projecting an ancient Charlie Chaplin film for my family to enjoy. Odd how such an ancient medium can provide such intense amount of fun. In these days of blue-ray, HD, hi-tech beamers, the cinematograph and it's magic still stand strong.