Random photos, comics, etc.

[Leo Enticknap]

Where would you buy unperforated, raw 35mm from? Photography stores (back in the day before Amazon became a thing) stocked 100ft or 200ft rolls of perforated 35mm for loading into 135 canisters via bulk loaders, but I can't remember unperforated stock ever being available for amateurs to buy. It must have been produced, because that's what microfilm essentially is, though.

BTW, based on the CIR splicer and Jack Roe tape, I'm guessing that the author of this article is British. I haven't seen either in any booth since emigrating to California.

As a child of the '70s, my first photography was on 126. While the only film you could get from supermarkets and general stores was C41 color negative, there was a specialist photography store near my home that also sold b/w (Verichrome Pan) and Kodachrome 64 in the format. Showing square slides at family gatherings always attracted comments.

[Jim Cassedy]

Anybody who was around in the 60's - 70's or 80's/90's probably, at some point, owned
a "KODAK INSTAMATIC™ camera. The 126 cartridge loading camera was one of the
most successful consumer film formats of all time, before being phased out in 1999.

But there is still a large group of die-hard amateur photographers who like to
experiment and 'play around' around with 126 format cameras. With patience and
a darkroom, it is possible to re-load old 126 Instamatic film cartridges with 35mm film,
which is pretty much the same size as 126. 126 film had one single perforation along
the top edge, which was used not only toadvance the film, but in many cameras it also
cocked the shutter and moved a frame counter on cameras that had them.
When using 35mm film, the bottom row of perfs falls into the picture area, and the
multiple perfs on the top row don't cleanly mesh with the 'claw' in the camera.
But some resourceful experimenter figured out a way to modify an old 35mm
tape splicer to punch a single hole in a strp of 35mm unperforated film that, when
loaded into an Instamatic cartridge, will make the camera perform just like 'real'
126 film. It requires removing all but one of the perf-pins and registration pins on
the splicer, and also removing the cutting blades. (Which is probably a good
idea since they're not needed, and it eliminates the possibility of the user slicing
a knuckle of fingertip, since everything needs to be done in the dark.)

This photo shows all the pins that need to be removed
.126_Perforator.jpg

If you're curious, you can read more about it
HERE> https://emulsive.org/articles/guides...ilm-perforator

[Leo Enticknap]

Last year, waiting to check in at an unremarkable chain hotel in Caldwell, ID, a couple with thick South London accents were ahead of me in line. After they had completed the formalities and been given their room entry cards, one of them asked the lady behind the desk: "Oh, errr ... we're outta fags. Do you know where we can get some fags round 'ere?" She looked totally bewildered. I couldn't resist adding to the fun, and so replied, "You should find plenty in the 7-11 just across the street." They thanked me and made a beeline for the front door. The check-in clerk then asked me, "I'm sorry, but is there anything, like, gay about 7-11?" At that point I explained, resulting in a nervous giggle.

I hope the couple needing their tobacco fix realized that smoking was almost certainly not allowed in their hotel room, but that was their problem, not mine.

[Allan Young]

Coincidentally, I have a fag in my mouth at the moment.

[Leo Enticknap]

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For those who are unaware, in British slang, "poof" is a highly uncomplimentary synonym for "male homosexual," roughly equivalent to three letters starting with f here.

[Randy Stankey]

Opossum are actually pretty cool!

They don't get rabies, even though they are mammals, because their body temperature is too cold. They also eat a lot of things that we, humans, think of as pests such as ticks and other insects. Opossum don't attack humans very often. Instead, they will play dead and emit foul odors from their anal glands to ward off potential predators.

Many people kill opossum because they look ugly but, in reality, if you leave them alone, they aren't very dangerous, at all... provided you treat them as you should treat any wild animal and leave them alone.

[Ryan Gallagher]

If I was the opossum I’d be most worried about the one in the back. ;-)

[Leo Enticknap]

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When I come downstairs in the morning, I am normally mobbed by these guys, expecting cat treats. Not this time. They stayed perfectly still, even after I walked over with the treat jar. The reason turned out to be an opossum exploring the yard. I waited for about ten minutes in an attempt to get a photo showing both the cats and the opossum, but it was as if the little git knew what I was trying to do, and stayed well to the left of the door!

It was the first time I've seen one since we moved to this development. Skunks are everywhere and we see a raccoon maybe once or twice a year, but no opossums until now.

[Frank Cox]

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[Leo Enticknap]

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Since when did sodomizing a dog come under the heading of politics?!

[Leo Enticknap]

You know you're in California when you find a stall at the farmers' market selling marijuana for pets!

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[Frank Cox]

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[Mark Gulbrandsen]

My understanding is that Series 2 NEC formatters can be replaced in the field, because you don't need to disturb the DMD block in order to remove the formatter board from around it, but that Barco ones cannot, because the DMD block and heatsink is fastened to the actual board (and so removing it would destroy its alignment with the prism, thereby needing factory recalibration once everything is reassembled). That's what I've been told in all the Barco training schools that I've done. We regularly sell and install NEC formatter boards, but if one dies on a Barco light engine, the whole thing has to be swapped.

That is literally the only aspect of NEC Series 2 design I can think of that is superior to Barco's.

You can get the formatters out of China for the 32B, and Christies. And as far as NEC goes, for me, they are the most reliable projectors I installed out of the 3 brands over the ten year period before I retired. In fact, about half of the units I installed came from MIT. They are also known for reliability the same way in Europe... NEC can also be the easiest prism.assembly to clean, if one wants wants to do that kind of work. Strong cleans NEC prisms. Also, the later Barco light engines should be almost as easy to do as an NEC.

[Jim Cassedy]

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Leo Enticknap]

Why not just change the formatter on site? They are available...

My understanding is that Series 2 NEC formatters can be replaced in the field, because you don't need to disturb the DMD block in order to remove the formatter board from around it, but that Barco ones cannot, because the DMD block and heatsink is fastened to the actual board (and so removing it would destroy its alignment with the prism, thereby needing factory recalibration once everything is reassembled). That's what I've been told in all the Barco training schools that I've done. We regularly sell and install NEC formatter boards, but if one dies on a Barco light engine, the whole thing has to be swapped.

That is literally the only aspect of NEC Series 2 design I can think of that is superior to Barco's.