Christmas Eve just ended, so I assume it’s Christmas. I should really just go to sleep and let the new day somehow magically dawn on me and make life white and soft and better. Watching reel to reel films of people long old or dead has put me in an extremely pensive mood. The projector chatters, the springs chime and the screen flickers with an almost hypnotic quality. And the hypnosis is complete with not-quite-real scenes blinking on the wall, sans sound; people moving just a bit faster than real life; people, cars and styles long gone. And overexposed spots on the film give each person a faded, ghostlike appearance, much like dreams I used to have.
One such film I found interesting… It’s a clip of my father about forty years ago. He’s about eight. I’ve included it for your enjoyment, to experience the hypnosis for yourself. Of course, I’ve edited out a shot of him urinating off of Mt. Washington. Didn’t seem appropriate on many levels, really. You can download it here.
Oh and if the projector sound doesn’t work for you, check out “Music for a Found Harmonium” by Patrick Street. Heard it on the credits of Napoleon Dynamite and fell absolutely in love with it. You can turn down the clip sound and turn up this neo-celtic jig, if you like that sort of thing.
