One of the items taken from Mom’s basement was this Victor Animatograph Corporation 16 mm Cine Projector, Model 11. From the design of the machine, and the lettering, I’m guessing it dates from the ’30s.
It’s an impressive device, made with lots of metal and burnished plating and a sturdy wooden base. It probably weighs between 20 and 30 pounds. Amazingly, it still seems to work perfectly — with the the original fan, motor, and lens. Even the original light bulbs haven’t burnt out! Richard and I had some fun figuring out how to thread the film and marveling at the ingenuity of the design.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any 16 mm film to run through this this well-preserved projector. The carefully made machine has outlived its form of technology, like a car that still runs perfectly but has no road to drive on.
What is 4DX? Basically, it sounds a lot like a theater version of a theme park ride. 
Annette Funicello, on the other hand, was not a significant historical figure. Instead, 
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I mean, look at these things! Just look at them! Multi-hued, horizontal-striped pantaloons, leggings, and tunics. Huge shirtsleeve cuffs and ruffled, lacy collars that look like they belong in a Rembrandt painting. Steel conquistador-style helmets with their sharply curved, pointed brims, burnished to a gleaming pewter glow and topped with bright red ostrich feathers. And they carry pikes for weaponry. Pikes!
Perhaps you went to the University Flick, on High Street. Or you went to the repertory theater in your college town. Or you went to see the odd, often old, movies shown by your school’s film and cinema department. Or, because you are just a perverse individual, you were fascinated by David Lynch’s epic Eraserhead.
I’m heartily sick and tired of this kind of sanctimonious stuff. I don’t see anything wrong with a First Lady participating in the Academy Awards broadcast if she wants to do so (although I’m not sure that, if I were the First Gentleman, I’d want to be part of the phony, kissy-face Hollywood scene). It’s not as if Michelle Obama — or any other First Lady — is expected to be pondering weighty affairs of state at all hours of the day and night. Even her husband, who unlike Michelle Obama was elected to his current leadership position, is not begrudged an occasional vacation, golf outing, or basketball game. Why should anyone care if the First Lady wants to spend an hour of her time appearing on an awards show?
But perhaps there’s still a chance for 50-something space traveler wannabes like me. 
Movie reviews serve an important public purpose. Movies are increasingly expensive — some theaters here charge $9.50 a ticket, which is real money — and a fair but cautionary review can allow you to avoid wasting your hard-earned cash on abysmal Hollywood dreck.
Scientists in Great Britain launched a careful search for the remains of Richard III, and they are convinced they found them
Still, Argo is a very enjoyable, high-tension ride. As Iranians breach the gates and pour into the U.S. compound, six embassy employees escape. They make it to the Canadian embassy, and then American government has to decide how to get them out. Ben Affleck plays a CIA operative who is trained to extricate people from hostile territory, and he concocts the idea of having the six Americans play Canadians scouting for locations for a fake sci-fi movie called Argo. The first part of the movie follows Affleck as he sets up a phony production company, buys a script, and sells the idea to his CIA bosses; the last half of the movie sees Affleck in Iran, rallying the six Americans and steering them to their hair-raising escape.
