The Academy Awards are tonight.

When I was a youth, and a pre-youth and post-youth (for a while), I would be fixated on the Oscars around (only) the time of their presentation.  Eventually one year I missed them, having completely forgotten they were upcoming.  What a relief.

This year, even though I’m bored to death, I won’t watch the Oscar ‘show’.  I’ve only seen Roma, which has been all the rage this past year.  Stumbled the other day onto a broadcast of the other year’s all-the-rage, La La Land, and I must confess I enjoyed it quite a bit.  On the whole, I’d rather enjoy a movie than endure one…

Fifty years ago, I had a part-time job as a projectionist in an actual movie theatre, outfitted with old behemoths of 35 millimeter projectors with white hot arc light chambers, ten-pound CinemaScope lenses and all the rest.

The job was rather exhilarating — and for a while, terrifying — at the time, because one is absolutely in charge of the audience’s experience, an awesome responsibility.  I was very conscientious.

I have known a few managers of brick and mortar cinemas in my life, and they all maintain that projectionists are an odd lot.  I am proud [it’s true] to claim the brotherhood.

Here is a short video which exposes my focus on the subject of the motion picture.  You will either find it interesting, or five-ish minutes of your life wasted.

By the way, I did not die this past Wednesday during my heart procedure, thanks to my cardiologist, who by all accounts is brilliant, and by my own account also extremely cute.  I tell you the second bit to remind you that I am still cheap and shallow.  In that order.