Home » Business & Finance » Online Shopping » Lights! Camera Action! Buying memories!

Lights! Camera Action! Buying memories!

© Reginald Vickers

I have a really great memory. I can even remember that Momma got a record player with a Tennessee Ernie Ford album Christmas, 1962. I was three. I remember that my brothers received train sets and I received a fire truck with a fireman's hat and lantern. I can remember walking down the hall and my father telling me to put the lantern on my arm. I was having such a hard time trying to figure it out. These events really happened and I can see them as clear as if they happened yesterday. But the reason that they are so clear in my memory has nothing to do with this substance between my ears. I must give credit where credit is due: thanks "Bell & Howell" (and the expert video cameramanship of my Pop). Pop and Momma must have purchased the camera for Christmas that year because that was the beginning of my memory.

My brothers, Randy and Mike, on the other hand must have plotted at an early age to become psychopaths. Randy used the camera to prove that he was into forcing pain upon his helpless younger victim- me, while Mike used the camera to document the data of his latest experiments- also usually on me. A reel of film would show: Momma showing off something she just bought, Mike dissecting a frog, Randy beating me up, Pop making faces, Randy beating me up, Momma showing the price of the deal she just bought, Mike pulling a strand of hair out of my head to look at in his microscope, and Randy beating me up.

The camera also brought loved ones to life. When Pop would talk about his father, I could image his looks and mannerism. Even though he died when I was eight and had been sick most of the years that I did know him (living 700 miles away I did not see him much), I knew the man they were talking about. Thanks to that old wind-up 8mm.

During a rare moment of deep and heavy discussion with Momma, she asked me what I would want if anything ever happened to her and Pop. I answered without thinking- the old family films. The memories. Having memories on film is great for two main reasons: 1) they don't lie, and 2) they don't change or become distorted. Sometimes though you wish they did.

So if you do not own a camera, now is the time to make your purchase. Of course the old 8mm wind-up cameras gave way to the Super 8 and then the camcorder. Today's prices are so low that no one should have an excuse not to have one. Yet if you desire to have a little more control over the image, I would recommend the purchase of a digital video camera. They cost a little more but are well worth it. I would also recommend, as with any purchase, that you do a lot of research. You can do this through http://eshop.msn.com/category.asp?catId=... , http://www.mysimon.com/electronics/camco... , or http://www.cnet.com/consumerelectronics/... , or, for a more professional slant, try http://www.videomaker.com/scripts/index.... . Most of these programs also offer searches so you can find the lowest prices.

The copyright of the article Lights! Camera Action! Buying memories! in Online Shopping is owned by Reginald Vickers. Permission to republish Lights! Camera Action! Buying memories! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.