Film thingumy

Look what I bought today...this is called film and its how they used to make blips in the old days. You won't believe this but it doesn't slot into your memory card slot...it's way too big. It's actually a tightly wound roll of special chemical plastic in a wee light-proof box: it needs to be light proof because the special chemicals change when the light gets to them and that's what makes the blip (don't ask...I have no idea how this works). You have to open up the back of your special film camera, close the back, then wind the film thingumy until it stretches out. Then every time you want take a blip you need to wind it on again. Peculiar eh!

Oh you haven't heard the best of it yet. Once you've taken your blips you don't get to see them straight away. You have to unwind the film thingy back into its container and then send it to a special shop where they turn you blips into 'negatives'. negatives look the blip you wanted to take except it's in black and white and everything goes into reverse like when the Daleks used to zap someone in Dr Who. Anyway, somehow or other the shop people turn the negatives into bits of paper called photographs and you scan these and turn them into blips. Although by then it's too late to blip them because it's at least the next day and Joe won't let you blip!

Oh, by the way, you can also buy colour film and I have one that makes slides...these are colour and not negatives but you have to shine a magic lantern through them to see them...a bit like PowerPoint.

The thing about not getting to see your blips till the next day is probably why they didn't have blip in the old days. I've found a site on the Internet that shows you how to make your own negatives, which you could do on the same day if you start very early and you don't have to go to work. Except that it involves lots of dangerous chemicals which you have to use in the dark, and you have to wear gloves and it's also very smelly. So I might try it.

Okay I better go and put my films somewhere safe. Guess where you are supposed to keep them...you'll never guess...in the fridge! Ha ha ha ;-)

EDIT: Hmmmmm....I may being paranoid but it now strikes me that this could be a read as a film snob's attack on digital photography...which was not my intention. I really did buy two films today to experiment with film for the first time. All blips to date - and most to follow - are digital..and there's nowt wrong with that ;-)