Projecting Cinema Geekery

So having got my memory card reader into gear again, I've found a whole lotta photos from recent times. Including which are some from the Ulster Folk Museum. The best part of this entire place in my biased opinion is The Picture House- the turn-of-the-century style cinema consisting of benches, a wall for a screen, a piano for soundtracking and this old beauty of a projector:

Unfortunately it is not in use, probably because of the HUGE fire hazard, expense and the fact that it'd need to manned all day everyday. But it's lovely to see, and reminiscent of Cinema Paradiso :)
These days it's all digital which is a bit of a tragedy in my mind with regards to skills not being needed so much anymore. I'm glad I learned how to do it before the chance was lost completely.
The only cinema I know that has nt gone digital at all is the last independently run cinema in all of Belfast, The Strand on the Holywood Road. This was my local back in the day, the place I had my first ever cinema experience- in the form of Aladdin! It uses the old reel-to-reel method on its behemoth machines. The seats are hard and void of legroom, the stairs sport the same old weathered carpet that they did fifteen years ago. But it has heart- it has never sold out, it has been threatened by loss of profits time after time but always stood strong. The tickets are still bus-esque little stubs, the popcorn is sweet and crunchy from the old popcorn maker. And to top it off, they have an original standee from the Wizard of Oz in the main corridor. You need that kind of genuineness once in a while, if only to be reminded of the humble and magical beginnings of the moving pictures.