Here are a few video highlights of Christmas, 1987 at my home in Martinez, California. These were recorded on my Sony model CCD-V110 8MM camcorder. My father, mother, grandmother, my two cats, Buddy and Big Butt, are featured in these videos.

Direct mp4 download or play:   Keyboard

My mother enjoying her new keyboard.

Direct mp4 download or play:  Alarm Clock

I was commenting on the shape of the packaging for my new alarm clock.

Direct mp4 download or play:  Vacuum Cleaner

Just recently, I got rid of that vacuum cleaner at the Seattle dump The black cat seen here is Buddy. She spent a couple of years with me in Seattle before passing away.

Direct mp4 download or play:  Doggette

We were actually thinking of trying to get Buddy, our little black cat, to wear that little sweater intended for a small dog. The large white cat in this video is Big Butt.

Direct mp4 download or play: Merry Christmas – Happy New Year

This is the kitchen where I recorded my mother and my grandmother many times.

Sony CCD-V110 Camcorder

Big Butt

You may have noticed these videos are letterboxed (black bars top and bottom of picture). This was necessary to keep the aspect ratio correct. The ratio of the original files was 480 by 272 and reducing the width to 320 for the flash player dictated the height to be 180 according to the Avidemux software. I had to add 60 pixels of black (30 at the bottom and 30 at the top) to make the total number of pixels 240, which is the height of the flash player. Just recently,  in 2011,  the media player on this site was updated to play wide screen video by only reducing the size to 456 by 248 pixels.  The picture seems to fit into the player window correctly.