utenzi

My girlfriend updated her viewing experience. She went out and bought a high definition television set. About time, huh? Sure, it's only 42 inches but you have to start somewhere. At least it's a great brand: Panasonic. (said not so much for technical accuracy as because that's what I have also) And since Kim's television is plasma and mine is DLP, her picture is a lot brighter and more vibrant than mine. And mine being more than 2 years old, and as such kinda dated in this fast paced digital world of ours, doesn't help either. So this is the woman and her new high tech television. What a pair! Kinda looks like a supernova on the television---and so very near the Earth. But have no fear, it's just the reflection of my camera flash on the screen. The Earth is safe... for now. I donated a DVD player to the cause since Kim's didn't have upscaling and I had an extra player hanging around. The upscaling really helps regular DVDs look like they were shot in hi...

Having a high def tv is usually a good thing. But there's the occasional disadvantage. This point was brought home last nigh when I watched the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen. Gordon Ramsey's face looks quite lined on a normal set, but in high def it's scary! That fellow has flesh issues--and when he's giving his "I am pissed" look--it really is intimidating now. One interesting thing, Hell's Kitchen starts a few minutes after the hour so I ended up recording the last few minutes of that singing show. It was the first time I'd ever seen it--and those people are really good. I was quite impressed. I assume it's late in the season and the really bad ones have been eliminated--but even so, I can see all those folk having recording contracts after this is done. Still, I doubt I'll ever bother to watch the show. I just don't have any interest in watching people sing.

I spent most of this weekend rearranging my living room and bedroom along with a little tele watching. Can't resist that high def screen for long, y'know? I really like the changes in my bedroom, while they're minor it really feels a lot different, and the changes in my living room have worked out well also. I'm not quite finished with the living room yet tho. Doesn't that picture above look arty? I was finding that normal lighting was really hurting my "viewing experience" with the new television but I need some small amount of light so I can use the remote control plus gather snacks and soda. What I came up with was to use a light rope which I wound around the banister of my staircase, as you can see to the left. The staircase is directly behind the chair I watch television from--when I'm not being really lazy and just laying on the couch--and so even though the light isn't very bright, it's perfect for allowing me to see the buttons on my re...

I was going to miss about a half day of work today. We're in the middle of finishing up a paper and submitting a grant proposal but I really, really needed satellite installed now that I have a high definition tv set. Unfortunately while the installer did make it to my place on time (scheduled for between 8am and noon) by arriving at 10:30am, I totally underestimated how long the install would take. Over to the left you can see my old satellite dish from 4 years ago on the roof, the new one is down there on the metal post being installed. Since the dish for HD is a lot bigger--apparently it uses 5 different satellites instead of the mere one that my old one used--and since it was a very windy day, the installer opted for installing on the ground. This added a lot of time since he needed to dig a post hole and then allow the concrete to harden enough so that the sight line of the dish wouldn't change after he set it. All in all, the installation took over 4 hours so it was 3pm ...