Year: 2007

Pratt Porch Project – P.S.

I’ll get back to posting something of interest once I’ve returned to work and have shaken off the holiday brain fog. But first, here are a couple of pictures of the remodeled porch as it looks now, after painting and the addition of some furniture. We’re still looking for a coffee table and side table.

If you click to look at the full-size picture with the TV, you’ll see it has an old-fashioned rabbit ear antenna. On February 17, 2009, analog broadcast television in the United States will cease. Long before then I plan to have a FiOS set top box installed. Or I could run a coaxial cable to the porch myself and use the analog signal provided over FiOS to watch the same local stations the antenna receives. I suppose it’s possible Verizon will shut off the analog service, although they’re under no requirement to do that.

P.S. According to this item, cable TV companies will keep their analog signals for local stations until 2012.

The Video Of Music

The video projector is addicting, and I’m watching too much TV! Last night it was the NE Patriots game — and I’m not even a football fan. Tonight, ABC is showing The Sound of Music in HD. I added a back light to give a sense of how it looks. Not huge by projection standards, but just right for the room, which isn’t as dark as the camera makes it seem after adjusting the exposure for the bright screen.

The Sound of Music on HDTV

Angela CartwrightHey, look who it is! Angela Cartwright, whose name came up in this past post. When I was a kid, besides the huge crush on Angela that I’ve already admitted having from when she was on Lost In Space with Bill Mumy, I thought it was funny that her name was the same as the fictional Cartwrights on Bonanza.

Angela Cartwright

Sinnott’s Brush Strokes With Greatness

Brush Strokes With GreatnessAuthor Tim Lasiuta has posted a comment reminding me to mention his great book Brush Strokes With Greatness, The Life And Art of Joe Sinnott. Glad to do it, Tim! Love the book. I couldn’t find a good scan of the cover online, so I did one myself. Click to enlarge. I gave a copy to my best buddy Dennis Rogers for his birthday. Dennis rated special mention on the Joe Sinnott Web site, as seen at this link. Joe autographed my copy last month at The National in New York, aka: the Big Apple Con.

Joe Sinnott, Brush Strokes With Greatness

Anybody who has dipped a #2 sable brush into a bottle of india ink and tried with all their heart to draw a controlled and clean line with it, as I have, can really appreciate just how masterful Joe Sinnott is at his craft. What’s amazing is that at age 81 he’s a good as ever!

A Dream Defeated in HD?

Yikes! At the moment, the home team NE Patriots have fallen way behind the NY Giants, 28-16. Not good. The Pats are supposed to remain undefeated! But at least the game looks terrific in projected HDTV. Eric’s hand shows the size of the picture.

Pats in HDTV

P.S. Whew! They did it. Tom Brady may be a jerk for not marrying the mother of his child, but he’s sure good at his job.

Happiness Is… Peanuts Books for Christmas

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere a couple of times, reading Peanuts books on Christmas Day is a favorite childhood memory. It’s a tradition that is back again, thanks to the Fantagraphics Complete Peanuts series! This year’s boxed set covers the years 1963-1966, when Sparky’s creation went from being a popular comic strip to being a pop culture phenomenon.

Complete Peanuts Box Set

Stephen Colbert On Larry King

As you perhaps know, on January 7 The Colbert Report will be back, as will The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, whether or not the writer’s strike has been resolved. In the meantime, to help you get your Colbert fix, here’s his appearance on Larry King Live, the least prepared interviewer in the business, from a couple of months back. It’s much better than I expected.
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