Your Today in Pictures...

[Steve Klare]

So, my wife spied this manger scene at a Christmas Market in Germany when we were there and just had to have it. Naturally I warned her that our electrical service isn't compatible with theirs, but just to use my own ego against me she said "-but I'm sure you can make it work!". For like eleven months I thought about using a step-up transformer or maybe getting a European travel converter, but things went as they usually do: I cut to the chase at the last minute and kept it simple. I cut the long chain of lamps in half and jumpered it to two parallel half chains (for half the voltage). I chopped the European plug off and replaced it with one of ours!

I guess we all celebrate by bringing whatever it is we have to offer!

[Graham Ritchie]

This really nice photo came through on my Facebook page today from the "Eumig Museum" Facebook page. I thought it was very well done, so I am sure the good folks there, won't mind me showing there Christmas message here on the forum, as many here still use Eumig projectors.

[Lincoln Thorn]

Homemade Ginger cookies are hot and ready!

[David Baker]

Hey Lincoln , what are you trying to do....make me FATTER ??

[Steve Klare]

Last Night in Newark, New Jersey: Trans Siberian Orchestra!

-This is definitely NOT your father's Christmas concert (-especially if you had MY father!)

They say the electric utilities are challenged to keep up during the Holiday Season: this band may be a contributing factor all by themselves!
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[Lee Mannering]

Beautiful Graham
Nice bit of lighting Steve


Something I started doing last Christmas during lock up after hearing a young child saying she would not be seeing Santa this year. Wifey made the costume with permission of the real Santa of course Last year just walked around the town waving at lit up faces but this year volunteered for youth groups who have taken a big financial hit from covid.
This particular group of children one of which held my hand saying... We missed you last time Santa. They thankfully didn't see me getting choked up hearing that from that little girl.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Ali Hipperson]

[Ed Gordon]

Ali, that box of 'Old Fart Fudge' caught my eye. I tried to order a box from https://postapudding.co.uk but they don't ship to the US. Damn!

[Ali Hipperson]

Ed - I picked it up on my last day-trip to Largs. I'll be going there again in a few months and will get you a box and send it over 👍🙂

[Lincoln Thorn]

Because I’m a 30 year old going on 9, my family found a Shogun Warrior 70’s Godzilla for Christmas! Hail to the King Baby!

[Graham Ritchie]

Brilliant Lincoln

Today is boxing day. I think here in NZ we are a day ahead of the rest of the world, unless you live in the Antarctic , so Christmas day here was yesterday, a bit like seeing in the New Year we are the first

Today was a bit of a zzzzz time after yesterday, so decided to have a listen to the LP of "Blade Runner". I bought it new just a few years ago. The "Vangelis" soundtrack is really something, the clarity is brilliant. Its a great soundtrack to "chill out" to as I did a few hours ago. I have to admit if I close my eyes I find myself slowly drifting away zzzzz.

Anyway I took a couple of photos when I fully woke up at the end.

[Steve Klare]

Restoration Day!

We are currently in stand-down mode here. We had dinner guests Christmas Night, so we had to come as close to full dining-room mode as we ever get! This is complicated by us being in maximum theater-mode for Christmas week.
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December 23rd, Evening


December 25th, Afternoon
(Note the caster divot in the carpet where my projection table stood!)

So we have unplugged cables shoved under furniture and projectors standing reel-less on dresser-tops upstairs. Today everything will migrate back into position and get hooked up again. My son and I have to carry the table with the mixer and disc player and power strip and a lot of local cables still hooked up down the stairs. I'll take advantage of opportunities and clean the table top while the machines are off and re-route the cables more neatly as they get re-connected.

At the end it's kind of like an orchestra: turn everything on, turn the amp volume up slowly in case the ground loop rears its ugly head (missing connection!), and then twist each mixer knob until the hum of each machine comes up, when everybody sounds ready: showtime!

Funny: My wife asked me to show something to our guests. I had to tell her this doesn't all fall into place in five minutes and other than maybe hanging the speaker on the Pageant, we were closed for Christmas!

(Bob Cratchit got the day off, why shouldn't I?)

[Ali Hipperson]

Steve - don't you know that it's good golf etiquette to always replace your divots! 🤣

[Steve Klare]

Done!
The caster went right back where it started.
(-and that pesky spare dining room chair is back in storage where it belongs! Seriously: there are only three of us, why have six chairs all the time?!)

Sound checks were nominal: the show shall go on!

[Ali Hipperson]

Having worked all Christmas Eve and Day behind the bar (for the first time since 1985!) I finally had my version of Christmas Dinner on Boxing/St Stephens Day....