Go Chris Witty!!! I was a big Bonnie Blair fan too. Speedskating is my favorite event. Go Chad, too!

I saw a Grateful Dead concert up in your town back in... 1988? Stayed at Bong Recreational Area.

Heh. It doesn't get any better than that.

In case anyone thought it was just a poor play on words:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bong State Rec Area

We used to spend a lot of time at Bong. We'd trailer our horses there for weekend camping. Their facilities were very accomonadating to horse camping. Great place.

I didn't give the conection another thought until you mentioned it...lol...

You'ze a hippy??? Say it ain't so! Glad you clarified. Makes one wonder what they are thinking when they name these things. Another one that I always get a kick out of is Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Gives you chills, doesn't it?!?! The best part is their motto: "Once a Patricia, always a Patricia.". Hmmm... they obviously wanted to copy the motto of another military branch but somehow it just doesn't have the same effect! LOL!

80" plasma TV??? I didn't know there was such a beast(probably a good thing). I could definitely watch some football on THAT. Then again, such a toy definitely requires the right house to go with it. I can imagine having THAT thing in our modest living room. You'd get a whiplash moving your head from one end of the screen to the other.

Bonz, was that center named after that great singer Bong Crisby?

What day and time did you watch the opening of the Winter Olympics?

I looked for it on Friday, thinking it would be on one of the US networks but did not see it listed.
It was on CBC here on Fiday afternoon and I thought it was a pretty good opening show, probably not as weird as some of the past ones I have watched.
I wish they had let Pavoratti do an encore, he was teriffic. I guess he is going to do a farewell tour before retiring. I read that the tour could take a few years to complete.
"H"

Horton,
It was on NBC Friday night. That's the problem with the time zones, can't see live stuff. Our local news was showing the results of today's events which will be broadcast tonight so they advised if you don't want to know, turn away. Yeah right. I couldn't do it. Maybe I should run out and place a few bets, I know who won.. :)

Semper, at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago they introduced a 108" plasma. Can't imagine getting any bigger without thinking you're in a movie theatre. Pass the popcorn, please.

Yeah, I was gonna mention those new 108" plasma screens... I have plans to put one on every wall in every room... never have to paint or paper again... just clean the screens :)

Of course I might have to convince the bank my name is actually Bill Gates first, huh?

My 80" big screen only cost me $700.
I bought our projector a couple years ago and it has served us well. For the average family I would say it is the most practical route to go if you want a big screen.
The one I have is only a cheap one, but at 800 X 600 resolution it produces a great picture especially with the right input. I get the best picture by hooking my laptop to the projector and playing DVDs, that way I get the full 800 X 600 resolution that is as good as or maybe better than high definition TV.
We mounted our projector on the ceiling and just project on to a flat white painted wall. I have used a proper projector screen before, but found it wasnÂt any better than the wall. The projector screen wasnÂt wide enough to handle the full screen and wide screen format with the projector at a set distance even with the adjustable zoom feature, but with the wall we can easily switch between full screen and wide screen without adjusting the projector.

I have a friend who has a big plazma screen TV that he was having some problems with, it was still under warranty, but still it is no easy task taking those things in to get serviced. Make sure they service them locally or you could end up paying some big shipping bill.

Our living room is pretty small 12ÂX16Â, so for most of our TV watching at home we just use a regular 20" TV, but when we want to watch something special we break out the popcorn and switch over to big screen :)

Ohhh, Richard (Dick?) Bong State Rec Area! I was thinking...yeah, you know.

Well, plasma screen manufacturers claim that they only last for 60,000. Sheesh, forget it. LOL Seriously, they do start to fade after time, but I guess all displays are like that. My bro works at Panasonic, so I'll put in an order for you, Bonz. :D

(I love Princie Pat's "Ric-A-Dam-Doo"! Do you?)

Brenda

Semper, didn't your mama warn you about fraternizing on the internets? You just don't know who you're befriending. Now you've got hippie cooties and there's not a darn thing you can do about it.

Muckster, interesting info. What make/model projector do you use? A good friend was told by an expert consultant in the home entertainment biz that Plasma screens do have a unusually high failure rate. Of course, I don't know if this is absolutely accurate or if he was simply trying to push the LCD screen line instead.

Hippie cooties?????? Say it ain't so!! Is there a cure or am I doomed groovin' to the tunes of Doobie Brothers???

Hi Semper

The make of projector I have is a BenQ, the model is pb6100. Like I said, it was
a cheap one, there are lots of models out there on the market to choose from with higher resolution and
more lux than mine. I like the fact that they are so portable and versatile in
that they can be used with typical TV video inputs, and computer HD15 (monitor)
inputs.
The down side of these projectors is the lamp life is only 2,000 - 3,000 hrs and
the bulbs are kind of expensive ($200 - $300). I have had mine for over a year
and only put 500 hrs on the bulb, if I keep using it as I have been it should
last another 3 years then I may need another bulb. I feel we already got our money's worth.

One thing I can tell you is, like most things in life, if you watch the big screen too often it doesn't take too
long before it loses it's novelty and it just becomes another TV screen. That's why we try to keep it to a minimum, to try and keep it special :)

Wow! It's hard to believe that a replacement bulb accounts for 1/3 to almost 1/2 of the cost of the entire unit!

Thanks for the great tip. We'll be breaking ground for an addition to our house later this year and I want to add a home theater with {{gwi:164905}} for watching sports and movies. Since we probaly won't average more than 2-3 hours of viewing per week, I think this might just be the ticket. Thanks again.

Uh, oh. Momma just found her birthday gift! :D That star ceiling is SWEET!

I wonder how hard it would be to find a northern lights ceiling, too. I can dream.

Brenda

Yeah, Brenda, looks like JUST THE THING to have hanging from your ceiling, right above your head, in an EARTHQUAKE ZONE... NOTTTTT!!!!! :)

Can't you just SEE THAT falling on your head, still plugged in, all sparkly and electrified and whatnot as it envelops your body in a sparkly plasmatic shroud of DEATH???

Ooooops :-P