2009

The Rumor Mill
I dressed up as a miniature Hyatt employee and got in free to that re-PLUS event in Louisville on August 1st in Louisville. It wasn’t until the end of the day after I had stacked 200 chairs and filled a dumpster with trash I found out the event was free for everyone. As Homer the elf would say: DOH! To make things even worse, wearing that Hyatt employee uniform meant I couldn’t keep any of the PlanetChristmas bling Chuck was tossing out at every opportunity. Caps, shirts, coffee cups, cookbooks, LED necklaces, ducks, lapel pins. Wow. Where did he get…
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Marking your territory
There’s a morgue under the house according to my wife. It’s where I store most of the Christmas decorations because it’s cool, relatively dry and full of critters that love living in blowmold cavities. Most have died but a few still move around enjoying a predator free environment. I learned years ago it’s best to pull most of the stuff out of the morgue during late summer so it can air out and de-mildew in the bright sunshine before the real Christmas decorating begins. That’s what I did last weekend. I had to put up a “private property” sign in…
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Indoor displays
Let’s talk Christmas trees. I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of Andrew Albertson’s trees. They are absolutely gorgeous, right? Let’s face it, that man knows how to decorate. Want to do the same in your own home? Wonderful! In order to do it, you have to have more than one tree and your best bet is to hit the after-Christmas sales when they go 50-90% off. As far as trees go, the sky is the limit. You can find pre-lit, multi-color, all white, incandescent, LED, white, silver, green, the other green or just about any type/size that you could possibly…
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Wireframe tips and tricks
It seems that these days everyone is going to the LED lights. They use so much less electricity and seem to last longer than the old-fashioned incandescent mini-lights. Unfortunately, for long time decorators changing can be costly. In many cases, there’s nothing wrong with incandescent decorations if you give them gentle, loving care. You can expect many more years of life. There are some tricks of the trade for quickly refurbishing those old wire frames that are lit in incandescent lights. The obvious fist thing to do is replace the bulbs on the wire frame. This can be fairly easily…
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Over The Top!
PlanetChristmas started it all with the original Worldwide Decorating Contest and never imagined the number of incredible Christmas displays there were out there. When the 2008 judges saw the first Shadrack display video shot from the other side of an Interstate exit in Knoxville, Tennessee they were dazzled by the sheer size. Then when the judges saw the second video shot in Bristol, Tennessee they couldn’t believe the Glover family had built two independent displays at the same time. They were then astonished to find out each display was controlled by 1,600 light circuits. Finally, when the judges found out…
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LEDs are better?
One of my favorite aspects of our annual Christmas display is going outside when the crowds start to gather because I really enjoy catching the expressions on spectator’s faces. Most often people see me exit the house and start talking to me once I get to my “candy cane distribution point” across the street. The most popular question is “Wow, what’s your electricity bill like?” I should probably add an exclamation point based on how it’s often asked, but Mrs. Peck (my 5th grade English teacher) might object to that punctuation. My response is always “Actually, my bill has gone…
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Sequencing >1000 channels
I’ve been running around the world the last few months so I didn’t get to write this column in the last edition. Luckily I was able to tell the story about the video of my home Christmas display going viral on the Internet at re-PLUS thanks to Chuck Smith and his generosity, passion and willingness to bring together the serious Christmas decorators. This month I want to go over some of my ideas and issues with starting to program and sequence a 1,000+ channel show required for professional installations. I have been working on several large shows for the 2009…
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Backstage Pass
It’s time to tell a story about life on the road as viewed by a professional in the world of event production. That would be me. “Woke up, got out of bed Dragged a comb across my head” During the last four years, I have spent a few days of my life during the first week of May on the beautiful campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. Actually, I do not spend much time on the campus which I hear is beautiful, but rather I spent hours and hours of that week inside the outdoor football stadium…
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Thinking about going pro?
Even with the current economic struggles, there are still entities that want to attract attention and excitement to make their facility noteworthy in the community. A computerized light display (we call them animated lighting shows) is a novel and proven effective way to do this. Attention means visitors, and visitors mean business. Animated Lighting, Inc. has been involved with hundreds of commercial projects over the past decade. Each one is exciting and many times challenging based on a variety of factors. If you’re thinking about tackling a commercial project, I’ve pulled together some hints that should make things easier to…
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People like to be respected
The other day I went out to my car and found the glove box open and the owner’s manual lying open on the driver’s seat. As I have never opened the glove box since I bought the vehicle, I cleverly deduced that someone had been rummaging around in my car. Fortunately, they didn’t take anything but when I went to check the video surveillance system I found that there was a blind spot on the passenger side of the car. I purchased a few more cameras and was up on the ladder mounting one to the side of the house…
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