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| - Behind the Scenes 2006 - |
| In these two self-portraits, my daughter is mocking me for the old prescription glasses that I use in the garage to see with. I found these pictures on my camera a few months after she took them. She learned her lessons well. In the art of practical joking, one must sometimes be very patient. |
| Andy in his Birch trees |
| Ray & Andy on the ground. Dave high above taking photo. |
| This is what happens when you leave your spares (box 1 of 4) behind a car.... |
| Someone needs a "timeout". |
| Finally! A cherry picker with a cup holder! |
| LOR controllers ready for their enclosures. Kelsey built the big one from a kit. |
| Andy painting Mega Tree frame in July. |
| White light strings waiting to be fixed in their "Little Red Wagon". |
| Closeup of street light sensor with LED taped on. Look at all that bird poop! |
| Street light in foreground, solar panels in background. |
| Wrapping street lights. |
| Extracting Grinch sound bytes for Opening Night |
| Strobes - as purchased. |
| Kids working on strobes. |
| Replacing a resistor in each strobe to increase the flash rate. |
| Strobes reassembled, weatherproofed and painted (still need covers screwed on). |
| The box on the left is our original spares box. It's about 1/2 the size of the top box in the photo on the right. These four boxes on the right house our current spare bulb inventory (just for Dave's house). We used to have two red boxes, but there was an accident (see photo elsewhere on this page). The original box was retired (thrown in the trash) this year as it was just too small and it had a broken hinge. |
| Snow fluid production. Official "Snow Fluid" from Chauvet costs $27 per gallon plus $10 shipping. We use two gallons a night. So a little internet research turned up a few different recipes. After some experimentation, we decided on distilled water and Meguiar's car wash soap (purple bottle). Approx. 1/4 cup of soap mixed with 2 gallons of distilled water works pretty darn good for about $2 per gallon. |
| Click image for hi-res photo |
| Oh No!! The Grinch has broken into Mission Control!! He's pondering what his next evil act will be..... Visible in the photos: Schematic, old fiber optic simulator, digital output distribution board, computer, microphone to talk to the folks outside when they are being naughty (too loud). Not visible: amp for sidewalk speaker, FM transmitter, mic mixer. Note: the iPod is not used as part of the Xmas Display. |
| Mega Tree Down!!! The wind storm on 12/27 wrecked our Mega Tree. When I left to walk the dog it was fine. When I came back it looked like this. Whaaa!!! We removed the frame and placed the lights on the lawn in the shape of a tree. Don't worry, it will be back next year! |
