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| - Dave's 2007 emails - |
10-12-07
Xmas Display Update #1
Xmas Light Fans,
I'm sure you've all seen the Christmas stuff at Lowe’s and OSH (nothing at Home Depot yet…), so I feel I'm safe in sending
out the first Severns-Pease Christmas Display Email-O-Gram of the 2007 season. I've already been to everywhere but
Costco to see if there is anything new that might be of interest. There were no great surprises. LED's are still not
mainstream. I had to make my bulk purchase from a guy who placed one huge order from a company in China (I’m sure
there is lead in the wire insulation…) That was a teaser. You’ll have to show up on Opening Night to see where all those
LEDs are. They should help a lot in lowering our December power usage… (note smooth segway into solar power
discussion)…
Speaking of lowering power bills, our solar system left us in the green last year as we donated a $35 surplus back to PG&E
on our “True-up” date of Aug 8th. So we can officially say that the Severns half of the display is 100% solar powered. We
will be using our surplus to power an electric car in a couple of years. More on all the solar stuff at www.severex.com/pv
Our final Second Harvest Food Drive number was: $27,836. A new record and our 4th consecutive Community Champion
award from Second Harvest. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
Opening Night as usual, will be on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend (11/24) at 8:00 pm.
8:00 means the show starts at 8:00. Gates will open at 7:30 when we close off the street. This event will happen rain or
shine, although if it rains we will probably schedule another one as well. Attendance IS NOT limited to this distribution list.
Feel free to pass this along or bring friends and relatives.
What's new for 2007? That’s for us (and the Inner Circle) to know and you to find out. Actually, the Inner Circle is getting a
little top-heavy on the Management side. I need fewer Idea Men – “You know what you should do….” And more worker
bees.
Here's what to expect:
* A new Opening Sequence that goes over the new stuff. TEASER ALERT!! Someone gets the boot!
* Five Brand New songs – You will be asked for your opinion on these as we finalize our 2007 playlist.
* One completely reworked old song (didn’t plan on it, it just sort of happened…)
* Lights! New kinds and new capabilities.
* Cookies and hot cider.
* Food Drive.
* Free stuff! Surplus and used items from the display that we don't use/want anymore. There is going to be one biggie.
* The famous bulb counting contest. Hint: 2 years ago, the number was 747.
* Behind the scenes tour.
Donations for our 5th annual food drive through Second Harvest Food Bank (www.secondharvestsjca.org ) will be accepted
starting Opening Night and continuing until the display is shut down. You can bring food or money, but if you bring money,
the Severns Family Foundation will match all monetary donations (up to a maximum of $500 per donation and a maximum of
$20K for all donations).
Our Motto: “You give us the food/money, we give you the lights, nobody gets hurt....”
Last year we collected 10.0 barrels of food and donated $27,836 to Second Harvest. In February, Second Harvest awarded
us with the 2006 Food Drive Community Champion Award and we again landed in their highest category - Blue Diamond. I
thought you had to donate a lot of almonds to get into that category, but I was wrong.
So…. The bar is getting even higher. It’s not that we’re competitive…, well, actually it is. Start going through your pantries
now and pull out those jars of peanut butter and cans of tuna. Speaking of jars…. Plastic is GOOD. Glass is BAD (glass
breaks during handling and makes a mess). Also, no perishable foods. And….. I know that none of YOU did this, but some
people use our barrels as a Good Will truck and have put all kinds of weird things in them over the years. Food only please.
Remember that monetary donations get matching money, so you will double your donation if you bring cash or a check. Plus,
if you give money, Second Harvest can make the buying decisions and buy what they really need, when they need it.
For the 2nd year, Second Harvest will be running their “Virtual Food Bank” on their website. You can do your grocery
shopping online and select us as the organization you are donating through (so we get credit and can match the money).
Last year as it was their first year, the reporting wasn’t so good and I had to do some digging to find the donations so I could
match them. So if you do use the Virtual Food Drive, do me a favor and shoot me an email so I can watch for it. We will
either be listed under Severns Family Foundation or Severns-Pease Xmas Display.
Another reason for this early email is to make sure that our email distribution list is in order. Every year, we get a lot of
"bounce backs" and have to reconnect with folks. So, spread the word and if someone says they didn't get the email have
them contact us to get on (or back on) the list.
That's all for now. We will send out more info as the date approaches. Remember, the website does not get updated until
after Opening Night, so it won't do you any good to go there looking for clues as to what's new. But you can go to the home
page for up-to-date info, and feel free to forward it to your friends:
www.severex.com/xmas
Click here if you just need a quick fix of Wizards in Winter:
www.severex.com/wizards1.wmv
See you soon!
Dave, Sharon, Andy & Diane
11-16-07
Xmas Display Update #2 - Nobody Panic!
Rumor Control:
Yes, I had heart surgery this week. No, Opening Night is not in jeopardy. Oh, and I’m fine by the way. Thanks for asking.
In on Tuesday AM, out on Wednesday AM. They just jammed a bunch of catheters through nearly every opening they could
find (some of which didn’t go to the heart….) and burned the inside of my heart in a whole bunch of places. No big deal
(now that I’m home and there was NO BIG DEAL). And I was AWAKE during surgery. Until they knocked me out so they
could shock me back to normal rhythm at one point.
Seriously, this could not have come at a worse time as far as the Xmas Display goes. I was waiting for a special doctor who
comes to Stanford every few months and I got the call two weeks ago and they gave me two dates, the 13th or 14th. Not
much wiggle room there. So thanks a bunch for all the offers of help from those of you who knew what was going on. Five
people to thank in particular, but I had many other offers of support that I didn’t need to call in:
1) Sharon, for taking over my daily chores and letting me focus 100% on the lights prior to surgery. And… for her
support, coolness, calmness, even keel, etc during all this. She’s the best!
2) Kelsey, for taking a 5 day weekend and doing the tree climbing (and a bunch of other stuff).
3) Brother-in-law Wes, who braved rush hour traffic from Modesto to come help for a day.
4) Friend Jeff, who helped assemble controllers over the summer and spent a day in the yard last week.
5) Dr. Paul Zei (aka “PZ”), my Stanford heart doctor, who got me in and out safely and quickly.
We pride ourselves on this being a “we do it ourselves” operation and not a display where we pay professionals to come in
and do it. Because of all the help and offers of help, we can keep it that way.
So we got most of the big stuff done prior to surgery and are mainly waiting to do the high stuff that we need the lift for.
This weekend I will be sitting out front in a lawn chair with an iced tea directing my “Minions”. I highly recommend Minions.
Everyone should have some. Just make sure that you get Minions and not Lemmings. Minions are basically autonomous and
can go perform tasks. Lemmings just follow you around. Very annoying.
In Stores Now!
Preprogrammed LED Christmas trees that have 5 different songs and the LED’s change color and spin like our Mega Tree. I
think the one I saw was about $250. There are also boxes that you can plug light strings into that will play music and make
the lights dance. So, the world is catching up to us “home brew” folks. You know what they say in the Christmas Light
Business: “Grow or Die”.
Food Drive:
Update on the Virtual Food on the Second Harvest website. To donate to our drive do the following:
Go here: https://fooddrive.shfoodbank.com/default.aspx
Under the drop-down for Organization Type, select “Civic/Community Group”
Under the next drop-down for Organization Name, select “Severns-Pease Christmas Display”
That’s it! You’re in! You can shop for foods, or just put in a number. Either way, we will match donations up to $500.
You can also follow the link on the Food Drive page on our website and do the same thing.
Opening Night – 11/24 @ 8:00 pm:
Our Block Party permit has been issued and we get to close the street at 7:30 pm. So if you arrive earlier, please be aware
that cars take priority until 7:30… The show starts promptly at 8:00. Park on Utica and Tilton and walk down Utica to
Tangerine. Dress warmer than you think. Every year a few people bail out because they get too cold. Rain or shine! There
will be quite a bit of used and some new Xmas lights given away for free with a monetary food drive donation. Donate
money, you get to pick from the light bucket. We also will have a limited number of cardboard prismatic glasses that turn
each sparkle of light into a little star, snowman, Santa, etc. (www.holidayspecs.com) While supplies last with donation. At
the end of the night, all leftovers are fair game.
We will be debuting 4 (possibly 5) new songs this year and will be interested in your opinions using Wizards in Winter as a
benchmark. I haven’t really decided the best way to solicit input yet, but I’ll figure something out. Wait! I can have you
text a “1” for…. Never mind, that’s already been done.
The evening’s format will go something like this:
7:30-8:00: Mingle with friends and cider and cookies (don’t mingle with the cider and cookies, just consume them).
8:00: Opening Remarks.
A demonstration of the new display items for this year, by our newly named Polar Bear “Peezy”. Hey now! Something fishy
going on here…. More on this below.
National Anthem
The 4 new songs
A break for bulb count contest winner and behind the scenes tour (lights will be all on, good photo-op time).
Continuing on with classics both Christmas and non-Christmas.
The Grinch may make an appearance for photo-ops with the kids. We are still negotiating the contract (rider). Something
about only Green M&Ms in the Green Room. What is with this guy and the color Green?!
The Fishy Thing:
Note my Doctor’s nickname: “PZ”
Note the Polar Bear name: “Peezy”
COINCIDENCE!!??
Andy named the Polar Bear. If I was into conspiracy theories, I might think that Andy and my doctor were trying to
“Squeezy” me out… Then Andy could have the display all to himself! BWAA, HA, HA!!!!
Naw. He couldn’t do it without me. I know too much.
Never mind.
See you all on Saturday!
Dave
www.severex.com/xmas
11-23-07
Xmas Display Update #3 - Opening Night is Tomorrow!
I know some of you won’t see this because it goes to your work email. Sorry. But good for you for not checking. I’m also
sorry if this is going to your work email and you are actually at work. For the rest, here are a few more bits of info:
We actually finished the display on Wed. This was a first. Andy and I were able to watch football on Thanksgiving for the
first time in years.
The first rehearsal last night unveiled a few glitches. Most of which are already taken care of, with a couple that we need
darkness to test.
The weather for tomorrow is clear with temps in the low 50’s to high 40’s at around 8:00 pm. Dress warm!
Thanks for all the offers of Minions, although I think a few parents might have been trying to pass off Lemmings as
Minions…..
Second Harvest Food Bank will have a representative in attendance along with a video crew, so come dressed in your Santa
hats, etc.
We have finally closed the deal with The Grinch, who will be making a appearance at halftime for photos with the kids (and
adults). So bring your cameras and if you take any cool pictures of the display, send them my way for posting on the
website.
Our “first half” Playlist tomorrow night will be as follows:
Going over the New Stuff skit
Star Spangled Banner
Wizards in Winter
Carol of the Bells
Deck the Halls
Jingle Bells
Silent Night
Linus and Lucy
Carol of the Bells through Linus and Lucy are brand new. We would like your opinion on these new songs to see if any of
them warrant extra slots in the main playlist like we do with Wizards in Winter. You can print this list and bring it along, or
pick up a list at our donation/food table tomorrow. Scoring is easy. Just mark the ones you think deserve extra play time.
We will then have a 10-15 minute break where the lights will be all on (good for photos). We will give out the prize for the
bulb count contest, the Grinch will appear, and I will open the garage for “show and tell”. After that we will play previous
year’s favorites, such as Dueling Banjos (houses), Blue Christmas, I wish it Christmas Today (Muppets), Christmas Eve
Sarajevo, etc…..
And finally, thanks for all the well wishes! I’m still doing great!
See y’all tomorrow!
Dave
11-29-07
Xmas Display Update #4 - The Aftermath
Okay, that was a little dramatic. Actually, things are running fairly smoothly other than the fact that I let the snow machine
run dry which fried the pump. But, as I have learned when you put on a REALLY BIG SHOW, spare parts are a necessity,
and I happen to have a spare pump. So that’s today’s little job.
The Opening Night food drive total was almost $16,000. That beats last year’s Opening Night by $4,000. Thanks for all of
your generosity!
I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see and talk to all the friends that showed up, but thanks for coming anyway! I had set up a
little “Light-o-Rama for Dummies” demo that was very popular, so I spent a lot of time in the garage working with that. I
am going to apologize in advance to all the wives who heard something like this on the way home: “Honey, that was really
cool! I think I’m going to buy some of that stuff and do my own animated display next year.” I’m SORRY. Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry………………… Sorry.
Here are the results of the voting (new songs) from Opening Night.
#1 – Linus and Lucy (now getting extra playtime)
#2 – Stille Nachte (Silent Night)
#3 – Deck the Halls
#4 – Carol of the Bells
#5 – Jingle Bells
The playlist is now complete and posted on the website. Also completed on the website are the New Stuff page (still need to
add photos and video) and the Hours of Operation page. You can also find the audio file of the Opening Night New Stuff Skit
in a few places on the website. For those of you who attended, you saw Kelsey perform the Announcer role live (no lip
syncing at the SPXD!). The version posted on the website has my voice mixed in as the announcer. Note that the first
character voice heard is that of Rudolf saying “I’m ready!” because he assumes that he will be going over the new stuff like
he has in past years.
www.severex.com/audio/2007_new_stuff.mp3
Main website:
www.severex.com/xmas
Not much press this year so far. The Mercury News is scaling back and has sacked their Xmas Display article. Instead, you
go on their website and flounder about for a while and eventually, if you’re lucky, you stumble across a Google map that has
displays listed. The only other press that we are aware of is via the Silicon Valley Quilter’s Assoc. newsletter. This article
has not been published yet, but the working title is “Sharon Severns is Lit-Up”. Nice.
As most of you know, our playlist changes at 10:00 pm on weeknights to a quieter, mellower set of songs. In past years, the
display was set to what we called “Low Power mode” and we turned off icicles and a few other high power items.
Everything else was left on solid. No animation, just on. It turns out after doing some data acquisition on the power usage
from every circuit, that our Low Power mode was using more electricity than the normal program. This was because when
songs are animated, the lights are not on all the time. So even though we were turning off some stuff, the other stuff that
was all on was using more electricity than normal. So we have made a change to the Low Power Program that we believe
looks better and also uses less electricity. All of the songs do the same thing and are not synchronized to the lights, but the
lights are constantly moving and changing colors. Let us know what you think about the new look.
Before climbing up on the roof to pull the snow machine down to the workbench, I leave you with this little story of the
dangers of Light-o-Rama network debugging.
It was a dark and stormy night. Okay, not stormy, but definitely dark. I was having network troubles and had zeroed in on
the controller right outside of Andy’s office (which he was in, working at his JOB and aware that I was outside of his office
with a laptop). Now that the display is LOR controlled it is necessary to carry a laptop around sometimes to plug directly
into a controller and test it onsite, instead of unplugging all 16 channels and taking it into the shop. So picture the present
day “Christmas Light Engineer” with his brand new Vista laptop (actually his wife’s laptop), and his cute little LED headlamp
on his head. Stop laughing.
I put the laptop down on the concrete “mow strip” between Andy’s lawn and the bushes. Plug it into the controller and start
testing. As I’m running the song, I am wandering around looking at the different channels trying to understand why I am
getting “cross-talk” (geek speak) between channels. The laptop is playing Vince Guaraldi’s “The Christmas Song”. Very
mellow. I’m concentrating on my technical problem (hand on chin). All of a sudden a loud hissing noise is drowning out the
music (I know that after last year’s rat story that you are all guessing snake, but you are wrong). I break out of my
concentration with a “What the…..?” Then it comes to me. ANDY’S SPRINKLERS!!! “Oh, Crap!!” I’m ten feet away from the
laptop (Sharon’s laptop). I dive for it, slam the lid closed, yank out the network cable and run. Once I’m safe on Andy’s
walkway I open it up and only see a few little droplets of water on the keyboard. Close one! I knock on Andy’s door, and he
opens it with a “some of us have jobs” kind of look and I say something like “Are you trying to kill me?”. He says “Huh?”. I
point at the sprinklers and he says: “Oh Crap!!” I said: “That’s what I said!”
Up to the roof!
Dave
12/8/07
Xmas Display Update #5 - WebCam!
WebCam
I have periodically been asked (Cindy P.) why I don’t have a WebCam for those people who live too far away to come see
the display. Well, I have one now so stop NAGGING me!!!! The final straw? An email from an out of state cousin and a call
from my daughter (Long Beach) asking about a WebCam on the same day (yesterday). So I went digging through my closet
of old electronics crap (everybody has one of these, right?) and I found an old D-Link wireless surveillance camera which I
have now set up in our Living Room window looking out to our Magnolia tree and the street beyond. There are some
limitations:
• No audio.
• You must use Internet Explorer (no Mac browsers or Firefox). This camera has been listed at “End of Life” by D-Link
and they never wrote ActiveX controls for any browser but IE.
• But on the plus side, you can control it (rotate and tilt).
Go here for instructions on how to use it: www.severex.com/webcam
I am not posting a link to this page on the website yet, as this is a “Beta” test and I don’t want to get swamped with a bunch
of tech support requests if there are issues. If it’s popular, I might end up investing in some better equipment.
Live TV
Second Harvest Food Bank has invited me to be part of a promotion that they are doing in conjunction with Whole Foods.
They will be doing live spots from the Whole Foods in Cupertino on KPIX Channel 5 News on Tuesday evening. My one
minute spot will be at 5:18 pm. Yikes! I’ve done interviews before, but never live….. So tune in if you are the type who
enjoys watching someone “crash & burn”. Just remember, these type of things can change at the last minute, so you might
tune in to find a story on baby pandas instead. Be honest. What would you rather see? Me, or baby pandas? I’m going to
go with the pandas.
Speaking of 2nd Harvest, the Food Drive total is just a little over $20K.
Website www.severex.com/xmas
The website is mainly up to date except for the photos page (if anyone has good photos, send them my way). In
photographs, the display looks much like it did last year, so it hasn’t been one of my top priorities to get out and take them. I’
ll probably have some time this evening to take a few.
Check out Andy and me as dancing Elves on our home page. Or go directly: www.elfyourself.com/?id=1157113158 Here
are some of the reviews: “That is very disturbing”, “There is something wrong with that..” and the ever-popular: “That’s
just not right”. Judge for yourself…
That’s all for now (I had a post-it somewhere around here with other stuff to mention, but I lost it.)
12/15/07
Xmas Display Update #6 - Press!
You know that Post-it that I lost the last time? Never found it. Here’s what’s new:
Press:
We are starting to get some press and recognition this year. In addition to the Santa Clara Valley Quilters Assoc. newsletter
and the flyer from Realtors LeRoy & Vonda Porter of Coldwell Banker, we now have received the following
press/recognition:
• KPIX 5 Live interview
• Commendation from the City of Sunnyvale presented at the Sunnyvale SDA Church by Pastor Sam McKee and
Sunnyvale Mayor Otto Lee.
The interview and our cool certificates can be seen on our press page. www.severex.com/xmas-press
It looks like the SJ Mercury will be doing a Holiday Lights article this year. Publication date is set for Saturday, 12/22 and
so far it sounds like they will be using our panorama photo from 2006 as their lead photo (they were looking for a wide,
short photo). Unfortunately, they are publishing later in the season this year and the article will come out right during our
busiest time of the season, the 3 days before Christmas. I can guarantee that there will be grid-lock during peak hours on
these nights. Please help us by reading our viewing tips and passing the word. Parking around the corner and walking will
be the best way to view the display on these nights. www.severex.com/xmas-news
I have also posted info on this “Perfect Storm” scenario on our homepage. www.severex.com/xmas
One more bit of interesting press from an electric scooter website in Georgia (scroll to the bottom): http://www.electric-
scooters-galore.com/
New Video:
As part of our recognition by Pastor Sam and The Mayor, Pastor Sam and his church videographer Brad Elliott made and
presented the following video of one of our new songs for 2007, “Stille Nacht” by Mannheim Steamroller. Andy
programmed this one, so nice job to Brad and Andy! www.severex.com/videos/stille_nacht_2007.wmv
Food Drive:
We are closing in on last year’s record of $28,000. We are currently at $24,500 with quite a few “verbal commits” still out
there. The nightly take from the donation box is significantly up this year. Here is an interesting chart that shows that we
are within striking distance of hitting $100,000 total for our 5 years of food drives. www.severex.
com/images/food_drive_chart.pdf
This week’s Story:
I was sitting at lunch with some buddies last week and we had been talking about the Xmas Display. There was a lull in the
conversation as we were stuffing our faces, and then one of them lifts his head up, looks right at me and says: “Deacon
Dave… Friend or Foe?”. I was speechless for a second, and then said: “Friend!”. I actually have never met Deacon Dave,
but I have seen his display and I would not consider him a foe. So therefore, he is a friend. For those that don’t know,
Deacon Dave’s “House of the Dove” is a HUGE display in Livermore with 250,000 lights and many handmade scenes. http:
//www.casadelpomba.com/ . My buddy (Dave) won’t drop it. He says: “Do you think he knows about you?” I said that I
doubted it. Dave says: “You know about him, so he probably knows about you”. I suppose. I think Dave has watched too
many episodes of Home Improvement where Tim Taylor is in a Christmas Light battle to death with Doc Johnson, the
proctologist. Dave’s trying to get something started. He lives in Livermore. He’s probably over at Deacon Dave’s right
now… “Dave Severns… Friend or Foe?”.
12/20/07
Xmas Display Update #7 - Scouting at Disneyland & Food Drive
Hi All,
I just got back from a scouting trip to Disneyland with one half of the Tacky Committee (Sharon). We were gone for three
nights and Andy was in charge. He did all the daily duties which included getting four barrels of food prepped and moved
outside for a Second Harvest pickup, filling the snow fluid nightly, making sure there were flyers and playlists in the info
box, emptying the donation box and food barrels every night, picking up trash in the street, and checking the display for
malfunctions and failed bulbs. Thanks Andy! Nice job!
We went specifically to see the new snow “overlay” on Sleeping Beauty’s castle. This new lighting effect is done with all
white LED’s (and some strobes) and it looks AMAZING. They also run a “Light-o-rama like” show twice a night and animate
the castle. I now have all the stealth photos I need, if I ever decide to do this on our display. VERY UNLIKELY…. What else
did we learn from the Masters at Disney? Not telling. Let’s just say that I have many things to “ponder”.
And… Just to show that it happens to the best of them… Notice that the huge Christmas tree on Main Street in Disneyland is
having a slight power problem after the rain on Monday night. So, please cut us some slack if you see some lights out in our
display after a rain…
Now to the food drive part. The Severns Foundation has partnered with www.Jooners.com in a food drive fundraising
effort. For the first 500 people who fill out their survey, Jooners will donate $1 per survey through our Second Harvest
Food Drive. That means that we will match each donation dollar for dollar up to our mutual limit of $500 ea. If 500 people
fill out the survey, we will raise $1000! The subject of the survey is how you stay connected when you are on the go.
Daytimer, PDA, Smartphone, Outlook, etc.
So please consider helping out a startup dot-com and the hungry, by filling out and/or forwarding this survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xuEzsjQtWVR9A6_2b6SfLJDw_3d_3d
Thanks!
Dave
12/31/07
Xmas Display Update #8 - Winding Down...
Whew! The crush is behind us. As advertised, the Mercury News did use our photo as their lead for the annual Christmas
Displays article (http://severex.com/images/xmas07_merc_article_12-22-07.pdf ). And as predicted the crowds were
huge. What we didn’t expect was for the big crowds to continue after Christmas. They have not been as bad, but still very
busy every night. The display will run for two more nights: New Year’s Eve (we will run until midnight with Auld Lang Syne
playing at 12:00 followed by the Star Spangled Banner and shutdown), and News Years Day (full program until 10:00, 10:
00-11:00 low power and then dark for 11 months).
Thanks for your support! Our food drive is at $37,500 with $40,000 in our sights. Amazing.
Special thanks to our neighbors (especially Trumbull Ct.) who put up with all the traffic and noise. You’re The Best!!
Now for this issue’s story:
Yesterday (Sunday), I parked our truck in the #1 viewing position during the day so we could go out later with Andy and
Diane and watch from the comfort of a vehicle and be able to talk and plan for next year in private. We went out at about 7:
00 with wine bottles and See’s candy. Mmm….. After watching for about a half hour, Diane says something to Andy about
him not using the white shimmer lights on the Mega Tree (big blue/green tree) very often in his songs. We all agree and
start paying attention to the Mega Tree. Sure enough, no white lights. Then “White Christmas” begins to play. Still no white
lights. We finally come to the realization that the white lights on the Mega Tree have not been working the whole time, and
even worse, that they have never worked for the WHOLE SEASON!!! This is an indication that the display is getting out of
control. A major lighting element never worked and nobody noticed! Now we will take a portion of the blame here, but we
also have to blame you, our loyal “Display Watchers”. I know that there are people out there who count how many
characters are on Google’s home page (no I am not one of them) and get very upset and email Google when they add or
subtract too much (I supposed they are afraid the Internet will tilt on it’s axis or something….). My point is that someone
out there should have noticed! Come on, people! Bring your “A” game!
** End of Rant **
I’ll bet you are wondering what else was discussed in the truck last night. We have some big ideas. So many that they all
won’t make it in for 2008. One thing I can discuss, because we won’t actually do it… Sitting in the truck, having to run the
engine every few minutes to defrost the windows, we had an epiphany. Note that the epiphany occurred at some point
during the second glass of wine. LUXERY BOXES!!! That’s right! Right across the street. Kind of like what they put around
the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. We could sell them to the big companies, rent them out for $500/hr. Piped in music, food,
wine, beer… We could have our own Owner’s Box! Ahh…. To dream…
Oh, and I did fix the white lights on the Mega Tree, so you have two nights to come out and see them.
I’ll send out one more update with the final food drive totals and any interesting stories that occur during teardown.
Happy New Year!
Dave
12-31-07
Xmas Display Update #9 - Winding Down
Whew! The crush is behind us. As advertised, the Mercury News did use our photo as their lead for the annual Christmas
Displays article (http://severex.com/images/xmas07_merc_article_12-22-07.pdf ). And as predicted the crowds were
huge. What we didn’t expect was for the big crowds to continue after Christmas. They have not been as bad, but still very
busy every night. The display will run for two more nights: New Year’s Eve (we will run until midnight with Auld Lang Syne
playing at 12:00 followed by the Star Spangled Banner and shutdown), and News Years Day (full program until 10:00, 10:
00-11:00 low power and then dark for 11 months).
Thanks for your support! Our food drive is at $37,500 with $40,000 in our sights. Amazing.
Special thanks to our neighbors (especially Trumbull Ct.) who put up with all the traffic and noise. You’re The Best!!
Now for this issue’s story:
Yesterday (Sunday), I parked our truck in the #1 viewing position during the day so we could go out later with Andy and
Diane and watch from the comfort of a vehicle and be able to talk and plan for next year in private. We went out at about 7:
00 with wine bottles and See’s candy. Mmm….. After watching for about a half hour, Diane says something to Andy about
him not using the white shimmer lights on the Mega Tree (big blue/green tree) very often in his songs. We all agree and
start paying attention to the Mega Tree. Sure enough, no white lights. Then “White Christmas” begins to play. Still no white
lights. We finally come to the realization that the white lights on the Mega Tree have not been working the whole time, and
even worse, that they have never worked for the WHOLE SEASON!!! This is an indication that the display is getting out of
control. A major lighting element never worked and nobody noticed! Now we will take a portion of the blame here, but we
also have to blame you, our loyal “Display Watchers”. I know that there are people out there who count how many
characters are on Google’s home page (no I am not one of them) and get very upset and email Google when they add or
subtract too much (I supposed they are afraid the Internet will tilt on it’s axis or something….). My point is that someone
out there should have noticed! Come on, people! Bring your “A” game!
** End of Rant **
I’ll bet you are wondering what else was discussed in the truck last night. We have some big ideas. So many that they all
won’t make it in for 2008. One thing I can discuss, because we won’t actually do it… Sitting in the truck, having to run the
engine every few minutes to defrost the windows, we had an epiphany. Note that the epiphany occurred at some point
during the second glass of wine. LUXERY BOXES!!! That’s right! Right across the street. Kind of like what they put around
the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. We could sell them to the big companies, rent them out for $500/hr. Piped in music, food,
wine, beer… We could have our own Owner’s Box! Ahh…. To dream…
Oh, and I did fix the white lights on the Mega Tree, so you have two nights to come out and see them.
I’ll send out one more update with the final food drive totals and any interesting stories that occur during teardown.
Happy New Year!
Dave
1-14-08
Xmas Display Update #10 - Done!
Everything is down and put away. The Food Drive is over. Sigh…. I think I’m suffering from “Post Christmas Display
Depression” (PCDD). I guess some others in the animated Christmas display world must be suffering from PCDD too. The
main forum for animated Christmas displays is on www.PlanetChristmas.com. Planet Christmas was founded by Chuck
Smith who created the first big computerized display in Tennessee back in the 1900s (okay, late 1900s). When I went to
the Planet Christmas Forums page last night, this is what I saw:
January 13, 2008. The PlanetChristmas forums are currently off-line.
Too many people seem to be in a grouchy mood which goes against the spirit of our community and really disappoints
me. We can do so much better. Please check back later. The PlanetChristmas website is still avialable at http://www.
PlanetChristmas.com"
Ohhh… Chuck is MAD!!! Looks like he had to put some of us in a “time-out”. I just checked it again and it’s back up, so
hopefully everyone “learned their lesson”.
And just because I know you are wondering…. No, I was not part of any “Grouchiness” on the PC forums. I haven’t posted
there in over a year. I do my grouchy posting on the Light-o-Rama forum.
Food Drive:
The final number is……d…r…u…m……r…o…l…l…….: $45,924.61 & 1,819 lbs. of food!
Yikes!! How are we going to beat that next year? More details on or Food Drive Page: www.severex.com/xmas-fooddrive
Last year’s dollar number was $28,498. We destroyed last year’s record. This is even more impressive given that in
general, food donations are down this year. Click here for a year to year chart showing all of food drive totals: http://www.
severex.com/images/food_drive_chart.pdf . Our five year total is now over $113,000.
Heartfelt thanks to all who participated!
Geek Stuff:
For those interested in our electrical consumption/production, our (Severns house) December electrical bill went down from
$433.57 in 2006 to $315.31 in 2007. That's a 38% improvement! Reasons? Solar production was nearly the same: 503
kWh in 07 vs. 499 kWh in 06. There were 3 major items that lowered our power consumption:
1) CFL's and LED lighting throughout the house.
2) LEDs in the display: American Flag, Reindeer Pond, Rose Bushes, Food Barrels
3) Energy efficient display programming. We reprogrammed out Late Night 10-11 PM Program for lower power
consumption. We did a lot of slow color fades and lowered the intensity levels of many of the lighting elements. Also, during
the main program we set a lot of the lights (like the icicles) at 80% power. To the human eye, 80% looks like 100%.
I’ve actually got a software enhancement request in to Light-o-Rama that would allow the user to enter max power for each
channel in watts and then have the software tell you how much power each song uses. We shall see….
With all of these savings, we will end up with a $300-$400 dollar surplus at our "True-up" date in July. That' over 2,500
kWh hours that we will "donate" to the California Grid.
I need to get that electric car! At 3 kWh per mile, that’s 7,500 miles of free driving!
Charts can be found on our Solar Power page: www.severex.com/pv .
Teardown:
Neighbor Josh Levin and two of his friends volunteered to help with teardown. The three of them, along with Josh’s mom
Carrie, spent 5 hours on Wed. January 2nd removing lights from trees. They completely finished the rear tree, the mega
tree, and finished about 80% of Andy’s magnolia tree. That got us off to a flying start, and we finished the teardown in less
than a week. Photos of the teardown crew can be found on our website on the behind the scenes page: www.severex.
com/xmas-bts .
Misc:
Ever wonder what a wreath made out of burned out Christmas light bulbs would look like? Me neither, but since I just put
the image in your head, I’ll bet you’re wondering now…. To see the wreath that Kelsey made for a White Elephant gift, go to
the bottom of our Sparks of Inspiration page: www.severex.com/xmas-sparks
And for those who were wondering if we were actually making any money off the Google ads on the website, we made a
whopping $50!!! That’s three strings of LED lights! Unfortunately, Google won’t send a check until your balance reaches
$100, and then there are taxes….. So I guess it’s more like 2 strings of LED lights. No fake clicks please. It’s illegal, and
Google will hunt you down…. and….. Google you!
Speaking of LED lights…. You can get a tiny sneak peak of what we are up to for 2008 by going near the bottom of our
behind the scenes page (where the teardown crew pictures are). 2008 plans will include some big additions. The Tacky
committee has approved the changes and I am currently calculating materials needed for a bulk order purchase from China.
It never ends. But these emails will (for a while). This is it for 2007. The next Xmas Display email will be sent in Sept/Oct
2008.
Thanks for all of your support!
Dave
Xmas Display Update #1
Xmas Light Fans,
I'm sure you've all seen the Christmas stuff at Lowe’s and OSH (nothing at Home Depot yet…), so I feel I'm safe in sending
out the first Severns-Pease Christmas Display Email-O-Gram of the 2007 season. I've already been to everywhere but
Costco to see if there is anything new that might be of interest. There were no great surprises. LED's are still not
mainstream. I had to make my bulk purchase from a guy who placed one huge order from a company in China (I’m sure
there is lead in the wire insulation…) That was a teaser. You’ll have to show up on Opening Night to see where all those
LEDs are. They should help a lot in lowering our December power usage… (note smooth segway into solar power
discussion)…
Speaking of lowering power bills, our solar system left us in the green last year as we donated a $35 surplus back to PG&E
on our “True-up” date of Aug 8th. So we can officially say that the Severns half of the display is 100% solar powered. We
will be using our surplus to power an electric car in a couple of years. More on all the solar stuff at www.severex.com/pv
Our final Second Harvest Food Drive number was: $27,836. A new record and our 4th consecutive Community Champion
award from Second Harvest. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
Opening Night as usual, will be on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend (11/24) at 8:00 pm.
8:00 means the show starts at 8:00. Gates will open at 7:30 when we close off the street. This event will happen rain or
shine, although if it rains we will probably schedule another one as well. Attendance IS NOT limited to this distribution list.
Feel free to pass this along or bring friends and relatives.
What's new for 2007? That’s for us (and the Inner Circle) to know and you to find out. Actually, the Inner Circle is getting a
little top-heavy on the Management side. I need fewer Idea Men – “You know what you should do….” And more worker
bees.
Here's what to expect:
* A new Opening Sequence that goes over the new stuff. TEASER ALERT!! Someone gets the boot!
* Five Brand New songs – You will be asked for your opinion on these as we finalize our 2007 playlist.
* One completely reworked old song (didn’t plan on it, it just sort of happened…)
* Lights! New kinds and new capabilities.
* Cookies and hot cider.
* Food Drive.
* Free stuff! Surplus and used items from the display that we don't use/want anymore. There is going to be one biggie.
* The famous bulb counting contest. Hint: 2 years ago, the number was 747.
* Behind the scenes tour.
Donations for our 5th annual food drive through Second Harvest Food Bank (www.secondharvestsjca.org ) will be accepted
starting Opening Night and continuing until the display is shut down. You can bring food or money, but if you bring money,
the Severns Family Foundation will match all monetary donations (up to a maximum of $500 per donation and a maximum of
$20K for all donations).
Our Motto: “You give us the food/money, we give you the lights, nobody gets hurt....”
Last year we collected 10.0 barrels of food and donated $27,836 to Second Harvest. In February, Second Harvest awarded
us with the 2006 Food Drive Community Champion Award and we again landed in their highest category - Blue Diamond. I
thought you had to donate a lot of almonds to get into that category, but I was wrong.
So…. The bar is getting even higher. It’s not that we’re competitive…, well, actually it is. Start going through your pantries
now and pull out those jars of peanut butter and cans of tuna. Speaking of jars…. Plastic is GOOD. Glass is BAD (glass
breaks during handling and makes a mess). Also, no perishable foods. And….. I know that none of YOU did this, but some
people use our barrels as a Good Will truck and have put all kinds of weird things in them over the years. Food only please.
Remember that monetary donations get matching money, so you will double your donation if you bring cash or a check. Plus,
if you give money, Second Harvest can make the buying decisions and buy what they really need, when they need it.
For the 2nd year, Second Harvest will be running their “Virtual Food Bank” on their website. You can do your grocery
shopping online and select us as the organization you are donating through (so we get credit and can match the money).
Last year as it was their first year, the reporting wasn’t so good and I had to do some digging to find the donations so I could
match them. So if you do use the Virtual Food Drive, do me a favor and shoot me an email so I can watch for it. We will
either be listed under Severns Family Foundation or Severns-Pease Xmas Display.
Another reason for this early email is to make sure that our email distribution list is in order. Every year, we get a lot of
"bounce backs" and have to reconnect with folks. So, spread the word and if someone says they didn't get the email have
them contact us to get on (or back on) the list.
That's all for now. We will send out more info as the date approaches. Remember, the website does not get updated until
after Opening Night, so it won't do you any good to go there looking for clues as to what's new. But you can go to the home
page for up-to-date info, and feel free to forward it to your friends:
www.severex.com/xmas
Click here if you just need a quick fix of Wizards in Winter:
www.severex.com/wizards1.wmv
See you soon!
Dave, Sharon, Andy & Diane
11-16-07
Xmas Display Update #2 - Nobody Panic!
Rumor Control:
Yes, I had heart surgery this week. No, Opening Night is not in jeopardy. Oh, and I’m fine by the way. Thanks for asking.
In on Tuesday AM, out on Wednesday AM. They just jammed a bunch of catheters through nearly every opening they could
find (some of which didn’t go to the heart….) and burned the inside of my heart in a whole bunch of places. No big deal
(now that I’m home and there was NO BIG DEAL). And I was AWAKE during surgery. Until they knocked me out so they
could shock me back to normal rhythm at one point.
Seriously, this could not have come at a worse time as far as the Xmas Display goes. I was waiting for a special doctor who
comes to Stanford every few months and I got the call two weeks ago and they gave me two dates, the 13th or 14th. Not
much wiggle room there. So thanks a bunch for all the offers of help from those of you who knew what was going on. Five
people to thank in particular, but I had many other offers of support that I didn’t need to call in:
1) Sharon, for taking over my daily chores and letting me focus 100% on the lights prior to surgery. And… for her
support, coolness, calmness, even keel, etc during all this. She’s the best!
2) Kelsey, for taking a 5 day weekend and doing the tree climbing (and a bunch of other stuff).
3) Brother-in-law Wes, who braved rush hour traffic from Modesto to come help for a day.
4) Friend Jeff, who helped assemble controllers over the summer and spent a day in the yard last week.
5) Dr. Paul Zei (aka “PZ”), my Stanford heart doctor, who got me in and out safely and quickly.
We pride ourselves on this being a “we do it ourselves” operation and not a display where we pay professionals to come in
and do it. Because of all the help and offers of help, we can keep it that way.
So we got most of the big stuff done prior to surgery and are mainly waiting to do the high stuff that we need the lift for.
This weekend I will be sitting out front in a lawn chair with an iced tea directing my “Minions”. I highly recommend Minions.
Everyone should have some. Just make sure that you get Minions and not Lemmings. Minions are basically autonomous and
can go perform tasks. Lemmings just follow you around. Very annoying.
In Stores Now!
Preprogrammed LED Christmas trees that have 5 different songs and the LED’s change color and spin like our Mega Tree. I
think the one I saw was about $250. There are also boxes that you can plug light strings into that will play music and make
the lights dance. So, the world is catching up to us “home brew” folks. You know what they say in the Christmas Light
Business: “Grow or Die”.
Food Drive:
Update on the Virtual Food on the Second Harvest website. To donate to our drive do the following:
Go here: https://fooddrive.shfoodbank.com/default.aspx
Under the drop-down for Organization Type, select “Civic/Community Group”
Under the next drop-down for Organization Name, select “Severns-Pease Christmas Display”
That’s it! You’re in! You can shop for foods, or just put in a number. Either way, we will match donations up to $500.
You can also follow the link on the Food Drive page on our website and do the same thing.
Opening Night – 11/24 @ 8:00 pm:
Our Block Party permit has been issued and we get to close the street at 7:30 pm. So if you arrive earlier, please be aware
that cars take priority until 7:30… The show starts promptly at 8:00. Park on Utica and Tilton and walk down Utica to
Tangerine. Dress warmer than you think. Every year a few people bail out because they get too cold. Rain or shine! There
will be quite a bit of used and some new Xmas lights given away for free with a monetary food drive donation. Donate
money, you get to pick from the light bucket. We also will have a limited number of cardboard prismatic glasses that turn
each sparkle of light into a little star, snowman, Santa, etc. (www.holidayspecs.com) While supplies last with donation. At
the end of the night, all leftovers are fair game.
We will be debuting 4 (possibly 5) new songs this year and will be interested in your opinions using Wizards in Winter as a
benchmark. I haven’t really decided the best way to solicit input yet, but I’ll figure something out. Wait! I can have you
text a “1” for…. Never mind, that’s already been done.
The evening’s format will go something like this:
7:30-8:00: Mingle with friends and cider and cookies (don’t mingle with the cider and cookies, just consume them).
8:00: Opening Remarks.
A demonstration of the new display items for this year, by our newly named Polar Bear “Peezy”. Hey now! Something fishy
going on here…. More on this below.
National Anthem
The 4 new songs
A break for bulb count contest winner and behind the scenes tour (lights will be all on, good photo-op time).
Continuing on with classics both Christmas and non-Christmas.
The Grinch may make an appearance for photo-ops with the kids. We are still negotiating the contract (rider). Something
about only Green M&Ms in the Green Room. What is with this guy and the color Green?!
The Fishy Thing:
Note my Doctor’s nickname: “PZ”
Note the Polar Bear name: “Peezy”
COINCIDENCE!!??
Andy named the Polar Bear. If I was into conspiracy theories, I might think that Andy and my doctor were trying to
“Squeezy” me out… Then Andy could have the display all to himself! BWAA, HA, HA!!!!
Naw. He couldn’t do it without me. I know too much.
Never mind.
See you all on Saturday!
Dave
www.severex.com/xmas
11-23-07
Xmas Display Update #3 - Opening Night is Tomorrow!
I know some of you won’t see this because it goes to your work email. Sorry. But good for you for not checking. I’m also
sorry if this is going to your work email and you are actually at work. For the rest, here are a few more bits of info:
We actually finished the display on Wed. This was a first. Andy and I were able to watch football on Thanksgiving for the
first time in years.
The first rehearsal last night unveiled a few glitches. Most of which are already taken care of, with a couple that we need
darkness to test.
The weather for tomorrow is clear with temps in the low 50’s to high 40’s at around 8:00 pm. Dress warm!
Thanks for all the offers of Minions, although I think a few parents might have been trying to pass off Lemmings as
Minions…..
Second Harvest Food Bank will have a representative in attendance along with a video crew, so come dressed in your Santa
hats, etc.
We have finally closed the deal with The Grinch, who will be making a appearance at halftime for photos with the kids (and
adults). So bring your cameras and if you take any cool pictures of the display, send them my way for posting on the
website.
Our “first half” Playlist tomorrow night will be as follows:
Going over the New Stuff skit
Star Spangled Banner
Wizards in Winter
Carol of the Bells
Deck the Halls
Jingle Bells
Silent Night
Linus and Lucy
Carol of the Bells through Linus and Lucy are brand new. We would like your opinion on these new songs to see if any of
them warrant extra slots in the main playlist like we do with Wizards in Winter. You can print this list and bring it along, or
pick up a list at our donation/food table tomorrow. Scoring is easy. Just mark the ones you think deserve extra play time.
We will then have a 10-15 minute break where the lights will be all on (good for photos). We will give out the prize for the
bulb count contest, the Grinch will appear, and I will open the garage for “show and tell”. After that we will play previous
year’s favorites, such as Dueling Banjos (houses), Blue Christmas, I wish it Christmas Today (Muppets), Christmas Eve
Sarajevo, etc…..
And finally, thanks for all the well wishes! I’m still doing great!
See y’all tomorrow!
Dave
11-29-07
Xmas Display Update #4 - The Aftermath
Okay, that was a little dramatic. Actually, things are running fairly smoothly other than the fact that I let the snow machine
run dry which fried the pump. But, as I have learned when you put on a REALLY BIG SHOW, spare parts are a necessity,
and I happen to have a spare pump. So that’s today’s little job.
The Opening Night food drive total was almost $16,000. That beats last year’s Opening Night by $4,000. Thanks for all of
your generosity!
I’m sorry that I didn’t get to see and talk to all the friends that showed up, but thanks for coming anyway! I had set up a
little “Light-o-Rama for Dummies” demo that was very popular, so I spent a lot of time in the garage working with that. I
am going to apologize in advance to all the wives who heard something like this on the way home: “Honey, that was really
cool! I think I’m going to buy some of that stuff and do my own animated display next year.” I’m SORRY. Sorry. Sorry.
Sorry………………… Sorry.
Here are the results of the voting (new songs) from Opening Night.
#1 – Linus and Lucy (now getting extra playtime)
#2 – Stille Nachte (Silent Night)
#3 – Deck the Halls
#4 – Carol of the Bells
#5 – Jingle Bells
The playlist is now complete and posted on the website. Also completed on the website are the New Stuff page (still need to
add photos and video) and the Hours of Operation page. You can also find the audio file of the Opening Night New Stuff Skit
in a few places on the website. For those of you who attended, you saw Kelsey perform the Announcer role live (no lip
syncing at the SPXD!). The version posted on the website has my voice mixed in as the announcer. Note that the first
character voice heard is that of Rudolf saying “I’m ready!” because he assumes that he will be going over the new stuff like
he has in past years.
www.severex.com/audio/2007_new_stuff.mp3
Main website:
www.severex.com/xmas
Not much press this year so far. The Mercury News is scaling back and has sacked their Xmas Display article. Instead, you
go on their website and flounder about for a while and eventually, if you’re lucky, you stumble across a Google map that has
displays listed. The only other press that we are aware of is via the Silicon Valley Quilter’s Assoc. newsletter. This article
has not been published yet, but the working title is “Sharon Severns is Lit-Up”. Nice.
As most of you know, our playlist changes at 10:00 pm on weeknights to a quieter, mellower set of songs. In past years, the
display was set to what we called “Low Power mode” and we turned off icicles and a few other high power items.
Everything else was left on solid. No animation, just on. It turns out after doing some data acquisition on the power usage
from every circuit, that our Low Power mode was using more electricity than the normal program. This was because when
songs are animated, the lights are not on all the time. So even though we were turning off some stuff, the other stuff that
was all on was using more electricity than normal. So we have made a change to the Low Power Program that we believe
looks better and also uses less electricity. All of the songs do the same thing and are not synchronized to the lights, but the
lights are constantly moving and changing colors. Let us know what you think about the new look.
Before climbing up on the roof to pull the snow machine down to the workbench, I leave you with this little story of the
dangers of Light-o-Rama network debugging.
It was a dark and stormy night. Okay, not stormy, but definitely dark. I was having network troubles and had zeroed in on
the controller right outside of Andy’s office (which he was in, working at his JOB and aware that I was outside of his office
with a laptop). Now that the display is LOR controlled it is necessary to carry a laptop around sometimes to plug directly
into a controller and test it onsite, instead of unplugging all 16 channels and taking it into the shop. So picture the present
day “Christmas Light Engineer” with his brand new Vista laptop (actually his wife’s laptop), and his cute little LED headlamp
on his head. Stop laughing.
I put the laptop down on the concrete “mow strip” between Andy’s lawn and the bushes. Plug it into the controller and start
testing. As I’m running the song, I am wandering around looking at the different channels trying to understand why I am
getting “cross-talk” (geek speak) between channels. The laptop is playing Vince Guaraldi’s “The Christmas Song”. Very
mellow. I’m concentrating on my technical problem (hand on chin). All of a sudden a loud hissing noise is drowning out the
music (I know that after last year’s rat story that you are all guessing snake, but you are wrong). I break out of my
concentration with a “What the…..?” Then it comes to me. ANDY’S SPRINKLERS!!! “Oh, Crap!!” I’m ten feet away from the
laptop (Sharon’s laptop). I dive for it, slam the lid closed, yank out the network cable and run. Once I’m safe on Andy’s
walkway I open it up and only see a few little droplets of water on the keyboard. Close one! I knock on Andy’s door, and he
opens it with a “some of us have jobs” kind of look and I say something like “Are you trying to kill me?”. He says “Huh?”. I
point at the sprinklers and he says: “Oh Crap!!” I said: “That’s what I said!”
Up to the roof!
Dave
12/8/07
Xmas Display Update #5 - WebCam!
WebCam
I have periodically been asked (Cindy P.) why I don’t have a WebCam for those people who live too far away to come see
the display. Well, I have one now so stop NAGGING me!!!! The final straw? An email from an out of state cousin and a call
from my daughter (Long Beach) asking about a WebCam on the same day (yesterday). So I went digging through my closet
of old electronics crap (everybody has one of these, right?) and I found an old D-Link wireless surveillance camera which I
have now set up in our Living Room window looking out to our Magnolia tree and the street beyond. There are some
limitations:
• No audio.
• You must use Internet Explorer (no Mac browsers or Firefox). This camera has been listed at “End of Life” by D-Link
and they never wrote ActiveX controls for any browser but IE.
• But on the plus side, you can control it (rotate and tilt).
Go here for instructions on how to use it: www.severex.com/webcam
I am not posting a link to this page on the website yet, as this is a “Beta” test and I don’t want to get swamped with a bunch
of tech support requests if there are issues. If it’s popular, I might end up investing in some better equipment.
Live TV
Second Harvest Food Bank has invited me to be part of a promotion that they are doing in conjunction with Whole Foods.
They will be doing live spots from the Whole Foods in Cupertino on KPIX Channel 5 News on Tuesday evening. My one
minute spot will be at 5:18 pm. Yikes! I’ve done interviews before, but never live….. So tune in if you are the type who
enjoys watching someone “crash & burn”. Just remember, these type of things can change at the last minute, so you might
tune in to find a story on baby pandas instead. Be honest. What would you rather see? Me, or baby pandas? I’m going to
go with the pandas.
Speaking of 2nd Harvest, the Food Drive total is just a little over $20K.
Website www.severex.com/xmas
The website is mainly up to date except for the photos page (if anyone has good photos, send them my way). In
photographs, the display looks much like it did last year, so it hasn’t been one of my top priorities to get out and take them. I’
ll probably have some time this evening to take a few.
Check out Andy and me as dancing Elves on our home page. Or go directly: www.elfyourself.com/?id=1157113158 Here
are some of the reviews: “That is very disturbing”, “There is something wrong with that..” and the ever-popular: “That’s
just not right”. Judge for yourself…
That’s all for now (I had a post-it somewhere around here with other stuff to mention, but I lost it.)
12/15/07
Xmas Display Update #6 - Press!
You know that Post-it that I lost the last time? Never found it. Here’s what’s new:
Press:
We are starting to get some press and recognition this year. In addition to the Santa Clara Valley Quilters Assoc. newsletter
and the flyer from Realtors LeRoy & Vonda Porter of Coldwell Banker, we now have received the following
press/recognition:
• KPIX 5 Live interview
• Commendation from the City of Sunnyvale presented at the Sunnyvale SDA Church by Pastor Sam McKee and
Sunnyvale Mayor Otto Lee.
The interview and our cool certificates can be seen on our press page. www.severex.com/xmas-press
It looks like the SJ Mercury will be doing a Holiday Lights article this year. Publication date is set for Saturday, 12/22 and
so far it sounds like they will be using our panorama photo from 2006 as their lead photo (they were looking for a wide,
short photo). Unfortunately, they are publishing later in the season this year and the article will come out right during our
busiest time of the season, the 3 days before Christmas. I can guarantee that there will be grid-lock during peak hours on
these nights. Please help us by reading our viewing tips and passing the word. Parking around the corner and walking will
be the best way to view the display on these nights. www.severex.com/xmas-news
I have also posted info on this “Perfect Storm” scenario on our homepage. www.severex.com/xmas
One more bit of interesting press from an electric scooter website in Georgia (scroll to the bottom): http://www.electric-
scooters-galore.com/
New Video:
As part of our recognition by Pastor Sam and The Mayor, Pastor Sam and his church videographer Brad Elliott made and
presented the following video of one of our new songs for 2007, “Stille Nacht” by Mannheim Steamroller. Andy
programmed this one, so nice job to Brad and Andy! www.severex.com/videos/stille_nacht_2007.wmv
Food Drive:
We are closing in on last year’s record of $28,000. We are currently at $24,500 with quite a few “verbal commits” still out
there. The nightly take from the donation box is significantly up this year. Here is an interesting chart that shows that we
are within striking distance of hitting $100,000 total for our 5 years of food drives. www.severex.
com/images/food_drive_chart.pdf
This week’s Story:
I was sitting at lunch with some buddies last week and we had been talking about the Xmas Display. There was a lull in the
conversation as we were stuffing our faces, and then one of them lifts his head up, looks right at me and says: “Deacon
Dave… Friend or Foe?”. I was speechless for a second, and then said: “Friend!”. I actually have never met Deacon Dave,
but I have seen his display and I would not consider him a foe. So therefore, he is a friend. For those that don’t know,
Deacon Dave’s “House of the Dove” is a HUGE display in Livermore with 250,000 lights and many handmade scenes. http:
//www.casadelpomba.com/ . My buddy (Dave) won’t drop it. He says: “Do you think he knows about you?” I said that I
doubted it. Dave says: “You know about him, so he probably knows about you”. I suppose. I think Dave has watched too
many episodes of Home Improvement where Tim Taylor is in a Christmas Light battle to death with Doc Johnson, the
proctologist. Dave’s trying to get something started. He lives in Livermore. He’s probably over at Deacon Dave’s right
now… “Dave Severns… Friend or Foe?”.
12/20/07
Xmas Display Update #7 - Scouting at Disneyland & Food Drive
Hi All,
I just got back from a scouting trip to Disneyland with one half of the Tacky Committee (Sharon). We were gone for three
nights and Andy was in charge. He did all the daily duties which included getting four barrels of food prepped and moved
outside for a Second Harvest pickup, filling the snow fluid nightly, making sure there were flyers and playlists in the info
box, emptying the donation box and food barrels every night, picking up trash in the street, and checking the display for
malfunctions and failed bulbs. Thanks Andy! Nice job!
We went specifically to see the new snow “overlay” on Sleeping Beauty’s castle. This new lighting effect is done with all
white LED’s (and some strobes) and it looks AMAZING. They also run a “Light-o-rama like” show twice a night and animate
the castle. I now have all the stealth photos I need, if I ever decide to do this on our display. VERY UNLIKELY…. What else
did we learn from the Masters at Disney? Not telling. Let’s just say that I have many things to “ponder”.
And… Just to show that it happens to the best of them… Notice that the huge Christmas tree on Main Street in Disneyland is
having a slight power problem after the rain on Monday night. So, please cut us some slack if you see some lights out in our
display after a rain…
Now to the food drive part. The Severns Foundation has partnered with www.Jooners.com in a food drive fundraising
effort. For the first 500 people who fill out their survey, Jooners will donate $1 per survey through our Second Harvest
Food Drive. That means that we will match each donation dollar for dollar up to our mutual limit of $500 ea. If 500 people
fill out the survey, we will raise $1000! The subject of the survey is how you stay connected when you are on the go.
Daytimer, PDA, Smartphone, Outlook, etc.
So please consider helping out a startup dot-com and the hungry, by filling out and/or forwarding this survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xuEzsjQtWVR9A6_2b6SfLJDw_3d_3d
Thanks!
Dave
12/31/07
Xmas Display Update #8 - Winding Down...
Whew! The crush is behind us. As advertised, the Mercury News did use our photo as their lead for the annual Christmas
Displays article (http://severex.com/images/xmas07_merc_article_12-22-07.pdf ). And as predicted the crowds were
huge. What we didn’t expect was for the big crowds to continue after Christmas. They have not been as bad, but still very
busy every night. The display will run for two more nights: New Year’s Eve (we will run until midnight with Auld Lang Syne
playing at 12:00 followed by the Star Spangled Banner and shutdown), and News Years Day (full program until 10:00, 10:
00-11:00 low power and then dark for 11 months).
Thanks for your support! Our food drive is at $37,500 with $40,000 in our sights. Amazing.
Special thanks to our neighbors (especially Trumbull Ct.) who put up with all the traffic and noise. You’re The Best!!
Now for this issue’s story:
Yesterday (Sunday), I parked our truck in the #1 viewing position during the day so we could go out later with Andy and
Diane and watch from the comfort of a vehicle and be able to talk and plan for next year in private. We went out at about 7:
00 with wine bottles and See’s candy. Mmm….. After watching for about a half hour, Diane says something to Andy about
him not using the white shimmer lights on the Mega Tree (big blue/green tree) very often in his songs. We all agree and
start paying attention to the Mega Tree. Sure enough, no white lights. Then “White Christmas” begins to play. Still no white
lights. We finally come to the realization that the white lights on the Mega Tree have not been working the whole time, and
even worse, that they have never worked for the WHOLE SEASON!!! This is an indication that the display is getting out of
control. A major lighting element never worked and nobody noticed! Now we will take a portion of the blame here, but we
also have to blame you, our loyal “Display Watchers”. I know that there are people out there who count how many
characters are on Google’s home page (no I am not one of them) and get very upset and email Google when they add or
subtract too much (I supposed they are afraid the Internet will tilt on it’s axis or something….). My point is that someone
out there should have noticed! Come on, people! Bring your “A” game!
** End of Rant **
I’ll bet you are wondering what else was discussed in the truck last night. We have some big ideas. So many that they all
won’t make it in for 2008. One thing I can discuss, because we won’t actually do it… Sitting in the truck, having to run the
engine every few minutes to defrost the windows, we had an epiphany. Note that the epiphany occurred at some point
during the second glass of wine. LUXERY BOXES!!! That’s right! Right across the street. Kind of like what they put around
the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. We could sell them to the big companies, rent them out for $500/hr. Piped in music, food,
wine, beer… We could have our own Owner’s Box! Ahh…. To dream…
Oh, and I did fix the white lights on the Mega Tree, so you have two nights to come out and see them.
I’ll send out one more update with the final food drive totals and any interesting stories that occur during teardown.
Happy New Year!
Dave
12-31-07
Xmas Display Update #9 - Winding Down
Whew! The crush is behind us. As advertised, the Mercury News did use our photo as their lead for the annual Christmas
Displays article (http://severex.com/images/xmas07_merc_article_12-22-07.pdf ). And as predicted the crowds were
huge. What we didn’t expect was for the big crowds to continue after Christmas. They have not been as bad, but still very
busy every night. The display will run for two more nights: New Year’s Eve (we will run until midnight with Auld Lang Syne
playing at 12:00 followed by the Star Spangled Banner and shutdown), and News Years Day (full program until 10:00, 10:
00-11:00 low power and then dark for 11 months).
Thanks for your support! Our food drive is at $37,500 with $40,000 in our sights. Amazing.
Special thanks to our neighbors (especially Trumbull Ct.) who put up with all the traffic and noise. You’re The Best!!
Now for this issue’s story:
Yesterday (Sunday), I parked our truck in the #1 viewing position during the day so we could go out later with Andy and
Diane and watch from the comfort of a vehicle and be able to talk and plan for next year in private. We went out at about 7:
00 with wine bottles and See’s candy. Mmm….. After watching for about a half hour, Diane says something to Andy about
him not using the white shimmer lights on the Mega Tree (big blue/green tree) very often in his songs. We all agree and
start paying attention to the Mega Tree. Sure enough, no white lights. Then “White Christmas” begins to play. Still no white
lights. We finally come to the realization that the white lights on the Mega Tree have not been working the whole time, and
even worse, that they have never worked for the WHOLE SEASON!!! This is an indication that the display is getting out of
control. A major lighting element never worked and nobody noticed! Now we will take a portion of the blame here, but we
also have to blame you, our loyal “Display Watchers”. I know that there are people out there who count how many
characters are on Google’s home page (no I am not one of them) and get very upset and email Google when they add or
subtract too much (I supposed they are afraid the Internet will tilt on it’s axis or something….). My point is that someone
out there should have noticed! Come on, people! Bring your “A” game!
** End of Rant **
I’ll bet you are wondering what else was discussed in the truck last night. We have some big ideas. So many that they all
won’t make it in for 2008. One thing I can discuss, because we won’t actually do it… Sitting in the truck, having to run the
engine every few minutes to defrost the windows, we had an epiphany. Note that the epiphany occurred at some point
during the second glass of wine. LUXERY BOXES!!! That’s right! Right across the street. Kind of like what they put around
the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. We could sell them to the big companies, rent them out for $500/hr. Piped in music, food,
wine, beer… We could have our own Owner’s Box! Ahh…. To dream…
Oh, and I did fix the white lights on the Mega Tree, so you have two nights to come out and see them.
I’ll send out one more update with the final food drive totals and any interesting stories that occur during teardown.
Happy New Year!
Dave
1-14-08
Xmas Display Update #10 - Done!
Everything is down and put away. The Food Drive is over. Sigh…. I think I’m suffering from “Post Christmas Display
Depression” (PCDD). I guess some others in the animated Christmas display world must be suffering from PCDD too. The
main forum for animated Christmas displays is on www.PlanetChristmas.com. Planet Christmas was founded by Chuck
Smith who created the first big computerized display in Tennessee back in the 1900s (okay, late 1900s). When I went to
the Planet Christmas Forums page last night, this is what I saw:
January 13, 2008. The PlanetChristmas forums are currently off-line.
Too many people seem to be in a grouchy mood which goes against the spirit of our community and really disappoints
me. We can do so much better. Please check back later. The PlanetChristmas website is still avialable at http://www.
PlanetChristmas.com"
Ohhh… Chuck is MAD!!! Looks like he had to put some of us in a “time-out”. I just checked it again and it’s back up, so
hopefully everyone “learned their lesson”.
And just because I know you are wondering…. No, I was not part of any “Grouchiness” on the PC forums. I haven’t posted
there in over a year. I do my grouchy posting on the Light-o-Rama forum.
Food Drive:
The final number is……d…r…u…m……r…o…l…l…….: $45,924.61 & 1,819 lbs. of food!
Yikes!! How are we going to beat that next year? More details on or Food Drive Page: www.severex.com/xmas-fooddrive
Last year’s dollar number was $28,498. We destroyed last year’s record. This is even more impressive given that in
general, food donations are down this year. Click here for a year to year chart showing all of food drive totals: http://www.
severex.com/images/food_drive_chart.pdf . Our five year total is now over $113,000.
Heartfelt thanks to all who participated!
Geek Stuff:
For those interested in our electrical consumption/production, our (Severns house) December electrical bill went down from
$433.57 in 2006 to $315.31 in 2007. That's a 38% improvement! Reasons? Solar production was nearly the same: 503
kWh in 07 vs. 499 kWh in 06. There were 3 major items that lowered our power consumption:
1) CFL's and LED lighting throughout the house.
2) LEDs in the display: American Flag, Reindeer Pond, Rose Bushes, Food Barrels
3) Energy efficient display programming. We reprogrammed out Late Night 10-11 PM Program for lower power
consumption. We did a lot of slow color fades and lowered the intensity levels of many of the lighting elements. Also, during
the main program we set a lot of the lights (like the icicles) at 80% power. To the human eye, 80% looks like 100%.
I’ve actually got a software enhancement request in to Light-o-Rama that would allow the user to enter max power for each
channel in watts and then have the software tell you how much power each song uses. We shall see….
With all of these savings, we will end up with a $300-$400 dollar surplus at our "True-up" date in July. That' over 2,500
kWh hours that we will "donate" to the California Grid.
I need to get that electric car! At 3 kWh per mile, that’s 7,500 miles of free driving!
Charts can be found on our Solar Power page: www.severex.com/pv .
Teardown:
Neighbor Josh Levin and two of his friends volunteered to help with teardown. The three of them, along with Josh’s mom
Carrie, spent 5 hours on Wed. January 2nd removing lights from trees. They completely finished the rear tree, the mega
tree, and finished about 80% of Andy’s magnolia tree. That got us off to a flying start, and we finished the teardown in less
than a week. Photos of the teardown crew can be found on our website on the behind the scenes page: www.severex.
com/xmas-bts .
Misc:
Ever wonder what a wreath made out of burned out Christmas light bulbs would look like? Me neither, but since I just put
the image in your head, I’ll bet you’re wondering now…. To see the wreath that Kelsey made for a White Elephant gift, go to
the bottom of our Sparks of Inspiration page: www.severex.com/xmas-sparks
And for those who were wondering if we were actually making any money off the Google ads on the website, we made a
whopping $50!!! That’s three strings of LED lights! Unfortunately, Google won’t send a check until your balance reaches
$100, and then there are taxes….. So I guess it’s more like 2 strings of LED lights. No fake clicks please. It’s illegal, and
Google will hunt you down…. and….. Google you!
Speaking of LED lights…. You can get a tiny sneak peak of what we are up to for 2008 by going near the bottom of our
behind the scenes page (where the teardown crew pictures are). 2008 plans will include some big additions. The Tacky
committee has approved the changes and I am currently calculating materials needed for a bulk order purchase from China.
It never ends. But these emails will (for a while). This is it for 2007. The next Xmas Display email will be sent in Sept/Oct
2008.
Thanks for all of your support!
Dave
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