Merry Christmas
Year: 2004 (from newest to oldest)
Saturday, December 25th, 2004
Friday, December 10th, 2004
Holly’s 10th Birthday Party
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Tuesday, December 7th, 2004
Christmas Lights Photos
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Christmas Lights Photos. Our first holiday season in our new house is also the first time we’ve ever put up Christmas lights. I had visions of a Griswold-style spectacle, but I was able to restrain myself and keep the display fairly tasteful.
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Thursday, November 11th, 2004
Photos of Furnished Rooms
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Thursday, November 11th, 2004
School Photos
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In case you haven’t been keeping up, Andrew is in 7th grade and Holly is in 4th. |
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Monday, October 18th, 2004
2004 Texas LD Shootout
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Monday, October 18th, 2004
2004 Texas LD Shootout
The Armstrong boys spent the weekend in Houston for the first annual Texas LD Shootout, a long-distance boomerang tournament. Ace and I didn’t expect to be able compete with our lone phenolic LD boomerang, but we knew we’d have some fun. It was amazing to see so many boomerangs fly over 100 meters with a full return. Everyone was super-nice, especially after our only LD boom ended up in two pieces. Roy Dempsey and David Bacque loaned us very nice boomerangs that we were able to achieve personal-best throws with (Ace-69m, me-83m), and I ended up purchasing a super-high-tech model from the tournament champion and new Canadian record holder, Andrew Cross. Hopefully with it, I’ll be joining the 100 Meter Club whenever I can make it to another tournament. Even though Ace was the only junior thrower, he represented himself quite well, and he definitely deserved to be Junior Champion. His pick from the prize table was a very nice “Anaconda” boomerang by Alberto Sabal of Mar del Plata, Argentina. My pick was a neat sport model that maker David Bacque says will go around 60 meters. I gotta find a decent field to try it out. Though I didn’t take as many photos as I’d’ve liked, I have put up a gallery of the pictures I was able to take.
Wednesday, August 18th, 2004
Home Theater Page
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Home Theater Page. The home theater has started shaping up. I’ve put together a Home Theater Page to track its evolution.
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Monday, August 16th, 2004
First Day of School
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First Day of School. The kids were both excited about their first day in public school. As you can see from the photos, Holly has to be ready for the bus before the sun is even up. Andrew gets to wait about 30 minutes longer. (As usual, click the small picture to see a larger one.)
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Saturday, July 31st, 2004
Built the Black Velvet Frame
I had read that a black frame with light-absorbing material would increase the apparent contrast of the projector’s picture. It also makes it easier to get the picture to appear perfectly aligned because any part of the picture that is slightly over onto the black frame will be absorbed and disappear.
This frame is made of 1x4s and wrapped in black velvet. The velvet frame is attached to the original frame using homemade 1/4″ plywood braces and brass wood screws.
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Building the black velvet masking frame. It is sized to fit around the existing 96″x54″ screen. I had to measure each board, then carry it downstairs so I could cut it using a miter box. |
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The frame is built and ready for the velvet to be applied. The frame pieces aren’t yet connected in any way. I’m just verifying the sizes and angles. |
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About to wrap one of the frame pieces with black velvet. Spray adhesive was used. This was a bit of a messy job, but it turned out great. Again, an extra set of hands made things much easier. |
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Backside view of the completed screen. Black velvet was wrapped around all frame pieces. 1/4 inch plywood was used for corner and edge braces for connecting this frame to the existing screen frame with brass wood screws. |
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Completed screen back up on the wall. With the black frame, the overall screen is larger and I was able to completely cover the window instead of having to use blackout cloth. I have also rewired and evened up the front speakers. I still need to get some proper component shelving. Yes, that is a set of “rabbit ears”. I use them for reception of over-the-air HDTV. |