For christmas

[dean]

Hey Scottie, bout how many ships will I have to plunder to be able to afford a c-stand?

That's on my 'to buy for film junk' list, though I think I'm in more need of a proper microphone with make-shift boom than anything else really.

Just curious!

[Mr_Vindictive]

Zap,

I've been looking at a 61" InFocus DLP that shows up on Woot.com every now and then.  Is DLP worth the money, or should I hold out for a large price drop on an LCD/Plasma?

[Derf]

I've already been dissed for my present by my brothers-in-law, but I think it's kind of cool. I got all three seasons of Gilligan's Island on DVD. I've always had a soft spot for the castaways (and my fantasy has always been to live on a deserted island), so I'll enjoy rewatching the show. No one around here appreciates my taste in movies (or much else, for that matter), so no one gets me movies.

I also got some gift cards, but I haven't decided what to get with them yet. I may get a better MP3 player. Or lots of DVDs.

[Scottie]

Dean wrote:

"Hey Scottie, bout how many ships will I have to plunder to be able to afford a c-stand?"

>
>
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Go to ebay. On ebay there is a photographic wholesale dealer called Amvona.com

http://stores.ebay.com/amvona-com

Amvona sells ridiculously cheap equipment because they have a ridiculous amount of it. My c-stand only cost $103 for an x-large one and I bought an $800 wholesale tripod base for only $54.

Right now there's a medium sized c-stand for bid with three hours left and an auction price of $45. An x-large one like I got is selling for $63. If those prices are too high, wait it out. Again, they sell stuff in cycles all the time so if a price is too high for you on one auction, wait for another one to come around because it will, and it will probably be cheaper.

A microphone is a great idea, but buy a decent boom pole to go with it or you'll hear your boompole operator's shifting hands the whole time. Buy something with rubber grippers and an extension. Also, to go with all of that, I suggest buying a DAT or Mini disc recorder for external sound, just because no matter what form of in-camera sound you are using, it will never be better than 16 bit. I've used both and they both work fine. But remember, these digital recordering devices will only sync up to digital video. If you try to use film, they will go out of sync. For film, you'll either need to get a crystal sync motor ($$) that matches the frequency of the digital recorder or use a reel to reel Nagra ($$).

Enjoy.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I didn't make out so great as y'all.   I got a bunch of much needed shirts, some books, a lot of food and cooking stuff, the obligatoory $1 Felix the Cat DVD from Target, and seat covers for the car.   Our big gift to ourselves was to replace our awful 15 year old 80's styl;d blue corduroy couch with something from THIS century.  All in all it was an embarassingly practical Christmas.  At least it was spent in a beach house on the coast, courtesy of my folks visiting.  

-Ed

[raj]

I got three pairs of LLBean flannel lined pants and new slippers (my last heating bill was $145, so that's what I wanted) and a DVD of The Producers.  Who needs Nathan Lane and Mat Broderick when you've got Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.

It was the first Christmas with my new dog, Sparky.  I wasn't sure how he'd handle a Christmas tree, the wine rack in the kitchen spooks him, but he was fine with it and with my parents' Westie.

The Media Play here in Toledo (& elsewhere) is going out of business, right now things are 40% off, and it looks like there are some good pickings still left.  That's my plan for tomorrow.

[raj]

I got three pairs of LLBean flannel lined pants and new slippers (my last heating bill was $145, so that's what I wanted) and a DVD of The Producers.  Who needs Nathan Lane and Mat Broderick when you've got Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder.

It was the first Christmas with my new dog, Sparky.  I wasn't sure how he'd handle a Christmas tree, the wine rack in the kitchen spooks him, but he was fine with it and with my parents' Westie.

The Media Play here in Toledo (& elsewhere) is going out of business, right now things are 40% off, and it looks like there are some good pickings still left.  That's my plan for tomorrow.

[raj]

Sorry for the double post, it didn't show up the first time.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Here is what I got:

Seasons 1-4 of Curb Your Enthusiasm - Gotta love Larry David.  Episode after episode, the man makes an ass out of himself, and everytime it is hilarious.  One of the best shows on TV, and I'm glad to have it on DVD.

Minority Report - Got this one on DVD.  I still haven't seen it, although I've heard it's quite good.  

20 Minute APC UPS - I'm a big computer nerd, and my old battery backup recently died.  I was given a mid-range APC battery backup from my parents as a replacement.

Various clothes

Scene It - Actually the only thing that I mentioned I wanted for Christmas.  Really fun game to get a group of friends playing.  The variety of the questions really surprised me.


F.E.A.R. + Quake 4 (PC) - Got both of these for Christmas from my wife along with the Curb box set.  I'll be doing a brief write up on the site soon comparing both games.


That is it.

[Susan]

Dean, a facial? How very metrosexual ;-)  

Menard - i'm like you, I'm about to go on amazon and start buying xmas gifts to myself. After all, at least I know i'll like them. And I don't think I can wait until next xmas!

Btw if anyone is thinking of getting an MP3 player I can recommend IRiver, I have an older model but they are GREAT (plus im a fan of the neckstrap feature, most mp3's only come with clips or armbands), i would think the newer ones with the 1 gigs aren't much different. They also come with pretty cool earbuds - Sennheiser (sp?) Just a word of advice, although I love my new 1 gig mp3 which was a gift and I am very grateful for it - don't ever buy Sony. They have this little restriction where the software can detect if you downloaded music on your player from other computers and it won't allow you to make any transfers until you delete everything. Plus their earbuds are too big and Sony brand, so the sound isn't as great as my other ones and they hurt my ears, i'm going to swap out the buds but i'm thinking of ordering an extra pair since i will still use my other mp3.

While I spent most of today putting up all my xmas crap, I watched "King Kong" last night and plan on popping in either the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits tonight. Anyone have any favorite Outer Limits episodes? I only watched this show YEARS ago so none of them are familiar to me.

There was a Twilight Zone episode I popped in last night that was good - 8 astronauts go into space and are lost. The ship crashes on a planet and all die but 3 who have little water and their surroundings are hot and desertlike. They search in all directions for signs of life or something, and one of the guys starts to go a little crazy. He kills one of the others for his water and plots on killing the Captain. Just at the end there's a great little twist where one of them is dying and points to something over the mountain he saw. Then when all are dead but the one crazy guy he marches up that hill and looks on the other side

and he finds.....



a road with telephone poles. They are in Nevada and never left earth.

[Zapranoth]

Ska,

We looked a lots of big-ass TVs before we decided.  I think whatever you do, you must personally look at *the* model you are considering buying before you buy it.  There are so many pros and cons, but we liked the DLP's clarity, color, and wide viewing angle.  (I sound like an ad.)  Nice simple lines to it, not a lot of wasted space.    We've watched some big movies on this set so far (Lord of the Rings movies) and stuff like ST: TNG episodes, and we've loved it.  

We've been watching season 2 of Galactica, enjoying that quite a lot.    I better watch it, because if I buy a Twilight Zone DVD, I'll end up buying all of them...  Ah, I'd love to see "Time Enough At  Last" again.  (Burgess Meredith, the misanthrope who loves his books, and ends up being the only man left on earth... remember that one?)

[dean]

Used to love Outer LImits.  A late nigtht TV indulgence for me.  Although I can't remember many episodes off the top of my head, I do remember one where the power went down in some small town, except in the foriegner's house, and eventually the people went crazy and trashed the place.  Of course, all this was just a test by the government to see how ready the population was in case of crisis, and as such it's a great episode.

You really have got to love irony like that, and Outer Limits was full of it!

[oh and I didn't choose to get the facial, Susan, but my GF is a stickler for looking after your skin, but hey, if that's the price for being beautiful, that's fine by me!]

[Amanda]

This is my Christmas haul:

Firefly
The Dead Next Door
Escanaba in Da Moonlight
Dark Angel, season 1
American Gothic the series
Concert DVD - Killswitch Engage


Band T-shirts,  Return of the Living Dead t-shirt, Night of the Living Dead hoodie, "Zombie Repellent" T-shirt, and jewelry.  Yes.  It was a delightful Christmas.  Concerns were voiced that perhaps my zombie "obsession" was "unhealthy".   I say nay.  

[dean]

Amanda, one can never have an unhealthy zombie obsession.  Sounds like a fantastic set of gifts!

[Amanda]

Yeah... I was terribly pleased.  And that's what I tell them, but they don't listen.  *L*