Funny thing happened on the way to the theater

So we got Danny and Brenna off to their 4 day camp, then back home with Lauren and MJ.  Lauren went over to a friend’s house and so MJ, Angie and I were playing on  our computers.  Angie decided we’d sneak out to see Kung Fu Panda with MJ.  But we got a late start and couldn’t make the movie show time.

The next show would start after we’d have to pick up Lauren, so we worked out some logistics, then decided to go to Cosco to fill our larder.  After grabbing some frozen stuff to put in our freezer in the garage, we figured had a bit of time to do some window shopping.

Wait, need to esplain, no it is too much, will summ up: Our current HDTV has lost one of the color channels.  Unless we like watching smurfs or leprhchans (blue of green) watching our TV had become a little frustrating.  Especially, if like Angie loves to do, you’re watching a home design show and they decribe a vibrant yellow that looks like a muddy green.  So yesterday it was sorta like the TV commercial where the wife says, yeah, we need a new TV, and the guy grabs his keys.

We went to Conn’s, mostly because we have good credit history with them (about to pay off three kitchen appliances we bought in ’05) and started looking.  Our current TV is a 28″ HDTV CRT, and so we started out at around 30″ and just kept going up.  We liked a 46″ LCD, and so asked the salesman to run a credit check.  While he was doing that we wandered to the rear of the store and found some absolutely lovely DLPs.  The price for DLPs is much less than an LCD, the cost is a bit more space (can’t wall mount) and a DLP does have a bulb that will wear out.  So while we were watching the pretty pictures, and wondering around the small furniture section, the sales guy comes back and says, you can pretty much get what you want (he ran the high end of the LCDs we were looking at).  I respond with, “That’s a bit scary.”  We talked with him a bit about the DLPs, then it was time to get Lauren, and try to make the show.

Only we waited to long, by the time we got Lauren and headed back to the freeway, the clock had again ticked past and we’d get to the theater too late.  So back home to do research and discuss some options.  We use our living room to host a weekly American Idol party when that’s in season, and so that was part of the discussion.  We talked viewing angles, and flexibility of rearranging, and sizes, and by the end of the time, we’d pretty much agreed on a moderate sized LCD in the middle of our price range.

We set off to Pei Wei to eat, then back to Conn’s to make the buying decision.  We got back to the store, and start to look and narrow down.  The one I liked from my research was a bit about our agreed upon price point, and so we hemmed and hawed, and wound up back in the back with the DLPs, and a nice console that met Angie’s standards.  The console ended up being out of stock, and then looked at the DLPs a bit more closer, the one we liked was a 60″, but next to it, the same model and features was a 65” a hundred less.  We bit, then added an upscaling DVD player (not ready for Blu-Ray yet) and some cables, and we’re out the door.

We had to drive to almost Irving to pick up the behemoth after dropping off the kids, to clear out the van.  The box filled up the back of the van (with the seats folded), and setup was a breeze.  We obviously need to do some rearranging, and maybe buy different furniture for it.

Once we placed it in the room, we realized how absolutely ginormous this thing is… Turning it on, was surreal, crisp vibrant colors, deep fine features in 1080i from the Verizon FiOS tuner.  MJ, just wanted to play a game, so he hooked up his SpongeBob game contoller and got lovely 16bit quality pixelated video that he played avidly.  Still have to test the Wii and hookup the upconverting DVD.

As you can see from the picture, about 4 of our old screens would fit in the screen size of the new one.  We’re a bit overwhelmed, but I think we can adapt. :)  (link to the TV at amazon)

20 seconds left…

I don’t talk enough sport on my blog. I need to change that.

One of the things I do enjoy doing is reading Gregg Easterbrook’s weekly Tuesday Morning Quarterback column that is currently a weekly feature at ESPN’s Page 2. He writes wonderfully about all the games from the previous weekends, and has some long standing rules about how football should be played, the common coaching mistakes that end up costing a game. His style is that football is still a game that should include a running game, don’t get all pass-wacky and defense and clock-management matter. With that said, I think I can predict that Gregg will touch on a few points regarding last nights incredible Cowboys comeback.

If you turned off MNF last night after Tony Romo through his fifth interception, or when T.O. dropped the game-tying two point conversion, or after the last second icing the kicker time out, you probably now know you missed out on one of the more exciting MNF games in recent memory. It was supposed to be common MNF fare (of late) where the dominant team (Dallas 4-0) gets the prime time chance to show off against a much weaker team (Buffalo 1-3). But Buffalo doesn’t get many chances to play their 90s Super Bowl rivals, and the fans were pumped. Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas were on the sidelines. Marv Levy was haunting the coaching booth upstairs. And the Bills came to play. They haunted Tony Romo, who missed an opportunity to sell himself in his contract negotiaions (though Jerry said, his stock went up…yeah, we’ll see Jer.) by plucking his passes out of the air, and running them back for scores. Their special teams lit up the Boy’s suspect return team for another score. The Cowboys were down 8 with less than two minutes left. (Though the defense only gave up a field goal all game… 21 points on INT and Kick returns, yeoouch, that’s a hole). Some how the football gods wanted to bless the Dallas Cowboys.

[update: Here is today’s TMQ, where Gregg says exactly what I’m about to say… only better with more snark…]

]But it wasn’t all the blessings of the gods, the shrewd Bills coach had a chance to seal the deal before the two-minute warning. 3:58 left on the clock, third down and long, Buffalo calls a pass-play. Incomplete. Up eight points, I think run the ball, keep the clock moving, force Dallas to burn a time out, or take another 45 seconds off the clock. That happens we don’t have the on-side kick, maybe not even the potential game-scoring touchdown and two-pointer. Instead the incomplete, stops the clock, and give Dallas almost 4 minutes and 3 timeouts to set up the craziest 20 seconds in football.

But let me also cast a sidelong glance at the Cowboys. Passing on a two-point conversion with the Predator, Marion Barber not even in the backfield??? What? Seriously, get your big men up front, have the tired and demoralized Buffalo front men set up, and shove the ball to Marion who will get into pay-dirt from two yards out with the game on the line. Passing to T.O. who dropped umpteen passes in the game over the top. They deserved having to onside.

The icing call was such the icing on the cake. The Buf coach would have been hailed as genius, even though his fourth quarter play calling kept the Boys in the game. And how great a Folk-lore has been started with the rookie kicker with ice-water in his veins. Not only hitting back to back 5357-yarders, but also changing the hike count on the second kick that induced the Bills offsides, and would have given him a third chance to win the game.

Tony, if you get a signing bonus, make sure you take that Folk kid to dinner.