Alyssa Lee

Kev is holding Alyssa here but the proud father is on the right

Holy cow, my cousin Irwin is a dad now! Born 8/26/2006. 6 1/2 lbs and 20 in. long. Lovely baby.

Selina's visit

My favorite combo at BCD. However, this last time was a bit too spicy that I almost cried.

Hey, who's this guy?

Selina came down to visit this weekend and hang out. We watched some Grey's Anatomy (yes, it's becoming a guilty pleasure for me), went to Santa Monica Beach and 3rd St Promenade and ate at BCD Tofu house. Viks and her also did some shopping for good measure.

Mitsubishi HC3000 DVD and HD screenshots

Grey's Anatomy (Time Warner Cable HD)

Standoff (Time Warner Cable HD)

Nascar (Time Warner Cable HD)

USC vs NEB (Time Warner Cable HD .. no, I'm not a USC fan)

I Robot (SD DVD upconverted to 720p)

LOTR: ROTK (SD DVD upconverted to 720p)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (SD DVD upconverted to 720p)

Gladiator (SD DVD upconverted to 720p)

The wrinkles / waves on the 106" made me put back up the 92". When I made the purchase, the wrinkles / waves was really a big oversight on my part . I know now that for a screen larger than 92", a tensioned screen is a must. This weekend I adjusted the rear shelf height to meet the ~ 32% offset of the Mitsubishi HC3000. Tonight I spackled and used touch up paint to cover up the old drilled holes on my rear wall. I also did a quick calibration of the Mitsubishi this evening using Avia. I know the results are not perfect but I am content with the results so far. Compared to the Sharp, the picture is much sharper, contrast is better, colors are richer / more saturated, and there is less picture noise. The Mits also runs quieter than the Sharp which is a huge plus for me. I will be the first to say that my pictures are not the best since I do not have a tripod (yes yes, some pictures are crooked) and was trying my best to have a steady hand!

Watching more and more epic films that are in 2.35:1 scope like LOTR, Star Wars, Gladiator, etc. has made me better understand the virtues of a 2.35 Constant Height Setup. Doh... mu....st....re....sist...upg...rade..bug. I am pretty sure Viks would kill me if I spent that kind of money right now. I am already lucky to get the WAF for this setup as it is..better not press my luck ;-)

Keane Concert cancelled

In fact the whole North American tour has been cancelled. Bummer. Tom's gotta go to rehab.. the life of a rock star. I was really looking forward to the concert too.

I wish I could take credit for this wonderful picture. It's from a fan.. Kerry Heary in London Astoria, June 9 2006. It was the winning photo from the recent Keane newsletter photo contest.

Remembering

Five years ago I remember driving to work and hearing about the twin towers on Wild 94.9 FM (of all stations..I know). For a little while I thought it was another stupid prank but I soon realized it wasn't. My reaction was not much different from many others. The coming weekend I drove down to So. Cal to visit Viks cause my Southwest flight was cancelled. I remember listening to the news the entire drive down just trying to understand the scope and impact of it all. I am still deeply affected when I read/hear/see stories of a loss. While the event did not directly affect me, if anything it has made me more humble and grateful for what I have.

Korea House dinner

I always forget my camera at opportune moments. I forgot to bring it for Alice's b-day dinner and when my cousin Ed + Loretta came to visit our house last month. Here I borrowed SMCs and she was finally able to send it to me. We ate at Korea house on 8/23. I really like the food there. I was told they give you free "refills" on the Jab Chae but we sure didn't get many "refills." I suspect too many people have been asking.

Returned the Sharp XV-Z2000

After much attempted tweaking and re-tweaking, I just couldn't get the Sharp dialed into a satisfying image. While the picture is certainly good, it's not great in my eyes. I really wanted to like the picture and for a little while I thought I could. However, the relatively soft picture, weakness in color (faces either have a "red push" or are pale when you adjust the color or reds), and the image noise compared to my old Toshiba MT700 were the deal breakers. I have found a really good deal on the highly acclaimed Mitsubishi HC3000 (probably due to the rumored HC3100 with DC3 on the way). I initially did not want the Mits due to the higher cost and 32% offset but both are non issues now. Based on throw distance I may not be able to use the 106" screen anymore (and we just started to really appreciate the size!) .

Sharp XV-Z2000 mini review + screenshots

Nascar in HD (more waves :-( )

Nascar in HD (notice the waves? :-( )

Grey's Anatomy in HD (the compression in HD cable broadcasts drives me bonkers!)

LOTR ROTK (std def dvd upconverted to 720p)

LOTR ROTK (std def dvd upconverted to 720p)

I Robot (std def dvd upconverted to 720p)

Viks helped me to finally install the new 106" screen. Luckily the wall mounts were just about a perfect distance apart to hold the screen. After living with the new projector and the new screen for some time I have to say I have mixed feelings about the new setup. The larger screen size does create a more immersive cinematic experience. After performing some basic calibration, the picture quality is very good with standard definition DVD and very good with high definition cable..good color saturation, good blacks, etc. much in line with the numerous reviews and forum feedback. However, the things I'm currently struggling with 1) The Sharp, ironically, is less sharper than my previous Toshiba via DVI 2) the larger screen exacerbates the softness as well as any source artifacts/anomolies 3) the new screen has waves due to it's larger area and lack of tension at the edges which distorts the image on brightly lit scenes ..tension screens are $$$..(see Nascar HD shot).

Given our living room dimensions, there are not too many other solutions that work well for us today. Most front projectors today come with an HDMI connector which I really do not like in terms of phyisical ruggedness. There is no method to lock the HDMI cable in securely like DVI. My old Toshiba had it's HDMI port fail several times. This was a huge reason why I went with the Sharp. Like many things in life, it's about tradeoffs . When it comes down to it, I think I can live with the shortcomings of the Sharp til the 1080p front projectors comes down to a reasonable price in which I will of course get the upgrade bug. For the cost, it really is an outstanding value. But who knows, I may also change my mind in near future and return the Sharp for another solution. Re: the screen, I need to scratch my head on that one. Maybe I can figure out a cost effective solution.

While the Sharp + screen have their shortcomings, my picture shots also do not help much as I took the shots by hand and was fiddling around with the ISO settings which probably added noise to the photos.