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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject: Announcing the 2009 East Coast Blend Meet: Part Trois |
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Ladies & Gentlemen;
It is with extreme pleasure that the BBQ God and I announce the date of the 2009 East Coast Blend Meet: Saturday, 2009 October 17.
This Meet has is also known as "The East Coast Blendzilla Meet, Part Trois"
We hope you all can come to gorgeous Northern Virginia in the Fall, and enjoy the MP Mod'd Matched Marquee 9500LC Ultras blended on the 12' wide SmX screen in action. Not as much light as the Triple Stack, but fun none the less.
Don & William
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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overclkr
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 4227
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Link Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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I'm there!!!!!!!!
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emdawgz1
Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949
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Clarence
Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 3792 Location: Smith Mtn Lake, VA
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Link Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:06 am Post subject: |
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Already bought my tickets and booked a place to stay!
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 1:37 pm Post subject: Attendee List |
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The current attendee list is:
Don Wallace (BBQ God, aka Wallace1234, aka Wallace123456)
Cliffy (Overclkr)
John (Emdawqz1)
Clarence (Clarence)
MP ???
JBJR ???
Arli (Bomrat) ???
Adam (BBfarmht) ???
Ben & Cheryl (CRTBen) ???
Curt Palme ???
Gino ???
William (+ lovely & talented Cheryl)
Plus 8 Mystery Guests
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 1:42 pm Post subject: New & Improved Current Attendee List |
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The current attendee list is:
Don Wallace (BBQ God, aka Wallace1234, aka Wallace123456)
Cliffy (Overclkr)
John (Emdawqz1)
Clarence (Clarence)
Mike (MP)
JBJR ???
Arli (Bomrat) ???
Ken Whitcomb???
Craig Rounds (CIR Engineering)
Adam (BBfarmht)
Bob (Citation4444)
Dropzone7
Ben & Cheryl (CRTBen & CRTCheryl) ???
Curt Palme ???
Gino ???
William (+ lovely & talented Cheryl)
Plus 8 Mystery Guests
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 3:21 pm Post subject: Pullin Back the Curtain A Little |
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Dudes & Dudettes;
There have been some major changes to the Great East Coast Blend Laboratory (aka the HT version 4.3) since ya'll have frequented these here parts. To wit:
1) The right projector, formerly known as the right Marquee 9500LC has had the rest of its innards upgraded to Ultra status, and is now a real genuine MP mod'd Marquee 9500LC Ultra. This projector used to be Mike's reference 9500, so it has special MP mods that few other Marquees anywhere in the world possess. MP & I did this final conversion the week of Thanksgiving, last Fall.
2) The left projector, formerly known as the left Marquee 9000LC was replaced in its entirety with the projector formerly known as MP's lowly lowly 8500AC Ultra. Mike and I swapped the 9" CRTs (plus housings & mounting plates) from the Marquee 9000 into the Marquee 8500AC Ultra, converting it to a Marquee 9500LC Ultra. The lowly lowly 8500AC Ultra was Mike's reference 8" CRT projector and also had special MP mods that few other Marquees anywhere in the world possess. Of course, the MP mod'd video chain (neckboards + VIM) were moved from the Marquee 9000LC to the 9500 Ultra, fully converting it to a real genuine MP mod'd Marquee 9500LC Ultra. MP & I did this last year between Christmas & New Years Day. For the first time I had matched MP mod'd Marquee 9500LC Ultras mounted on the ceiling!!!
3) An unexpected added benefit of fully converting each projector to an Ultra was that the light output of each projector increased noticeably. I turned the contrast setting down from 70 to 60 on each projector, and still had a brighter image than before.
4) Last Fall an opportunity presented itself to acquire an 80 yard roll of Flockstar light absorbing material. This material is used on the inside of telescopes to prevent stray light from reaching the detector. It is the blackest material I have ever seen, other than the material Ruben uses on the frame of his SmX screens. I sold 50 yards of the material to other forum members, and used the remaining 30 yards in my own HT. The material is 30" wide. I covered the walls and ceiling with the Flockstar, starting from the front wall, and working my way back towards the audience. 90" later, the whole front third of the HT is now a bat cave. The image on the screen looks like it is suspended in air, with nothing but black surrounding it!!! This work was done last Fall, during the week of Thanksgiving. It was a family project, involving my youngest son, and both of his grandparents. First time I have ever hung black wallpaper.
5) Last Christmas, my lovely young wife surprised me with a set of 3 black Berkline powered recliner seats. They replaced the 2 burgundy Lazy-boy swiveling rocker recliners on the rear (riser) platform, and are now the prime seats in the HT. Good wife!!! (I hope to add a second set of matching Berklines for the front row, before the Fall Meet.) Then, for the first time, I will have 6 comfy places for Meet attendees to park their butts during audio/video demos.
6) After both projectors were fully upgraded, this past January I completed the geometry setup, convergence setup, and grayscale calibration. The resulting image was better than anything I have ever seen in the HT, and far better than anything ya'll have seen in past East Coast Blendzilla Meets. The blendzone just completely disappears, in 99.99% of all cases, without any blendzone correction applied by the Blendzilla. A special treat is in store for those who make the journey to Middleburg, this Fall (assuming that I have electricity, of course. If I don't have electricity, ya'll will just have to be satisfied with the exceptional seeing that results in the country when all the lights have faded to black.)
Since upgrading both Marquees to full Ultra status, I have taken a break from upgradeitis, and just sat back and enjoyed the sh*t out of the resulting image. Most recently, I have been watching my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins kick the living crap out of first, the Philadelphia Flyers, then second, the Washington Capitals, and most recently, the Carolina Hurricanes. Hurricane season is just about over. My my, it is an experience watching a hockey game, and being able to see the puck, at all times, without any artificial enhancement (of the puck).
7) Except for, I took advantage of Chris Johnson's Marquee exterior sheet metal sale this past spring, and ordered 2 complete sets of black exterior covers. After installing the covers, the now black projectors fade into the dark gray/black background during movies/sporting events, just like good projectors should............................
8) And, after a short discussion with Scott (TSE) of VDC, then a somewhat longer discussion with VDC parts, I was able to talk VDC into sending me a pair of free VDC 9500 Ultra rear heat sink cover badges. They are proudly displayed on the brand new black Chris Johnson rear heat sink cover of each projector, right side up with the projector mounted on the ceiling (where all projectors should be mounted.)
9) MP is about to increase the quality of the image yet again, by adding some special neckboard sauce to the neckboards of both projectors. This, and a couple of other changes are going to make the blend look like Mike's new reference 9500LC Ultra, on display in the Mike Parker Products forum, in the "Barco 909 Focus Coils in a Marquee 9500LC Ultra" thread. If Mike wants to chime in and elaborate on the neckboard special sauce, he is welcome to.
William (and Mike)
PS: Watch this space for future work coming up between now and the October Meet. Amazing things is gonna happen.....
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
Last edited by wkosmann on Mon May 25, 2009 3:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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emdawgz1
Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949
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Link Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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C'mon CURT!!!
You know this will be a Wild WILD time!!!!
_________________ Follow my blog
www.thesinglebrother.com
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DB Cooper
Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 265 Location: Ambler, Lancaster PA
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Link Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:34 am Post subject: |
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Count me in!! I'll be showing up with MP...of course!!!
John
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ecrabb Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 15909 Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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Link Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:48 am Post subject: |
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William, the upgrades sound awesome! I have to say... I love that you went to the trouble of getting new covers and nameplates and installing them upside down (right-side up). I rarely see that level of "anality", but I sure do appreciate it when I do.
Since I've now seen Art's G90 stack and Cliff's triple-stack, the only thing left to see is a blend. Between the blend, Don's BBQ, and getting to the meet the east coast guys, I WILL be looking for some training that I just HAVE to come to Virgina for!
Cheers,
SC
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emdawgz1
Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949
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Link Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:11 am Post subject: |
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ecrabb wrote: | William, the upgrades sound awesome! I have to say... I love that you went to the trouble of getting new covers and nameplates and installing them upside down (right-side up). I rarely see that level of "anality", but I sure do appreciate it when I do.
Since I've now seen Art's G90 stack and Cliff's triple-stack, the only thing left to see is a blend. Between the blend, Don's BBQ, and getting to the meet the east coast guys, I WILL be looking for some training that I just HAVE to come to Virgina for!
Cheers,
SC |
Dude, i really hope you can make it, its a good time!
_________________ Follow my blog
www.thesinglebrother.com
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mp20748
Joined: 12 Sep 2006 Posts: 5681 Location: Maryland
TV/Projector: 9500LC Ultra / Super 02 and 03 VIM
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Link Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:24 am Post subject: |
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Here's a foretaste of quality of what's going to be on the screens at the meet. I must say, I've outdone myself this time...
Sony Blu Ray - Fantastic FuryII - Marquee 9500LC Ultra @ 1080P
I'll finish the setup this week................
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ADRIANKELLY
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 185 Location: Anchorage Alaska
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Link Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:38 am Post subject: |
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I just laid down the law and told the better half this is a must attend event!!!!! (actually it is real close to our 5th anniversary on the 30th, and it is good for all Alaskans to leave the state every 3 years or you loose touch,plus the SKINS are playing the Chiefs on the 18th. Is there anyone else that wants to see the game? I know it is not the best game to see but I might get some good seats through my Govt contacts. Let me know and I am already getting excited.
_________________ If You Choose Not To Decide You Still Have Made A Choice .
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:49 am Post subject: Some Welcomes |
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Quote: | William, the upgrades sound awesome! I have to say... I love that you went to the trouble of getting new covers and nameplates and installing them upside down (right-side up). I rarely see that level of "anality", but I sure do appreciate it when I do.
Since I've now seen Art's G90 stack and Cliff's triple-stack, the only thing left to see is a blend. Between the blend, Don's BBQ, and getting to the meet the east coast guys, I WILL be looking for some training that I just HAVE to come to Virgina for!
Cheers,
SC |
Dear SC;
Welcome to the party. If you drive, you might want to check in with Adam (bbfarmht), who is also coming from Iowa.
Nice to see someone (other than my wife) has noticed my HT anality..........
Quote: | I just laid down the law and told the better half this is a must attend event!!!!! (actually it is real close to our 5th anniversary on the 30th, and it is good for all Alaskans to leave the state every 3 years or you loose touch,plus the SKINS are playing the Chiefs on the 18th. Is there anyone else that wants to see the game? I know it is not the best game to see but I might get some good seats through my Govt contacts. Let me know and I am already getting excited. |
Dear Scott;
It will be very nice to see you again. I hope I will see more of you than the last time. You are always very welcome to come and visit. I would be interested in attending the Redskins game on Sunday, October 18.
Looks like a large indoor/outdoor party is shaping up, with attendees scheduled to come from Alaska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Who knows, maybe even someone will pop in from Vancouver or Cairns?
William
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 1:44 pm Post subject: Attendee Status |
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The current attendee list is:
Don Wallace (BBQ God, aka Wallace1234, aka Wallace123456)
Cliffy (Overclkr)
Ken Whitcomb ???
John (Emdawqz1)
Clarence (Clarence)
Mike (MP)
JBJR
Arli (Bomrat) ???
Craig Rounds (CIR Engineering)
Adam (BBfarmht)
Bob (Citation4444)
Dropzone7
William & Mona Seaward
Scott (AdrianKelly)
Scot Kight
SC (ecrabb)
Ben & Cheryl (CRTBen & CRTCheryl) ???
Curt Palme ???
Gino ???
William (+ lovely & talented Cheryl)
Plus 8 Mystery Guests
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 2:00 pm Post subject: #9 is Done!!! |
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Quote: | 9) MP is about to increase the quality of the image yet again, by adding some special neckboard sauce to the neckboards of both projectors. This, and a couple of other changes are going to make the blend look like Mike's new reference 9500LC Ultra, on display in the Mike Parker Products forum, in the "Barco 909 Focus Coils in a Marquee 9500LC Ultra" thread. If Mike wants to chime in and elaborate on the neckboard special sauce, he is welcome to. |
Well Dudes & Dudettes;
Number 9 is officially complete. MP came over yesterday and spent 6 hours at the house. Some serious special sauce generously spread over all 6 neckboards and both VIMs later, I am now in possession of the highest quality 12 foot wide blended image on the planet.
First, Mike dispensed with a small heightened-black-level issue on the left projector, by resoldering some solder joints on the HDM. Once we were convinced that this issue was resolved, Mike pulled the 3 neckboards from the left projector. 2 hours later he put the neckboards back in, and tested them in the left projector. The difference in color intensity and overall sharpness between the left and right projectors was immediately noticeable. Mike then pulled the left projector's VIM. Half an hour later, the left projector was done. 2 hours after that, the right projector was done. I now own the second and third video chains that represent the pinnacle in Mike's Marquee video chain evolution. (The first is in Mike's 9500LC Ultra.)
I am also in possession of the 12 foot wide version of what Mike posted a few posts back in this thread. (Those posts are from his single Marquee 9500LC Ultra.) The primary colors are bright and punchy beyond belief, as are the secondaries. Getting pastel colors to reach out and grab you by the throat is exceedingly difficult. Bandwidth is through the roof. In the taxi scene in Fifth Element, in the shots from above, all 6 or so levels of moving taxis are sharp as a tack. Same movie, one can easily see the "film grain" in the opening "historical" scenes. Same movie, in the hotel scene when Bruce Willis checks into the "blue" hotel room, numerous shades of blue and gold clearly stand out.
I don't do screen shots. I don't own a high quality digital camera. Those who do, routinely post that the camera is not capturing what their eyes are seeing. Even if I did own a high quality digital camera, screenshots have to be squeezed in resoluton to meet file size requirements, to display them on any forum. Finally, I have no control over the quality of the viewer's monitor, or the viewing conditions (day versus night) under which screen shots are viewed. There is a huge difference in the appearance of screenshots on a high resolution CRT monitor versus a crappy low resolution LCD laptop monitor. And there is a huge difference in the ability to discern low level scene details when viewing screenshots in the day time versus viewing them at night, even on the same monitor. As a result, I will never post screenshtos in a thread, as evidence of the quality of a video image. Anyone wanting to see the finest Home Theater blend in the world will simply have to come the the 2009 October East Coast Blend Meet, view it for themselves, and come to their own conclusions. This is not a plug for the Meet. It is simply a statement of the opportunity for high quality viewing of the high qualtiy image that has been created.
On the other hand, I greatly value having a Meet photographer, to capture the hard work that goes into creating a Meet, to capture the friendship and comraderie geninely on dispay when like minded enthusiasts gather, and to capture the BBQ god at work and the results of his efforts (cause they have a short half life.) I have always asked someone to be the official Meet photographer at my Meets. I hope Clarence will agree to be the official Meet phtographer (again) at this October's Meet.
I finally have achieved what I set out to do two and half years ago when I started this research project. I have gone from a single aging Marquee 9000LC, with hortizonal streaky neckboards, projecting a dim image on a 10 foot wide Stewart AT screen to the absolute pinnacle of CRT display technology. The video side is done. It is time to turn my attention to other design aspects of the Home Theater, and bring them up to the quality of the video side.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you Mike Parker for allowing me access to the best work you have done yet.
Mike left the house yesterday with a great big smile on his face, muttering something about having really outdone hisself this time.............
William
PS: Oh, by the way, the first thing we did yesterday was a video shoot out, between the first version Moome HDMI 1.1 Marquee video input card, the current Moome HDMI 1.3 Marquee video input card, and the HD Fury II. A blend is the perfect instrument to conduct such a video shootout, as you can use one candidate in the left projector, and a second candidate in the right projector, and directly compare 2 separate candidates on the same image at exactly the same time. Having the highest bandwidth video chain (in a Home Theater) on the planet doesn't hurt either.
The results: the unmodded Moome HDMI 1.3 Marquee video input cards were the softest. My MP modded Moome HDMI 1.1 Marquee video input cards were slightly sharper. The unmodded HD Fury II was obviously the sharpest, and as an added bonus, displayed the more vibrant primary and secondary colors. Last night I ordered my own standard issue HD Fury II, from the Curt Palme website, of course.
My old primary video path had been HDMI (actually DVI) from the Blendzilla to the MP modded Moome HDMI 1.1 Marquee video input cards, with RGBHV analog as the backup. As soon as I revieve my HD Fury II, my primary video path will be all HDMI sources fed to the HD Fury II, then RGBHV through the Blendzilla and on to the projectors. The all HDMI video path to the MP modded Mooome HDMI 1.1 Marqee video input cards will become the backup video path. Aren't leapfrogging technology improvements a wonderful thingee!!!
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wallace123456
Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 2236 Location: Northwest VA area
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Link Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:38 am Post subject: |
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Hot damn!!! Here we go again! Looking forward to seeing every one again.
Have been a little bummed of late, but, I'm feeling a lot better now. My smoker broke on Memorial Day weekend!!! That's not why I'm feeling better...
My wife and I were almost heart-broken. We got a lot of good bbq from that bad boy! Oh well....
But, I just got my new smoker (father's day gift that I picked out and bought ). This thing is gonna rock! Built like a brick sh*t house!!!
http://store.cookshack.com/p-346-smokette-essential.aspx
Looking forward to another ht meet!!!
wallace
_________________ Life Is Good, But BBQ Is Better! BBQ Competition Team
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject: Attendees, As Of June |
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The expected attendee list, as of 2009 June, is:
Don Wallace (BBQ God, aka Wallace1234, aka Wallace123456)
Cliffy (Overclkr)
Ken Whitcomb ???
John (Emdawqz1)
Clarence (Clarence)
Mike (MP)
JBJR
Arli (Bomrat)
Craig Rounds (CIR Engineering)
Adam (BBfarmht)
Bob (Citation4444)
Dropzone7
William & Mona Seaward
Scott (AdrianKelly)
Scot Kight
SC (ecrabb)
lexx21 and Denise
Don Kellogg (tentative)
Ben & Cheryl (CRTBen & CRTCheryl) ???
Curt Palme ???
Gino ???
William (+ lovely & talented Cheryl)
Plus 8 Mystery Guests
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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wkosmann
Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 387 Location: Middleburg, Virginia
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Link Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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HD Fury II is in the house, but not hooked up yet. Now that my beloved Penguins have dispatched the hated Red Wings, I have more time for tweaking the HT.
_________________ (B)(G)(R) BlendZilla Up Over (R)(G)(B)
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emdawgz1
Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949
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Link Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: Pullin Back the Curtain A Little |
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wkosmann wrote: |
Since upgrading both Marquees to full Ultra status, I have taken a break from upgradeitis, and just sat back and enjoyed the sh*t out of the resulting image. Most recently, I have been watching my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins kick the living crap out of first, the Philadelphia Flyers, then second, the Washington Capitals, and most recently, the Carolina Hurricanes. Hurricane season is just about over. )
PS: Watch this space for future work coming up between now and the October Meet. Amazing things is gonna happen..... |
I was Re-reading this thread and firming up my plans.. when i saw this ....
William, our Gracious host is a PENGUINS FAN?!?!?!?!?
This wouldnt bother me if i wasnt a 20 yr, dyed in wool RED WINGS SUPPORTER!!!
I'm torn! How do i reconcile? How could such a good guy (william) be SOOOO misguided?!?!?
I hope i'm still invited?
_________________ Follow my blog
www.thesinglebrother.com
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