This is a DLP color wheel on drugs:

And sadly, that’s a picture of mine.

On the plus side, it was pretty easy for me to get to the part, so I’m going to order a new one and try the replacement myself.  Professional TV repair costs way too much for my taste.  Anyway, I would like to be more handy around the house, and starting with something I know (electronics) seems like a safe bet.

Update (5/19): Success!  It wasn’t that much different than changing parts in my computer, which I’ve done for years, except this had the added stress of moving around delicate optics.  Time to catch up on everything my DVR saved for me…

Tor announces that the final novel in bestselling Robert Jordan’s legendary Wheel of Time® fantasy series will be completed by author Brandon Sanderson

[...] Brandon Sanderson has signed on to complete A Memory of Light, with scheduled delivery of the manuscript in December 2008 and a planned publication date of Fall 2009.

Two years! I guess that’s not so bad. I’ve not read anything by Brandon Sanderson before, but maybe while I’m waiting for this one I’ll read some of his own books. I can’t imagine the pressure — Jordan’s fans will never forgive Sanderson if he screws this one up. At least he’s not starting from scratch though, as Jordan wrote a large part of the book before his passing and had notes on much of the rest. So here’s hoping for a proper closure to one of my favorite series…

The movie-sized episode fills in more of the background of the Pegasus, and it doesn’t disappoint.  It’s been a while since the last season finale, and this was perfect to whet my appetite.  I’m sure I’ll watch it again when it airs on SCI FI; I’m just not sure whether it’s worth the standalone DVD investment.  I do want to have it, but I already got hit when I bought the miniseries and then found that it was also included in the season one set.  I have a feeling that they’ll do the same with Razor and season four.  Of course, maybe Santa will be nice and I won’t have to worry about it…

Anyway, here’s hoping that the writer’s strike is resolved soon, so I can look forward to season four without interruption…

What Kind of Reader Are You?

Your Result: Dedicated Reader

You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

There’s a question of how many books are on your to-read list, which I can actually look up with a simple tag. Thanks to LibraryThing for feeding my slightly obsessive behavior, so I can catalog all of my books and act like a normal person the rest of the time.

I love that show.

Update: I just found out that the song is actually by Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix just did a very popular cover version. I guess a lot of people make that mistake, but still, shame on me!

Music geeks may want to check out Bear McCreary’s discussion of this new cover version. He says the song will be on the season three soundtrack, so I definitely want to pick that up (and maybe the first two while I’m at it).

• The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
• Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
• A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

I’m currently reading A Feast for Crows, the fourth in Martin’s series. I also read his blog, and I saw today the announcement that HBO has gotten the rights to do a show based on the series! I got home and told Millie, and she was laughing at just how excited this has me.

This series of books is definitely on the adult side of things, with often dark and violent themes. It’s less about Good vs. Evil, and more like the real world where good and evil aren’t always well defined. I’m glad that HBO got the rights for this, because on any other network I would fear that the show would be gentrified. With shows like Rome and The Sopranos under their belt, you can be sure that HBO won’t shy away in Martin’s world.

My desire for it to be done up right is seriously conflicting with my need to start watching it. For now I’ll get back to the book and anticipate great things to come…

Hot Topic is not punk rock!

It wasn’t totally a waste I guess. NOFX was ok — they made a really funny comment about there being way too many tattoos and too much makeup in the audience. People latch on to the minor things that they think represent the genre, and completely miss the point. And then what really saved the experience for me: Zebrahead was awesome. They weren’t on one of the main stages, but that meant we could get a lot closer, and they still drew a large crowd. I hope all of those kids saw Zebrahead and thought, “Wow, is this punk rock?” Yes, yes it is…

On a completely unrelated note — we finally booked our vacation! Puerto Vallarta, here we come! It’s nice to have that all squared away, so now we can just look forward to the trip. We’ll be there for four nights at the Dreams resort, and we’ve also scheduled a canopy tour and an eco-discovery package. Plus the gorgeous beach that’s already calling our names…

• Anti-Flag — rocked the stage. We only saw them for a couple of songs though, so I look forward to seeing them again at the Warped Tour.
• Wolfmother — as much as I like their CD, they were kind of boring on stage.
• Panic! At The Disco — awesome. I definitely need to get their album. I give them third best of the whole show.
• Yellowcard — ok, but not as cool as I’d hoped. They kept doing the thing where they try to get people to mash and go crazy, but they’re really not that hard-core…
• DJ Mike Relm — annoying. He was filling in between sets on the main stage, but I think I would have preferred the generic mix-tape-filler that most events use.
• Echo & The Bunnymen — wtf?!? Totally lame. I got the impression that they didn’t really want to be there, and no-one really got into their songs.
• HIM — pretty cool, but a lot of it sounded exactly the same, and it got repetitive, and almost a bit redundant.
• Franz Ferdinand — awesome. Great crowd interaction, great performance — this is one of those bands that really should be seen live. My second pick for the whole show.
• The Strokes — good, but I think I was expecting more.
• AFI — a great headliner! They sort-of have a pop-rock feel, which I feel guilty for liking, but it’s a formula that really works. Tons of fun, and I’ll even give them best-of-show.

That list I made before for the Warped Tour was apparently a waste of time, because now the official site has a different list up. It’s hard to tell if all of those bands are going to be at the SF show, or just on the tour at some point. Anyway, of that list, I’m most looking forward to Anti-Flag, Bouncing Souls, Less Than Jake, NOFX, and Zebrahead. That show is next weekend, so I’ll try to post my impressions soon after.

BFD 2006 — June 10 — Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA — AFI, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Echo & The Bunnymen, HIM, Every Move A Picture, DJ Mike Relm, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yellowcard, Panic! At The Disco, She Wants Revenge, Thursday, Wolfmother, Anti-Flag, Hard-Fi, The Sounds, OK Go, The Hush Sound, Street To Nowhere, Birdmonster, The Herms, Day One Symphony, Two Seconds, Dear Kerosene

Warped Tour 2006 — July 8 — Pier 30/32, San Francisco, CA — NOFX, Rise Against, Anti-Flag, Thursday, Motion City Soundtrack, Underoath, Saves The Day, Senses Fail, Against Me, Less Than Jake, The Casualties, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Living End, Helmet, Say Anything, Bouncing Souls, The Academy Is…, From First To Last, Everytime I Die, Silverstein, The Pink Spiders, Armor For Sleep, Hellogoodbye, Saosin, Plain White T’s, Greeley Estates, Over It, Amber Pacific, Aiden, Paramore, Emery, Dropping Daylight, Riverboat Gamblers, Valient Thorr, Voltera, Die Hunns

So that’s 24 bands for BFD and 36 for the Warped Tour — a total of 58* bands in just under a month! Of course there will be multiple stages going, so I probably won’t be able to actually see them all. That’s ok — I already have ideas for which ones are must-see and some that are nice-to-see.

It will probably be another month before I’ll be able to hear anything again…

* note that Anti-Flag and Thursday are in both shows

LIVE 105 bills themselves as “the bay area’s only alternative”, which is very true. It’s about the only station on the radio I listen to anymore, and as a bonus we get it on a digital music channel at home. There was another station I liked at 104.3, but on new year’s day it suddenly switched gears, and they don’t speak English anymore.

Anyway, they were explaining why all the alternative stations are disappearing — apparently alternative fans are more likely to be filling their iPods with MP3s than listening to radio. I must be the only techie around who doesn’t have an MP3 player. I’ve got every CD I own ripped onto my computer for easy access, but the collection stays there. I think iPods have just turned into that thing that’s so popular that it actually annoys me. But it’s still tempting…