RaZZlo Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I know this is just a hobby... but one we all take the time to plan, purchase, plan some more, purchase some more..... to add joy to others lives... If we touch just one person, then it is all worth it...I have a bit of an issue which just came up last night...... This is our 4th year doing a light show, and we have always enjoyed doing so... especially the joy on the kids (and some adults) faces... Every year we get more folks asking about what we are doing this year ? But now my neighbor has deciced he wants to get one of the BigBox Plug-N-Play devices and have music to lights etc.etc... All from the comfort of his phone via BlueTooth.... The issue I have is that if he does this, knowing the effort (and $$$) that we put into our display, the music he plays will undertone what we are doing, e.g. playing during the timed quiet spots, lights-out sections, etc. My wife is so upset, she want to scrap the whole thing and not even do it... I tried to tell her not to worry about it but she is... I am a bit concerned myself with spending all of the time to get the display up and running, just to have Mr. "I can do this too for $100..." overplay on my display. I cannot tell him not to do it, but it is frustrating... I guess in the end, it is something we all may have to deal with, just trying to "Keep Calm and Christmas On..."Anyone else run into this ? Just curious. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shfr26 Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 His ,from the big box store, will never be anywhere near as good as yours. Tell wifey to have a few drinks and relax. When you both turn on the show, watch the traffic and see what the folks like better, I got 20 bucks yours wins, hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) I had almost the exact same thing happen in my first year. They played their mr microphone thing the entire season. Since then, their display has been absent entirely. Get ready for people continually asking: Is their house part of this? How come those lights don't match up to the music like your other ones do? What are they thinking? When it happened to me, what I did was to put a speaker out in my yard on that side of the house and made sure it was loud enough so their tunes couldn't easily be heard from the street. (If anyone wants to know, a 200-watt stereo system easily overmatches one of those things.) After I got tired of answering the same questions night after night I also did an announcement that said "to answer almost everyone's questions - no the neighbor's lights are NOT part of this display. And no, we DON'T have a clue what they're thinking." Not very neighborly, but then what they did wasn't either. Sucks to be them. Good luck. Make some Margaritas for the wife. Edited November 5, 2014 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff bush Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I had almost the exact same thing happen in my first year. They played their mr microphone thing the entire season. Since then, their display has been absent entirely.Get ready for people continually asking: Is their house part of this? How come those lights don't match up to the music like your other ones do? What are they thinking?When it happened to me, what I did was to put a speaker out in my yard on that side of the house and made sure it was loud enough so their tunes couldn't easily be heard from the street. (If anyone wants to know, a 200-watt stereo system easily overmatches one of those things.) After I got tired of answering the same questions night after night I also did an announcement that said "to answer almost everyone's questions - no the neighbor's lights are NOT part of this display. And no, we DON'T have a clue what they're thinking." Not very neighborly, but then what they did wasn't either. Sucks to be them.Good luck. Make some Margaritas for the wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75redman Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I have new neighbors that moved in this summer. I have spoken with them and he is big into lights and also has a Mr. Christmas. This hasn't even crossed my mind. People will notice the difference. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitePlainsNY Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 My neighbor across the street bought the Home Depot box in 2011 and ran it for only a couple of days. The next Fall they me asked how they could be part of my show. This will be their third year along with two other neighbors joined in from last year. As I like to tell my neighbors, "Resistance is futile - you will be assimilated". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 My neighbor across the street bought the Home Depot box in 2011 and ran it for only a couple of days. The next Fall they me asked how they could be part of my show. This will be their third year along with two other neighbors joined in from last year. As I like to tell my neighbors, "Resistance is futile - you will be assimilated".So cool for you. Been trying to get some of my neighbors to jump in. Tell them it's cheap to start & I'll shoot the signal to them. No takers yet. But more are at least putting up static displays. And of course, they all have to buy more lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdeditch Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I would love to see our whole stret, both sides lit up, I couldn't care less if its just a string of lights or full blown. The more the merrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaZZlo Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 Thanks All.... In the end, the show WILL go on !!!! And George, Vodka works too... !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanZ Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiplorenzo Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 The light O Rama\Planned displays always put the big box stuff @ home depot to shame and the neighbor will probably ask to be in next years show. I don't think most people except us Blinky Flashy addicted know the cost that it takes to setup a hell of a nice display that is Synchronized to the music Properly. Mr Christmas is great for the person that doesn't want to marry the computer, and divorce the family/Wife. As they said above, Traffic will tell you which is more popular... I always believe that piping music over FM transmitter outweighs any speaker... Especially if you get snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa6058 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I have never had anyone near me do any synchronized stuff, but I have noticed over my 4 years of LOR that one or two more houses on my street put up a few static lights. I love that! Papa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaZZlo Posted November 6, 2014 Author Share Posted November 6, 2014 We would welcome if everyone put up lights. And more have, maybe in part because of what we are doing. I will wait and see if he does the music and how loud it is. If it interferes with my display, I guess I will have to figure out a way to "neutralize" his... Perhaps a couple of well placed speakers and spotlights may be in order... And a case of his favorite beverage.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klayfish Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 For my previous 2 seasons of running LOR, I lived in a very rural community with almost no neighbors. I now live in a subdivision. This year, we're in a rental home while our new house is being built. This years display will be small due to space limitations (and half my stuff is buried in boxes somewhere), but next year I'll be back to full bloom. Honestly, not to be rude or anything, but I have little concern what the neighbors do or think. It's my hobby and I've invested a lot of money and time into it. They can run Mr. Chrismtas, Mrs. Channukah or Ms. Kwaanza, I'm still going to do what I do. That sounds defiant, and maybe it is, but my propery...my choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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