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Jan 24

4 Comments

Katie & Flirt – New Pals

Katie & Flirt

Katie & Flirt

Each Havasu Winter these two girls meet again and catch up on dog things.

Jan 17

2 Comments

China vs The KPOP Kid

If you’ve followed this blog, then you know I’m a KPOP (Korean POP Music) fan. See Emma Stone Loves Kpop (July 26, 2015).

Much to the annoyance of my wife Jan I prefer the KPOP girl groups to the boy groups. C’est la vie. Hence my interest in the new KPOP girl group TWICE — a 9-girl group composed of 5 Korean, 3 Japanese, and 1 Taiwanese member whose name is Chou Tzuyu.

Last November during a Korean TV skit, the 16-year-old Miss Tzuyu waved small Korean and Taiwanese flags for all of a few moments.

TWICE Member Chou Tzuyu & the Flag Incident

TWICE Member Chou Tzuyu & the Flag Incident

Then just a few days ago, a Taiwanese singer who resides in mainland China apparently just viewed the video and accused Miss Chou of being a traitor to China because she waved the Taiwanese, not the Chinese, flag — meaning she was in favor of two Chinas, not one.

Cue the crazies.

The online (“netizens”) community blew up in response and Miss Chou issued an online apology:

 

Can you say “Hostage Release Video”? Yikes! Her bows were so deep that she probably hit her head on the floor.

I’m certain that JYP Entertainment, the management of the group TWICE, had something to do with releasing the video. China is not only a market for American goods, but also for Korea music groups. Nobody wants to offend the Chinese.

However, as luck (?) would have it, the release of Miss Chou’s humiliating video coincided with the Taiwanese presidential elections.

Almost as soon as the video hit the web, Taiwanese politicians were falling over each other in order to denounce the video and support Miss Chou.

 

Then the worldwide press got a hold of it . . . South China Morning Post, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Irish Times.

. . . the incident may have actually influenced the Taiwanese presidential election!

 

Finally . . .

 

 

Jan 16

2 Comments

Lake Havasu Balloon Festival 2016

Going Up!

Going Up!

This is our second LHC balloon festival and the 6th Annnual Lake Havasu Balloon Festival.

Yesterday the 6th Lake Havasu Balloon Festival got off to a cloudy start — the morning  mass ascension was cancelled because of wind and a light rain. Bummer.

However, this morning (Saturday) the festival got off to a great start. The mass balloon ascension got off to a great start at about 7:30am.

Jan went with some of our friends on a pontoon ride to watch the balloons. I biked to London Bridge to take some pics and movies . . .

Jan 6

New DISH Hopper 3

Updated 1/20/2016

Hopper 3 Logo_RGB

Some DISH dealer information . . .

 

Just announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the DISH Hopper 3 is a major leap forward in satellite TV technology as well as a boon to RVers. See WIRED, Verge, or CNET articles.

This new DISH Whole-House (or RV) DVR features the following:

PROS:

  • 16 tuners (Yikes !!!)
  • USB 3.o – allows connecting fast hard drives to a Hopper 3.
  • 4K ULTRA HD capabilities
  • Broadcom BCM7445 Quad Core ARM @ 1.5 GHz chipset (It’s really fast)
  • New “Carbon” user interface (Looks like DirecTV now)
  • 2 TB hard drive (like the other older Hoppers)
  • YouTube app (Yes!)
  • HopperGO – a 64GB hard drive with a built-in private WiFi network that allows you to take your favorite Hopper 3 shows wherever you go. (Available in Spring for a one-time $99 fee).
    HopperGO
  • Hopper 3 available in January for $15/month. Some users (?) will be able to get a free upgrade.
  • Only one Hopper 3 available per antenna. You can connect up to 6 Joeys to a Hopper 3, but that’s it — you can’t connect another Hopper 3 ( Hopper 2 or 1), or a SuperJoey.
  • Simplified Wiring – you’ll only need 1 wire from your Winegard Travler or a portable satellite dish to connect a Hopper 3.

CONS:

  • Hopper 3 requires DPH (DISH Pro Hybrid) equipment and if you use a portable dish, it must be a 1000.2 with a DPH LNB, not a 1000.4 dish. If you have a Winegard Travler SK-1000, you must upgrade the current DISH Pro Plus (DPP) LNB to a DPH. See Winegard Travler DPH Upgrade Instructions.
  • You can only have ONE Hopper 3. While 16 tuners is great, so is redundancy . . . some folks (including me) have more than one Hopper as a backup — if one fails, you can still watch TV. With one Hopper 3 and some Joeys . . . if your Hopper 3 takes a powder, you’re SOL because your Joeys need a Hopper.
  • You must use a 1000.2 dish. Sure, that means you can use your Winegard Travler (once it’s converted to DPH), but 1000.4 or 1000+ dishes will not work. Note: an Eastern Arc DPH LNB is available along with the Western Arc DPH LNB for the 1000.2.
Hopper_3_with_Voice_Remote

New Hopper 3 with New Remote (same footprint as other two Hoppers)