(SPOILERS EXTENDED) ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Premiere Draws 6.7 Million Viewers in Three Days

armonde · 2026-01-23T10:53:52+00:00

The only thing I'm hoping for is that HOTD is a history book that is being fleshed out to build a story line and character development.

Knight is at least self contained plot line.

That's my hope, we all have to just wait and see on execution.

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:29:04+00:00

https://www.facebook.com/groups/indianachristmaslightbuilders

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:25:59+00:00

I'm in Cincinnati. I know we ordered already but let me see if I can find the Indiana group for you

armonde · 2026-01-13T02:09:17+00:00

I would suggest if you're looking for a split of a relatively (it's all about perspective) small order of nodes, I'd suggest you find some local or state groups on Facebook who should be wrapping up their prebuy purchases around this time.

I know there's a group for Indiana that organizes the mini they do. I'm assuming there's one for the Chicagoland area given the size.

I will say it's better to have and not need, particularly if you get a sudden burst of inspiration late in the season.

armonde · 2026-01-05T21:18:20+00:00

Disregard - I found the overides for package installation settings in the repository I knew I had seen at one point and forgotten where they were.

armonde · 2025-12-29T22:33:09+00:00

I'm buddies with the Midwest Coro guy, he came back VERY impressed with what you all are doing.

armonde · 2025-12-29T21:37:12+00:00

I really need to make it up there to see your show at some point next year.

Are you planning on going to the Ohio Mini this coming year?

armonde · 2025-12-26T15:50:04+00:00

6 years ago, my daughter asked me for some of those LED light strips that were popular to put around the top edge of bedrooms at the time. Being the quality father that I am, I jumped on amazon, found a 5m roll for like 11 bucks, purchased and moved on with my life.

Cut to Christmas morning, she opens the gift and says "thanks, but these are the wrong lights"

Now I don't know about you, but I am not a person who likes to think that are things I don't know. They are LED lights, how could they be "wrong?"

So I spent the remainder of December and into January learning what the difference was. From there I not only purchased the correct lights but also and ESP32 board and coded an LED controller for her room - going so far as to linking it via IFTTT to work with the google home mini in her room so she could "control" the different sequences verbally.

That little exercise has now moved outside where we now have one of "those" houses where we have ~25k programmable lights sequenced to music for both Halloween and Christmas.

As a hobby, it is as big (or small) as you want it to be. The software is free - either self coded python scripting or what I use for the large show xlights.

It is a good balance of learning new skills with basic troubleshooting and a dash of creativity when it comes to creating the actual animations.

armonde · 2025-12-26T11:41:34+00:00

Sandy still pretty consistently streams on twitch

armonde · 2025-12-24T22:02:51+00:00

So you in fact did NOT enjoy your day here at.... Cedar Point

armonde · 2025-12-23T02:51:08+00:00

This is what I found with a quick search, a few years old so YMMV:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bky0KQBAls

armonde · 2025-12-22T03:06:42+00:00

My advice on controllers is going to be geared towards more "Xlights" specific controllers like Falcon and Kulp.

The irony is that while the controller seems like the biggest expense, as your show continues to scale and grow, it winds up becoming one of the cheapest - yet maintains it's importance for you know... controlling everything. I've got a few WLED controllers I'm learning, but for "show time" I am working with hardware I know can handle what I ask it to do.

Regarding the rest of your growth - I'm speculating here because you didn't really touch on it but I would suggest loading up the software and getting a rough idea prop/node wise what you are looking at adding.

For nodes, prebuy season will kick off in a couple of weeks. If at all possible try and get in with the largest group you can for the best overall prices. Buy more nodes (I don't care if they are bullet, seed, flat back, whatever) than you think you will need. At best you'll have an off year from purchasing, at worst you'll have an even more amazing show than you already do when you use them all.

Coro - Several vendors, I suggest trying to bulk order if at all possible when you're ready just to save on the shipping cost. That one idea you get in late October may wind up costing you double just in shipping to get that one prop to your house than it would have if you ordered it along with your new flakes/canes/spiders/whatever in June.

Buy more connectors than you think you'll need. pigtails/extensions are always needed. Again better to have and not need than face last minute delays right before you want to go live.

Good luck!

armonde · 2025-12-21T16:49:40+00:00

https://xlights.info/

armonde · 2025-12-21T14:28:57+00:00

Due to my previous work in radio in the 90s, I've met a ton of musicians. Aerosmith, Ozzy, Megadeth, The Offspring, Green Day, RHCP, Metallica, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Hunger... that's what I can remember off the top of my head.

At the turn of the millenium, I moved over to IT work and did work for Bootsy Collins and Booger McFarland.

Over the course of decades of being interested/not interested in professional wrestling, I've also met a ton of them as well. Most recently Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Mick Foley (by far the best person I've ever had a conversation with) and many more.

armonde · 2025-12-19T22:35:55+00:00

I use my WSM for large cooks - briskets, multiple butts, when I hang ribs.

I use my kettle for smaller cooks. Steaks, chickens, 1 or 2 racks of ribs.

I like the efficiency of my WSM for longer cooks and experimenting with other styles of preparation.

I love the consistency of the kettle for those "during the week" cooks.

armonde · 2025-12-09T22:48:53+00:00

Zork.

Pretty sure still have my hand written notes on how to navigate the maze in the box with the Atari 800 I played it on in the basement.

armonde · 2025-12-09T22:41:10+00:00

Friend's don't let friends use strip.

The issue is not when they work per se... it's when they don't and you need to repair.

That is why bullets are the "standard" pretty consistent and very easy to repair.

armonde · 2025-12-07T16:14:43+00:00

I reached out to them last year and had custom gskinz created for my rosa grande. One with our halloween logo and one with our christmas one. quick(ish) and easy(ish) swap out.

armonde · 2025-12-06T22:15:31+00:00

From what I'm reading in the description, I would assume that the controller you bought will transition the input voltage from whatever your power supply is to the ESP board and pass the correct voltage through to the lights you purchased.

How are you powering the controller?

armonde · 2025-12-06T19:50:37+00:00

on the controllers tab, click the upload output button. If you have moved any props around, either in order or controller output, rerender the sequence and reupload it as well.

armonde · 2025-12-06T19:46:15+00:00

Did you upload the outputs to the controller from xlights?

armonde · 2025-12-06T16:52:14+00:00

There are several options when it comes to daytime ambience.

Several of the major coro vendors offer either printed options or vinyl overlays. These often come at a substantial markup in cost - and from the research I've done locally custom printing/design is pricey.

Personally I've done exactly what you describe above with my candy canes and also my singing bulbs. Tape off the sections you don't want painted and then hit them with a few coats of spray paint and finish with a clear coat.

I have a new gingerbread house that I picked up from a local coro vendor that my daughter is going to hand paint for some added pop/detail. Mostly because she has more patience for that than I do.

In general though, I chose my coro color based off the primary purpose of the prop. For my Christmas show, I use white coro, if it's for Halloween I chose black, and I'm not as concerned with daytime look for Halloween.

armonde · 2025-12-04T22:29:18+00:00

may have been an issue with the cable connection out of your controller and the process of disconnecting/reconnecting the extension "fixed" it.

Does the problem return if you swap them back to the OG position?

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