pssst.. you'll need to hear the music to appreciate this
Quote:
Man decks house with synchronized lights
December 6, 2005
MASON, Ohio --Some people at Christmas time are content to deck their homes with evergreen wreaths and holly, and maybe a few strings of lights made to look like glimmering icicles. Not Carson Williams.
He spends nearly two months hooking up 25,000 lights, then programs them to dance to Christmas music.
Hundreds of cars drive by his house north of Cincinnati every night to see the display, which also is posted on several Internet sites.
"So far, everyone's been really courteous," Williams said on NBC's "Today" show Monday. "I told the neighbors, I told the sheriff, if they get any complaints, I'll shut it down, because the neighbors are more important to me than the Christmas lights. I do the Christmas lights for myself."
This is the third year Williams has assembled the display, which grows every year. He said he merely built on a suggestion from his wife, Sherry.
"She wanted some lights on the house, and I work with computers, so I said, 'There's got to be a way to control it with computers,'" Williams said.
He explored the Web and found examples of other synchronized displays. It takes him about an hour to program each minute of the display, which flashes to music by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
That doesn't mean neighbors have to listen to the sound track repeat itself all night.
"The sound, we actually broadcast on a low FM transmitter, so there's actually no sound in the neighborhood," said Williams, an electrical engineer with Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions.
A sign tells passers-by where to tune to listen, and Williams often stays outside for hours at a time chatting with visitors and directing traffic.
"We've had no problems," said Dave Hare, who lives across the street.
But the first year, it took some explaining.
"We called it the psycho house," said Hare's wife, Michelle. "It was just weird random flashes. Then, he told us about the radio station and it was great."
December 6, 2005
MASON, Ohio --Some people at Christmas time are content to deck their homes with evergreen wreaths and holly, and maybe a few strings of lights made to look like glimmering icicles. Not Carson Williams.
He spends nearly two months hooking up 25,000 lights, then programs them to dance to Christmas music.
Hundreds of cars drive by his house north of Cincinnati every night to see the display, which also is posted on several Internet sites.
"So far, everyone's been really courteous," Williams said on NBC's "Today" show Monday. "I told the neighbors, I told the sheriff, if they get any complaints, I'll shut it down, because the neighbors are more important to me than the Christmas lights. I do the Christmas lights for myself."
This is the third year Williams has assembled the display, which grows every year. He said he merely built on a suggestion from his wife, Sherry.
"She wanted some lights on the house, and I work with computers, so I said, 'There's got to be a way to control it with computers,'" Williams said.
He explored the Web and found examples of other synchronized displays. It takes him about an hour to program each minute of the display, which flashes to music by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
That doesn't mean neighbors have to listen to the sound track repeat itself all night.
"The sound, we actually broadcast on a low FM transmitter, so there's actually no sound in the neighborhood," said Williams, an electrical engineer with Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions.
A sign tells passers-by where to tune to listen, and Williams often stays outside for hours at a time chatting with visitors and directing traffic.
"We've had no problems," said Dave Hare, who lives across the street.
But the first year, it took some explaining.
"We called it the psycho house," said Hare's wife, Michelle. "It was just weird random flashes. Then, he told us about the radio station and it was great."