It has been nearly NINE months since my last post here and so much has changed in my life and in the lives of all of us due to COVID-19 and with all of the civil and political unrest in our country. Luckily, my immediate circle of family & friends has not been directly impacted by this horrible pandemic in regards to their physical health but I know that mentally & emotionally it is taking its toll on every single one of us across the globe.
My husband & I were scheduled to celebrate our first wedding anniversary with a week long visit at a private villa in Tuscany. I was planning on attending the annual gathering of #MyTribe at the Turner Classic Film Festival in Hollywood during April plus the addition of a few days at Disneyland. I know that each and every one of us has lost something during this time. It might have been a trip, a wedding, a graduation or losing a loved one but we are all suffering loss during this time.
For me, I have been dealing with the loss of one of my favorite things to do…going to the movies. So many movies I was looking forward to this year and so many of them remain unavailable as a result of the necessary closure of movie theaters. A few films have been made available via other platforms such as iTunes, Amazon Prime, Disney+ to name a few. That has been nice but it is still no substitute for the physical activity of going to the movies, sitting in those seats, sharing the experience with others in the theater, eating that delicious bucket of popcorn and sipping some sugary drink from the vat-o-soda cup which they call a medium. Just not the same.
Here at home, I continue to watch at least 1 movie everyday (although it usually turns out to be more like 3 or 4). I have lots to say about the movies I watch, how they affect me as I move through the world, and what I continue to learn from them about myself and other people. I’m back and more committed that ever to sharing all of that with you out there. Maybe together we can get through all of the current turmoil and emerge a little bit better for wear.
Something we decided to do this summer was to create our very own outdoor movie theatre on our deck! You can check out our setup from the picture I included with this post. It has been tremendous fun and I look forward to watching movies with friends and neighbors as we socially distance and redefine the movie-going experience. We opted to go for a headphone system along with our screen and projector so that we could easily enjoy watching without disturbing any of our neighbors. We also decided to stream through our Apple TV, which we already owned, but you can opt to use an iPad, iPhone, Amazon Fire Stick, or whatever you prefer to connect to the outdoor projector.
In working to build our backyard cinema, I discovered that it can be a bit tough and overwhelming without someone to help you who has more experience. I was able to turn to my brother-in-law, Jim, who has worked in live theater settings for much of his life and knows a thing or two about quality, mid-range priced AV equipment. Below I’ve provided some information and links to the products we chose to go with for our backyard cinema and it might just encourage you to build one of your own.
Projector: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z7FSQHN
Screen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B3R7WVS
Headphone System: https://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/product_family_info/pfam_id/PFAM44192
Adjustable Projector Stand: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T9NM5QR
Headphone Adapter (if you wish to use your own Bluetooth headphones; only supports 2 users): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EHSX28M
Expect to hear more from me soon!
Do something kind for yourself. Do something kind for another.
PlayItAgain.blog 