Our New Home Theatre: Our Love Affair With Blu-Ray Movies
Blu-ray Movies Require An HDTV and Blu-ray Player...and Sometimes A New Home Theatre
This picture is of me, Brenda, a blu-ray movies convert. Not a fantastic picture but it is me, nevertheless. With me is my blu-ray player and my high definition television (HDTV.)
Well, maybe not MY blu-ray player and not MY HD television. Perhaps I should say this is my family's home theatre or maybe I should really say that it is my husband's entertainment set up because it was HIS dream...and our blu-ray adventure started because of his dream.
I write about blu-ray movies on Squidoo and on a blog and I have been asked on more than one occasion how I came to be writing about blu-ray technology. This page will tell you about my journey into the world of blu-ray and, of course, you will also learn a bit about my family as you go along. I hope you enjoy our story.
Who is Treasures By Brenda?
Who are the other characters in the cast of this story?
For those of you who don't know me, let me introduce myself. I am an eBay power seller and an online writer and blogger as well as a wife and a mom of two great teenage boys. My husband, Chris, is and has always been a big fan of technology and my sons are great movie fans.
I am known online by my eBay store name Treasures By Brenda and, let me say up front as I always do, that I am NOT an expert on blu-ray technology
This page is not about blu-ray movies and blu-ray players. It is the story of HOW BLU-RAY CAME TO MY HOUSE and, in 2019, it was ten years old so it is old news now.
Brenda's
Most Excellent
Blu-ray Adventure
First, A Movie Magazine Article About Blu-ray Movies
In the summer of 2008.
In the fall of 2008, I wrote my first blu-ray page. It was about Sound & Vision Magazine's summer 2008 best blu-ray movies list. I thought it was an excellent list and a great guide for someone trying to figure out what blu-ray movies to bring home with their new blu-ray player.
Next, My Blu-ray 'Expertise'
My family was awestruck when I started talking about blu-ray technology using some of the actual technical jargon! (Previously, I had just glazed over when THEY talked about it.)
My husband had always wanted a high definition television and, more recently, a blu-ray player. When he heard me talking 'blu-ray' I think he made a giant leap that because I was TALKING ABOUT blu-ray, I had given my silent GO AHEAD to the purchase of a new television and blu-ray player.
A Renovation Leads to a home theatre.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it, this meant that at least half of our unfinished basement needed to be finished. Chris knew that if he was going to convince ME to watch movies in the basement (also previously know as the dungeon or the cave) it was going to have to be warm and cozy and this is where our real, work-filled adventure began.
Don't undertake a new, big screen television casually...it can result in a massive and unexpected home renovation project!
So What's The Big Deal About Finishing Your Basement, Brenda?
Well, finishing a basement (for those who do not know) can be a huge task. It requires an electrician (one plug every so many feet), insulation and vapour barrier, drywall, drywall putty, sanding, painting, lighting, flooring, ceiling...and so on and so on. Some people even require new furniture. (So far we are keeping our current mismatched sofas although Chris would love to have a burgundy red sectional to go with our amazing chamois yellow walls.)
More importantly for an eBay seller like myself, a new basement requires moving everything in one-half of your basement and maybe doing so more than once...
It has been quite an adventure, not quite every moment I would call Brenda's Most Excellent Blu-ray Adventure...
And, as the pictures show, our adventure is not over yet. For the time being, we are not putting in new flooring although we do have a subfloor and we are not installing a 'ceiling.'
Our adventure may not be over but our home theatre is open for business!
Chris did almost all of the work by himself. He had help from Douglas and Ian and a bit from me.
In the midst of it all, I asked him if he regretted undertaking this massive project and he responded,
"Once."
That's not bad, considering.
My First Blu-ray Movie was Tinker Bell
Bet you wouldn't have guessed, in a house with three 'boys', that it would be a movie about a bunch of fairies!
Yes, this is the first movie I ever watched on blu-ray! My sons were out and I think my husband picked it because HE picked blu-ray. Tinker Bell was pretty and I can see why little girls would ooh and aah over it but there is NO WAY that I would ask a teenage boy to watch it!
He Can Really Make It All Work - Just Show Him The Remotes And Show Him The Movies
With Tinker Bell our first-ever blu-ray movie, I bet you're scared about what my favorite blu-ray movie might just be...
Somehow embarassing but true...
we were 'given' two blu-ray players!
My Husband, The Savvy Shopper Was Given A Blu-ray Player For Free When He Purchased The T.V.
My husband shopped for years for his high definition television. He wanted one when they were $12,000 but was willing to concede that that was a bit much for a television so he waited and waited and waited some more.
Finally, the prices came down to a point at which he was comfortable. He shopped the after-Christmas sales and put a deposit on a high definition television which was BUNDLED with a free blu-ray player. It wasn't perhaps the best blu-ray player, but it was one that he considered to be quite all right. (Which means it was a pretty good one.)
The deposit guaranteed the sale price on our television. The store was happy, of course, to take our money well in advance of delivering the set. (Chris knew the basement was a BIG project and that the new television would be safer if it was not in the house while the work was being done.)
Not only did it turn out to be a great idea to take delivery of the television AFTER the renovations were mostly done, it had an interesting and unexpected bonus. In order to fulfill their promise of the free blu-ray player, the store had to upgrade the player -- twice -- by the time we were ready to take delivery of the television! So you can see that we were 'given' two blu-ray players!
Blu-ray Movie Lists
The Top 10 Best Blu-ray Movies Ever
If you love blu-ray, you will love the features recommended on this list of the best of 2011.
The 10 Best Nature & Adventure Imax Blu-ray Movie Documentary Films 2010
If you love documentary films, you will love the features recommended on this list from 2010.
Five Best Blu-ray Disney Movies For Young Children 2010
The best blu-ray movies by Disney for young children.
Top 10 Best Blu-ray Movies 2009 For Sound and Picture Quality
The best blu-ray movies from 2009.
New Nature & Adventure Imax Blu-ray Documentary Movie Releases in 2009
The best Imax nature films on blu-ray in 2009.
Five Best Blu-ray Disney Movies For Young Children 2009
Five of the best blu-ray Disney movies for young children from 2009.
Blu-ray Movie Treasures By Brenda, The Best Movie Blog
Information about Movie Treasures By Brenda, the blog.
Top-Rated Movie Recommendations
My favorite movie picks.
Top 10 Best Blu-ray Movies For Sound and Picture Quality Before Summer 2008
The best early blu-ray discs.
© 2009 Treasures By Brenda
