May not be the last we see of the Osborne lights...

[rteetz]

You don't seem to be at all familiar with this situation. I suggest you review the press accounts and research the story. This was not simply a case of wanting to celebrate Christmas with a light display. The bottom line is that Osborne was a complete scofflaw in the way he dealt with his neighbors, city, county and state officials and thought he was above the law.

The light display was not appropriate for a residential area. Osborne was very wealthy and apparently felt that his wealth gave him the right to make unreasonable demands upon his neighbors and flout the law. He was wrong.

Of course, he was ultimately held in contempt of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

http://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/1995/93-1303-0.html

You didn't answer any of my questions. Yes I know there were issues with him and his neighbors but my question is why is it such a big deal to you?

There are displays in residential areas that are the same size or maybe bigger than his was. You can see those displays on tv shows like The great Christmas Light fight on ABC.

So again I will ask the question why are you so against the lights?

 

[rteetz]

Disney got the controversial light display and the neighborhood locals were no longer plagued with the inappropriate light display.

What's an appropriate display? Hundreds of houses around the country if not thousands including my own have over 10000 lights set to music or something along those lines. An appropriate display is an opinion.

 

[carlbarry]

I think the CM heard it from a bus driver, so it must be true!

 

[HopperFan]

It wasn't really an honor. It was more like a freak show. The Osborne name was known internationally due to all the legal problems his light display had caused. News crews including newspapers, magazines, radio and television from Arkansas and around the world came to do stories about the wacky old Jennings Osborne light display and his desire to punish his neighbors with the gaudy show. It was no coincidence that the Arkansas Supreme Court shut down the display in 1995 and that same year it appeared for the first time at WDW.

The light display itself was not well designed and it was rather tacky, but the controversy surrounding the display was wonderful publicity that WDW could not pass up. I first saw it in 1995 at WDW because I was curious as to what all the fuss was about. It was very much like the Frankenstein monster. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't well put together, it was kind of ugly but it was huge!

The Osborne Light show is the perfect example of the old saying, "There is no such thing as bad publicity".

Were you one of his neighbors? Why do you care about him punishing his neighbors so much?

What do you expect from a Christmas lights display, I'm honestly asking. Do you like Christmas lights? And what would make this a good display in your opinion?

I have my own display done to music with around 20000 lights. It gets bigger every year but it's obviously no Osborne. My neighbors also don't hate me at least from what I can see. My neighbor across the street loves it in fact. There are thousands of large scale residential displays around the country and that evident in the Christmas light fight on ABC.

You just seem to hate the display so much so I am really just curious as to why?

You don't seem to be at all familiar with this situation. I suggest you review the press accounts and research the story. This was not simply a case of wanting to celebrate Christmas with a light display. The bottom line is that Osborne was a complete scofflaw in the way he dealt with his neighbors, city, county and state officials and thought he was above the law.

The light display was not appropriate for a residential area. Osborne was very wealthy and apparently felt that his wealth gave him the right to make unreasonable demands upon his neighbors and flout the law. He was wrong.

Of course, he was ultimately held in contempt of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

http://law.justia.com/cases/arkansas/supreme-court/1995/93-1303-0.html

You didn't answer any of my questions. Yes I know there were issues with him and his neighbors but my question is why is it such a big deal to you?

There are displays in residential areas that are the same size or maybe bigger than his was. You can see those displays on tv shows like The great Christmas Light fight on ABC.

So again I will ask the question why are you so against the lights?

You didn't answer his questions, valid ones that I would guess many of us have.

We all know the story ..... but honestly unless you were directly involved, who cares?

You clearly have so much hate and venom for the Osbornes. Post after post is good old southern ugliness, using such nasty words to describe this man, his family and their lights.

Were you a neighbor? were you wronged by him or his family?

 

[DDLand]

I saw it for the first time the other night. Really cool experience. I hope something similar makes its way to the parks again shortly. Over 5 million lights. It was something else.

 

[circus4u]

I have my own display done to music with around 20000 lights. It gets bigger every year but it's obviously no Osborne. My neighbors also don't hate me at least from what I can see. My neighbor across the street loves it in fact. There are thousands of large scale residential displays around the country and that evident in the Christmas light fight on ABC.

Just curious, what system do you use to synchronize to music? I have been doing this for about 10 years now. We live in the desert, not exactly a residential area, but always seem to have a parade of vehicles coming by every year. All word of mouth "advertising." 2 hr and 45 minute show this year; stopped counting number of lights 5 years ago, but have added over 3000 pixels which has allowed some pretty good animation. Put the entire Main Street Electrical Parade on the "pixel screen" this year, 9 Mins and 54 seconds. Also did the Disney Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks Show this year (another 10 minute sequence). Always looking for fellow hobbyists.

 

[rteetz]

Just curious, what system do you use to synchronize to music? I have been doing this for about 10 years now. We live in the desert, not exactly a residential area, but always seem to have a parade of vehicles coming by every year. All word of mouth "advertising." 2 hr and 45 minute show this year; stopped counting number of lights 5 years ago, but have added over 3000 pixels which has allowed some pretty good animation. Put the entire Main Street Electrical Parade on the "pixel screen" this year, 9 Mins and 54 seconds. Also did the Disney Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks Show this year (another 10 minute sequence). Always looking for fellow hobbyists.

I use a system that does it for me but next year I hope to upgrade to my own light o Rama system. I'd love to add pixels as well but haven't yet.

 

[circus4u]

I use a system that does it for me but next year I hope to upgrade to my own light o Rama system. I'd love to add pixels as well but haven't yet.

LOR is the only way to go! Hit the stores tomorrow and buy up as many lights as you can while they are on clearance. Suggest LEDs if at all possible. Incandescents eat up the amperage (my son-in-law is an electrician and he put in 6 dedicated 30 amp circuits for me years ago. With LEDs, I only need one circuit for everything). Get the LOR program and download some of the free sequences to see how some effects are done and you are on your way. Beware, it is an addicting hobby. If you want/need some help/advice, PM me and I will send you my e-mail address since this is not really Disney related.

 

[rteetz]

LOR is the only way to go! Hit the stores tomorrow and buy up as many lights as you can while they are on clearance. Suggest LEDs if at all possible. Incandescents eat up the amperage (my son-in-law is an electrician and he put in 6 dedicated 30 amp circuits for me years ago. With LEDs, I only need one circuit for everything). Get the LOR program and download some of the free sequences to see how some effects are done and you are on your way. Beware, it is an addicting hobby. If you want/need some help/advice, PM me and I will send you my e-mail address since this is not really Disney related.

Oh I definitely will be in the stores tomorrow it's an annual event. I only buy LED these days. Thanks!

 

[Planogirl]

Wow, so much venom for a simple light display. I wouldn't mind if one of my neighbors did this. It's only for a short time plus it's handy that our houses have alleys so we could avoid the traffic.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Just curious, what system do you use to synchronize to music? I have been doing this for about 10 years now. We live in the desert, not exactly a residential area, but always seem to have a parade of vehicles coming by every year. All word of mouth "advertising." 2 hr and 45 minute show this year; stopped counting number of lights 5 years ago, but have added over 3000 pixels which has allowed some pretty good animation. Put the entire Main Street Electrical Parade on the "pixel screen" this year, 9 Mins and 54 seconds. Also did the Disney Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks Show this year (another 10 minute sequence). Always looking for fellow hobbyists.

I'm very curious about this. Are you achieving this with video? I'd love to see.

 

[sachilles]

To me, it seems like a re-imagined holiday light show, is perfect for Disney Springs. Once the newness of the remodel wears off, you'll need some sort of seasonal attraction to bring folks into your largest shopping district, and put them in the holiday shopping mood.
There are many good contributing reasons to end the shows run at DHS, but maybe no one smoking gun.

 

[circus4u]

I'm very curious about this. Are you achieving this with video? I'd love to see.

No problem shooting video, I just don't have anyplace to post it on the web. Last year, I had Reflections of Earth, but didn't use it this year. The two Disney sequences from this year are each about 10 mins long, so the video files would be huge.

Edit to say. I could post on you tube, but since the music is copyright to Disney, don't know if they would block it.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Primarily I'm interested in how you execute the effect, but understand the video limitation & potential youtube limitation. Youtube hosts fan-made videos of Disney Parks parades, but I don't know how or if they'd treat divorced music differently.

If you manage to do a motion-gif or anything like that anywhere, give me a heads up .

Thanks.

 

[Disney Von Drake]

What's an appropriate display? Hundreds of houses around the country if not thousands including my own have over 10000 lights set to music or something along those lines. An appropriate display is an opinion.

It was the opinion of the Arkansas Supreme Court that the light display was not appropriate. Osborne was also held in criminal contempt of court for his failure to correct the problem and flouting the law. He willfully disregarded the order of the court and abused his neighbors. I don't make the law.

 

[rteetz]

It was the opinion of the Arkansas Supreme Court that the light display was not appropriate. Osborne was also held in criminal contempt of court for his failure to correct the problem and flouting the law. He willfully disregarded the order of the court and abused his neighbors. I don't make the law.

You still haven't answered any of my questions as to why you are so against this light display. Were you one of his neighbors? Do you not like Christmas lights? I'm not understanding the problem as this was a long time ago and as you said was resolved so why bring this up now as it has nothing to do with the ending of the lights at Disney. What's the problem here? I have never seen the lights in person but that doesn't mean anything here. You keep avoiding my simple questions.

 

[HopperFan]

They're back ..............

 

[ColoradoDreamin]

It was the opinion of the Arkansas Supreme Court that the light display was not appropriate. Osborne was also held in criminal contempt of court for his failure to correct the problem and flouting the law. He willfully disregarded the order of the court and abused his neighbors. I don't make the law.

It is also against the law in some areas to put an ice cream in your pocket. Just cause it's the law doesn't mean it makes sense

 

[mshanson3121]

Wow, so much venom for a simple light display. I wouldn't mind if one of my neighbors did this. It's only for a short time plus it's handy that our houses have alleys so we could avoid the traffic.

I'd be so happy to see some neighbours doing this. Over the last few years it seems less and less people decorate for Christmas. It's sad - one of my favorite Christmas memories as a kid was to go driving around on Christmas Eve after church looking at all the beautiful lights, and man, people used to take time and PRIDE in decorating their homes. Now... people that decorate are in the minority. It's sad. I would have loved the opportunity to see the Osbourne lights.

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

I'd be so happy to see some neighbours doing this. Over the last few years it seems less and less people decorate for Christmas. It's sad - one of my favorite Christmas memories as a kid was to go driving around on Christmas Eve after church looking at all the beautiful lights, and man, people used to take time and PRIDE in decorating their homes. Now... people that decorate are in the minority. It's sad. I would have loved the opportunity to see the Osbourne lights.

DH and I have a yearly tradition of driving around the neighborhood while listening to Christmas music to look at the lights. Sadly, it's gotten worse and worse every year.