Shortly after Christmas ("The Holidays" for the PC crowd) my wife went
out and bought a HDTV Television (that cagey ole broad knows when the
deals are happening).

It's not very big, as these things go, being only a 27" version but
anything much bigger wouldn't have fit so good in our tiny little
living room.

So we get it and I hook it up and fire it up - then she tells me it
won't work right without the cable company coming out and gouging us
for more money - so I waited.

Cable guy comes and hooks up the box interface to their office and my
wallet - and I wait.

What I'm waiting for is the DIY Network, sose I can cast an eyeball on
this David Marks fella that I've been reading so much about here on
the Wreck.

Finally, the kids are done playing with the thing and watching all of
the four thousand kids channels that come with the service - I'm done
waiting.

Yesterday morning I punched up the DIY channel and watched a couple of
Mr. Marks' programs, that ran back to back.

I have to confess, I really don't know what all the fuss is about.

He had a brad nailer sitting on his workbench, just like Norm does.

Although I don't know anything about the man, he seemed like he came
from a pure shop background or an art school background, because the
work that he was doing had a more elevated design ethic than Norm's
usual stuff.

Norm comes from being a carpenter, which is how I came to making
furniture, and he tends to copy existing pieces, rather than starting
from his own on paper.

Marks looks like he favors studio furniture trends over traditional
styles, but hell, I've only seen two shows.

His techniques didn't seem wildly divergent from those of any decent
mechanic - I was expecting something on the order of Toshio Odate.

His shop didn't look much different from mine, saving the aircraft
carrier that was taking up way too much shop space - I'd trade that
for Norm's Timesaver in a heartbeat.

I'll keep watching.




tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1 (webpage)