Last night, early evening time, we experienced a brown out!

While watching the first episode of the BBC's new series production of Robin Hood, our projector, TiVo, receiver, and sound system (and computers) all shut down simultaneously, although the kitchen lights only went dim.

Since we were near the climax of the episode and really wanted to see how it ended, we tried to eject the DVD from the TiVo player, but it didn't have enough power. So we got the large emergency battery unit out of the garage, but it turned out to be dry (lost its power sitting there for a year or two).

Next we tried a UPS used to protect our desktop computers. That had enough juice to power up the TiVo, let it initialize, and then eject the disk. We stuck it into a laptop and watched the rest of that episode and two more!

So there, LADWP! (And yes, we have recharged the big battery, so you won't catch us out again.)

Losing power in a blackout's annoying, but sometimes fun - get the candles out, chill out. A brownout's weirder, not being used to them, at least. You lose power for most things, but the lights still work (mostly), which just seems unnatural. Some things work and some don't. Anyway, the next morning power had been restored.

Robin Hood's pretty entertaining, really, except for the laughably costumed minions of the Sheriff of Nottingham. They sport ridiculous fake mail and stupid-looking helmets and big leather coats. I don't understand why the rest of the cast and the sets look so appropriately period, but those outfits don't. Watch for the series on BBC America if you get that channel, or rent or buy the DVDs if you don't.