Faux Fireplaces Get Some Respect
from the slow-news-day dept
I grew up in a house with a fireplace. For two years in college I lived in a house with a fireplace. For the past four years, I’ve lived in a house with a fireplace. In my life, I have never once set a fire in a fireplace. For the most part, it just seemed like too much trouble (though, now that I’m in California, who needs a fireplace when it’s sunny and 70 every day?). However, it seems I’m not the only person who thinks building a fire in a fire place is too much work. You know it’s a really slow news day when the Wall Street Journal (reprinted at MSNBC) has a whole article talking about the growing trend of people to install fake fireplaces. Apparently, they’re not considered tacky anymore. What’s really scary, though, is the coming “postmodern” fireplaces that will display fires in whatever colors and shapes you want…
Comments on “Faux Fireplaces Get Some Respect”
Back in the 70s
When Atari TV games came out (before they were called “consoles”), there was a similar product that just displayed a kaleidoscope of random colors on your TV screen all day, in pixels the size of stamps.
And back then, you were REALLY cool if you had one of those baseball simulator games in your basement that had a million wires dangling from it, and never worked right.
Reminds me of that.
Fire
Do you actually know how to set a fire in a fireplace? If you know what you are doing it isn’t hard work (particularly when compared with the benefits!) – the hard work part is the clearing out the grate etc which is much more of a pain.
However very few people know how to set a fire properly these days.
Re: Fire
Heh. Like the people who don’t realize there’s a damper you have to open before starting one in the fireplace? Turn the living room black.