Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
B.P., Salem
A: The original artists were friends. Now their kids are doing Hi & Lois.
Two generations of friendship and creativity had their birth in 1954 when Mort Walker, who had created "Beetle Bailey" four years earlier, teamed up with Dik Browne.
Walker wrote the gags for "Hi & Lois," and Browne drew the cartoons.
After Browne died several years ago, his son, Chance, became the artist for "Hi & Lois." The writers are Walker's sons, Greg and Brian Walker.
These three are responsible for Beetle's current visit to the home of his sister, Lois, where a family reunion is under way.
Beetle has visited "Hi & Lois" a couple of times over the years.
No sequoias here
Q: I have a 1953 book called "Pocket Guide to Trees" by Rutherford Platt, which says six sequoia trees were growing in Roanoke. Are these still around, and where are they located?
N.Y., Roanoke
A: Four people knowledgeable about trees in the Roanoke area said they weren't aware of any giant sequoias having survived that long.
A few Roanokers almost certainly have planted giant sequoias in their yards, but soil and climate here are borderline. ``I hate to be pessimistic, but ...,'' a retired U.S. forester chuckled.
On the other hand, the dawn redwood, another big tree from California whose biological name is metasequoia, has been known to make it here.
The best dawn redwood, about 35 feet tall, is on the Roanoke College campus. Another is at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. A third is in the arboretum at Virginia Western Community College, under the eye of Director Lee Hipp, who provided much of this information.
Wavy TV images
Q: Why do computer screens have that wave going across the video monitor when they're captured on TV?
M.R., Blacksburg
A: It's a timing thing.
Video monitors constantly refresh, or "redraw," their images at a rate based on 60 cycles per second. TV cameras-the kind that still use tubes, anyway-take pictures at a slightly slower speed.
The human eye sees a wave because the monitor runs, or scans, faster than the camera.
There are now two ways to avoid the wave. A synchronizing device connected to camera and monitor can make them work together.
Secondly, newer cameras that use a computer chip instead of tubes to process images avoid the cycle problem entirely.
TV news now can show an image on a studio monitor that's free of waves-such as when a screen beside an anchor person displays video from a news event that's occurring elsewhere.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB