it would not be a crime

It would not be a crime if
someone were
to break into my house...

and clean it...

i'm just sayin'....

places i visit...

When the cat is not sleeping on my computer these are some of the non-audio related web sites I've been visiting recently :

• Whatever - the online home of author John Scalzi
• lifehacker - tips and downloads for getting things done
• Astronomy Picture of the Day
  
• Gizmodo - the Gadget Guide

The Story Of The Podium, The Microphone and The Light

Once upon a time I was doing a corporate show, where we had about 10,000 watts of PA, moving lights, 2000 people in the audience, and a podium.

Now, first understand that our podiums have two microphones, typically something like the EV PC18-XLR (pictured on the right), and our podiums all have a gooseneck light made by Littlite (pictured on the left)..

So the event begins with a speaker who has a wireless lavalier microphone. The theory being he will be walking around the stage, and with the wireless mic he won't be tethered to the podium. Great theory, right ? Not quite, because the first thing he does is walk up the podium and push the microphones down, and then proceeds to give his speech standing at the podium. This is not a problem, he has a wireless lav, I turn it up...everything's great...
This is the problem : first speaker now intros the next speaker (who does not have a wireless mic)...next speaker walks up to the podium..looks at the mics that are pushed down...pauses... pulls up the light...and begins his speech speaking into the light...needless to say there are now 2000 people, plus myself who can not hear a thing this guy is saying...the next speaker (who must have realized that the light was not a mic) walks up to podium...pauses...pulls the light closer, and begins speaking...meanwhile I am too far away from the stage to do anything except bang my head on the console...

Now, these are all CEO types, who I KNOW have given speeches, and you know.. talked into MICROPHONES!!!!!!!..

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is : if it emits light IT IS NOT a freakin' MICROPHONE.

The End.

Yellow Pages, why ?

This was delivered today... I think it is called Yellow Pages, it seems to be 50 pounds of paper with phone numbers listed... not really sure what to do with it... neither is the cat...

Ring Nebula (M57)

from German website Astro-Kooperation
with some cool space pictures.
As they say, "klicken Sie hier..."

Rober Forster-Velvet Underground

Update : Greetings to all the visitors from the Robert Forster site. These pictures are more of the 'behind the scenes' variety, taken while I was setting up for the show, thus the quality is less than stellar. However, the show and the band was stellar. Also, I posted some more pictures here...

Update #2 : More pictures here

As part of the Wexner Center for the Arts show Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms, we provided PA and monitors for Robert Forster :

"Celebrate the opening weekend of Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms with this special event spotlighting the music of art-rock legends the Velvet Underground—a band Warhol produced and championed.

"You’ll hear timeless Velvets’ classics performed by Robert Forster, one of the founders of revered Aussie indie band The Go-Betweens. We’re one of only two venues in this country to host Forster’s tribute concert, which he originally performed with his band at a Warhol exhibition in Queensland. (The other venue is Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum.) Forster and his excellent combo rip into "I’m Waiting for My Man," "All Tomorrow’s Parties," "What Goes On," and others from the Velvets’ influential catalog. Polish up your "shiny, shiny boots of leather" and step into the electric demimonde of the Factory era."

set-list-on-a-plate

what is it with turning left ?

What is it with turning left ? This is NOT a political question..


The Last of the Mohicans:

Duncan : "There is a war on. How is it you are headed west?"
Hawkeye : "Well, we kinda face to the north and real sudden-like, turn left."

Hard Days Night :

Reporter : "how did you (the Beatles) find America on your first U.S. visit"
John : "Just turn left at Greenland..."

Looney Tunes :

Bugs Bunny arriving accidentally at the South Pole : ''I knew I shoulda toyned left at Albuquerque."

phantom power

Two ways of assigning phantom power on the Yamaha M7 :

1. Select channel
-tap on Head Amp
-tap on "+48V"
repeat for each channel that needs phantom power....

or (the more better way)

2. go to User Defined Keys
- scroll to "SET BY SEL"
- go to "SET +48V"
.....now, holding the user defined key and hitting the Select key on on any channel turns phantom power off/on....

WalMart

From Flowing Data

This cool animation shows the spread of WalMart :
"Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America"

no podium ?

It's not just a job, it's an adventure...
we spent four days on Lake Cumberland..
working...

sometimes you just have to take one for the team.....

Lake Cumberland, KY....

somebody has to do it....

Bluesfest

We just got back from the Riverside Bluesfest in St. Marys, Ohio

One of the artists was Ana Popovic , an amazing guitar player born in Belgrade, Serbia, she and her band had done a show two days before in Amsterdam, then traveled to Ohio and put on a fantastic show...

power of the internets...

...was watching the Olympics, and I thought I saw cheerleaders....at the Volleyball Tournament...cheerleaders...seriously ?...quick search on Google, and I found someone who was thinking the same....

"Really? As if the intermittent blast of 80’s rock wasn’t bad enough on the beach volleyball court, cheerleaders at the Olympics? Sure we can appreciate the Chinese trying to honor the origins of beach volleyball played on boardwalks with music and food and drinking. But this is the Olympics."

continue reading at GlamFit

White Spaces

From Shure

"the white spaces proposal creates a potential for interference to wireless microphones from unlicensed devices"....

continue reading at Shure.com

From FOH online:

"NILES, Ill. – Prototype White Spaces devices were tested by FCC engineers on Saturday, Aug. 9, at FedExField just outside of Washington, D.C., at a preseason exhibition game between the National Football League’s Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills. Starting at 10:00 a.m. and continuing through 8:00 p.m. ET, the period of observation and analysis assessed the ability of the proposed devices to detect the presence of television signals, wireless microphones and other existing wireless technologies."

continue reading at FOH online

....what is this ?

One of the strangest and coolest things I've ever seen on stage...

not so deep thoughts

I would like to see a random 'normal' person (IE. not an athlete) participate in each event during the Olympics. Imagine, if in lane 8 of the 100 meter butterfly was John Doe from Anywhere, USA - then you could get some perspective on how fast those people were really going...

boring weather

We have had absolutely beautiful weather : sunny, 80F, low humidity... perfect...but, not if you are a local TV weatherman, then it is 'boring', and 'we need rain' - apparently if there is not a catastrophic weather event then it's not worth talking about....

some of the artists we've worked with...

• Over The Rhine - great band from Cincinnati
  
• Yo Yo Ma
• The Lettermen
• Michael Mcdonald
• Toby Keith - "ain't no doubt my king of the mountain's built Ford tough"
  
• Chick Corea
• Mandy Patinkin - "you killed my father, prepare to die"
• Danielle Peck
• Sawyer Brown
• Caribou

my other photos

Pictures of 'Bugs' the cat (named after Bugs Bunny)

Here are some
pictures of
Glen Echo Park
in Columbus


and some
random pictures

(some of) the speakers we've provided with Audio, Video, and Lighting

• Alan Dershowitz
  
• Jack Hanna - "Jungle Jack"
  
• Spike Lee
• John McCain
• Gordon Gee - President of The Ohio State University
• Ted Strickland - Governor of Ohio
• Susan Nokes - Chief Customer and Operations Officer T-Mobile USA
  

recent posts

• Muskingum County Fair in Zanesville, Ohio.... Jason Aldean, and lots of mud...also a weird eye
  
  
• New Mexico....mountains, storms, coyote
  
  
• La Jolla, CA....cliffs, beach...also Estancia Hyatt
  
  
• Alive Festival in Canal Fulton, OH....Christian Music Festival
  
  
• Lancaster Festival in Lancaster, Ohio....Zoso, Kenny Logins, Wynonna Judd
  

hotel rant

Some Hyatt hotels drive me crazy :

--Why do I need all these stupid #@$%$$ pillows !?
Where do I put them ?!

--How do you charge 250 dollars a night, and then 12 dollars a day for internet access ?

--Do you people realize that I can go to a Super 8,
pay $80.00,
get free internet,
and I dont have to wade through a million pillows ??!!

Muskingum County Fair 08

We brought in PA at the Mukingum County Fair with country act Jason Aldean. An interesting event....

(Click on pics to enlarge)




9:00 AM - this is the first thing we saw :








9:00 AM - heated discussion "where do we put the stage... and the mud ?" :












10 AM - measuring (?!?!) the distance to the stage :

















3:00 PM - soundcheck









8:00 PM - showtime :

..who knew ?

Muskingum County Fair Part 2

we had a break after soundcheck and went for a walk around the fairgrounds to look at the 'sights'..

--for the first time in my life saw a sheep with no fur(hair?) - I had no idea what it was - then I saw it's eyes - what the?? ...

--swine arena ???

global warming ?

in august ?

New Mexico

We were in Santa Ana, New Mexico for five days....Sandia Mountains....Rio Grande...and the 'resort' we stayed at :

coyote in the grass

cottonwood trees by the Rio Grande

Sandia Mountains from the resort

hand out the window - storm over the mountains

More pictures here