Dad3353

Our nearest neighbour runs a plumbing/heating business. I 'phoned him a while back, asking if he could look at our water pressure. He popped round one day when I was out, and the pressure regulator was changed (pressure restored...). No invoice, or fee. He was surprised (and pleased...) when I dropped in to offer him a bottle; he had refused the money I had offered. Sometimes there are other concerns than one's professional or otherwise status. Just sayin'.

My other pet peeve is apostrophes. ...

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never worked for money, I've always chosen work that interests me. It has helped that I'm rather broad-minded in the field I choose, and learn very quickly. From avionics to IT, audio manufacture, professional gardening, lab instrument manufacture, jukebox and video game repair, musician (of course...), technician in a music shop, freelance programmer, short spell on a building site (between jobs...), pool-table manufacture, disco installation, back to IT, teaching, programming production systems for various French, Dutch and US companies as IT manager, then retirement. None of these posts were highly paid; all were rewarding. When playing music (drummer...) professionally, I got paid a pittance, but enjoyed the whole process, and have fistfuls of anecdotes and memories from those days that, to me, are priceless. Whilst working, I also played weddings and functions as a duo with a buddy for several years, and helped a local rock/punk/ska band get off the ground by doing their transport, sound, then their lights, for a few years more. Again, all unpaid, but a further store of unforgettable moments. Now retired, of course, I have a very modest income and a very modestly confortable lifestyle. I would not have had such enjoyment of my life had I gone looking for fame or fortune. No regrets, and I still play for free when asked.

Almost. The drummer is, for the most part, playing to a 'click' track, so, although there are solo spots and (much..!) improvisation, the whole show is pretty strictly timed, with short 'free' passages in between numbers. If the spots don't fall on the right person at the right time, the effect is lost, and if the frontman changes his posture (leaning forward menacingly into an eery green footlight...) when it's on, it can't be rolled back. It's a matter of 'loose' synchronising, along with pre-planning for all concerned. Much like a lot of backing tracks, I think.

No, the lights stayed in time with the band.

How about the lighting..? Can that be pre-programmed..? I had the whole 'Kiemsa' set on my laptop, in the right order, and much of it was automatic. I would do particular stabs and flashes, and some of the 'black-outs', but wouldn't have enough fingers and thumbs to do all of the Fx manually. It worked very well, for several years; no-one insisted that the lights be done all by hand. Is there any difference..? It's all part of the performance, no..?

Like these..?

Not just any 30w, but a Vox AC30..! Those beggars get to be incredibly loud..!

Just a little disingenuous, I suggest; they're talking about relative poverty. Not quite the same thing as being unable to afford to eat. This kind of poverty can be cured overnight, by simply reducing the income of the upper-earning half of the population. Just sayin'.

Time to invest in a more modern system..?

I don't believe in voting for people that you don't, and can't, know. I vote locally with no qualms.

Indeed, as I have tried to illustrate before, with some tongue in cheek. Looking for any rational 'solution' to any of this seems, to me, to be vain, as it is beyond the intellect of any one person, or collection of people. The scale is vast; it's difficult to 'manage' a village, so global geopolitics..? Not a chance. Do the best that one can in one's immediate vicinity seems, to me, to be the best one could hope for. The rest is, essentially, virtual, for 99.9999% of the Planet's population. What can be done about any of it..? One's best s'all. Fixed (see above; s'not possible for Humans to apprehend and master. Dial it all back, if it's not already too late...).

I've planted two rows of potatoes (two different varieties...), and will be shortly erecting a small (9m²...) tunnel greenhouse, to grow tomatoes in grow-bags. (Disclaimer : I was doing this anyway, US or no US ...)

Oh, OK then. For quite some time, I've been thinking it to be a Bad Thing, but I've been wrong all this time, eh..? The World has been a very peaceful place for one heck of a lot of people, over one heck of a lot of centuries. Conflicts, I'd suggest, are not an inevitability, and, when they do arise, are no to be condoned or excused. They hurt a lot of folk. I don't mind that, as long as it's the willing belligerents that get cracked skulls, but when it's the innocent, I can find no justification, and don't believe that it's just Natural. If wars are to happen, let it happen between soldiers.

If we're going down the 'historical back story' route, the 'terrorist' Zionist immigrants that turfed the Palestinien Arabs out of their villages, homes, farms etc at gunpoint can be considered responsable for the 'ill feeling' that most Arabs have towards Israel's administration. Most Palestiniens (several million...) are refugees in camps in neighbouring countries, forbidden to return to their native land. It'll be a very, very long time before those atrocities are pardoned.

Indeed, but that's still three times the cost of the cables required. Is it worth it for a pub stage..? Maybe. We all make our choices.

That's quite a strong statement. Would you care to explain your rational..? (And 'No, I don't agree with such a notion of 'duty' ...).

If you have a laptop available (even a very modest one, with Windows...), this Usb-Dmx interface is excellent. Sunlite Suite 2 FC 1536 channels DMX512 Stage Lighting Controller... I have an older version which has worked faithfully for a couple of decades, and permits extremely simple, or extremely powerful, Dmx control of multiple lighting fixtures, included moving heads, strobes etc. Programming can be done at home, with a virtual stage 3D display. Highly recommended for those willing and able to do more than just switching on and off. This was done using it (plus a 'manual' lighting desk. We were two to operate the lights...)... (That's Our Eldest on guitar, in black T-shirt ...)

At a cost of several hundred pounds, it would have to be a serious investment to justify this expense. Probably worth considering where great distances are involved, or where cabling is prohibitive (an outdoor event across water, for instance, or lighting an ancient monument..?). I know that decent Dmx cables are not cheap, either, but I doubt their value for money for most venues. An option, but not a low-budget one.

Good evening... Not easy in words of less than one syllable, but I'll try. Disclaimer : I did the lights for Kiemsa (pop/rock/ska originals, toured all over France...) for several years. I used a laptop with a Sunlite DMX controller; it worked a treat, but I was the dedicated 'lighter'. It can't be done that way piloted by anyone playing. If your requirements are modest, a simple DMX controller with a four-button footswitch would do. Look at the Stairville Stage TRI LED Bundle Remote (Thomann...), which works with several Stairville lighting rigs. It's all decent enough stuff for pub gigs, and there's not much available for lower budgets that that. If your needs are more sophisticated, the budget goes up exponentially. A Stairville rig (or equivalent...) will suffice, though, to do what you describe. You may have to invest in a compatible rig, and sell you current system (or keep your rig as 'extra' Fx; in lighting, less is not necessarily more...). Look at the Thomann stuff, and get back with questions if need be. Hope this helps. Douglas Edit : Norris (above ^^...) is on the money, too. I concur with my learned colleague.

So sovereign Russia can deploy foreign troops, but sovereign Ukraine may not..? Hmm... The definition of 'sovereign' takes a bashing , it seems. It's a bit late, now (spilt milk..?); the time for unity was 2014, when Crimea was overrun. I rate myself as a pacifist, and am far too old (and far too poorly...) to take up arms now, in any case, but I think that this can only end 'well' if 'willing' neighbours and allies joined forces with sovereign Ukraine to repel the invaders. One could hope that the much-vaunted air defences ('Iron Dome'-style...) could intercept any missiles coming from Russia, and that, in any case, retaliation would put a stop to it all pretty darned sharpish. Not pretty, but the ending of the Pacific conflicts of WWII came about using big weapons. Not pretty, but it worked. Would I press the button, if attacked with nuclear arms..? Yes, I would, if they were aimed at the culprits, and not the innocent. Just my tuppence-worth.

Fixed. ...

Well spoken and right to the point. Good Man.

All of these comments and opinions bring to mind the works of John Aubrey, collected in 'Brief Lives', a classic, giving a very down-to-earth view of contemporary Elizabethan times, as seen from his daily notes. One recognises easily enough the same tribulations, the same 'fears', doubts and 'certainties' as today (with the possible exception of an impending Climate Catastrophe, which was not much of an issue then, apparently...). The same remarks about political figures, the Youf of his day, the degradation of public manners and Education going to Pot; the list is long. Luckily enough it's a darned good read, with many a chuckle or outright belly laugh at the, to us, quaint medical practices of the day, but it puts a bit of perspective on the current grumblings about how it's all going wrong. T'was the same, for those that read Classics, in the days of Pliny, of course, or Plato, but Aubrey is a much lighter read. Highly recommended as a partial cure for those looking too earnestly at today's frantic spin. Refreshing. Just sayin'.