Maybe a FREE CELL PHONE WITH EACH  PURCHASE too!!..with required 6yr. service contract.

Actual sign. Very LARGE. No kidding. Black Friday, of course.  It was hanging over a shoe store. Duh!

Why didn’t the sign just say, “ THE CHEAPEST PAIR OF SHOES WE HAVE IN THIS STORE IS $6.79!! COME IN AND LET US TELL YOU ABOUT IT…And we will also tell you that we only have one pair that fits you, so you better go put up a tent…

     I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the eighties and someone had just opened a cool club in Atlanta. The Center Stage. A rock club, with over 60 par 64's, a bunch of lekos and it's own pipe to hang a backdrop. This old boxing theater had been transformed into an intimate cool rock palace that groups loved to play. As an LD, it was nice to go into this cool place and have a ripping show back then.

       Now I hadn't done a gig in there in at least 25 years, til the other…

Pleasure Island revisited

            On September 28, 2011, the 3-year anniversary of the closure of Pleasure Island occurred. For those of you who have never heard of Pleasure Island, it was a mega entertainment complex filled with 7 huge nightclubs located at Downtown Disney in Orlando, FL. All the nightclubs were 2 and 3 story tall mega clubs that had the latest equipment in regards to lighting, audio, video, and rigging. There was also some…

We all love built-in effects.  Built-in effects offer us programmers a quick and simple resource for most attributes of fixtures.  Movements, color mixing, and intensity effects are among my favorites, but not every look/show/gig calls for built-in "stock" effects.  Here are a few simple custom made effects.  Give them a try.

First, is my 3-part intensity chase.  When I want to create some movement/excitement on stage (without actually moving the lights) I create this effect…

For the longest time, I have worked with my iTunes music running in the background. In fact, I have a couple of co-workers that call me from time to time just to see what I am listening to. I won't say I have the greatest taste in music or even know much about it.  But I know what I like! With over 60 gigs worth of music, I felt like I had endless choice of music. Like many people, I only listen to a handful of playlist and the same music over and over again.  It got a little…

The question is, "What are fixtures supposed to be doing when not on?"  It sounds a bit...off!  That was a question which turned into a topic of discussion for an Advanced Programming Class (AP03) at LDI 2011 moderated by Brad Schiller, Jim Ohrberg, Jon Griffin, and (I'm sorry but I forgot the last guy's name.  If anyone was there and knows his name, please give him credit in the comments section below.  Thanks!).  To elaborate on the original question:

What should the moving…

         Sorry I haven’t been blogging lately. I got a super cool writing assignment and have been consumed with getting it right. I have been going to a ton of concerts/ festivals, and have been doing some cool corporate gigs and should be up to speed blogging in the next week or so with getting all the facts and pictures up. Wait a minute, does anyone read my blog? How about just look at the pictures? Well, I think I’m Ok with just a friend or 2 reading my blogs, because I enjoy posting…

An L.D. (LD) and PRODUCER (P) are sitting in a bar somewhere, staring at a cocktail napkin.

P: (pointing at napkin) Okay, here’ s the idea I came up with. You like?

LD: Uh…I think you gave me the wrong napkin. This one has beer stains all over it. (looking more closely at napkin) And maybe some…uh… ketchup? Are you sure this is the right napkin?

P: (grabbing napkin) Let me…

Last weekend I was in Florida for LDI 2011.  Although it was wet and rainy Friday and Saturday morning the convention center was quite sunny, so to speak.  From the programmer's perspective i'll give a brief overview of the show.

Electronic Theatre Controls had their "EOS" line of consoles including, Eos, Ion, Element, and the new Gio.  The Gio has been released to fit in between the Ion and Eos.  That is, a board to fill the gap between the big dog Eos and the high school…