halfdagron

Lighting maintenance

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:09:22 GMT

If you have a lighting system in your venue, there are a couple things that you should check every now and then. These are things that can create extremely dangerous situations if they aren't caught early. Most of these things are never going to happen to your system. Knowing that these things are correct can help troubleshoot when problems do arise.

Today's tip:
Check your voltages! Make sure that they are what they should be. On any ETC products the CEM+ will tell you the voltages, it will also make sure that you know when the voltages are wrong. It isn't fail proof though because some situations can't be caught by active monitoring. One of the most damaging problems that I have seen is a floating neutral. When a system looses it neutral, the phase voltages will combine and spike. The fuses that protect the electronics in controllers are not meant to protect against extreme voltages.
If you do suspect that something is wrong with the power feed to your dimming system, turn it off and call a certified electrician.

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:42:34 GMT

As I start to reach the end of my week in CA learning The Wattstopper products there is a new clarity as to my purpose at dlab. I am hoping that Wattstopper becomes popular in the Chicago region so that I can constantly be busy instead of picking at bones for things to do. There is certainly an "art" to a properly laid out system. Complexity in the programming increases rapidly. As soon as there is a second relay panel, things get a lot different.
On a side note, I have noticed that many of the people that I work with are from a music background. Some have been in band others are still active. I need to remember my love of music and reattach to it. I need to start honing my skills as a dj again.

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:36:54 GMT

I started training for my first manufacture certification today. The product is incredibly simple in its most basic setups but can quickly scale to a reasonably robust system. It doesn't match the complexity that a couple other leading architectural systems are capable of executing. Those also really are not within the same target market.

Girls

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:36 GMT

So I guess when it comes to girls I really should stop trying. It seems the only time I can get up enough courage to talk to someone is when I am utterly wasted. It has made for two instances that leave me looking like a complete asshole. Not that people didn't already think that, but now I have a creepy twist added on. I'm real happy about it. The first incident, I actually was sincere because I did like the person. I voiced my opinion after lots of vodka and they didn't think so much of me. The second incident was more to prove a point. The problem was that I managed to make the girls boyfriend rather unhappy. Guess thats what happens when you hit on someone while their boyfriend is wrapped around them. This probably means that there will be yet another long dry spell between even thinking about women again. Its kinda sad, all I want is a companion. Is that too much to ask?

Ferry Corsten

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:54:07 GMT

I am proud to say that I attended the Ferry Corsten concert in Minneapolis last weekend. It was as always an adventure. Driving home from Green Bay is always reason to pull out the champagne as 5 hours driving solo is kind of like plucking nose hair. The first thing I didn't do was call and make sure my friends remembered that I had tickets for them. I made this phone call during my drive, not a few days ahead. Both members of my party had indeed forgotten this engagement. One was not a big deal and had not made plans. The other however felt it more important to close his cabin for the winter.
Once home and throughly angry that my friend had left me sitting with a ticket, it was time to explore downtown Minneapolis's warehouse district. First off, don't trust Google to find an address for you, even if it is more convenient. We discovered fairly quickly that we did not have the proper street address for the club we needed. Lucky for us we were only one street in the wrong direction. After a brief phone call to someone with a computer we were headed in the right direction again. Hurray for really old scary looking buildings because that was were our club was. It was cool though. I promptly sold my extra ticket to another person in line and were on our way inside.
Spin nightclub is a nice small intimate setting. Mind you small is still many many people. Two things I liked right away. I was not frisked upon entry and someone had invited a few chairs to this club. I am really good at arriving a little early in the night but that just makes getting situated easier. It does mean that you have to wait a little longer for the headliner though. It was a good crowd overall that night but people tend to be nice to each other at electronic concerts. Ferry hit the stage at midnight and played an full 2 and a half hour set. It was amazing. Spin has a decent light show and an extremely nice laser. There was plenty of eye candy around too at the club. Many of them looked single too, unfortunately i live in Green Bay. Best of all, everyone there wanted to be there to hear that style of music. (That is a different rant about the University Union though)
It was overall a great experience, certainly more enjoyable than Myth. Myth is bigger and has an amazing moving light rig but Spin was just more comfortable. The bars at Spin were very busy but well handled, my drink order did get flubbed once but it was ok because the drink tasted good anyway.
The drive home proved interesting because of Interstate 94 construction and really heavy rain with a finicky windshield wiper.

French Canada

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:38:10 GMT

I had to deal with a French Canadian company couple days ago. It made me not too happy when every phone operator answered the phone with French. Then they couldn't actually help me when I called. They took my phone number and promised to call back soon. The next morning at around 8:30am my phone rings. If it had been anyone else but them calling me I would have been very angry. My question was about how to cancel my service. Turns out it is a lot easier than I thought it was, just an option buried under a link tree with 6 branches. The company hadn't done anything in particular that was bad aside from being expensive for the service I needed. I still have to wait the 60 day transfer period until I can move my domain name away from them though. The internet is too complex these days.

dj setup

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 07:31:45 GMT

item of interest:

American DJ
revo 2 list 260
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1727&cat=L.E.D.

revo 3 list 320
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1728&cat=L.E.D.

electra LED list 160
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1722&cat=L.E.D.

DMX
P64LED list 280
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1558&cat=L.E.D.

P36LED list 160
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1557&cat=L.E.D.

Tempest 575H list 819
http://www.americandj.com/product.asp?ProductIDNumber=1577&cat=Centerpiece

Martin
Freekie Controller guess 450-500
http://dj-club.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=freekie

Mania SCX500 guess 300-350
http://dj-club.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=maniascx500
package: http://www.idjnow.com/StoreModules/ProductDetails.aspx/PID=SCX500SYSTEM (4 at $1,325)

Mania SCX700 (longer lamp life) guess 850-950
http://dj-club.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=maniascx700

Mania EFX600 guess 700-750 (efx500 guess 400-500)
http://dj-club.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=maniaefx600

Mania EF2 guess 160-180
http://dj-club.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=maniaef2

UWGB Student Union Owes Me One Pan

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:02:58 GMT

The student union has made an interesting decision for this year. I am very curious to see how long it lasts. The powers that be have opted to do away with those nasty professional DJs and replace them with me, the student technician. There are some very strong mixed feelings. This action really only goes further to seperate the already distant city from the campus. We will no longer support these DJs although I'm sure there are pleanty of weddings to do still. I am also fairly excited to have an oportunity to DJ in public, an activty I have not done before. I have always had a secret dream of being a DJ. I even did a couple of my friend's parties but I just never really got it to go anywhere. I do have a rather large problem with the music I will be expected to play at the events we now DJ. Top 40 is not my usual playlist, very rarely a song will be good enough to slip into my listening area. I am sure I can get over this because even shitty music, when played well, can become something.
Now to the story as to why the union owes me a new pan. I love iced tea, probably my favorite drink. Tonight has been a rather hard night on my tea reserves. I needed more. Simple enough, just start some water boiling. Among the many things a DJ needs is lights. I have been asked to help find the lights we wish to purchase for the dance nights. Through my adventures of the American DJ and Martin DJ website I clean forgot that I was making tea. I forgot until I got thirsty enough to tear off my headphones. I had been smelling something burning for a while now. It smelled like the oven was on. I had made a pizza today but that was hours ago and I know I turned off the oven. I dumbly choose to ignore this smell. Upon stepping into the kitchen I realize that my pan, once upon a time being black bottomed had turned white. I believe that I burned the teflon off the pan. It certainly isn't going to work as a non-stick surface anymore. I still need my iced tea and I'm fairly certain that the pan is going to be poisonous for the forseeable future.

Fun Ways to Get Fired From USF

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 04:15:31 GMT

Throw blue fabric dye on the Lend Me a Tenor shirts as they are drying.

Jazz Club

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:31:11 GMT

It took me an entire summer to figure out what this city needs to make it livable. It really is quite simple. All we need is a jazz club and everything would be solved. There obviously are many problems with this solution, including the liquor license. Utah really isn't doing themselves a favor by limited the sale of alcohol so strictly. People who are going to drink will find a way anyway. Those who aren't drinking won't be harmed by easier liquor sales. The state it self would gain many benefits including increased revenue from sales tax.
All it would take is a jazz club.

Infinite Resources

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:38:15 GMT

This summer has been a good active summer. I have learned a lot about my trade and other people's trade. These lessons are good and all on the grand scheme of things. The most important thing that I learned this summer is that as a whole, Americans believe in infinite resources. I'm not talking about the easily understandable goods like music or other electronic data. I am talking about a physical good. My primary example is from Cedar City and lawn watering. The idea of a having a lush green European grass lawn has been taught to us since the day we pushed a boat onto the shores of the unexplored world. Here in Cedar this vision is none the different despite the fact that we are in a desert. Every night I see the same lawns being watered for hours. The sidewalk in front of the house or business is unusable because the mud washing out of the grass. This water happily glides over the cement and into the cities specially designed gutters to handle water flow. It seems logical that the city would install a system for dealing with the heavy rainstorms that do happen by every now and then. They also have accommodated for the mountain springs that run through the city in this design. The system works very well. The problem is that the city has no incentive to halt this water abuse. They get as much water as they want and they can sell as much water as a citizen is willing to use. There is no reward for selling less water. In fact, the city benefits from this belligerence.
My second point and example of infinite resources is paper products. This last Sunday I was less than enthusiastic to greet two new roommates. Even less to my desire my bathroom was chosen as the one that will be shared. In this one week period since they moved in, two rolls of toilet paper have evaporated. I was absolutely astonished. Keep in mind that I was not home during most of the week as my parents were visiting me. I am forced to realize that one single person has done this damage. Maybe two people since a girl has practically moved in with him already.
I also have found balls of paper towers, my very expensive paper towels on the countertop. I buy the expensive paper towels because they have smaller sheets that have extreme absorbent capacity. The balls of paper do not look like they have been used for anything other than water. This extreme waste is simply irresponsible.
The truth of why these things are problems are a simple economic concept. We call this problem externalities. An externality is an impact that effects the public but commerce has no obligation to correct. Other groups, such as a government might step in and force a market to be responsible for the impact. The problem is convincing the government that certain products like water or trees are indeed limited. The concept of limitation seems only to be realizable when a well runs dry or an entire state no longer has forests. Americans use what they "need" and destroy anything in that path.

Bitterness and Awesomeness

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:14:26 GMT

Sunday I went to see a concert. This has several good connotations. The first being that I got the hell out of Cedar City. It has been a long time since I last left this town. The concert was in Las Vegas which is a sizable distance from here but still conceivable to drive. This was my first time in Vegas because being at the airport doesn't really count. The real reason I went to this concert was the headliner Reel Big Fish. The other headliner was Less Than Jake. I love RBF and always have. LTJ has not really been in my play lists and this concert confirmed why. Both bands have a great stage presence and both equally artistic, I just happen to like Big Fish's music better. There were two warm-ups and one was fantastic the other will not be mentioned. Street Light Manifesto took the stage second after the out of rhythm trash that had just asaulted my ears. Street Light was amazingly good. They had a bass and tenor sax along with a trumpet and trombone. They clearly had a following in the mob of people. They played very well and quite melodically I might add. Overall the concert was very enjoyable, I just wish that concerts didn't have to be so loud. It doesn't need to be turned down much, just below the threshold of pain would be nice. I understand the need for systems to be powerful to fully communicate the intricate sounds of the music but it gets lost in distortion when the ear receives the sound. I really would like to go to a concert and not have to ask people to repeat what they said four time for the next couple days.
Vegas it self is an amazing city. The architecture alone is phenomenal. In our wonderings, I suddenly found myself inside the Luxor. I could not believe that I was standing inside of a giant triangle. My tour was brief as we needed to wait in line to get a good place on the concert floor. After the concert, I got a fleeting glimpse of the city lights as we left and was quite impressed. This city really is a Mecca of Americans.

Alien Encounter

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:06:59 GMT

David swung the board with a nail in it club at the alien that had just landed on his barn. The alien grabbed it out of his hands mid swing and briefly examined before crushing it into splinters and disintegrating it with its eye lasers.
In a surprisingly clear English voice the alien asked David "Is this the pinnacle of your human ingenuity?"
"Yeah, thats pretty much all I got." Responded David in a fluttering voice and dug a foot into the dirt. He tried to think rationally but all he could work out was "Should I take you to our leader or something?"
"Nah, that not really important. I'm sure we will run into him as we wipe your existence from the memories of the galaxy."
With that the alien turned and boarded its ship. Just before he closed the door the alien pulled out his blaster and suddenly david was a whisp of ash floating across the breeze.

Hobo Traps

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:53:02 GMT

This morning as I stepped out of my room and proceeded down the three flights of stairs, I came across a peculiar scene. Here about me lay the ruins of a Coke 12 pack. Now I am sure that there are many rational stories as to how this scattering of cans happened but I chose to rationalize it in a different way. My friends, I clearly had just stepped through a sort of war zone. These cans were hobo traps. They may serve as an unfortunate distraction as you line up your sniper scope for the kill or they them selves could have been self igniting napalm. I personally wasn't curious to find out and kept on moving. There is the question of why use coke as the bait. Normally a beer of the finest selection such as Rocket Fuel or Milwaukee’s Best would be first choice. However, the likelihood of our fellow hobo being Mormon would negate any effect of beer as bait.

You may find the idea of a hobo trap a bit irrational but it is a long known fact that our nation has been ravaged by a long standing war between two hobo factions. These factions clearly are the Hobo Ninja Legion and the Pirate Hobo Armada. The increased rate of graffiti and car vandalism in the city is a clear sign of a pirate presence. The history of the wars has long since been covered up or simply removed from our history text books. It is well known that when the Hobo Ninja Legion declared allies with the Union it was a major turning point in the civil war. Without these brave hobo's contributions American would be different from what we now know. The British pirates that sided with the confederates suffered a disgraceful defeat that has only deepened the bitter wounds between the factions.

Legion activities have influenced several other events in our history. The red scare was truly fueled by the hobo ninja legion. The legion created the event to turn the public eyes away from dangerously revealing investigations. This effectively concealed the activities that led up to the 22-foot crater in Los Angeles after an explosion at the O'Connor Electro-Plating Co.

I may have said too much already. They will be watching and listening. There isn't a city they haven't infiltrated and they have a communications network unlike any other known.

Thunderstorms

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:38:27 GMT

Minnesota and Wisconsin have essentially the same weather pattern, often sharing the same storms. Utah weather does things its own way. The storms don't come from west to east like they should. They move south to north with a general westward motion. This whole storms from the south east thing, hurts my brain. At least in Minnesota the storms knew how to behave. They followed the jet stream.
I'm fairly certain that the festival has determined how much they have to pay us so we don't die. We get paid and the next day all my money is gone again.

Yahoo

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:53:52 GMT

I have had my first ridculing for the way I talk. That "ooo" sound in Yahoo is just a little bit too much for people who don't talk Minnesotan. I honestly can not hear the difference. They found it hilarious enough to gather more people just so I could say it. I told them I was going to put it in my LiveJournal. Now it really happened.

Attempted Murder

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:14:52 GMT

So today is the definitive day. My employer is really trying to kill me. If I didn't think the lack of industrial ventilation or the distinct nonexistence of an MSDS book in my work space was proof enough. This gives me the nail in the coffin. Today while I was cleaning some stuff in the bathtub, the steam pissed of my smoke detector. While clawing at it to remove the cable harness so I could just make it stop beeping, I noticed a sticker. This sticker said a very distance warning on it, "Replace by 2003." It is currently 2007, clearly the unit still works or at least works well enough to make me angry. I also noticed after the fact that the wiring for the unit is not correct. Possibly it was disabled by a prior resident. The fact of the matter is that I am still alive and this attempt on my life was a failure. I am sure they will soon come up with another.
The state of Utah has this funny little holiday called founders day. It is apparently important enough that the city shuts down and doesn't deliver mail. I ordered a hard drive almost a week and a half ago now. My HD healthy has been dangerously compromised for a while now because of the volume of data being stored. The HD arrived on Monday but since it has to be handled by a third party it was not available to me. Today there was "no mail because it is a holiday." This got me angry enough to actually say something less than nice in regards to this city, which oddly enough actually got me help. There is a secret package drop point (inside a non-climate controlled shed) and because there was no mail today they had not bothered to check it. Sure enough I followed a company manger out to the shed and my package was there. I thank them for getting me the package. It however is the first time I really have seen company management do something above and beyond. Maybe this is a trend and management will actually become caring and helpful.
The new hard drive is currently being barraged by the gigabytes of data from my old drive. I have decided to do something nice for once in my life and will be filling the old drive with Lost season 3 so a friend can catch up on the series. I might include an immense volume of the worst porn I can find, as a joke.
Can I go home yet?

Thunder Storms

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:31:01 GMT

It finally rained yesterday making it the third time since I arrived in Utah. I hope that it helped with some of the wild fires. It rained a little today too. I really enjoy the lightning around here. It certainly falls under the epic proportions level. You see a flash and if you listen carefully you can hear a "tick" sound from the powerlines and then the thunderclap can be heard. These claps of thunder are amazing they are audible for a good thirty seconds. You can feel the sound pressure pushing against you. It is a truly awsome experience.
I am slightly worried that when my parents come down it will be cloudy here. They really want to watch a meteor shower and this is the perfect place to do it. When I got here it was never cloudy, only a puff or two at moments. This past week has had several overcast days. I hear that this is fairly typical weather for the area, maybe we will get lucky.

Of D&D and rabbit holes

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:44:02 GMT

Tonight outside my pool overlook balcony, there is a group of people with books, dice and snacks. They sit with there books and one man speaks. He speaks of wild and fantastic adventures. The others around him make decisions based on his words and imagine just what could come of those decisions. This pains me deeply. This was once a place that I could be. A place where I could sit with friends and experience life in a different way. A way that we could never possibly live on this earth. Here was a dumping ground of imagination, a pooling of story, and development of creativity. It has been 3 years since I last had a real adventure. Sure the little one offs that I have had slightly satisfy my need for imagination but they do little in the long term of exercising the mind. I just want to play again. I understand that some people grow out of enjoying these games. They would rather watch a movie or play a video game. I understand and accept that. I just wish that they wouldn't. Here I stand the lone D&D player of my group. I stand here searching for a friend to play with. It is difficult to find new players because so many factors must mesh. You need to have compatible personalities or else the entire game is a skirmish between players. I have been there and no one was happy. Schedules so often interfere with meeting for a session. I am lonely and I can't even find a crew members who would be interested in playing a card game that requires imagination instead of lies and sunglasses. It has taken 3 years for this summation of occur, to reach a breaking point where I realized just how much, the time I spent in the past, meant to me.

In the news of the theatre, I worked my first sell out show. The audience was receptive and responsive to the musical. We also created a record applause hold today of 33 sec. I suppose it was fun but I don't really do much during the show so the reward is very little. I only have one change during the show. I can only do so much prep work for the next show before I run out of things to do. Then I just sit. I can't read a book because there is too much going on and concentration is not possible. My other show is even worse because the one quick change I help with happens during the first act. After that I go to my book. It is nice to have time to read but I would rather do it at home. I just wish that I felt more useful, here or in the general lay of life. I can't convince myself to do what I need to do in order to improve myself. I replace the dedication to myself with internet flash games and television programs like Lost. I love these things but I let them take my time. I let them keep me from improving. I need to find a way to be happy. Why can't I just be happy.

Living as a single in a triple

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:01:54 GMT

Yesterday, like a cat I sensed something very wrong. I saw boxes, boxes of things you wouldn't usually just pack up for the fun of it. I didn't see my roommate until after I finished with my shows. He then confirmed my belief. Today, when I woke up he was completely gone. I feel this is a mixed blessing. I really don't like living with other people so this gives me quite a lot of space. However, some of you can recall how my sanity starts slipping when left completely to my own devices. I still have a job to do though so maybe that will help with the slipping sanity. I have already relocated my pantry from my dresser to one of the many cupboards now empty. Although now I have another flat surface for paper to accumulate. It feels really good to realize that I am alone with no worry of someone wandering in.
In other news. A couple weeks ago now, I learned that the only public bar in town has closed. It was a nice bar too. The owner was this 80 year old man who drank ensure instead of beer. He had the most outrageously over sized belt buckles I have ever seen. Unfortunately selling beer to Mormons is like selling KFC to an anorexic. The owner skipped town leaving behind a beer tab of about ten thousand dollars. Unfortunately the other bars that are within walking distance are private clubs. I am sure it isn't that hard to get in, but they are not within a comfortable stumble distance.
An update on my creative writing and comic strip world. I have finally started to write down ideas on paper. I have visual images that I have been wanting to put to pencil but shear laziness has kept me away. I think I also am afraid to face the fact that my art skills are still atrocious.

Addendum: I found out that my roommate departed on his own decision. I believe that to be a good thing. It is too bad that he did not feel comfortable with the festival but it is probably for the better that he did.

Summary of many

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:29:20 GMT

Well I had an awesome update but then I went and touched a button. This has made me unhappy. Thus the not exactly summarized version because I have enough time to write my post twice.
1. Show are going well. All the shows have finished with previews and have opened or are about to. Lend Me A Tenor is proving to be well liked by the preview audiences. I am currently having fun keeping track of how long the applause break is after a particular song. It seems to be the point where suspension of disbelief kicks in with the audience. Tonights score was 20 seconds. I am interested to see how that dynamic changes through the weeks.
2. The postal system here is run by snails and possibly elephants. When packages arrive looking like someone tried to used them as an accordion there is a problem. There simply is no way that the contents of a box can survive that type of abuse and they most certainly did not. People have told me I complain too much but I have expectations about the quality of the services rendered to me. Especially when I have paid for them.
3. Lost. I have been watching season 3 after just finishing with season 2. It is one of the few shows that I have been impressed with and am willing to give an avid following to. This attention is probably because of the mysterious nature of the show. I love a good mystery apparently. I don't have the brains to solve them though.
The summer is already slipping by far too quickly and soon I will find myself back in Green Bay. It isn't exactly a bad thing but I am worried about loosing all my life to work. I really enjoy my downtime with friends. Here I am so separated because the friends I value most don't have internet and talking on the phone isn't always easy to do. I miss my lake and I miss my grill for there was my place of congregation. There I could do as I pleased and so could my friends.

A list of events

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:49:05 GMT

I decided to help myself become more miserable and pathetic than before. I have decided to compile a list of events that I will not be able to attend because of my job.
One of the primary events is the Daft Punk tour. They are going to be in several places around the US and Canada but because of the shitty airport in this city all locations are unreachable.
My next event that I mourn is my inability for the third year running to attend BlueShift. Now called Future Perfect this year. It is 3 days of camping and music on a huge tract of land somewhere in Wisconsin. Every year I hear it is a killer party but I myself have been deprived of the priveledge. Here in Utah you would think that there would be something going on but I am just not close enough to Salt Lake City.
There are various events happening at the Myth club that I would enjoy. I am sad to have missed Paul Van Dyk playing there about a month ago now. There is a huge 2 day event happening over the 4th of July weekend that I would love to stop through.
This bitterness is a twin edged sword though because if I was not here making money. I would not have the money to attend these events. Oh well I currently am drowning myself in new music CDs. Since I got here I have purchased 8 CDs.
Today I took a jaunt over the St. George to do some real shopping because they have places like Kohl's and Best Buy. This will probably be my last journey out of this city until I move back home in September.
Forward Ho!

If your ever think of... Don't

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:22:03 GMT

If you ever think about doing a custom livejournal mood set, don't. It is way too much work.

An update from the frontlines

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:34:48 GMT

Things are looking up. On one hand my job is about to become much easier, on the other I will cease learning new sewing techniques. We have just a few more days of costume shop time that I will be required to be there. I will be wardrobe exclusive. This means that I am setting up to be a glorified costume bitch. "Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical" has some fast action in it but mainly there is a lot of downtime. There is hope that the musical will make its way to Broadway. I personally think that it has the potential but there are a lot of characters that have lots of downtime between entrances. A producer is not going to like paying actors to sit around. Musically it is a great show although I haven't started humming anything yet. My other show, "The Matchmaker," is a walk in the park. Since I am wardrobe for "Tenor" I do all the laundry sorting during "Matchmaker." So far my job is going great. I just wish I could convince myself to go outside more often.
My mind is amazingly good at getting excited about the current aspect of theatre I am learning. So having been a stitcher I now want to start doing more sewing. This of course means that I have a project in mind. I am currently fairly excited about my idea. I won't get to even think about beginning it until the fall though. I want to make a replica of Scare's clothes from the comic Vreakers. He has some really radical garments. They won't be easy though, I am going to have to learn to tailor for the coat. It took me about an hour find out what an epaulette is. I was looking in the reverse direction though. Finding definitions to words is easy; finding words that go with a thingy is so much harder. Also I have yet to figure out just how the closures work on his shirt. Its going to be fun and interesting.

Bicycle

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:17:31 GMT

I am getting rather tired of the bicycle problem. I have been plagued by the idea since I got here. The simple solution would be to get my parents to mail the bike I have down to me. I would be happy with that. It is already damaged enough from the elements that another summer isn't going to hurt it. Unfortunately, mailing the bike is too complex and "expensive" to send. That led me to my second option, purchase a bike here in Cedar City. This opened two problems. First, I needed to relocate the bike at the end of the summer. I don't think that this would be a problem, aside from cost. Secondly, I already have a mountain bike. I would then need to arrange to sell or store the extra bike. There is a solution to that problem and that would be to buy a road bike. Then I am equipped to ride on any surface I come across. Most areas also have a lot more road than trail so a road bike opens up almost infinite possibilities.
My first sign that maybe I should reconsider buying a bike was when all the shops in the area did not carry the bikes I wanted to look at. They only had the low end front suspension bikes. The customer demand for the high-end is focused on full suspension in this area. I can't use a full suspension for cross country riding, you loose too much energy in the suspension system. I also have been fighting the hours that the stores keep in this city. There are only small windows during the week where I can even visit the stores.
There is another very frustrating aspect in this puzzle. I have never had any riding partners aside from one friend in Stillwater. Riding solo on a mountain isn't really the brightest idea, you will get hurt there is no avoiding it. Usually it isn't bad enough that you need someone to help you but the risk is there. I haven't really found anyone else to ride with around here plus it isn't entirely clear how much downtime I will have that I can use for riding. Currently, the clear choice is not to purchase a bike because it is not the opportune time to buy. I think I can be much happier with buying something in Green Bay once I get back home. This means that I will have a place to guard my bikes exposure to the elements by storing it in my car.
I am now left at the point where I won't be getting the exercise I had intended over the summer. I hope I can join up with some people and go hiking at least because I seriously need exercise after spending an entire winter with no snow for skiing. My alternate activity currently is going to become artwork. Drawing is a skill that I have wanted to hone for quite awhile now but have never had the motivation. I think the sheer lack of things to do will help force me to sit down and just draw stuff. The only way I can improve is to draw a lot more than my current once a month. Drawing and painting is such an important communication skill to have in my profession, the fact that I have neglected it as of so far is inexcusable.
The festival has started the dress rehearsal process for half the shows so far. Monday is my day to begin this interesting process. I am just happy that neither of my shows are going to be insane. I feel sorry for the people with an 80 change show. I also am glad that I am assigned to the happier productions, although that might only mean my suicide note has a lot more laughter in it. This next week will be a long week because I will be working both in the shop and at rehearsals. This gives the potential of working essentially from 8:30am to midnight several days this week. Such is life.