bradm

NDP, Bloc in coalition talks before fiscal update Aloha, Brad

hmm' date=' delay tactics. I can't see how Harper can argue against two parties forming a coalition, when that's exactly what they have done in the past.[/quote'] I caught a bit of the conference, and Harper said that it would be wrong for the Liberals and NDP to coalesce, because they had said during the election that they wouldn't form a coalition. (In other words, the issue is more the opposition parties doing [or not doing] what they said they'd do [or not do], rather than a coalition per se being a bad thing.) Aloha, Brad

It gets worse. Aloha, Brad

There was a jambase artice a while ago about this release. Aloha, Brad

I picked up a couple of cans of beers by Neustadt Springs the other day, and liked them a lot. Their lager is nice, but their Scottish Pale Ale is great: it's got a really good balance between maltiness (it's not nearly as malty as, say, Mill St. Tankhouse) and hoppiness. :thumbup: Aloha, Brad

There are two aspects to microphone placement: where in the room they're set up, and how they're arranged relative to each other. When it comes to where in the room to put the mics, I try to aim for the "sweet spot", the place in the room where the sound is the best. In a big venue, like an arena or even something like the Phoenix, this will alost certainly be where the main mixing board is, because you want the sound guy to get the best sound. In smaller venues like clubs and bars, the sound board is often placed in weird locations (off to one side, for example), so what I often do is imagine a triangle whose base is a line drawn across/between the right and left side PA stacks; complete the triangle with two other sides of the same length, and put the mics at the apex of it. This can give a good balance between the sound coming off the stage and the sound coming through the PA. If the apex won't work, try to get close to it. You also need to take into account what's going on around where you want to put the mics. At The Silver Dollar Room, for example, the dead-centre-in-front-of-the-stage spot happens to be right up against the bar, which is both inconvenient (for the taper and for people ordering and serving drinks) and likely to give a lot of crowd noise. (For some bands, especially instrumental bands, placing the mics either on the stage or at the lip of the stage can also give really good sound, especially the stereo image, which is often lost on the floor as most venues don't run a stereo mix through the main PA, but it's a bit tricky to pull off, so I wouldn't worry about this technique.) Once you know where in the room the mics are going to go, you need to set them up relative to each other. There are several standard ways to arrange the mics, including ORTF, and NOS; I often use NOS (or nearly NOS; see below), largely because the mic clamp and hardware I have won't accommodate ORTF. In small clubs, one of the ways I often arrange the mics is to simply point them at the left and right side PA stacks, aiming more for the strength/coverage of the sound as opposed to a good stereo image. (If you're off to one side, for example, using ORTF or NOS can end up with one mic pointing at a wall, which isn't the best source of sound. This happened to me at Phoenix for Drive-By Truckers / The Hold Steady: I was off to the right side of the sound booth, so pointed one mic directly forward at the right-side PA stack, and the other mic at an angle towards the left-side PA stack.) A good source for this kind of info is http://www.taperssection.com which has lots of FAQs and tons of newbie-friendly people to answer questions. Aloha, Brad

It ha$ a profound benefit to the maker$ and $eller$ of gold-tipped connector$. As far as benefitting the purchasers and users of connectors, there's no benefit whatsoever. They don't sound better, and while gold doesn't corrode, the gold-plating that's used is often so thin (because gold is expensive) that normal use wears it away easily. Aloha, Brad

Something with bacon on it. The sweet potato fries are also an awesome choice for a side. Aloha, Brad

Happy Day, Fista! Aloha, Brad

Happy Day, Gateaux! Aloha, Brad

Happy Day, Sloth! Aloha, Brad

http://www.jambands.ca/sanctuary/showtopic.php?tid/249271/ Any other Ottawans interested? Aloha, Brad

After backlash, CEO of Chrysler won’t take corporate jet to D.C. Aloha, Brad

I'd be up for going, and splitting a car rental and hotel room. Aloha, Brad

According what's on the main page at http://www.thesadies.net/ the sadies are at Casbah Lounge on Friday, November 28. The venue's advance ticket sales page also lists the gig. Aloha, BRad

According to the gig info on their MySpace page, Fat Cats are playing at Pepper Jack Cafe on Saturday, Nov. 29, but the venue's web page doesn't list the gig (or any other gig) for Saturday in its calendar. Aloha, Brad

Jay, I heartily recommend the book Home Recording For Musicians, by Craig Anderton. It's got 22 chapters, including tons of different topics: "Nature of Sound", microphones, "Preparing for the Session", troubleshooting tips, "Relating the dB to Voltage and Power Ratios", and on and on. Aloha, Brad

GM wants to fly jet below public's eye Aloha, Brad

Not quite the results of d_jango's experiment. Aloha, Brad

So Phish can play in Canada? good idea. I thinking more about having easier access to Magic Hat's beers, but Phish would be nice, too. Aloha, Brad

The album is actually titled Brighter Than Creation's Dark. Aloha, Brad

Harper should make an offer to Vermont's governor... Aloha, Brad

According to http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/11/26/7538841-sun.html I seriously hope there's a way to force have Donnie Northrup spend some time assisting either health practitioners or parents who deal with CF patients. At the very least, I'd love to see someone from the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (and, ideally, some parents and children affected by CF) to make a presentation at the meeting where the motion is reconsidered, with Donnie Northrup duct-taped to his chair and forced to breathe through a straw while it all goes on. Aloha, Brad

A case can certainly be made for rotating through charities (which brings up another problem, though: who chooses which charity to support in a given year, and what should the selection criteria be?), but at the same time, supporting the same charity year after year can help "build the brand", so to speak. (The problem here is that the CUSA used the entirely wrong justification for the dropping of CF as the supported charity.) Aloha, Brad

According to http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/11/26/7541856-cp.html Aloha, Brad