It’s a simple process that so many people seem to avoid like the plague. Lately I have been doing some reading on skeptic’s websites and evaluating how I look at the world. Deep down I think I have always been skeptical about what the world presents as truth. I don’t think that everything should be taken at face value just because it comes from a so called “reliable” source. Every thing needs to be evaluated for it’s accuracy and considered carefully before you accept it and make it part of your beliefs.

My pet peeve for critical thinking are audiophiles. I’m a sound engineer and have a desire to replicate audio as well as I possibly can. I have studied the physics and science of audio to understand what each piece of equipment does, how it effects the audio signal as it passes through it and what the end result of any adjustments I make should be. And all of this knowledge can be measured to show it’s effects on the signal.

Audiophiles on the other hand have developed a penchant for believing unsupportable, unscientific and unmeasurable bullshit from unscrupulous salesmen who push snake-oil products at exorbitant prices claiming to improve the audio of an audiophile’s stereo system. Now I know that you might be thinking, “But surely there are products that can make a massive difference to audio and they might well be worth the money.” And I have to agree. There are very expensive speakers that have been so well designed and manufactured that they are capable of reproducing audio almost perfectly. There are amplifier designs that show extremely low levels of distortion. There are even record players that reduce vibration so that those amazingly archaic black discs of vinyl can sound better.

These are not the items that piss me off. No, these items are possibly well worth the money that you pay, if “perfect” sound is what you are chasing. However, there are other products that can, in no way, improve audio in any measurable or quantifiable manner, other than hearsay and personal opinion. Here are a few examples of these products:

The Silver Rock Potentiometer ……..(Wait for it)………. Knob
This fantastic piece of wood is intended for use with the Silver Rock Potentiometers(an expensive volume control). The device itself may have some merit. It could be the most accurate and transparent volume control ever devised by man. (Although, at $6820 USD for the gear I will probably just use the volume controls already built into my gear) But this simple wooden knob claims that -

Good vibrations, Bad vibrations it’s all about vibrations!! RAM would like to introduce a new signature level knob developed for the mighty Silver Rock potentiometer. The standard bakelite knob is certainly the best sounding compromise… but now Audio Consulting has taken this aspect of the Silver Rock much further. The new knobs are custom made with beech wood and bronze where the bronze is used as the insert to mount to the stem of the volume pot. The beech wood is coated several times with C37 lacquer for best sound as pointed out by Dieter Ennemoser. How can this make a difference??? Well, hearing is believing as we always say. The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved. Here is a test for all you Silver Rock owners. Try removing the bakelite knobs and listen. You will be shocked by this! The signature knobs will have an even greater effect…really amazing! The point here is the micro vibrations created by the volume pots and knobs find their way into the delicate signal path and cause degradation (Bad vibrations equal bad sound). With the signature knobs micro vibrations from the C37 concept of wood, bronze and the lacquer itself compensate for the volume pots and provide (Good Vibrations) our ear/brain combination like to hear…way better sound!!

Yes, that’s right. A knob that reduces bad vibrations and improves your sound. All at the bargain price of $485USD. Oh wait, you need two of them for the Silver Rock Potentiometer, so that makes $970USD. Never mind that there is no physics to back it up. Forget that electrons flowing in electrical circuits are entirely unaffected by vibrations. Does the Space Shuttle vibrate on launch? Hell Yes!! Do the computers stop working or suffer in performance because of those vibrations? No, they work fine.

Why then, do people who buy these products claim that the sound is amazingly improved over it’s previous quality? It’s a combination of the placebo effect and that most terrible of human traits, pride. No one wants to admit to their friends and family and most importantly themselves, that they have spent $6820 on a volume control that may have improved the sound, and then spent a further $970 on pretty knobs that have done absolutely nothing.

This is one of the most extreme cases that I have found. There are others such as the “Brilliant Pebbles” at up to $179 per jar that improve audio just by being in the room, or power cables like the Ultimate Cables starting at $1195. The list gets longer and longer every day. Like P.T Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” People will pay ridiculous amounts for products that do nothing or could be replaced with far cheaper alternatives with absolutely no change in performance.

The thing is though, many people get fed this audio woo-woo sales pitch every single day. Have you ever bought a new stereo, cd player, dvd player from an electronics store? Did you get to the checkout and find a rack of cables conveniently located beside the register? And then did the salesman tell you that the included cables in the box are poor quality and that you should buy these alternative cables at a fairly exorbitant price? These cables are often sold with such comments as, “it’s directional cable that improves electron flow between devices” or “the construction of these cables rejects EMI interference” etc.

Directional cable is pure bullshit. The electrical signals that flow in audio and video cables are alternating current. Wire is made up of atoms that pass electrons between them to carry signal. Atoms cannot be aligned to improve electron flow. It’s snake-oil marketing at it’s best.

So, the next time you go to buy home stereo equipment, or you meet someone who has just spent thousands on power cables, “Brilliant Pebbles” or expensive interconnect cables, tell them they are deluding themselves. Ask them to do a double blind test to test the improvements.

For an awesome example of someone who has gone over the edge when it comes to audio myths, check this thread at the James Randi Educational Foundation and look for posts by a guy calling himself “ExtremeSkeptic”. James Randi has been debunking psychics and paranormal claims for years and this forum is an excellent place to discover the concepts of critical thinking.

Remember, just because someone says it is true doesn’t make it so. Think for yourself and teach others to do the same and the world will be a better place.

Yeah, I know I’m only 30, but every time I go out drinking I find that I am that little bit older. In the days of yore I could handle big nights out and just keep on trucking. Hangovers lasted hours at most, sleep was optional and the party ruled supreme. Now, hangovers last days, sleep is mandatory and 4 hours just won’t cut it, and the party still rules but they are spreading out across the calendar in favour of days spent doing as little as possible and an early night.

It depresses me to think that I can’t play like I used to. My motto has always been “Grow old, don’t grow up.” I have no intention of becoming the fuddy duddy, no fun, in bed by 9pm old person that life has shown me so often. I want to enjoy life and all that it presents. But, my body is rebelling against that idea. It makes me suffer for a night of fun. It grinds me into a pulp and then takes far too long recover.

I refuse to let it win. It’s my body and there is no way I’m going to let it control my destiny.

Now if only it would stop playing with heavy machinery in my brain I could enjoy the rest of my day.

My friend Chris died in his sleep last night. He was 37.

Chris was an amazing person. A comedian on stage and off stage, he never failed to get me laughing so hard I would cry. He was, in his own words, “The only black Iron Maiden fan in the world.” He made people feel better about themselves whenever he was around, and always told you when you acted like an arse.

The world is a smaller and poorer place without him in it.

Chris, tell Tupac and Elvis that their music is still getting released…………….and then slap the fuckers for it.

Chris’ Myspace site - check it out, his comedic genius can at least live on there.

I went on the date and had an awesome time. Natalie is an amazing woman, classy and educated, caring, great to talk to and attractive. We had dinner at the Bali Grill and then had a few beers at the Blue Grotto. I love a woman who drinks beer. Especially one who appreciates good beer and not just domestic junk.

Natalie works in marketing for a large mining equipment company which means that she has an understanding of my industry as well due to the events that she organises. This is a very important thing for me. Many relationships I have had in the past have always ended up at the same argument. “Why do you always have to work nights and weekends?” It’s my job, I love it and won’t change it. I work nights and weekends because that’s when the work is. If someone can’t handle that then it can never work out.

Unfortunately I’m now in that paranoid place in my head where I am wondering if she feels the same way about me. I called her to see if she would like to go out again this week but got her voicemail. I detest voicemail. Mainly because when I ring someone I have generally figured out what I am going to say and partially figured out the run of the conversation. Suddenly the dreaded “Leave a message” appears and I’m faced with summarising the entire conversation into a short message. It never comes across smoothly, I always think I sound rushed and a little strange.

So I left the message and now I’m waiting. It’s the wait that really messes with my head. You see, I know that she is extremely busy at work and I know that she knows I am working every night this week so available times where we are both able to make or take calls are limited, but my brain runs directly back to that mindstate of highschool that says I’m not the guy that any woman would go out with. And I question myself.

I’ll call her again tonight and see how she is.

14 minutes to go before I leave for the first “official” date I have had in 2 years. I don’t know if I should be nervous, scared or relieved. It’s been a while and I’m not sure that I remember the rules. The obvious ones stand out like, “Don’t stare at her boobs all night” and “Don’t mention your close relationship with a known serial killer” etc, but what about the small ones that used to be rules and now might not be.

Rules like, who pays, pulling out chairs for feminists, is it appropriate to ask if she has a hotter friend that might be into a threesome. I don’t know if they changed those rules while I was figuring out my life.

Expect an update over the weekend on the results of my foray back into the seedy underworld of dating. It could be a wild ride.

I got tagged by Lily for the following meme.

1 - Get the nearest book in your reach and turn to page 123
2 - Go to the fifth sentence of that page
3 - Copy the next three sentences
4 - Then tag three people

1. A short walk to the bookshelf brought me to The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. For those who thought that I might possibly have deep and intellectual literature on my shelf, sorry to disappoint.

2 and 3.

His breathing erratic, the killer let his gun fall. ‘We will talk,’ he said, gripping the wheel. ‘We are professionals.”

4. Tag time and I choose

Electric Venom

Avitable-isms

and

Citizen of the Month

I have been extremely negligent. The blog has been ignored. My friends who read my ramblings have been left in the dark (although I don’t delude myself into thinking that any of you have truly missed me).

So, here goes, time to catch up in one giant post designed to bring you all up to speed on all things me.

The last post had me going to a party wondering if I was growing up. Based on my efforts at that party it would seem my mantra of “Grow old, never grow up” still holds true. I drank too much, flirted a lot, and woke up the next day with a hangover that could strangle a horse. And I had a great time. No regrets, no dramas, just flat out semi-wholesome fun. I don’t want to grow up because I think I can enjoy life and be responsible at the same time. Just because I get drunk occasionally, act like an idiot at times, and do things that most “Mature” people would be disgusted by, doesn’t mean that I’m immature, just that I refuse to follow the imposed norms of society just to fit in to my age group.

At work I am still the “Acting” Technical Manager. My holidays have refreshed my joy of the job and I’m down to business again. January and February were quiet but we start getting hectic again in March at which point you can probably expect any blogs that occur to be rambling gibberish. So, not much will change on that front

In more recent news, I went speed dating. It was a singles day at the races being sponsored by Blink Dating. It was a somewhat strange experience to be confronted with a new person every 3 minutes and having to not only present your best attributes but discover as much as you could about the other person at the same time. It would probably be easier if you were actually on speed just to cope with the rate of conversation.

The end result for me for the day was two different women competing for my attention (a wholly new and interesting experience for me, I must say). Unfortunately I also discovered the minefield that multiple women in the same room can create. I had already been collared by one when the other woman (gee, that sounds like an affair. Not my intent but it’s the only way I can describe it) told me that she was very interested in me and I should ditch Jade to be with her, Natalie.

This is where things started to go wrong. I was brought up in such a way that turning to Jade, who had already competed and at that point won my attention, and telling her that I was interested in Natalie was not an option. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and couldn’t at that time say where it was going. At the same time my brain, ok not my brain but you get the idea, was saying “You can have your cake and eat it too”. Alcohol will do that to you.

So, I get Natalie’s phone number and for some reason invited her to hang out with my friends, Jade and myself. I have no idea how I could have thought that it was a good idea to suggest that. I was drinking, Jade was very vocal about how into me she was, and so was Natalie. My brain (my actual brain this time) was in no state to even begin the deadly game of dating roulette in which I was now engaged. I took every chance to make them both feel they were getting my attention equally if not solely. One girls trip to the toilet gave me the chance to put in solid time, a run to the bar gave me time to sort my head out and plan my next move. It was like a blindfolded race across a minefield without a map wearing clown shoes.

I thought it was all going passably until we decided that it was time to go to a different pub. Both Jade and Natalie wanted to come, and I still thought that it was a good idea. The whole group of us got up to look for a taxi and then Jade kissed me. Without thinking I returned the kiss and the proverbial shit hit the fan. Natalie saw the whole thing. I could see in her eyes that I had broken the one rule I have always tried not to break, “Do not hurt a woman in any way”.

There is no other way to put it, I was a cunt. I felt bad at the time and now I feel worse than I could ever imagine. I don’t think I intentionally went out of my way to mislead either of them, but I did, and that is unforgivable. Now I don’t know where to go from here. They both have attributes that attract me, they are both great people, but no matter which way I go, one of them will be hurt.

For any of the guys out there reading this, don’t ever do what I did. For the women reading this, I’ve learned my lesson, and I know that what I did cannot be excused. Hell, even my explanation doesn’t really cut it. Feel free to give me a virtual slap, and if you feel like it, I’ll give you my home address so you can deliver it in person. I deserve it.

I’m headed out for a combined birthday party for 3 friends tomorrow night. One of my friends told me that “there will be women we don’t know” at the party. I’m not sure when it happened, but our entire group of regular friends and the occasional friends seem to have reached that point where any kind of inter-group relations are just out of the question.

It’s a fact that all men, at some point, will consider sleeping with a friend of the opposite sex. We actually think about sex first before anything else when we see a woman. It doesn’t even matter how old or unattractive they might be, the first thought is always “Would I sleep with her”. But then we reach a point where we know our friends too well, and at that point there is no possibility of sex.

Maybe we are just growing up?

New Year’s Eve. A traditional party night. A night to spend with friends, perhaps meet new ones, drink more than you should, and generally enjoy yourself. This year my friends and I went out to a local pub to party and it gave me a wonderful chance to do some people watching.

You see, there are a few distinct types of people at a New Years celebration. There are the “Party with friends” group, the “Pick up random members of the opposite sex” group and the “Get as drunk as physically possible” group. The first and the last group are probably the least interesting to watch. They are either oblivious to the crowds around them as they chat with friends, or they are constantly in line at the bar attempting to drink the annual production of a brewery.

The second group is the really interesting type to observe. These people have an agenda from the moment they arrive. Friends are just accessories that make them appear interesting, alcohol is a means to buy or be bought drinks, and the crowd is nothing more than a target rich environment.

The males of this group will prowl the crowd like a lion hunting it’s prey. They hunt alone or in pairs, never more than that. The prey is easily spooked and the male of the group understands this. He knows that to approach a lone female with a large group of men at his side does two things. Firstly it intimidates the girl, and secondly, every extra man reduces his chance of attracting the prey. Even a large group of women can only ever be approached by at most two men. It’s statistically important to keep the ratio high.

The males will buy drinks, chat about inane subjects which they have no interest in, and generally attempt to appear as attractive and interesting as possible. They understand that drinks equal money, inane subjects infer listening skills and that all these things in the celebration environment are highly prized by the females.

The prime targets are generally the most attractive, closely followed by, as the night wears on, by the drunkest.

The women are far more devious in their attraction game. They know that they are the prey of every man in the place. Because of this, they have developed an anti-hunt to counter the male’s plans.

They lay in wait, affecting an air of helplessness and thirst, waiting for each marauding group of men to arrive, ply them with free alcohol and attempt to sway their preference. They have many defenses prepared. A trip to the bathroom never to return, a friend that needs help on the other side of the pub, a proffered phone number that turns out to be the local chinese restaurant. Any one of these can provide them with a perfect escape plan so that they can lay in wait elsewhere for the next unsuspecting man to try his attack.

It’s a game that, on New Year’s Eve, has a defined cut off point. Midnight. Both groups want only one thing, someone to share a New Year kiss at the zero hour. After that moment the game reverts to a standard night out and people stop trying as hard.

So, which group did I join on New Year’s Eve? The start of the evening was definitely “Partying with friends”. The end of the night, before I even knew it, ended up as “Getting as drunk as possible”. I contemplated joining the hunt, but after an hour or so of playing wingman to friends, I discovered that as I get older, I become less tolerant of drunk women. I can’t stand banal small talk, and I hate the games.

I went home alone, I have no midnight tale to tell. I did have a huge hangover. I now know even more about the type of person I am looking for, and I am 99% certain that I will never meet that person in a bar. A night well spent, in my opinion.

Ahhhhhhhhh! That was a sigh of relief. It was the sound of me de-stressing, relaxing, and switching off from the last 3 months of work. I’ve been on holidays for a week and have another week to go and it is definitely worth it.

I spent Christmas with my family in Hervey Bay. My days were spent watching TV, playing Eve:Online and generally ignoring the world. My nights were spent drinking with friends, eating great food with my family and, again, ignoring the world.

There is a specific joy in knowing that 14 days must pass before I go back to work. It reminds you as you go to sleep that you needn’t set your alarm, whispers to you in the mornings that you can go back to sleep for another hour or two. If there is something that needs doing, it can wait until tomorrow, or next week. No rush, no stress, no worries.

Christmas morning in our families’ house is a subdued affair. There is no tree, no decorations, no 6am present unwrapping. In fact, I have not wrapped a present in years. We hand each other our presents knowing that wrapping and extra decoration in no way improves the intent of the gift.

This year my Mum bought me art. That’s right, I, Tony Peaker, am now an art owner. It’s a great painting called “In the eye of the storm”. It’s mostly black and dark with a man grasping the edge of the canvas, stretched out horizontally in the face of the wind and rain. When I look at it I see myself in my most stressful times and know that I just have to hang on for one more day, because the storm will pass.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Yes, I say Christmas, not Xmas. Always remember the reason for the season.

I hope you all have a fantastic day with friends and family. See you all in the new year.

Much love and thanks for reading my musings

Tony

Ahhh yes! I am a geek and I am in heaven right now. Today, after humming and hahhing about the cost of a universal remote vs the annoyance of having too many remotes to swap between, I finally succumbed and shelled out $400 AUD for one of these.

Logitech Harmony 785

Impulse purchases are my thing. Unfortunately I spent all day researching these:

Thankfully, my credit card is unable to stretch to the $3000 AUD required to buy one, otherwise I would have ordered it immediately.

Instead, I went to the local electronics store for an S-Video cable. A lowly $13 cable that would hook the TV out of my spare computer up to the TV so I can run Itunes etc from the couch using Synergy to control the spare computer with the keyboard and mouse from my laptop. As I browsed the shelves of gadgets on offer I saw the remote and just had to have it.

Not only does it replace all my current remotes but it has an Activities button. This is where the remote goes to the next level. By configuring an Activity such as “Watch a DVD” the remote will turn on the TV, the DVD player, switch the TV to the appropriate input and press play on the DVD. All that with two button presses!

My two digital set top boxes were automatically configure just by selecting the manufacturer and entering the model number. My DVD player is just a cheap brand and so I had to program the buttons individually. The most enjoyable part was the JVC tv. I entered the model number and suddenly I had a bunch of extra buttons that could be programmed that didn’t exist on my remote.

The capability exists to program multiple commands in set sequences so that you could, for example, press watch DVD and the TV or stereo could be set to your favourite surround sound settings and then when you switch away it could be reset to normal operation.

The programming of the remote happens in a very simple program on your PC that connects to the Harmony website to store your settings, download existing commands etc. That way, if you ever need to reformat your PC or you upgrade, you can still access all your settings after reinstall.

I’m off now to play with my new gadget, and to thank God that they didn’t have Ultra Mobile PC’s at the local electronics store, or I would be extremely broke!

It has been an extremely busy month and a half for me at work. We did 49 events in the Auditorium over 45 days. We have covered rock shows, theatre, dance, and corporate events. I haven’t had two days off in a row in over 2 months. The hours are long, the sleep non-existent.

So, why do I do this for a career?

I get enjoyment from a show that has been well presented. We put 100% into every show, from the big name international artists to the local amateur dance schools.

When a show is over and the client or artist comes up and thanks me personally for helping put on a great show, it’s hard to describe the sense of accomplishment that I feel. I think that the heart of why I do what is at times a tiresome, thankless job, is that I get instant gratification of a job well done. I know when a rock band is sounding amazing, I know when the lighting is perfect for the show.  An architect puts in all their work and it can take many months to see the result. I see it immediately.

That’s what brings me back after four hours sleep to do a show that I’m fairly sure I won’t enjoy on a personal level. That’s what keeps me going after 12 hours of work with another 4 to go.

I love my job, and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I don’t know what I did last night but my neck pain is back. I can’t get comfortable in a chair, couch, bed, anywhere.  Unfortunately it has flared up right in the middle of a really busy week. I haven’t even got decent drugs to take the pain away.

It hurts just sitting typing this so I’m leaving it at that.

It’s been quite a while since I last posted anything on my blog. There are some very good reasons for this, which I will now explain to you.

Work

Work has been stupidly busy over the last few weeks. There are plenty of lowlights. Dance schools, corporate work, and days of paperwork that backs up on my desk while I work on shows. These are just a few of the annoying as shit jobs that have been taking my time.

There was one highlight that became a lowlight. We had Dr Hook, the hit makers from the 70’s at our venue. I was looking forward to that show. It’s not often that I get to mix for honest to goodness legends of Rock and Roll. It’s also not often that I get to really crank up the volume of our PA system and really put on a Rock show.

I received the tech specs from the promoter and it was a big show. Seven sends of foldback monitors, requests for extra subwoofers, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately the promoter didn’t want to pay for any of the additional equipment that was required to meet the spec. I told them that a dedicated monitor engineer was needed to cater for the performers needs during the show, they told me I had to do it from the front of house position.

Now this is fairly normal for smaller shows. On this show however, we were talking about a lead singer who is in his 60’s, has spent the best part of 30 years in front of very loud bands, has two, count them, TWO hearing aids, and requires extremely loud monitor volumes to be heard over the drumkit and band amplifiers that are no more than five feet from him at all times.

Add to that the fact that my console is up three flights of stairs at the very back of the room and there are 800 people between me and the stage and you can start to get a picture of the problems that can occur.

And of course, they did. Part way through the show, Ray Sawyer’s foldback wedges start to cut in and out. He complains to me over the PA, but I can’t fix it. I send my guy on stage to go and figure out the problem. He can’t find it. It seems to be an intermittent issue that he can’t track down easily.

The show went on but it suffered, and I got the blame, even though I said it could happen and said they should have had a monitor engineer on stage to do it. Sometimes it sucks being right.

Games

I’ve been playing a lot of Eve:Online lately. It’s a space based MMORPG and is possibly the most addictive game I have ever had the fortune/misfortune of playing. This game sucks me in for hours at a time, and, although I know I should be writing a post on my blog, I always forget until midnight when I must sleep in preparation for work.

Sleep

The final and possibly most important reason for not writing. Any spare time that I can find between work, Eve, and general personal maintenance (food, bathing, toilet stops) is filled with sleep. That doesn’t mean that there is a lot of it going on, but all spare time is definitely being occupied by it.

And now, the weather.

While the Northern Hemisphere sits wonderfully cool and wintery, we here in Australia are one day away from the official start of summer.  For those of you who have never experienced and Australian summer, here is a brief overview.

By mid spring we have reached daytime temperatures of 30 degrees celsius. Night time temperatures are starting to rise and blankets and heaters have long been traded for a single sheet and a fan or air conditioning. (If only I could afford air con I’d be fine)

By the end of spring, such as today, we here in Ipswich have hit a midday high of 38 degrees celsius. You walk outside and the heat hits you like a giant wall of warm molasses. You sweat. Constantly. The breeze is hot, even in the shade. Tonight it will probably only get down to 22 or 23 degrees.

I’m sitting here on my lounge, with my laptop burning my legs, a fan on high pointed directly at me. I probably won’t move for the next few hours because to do so would mean more sweat.

I can’t wait for my holidays to start in a few weeks so I can go home to Hervey Bay and sit in cool ocean breezes while I drink on the back patio of my Mum’s house. Until then, I actually look forward to going to work, just so that I can sit in the air conditioning.