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Tyler Truss HUD Truss

When the price of fuel began its dizzying ascent a few years ago, few of us could have predicted the far reaching implications. But it might not have been so difficult to predict that the truck pack would become more important than ever, especially for those of us who have to pay the fuel bills. Upstaging, Inc., who is planted firmly both in the lighting and trucking side of the business, understands as well as anyone the implications. That’s one of the motivating reasons that they helped develop the new High-Performance Utility Design (HUD) Truss.

Pre-Pre Production

A good automated lighting programmer will always prepare for the tasks at hand long before the trucks are loaded.  Most lighting companies will prepare the fixtures, cables, truss and more prior to the first load-in.  In the same manner, an automated lighting programmer should prepare the show file and console configuration before arriving on site.  There are many important procedures and provisions that you should follow when you are beginning a new project.

The Revolution Starts Now

That giant sound you heard coming from Europe last month was the falling expectation that the world would come to an end when they started the Large Hardon Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. It turns out that fears of the collider destroying the world through the production of microscopic black holes never materialized. What did materialize was an anticlimactic flip of the switch that started the collider — not that you would have noticed had the press not been there. In the long term, what is learned from these particle collisions could change the way we view the world. In the short term… yawn… stretch… yawn.

I Love Math (and other silly notions)

“To most outsiders, modern mathematics is unknown territory… a mass of indecipherable equations and incomprehensible concepts.  Few realize that the world of modern mathematics is rich with vivid images and provocative ideas.”
— Ivars Peterson, Mathematical Association of America

Going Green

Nowadays everyone is concerned with power consumption for two logical reasons. One, we want to save ourselves some cash, either at the pumps or in our house with heating oil, and, two, we want to save our planet by lowering our fossil fuel consumption and emitting less toxic waste into our atmosphere. I firmly believe that the time has come to start getting rid of incandescent light bulbs, not just in our households, but also in our stage work. We are facing obstacles in doing this, but really, is it something our industry cannot overcome? I don’t think so. It seems we are well on our way.

Wrapping up summer

Over the past few months the gigs for Marco Antonio Solis has been a real experience for me in many ways. Getting the opportunity to be working arenas and amphitheaters has been awesome. With having bigger rooms, definitely comes more responsibility. I couldn’t tell you how many patch sheets I’ve gone through and updated in the past month, lol. I haven’t done the design gig a lot so Vectorworks was a must purchase.

 

PLASA 2008: Renaissance Machine

The Renaisance Man is a master of many disciplines, but the Renaissance Machine is what was on display at PLASA 2008. The new technologies and new adaptations of existing technology were unparalleled in the industry. Here's a sample…

Crewspace?

     About 6 months ago a friend of mine sent me an email. Said he was doing me a favor and had signed me up on an open forum where old touring road dogs could find each other. It was fairly new and went by the moniker Crewspace.com

A Light Wall, Revealed

One of the few original musicals unleashed on Broadway in recent years — and one that will also be available in a DVD version filmed by Spike Lee — Passing Strange chronicles the life of a young musician who flees his stifling suburban Los Angeles environs to find himself and explore his musical artistry in Amsterdam and Berlin.

After Celine, Another Day Dawns

Within the last two decades, Las Vegas has seen a cycle of high-stakes one-upsmanship among the casinos lining the Strip, with aging casinos imploding to make way for full-service resorts that have become world-class destinations for gambling, fine dining and relaxing in the sun. The competition to fill the seats of the vast casino showrooms is no less intense.

Megadeth Goes Beyond Pyro

“Musicianship” might be a word more commonly associated with a Chopin concerto or chamber ensemble than with the thrash metal bands Megadeth, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire. Those bands toured North America this year as the latest incarnation of Gigantour, the annual shred-fest launched by Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine in 2005.

Michael Tait – 2008 Parnelli Visionary Award Winner

“Michael Tait is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci — an artist, an engineer, a sculptor, a true genius,” says production designer Steve Cohen. “He single-handedly raised the bar on production design in my lifetime and stewarded the growth of our little business into the gift that keeps on giving.”