Humboldt Street Life Concert #6 TODAY FOOT OF C STREET. 2 PM – 5PM

The Fair Wage Folks present:

Humboldt Street Life Concert # 6

We will be down on the Eureka Boardwalk from 2 pm til 5 pm prior to the City sponsored free concert.

Sarah Torres and Electric Bill and guests.

Free.

RALLY FOR PEACE SAT JUN 21 HUMBOLDT COURTHOUSE

PEACE GATHERINGS (here and around the country)

From: Gay Gilchrist & Janelle Egger

NATIONAL NEWS:
Troop movements within Iraq have prompted some U.S. government officials to propose an immediate response to those movements. Other officials and pundits are proposing a wider and greater response.

LOCAL NEWS:
Last weekend, many of us enjoyed wonderful oysters on the Arcata Plaza, fish in Trinidad, and baseball in Arcata.
This weekend, let’s tend to the schemes that might destroy the possibility of our children and grandchildren enjoying these delights when they are past military induction age. Join us for PEACE!

This Saturday — June 21 @ 12 noon
Humboldt County Court House – Fifth & I Streets, Eureka

Stand with Women in Black

Or

Sing, Discuss, and Wave Signs
Bring Enthusiasm and Signs for Peace!

If you cannot join us on this Saturday —
Vets for Peace Weekly Vigils
Fridays @ 5PM
Eureka Courthouse and Arcata Plaza (Southwest Corner)

also

Women in Black Weekly Vigils
Saturdays @ 12 NOON
County Courthouse, Eureka

—

From:

Today, it has become increasingly likely that the U.S. government will once again take military action in Iraq. It is urgent that anti-war forces mobilize to tell the Obama Administration that the people of this country completely oppose any new war on Iraq.

The ANSWER Coalition is gearing up for such efforts, and is calling for nationwide demonstrations on Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21, as well as emergency actions the day U.S. bombing starts, in the event that it happens before these dates.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld should be arrested and prosecuted for their criminal acts in Iraq. It was the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq that destroyed the country and brought about the current crisis. There is nothing the Pentagon can do with more air strikes and destruction to undo that, or bring about peace now.

We in the anti-war movement fought too long and too hard to prevent and end that illegal and unjust war. We cannot sit by idly today when the Pentagon may be about to open a new chapter in its history of death and destruction.

Below is a initial list of actions to say “No New U.S. War on Iraq!”

Washington, D.C.

Monday, June 16, 5pm
White House, 1600 Penn. Ave
Initiated by Code Pink and other organizations

Sat., June 21, 1PM
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave

Los Angeles, CA
Sat., June 21, 1PM
Pershing Square
(Corner of 5th & Hill)
Downtown LA

San Francisco, CA
Sat., June 21, 12noon
Corner of Powell and Market Sts

Sacramento, CA
Sat., June 21, 1PM
Arden Way & Heritage Ln.

Eureka, CA
Sat. June 21, 12 Noon
County Courthouse, 5th & I St.

Fresno, CA
Saturday, June 21st, 10am – 1pm
Peace Corner – Blackstone & Shaw

Tallahassee, FL
Sat., June 21, 12:30PM
Florida State Capitol
400 South Monroe Street

Chicago, IL
Friday, June 20, 5 pm
Water Tower
Michigan Ave. & Pearson St.
(1 block north of Chicago Ave.)

Twin Cities, MN
Wednesday, June 18, 5pm
Lake Street/Marshall Ave. bridge between Minneapolis & St. Paul
For more information, 612-522-1861 or 612-827-5364.

Albuquerque, NM
Fri., June 20, 6PM
UNM Bookstore
(intersection of Central & Cornell)

New York, NY
Tuesday, June 17, 5:30 pm
Outside Democratic Party where Obama is speaking
Gotham Hall 1356 Broadway between 36th and 37th Streets
Initiated by World Can’t Wait

Friday, June 20, 6pm
Harlem Armed Forces Recruitment Center
76 W. 125th St (2/3 trains)

Philadelphia, PA
Thursday, June 19, 1PM
15th and Market St.

Seattle, WA
Sunday, June 22, 1PM
Westlake Center
400 Pine St.

New Haven, CT
Saturday, June 21, 11AM
College & Chapel Streets

Boston, MA
Saturday, June 21, 1PM
Boston Common
outside Park St. Station

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Wednesday, June 18, 5PM
Lake Street-Marshall Ave Bridge
Between Minneapolis & St. Paul

Austin, TX
Sunday, June 22, 35PM
Texas State Capitol
1300 North Congress

Auburn, CA
Sat., June 21, 5PM
At the Fire Pit
Corner of Lincoln Way & High Street

more info:

Flux Liquid Ambience Polyphonic Reverb, Shimmer, Pitch Bend

Lance Madsen’s Dying Declaration Spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E For Eureka Klown Kowncil

shortlink http://wp.me/p38Pt0-Am

Not just incompetent, but criminal?

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_25954289/dying-councilmans-inquiry-raises-questions-at-eureka-city?source=most_viewed

via Times Standard:

Madsen states in the affidavit that he repeatedly questioned Day-Wilson about where she got the memo until she named Councilwoman Melinda Ciarabellini.

Madsen writes in the affidavit that he later met with Ciarabellini, and that the councilwoman told him that she didn’t know how the memo had been distributed among city staff. Madsen states Ciarabellini said she had given a copy to Day-Wilson over concern that the memo might spark litigation by those named in the document.

When contacted by the Times-Standard, Ciarabellini declined to comment.

Madsen’s affidavit also recounts his conversation with then-Community Development Director Rob Wall about the email, which is also referred to as a “hit list.” Madsen’s affidavit states that Wall told the councilman that Day-Wilson provided both him and Personnel Director Gary Bird a copy of the memo at a meeting, and that Wall was later approached by Day-Wilson and asked to say he read the document after seeing a copy on her desk while waiting for her. Wall refused to comply, the affidavit said.

 

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2014/06/12/a-councilmans-dying-declaration

The declaration and an accompanying six-page investigative report, both of which Madsen apparently made a top priority during the last months of his battle with lung disease, were delivered by certified mail to the city on June 5 by Daniel Cooper, Madsen’s probate attorney. Together, the documents shed new light on an apparently toxic environment in city hall and a rift on the city council. And they raise serious questions about Day-Wilson’s honesty, ethics and job performance.

“Mr. Madsen requested that I provide this information to the city council after his death so that its present members would follow through on the investigation his declining health prevented him from completing,” reads a cover letter to the city from Cooper. “Mr. Madsen’s request also directed that I allow his family ‘private time’ to grieve and adjust to his passing before this affidavit was delivered to the city council.”
Madsen, who resigned his post with the council in December due to his prolonged battle with lung disease, was in hospice care when he signed the affidavit on March 6. He died April 5.

Blogging the 2014 Humboldt Elections

Blogging the 2014 Humboldt Elections

Posted on March 3, 2014 by highboldtage

shortlink here: http://wp.me/p38Pt0-q1

mnemonic link here: http://urlet.com/complains.chore

Eureka City City Council

Blogging the 2014 Eureka City Council Elections.

Humboldt County Supervisor District 4

Blogging the 2014 Humboldt County 4th District Supervisor Elections

Humboldt County Supervisor District 5

Blogging the Humboldt County 5th District Supervisor Election

Eureka City Council Ward 1

Blogging the 2014 Eureka City Council Elections.

Eureka City Council Ward 3

Blogging the 2014 Eureka City Council Elections.

Eureka City Council Ward 5

Blogging the 2014 Eureka City Council Elections.

Humboldt County District Attorney

Blogging the 2014 Humboldt County CA District Attorney Election

Eureka Mayor

Blogging the 2014 Eureka Mayoral Election

Humbodlt County Clerk – Recorder

Blogging the Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder Elections

Assembly District #2

Blogging the Assembly District 2 Elections

Eureka City Council Ward 3 Pre-file Poll (Beauty Contest)

Humboldt CUHW (Home Care Workers Union) Endorses Kerrigan, Latour for Supervisor

Humboldt CUHW (Home Care Workers Union) Endorses Kerrigan, Latour for Supervisor

http://www.cuhw.org/2014/05/june-3-primary-election-endorsements/

Analog Alien Rumble Seat Drive – ’69 Marshall Plexi, Delay, Reverb

Behringer ACX 1000 Acoustic Amp

When my musical partner and friend Jim Mandich died in 2010 I lost not only my friend, my guitarist, my recording engineer, but also Jimmy provided our PA system as we were moving into the clubs.  He had a nice Bose PA single column type.  Sounded great.

But in July 2010 I found myself with gigs to do and no PA.   I found this Behringer acoustic amp, an ACX 1000 at Humboldt Bay Traders for $200 and I bought it.   I used it at three farmers markets that year, and I have used it at a half dozen other venues as well, inside and outdoors.

It works.  It does what it says it will do, what it was designed to do.

This particular model (size) seems to be discontinued, but there are other models in the line still in production, a 90 watter and a 180 watter.

I stopped using it though, for several reasons.   For my own shows in most venues I started using little amps, like a 30 watt bass amp, or a 40 watt keyboard amp, pushing a mixer into it for vocals and preamp.   A 40 or 50 watt amp is plenty loud for a solo artist in a little bar.  Its just right!

Then again I started producing larger shows indoors and outdoors and for these bigger venues the Behringer just wouldn’t cut it.   For these I bought a bigger mixer and a couple of big old keyboard amps with horns and 15″ woofers.

But I started off the new year with the idea I would keep an open mind so last week we brought it out to do three street concerts here in Eureka.

 

This was an outdoor venue that is in a plaza near a restaurant with outdoor seating about 100 feet away from our stage.  Our goal is to provide an awesome musical experience for the diners.   We are musicians.  We are proud of our art and our skill and want to make a good presentation.  We need to be loud enough for the music to be enjoyed but not so loud as to be oppressive.   There is a Goldilocks spot there and we aim to find it.

The Behringer ACX is a good example of why you should learn something about your equipment.   It is designed (and functions) somewhat differently that what I had assumed.  I figured this out after I read the manual.   The ACX 1000 is nominally a 120 watt amp, but Behringer lists it as a 2 x 60 watt sterero amp – 60 watts to the guitar channel and 60 watts to the vocal channel.

It really is a stereo amp.   It has two 8 in woofers that have slightly different dispersions and you get a slightly different stereo sound picture as you cross sideways in front of the amp.

At Clarke Plaza I angled the amp to get the music in the air (it has convenient built on tilt back legs ) and I cranked it pretty good and the sound level 100 ft away at the tables was about perfect.  You could hear and enjoy the music but you could still have a conversation and talk to the food servers.  There were some occasional unpleasant overtones with this amp that prob could be fixed with a bit of compression.   So for an outdoor venue of up to a couple hundred people (like a wedding or something) this would be fine.   It ran easily for 3 hours on my 12 volt system, prob could have gone 6.  So it doesn’t draw as much as a real 120 watt amp might.

There are a couple of things about the Behringer to get the most out of it.  I have never been completely happy with how much sound I could pull out of this beast (its 70 lbs or so)  but it turns out the tone (eqs) are a bit different.   Start them off almost dimed (almost all the way) to get the full volume out of this beast, and dial them back for “tone”   Most eqs in the world are cut/boost but these seem to be all cut and there are a few amps built this way.   The hint in the manual:  If you have all the eqs turned to 0 you will get very little volume.  On the vocal channel both the “enhance” and “warmth” have to be pretty well cranked to get much out of the vocal channel.

Another thing is that the amp has a limiter in it.   So you can push it pretty hard without too much fear of damaging the speakers or getting outrageous distortion.    I like it but it probably has to do with the frustration I was feeling about not being able to pull the sound out.

I don’t have a footswitch.  There are 99 presets for effects, in three groups, parallel, single and dual.  The parallel (roughly 40 of the presets) applies the selected effects chain (delay, reverb, chorus, vibe) to both channels. the single applies it to one channel and the dual (79-99)  puts reverb on the vocals and reverb or a different effect on the guitar channel.    You can scroll through the preset with a little wheel its easy and then you can program one of four buttons to go to your four favorite presets.   When you first switch to a new effects preset the display will blink then use the “effects” knob on each channel to set the level of each effect.  They usually kick in with a “level” in the 20s for most effects.

The effects are so – so.  In a live music situation they are ok but they sound mushy to me, I have been spoiled by state of the art effects and also I have never been a fan of in amp effects so I am biased.   The chorus is nice and sweet on guitar and I like the vibe (99).

The amp doesn’t work so well if you try more than one guitar and one mic.   The mic should have an xlr cable the other input not so much on vocals.

So in three years plus I have come full circle and beyond with this amp.   I bought it and used it and it worked but I was never completely happy with it.   I ended up gigging with a little 30 watt Randall bass amp and the Zoom A3 for a mic and guitar pre-amp and now I am using a 45 watt bass amp or a 40 watt keyboard amp for my gigging, with the zoom A3.

One reason is the speakers.   In the Behringer these are 2 8 in woofers, and they are heavy duty for sure.  The bass amps and keyboard amps I am using now have a single 10 in woofer (the keyboard amp has also a tweeter)  and I just like the sound better of the larger speaker, and its a lot easier to “hit the back of the room” with a 10 in speaker.   I like to hear some “growl” come out of the speakers when I am singing and playing and the small speakers in most acoustic amps (8 in or 6.5 in.) are all kitten to me.  So you see I am biased.

Then I learned more about the Behringer and was able to get more out of it, but I still like my newer rigs better using the Zoom A3.

I am not a Behringer hater.  Some people see this as a company putting out cheaply made stuff.  I have 2 little Behringer bass amps (BXL450s) that I am using for mini PAs right now with mixers and they work great.   Behringer is a company that was started in Germany but has now relocated to China.   Its interesting, they didn’t just outsource production they moved the whole company and all their products are made in one facility.

 

 

Kinetic Sculpture Race – 2014 – VIDEO

 

pix by James Decker more of this fun day in Humboldt County:   http://radmul.blogspot.com/2014/05/fair-wage-photo-bomb.html