acidbasement

I couldn't disagree more. I saw the original lineup of Twisted Sister reunited in 2005. I thought they would be washed up, not even all that great at their peak in the '80s, and ultimately just going through the motions to fund their multiple (one assumes) divorces and/or addictions. The only reason I attended was because it was a free concert at Edmonton's city fair, and I figured, like you, that it would be comedic if nothing else. To my surprise, they put on an amazing show. They played "We're Not Gonna Take It" near the start of the set, and then challenged anyone who only came to hear that song to leave. I didn't see anyone leaving. And I don't think anyone who has seen Iron Maiden recently would call their show over the hill, even if the band members themselves are.

My wife and I were planning to see them on the tour they did with Dio singing about 5 years ago, but she was so sick from pregnancy that we were not able to go. Now Dio is dead, and we won't get the chance again. So, go forth and see them. Aging rockers are dropping like flies, and this may be your last chance. Different genre, but I'm going to see Gordon Lightfoot in a few weeks for the same reason - each tour he does has a higher chance of being his last (well, obviously).

George Takei links to all kinds of hilarity on his facebook page. It's sort of like a smaller-scale version of this thread.

Wishing you much bling n shit as you celebrate your birthday, good sir! edit: I'm pretty sure that's an ape under all that bling, not a monkey, but I liked the image. So there.

Sorry to hear the sad news. Wishing you strength on your birthday and beyond.

May your birthday contain tasty liquids and pleasant sensations!

Not sure if it meets your needs better or worse than a generator, but you can also consider backup battery inverter systems. We get fairly frequent power outages here, and I've got an 1800W battery/inverter to back up my sump pump and deep freeze. It's got 5 AC outlets, and I just plug it in every few months to make sure the battery remains charged. Then, if I go out of town, I plug it into the wall and the sump pump and deep freeze into it, just in case. The one I have is similar to this: http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/backup-power/xpower-powersource-1800.aspx

Wow, that's a story, Knucks. Keep feeding those wood stoves! We've got ~6 cords of wood piled outside our house, and will probably need another 3 before the end of winter. We just got our first snow today.

We had fun, driving the boys around to the neighbours' houses. There was a good assortment of pseudo-healthy, home-made, and standard chocolaty treats, and the kids are happy. We didn't get anyone showing up at our door, which is not terribly surprising since our house is a new addition to the landscape around here and people with kids probably either don't know where it is or opted to drive their kids into the nearest town to cash in on the larger hauls available there. One of our more remote neighbours did their house up to the nines with Halloween decorations, and we were the only people who came trick-or-treating to their place. I felt a bit sorry for them.

Your intro goes in your profile, which should be filled out. Cynicism is good, but bashing HF in your first post is not going to win you any friends here. Remember, your smartest post is the one you don't make.

Hippity boopity, belatedly!

Must be something in the air, because I'm also feeling nice. If you want good value for money, buy something second-hand from a trusted seller on head-fi. I don't quite know why you'd want something big if you want them also to be portable and durable. I'd suggest something mid-sized and closed like the Senn HD-25, which I heard a few weeks ago and quite liked. If you want something big, save your pence and make it a really good home headphone. Really though, the most important advice I can offer you is that metalcore sucks. But don't listen to us. My first headphone purchase turned out to be a big mistake because I listened to a bunch of advice on head-fi instead of listening to a whole bunch of headphones in a store to decide what worked for me.

Happy birthday!

Thanks folks! I'm having a great day with the family, who are cooperatively making a mess in the kitchen me a cake right now.

Happy birthday man. Rock forth with gusto on this day and others.

Happy birthday, good sir!

Very cool. I am fortunate enough to live in an area where I see owls somewhat frequently - mostly great horned and great grey, though there are other species about too. They are super cool.

Happy birthday!

Okay, it was a small gathering - four of us in total. There was a large amount of gear, however. Headphones HD600 HF-2 woodied by Headphile ATH-700 ATH-900 Realistic Pro-30 ortho Yamaha HF-2 ortho Fostex TRP40 transplanted into Phiaton cups HD25 DT1350 DT250 I was surprised to like the HD25 as much as I did. Not enough to go out and buy a pair, since I have no need for portability, but I liked it better than the DT1350. Maybe just because the DT1350 is way more demanding about what angle it sits on, and how good the seal is. The Realistic Pro 30s sounded absolutely great, but they weren't big enough for my head, and caused my ears some pain. The Yamaha HP-2s were my favourite of the orthos, and possibly my favourite of the night. A funny thing I noticed was that they sounded better when I had them on backwards. The treble became much more clear. I was surprised at how incredible these sounded, completely unmodded. I have a set of HP-3s, and I had to put them in different cups to get them to sound anywhere close to what I consider good. The woodied HF-2 stole my heart at the last Winnipeg meet, but I found it unsuitable for metal at this meet - there was some muddiness in the midbass that bugged me. I didn't hear anything that made me want to trade in my HD600s. Not worth writing home about (IMHO): ATH-700 (not bad, but slightly muddy bass), ATH-900 (too bright), DT250 (not overly offensive, but not great), DT880 (a bit too bright). Amps Bottlehead Crack Apex Butte (on loan to head-fi's Armaegis from TTVJ) Pico Slim Miu MRK1 (a modified clone of Grado RA1) cmoy We did a lot of back and forth between the Crack and the Butte. They both drove all the headphones present with loads of headroom to spare, and sounded good doing it. The Butte was a bit brighter sounding than the Crack in general, but I would be very happy to have either of them in my house. I built the Miu MRK1 a couple of weeks ago, after winning the kit in a contest on HF. I believe its design is based on a modification of the circuit used in Grado's RA1 amp. I know the Grado amp doesn't have the best reputation, but we were all pleasantly surprised by the MRK1. It was a quick and easy build, and it sounds good. Not in the same league as the desktop amps we listened to, but it does the job well enough depending on the application.

I haven't heard the new album yet. I guess my question was more general, as I've never seen Opeth. Do they put on a good show, worth a three-hour drive? I'm looking forward to the Korpiklaani tour, with Arkona opening, greatly. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=163366

Was it a good show? They're touring near me in the next month or so.

As far as I know Edgar Meyer is considered the best double bassist in the world. He's one of the only classical guys of whom I'm aware who can improvise like a jazzer. I've seen him a number of times at Telluride Bluegrass with Béla and others, but never with Zakir. He's an astonishing talent; you're in for a treat.

Oh my, I'd love to attend that fest. If time permitted, I'd travel serious distance just to see Béla Fleck perform with Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain. Winter is coming and time is precious, however.