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   So I was talking to a psychic the other day. She told me that dead people are bored a lot of time and are looking for a job they can do to help out people here on earth.

So below is my sketch (sorry I was having trouble importing my 3ds max version) of Dream Theater’s lighting rig for their summer tour. If you’ve seen it in person you’d know it looks bad ass.

For the past few days, I've been spending a lot of my time watching tech. rehearsals, doing small, odd jobs and helping in whatever way l can, but it's given me the opportunity ask lots of obnoxious questions and a lot about lighting design.

The more time I spend here, the more I seem to discover the enormous scope of a lighting technician's job. Yesterday, for example, I helped log the RSC's recent purchases on to a spread sheet and even though it might sound strange, I actually had a lot of fun discovering everything that the RSC had to buy for their recent shows, Richard II and Henry IV parts I and II.

For a long time I've been wondering why most Lighting designers stay away from the color green. They certainly like it on their currency, but they rarely use it on stage. 

And it's not fair. Green is my second favorite color and I use it all the time. It goes so well with blue or magenta. It turns into a great rock color when joined by amber. At Christmas time is the only time I will use it with red, but that's because you can get away with it then. But mix some hard edge lights in green with a congo or lav stage wash and you have instant sexy colors. Pale green is fantastic to use in any stop cues in a music based show. So why are people afraid of it?

As I write to you, oh ardent citizens of Technopolis, movers surround me, putting most of my worldly possessions in the back of a truck.

It reminds me, surprisingly not, of a load-out.

For the next week, these brown cardboard boxes will travel roughly eight hundred miles, en route from the Windy City to the Big Apple.  (Those of you in NYC, don't hesitate to drop me a line, as I will soon be your newest neighbor.)

So, since things are a little busy in the Gilbert household, I thought I'd shower you with a few random thoughts and a little link-love.

Today I’m going to start filling you all in on exactly what I’ve been writing lately in my notebook. There are three main topics: A couple cue ideas, and Casino Arizona lights. For starters I wrote a new trick I like to use when there is a dynamic arrangement in the song.