h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There was an article in the business section of the paper today about a local business that I had no idea existed mere minutes from my home.

Seems a company called Clair Brothers Audio Systems, which it claimed is the world's largest provider of audio, video, lighting, staging and rigging services is based in Lititz. They began in 1966 producing and transporting public address systems. Their big break came that year when Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons arrived to do a concert at F&M without their own sound system, but were very impressed with the sound system F&M provided... that sound system having been installed by Clair Brothers.

Then there was the emergency job they took on when Jefferson Airplane wasn't happy with the dB levels the sound company the promoter had hired. JA found out that Clair brothers could deliver an additional 5 dBs, so they were hired not only for that concert, but for one of their European tours.


From there, their reputation took off, and the list of entertainers who have used Clair Brothers systems has included many performers ranging from Frank Sinatra to Grateful Dead, U2, Kenny Rogers, Elton John, Cher, Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, The Who,... the list is very extensive. They've even provided the sound systems for presidental campains and the Pope, not to mention many Vegas venues.

They stay on top by spending heavily on research, and as the article in the paper said, "Instead of being ahead of the curve, Clair Brothers creates it". They were the first to create overhead speaker systems. Amazingly enough, they have resisted using digital components, believing them to be less reliable than analog mixers and consoles, since live performance doesn't really give you a second chance to get it right.

This place is in Lititz?! Lancaster county?! I had no idea!

Was that an advertisement? On the BBC?

I'd like a 16 track analogue mixer, a sound desk with four wave sampling output, and a set of four 60 Whatt monitors, and three 20X 40 stacks of main speakers, with the suitible amplicfication rig rack mounted.

Not hardly!

I'm just constantly amazed by the people who end up retiring to Lancaster county (such as Jose Greco, famous flaminco dancer from the 50's and 60's), by the things that have been invented by Lancaster county residents (such as the man who invented bubble gum), and other various assorted things that end up here (Misty II, granddaughter of the real Misty of Chincoteague pony from the Margeurite Henry books), not to mention infamous authors (such as John Dollar author Marianne Wiggins, who was married to Salmon Rushdie at the time the Ayatollah put a price on his head for writing The Satanic Verses)... The list goes on and on...

This was just the latest one to show up in the paper, and truthfully, Lancaster county is such a sleepy little quiet place that it seems hard to believe we have all these claims to fame.

Some of the more amazing people end up coming from the least inoffensive quiet places

"Least inoffensive", huh? Let's see... that means "most offensive", right? I suppose some people would consider it to be pretty offensive, especially when they're spreading manure on the many fields around here.

What more is there to say...

yet another reason Pennsylvania rocks!

Or more accurately, Pennsylvania rocks the world!

Forgive me if I don't sound too excited, but big-name audio/visual crews always work out of ridiculously tiny lock-ups.

When I was in Birmingham, we rented gear from two chaps in a back garage next to a petrol station in Selly Oak (rough part of said city). Turns out they'd done sound for Black Sabbath and the Clash and supported just about every rock band that had played the National Indoor Arena since.

It's just what sound guys do.

B

Clair Brothers started in Lititz, along with another large theatrical company, Tait-Towers (they build stage sets.) They were in the old mill in the middle of town, then moved laterally to Manheim to a larger place (used to be a health club). Then, must have been 6 or 7 years ago, moved back to Lititz.

I used to go there quite regularly when I was on the road.

I miss Wilbur's Buds.

Did you know that during the cooler months, you can order Wilbur Buds online? I think they have to stop shipping in May for the summer...

I often go to Wilbur's to get some Buds, and Lord Scott loves their dark chocolate covered cherries, but for some reason they haven't had any recently.

what are Wilbur Buds?

Wilbur Buds are little chocolates, shaped similarly to Hershey's kisses, only with a design on the bottom that makes them look like little buds.

There's just no comparing the chocolate though... Hershey's is downright grainy and gritty in comparison to Wilbur's. Wilbur's comes in both dark chocolate and milk chocolate; I highly reccomend the dark.

You can see pictures of the buds at wilburbuds.com

And they make fine Christmas presents, and even get shared with husbands, though not in-laws

It doesn't take long for you lot to topic-drift into chocolate.

I have an alternative theory for the number of highly-regarded people who end up in Lancaster County: they start out by passing *through* Lancaster County, but get trapped there by the labyrinthine roads, and finally give in and stay there.

The roads aren't so bad... Sure, I know of one Amishman who described them as being like a bowl of spaghetti, but when I'm out driving around and get sorta lost, I just stay on that road... I know that eventually I'll come to *something* I know, because all roads here seem to lead to one of the main roads here. That's not the case everywhere I've lived.

It may seem like a part of america but Lancaster County is, infact..








THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!!


~duh dee dum dum, duh dee dum dum!~

(you'll never leave!)

You might want to borrow a video of "Nothing But trouble," which is about some New Yorkers (Bill Murray is one of them) who have to flee for some reason, and they happen to take a short cut through Pennsylvania. Naturally, they become trapped in some weird county where a centennarian reeve (played by Dan Ayckroyd) runs things things. His favorite hobby is sending tourists/newcomers through a roller-coaster-like apparatus, where they end up chopped up into little tiny bits.

Plagurism!

They copied the Cornish!

The only Cornish around here are Cornish game hens.