Well, I don’t know what to think. I’ve been offered the opportunity to let people advertise on my blog. My immediate reaction was “no.” I hate advertising. Then I though, well, if I make twenty bucks a year to let people advertise on my blog, that covers part of the expense of the web site… Hmmm… Well, okay.

So now there’s a little bar up at the top up there somewhere that says “Ads by Google” with a bunch of ads after it. I guess, in a few days when everything gets finalized (there are “fake” ads there now) I’ll get a fraction of a penny for every person that clicks on an ad from my blog.

If this bothers anyone, please let me know. Hopefully it’ll be discreet.

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The Smokin’ Clams are playing at Rhonda’s this weekend, both Friday and Saturday. Should be a fun gig. I’m looking forward to it. Well, I’m sort of looking forward to it. I’m kind of dreading it, too. I’ve been having problems with my bass “sound” lately.

Here’s the deal. I kinda spent a lot of money and time choosing the right bass guitar, the right speakers, and the right amplifier to get the tone I like. Before every gig I spend a few minutes tweaking the sound to get it the way I want it… Only to have the sound man tell me to turn the volume down or turn my speakers around. See, he’s got a cord that runs from my amp to his sound board so he can control the tone and volume of my bass, as it comes through the main speakers, from his sound board. He doesn’t like it when the sound from MY speakers (which sounds the way I like) interferes with the bass sound coming out of HIS speakers (which, in my opinion, has bad tone).

So, I’m looking forward to playing tonight, but I’m dreading the battle that always happens. I’ve already turned my amp sideways and hoisted the speaker up on a rack so it’s pointed right at my ear so (hopefully) no one else can hear it. (Can you imagine how that feels? “Sure, you’ve spent fifteen years studying bass in your spare time, but we think the sound guy can do a better job, even though he makes your bass sound like a twanky guitar instead of a mellow bass guitar. So you just turn your speakers down and let the other guy control everything, okay?” It’s kind of like asking an artist to paint a picture, but you let someone else choose what color paints he uses, and what brushes he can paint with. “But, you see,” says the artist, “the sky is supposed to be blue. Why do you keep giving me orange paint?” Or like taking away the drums and making the drummer bang on plastic buckets, then telling him he has bad tone.) Anyway, I’ve already turned my bass down to the lowest possible volume and put the speaker right up next to my ear. But I’m dreading the sound man. I know, positively, beyond a doubt, that he’ll come up to me and start turning knobs on my amp without my permission, or he’ll tell me I’m too loud, or that my bass is interfering with the kick drum.

If I had a million dollars I’d buy a wireless in-ear monitor for my bass. Or better yet I’d get a Bose PA for the band.