What Language does Matt=Des_Lab?

[Scorpion8]

Okay so we have to have the general avatar discussion.

How does Matt translate into "Des_Lab"?

Mine? Okay, my mostest favorite rock group is Scorpions. Been a fan since I first started buying LPs back in the 70's. Even got a German-issue vinyl. Also, it's just a nice hard firm noun, attached to my favorite number 8. You know how some names/nouns/sounds just go well together? James Bond 007 would not have been so macho as James McGilliherny. "Bond" just rolls of the tongue, is a "hard" noun (meaning firm, not difficult) and such. Scorpion is another of those words. Would not have the same effect as "Sea Turtle". And Dolph Lundgren would not have been as macho in Red Skorpion if it was called Purple Rain. See?

ETA: Oh, and the avatar? Man, I love that LP cover art. It's so stark and beautiful. I use it on almost all my forum avatars so it's kinda my identity. And I don't change or rotate them, so it makes me recognizeable. Plus the words "Love over Gold" is something to think about ....

[Web Police]

Are we talking avatars or user names?

I don't remember exactly how I thought up my user name I do remember trying several different names on a large computer forum and they were taken. I didn't want to be #2 or #3, so I kept on trying till I found a name that wasn't in use. :rolleyes:


As far as my avatar I change it occasionally when I find something I like better than the current one. I don't actively look for a new avater, but it I stumble across something I like, I will save the image for later use.

[Des-Lab]

Matt (actually Matthew) is my first name. The letters "D-E-S" are the first three letters oif my last name. "Des-Lab" is simply the moniker or nickname of my system. But I did not originally conjure it up.

As far as I've been able to find, the first use of the "Des-Lab" name dates back to August 11, 1978. Back then, I was a few months shy of my 5th birthday. My father already had his system up and running (and had been divorced from my mother for about a year or two). He was third in a family of six. Back then, his youngest sister was dating the man (Victor) who she would go on to marry in 1981 (and divorce in 1997 in the aftermath of a horrendous accident he suffered in 1996). I guess he/they were all much closer then. One of our local radio stations was going to broadcast a concert of Chicago. I guess Vic wanted to tape this up and coming broadcast. But he didn't have the deck to do it. But my dad did. So I guess my dad agreed to do it-provided Vic gave him a tape, which he did-a Maxell UD-35-180. The tape was never played much through the years. And today, it's now in my posession. A picture of it is shown.

My dad taped the concert. And I guess Vic was over. They were probably chugging beers and having a good old time. Vic apparently took it upon himself to label the back of the box as to the contents. For reasons only he knew, he wrote, in the "studio" field, the words "Des-Lab". The name stuck ever since.

Attached is also a picture of the "original" Des-Lab: My fathers system. It's a scan from an old picture, probably from the sometime between 1987-1989 when it was at its peak. The picture isn't the best quality, but you can see what's there.

Gotta love that God-awful green/yellow/beige carpeting. When my parents bought that house in 1973, they installed it. I guess at the time, it was stylish. But my dad remained a "bachelor" and that abominable carpet stayed in place until 1998. Yowza! I did like the cork walls though. My bedroom was on the other side of that wall and it provide some insulation from the sound. It also made sticking up cheesy wall decor, posters, etc. a lot easier. Indeed some of the "arts" I did when I was a preschooler still hung proudly up there. If you also look real hard, on the left, there is the mandatory "dogs playing poker" poster. You will also note that the system is built in and held in place with a setup of 2X4's. My dad was a paranoid person (I guess I have some of it too). And built that elaborate, but ugly (but very ingenius) setup to prevent the system from "growing legs". He had it rigged so that the components could only be removed one at a time by disassembling the bolts. He also had it built so that it was too tall, too wide, and too heavy to carry out of the room or out the door in one piece. He once showed me his sketches containing room dimensions, cosine angles, all of that. Very ingenious! Of course after taking all the measurements and cutting the wood, the whole thing was built right there on the spot. I wasn't there to see the actual construction, but when I helped him take it DOWN when he finally remodelled the house (and permanently retired his system), it was an all day project.

Anyway, here's a rundown of the components.

Speakers: Dahlquist DQ-10's.

Left row, top to bottom:

Akai CD-A3X CD player
Sony TC-V30 cassette deck
Kenwood KR-9600 receiver

Middle:
SAE 9000 impulse noise reduction unit (the 'pop-n-tick' machine)
Dual turntable (do not recall model number)

Right:
Outboard EQ (again, do not recall brand or model)
Teac A-3300SX reel to reel.

Around the time the 'original' Des-Lab was retired, I was beginning to build my system. And I kept the name. So I guess you could say that my system is really Des-Lab Mk II.

So that's where it came from!

[Web Police]

Interesting story Matt. Thanks for sharing it. :)

BTW nice carpeting. :rolleyes:

[Scorpion8]

So that's where it came from!

Now THAT's a story. We need to hear from Emo-fan too in this topic.

[braxus]

I guess for me Braxus came from my early use of the internet in around 1993-94. I was on a Vancouver internet logon company called Shoreline (they later went out of business), and I had to decide on a user name to log on. As many suggested never to use your real name, I noticed the movie "Abraxus" and thought if I take the A off the name, I could just call myself Braxus. I noticed later 2 years later that a movie came out using my user name (Beastmaster 3) and in that movie the name Braxus was some sort of God. I do not want my user name to being related to being a God as the movie says, so I've distanced myself from that thought and was glad I came up with the name well before the movie came out. I have also noticed others using my user name, as on Ebay. Somehow someone got my name and used it for their own. I've seen it show up in searches with other users as well today. I have been posting online since the mid 90s, so I figure that's how it got out there initially. To me its just a name with no real meaning behind it. If it goes back in history (as with the Abraxus album out there), then I don't know what the term means. I stopped using it for a while because I didn't want to be associated with being a God as Im not, but I later figured it was ok to still use the name.

[Fast Forward]

Mine was easy,,and I wasn,t sure Des would let me get away with Dumbass:-oo

[Doug_Olitsky]

Doug Olitsky = Doug Olitsky

Why hide behind a mask, I'm a tech jusnke like the rest but dont like the veil of unknowns that the 'net conveys.

Stealing ID is as easy as changing underpants and anyone who thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves.

Besides, why hide from the good folks I like to spend virtual time with.

[vinyldavid]

VinylDavid=I love vinyl and my name's David :D

In retrospect, i coulda picked another name that did NOT have VD as the initials.....:D

[Doug_Olitsky]

they have injections that'll cure that*praise*

[MacGyver]

that was intersting, matt! indeed, that is one fugly-ass carpet!! BTW, my username is based off one Lady Ayeka Misaki Jurai from the 1992 PIONEER LDC Anime series "TENCHI MUYO; RYO OH KI" ...the avatar however, is one "Shaorin" the moon goddess(and my goddess♥) from the 1998 Anime series "Mamotte Shugogetten" you guys would've actually known me as "Lady Shaorin" if i had discovered her a little sooner...


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/wedding2.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/TEN-Naoko050.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/TenchiGroup.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/manatsu_poster.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/daeka.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/jurai_family.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/d1-16.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/23672.jpg

[stuwee]

This is kinda embarassing and not nearly as cool as some of ya'lls(y'alls)*?conf? Mine is joke on my favorite Nascar driver Tony Stewart. One of my many interests outside of music and gear. His real nickname is "Smoke" which a lot of forums can confuse with some other interests. So my avvie when I shrink it down will generally have something to do with him. That and my sig pic will change, I'm trying to find my pics of my tapes. I'm still poking around in here, I'll get to it soon, hopefully.

Craig

[utahusker]

Well utahusker is from where I was born and raised and where I reside now. Utah is where I live now, St. George to be exact. Husker =Nebraska where I was born and raised for 35 years. I lived and worked at the hospital in Aspen, CO for 7 years in between. Guess what my username was then........aspenhusker.*butt*

I use another username on other audio forums that is nu2toobs. I'm not that new to tubes now since I've owned a Sophia Baby, DODD ELP, Qucksilver Horn Mono's, Scott 299, and now a Juicy Music Blueberry soon to be paired with an NOS Valves VRD st45 arriving Monday.

I thought it was time to get back to my roots.

[grncoup]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/vivariumconcepts/_WEB-2.jpgi think this explains it.

[retrokeeper]

Well...you know the old saying,"a picture is worth a thousand words"?,here are some photos of my....affliction/collector-itis,packrat disease,"dear,why do you collect/store/keep/have all this crap"....yes folks,I have a problem...a "collect it and keep it for whatever reason",a "I could not afford it back then,but BOY I can afford EVERYTHING now that I wanted!!"...built a big building to store it all in,then build a room inside the big building to store and show-off even more stuff....well you get my drift.So just gaze at the photos and see what I mean,you'll realize how my avatar name came about. Rob

[clhboa]

My name comes from my initials combined with the initials of one of my favorite bands, 70's southern rockers Black Oak Arkansas.

retrokeeper, very cool set up you have.

[clhboa]

grncoup, Very nice Ford you have. Steel body?

[grncoup]

grncoup, Very nice Ford you have. Steel body?
thank you. yes, 1932.

[grncoup]

Well...you know the old saying,"a picture is worth a thousand words"?,here are some photos of my....affliction/collector-itis,packrat disease,"dear,why do you collect/store/keep/have all this crap"....yes folks,I have a problem...a "collect it and keep it for whatever reason",a "I could not afford it back then,but BOY I can afford EVERYTHING now that I wanted!!"...built a big building to store it all in,then build a room inside the big building to store and show-off even more stuff....well you get my drift.So just gaze at the photos and see what I mean,you'll realize how my avatar name came about. Rob
i'm sorry, the problem is what???

[retrokeeper]

Auhhhhh....I forgot what my problem was....crap...another senior moment!!! Rob

[stuwee]

i'm sorry, the problem is what???

:-oo:-oo*Spin* , *drool*'N '32!!

What'all she do, mister? (the coupe, not the cat or the GF)

[grncoup]

the '32 is only a "driver". that means no wild engine. i've had it to 90 mph on the road and topped out at 120mph on a chassis dyno (191 rwhp).

[Acoustic]

Acoustic.. it comes from being an acoustic guitar player. I used to play in bands and do play electric but my heart is in playin' an acoustic. I was auditioning for a band one time and the guy asked me to 'play anything on the guitar I wanted to' I put down the electric and pulled out my acoustic...(this was years ago, believe me, years ago...early 1970's) I played 'Needle and the Damage Done'. After the audition I didn't get the band gig but I did get to work as a session player for a time. Got a rep for my instrament, did some duo work, had a heck of a lot of fun until the music changed.... disco came.

Here's my Martin D-15 (a mahogany tone monster), a Epi Les Paul Jr, drum machine, effects box, Berhinger mixer, some mics and Tascam 4 track cassette portastudio. It's on a rolling cart I wheel out to have some fun with.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2416/2660199240_c38060c2a7_o.jpg

[Acoustic]

BTW, forgot to mention... cool thread.:cool: