PDA

View Full Version : shrinkboy


shrinkboy
08-06-2007, 07:25 AM
i've been trying to decide whether i'd do this or not, and i guess i have. was reluctant at first.

i followed a path familiar to many of you to AK. about 6 years ago, my wife almost sold all my old records in a garage sale, a lot of Blue Note, Chess, Prestige stuff that had followed me around since the 70's. i nipped that just in time, but then decided i'd explore them again after decades of disuse. this meant getting out the technics sl-1700 TT and getting it going, which necessitated a web search for some guidance on its rejuvenation, which necessitated a phone call to joel at the Turntable factory (RIP, joel).

while searching info on the technics, i found a ton of cool stuff on the web about audio, and decided to use what i had on hand to remount a phono based stereo system. this included a dreadful, and i do mean DREADFUL Realistic receiver, a pair of Minimus 12's (larger, 5 1/4" woof, cone tweet Minimus 7's) that i'd had forever.

by this time, i'd discovered Home Audio on ebay, and was trying to decide to make the leap and buy from there. on a trip to Phoenix in fall 2001 to visit my brother, we visited a place called Buzz Jensen's which sold new audio, but had a trade-in/resale room. we walked around hypnotized by the wealth of great, mind bending legendary audio. i found a Yamaha cr-450 receiver in wood that brought back the early 70s like a punch to the jaw, bought it for $70, and from that point, i was off and running on the vintage audio obsession.

stumbled around like a drunk sailor on the web, and made some bad decisions (how about a pair of beaten but good sounding AR 2ax's from Oak Tree for...ahem...$300?) <i've never admitted that anywhere before. anyway, finally started getting my bearings and understanding of what to look for and what to stay away from. i came to AK when looking for some help with some tube amps in 2003. i quickly realized i am way too much of a liberal arts major to really do much technical stuff, although i have rehabbed some crossovers and stuff like that.

with a handle like 'shrinkboy' it should be obvious what i do for a living, having been in private practice since 1983, and in the field since 1978. undergrad here in dallas at a small liberal arts catholic school called university of dallas, and then to duquesne university, pittsburgh pa for grad work. back to dallas and into 'the field'....my work now is married couples, individuals, late teens. a strong presence in my office is survivors of sexual abuse/molestation/rape. this is a mind boggling presence in our society, and enough said there. i also do what is called 'coaching' with professionals, lawyers and doctors, helping them with personal marketing (one to one), business communications, leadership, internal relations.

for about 10 years, i have also been involved in film acting, have gotten involved on a whim, took classes, got an agent. i've done some commercials, did some improv comedy (what a BLAST!!), but have really decided that because of my more lucrative commitments, i would focus on independant film (although i did have a tiny part in the nick nolte film The Beautiful World, 2004). i've done about 7 or 8 of them. just finished shooting a part in a horror film where in my first scene i establish that i am enough of an asshole that i deserve to die, and then in my next scene, i die a horrible, gruesome, agonizing death.

i also write screenplays, have one in progress right now. also do poetry, and have won a national contest (the real thing, not the 'Poets Wanted' kind). contests are common in the 'real poetry' world, and are a typical way for people make their work known. i also got 2nd place in an international haiku contest way back in the 90's ....

another passion of mine is swimming, having come to it from marathoning/10k'ing in the 70s, early 80s, triathloning, then USCF bike racing in the 80s. running out of time in the mid 80s for bike racing, and after a horrible fall at the end of a big road race, i started looking for something else and found it with masters swimming. i had been a kid swimmer, and the masters coach i found was a famous peer of mine named jerry heidenreich, also from dallas. he went to the 72 olympics, where he touched silver in the 100 free half an arm length behind mr. spitz' gold, and then bronze in 100 fly. jerry was a legend around dallas, a colorful and self destructive human being who taught me everything he knew about swimming, and helped me attain high levels of master's success with a number of wins and top threes in my events of 50, 100, 200 freestyle. he killed himself in 2002, god rest his soul.

i've been married 33 years, have two more or less grown kids, an old grayhound named paloma and a youngish dachsund with one silver eye named ziggy. i have way too much gear, way way way too many records, but that' never enough. its more about the music for me, but i love good gear. i hope soon to be rehabbing a lenco TT i bought a while ago with a linn basik arm, and have contacted mopic5 for his help.

my avatar recently changed from the girl diver (i am near the peak of happiness when i'm 100 feet underwater on a wall in the caribbean) to my one of my deepest inspirations, carl jung.

gosh, i said a lot more than i intended to.

oh, the name: Jim Dolan, or, sometimes it appears on the web as James Dolan. you can go here: www.lotuseaters.net to see a bunch of stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with audio. or here: www.coach4lawyers.net for a little bit of my coaching work.

pmsummer
08-06-2007, 07:47 AM
hI, jIM. gOOD TO SEE YOU USE some CAPS!


;)

shrinkboy
08-06-2007, 07:53 AM
tHanX, mAn

ozmoid
08-06-2007, 07:59 AM
Thanks for the intro, shrinkboy. :thmbsp:

...don't sweat the capitalization, I much prefer your method to the CONSTANT SHOUTING OF THE CAPS LOCK KEY. :D

pmsummer
08-06-2007, 08:03 AM
Uh oh. The Frog has been assimilated.

merrylander
08-06-2007, 08:22 AM
Hi Jim, guess we go back a bit. No caps worked for James Joyce, then there was e.e.cummings.

shrinkboy
08-06-2007, 08:55 AM
yes, we do, Rob. you eventually got hold of that cr 450, and i still have it. thanx for your help with everything

skippy_ps
08-06-2007, 09:10 AM
Interesting intro, Jim. I just finished reading your article The Madness in Psychotherapy and found your conclusions enlightening. Thanks for that.

Murray

Duffinator
08-06-2007, 09:13 AM
Jim, nice to meet you and a well written bio.

"did some improv comedy (what a BLAST!!),"

I bet that was a blast. Doing improv comedy has been a secret desire of mine but it would be tough to do with short one liners. I bet that was a total gas when you did it. Good luck with the acting and let us know the name of the horror movie when it comes out.

onepixel
08-06-2007, 10:35 AM
Hey Jim,

Great to know you!

Cheers,
Carl

Normo
08-06-2007, 11:16 AM
Freud would say that sometimes a shrinkboy is just a shrink, boy. Couldn't resist, welcome.:tresbon:

shrinkboy
08-06-2007, 01:19 PM
you know what, normo? i was waiting for someone to throw that one down...really.

thanx, you guys, and you too, skippy ps.

Normo
08-06-2007, 02:03 PM
What can I say, once an adolescent, always an adolescent, Even if that was 40+ yrs ago! Norm

hakaplan
08-06-2007, 02:14 PM
Jim, nice to know you. I'm sure you're good, but as many will attest, I'm beyond help. :no:

Chip - HP
08-06-2007, 04:31 PM
Hi Jim ... read the story about your father ... very interesting ... loved the pic of Candy Barr ... my father and his friend ... who were in their 50s when she was at her "artistic peak" here in Dallas ... loved to talk about her ... I don't think either one ever had the nerve to go see one of her "performances" ... if either one did ... they were smart enough to keep it to themselves ...

Urizen
08-06-2007, 04:41 PM
Uh oh. The Frog has been assimilated.

Talk about "it ain't easy being green"!:D

Good to know ya, Doc.

EchoWars
08-06-2007, 05:24 PM
It's an honor to have such a talented and intelligent gentleman such as yourself here at AK.

tentoze
08-06-2007, 06:50 PM
Another Doc. He's a'ight with me.

opt80
08-06-2007, 07:02 PM
Don't we have a paradox?

cableguy
08-07-2007, 05:59 AM
and all this time I thought Shrinkboy was a reference to a Seinfeld episode....:D

Nice to meet you...


Bill

jeffn
08-07-2007, 06:21 AM
Hi Jim, guess we go back a bit. No caps worked for James Joyce, then there was e.e.cummings.

I like e.e.cummings

shrinkboy
08-07-2007, 06:42 AM
It's an honor to have such a talented and intelligent gentleman such as yourself here at AK.

got kinda goosebumpy when reading this and other posts from 'toze and the rest o' you guys. thanx a bunch.

chip-hp-- thanx for reading and commenting on the article.

RayW
08-08-2007, 09:04 AM
Hmmm, might have made for an easier intro if you'd just listed both of the things you haven't done. :) Quite a full life so far, keep it up!

Ray

Strangeband
08-08-2007, 09:08 AM
Your introduction makes for a very good read, but your articles make for some great reading. I'd rather read all lowercase than ALL CAPS, BTW.

wajobu
08-08-2007, 09:10 AM
Hi Jim!

Isn't there a Yamaha A-1 there somewhere?

shrinkboy
08-08-2007, 01:10 PM
thank ya, strangeband. and yeah, wajobu, there is a yamaha a-1 amp there somewhere, about 4 feet from the foot of my bed powering the TV and DVD in there. you got a memory on ya, waj!!

wajobu
08-08-2007, 01:20 PM
It's selective, but working...the memory, that is. :D

tentoze
08-08-2007, 01:21 PM
thank ya, strangeband. and yeah, wajobu, there is a yamaha a-1 amp there somewhere, about 4 feet from the foot of my bed powering the TV and DVD in there. you got a memory on ya, waj!!

I really don't want an answer, but how the hell does wajobu know what's in your bedroom?

wajobu
08-08-2007, 01:55 PM
Um, I have a memory of what is in his possession, not its location. :D

wajobu
08-08-2007, 01:59 PM
Um, I have a memory of what is in his possession, not its location. :D

...and through the miracle known as search:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1158654&postcount=5

I do, however, miss that fine avatar of the swimming beauty (whoever it might be).

TWantiques
08-08-2007, 03:37 PM
Nice to meet you, Jim. Interesting and well written bio. :thmbsp:

I do like this new forum...a great way to meet some interesting folks we thought we knew.

Terry

shrinkboy
08-08-2007, 08:18 PM
thanx twan

pmsummer
08-08-2007, 08:31 PM
I do, however, miss that fine avatar of the swimming beauty (whoever it might be).

Well, sad to say, her tanks ran out.

http://onepixeldesign.com/stereo/floating.jpg

pioneer54
08-08-2007, 08:56 PM
i went to my shrink and said" Dr. everybody hates me"
Dr. says " don't be ridiculous, everybody doesn't know you yet.":banana:
rodney dangerfield

lordfoo
08-09-2007, 08:55 AM
Hi shrinkboy,

Nice to meet you Doc. Wachup doc?

I never want to meet you on a professional basis doc.:D
Friends is enuff. :D

foo

shrinkboy
08-09-2007, 09:11 AM
dear foo, even if you did meet me in the office, it wouldn't be anything like what you'd expect.