For anyone who's wanted a boom pole but was deterred because of the price or the difficulty making one, here's the solution. I invented these boom pole adapters myself (as they say, necessity is the mother of invention), not only as a way to turn a painter's pole quickly and easily into a professional boom pole, but also as a detachable pistol grip. If anyone is interested, you can find the adapters along with more info here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Make-mic-b..._trksid=p3286.c0.m14