Missed Metal

I missed 80’s metal.  I got a hint of it through a girl in my junior high French class.  I had a crush on her with her black fingernail polish, heavy eyeliner, and Circus magazines.  I listened to 107.5 The End in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I was familiar with it, but I was just too young and too much of a dweeb/dork/geek to really get it.

I remember going to a church event for young adult men, well, boys, in which they showed a video about avoiding evil music.  I remember watching this video and seeing short clips of AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, etc. and thinking, “How come I’ve never heard this stuff?  It sounds pretty cool!”

My favorite song from that time was “We Built This City” by Starship.  When I tried guitar for the first time, it was to learn the blues.  When I truly started to listen to music, I listened to nothing but Simon & Garfunkel for two years.

So watching “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” the other night was a nice view into the past… and the present. (Although not as good as reading Chuck Klosterman’s “Fargo Rock City“).  Everyone has their music they started with…mine just wasn’t metal.  Some people focus on that and stick with it.  Others move on to different things.  The key to life, as portrayed in the movie, is the people around you.

For me, the most telling part of the movie was when the drummer’s sister says it is and has been over, but the drummer’s wife says she had to admit it looked over, but she still wanted the dream.  The wife still supported the drummer and could not entirely agree with the sister.  The wife was painfully aware of the reality of failure, but also aware of the eternal hope the dream provided.

Dreams must be lived in reality.

I then watched The Wrestler, which also had an 80’s metal/rock theme in it.  The interesting thing is this movie went the other direction when dealing with reality and hope.  Going for the dream was giving up.  I guess that’s why I’m a wanna be.  I don’t seem to be going for my dream and I’m really not based in reality.  I feel like I’m in the middle of mediocrity.  That’s what I get for trying to live my dreams in reality.

Cover Song?

In trying to figure out which Metric song to cover (using both my ear and the help of online tab), I ended up working on all three, plus adding one more.  Still haven’t narrowed it down to one, but I think these are all doable.  We are beginners.

It’s All Fun And Games

Watched Music & Lyrics with some friends this evening.  Cute movie.  Best part was my wife challenging me to name every guitar model in the movie.  Gibson, PRS, Fender, etc.

This one was a toughie.  See it behind the popular singer character?

Then played some blues guitar with said friends.  Evening well spent.

I’ve always liked the Donnas

I’ve always liked the Donnas.  I’ve seen them twice and thought of them tonight for some reason.

Headphones again

I’ve had a pair of Sony wrap around headphones for the last 10 or 11 years.  They aren’t the best, but they work.  Unfortunately the soft foamy covers are starting to fall apart.  I loaned them to a coworker who took them home (instead of leaving them at the office) so I had to use my little ear bud headphones from my mp3 player.  I could not believe how bad everything sounded.

At work I plug into an old RP200 with my headphones so I don’t disturb anyone while I play on my lunch break.  It works well for what I am doing and I like being able to play with different pseudo amp models and effects.  It doesn’t sound great, but with the little ear buds, it was distractingly bad.  I kept unplugging and plugging in my guitar because I thought there was something wrong with the connection.  It was bad.

I’ve got my original headphones back, but in transit the already shredded foam covers became unusable.  So do I try to track down new foam covers or spend about the same amount of money on new headphones?  Or get better qualify headphones?  Any suggestions?

Which song should we cover?

Which Metric song should the Breakfast Club cover?

Gimmie Sympathy?

Gold Guns Girls?

Sick Muse?

Del Rey Guitar Project: A little help here?

I have taken a bit of a break from getting the Del Rey up and running.  I will openly admit that I’m a bit intimidated by the electronics.  Any suggestions?

Quality TV is over

Finished the Grammys tonight. I feel a little dumber.

• Richie Sambora had a funky/unique looking guitar with that dual color headstock, but their performance made me realize that they’ve really been a country band in disguise this entire time. And I guess Living on a Prayer only got half the votes since they only played half the song.
• Jeff Beck can’t play straight Les Paul covers.  He has to bend the notes.  Poor guy.  Maybe with a little more practice he’ll see some improvement.
• I still don’t like Dave Matthews band that much, but they can play.
• Oh ya, did the cast of Green Day’s broadway musical join Dave on stage?  Still lame.
• Andrea Bocelli can sing. Mary J. Blige came across as intimidated or at least struggling to keep up.

Finally done with this and have deleted the Grammys from the dvr.  Goodnight.

Quality TV

Well, quality TV with the help of the 30 second skip on my DVR.  I’m watching the Grammys right now…

• Lady Gaga and Elton John were kind of cool with their faces smeared with soot.
• I like Broadway.  I like Green Day.  They should not mix as proven by the Grammys tonight.
• Beyonce’s guitarist is playing a Zakk Wylde half SG/half Flying V Gibson guitar with the target logo.  Cool.
• Cover of “You Oughta Know” by Beyonce and her all female band was good till the writhing on the floor.
• Hoping for Bob Metzger when Seal announced some blah, blah, life time award thing-y for Leonard Cohen.  Sorely disappointed.
• Pink brings back Circus of the Stars and a sprinkler.
• Slash plays (what I think was) the November Rain solo in the wrong song…on purpose.  Glad he didn’t autotune with T-Pain.
• Zack Brown Band can sing
• Leon is still alive.
• Taylor Swift’s skin is so soft that it looks blurry on camera.
• I missed the Michael Jackson 3D thing about rain forests because I was looking for my 3D glasses.

Caught up to live television and I just can’t take it.  I’ll have to watch the rest tomorrow…or some other time when I have 15 extra minutes.

Angus Young on a budget

I’ve mentioned it here (and here) in other entries, but here is my 1965 Epiphone G-400 with Maestro Vibrato tailpiece guitar.  I got it used at a local shop and it had a big chunk missing from the bottom side of the edge.  I did some cosmetic repair (paint) to keep the chip from getting worse and it has been an excellent guitar! It is made in Korea with Grover tuners, Alnico V humbucker pick ups, 2 volume, 2 tone, 3 way switch, etc. (see basic info here).

I don’t know what it is about vibrato bridges, but I just like the way the strings feel when I play a guitar with one.  This one is nice and stiff.  I can use it when I want, but it just gives the strings a nice feel to my fingers compared to a fixed bridge.

Anyway, here are some pics: