Growing pains...

So I literally have perhaps .5 to an hour to tweak or do things on weekdays on guitar painting things. The things I was struggling through a few to several weeks ago were a sure beacon of oops, & back up & try again. But at the time I probably wouldn't have known how to do so. I was trying to take what was & make look better. But no matter how I tried I seemed to only make little to negative progress, ie the 2 steps forward 3 steps back kind of thing. I reached my end. It's probably no different than someone drafting a story, book, or essay & deciding to scrap it all & do it right. I've found myself doing that with operating systems during dev or QA things as well & either reinstalling the OS from scratch, using Ghost to get OS back to known good state, and now using the simplicity of VMWare for things. I reach a state & say enuff of this, I'm starting it over to get back to a known good stable state.

Thursday night I reached my end with the things I've been trying to make look well on the back of Fender. But the things I was trying to correct stemmed from way way back in the process of using cruddy masking tape & poor bleed through corrections. I wouldn't have sold or given the thing to a flea let alone keep it for self & play it. So on this day, the stripes exist fairly well for the most part on front but are covered with blue tape & some paper. I quickly sanded down the back & the body now sits with, I think, 4 coats of primer as a base & 4 coats of white. No regrets in choosing to redo the back now that I know better what I'm doing. So by tonight I should have enough coats of white on the side stripes to clean them up & make sure that there's a good even flow from the sides to the back. Then I'll have to wait 4 days before taping & then doing red. Three days is the suggested time to wait but my unfun has been that the side stripe paint peels really easy when trying to remove the tape & the peeling really ticks me off. Again, knowing that it will look way better was worth the backing up. Job satisfaction is needed from the creator even though the area being redone is the back.

I'm not sure I'm going to pour much oomph into putting things on the backs of guitars. Not many will see the backs when guitar is just hanging around or being played. Streamline the creative processes is my thoughts regarding the backs. But any time I do a 5150 design for my own fun or for whatever reason in the future, I'll put the back stripes on just because EVH was there.

Until later comes, I continue to vent out the steam of the growing pains.

A letter from the stripes

So 1) be sure to read Well Done ramble below this one.

Dear John,
I am your Fender stripe-i-fied guitar. I did look great as I was & then you came along & just stripped me down to bare nothing. I knew not why you were doing that. What did I ever do to deserve such treatment? I've looked good in my blue all these years. I've sounded well. I stayed in tune for you. I stood by silently watching you play your other guitars wondering why you wouldn't play me too.

I've had to endure the coats of sealer & more sanding. Boy that was sure a lot of fun. Really appreciated that. Thanks a lot...sheez. I've never felt so embarassed when you just hung me out in the open air all exposed like that & with you taking pictures of me. What are you some kind of perverted freak? Oh I know it's guitars gone wild isn't it? Well I'll strike the pose for you buddy. You like that? How about this? Lemme show you my killer backside cause baby I got back!

I was relieved to be coated with primer & white. But I lost my identity in that I had no idea what you were going to do with me. Why couldn't you just let me stay as I was in my great blue? Then you stuck all that sticky stuff all over me. I wondered what the heck are you trying to do to me? Let me tape you bucko so you can see how it feels. So I'm there in my white underwear with tape all over me. Great! What am I a model for underwear & tape or something.

Next thing I know I'm being covered with red spooge. Great now I have red spots all over me. Can I just be blue again please?! Leave me alone already! So once again I hang there in my taped up underwear looking like I have the measles or something. And then more red spooge comes at me. Did I ever tell you all these things you've put on my really stink & smell. I bet you I'll be damaged in some way for having to sniff all this stuff. When this is all over I'm calling my lawyer. I never consented to this. Why am I...uh....white...wait a minute, now I'm red all over. What the? You actually clothed me in red. Cool. But...hmmm....I still have all this tape all over me from your freakazoidal photo shoot & strange fantasies of guitars in bondage gone wild. Well at least I'm covered up now. How nice of you to care so much that after days of just hanging out & around you decide to cover me up. Thanks for thinking of me. Don't let me swinging about in the breeze hit you on the way back in. I hope this hook you have me stuck to breaks & I fall on your head & I knock you out or at least bring you to your senses. You must dislike me immensely or something to do this to me. Why don't you just smash me up instead? Get me down from here!

Hey! Ouch! What are you doing! That hurts. Oh, great, now you think of taking the tape off. What took you so long to realize that it was on there? Well I sure hope you get the tape off of me quick & I hope you get all tangled up in it. Ha! That would be a laff. Dang that hurts though. Ouch! Can't you be more gentle? What'd you have to put the tape on in the first place? It burns! It burns! Get it off me now! Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww! (time passes)

Finally! Man, lemme put that tape on your hairy arms & then yank hard & see how good that feels to you. Oh great, you're just going to leave me hanging here with my unfinished red and whaaaaat!? Stripes? What the? How'd that... Hey wait a minute, I'm red with crazy white stripes! Check me out world! Take that you dumb Ibanez that gets played more than me. I'm stripe-i-fied & look at you just sitting there in your plain dull Jewel blue. Man, this suit makes me look good. Hey! Ouch! That really hurts! Oh, so now you're going to cut me up with that blade huh. What kind of sicko freak are you anyway? You make me look cool & then you start scraping me up. What gives? Can I have some anesthesia please? Or at least a couple of shots of Jack Daniels. I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding! Someone call 9-1-1! Oh wait, it's dried stuff. Heh, heh, I guess I bled already. Oh so now you think you're this great doctor & surgeon & you're going to just fix up all these red marks. You just watch it bucko! You so much as poke me with that thing I'll....OUCH! Dang-narn-it! That hurts! Be careful. You don't know what you're doing do you? Let me take that dry sharp blade to your stuble on yer face & see how that goes for you. (More time passes)

Well gee thanks for that acupuncture torture that I never wanted or asked for. I bet you've really messed me up now. See that stripe there...huh? Where'd that dry red stuff go? I'm still red. I still have white stripes. And I look better than before the acupuncture carnage. Whoa dude, thaz kinda cool. But you need to cool it with that blade thing. Am I done yet? Can I please be done now? Can you just put me back together now? Wait, let me guess, there's more. Why else would I just be hanging around still?

Oh joy, more sticky tape. Aren't I good enough for you? Haven't I had enough. You always want more from me. You always want me to be someone I'm not able to be. I'm red & white. That's who I am now. At least I know that much. I at least have some dignity left. What the? Hack hack cough cough choke choke. What gives now! Now your spooging me with black. You need to figure yourself out ma'an. First I'm naked. Then I'm in my white underwear. Then I'm red & white. Now you want me to be black. Make up your crazy mind you fool. I don't know who or what you want me to be. Stop! Enough! Aren't I good enough for you the way I am? Why are you always trying to change me? Why don't you change yourself first? Spray yourself with paint & leave me be.

Blast ye my new found foe. Why dost though yank upon the tape upon my being yet again by taking off that tape. First I'm in bondage. Then I'm not. Then I am again. Now I'm not again. Can't you make up your mind? You know I'm just going to end up with bruises from such rough treatment. This is abuse! You need some serious help bud. See I'm black and blu....black stripes? I'm still red with white stripes & now black stripes. Whoa did you see that Ibanez? Ha! Beat that! You know, it's better to look good than to feel good. Dude! I be looking crazy insane. Now am I done? Please tell me I'm done. Dude? Dooood! Where'd ya go! Come on, don't just leave me hanging here! Yo! Freakinator! I've given you all that I can. What more do you want from me?! Oh the humanity! You dress me up & then you leave me high & dry. Yo barkeeper? Martini, shaken not stirred! Someone! Anyone! Bueller? Bueller? Anyone! HELP ME! I'm hungry! Can anyone give me some burned up brown burgers that were burnt all over town?

- Stripey

(And the story pauses there. What will happen next? Why is stripey still hanging there? Will there be more tape? Will there be more scraping with the blade? Will the striped crazy one get free? Will someone come to help him. Stay tuned to this same stripey channel at the same stripey time in the nearly insane future.)

Author's note:
And now for something completely different. Any similarities between this story and any persons, entities, or groups, is entirely coincidental. No animals were hurt during this writing. Do not try any of the stunts portrayed in this journey as they are performed by specially trained crazy incompetent fools who don't know what they are doing. This story is based upon actual events in the life of a Fender guitar but some events were modified at the author's creative discrection. The guitar was not harmed in the writing of this story. The guitar still needs some minor touch ups due to many factors beyond the painter's control, peeling paint under tape here & there & gravity being a couple of those factors. The guitar apparently made an attempt to get away from it's hanging place last night in the dark but instead just fell to the carpet & received a couple of minor fixable dents from obstructions during the brief travel. The incident was investigated & it was determined that darkness combined with a female person stepping the wrong way in the dark caused a disturbance in gravity thereby causing the guitar to have a short trip during the fall. The aforementioned female was not injured. The guitar threatened to sue the author for hanging him so carelessly on a top heavy clothing drying apparatus but negotiations between guitar & author created a simple repair plan. The guitar deemed that it was in his best interest to be completed instead of getting tied up for months in legal processes. Guitar does demand being completed as soon as possible however with no more mistakes during the touch up processes that have held up progress. Author was placed under surveillance two nights ago after threatening to give up & burn guitar due to guitar maliciously & purposely shedding paint in various locations. Author has since learned to go slowly & be more calm & is learning to make peace with the ensuing issues. Guitar is not available for comment. Please direct all inquiries to the crazy insane author who doesn't know what he's doing at times & writes very long rambles.

Until later comes, turn it up to Get On With It

Well Done Eddie

Not much to say other than this bit of long rambles...

http://www.pplministries.org/WellDoneEddie.htm

Until later comes turn it up to eat some lunch.

A 2nd email to person @ ELVH Inc. I still laugh.

I am writing to offer an unsolicited suggestion that stems from the confusion that many write about in forums & such about the evh stripe designs. Perhaps you are already aware of the confusions that exist.

If ELVH Inc. is out to protect the stripe designs, it seems to make simple sense to have a website that describes simply & clearly in very easy to understand language about the copyrights & trademarks & what constitutes infringement. There are many a confused person throughout the world in regards to the infamous stripes. Some have written that they've turned their backs on EVH because of auctions being pulled, rightly so of course. There are many people who are angry with Edward in regards to stripes on guitars & alienation is occurring. If the aforementioned website was easily found by search engines, more people would be educated more quickly. And it seems that would reduce the workload upon those at ELVH Inc. I did many a search on the net & found nothing about Frankie 1 & 2. I did learn quickly about the 5150 design being trademarked however but not from searching the net.

I've found many a picture & many videos on YouTube that would most likely be considered infringement upon all things Van Halen. And none of what I found have any notice of copyright with them.

The web has created a huge, if not impossible, challenge for those seeking to protect their intellectual/artistic property.

The reality is people are going to set out to paint evh stripes on their own guitars. There's nothing that is going to stop that throughout the world. The stripes in of themselves are a legend & people want to have them. I know I won't do so, but many who paint guitars will set out to paint the stripes for profit in secret. Many will try to find loopholes to do so. Why? Solely because they cannot afford what is offered via manufacturers. It's hard to understand how any entity who paints guitars for $250 to $400 for profit is infringing upon the Fender $25+ thousand dollar market or the $2k+ Charvel artist series market. People seeking such paint jobs cannot afford more than $400-$600 for a guitar.

But unlike many, if not hundreds, I do & will respect the copyrights & trademarks in place.

Until later comes, turn it up to let freedom jam.

Big Brother found me...I have to laugh

I have to laugh at both myself & ELVH Inc. Big Brother found me, aka ELVH inc. Someone from there wrote me an email & I quote:

"I am writing to you from the Van Halen office. It has come to our attention that you are offering your services to paint in the EVH designs onto unlicensed VH guitars.

Please be aware that the three artistic striped EVH designs are copywritten by ELVH, Inc.- Edward Van Halen.

The red, white and black design: (Copyright: Frankenstein design- VAu 505-308).

The white and black design: (Copyright: Original Frank design- VAu 558-125)

The yellow and black design: (Copyright: Franky design- VAu 544-060).

Please note that all three designs are copywritten by ELVH, Inc (Edward Van Halen), and that it needs to be noted that all three designs are owed by ELVH, Inc on your website.

Also, please know that making a profit off of these copyrights is a copyright infringement.

Your website has been forwarded to the Fender Music Corporation for review."

So I removed images of concern & updated webpages as such. Then wrote the person back & stated that I had done this & to forward the revised site to any entities as desired. I also stated that I have not painted the designs on anyone's guitars. And then I apologized if I had offended anyone's intellectual property. Then I sent the email & then I laughed. I couldn't & didn't resist stating that I respect the copyrights & trademarks but I do agree with one entity's statement:
"...there are still fans that want a guitar in the style of their guitar hero...and not too many fans want to, or can, for that matter, pay over $2k or for a guitar....the individual in question might consider rethinking their market strategy and provide an affordable graphic guitar that the "true" fans can afford, not just the collectors!"

Copyrights aside for a brief moment, no schmoe painting guitars for $250-$400 is infringing upon Fender's 25k market nor upon the 2k Charvel artist series things. So I laugh. I laugh at my feeble attempts to put said designs on my website. I laugh at E... Inc's efforts to protect the precious especially in that what is protected is not being used to advertise Halen other than the occasional guitar manufacturer's offerings. Heck the 1st is now almost, if not already, 30 years old. Let it go already. Sheez. I laugh because at the moment it's like "Van Who?" And I laugh because many have posted many copyrighted & trademarked things related to evh on the web.

Reinstating the copyrights now, I must bow & cower in secret to the powers/laws that be. And I put this on my status site as well:
"The following pictures show what has been created on my own personal guitar which will not be sold. Please note that the design I’ve painted on my own personal guitar is copywritten by ELVH, Inc (Edward Van Halen), I’m not the only person or entity in the world who has posted pictures of work they have done on their own personal guitars & wanted to share it with their friends & family. To those who might find this to be infringement upon intellectual property, I challenge you to provide a public offering of guitars of good quality that are in the $500-$800 price range. I do not know one regular simple person who could afford the Charvel artist series offerings nor the Fender offerings."

So I continue to just touch up me crazy #1 & not worry about Big Brother. Stripes is as stripes does I guess & they can only be duhzed by the one who created them in the 1st place.

Until later comes, turn it up to a good "oh well" laugh.

S'tar & other yakking bits

So hit the SC harbor with yella thingy. Just headed out to the harbor lighthouse thing & decided to head into the incoming high tide & paddled, from start, 1.4 miles, to the end of the SC Wharf where there were a couple o' starfish hanging on pilings & a sea lion barking constantly at nothing in particular. Theyz just gotta lot to say I guess. Turned around & just let the tide drift me inward & back towards the harbor. Other than a few moments of paddling for course correction, I got a free ride back to harbor mouth. Then paddled up into the back end of the harbor towards where Frederick St. Park is. No otters this journey. It sure took my mind off of bleed throughs & stripes & the state of do over.

Until later comes, turn it up to drifting along with the tide.

DRM Ramble - Jobs made some good points

So many dinners ago brother Glop sent along a link to Steve Jobs writing about digital rights media, DRM. T'was interesting to read. I found it amusing that, according to Jobs, most music is still purchased on CDs which is totally unprotected content. Each consumer has the ability to post the unprotected content, illegally of course, on the web for others to steal. I also found it interesting that if the major music giants were to discontinue requiring DRM, that Jobs & Apple would happily embrace that paradigm shift & remove the DRM stuff that's in place. I just have to laugh at the comedic irony that many strides are taken to protect digital music but at the same time the companies that require the DRM to be in place make available the same music, in unprotected form, on CDs. And I've probably repeated myself somehow in this ramble but hey why not. But hey why not. Wait I just said that.

Anyway...until later comes turn it up to protected content that for the most part remains unprotected.

S'otters...aka saw the otters...

So I S'otters yesterday at the Elkhorn Slough. The night before I had a Caleb & a Noah wanting to go to the Slough with me. But come yesterday morning I get "Dad, I don't want to go." Sheez. Anyway...Went out about an hour before the predicted high tide. T'was easy to head out. There's a pack of otters that hang out about 1.5 miles from Moss Landing Harbor. I did observe something this week. When I was at the harbor last week there was the otter I called Flip. Flip was much more used to boat traffic & noises & such as Flip just laid there chopping on his/her food whilst I drifted nearby & watched. The otters at the Slough however are quite skiddish & if you so much as look at them they go hide under water not to be seen again for a long time. Till the wind picked up the Slough was smooth as glass.

Until later comes turning it up to drifting.

iYak - 1st yakkage of spring...

So hit the harbor with the yella water craft last early evening. Paddled out .8 miles from launch spot. Harbor entrace light house is about .5 miles from launch spot. So went out .3 miles from the entrance. Saw two otter friends during the journey whom I will call Flip & Flap & they will be my squisshies? huh? Nemo reference. Flip was in the harbor. Flap was out past my .8 miles. Some boater comin in mentioned that the CA grey whales are out there headin' north. I didn't see any this time around. T'was nice to float about & be bounced around by the oceans lumps & bumps. Paddled back in & saw Flap on his/her back chopping on some delicacy found on the harbor bottom. Did a power paddle from launch ramp to Crow's Nest & back which is about .25 miles 1 way. So all in all paddled & floated 2.1 miles. Need to build some stamina so I can do a paddle from harbor to Capitola beach. The Harbor is nice to train in because you don't have to worry so much about high & low tides along with head winds like you do at the Elkhorn Slough.

Until later comes, turn it up to drifting.

Rock fame...

1) So watched the DVR recording of the rock hall of fame induction. Skipped through most of it. Watched the Van Halen part of it. And what I find amusing is that the two people that contributed very significantly to the band & who were cast away & no longer part of the 'drama' were the ones present for the induction. The others, exluding the obvious reasons for EVH, were where doing what? Who looked better to those watching on? They had every reason not to come but their presence there showed more courage & more maturity. And then they indicated that if a future tour opportunity for them to participate in came along they would just jump right in. Sammy mentioned "When we all grow up, myself included..." Perhaps Michael & Sammy have already done so.

2) I've noticed this in two different things. First is a show I recorded about how guitar & guitarists have influenced rock. Eddie was interviewed & he said that instead of pursuing the social life as a kid/teen, he'd just spend hours playing & learning. And then last night in one of the clips Eddie said something like "All I know how to do is play. I don't/can't talk to people very well." DING! LIGHT BULB! Why does he have any influence then on decisions made in the band then?

3) Why Velvet Revolver? I had to skip the song they did 'cause the singer was just plain strange wiggling around how he did. I did enjoy hearing Slash though. I wonder if the red stripe guitar the guy was playing was one of the Fender relics or the actual Frankie. Who knows.

Prose...Gifted Man...

Gifted Man
Written by John Brooks 3/5/2007. Copyright (c) John Brooks. All rights reserved.

A rambling about Edward Van Halen after hearing of the cancelled tour, one news article commenting on Eddie being a recluse like other stars of recent years, and of hearing about the 'delicate politics' in Van Halen that might lead to the absence of the Halens at the Rock Hall of Fame induction.

Other similar items of prose about him -> http://www.pplministries.org/DearEVH.htm

You rocked insanely hard as a younger lad
Now you wither away not able to regain what you had
Did your fame & stardom & even cancer drive you mad? (1)
Saw the YouTube clip of you playing Fender relic at NAMM
I see a clip of you now & I think eghads!
A talent & a legend, yes you bet; you are a very gifted man
But you just can't seem to hold together the infamous band
Why do I care so much for I shouldn't give much of a damn
Too me it seems simple, pick up guitar & find a jam
Let fingers do their thing upon the fretland
Rock till duhn with them gifted hands
And just do what ya love to do for the fans
Rock wherever & whenever because you can
But everything has to be a big show & full of image, acting, spotlights, glitz & glam
Why do you have to try to only hit a grand slam?
Perhaps it is better that you hide away instead of touring the lands
For you seem to be very unstable & it's hard to see & it is sad
You probably ought to just focus on writing & playing for yourself & being a dad
Rock on Edward whether it be on stage, or in yer 5150 launch pad
And if you don't then you'll just be remembered as the one who rocked hard with Frankenstrat

Good giztarage paintage wiz-doh-uhm

So I emailed an inquiry to one of the paint dude's customers, Jim at www.strict9guitars.com who was interviewed on John's www.paintyourownguitar.com site. Mainly I inquired about his wisdom about the value that painting a guitar adds to a guitar's value so that I can offer something for our kids' school's annual auction next year. Had I started this venture about 3 months ago I would've gotten a Star Power Guitar painted for this year's auction on the 10th. Oh well. Better to have some experience & practice behind ya with backing photos & videos to help people see that this me did do it....Hopefully I will be able to "Do It My Way."

My 2nd reason for inquiring is possibly doing paint things for other people to make money on the side, but keeping it a hobby & fun, to help the cause of feeding the 3 bottomless pit boyzages as well as the even more hungrier fuel tanks on two cars with increasing fuel costs.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the wisdom from Jim as it's helpful.

"I'm painting a guitar for a raffle right now so I'm kinda in the same boat...

The value of a paintjob is very subjective. Basically it's worth whatever you can get somebody to pay for it, haha. That said, as a hobbyist (which I am) I can basically charge whatever I want for my labor above and beyond what it costs for supplies. Let's say the paintjob is gonna cost me around $80-$90 for paint/supplies, then maybe I want to change the color of the knobs or the pickguard so it looks a little cooler with the chosen finish, now I might have another $30-$50 into it, bringing me a cost of around $110-$140, so let's say it's gonna cost $125 to acheive the finish I'm looking for. Then you grab a StarPower project for about $250 and you're in it a grand total of $375

Then you gotta ask yourself "what could I sell it for, your market might be different in your area than in mine, but let's say you could get $600 for it. Would you be willing to paint the guitar for $225 and if so, then do it, and have fun, remember when you treat it like a job, it's not as fun as it was when it was a hobby! haha

As far as painting guitars for other people...

Do some internet searches as well, there are places that'll actually show you right on their website how much they'd charge you for a single color finish on a strat. They have a bit of a reputation and can crank 'em out faster than you and I can, so they might get a few bucks more for their version, but it'll get you started.

And of course theres what usually happens to me, and that is "man, that's gonna be a cool finish, I'd REALLY like to do it", so I go a little lower on my price just because I REALLY wanna do the finish. I'm working on a checkered Firebird right now, just for that reason.

When you finish yours you'll have an idea of how much time is involved, my first 4-5 guitars I actually kept track of how long it took me to do each step, so I'd be able to see how long each thing took seperately, and to be able to add up those little tasks to help me get an idea of how much to charge. It's not an exact science, but it'll get you close.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, have fun and just enjoy painting guitars. Enjoy setting them up, enjoy taking pictures of them, getting to play them before anybody else, the whole thing, otherwise it's kinda like a job and then the money just doesn't seem to add up. I mean let's face it, if you have a real job, your hourly overtime rate is going to be more than the amount of money you make an hour painting guitars, but if it's fun and you make a little who cares.
I never ship a guitar back without insuring it for the amount that it would cost me to replace it for the customer, and I always make them spring for the shipping, as a seperate cost from the paintjob. I also never send a guitar home without a case, even a cheap universal from Musicians Friend. I have folks sending me parts to build them a guitar then paint it, and I always tell them to send an extra $40-$50 and then I go grab them a case to send it home in. I thought you might find that useful.

Remember to tell them you are a hobbyist and that it might take a little while, otherwise they may try to hurry you, and don't be afraid to tell somebody "no". If you don't have time, or you're not sure if you can pull off the finish their looking for, whatever. If you do it anyway it can stress you out and it goes back to feeling like a job.
Have fun man, and send me some pictures, I always like to see what other people are doing, keeps the PYOG spirit alive!" - Jim

Until later comes turn it up to...Rock On! Yo....Duh....Mon.

Project Stripey Strat - Link

Pics all in one place of fender sanding & painting project...

http://www.pplministries.org/FenderPainting.htm

Ouch....oomph...thud....may I have another...

Step 1) Get a basketball

1.5) Get some shaved ice in a large bucket & get a companion to be with you.

2) Get some hooks you can screw into wood & run a rope through.

3) Get some rope.(1)

4) Get a flat piece of wood about 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick that's about 4 feet long & about 18-24 inches wide.

5) Stand on top of wood as you would on a skateboard.

6) Take a sharpey & outline your feet.

7) Attach a couple of hooks at the front & rear of each foot's contour line.

8) Grab your board & your basketball & don't forget yourself & go stand at the top of some stairs.

9) Run the rope through the hooks & around your feet so as to secure & bind your feet tightly to the board.

10) In one swift & perfect move, leap yourself up on top of the basketball & balance the board, & hence yourself as well, on top of the ball.

11) Now pivot yourself on top of ball so that the front foot is pointing down towards the bottom stair & such that most of your weight is on the forward foot.

12) Have your companion throw the shaved ice at you at random frequencies from various angles.

13) If you'd like you could skip the rope & hooks & just use a nail or staple gun to bind feet to board. But that involves blood & more pain. Your choice...

If you can do all this & not fall off of the ball or fall down the stairs....you can then attempt to snowboard.

When people say they spend most of the time on their rears whilst learning snowboarding...it's worse than that. It truly becomes "I've fallen, & I don't want to get up. Save yourselves & I'll just lay here crumbled up in a tired & exhausted & sore heap of I'm not 20 anymore." I think I did more push ups to stand up than all push ups done by the peons at a military boot camp in a year. And this was after taking a lesson & trying things out on the slope.

For me, I've spent my whole life with my feet existing separately & independantly from each other. To have both feet buckled down onto a board is quite foreign. Conceptually I could not get past that barrier. Boarders...have a great time....I'll stick to the simplicity of skiis. I've rediscovered muscles that I thought might have fallen off long ago......MEDIC!

Until later comes, turn it up to ouch.

Stripey-zoidals...

So in looking more at these Mean Street guitars I came to learn that if you want one of the guitars with anything but the stock white, black, or natural finish one must pay an extra almost $400 & then wait is 4 months for the paint job. Ughage. So one ponders the buying of a natural finish model & then paint it stripey. Found a couple o' cool resources...But first a caveat is that apparently it has become illegal for others to sell books that teach about the process of cloning a trademarked design. Whatever world...I love this comment "(Artists - Watch Out If You're Showing People How To Draw Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny!)"

http://www.crazywebbys.com/~5150/index.htm

http://www.paintyourownguitar.com/offer.html

So me is tempted to buy the how to paint books for good solid foundation & then apply the painting journey to just a plain boring block o' wood. Once perfected, will then try on me solid blue Fender. If all is well then will consider the Mean Street purchase. Sounds fun & this actually seems more fun than building a tube amp kit.

Until later comes turn it up to paint.

Stripesdoidals

Stripey thing...hmmm...Might have to try...

So I've already rambled, & ranted, about the concept of signature series guitar & amp models. And the new Fender replica of EVH's Frakenstrat for a whopping $25,000 just makes you go...why? Only collectors will buy them & they'll just sit in display cases or hang on walls which is fine as art is art eh? So I started poking around to see if someone provides EVH looking kit guitars one could build for themselves or if someone sold a clone that looked cool & sounded decent but not necessarily how EVH sounds. Stumbled upon this one site that I find very interesting & intriguing...

First there is the products available...drool
http://www.meanstreetguitars.com/Mean%20Guitars.htm

Then there's stripey heaven...
http://www.meanstreetguitars.com/Mean_Street_Guitars_Unchained_5150_glossy_TC.jpg

Then there's the possibility of these...drool again...
http://www.meanstreetguitars.com/exile_guitars.htm

Then there's the interesting realm of building Exile for fun...If nothing else it's something the boys could kick around with.
http://www.axcessories.com/proddetail.asp?prod=ExileKit

Impressive collection:
http://www.meanstreetguitars.com/Jorges_guitars.jpg

But then I like the Stripey flame look...
http://www.meanstreetguitars.com/Mean_Street_Guitars_Evil_Rat_Jorge.jpg

Now a required exercise for the reader, that's you, is to pick a model & color scheme that you would go with & share your choice & why. The writer of this read, that's me, cannot help you make your choice. Assume that the testimonials are true & accurate & that the positive reviews on Harmony Central are true & accurate.

Till later comes...turn it up to affordable cool.

Amalgam o' stuff

So now in third week of the year and it's now time for an amalgam of stuffs...

Language - So outside one store near the boys' school is a sign on which words are placed. The words on the sign a bit ago were congrating a couple on their new baby & the sign said "It's a boy." I didn't think much of it but my wandering mind got stuck on that simple phrase commonly used to announce a birth. I got to thinking about the use of "It's" in that saying. It? It what? It who? Of course It refers to the baby. Isn't the baby a he or she? So why not "He's a boy!" or "She's a girl!" But that's redundant....Wouldn't want someone to end up writing "He's a girl!" or "She's a boy!" How about "The baby' s a boy!" or "The baby's a girl!" "It's..." ugh.

Service dogs - Terra's mom has trained her personal dog, a bouvier, to be her guide dog as mom is blind. Bouvier's are unique & I never even knew about them until meeting Terra. Anyway...It never fails that whenever she goes out-no people don't shout "John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt"- People always want to know about Hanna, the dog. Rule 1 is don't touch a service dog who is working. Rule 2 is how about you don't touch the dog at all. People ask mom a lot what kind of dog it is. I told her she should reply with "The kind that has fur & barks." Mom is always having to tell people, even though Hanna does have clear & visible signs that say don't touch her, to not touch her dog. I told her she should say to such people, "Do I walk up to you & poke you in the eyes? Well don't touch my eyes who happens to be Hanna!"

Weather - Yup it's cold. What else is new? Sheez. Go away cold, we need the rain. On our trip to Irvine this last weekend down the always & ever exciting I5 we saw citrus trees bare & some even covered with a thick layer of ice.

American Idol - Seatlle episode was pathetic. I never really like watching the show anyways but Terra was watching it the other night. Friends shouldn't let friends audition if they can't sing. If these people would just pause, & have someone taking a video clip of them doing their bit, they would be spared the public scrutiny of Simon & all.

Audio from DVD - Almost a why bother process. First, DVD technology is one of those great creations we get to enjoy. But we haven't tried to get anything for portability for the car for long trips yet. Doesn't mean we won't in the future. Anyway for our trip to So. Cal. I decided to use some available tools to grab the audio off of the Star Wars episodes 1-3 DVDs & them put the audio into mono .mp3 format. What a slow process that was. First gotta extract the audio in AC3 format, then gotta use another tool to convert the AC3 to .WAV format but does the tool actually produce mono even when selected in the UI? No. So then gotta load it all up in Audacity & convert to mono, compress & normalize-a step I forgot to do which made the quiet parts hard to hear, then spend a bit of time breaking the audio up into 30 minute chunks. Then there's the use of lame to create the .mp3. Shoulda just bought a portable DVD in the first place. laff. I did enjoy trying to follow along the story in me mind though. I think the boys enjoyed it as well.

Cloning musicians - I remember a few months ago checking out a video clip of a EVH look alike playing Cathedral. I was impressed for I hadn't even tried to play it yet. First feedback comment from someone was basically "Gotta play it faster." In my own practice of the thing with a metronome, I realized early on that a) I couldn't play as fast as Eddie does & b) I didn't have to play it that fast. Who cares if it's not as fast as EVH. First, Eddie has unusually long fingers. Second, he generally can out play anyone speed wise. Third, Eddie purposely wanted to make it hard for cats to copy him. Is the fun in trying to be exactly like the musician you are trying to clone or is the fun in playing something at a pace that works for you & brings you to your happy place? So right now my tempo is based upon a fixed & unchangeable delay value built into my amp. And I walk in the snow 20 miles uphill both ways while playing it & I like it that way. So until I dig out my Qverb 2 from the land down under in the garage, the tempo is what it will be with my own twists on the tune...Soon to be demonstrated in some form or another...

Welp that is the clutter of me ramblings for this now.

Non-week

T'was the blahs during the holiday non-week
Where many are off to be lazy & stay off of their feet
We find ourselves munching & snacking on the many treats
And we drink up some coffee whilst sitting on our seats
Taking a nap here & having a yawn over there; ahh those moments of sleep
And occasionally turnin on the metronome & doing a guitar whatever to the beat
The boys play & do stuff together with all their things that go beep & bleep
Many thoughts pass by which stem from the the mysteries of the grey matter deep
Oh look at that them over there, those silly dishes piled up in a heap
I'll get to them whenever, when there's a greater need
It's definitely nice to not have to tend to a yard & pull any weeds
However, a good dose of the blahs & boredom set in as I exist & be
Don't want to ride up nor climb anything that is steep
Don't wanna go 4 wheelin' for I do not have access to a jeep
Don't wanna get in the saddle & ride upon a great steed
Don't wanna pick up a book & give it a read
Not quite sure what to do with the time I have that is free (1)
There's myriads of house things one could do but those aren't motivating deeds
And I could venture out with the littles & journey to the parks & along the streets
In the blahs & the rest I find that I don't have much adventurous energy
And I seem content to just be with the boys & watch their video games & movies on the t.v.
I guess it's the one week of the year I get to sit & drool & be a lazy dweeb
So have a good now, day, & new year, & may the harvest in 2007 be rich for you...indeed

(1) Sort of free as being with tornado boys does take oophum.

T'was...

T'was the night of the day of Christmas & all through the house
Mamma, the head Claus, snoring & boyzages watchin' a wind down movie on the couch
Too much food in our bellies & the food continues to tempt & call out
Yet another successful holiday journey for the family with no grumpies & not one downer grouch
I think upon the many years such traditions our parents have upheld
And all those "I won't eat for a week" statements as the elders loosened their belts
I'm thankful that all of our kin are healthy & appear to be doing fair to well
My thoughts, however, quickly turn upon troops in hot zones & battling what seems to be hell
May they all be protected & safe from all the bombings & may the source of all such darkness sit in prison cells
Why I'm sitting here rambling instead of just staring at the drool tube I just don't know
But I bid you a merry happy peaceful night for I must vegitate & with the boys & watch "The Barnyard" show
So yes it is time that I stop writing & it is the time that I must go
Knock knock he says to ya'all
"Who's there?" ya'all say back to me
I say "Ho ho"
And all say....well come on then humor me...."Ho ho Who?"
No it's Ho ho ho
And he tries again by saying Knock knock
"Who's there?" yer required to say to me
I say "Who who"
And all say.......And all say......"Who who who?"
Again he replies, ya just don't get it, it's Ho ho ho
Well right then ok uhm whew...