Rain

Wow - that is gorgeous, my friend!

The telecaster bride is the one thing I wasn't sure I'd be able to deal with. Fortunately for me, this one comes with a modern bridge. I love classic designs, and at some point in the future, I'll probably want one of those ashtray bridges, but for now, man, am I glad that I opted for a modern one. Incredibly comfortable.

In all honesty, I used to feel exactly the same. The headstock in particular seemed an assault on good taste. It also didn't help that they became very popular with hipsters for a while. But the design eventually grew on me.

Took me decades to get the Telecaster buzz. Then when I finally started considering getting one, I was always thinking of which configuration could best accommodate all my musical needs - with humbuckers, and this and that feature, until the only thing Tele left was the basic shape. So I kept buying Les Paul's and SG's. But recently, I spent quite a bit of time listening music where the tele was prominently featured, and I decided that I needed just that. Who cares if I don't use it with the metal band? I even decided that I wanted the classic butterscotch blonde finish. The Player series seemed like a good place to start (I owned a Player Strat for a while and it was a fine instrument). That thing stands out like a sore thumb in the studio - or like Celine Dion in Ozzy Osbourne's mansion - but I absolutely love it.

The pickups in my old Epi Les Paul Traditional were actually pretty good. Tuners were never an issue either. The things that almost systematically gave me issues with Epiphone's are: the switch, the pots, the input jack which constantly needs to be re-tightened and the chrome finish on the pick up and bridge - but the last one isn't a common issue, just something my body does to cheaper hardware and to a guitar's finish. A recent picture of my favorite guitar, the one known as the Angry B!tch (Gibson Les Paul Studio), kept in a smoke free environment and well cared for. I'm basically a human relic'ing machine...

Truth be told, 2020 has been one of the most unmusical year in my life - unless you calculate selling gear as "musical". My creativity went towards writing a book instead and the home studio looks more and more like a study with guitars in it. That being said, I've been meaning to kick my own rear end and get back into it for the last few weeks, and reading Dave's story provided just enough guilt to make the move. (Oh yeah, and I have a new Telecaster arriving tomorrow - that always help too.)

Good to see you around, Dave!

If you're still not convinced, off the top of my head, I could introduce you to Clint Malarchuk, Borje Salming or that poor kid playing junior league in Ontario who practically had his leg sectioned by a skate a few weeks ago... Me, I suffered a few concussions, a broken arm, injured knees - but overall, I inflicted more damage than I suffered (I was a nasty player, I'm told). But that's all very superficial compared to those guys, or Jacques Plante and Terry Sawchuck (last photo), who stopped pucks with their face...

Those guys in tights who spend most of their time bending over in rows, passing a cigar-shaped object between their legs, staring at each other butt and then trying to pin each other down? Yeah, I guess that's the kind of sport where girls are not allowed - they just wouldn't get it. But if you really are into big strong hairy men, I guess you can always look up Dave The Hammer Schultz, Bob Probert, Dave Williams, or Terry Tasmanian devil O'Reilly. Should satisfy your urges and cravings. Be advised though - they don't just try to pin each other down - they actually beat the crap out of each other. Teeth flying all around, blood everywhere - even blades to the face... Might be too much for a football fan. (FWIW, all jokes aside, this Canadian IS doing his best to get acquainted with football).

FWIW, I ADORE those guys and consider them brothers - but I don't think this recording does anyone justice, my wife included.

It's actually my favorite guitar - although I really like to practice on the Jackson Randy Rhoads because it's so comfortable for someone who likes to play in the classical position. But I always get back to that white LP. Rock and Roll over is the first KISS album I heard but I didn't really discover them until a few years later, with Creatures of the Night. One could say that that record set the tone to my musical life - it was dark, heavy, simple and coherent and with HUGE drums. Funny anecdote - I started listening to KISS again around the same time as I met my wife. I remember one evening in our room in Russia I was listening to I Still Love You and she asked me "What's that song you're always listening to?" Fact is, I was listening to the whole album but she noticed this one in particular. She was no fan of KISS back then so when I told her I could imagine her singing that song, she didn't really care for the idea. But after we moved here and met the KISS Night folks, they invited us to play and asked what song we'd play - to which I immediately replied I Still Love You. We played it together and the crowd went nuts (if I'm not mistaken, at least two of those pictures above were taken during that song). It became HER KISS song, so now she gets to sing it every year with the biggest names on the bill. When they released the first single, of course they wanted it to be that one.

I am ashamed to admit that I never really liked Rush - that is until a few years ago. Probably because they were so ubiquitous in my entourage, and everyone held them in such high esteem - but their music was like a foreign language to me. I could appreciate pieces like La Villa Stangiato and YYZ, but the music they were releasing when I was discovering rock and roll in the mid 80's was just to synth-y for my tastes - back then. Plus I didn't really like prog, so... But I had my epiphany a couple of years ago and became a HUGE fan of theirs. The good thing about that is that, this left me with many great classic albums to discover, so no matter what's released by contemporary bands, I have a backlog of awesome Rush music to discover.

You perform Oomox on your cat?! That's disgusting! Nah, I do it too. To all 7 of them and they can't get enough.

I'm a huge KISS fan too. I couldn't possibly pick one favorite album but I have many friends who are huge fans of The Elder. My own guilty pleasure would probably be Unmasked. I just love a well put together pop rock song. Every year in Vegas, we have this thing called KISS Night in Las Vegas, put together by friends of ours. I've participated a few times - actually my profile pic was taken at KISS Night a few years ago - and my wife is invited every year. She also sang on their cover of I Still Love You which was released last year or the year before. Each installment is centered around an album and I'm guessing that The Elder should be featured sooner or later. I've spoke to hundreds of fans at those events, and no one has ever really put down any album - and we all have our "guilty pleasure". By the way, The Elder door is down here in Vegas too, at KISS Mini Golf. Here's a pic taken at my birthday a few years ago...

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/rip-rushs-neil-peart-dead-of-brain-cancer-at-age-67/ I have no words.

America's pastime, Canada style. Who wants to take their skates off for just a couple of summer days anyway... World Series, here we come!

3, 4, 7 are also my favorites! Coming from a heavy metal background too, I totally get what you mean. Although I'll always be a fan of the classics, in recent years I started broadening my horizon, with Shostakovich among others. I also became a huge fan of the work of Penderecki, Lutoslawski and such. Although, at the end of the day, for me, Beethoven's Late String Quartets represent one of mankind's greatest achievements. I don't know what it is - it just clicks with me.

I've been listening to almost nothing but Beethoven recently - except Elvis' Christmas records. I got myself a boxset of the complete String Quartets as well as one of the complete piano concertos as an early Christmas present this year. But for the last 2 days, it's Handel's Messiah - which I'm ashamed to admit I barely knew, save for some of the more obvious passages.

Not this year. We've been downsizing the zoo a bit in the last two years and I believe Santa got the memo.

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays you guys.

I know I don't visit often, but I was worried there for a bit...

So I went ahead and watched the first few episodes of Discovery - and unfortunately, I seem to agree with many old Trek fans. Personally, I find it very hard to see past the diversity + identity agenda. And agenda wrapped in an orgy of special effects. Obviously, when I mentioned that, it was implied by some people that I was - at least on some level - a racist phallocrat... So I asked myself... And then I remembered Star Trek Voyager, with not only a female captain but a a cast of 3 very strong women - Janeway, B'Elanna, and Seven of Nine. Actually, the male parts on the show never seemed as interesting to me. And the male cast is as racially diverse at is can be. There is no majority vs minority. And I loved that show. Even better than that- not until I though about it again yesterday did I realize that Tom Paris was the only white dude on the bridge. That's how much it bothered me... I also remembered my favorite show, DS9, with possibly my favorite captain. And as I was watching the 3rd episode yesterday, I realized that Discovery just is not interesting to me. It's got none of the philosophical debates, none of the moral questioning - it's about the individual, her identity, her inner conflicts. And explosions and big scary Alien types of monsters hiding in a dark ship and tearing people's limbs... This was supposed to be exciting, but it was not even that. Just a boring rehashing of every cliché in the book. My opinion - avoid STD.

The Four Lights episode is such a gem! The Cardasians are indeed fascinating. I've always been a fan of Mark Alaimo (Gul Dukat). I remember first noticing him in old episodes of The Incredible Hulk. And Robinson - man... A few years ago, our friends dragged us to a convention here in Las Vegas one early morning and as luck would have it, the panel consisted of Andrew Robinson, Mark Alaimo and Casey Biggs (Damar). Being a huge fan of Cardassians, I was happy that I went. If I remember correctly, the delightful Chase Masterson, aka Leeta, was the only other panelist that morning. I am not much of a groupie-type of person, so I didn't try to meet any of them afterwards, although I did contemplate shaking hands with Robinson when my wife insisted that I should get my picture taken with my favorite character. The main cast is fine, and of course I like Shatner, Stewart and all those guys. But to me, those Cardassians as well as a guy like Jeffrey Combs who has played so many memorable characters on most of those shows are the most interesting. And then of course, there is Louise Fletcher, aka Kai Winn aka Nurse Ratched. That lady can portray a detestable character like few others. And saying that just reminded me of Brad Dourif's performance on Voyager... And now I feel like watching Trek again. Oh well...

DS9 would have to be my favorite - characters have so much more depth to them than in other shows... There are a lot of grey areas, shade and light. Garak is one of my favorite ST characters and a great example of that. But I love all the shows - although it took me forever to get into the rest of them as I had no interest for any of the sequels to TOS until a few years ago. I have not yet watched Discovery but I am really not sure I will enjoy it. My best buddy - who never liked Star Trek - is a huge fan, and that sends me a weird signal because he also loved the Abrams movies - which I hated. I always felt like they were trying to make a Star Trek that would finally appeal to Star Wars fans. As much as I like both, I don't thing they mix together well... The Orville is a great show. My wife and I were hooked 5 minutes into the first show.