It should be a priority to work with Dickens on the shop, for I am again astounded by the high quality of products coming out of China. I know that is relative and could be caused by a lowering of local quality but that is not the case. I just got a beautiful new watch that I expected to cost $60 but was only $12. Brand name. There is no good reason to waste your money on an American brand now that the edge in quality has long since evaporated. The American model may be better, but Hell’s Bells, it is not five times better.
It takes me approximately 90 minutes to “capture” a bass sound on a given tune. This is different than learning the bass line which any reasonably proficient player can do, probably faster than I can. However, that is not what I am after because I know I cannot be the best bass player on that basis. This capture is short for “capturing the essence”, which can only be done with existing music, I cannot innovate with it. I’ll explain a bit more, just understand that learning a new set means a 50 hour investment in just memorizing what I will play. Yes, every note is memorized. This is a big part of why the G’s flippant attitude did not help, I cannot pick up the bass and start playing although I would have given (past tense) anything if I could.What I do have is perfect timing, meaning I can stomp my foot and count to four. Ah, but with such precision. The capture is nothing more than cashing in on what I do have. Each tune has a certain “flavor” that often lets the audience guess what you are playing after just two notes. The G, who knows nothing about bass lines (he thinks otherwise) could often tell what tune I was playing although I completely made up the bass line. Thus, I had captured the essence of that particular tune or that could not have happened.
I first spotted this effect playing in a band in 1987. That is what I’m after. I know this likely goes by other terms and I know I didn’t invent anything, but I call it capturing. I knew something was missing the way each band member was playing, quite expertly, only his part off the original. It [my idea] must have some merit because the notes and sequences I play are not original in any way, the cause is subtle but detectable timing differences. I can’t explain it, but here is an example. Act Naturally, that Ringo Starr cover of Buck Owens.
When it starts, the bass player added an extra note “in front” of the intro to bring it in. Then he leaves it out for most of the rest of the tune. I add it back in for every descending bass line during the whole tune. Sharpens the whole song up and causes people to stop what they are doing and look over to see what gives. I’ve even had guitarists turn around on stage and smile at the effect. It also puts a little distance between me and finger bassists, which I don’t mind.
The interesting theory is where that extra note comes from in the first place. My instinct tells me it is because the majority of bass players used to be guitarists, and playing the first note of every bar on the down-stroke is guitar player’s mental baggage they use to keep on time. The physical design of guitars itself contributes to this, as well as the fact that most people who like guitar music do not realize their ear is trained to think such licks are somehow musically correct.
I was late getting over to Ruth’s but that was not such a bad thing. You see, she watches me work and has a hard time lining things up for when she isn’t watching. The other employees are easy to check if they have been busy for the last hour. Not so with computers and she knows it. It can be exasperating because she often wants something done her way which represents a retrograde step for me. Analogy time. Think of it this way. Once you have learned to play piano to a grade five level, it becomes practically impossible to go back and play like you did at the grade four level. Try it. Yet some people persist in mistaking this for incompetence based on the assumption that their way is superior. Strange indeed.
Here is a picture of me running through some bass lines in my underwear. Yes, it is that hot during the days sometimes. What a hunk. I use a pick and it was a stance very similar to this that made me realize the huge influence that bass player from “Painter” had on the way I move on stage. Note the Florida tan, lower arms and neck only. Note my 30 pounds overweight all on the midsection. But once behind a bass guitar, I can make ‘em forget that. Near my shoulder is one of the dead giveaways I am at home – a map on the wall. Bet you [ten bucks] I look at my map 50 times more than you look at any pictures on your walls.Before I forget, at Ruth’s today an auditor came in, Mr. Peltz. Within moments of talking to me over minor details of the accounts, he slid me his business card and asked me to contact his office independently. I got it, already, but to make sure he repeated the request in front of Ruth around an hour later, to the effect of how hard it is to find good people. Gee, and all this time I thought it was just Florida.
Things rarely come out of such events for me, but the last time it did, I spent 15 years with the company. He plainly had some project in mind for which I fit the bill so I’ll see what he has to say. What shook me is that he nearly insisted after only meeting me momentarily--nobody is that good at reading me. He did give me a rough answer of the minimum Social Security benefits, a number I have had incredible difficulty determining (we were talking about social security benefits). Apparently it is between $400 and $600, very good news as I had previously calculated $432. Oh, that’s right. When I mentioned I needed nine more points to qualify, he said a third time, “You’ve got my card”.
The points can only be accumulated by working for someone else, unless you want to go through the hassle of forming a C corp and hiring yourself. I got home during daylight and biked immediately over to Home Depot. Litton, the company that builds light switches, has a router for sale. It looks very workable and is guaranteed if it does not. At $60, I think it is worth a try. On the way over, I met the Messiers.
They were eastbound on Sheridan which turned out to be the opposite direction of their destination, the Days Inn on I-95. They’d rode the bus to the Sunrise swap meet and [foolishly] banked on asking the bus driver for directions on the return leg. All they got in return was Monkey Talk, “bnah-bnah-bnah” you know what I mean. It was getting dark and they could not find the hotel.
It was too far the other way [for them to return walking], so I walked them back to the 99 Cent store on Dixie and Sheridan to get a taxi. Oh, here is a taxi company to avoid. 954-923-9999. They would not help out at all unless I gave them a house number (we were standing by a vacant soccer field) and my unlisted phone number. I basically said they were going to have to take a chance if they wanted the fare. The dispatcher hung up, knowing full well it may have stranded an elderly couple. The last time I gave a taxi company my phone number, I got telemarket calls for the next three years.
Dickens and I talked about the store and a few details of what we’d like. I pled my case of the quality Chinese products and I think the sources should be investigated whether or not we actually buy anything. There are a couple of hundred dollars sitting in the eBay account that I never withdrew. The dollar stores have the low end tied up, but there is a medium range of good merchandise, such as those binoculars I bought at Northern Tools. Excellent deal, even if the G did break them on me. He fell asleep in the park one afternoon while I was in the library and rolled over on them.
What I have in mind is cheap electronics and beach gear, mostly inside glass cases. So they can’t touch without asking or buying. Dickens had a grandmother in there y’day shoplift a 50 cent paperweight. Jerry, the Irishman who knows Ian Paisley, saw her [steal the paperweight] but decided the embarrassment was not worth the hassle.
I think MP3 players, cameras, general things in the $10 to $20 range will fly. I’m willing to bet the price of one display case and the stock to prove it. I need time to myself to investigate the suppliers. Hey, I only grossed $450 this week so I’d like to try something new, although that could be $575 soon. Maybe I will give Mr. Peltz a call soon.
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