February 11, 2018

Yesteryear
One year ago today: February 11, 2017, I hate ‘New York’ songs.
Five years ago today: February 11, 2013, my 11 minutes on Facebook.
Nine years ago today: February 11, 2009, a valid career choice?
Random years ago today: February 11, 2008, wish I’d learned Pitman.

           Here’s a view of the birdfeeder now that the cardinals are around again. It seems moving that single plank was enough to entice them back. Maybe it made the deck high enough to put the feeder in the cat danger zone. Do you need any cat food? I don’t, and neither does my neighbor who feeds the stray cats, including the one that sits on my woodpile and whines every evening. I’m running out of things to throw at him. Anyway, my guitarist has some bags full you can have for free. She already donated 1.1 tons to the SCPA and they have no storage space left. It’s all new brand name, at least another ton in 30 pound bags. Just take it as far away from my place as possible. Deal?

           I cancelled any plans to take a car trip in January, I mean, have you seen the weather reports for even northern Alabama? The budget is still in place. Where would you go? From the total budget, you have $260 for travel expense, that’s gas, food etc. So, if you crash in the car, you could cover some serious distance. Presuming you would get out of Florida, where would you go? Note that along the way and once you get there, your entertainment budget is practically unlimited. You can stop as many times as you want any place you want. It is now 8:31AM, so I’m going to grab the road atlas, head over to the south end coffee shop, and work this one through.
           Don’t forget we have to be in Miami next week, so plan to leave on the 26th or so. It doesn’t have to be a car trip. You worked hard for this situation when you were younger, so take you time and make a plan that maximizes the fun factor. As usual, the outbound leg is an adventure, the return is a high-speed troll down the dreaded Interstates, which are slated to be improved by huge fleets of driverless trucks. Hopefully in the far right lane.

           Ninety minutes later, we have some candidates. Notice that skinny road that goes north from Mobile, Alabama? It snakes north, staying far enough away from Birmingham to make me happy. And winds up in Muscle Shoals. I know that name only from that band that never had any hits I can recall. And not far west from there is that Natchez Parkway, which I’ve crossed many times but have never actually seen. There is also Charleston, by way of Augusta, Georgia. Two more places I’ve not seen. I’ve heard a lot about Charleston, however, and would like to spend more time if I go there. And I’m still toying with the concept of another electric bike or getting a trailer hitch installed instead of this trip. Keep checking back and we’ll eventually decide.
           Then, I find a DVD that I’ve been putting off. Gibson’s “The Passion of Christ”. Is it an epic? I’ve watched the first ten minutes and it seems pretty useless. And what is with that notice at the beginning of movies that says this version has been altered to fit your screen. Like, who gives a damn? Golly, Chan, we had better steer clear of this film, it has the wrong aspect ratio. And watch out for that Panavision.
           Later, I’m going to have to watch that DVD in stages. Or throw it out. Weak plot, bad acting, filmed in the dark, low-budget scenery and costumes. Yeah, in other words it is a bit too much like the Middle East. And it seems to me the twelve disciples could have easily whupped them puny Pharisees sent to round them up.

Picture of the day.
Eugene Bullard, Croix de Guerre,
Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           You want to hear how the Sunday music lesson went. Well, it was complicated. The goal was to find out what the holdup is. Most of the time the snag is inadequate private practice, but not only does she have a comfortable spot with all the recommended equipment, the telltale signs of long hours are there. Notes, chord charts, and always look for a clock on the wall. She had two of them. There was no obvious block to learning, which points the other direction that it is a series of smaller items acting in combination. Dang, that is the most difficult of situations to pin down. Fortunately, I have experience at that, too. Did I mention going up to Combee to rehearse is a lot like work? See photo.

           First of all, she is to never touch an electric guitar again until she gets this material. The electric guitar is a “bad habit accumulator”. That instrument is a mess of damage that needs undoing, so she is under strict orders to leave it alone. Make no mistake, she understands this is a probational circumstance. She has to prove she can effectively play the material on acoustic. To that end, I walked her through three pieces that have uncommon strum patterns. The theory there is if she gets them, the rest will seem easy. I need to know without question that she is capable of playing the hardest patterns in my repertoire because, you guessed it, they are not that hard.

           The illogicality [of it all] is that she sailed right through the material, although some of the parts she got exactly backwards. That’s what electric guitar does to you. She is getting it together because this time the TV was off and the dogs were in the back room. She has an adequate system to play and hear the music, but was weak on picking up that characteristic strum of each song. We have now rehearsed over 30 hours but the last 10 have been a waste of my time.
           So I patiently walked her through it note by note to make sure she was concentrating on the right pieces of the puzzle. I know I said take the song apart and put it back together, but we were well past that stage already. They were not coming back together and we should have been out gigging by now. I normally limit guitar coaching to 90 minutes. I had also detected she was still dealing with elements of trying to play the song like the original. A duo cannot do that most of the time and even trying is a 'yuge' mistake.
           So we continued for another half-hour with teaching her some theory about songs where neither of us play anything even close to the recording, yet the combination of bass and acoustic makes it into a crowed-pleaser. This seems to have made an impression. Then the surprise quiz. Just before we quit, I asked her to play the three strums we had just learned [within the last hour]. And she could not do it. Not even close. But she did better than any other guitar player I’ve met in two years.

           The three strums were “Spiders & Snakes” (boom-chick booma-chicka), generic Charlie Daniels (boom chick boom-chicka) and the Johnny Cash train sound (boom chick-chick boom chick-chick). She understands she has to absolutely ace these strums by next Tuesday. Day after tomorrow. If she finds them too difficult, that means although we may continue on a reduced practice interval, I must be looking elsewhere at the same time. And time is precious at my age.
           The new bedroom was is taken down, sawn shorter, and ready to be reassembled. It should be back in place by tomorrow sometime, depending on my energy level by then. I’ve spent my entire month’s budget already. No wait, I have $181.34 left to last 17 days, including that trip to Miami. This means some serious library time. Which means you get trivia. Today’s trivia is that when Egyptian mummies are sent to France for study, they are given a passport. It lists their occupation as “King, deceased”. And there is an acronym for remembering the points of a compass. Never eat soggy wheat. Until I moved to Florida, I never met anyone who needed a memory aid to know which direction was which.

ADDENDUM

           Way down here at the bottom of the blog I’m going to mention my diet. See how nice I am when I want to be? Well, this is day number 73 since I’ve had a real meal. This represents almost 100,000 calories I did not eat, but my weight is the same as it was on January 1. Statistically, I should have lost close to 10 pounds since then. Something had to give and suddenly I’m losing inches, but not weight. Starting around a week ago, my clothes were noticeably looser. At least that’s something.
           And today, for the first time in maybe twenty years, except when I wore dress clothes, I went out for the day with my t-shirt tucked in. I’ll settle for that, but my BMI is still way out of whack. That’s my BMI, ladies, not my BMW.


Last Laugh

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Return Home
++++++++++++++++++++++++++