After a Shitty Shift...

...An ice cold beer....a bouncing blues groove...my new guitar and a little bit of break up.

All is good.

This shit saves my life.

Literally..

Once More Unto The Breach

This summer has a been a unmitigated war against poverty!!

LOL... A bit of an exaggeration but I have been working just about non stop since the salmon Derby.

In one of our many bitchfest discussions about life Morin once stated that the OverTime gravy train is just about the only way to get ahead and over the past few months I have adopted that piece of wisdom as a guiding principal.


It's working.

But I am tired.

Since May 28th I have worked 25 Overtime shifts.

My goal is 40...but I am not sure if  I will get there. The gravy train has dried up a bit since the recent hire and although it is undermining my financial goals it could prove to be a blessing for this old soul.





Being at work that much is not good ...not good at all and I sometimes wonder whether the damage done is irreparable.

On the good side I have created quite bit of breathing room moneywise.

I paid down some debt and even managed to buy myself a new guitar!!!

I went with an actual Gibson 335 and I just love it.

I played a ton of them before I picked this one driving as far as Pickering just to balk at the last moment.









This little number I snagged from a 'player' in London. He had made quite a few modifications and upgrades to the guitar and it reminds me so much of an actual '63 es 335 I played in my teens that it is spooky.



These guitars can do anything and do it well!!....and this one in particular has that certain special something that just makes me want to be creative!!

I am dropping my whole rig off to Jeff tonight for a complete overhaul and setup and when I get it all back I am going to really dig into this thing.

It is good to reward yourself for hardwork and I am a happy camper!!!!

Thespian Shit Kicking and Fish

Extended Vacation for me.

I am off for a stretch of 17 days....with lots going on.




The kids are starring as Van Trapp offspring in a performance of The Sound Of Music.



This is taking place at the Imperial Theatre here in Sarnia. I am so incredibly proud of them! They are kicking butt in spite of Ella's  poorly timed head cold. The show must go on!

The performance week also coincides with the Bluewater Anglers Salmon Derby...and we've been fishing hard...largely to no avail ..



We've caught lots of fish...but no size

Great for the table but ...SHIT!!!....we want to get a decent one and we just can't seem to get er done.











The weather kept us off the water today and it was fine with me. I was at the show last night and didn't get to bed til 1 ish.
...the boat leaves a 04:00..
That would've stung..

I am pretty tired already. the Derby is a ten day marathon of fishiness and I am sucking wind...but still keen.

Two more days..Here fishy Fishy!!!...COME ON FISH!!!!

I have been playing guitar as well , in spite of hands that are hamburgered from the downriggers and in spite of the usual parental distractions.


I have yet to but a new guitar..because...I really don't want one...hmmmm

Uhhh!!!

More fuel for the tele fire..... This is bad-ass- dirty

Juice

Music has been my thing for the past twelve months or so.

It has been liberating, and frustrating all at the same time.

I have written a few little pieces of music and I am considering the notion of recording them..
...and I mean more than on my Canon camera/ Youtube...

Might be a fun little project...but it requires effort and I find that getting off my ass to do anything on my days of rest takes at least heroic measures.

It would be a shame if I didn't at some point though....

Here is a melody over a set of simple chord changes that I starting humming and couldn't get out of my head.


I can't help but wonder what it would sound like 'fleshed out' with a drummer and a bass player...

TWANG??

So it's tax time..and spring..

For the past two or three years I have been promising myself a little treat as the winters months recede. The dangling carrot to reward myself for surviving yet another year full of compromise and the frustration of working a job that is most assuredly destroying my soul.

The carrot...amps...guitars..

It doesn't have to be musically related but it has been for the most part.

I plan on doing my taxes this coming week and that will usually give me about a grand in mad money more or less.

I am leaning towards a new guitar.

As a matter of fact I have been obsessing over a Gibson Les Paul.




I have been scouring the Kijiji oceans for a good deal and, more to the point , distracting myself from the realities of a never ending vicious winter.












Guitar Porn my co workers call it...and that is a perfect term. Titillation that is completely unreal and of no real long term value.

..but fun...so much fun

Bit of an issue though this year.

I get it into my head that I need a Les Paul to feel whole.....but then I play one.




The thing is I don't really like them...and I never have.

I love the idea of them...but they are heavy , cumbersome and crazy expensive for a really good one.

It could be that I may actually have to buy one in order to completely break the spell....

.....however...

There is another possibility.

The first real guitar I ever owned was a Butterscotch blonde Fender telecaster.

An ICON of the music industry...right up there with the Gibson Les Paul in terms of Ubiquity and importance.


One of the fondest memories I have involves the purchase of this guitar.
I was very young and I was waiting to be picked from the music store where I was taking guitar lessons.

My teachers name was Steve Dumont...I am surprised I remember that ...lol...
I should never underestimate the value and influence a good teacher has whether it be music or any other discipline.


There is something sacred about the passing of knowledge..especially art.













..anyway ..there I sat..waiting...staring up at a wall of recently delivered Fender telecasters...GLOWING!!!.....AHHHHHHHH!!!!!  (lol)..

I had been banging away on some POS no name brand and I had gotten just about as far as I was going get with that particular instrument...it was holding me back.

Well...my mother showed...and saw this want and I think recognized this need and without hesitation said ,  "pick out the one you want"



I will never forget that. 

It means more to me now than it did then...and it meant at least everything to me then.

We couldn't afford it but she just made it happen with no guilt trip or anything of the like.

The one I'd chosen looked just like this ...and I loved that guitar.

Like anything I grew out of it. I don't know where that guitar is but I hope it is being played by some young kid with dreams and imagination.

So on to today...

My Kijiji ramblings find my way on to this ad

HMMMMMMMM

Very sexy...very sexy indeed...

And after a wee bit of research..grossly over priced. The music store in town has one exactly like this for sale , brand new , for $850.oo...

It would kind of be like buying back my soul...and that idea is not without a certain nostalgic appeal to this old fart.


That coupled with the fact that I am currently just LOVING my main guitar and also the fact that a Telecaster is a complete departure makes this choice a front runner...
...but I am a fickle bitch...

We'll see. The wind may yet turn...or the furnace may break...

:o)

New Beer..Sus Chords..March Madness and Youtube

Once again I will comment on the wonders of Youtube.

I spend a ton of time on youtube.

Before work yesterday I was bouncing around looking at some guitar nerd stuff and ran across a Sean Bray lesson on Sus Chords.
I listened to it and it kind of inspired me to record a little improvised sus chord vamp of my own.

I remember way back being baffled by sus chords and how to apply them musically and could never figure out how to improvise over them.
I wish I'd had Youtube then. There really is no excuse for not knowing anymore and I am genuinely impressed with just how giving everybody is with their knowledge of the instrument.






Here is Seans little seminar...






Discovered a new Beer.

Another home run from Mill Street.

This is their Vanilla Porter.

Kind of a smoother Guiness with just a touch of Vanilla.

Awesome Winter Beer....and it looks like Winter is here forever....

The NCAA tourney is on right now and I have managed against all odds to watch a few games on the tele..

Unfortunately they have all been blowouts.

Watching State play was like watching a friend beat up on a crippled midget.