I wish I had a dollar for every video or story produced about getting your gear to sound EXACTLY like Jimi Hendrix.
Over the course of his career he used lots of different guitars and amplifiers but toward the end, it was a Fender Stratocaster guitar and several Marshall 100watt Plexi series amplifiers. He also popularized a VOX Wah-wah pedal and some effects pedals like fuzz and Octavia that produced high octaves and distortion.
Here are some essentials the guitarists often miss.
Hendrix was Left-handed and usually played a right-handed guitar with the strings reversed.
He tuned it a half step lower than standard and used mis-matched sets of strings where some of the middle strings had a thinner gauge, yielding a more 'twangy' sound and easier to do note bending.
Finally... (actually not) it was his 'feel' for the instrument as it was said he often carried his guitar to parties and nightclubs, rarely letting it out of his sight. Also important, Hendrix had long slender fingers and could wrap his thumb around the top of the neck playing the bass notes other guitarists couldn't reach. Most of the fast players (Steve Vai for example) have long fingers... it goes with the territory.
So, if you are trying to mimic Hendrix... I suggest 'keep at it' for the next 2 decades as there was only ONE Jimi.
Bling-bling aka Bling is the wearing of flashy (expensive often ostentatious) jewelry. Bling can also be the addition of car options, like chrome hood ornaments, oversized tire rims with low-profile tires, literally any means of getting attention, usually to show off wealth.
Note: Wealth and good taste don't necessarily go together.
A friend who I fly model aircraft with, loves to wheel-and-deal (he calls horse trading) helicopters, motors, canopies and hardware upgrades. He scans the merchandise for sale on a few sites always looking for a deal.
Last week, he attended a fun fly and bought a model the owner crashed... really cheap. He was able to take out the working parts, listed them on a site and doubled his money selling the parts individually.
He's become an expert knowing what models can be modified and often builds for friends. In the last few years, he's repaired or built a few models for me. He owns a machine that cuts templates by computer control. He feeds an image in his computer and the machine using a thin blade cuts out custom signage and logos on colored sticky-back sheets.
Some of the flyers go to him to add some Bling to their models. Maybe a larger logo or wrapping parts with multi colors. Lets say the canopy is red with white stripes, he can customize the sides, boom and tail fins with matching graphics to the owner's specification.
I dislike building, so it was easier to buy a completed model from him customized to my specifications and while we don't normally use the term Bling, I Blinged-out one model with bright yellow to make it easier to see when it's far away.
Bling-Bling... happening in a city near you!
Like him or not, Micheal Cohen brought up some interesting discussion about how Trump could raise money to post bond for the New York civil fraud trial. Trump had claimed to have the cash. He doesn't or he would have posted bond and stop the accruing interest.
If he liquidates properties, it won't be soon and he will have to pay taxes on the long-term capital gains, as high as 40% and pay off mortgages too.
Chubb already fronted money for the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll. What corporation or billionaire will front him money knowing there's a chance it won't be repaid?
There's always a suspicion he will back channel money from a foreign government... Saudi or Russian. That would put him in a compromising position of favoritism should he make it to the White House. Other suspicions are he's holding on to some of the classified documents that could be a negotiating tool. Cohen states our national security is at risk.
As he says... it's No Joke.
Maybe when you were younger, you wanted to be a Space Cadet. Don't despair... You still have a chance as NASA is taking applications! While the odds are slim, you have to be a U.S. citizen and you must pass the astronaut physical exam.
There is no age limit or 20/20 vision requirement and don't worry that NASA set a high bar for education.
They are looking for applicants with a master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, followed by at least three years of related professional experience.
I'm sure (for a price) you can find someone on the dark web who can print your diploma and a tech company to vouch for your employment.
“The trip to Mars is six to nine months,” he said. “You’re going to be away from familiar for more than a year, one to three years. Are you really ready for that?”Link:
Talking with a friend today, we discussed what are the usual penalties for tax fraud/evasions. Her response was: Prison. Remember Charles Kushner?
I pulled up some statistics and found several sites differed, but nearly the same.
The average sentence for tax fraud was 14 months.
Of that 63% went to prison.
52% were white with an average of 52 years old.
82% had no prior criminal history.
Median amount of fraud was $278,325.
11.6% involved amounts greater than $1.5 million.
Top five districts of offenders:
New Jersey, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York.
Charles Kushner, got 2 years and was jailed for tax evasion, making illegal campaign donations and tampering with a witness, his brother-in-law. He orchestrated a sex tape with a prostitute and sent it to the man’s wife. Kushner pleaded guilty in 2004 to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign donations.
His confession included a retaliation against his brother-in-law, who was cooperating with federal authorities. Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce him in a hotel room with cameras, filming the encounter and sent it to his sister, the man’s wife.
He was pardoned by Donald Trump.
So, I asked the question: "Trump was found guilty of tax fraud. Why wasn't he sent to prison?"
High crimes and misdemeanors is the key phrase if you plan on impeaching someone in government. It was used on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month. Tonight, I hit a link where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked former Biden family associate Tony Bobulinski about what crimes he alleges he witnessed President Biden commit during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
The committee is proceeding without specific allegations.
So far, in the circle of friends, clients and coworkers it is. I'm starting to see more folks wearing masks in public places, especially grocery and department stores.
Most say it's flu-like symptoms while one customer of mine said it's kicking her arse right now and cancelled all appointments.
I live in Palm Beach County and sewage water testing for coronavirus is higher than last year and after months of declining vaccinations, it's reported people have started again. Yeah, it appears they check poop for virus.
South Florida has tourism and people coming here for the winter, so we get an influx of travelers. I went on a sales call to see clients after they returned from vacation... I waited a few days to book the appointment just to be sure they didn't get sick along the way and pass it around as another stop was to a client who recently had a newborn.
I'm considering masking-up when I meet new clients.
Is COVID on the rise? It would appear COVID or a variant is making the rounds again.
I used to watch the TV show (also on YouTube) about people who were life-long hoarders taking it to the extreme. Last week, I attended a swap meet for people in the model aircraft hobby and remember many vendors who brought out the same stuff that didn't sell in last years swap meet.
I stopped going the ham radio festivals as the percent of used junk exceeded the new products. Sure, it's a way for someone to find a good deal on a part or hard-to-find radio tubes and it's probably a big social event to meet up with people you have talked to on the radio, but have no other connection with. Toward the end of the event, you can see them boxing all the things that didn't sell and bringing them back home.
An old friend works for an electronics firm and scours booths selling components he can sell in his business. Some connectors made 20 years ago are higher in quality than the new products.
I had a few computer monitors that were perfect for design drawings as the aspect ratio was equal to a sheet of paper. Using them daily and the capacitors in the power supply would fail. I found a guy who repaired them for a reasonable cost. His shop was filled to the ceiling with stacks of dead PC's. I went back to see him after COVID and the shop was closed. Brown paper covering the windows and a FOR RENT sign on the door.
Maybe he was able to recycle some of those electronic parts. I've seen videos where they process the gold plated contacts removing the gold so it can be reclaimed and sold for a profit. Probably the cases can be sold as scrap metal.
I've got a few small model helicopters I used for learning, some are still in working condition... but I moved on to bigger and better. I'll probably take them to one of the flying fields with a sign FREE in hopes I can unload them and stop hoarding them.
It's not money (loss or gain) but releasing stuff I have been keeping in inventory.
Now that I'm getting back to music, some of the gear I've been holding on to for years will become useful to me and I won't have to buy stuff again.
Not everyone is cut out for the positions they hold in business. One business owner I worked for often used the term Peter Principal where some people rise to a position where they begin to show incompetence.
One woman I knew was the best draftsperson in the department and received a promotion that put her in a management position. The company did a disservice to her and themselves. Orders began to back up as she trained her replacement and she wasn't knowledgeable with the workings of the company, making a few bad decisions. Happy with the pay increase, uncomfortable with the demands of her new job, she felt she couldn't step down (as there was no longer a place for her) and decided to leave the company.
Lose/lose for her and the company who employed her.
Another boss was nice enough to use the phrase "We're all wired differently" describing how he tried to place people in the best positions they were suited for. We had one cabinet maker who owned his own custom shop. His business failed, not because he was a bad cabinet maker... he was very experienced and produced high-quality work. His weakness was an inability to manage the business end of his company. Working for someone else was the magic formula.
I think everyone has experienced a dyslexic moment now and then and accidentally transposed an address or some part of a phone number. Every week, I get mail in my box intended for a neighbor. In that case, it's laziness or fatigue. Sorting mail and being dyslexic would be a career disaster.
30+ years ago, I worked for a place before they went on computer where the bookkeeper constantly transposed figures. Mistakes were in her typing, hand written notes, especially phone messages, but the worst part was her accounting errors. It frustrated the owner for the time lost going back over ledgers correcting her mistakes. They photo copied all the checks and he had to go back to see there she transposed entries.
The position required multitasking that she wasn't good at, compounded by lots of interruptions of a small office where she would get flustered when things got really busy. It was more than dyslexia as she would often put callers on hold and totally forget them. They would call back angry!
I suppose there is hope for dyslexia.
Dyslexics of the world…..
UNTIE!!!!
I studied Uilleann (Irish) pipes in a former life and pipers often talked about their 'big gig' was to play in a pub on St. Patrick's Day. Some made the most money on that event, more than any other performance.
Good music, great craic... lots of brew.
I quick scanned the forums and blogs, but not to see any mention of this holiday today.
Tradition for those living in Chicago is to witness them adding dye into the river!
I see in the news, Russian president Vladimir Putin is up for reelection and there is no one (who survived) who is running against him. He's expected to win the election this week, making it his 7th consecutive term.
That means parades and parties in the street to celebrate...
When I joined CS, there were complaints about 'how good things used to be' with the old timers. During the 'newbie week' before I was allowed to blog, I went through old blogs. Lots of old blogs. There were episodes of gossip, biting and back stabbing back then... pretty much what all social media sites have to endure. Collectively, we are all in different age groups, have economic differences, language and cultural differences as CS's reach is global. In the right state of mind, it's a sharing of differences and ideas. In the wrong state of mind it's a separation.
Someone did a Facebook page where they clipped headshots of members showing them in less than positive settings. Obviously, those ORIGINAL members had sufficient issues then to prompt a tattle-tale page away from CS.
The site I was on before CS was a fun place to blog and though there were differences of opinion, we all got along. Loosely managed, the administrator couldn't keep up removing scammers and hackers, so he assigned the URL to another dating site and closed the place we called home. I received a text invitation from a friend to join CS. To my surprise many of the members from that site were here long before me and I knew there were complaints from a few of the older members, how they said the new wave was different and didn't fit in. As a group (regardless of personality) they/we were disliked. That was no secret and some were blatant to voice their dislike for members who weren't in their clique.
Over time, many of the original members have moved on, so have the ones from the other site. Remember Willy? Our friendship goes back many years and his escape from CS was an untimely death. We agreed to disagree on many levels, but I still miss him.
What I've found remaining from the original CS group are some venom filled complainers, especially one scornful gossiper from the Emerald Isle. You would think there would have been some acceptance for the second wave. Not true, she and one of her pals still hold a grudge and takes swipes at Americans (especially at me) regurgitating their dislike whenever they can.
Being friendly doesn't work.
Being funny, doesn't work either.
Ignoring them, doesn't work as they complain about that too. It seems battling with other bloggers gives them pleasure.
Saying nice things to other members is an invitation to get your head chopped off and others in the fray will piss on you and laugh.
Recently a member was booted out by administration, there must have been a reason. But, It doesn't matter how many people liked him, if what he said didn't agree with CS, they (management) chose to close his profile. I believe their decision is final. There have been instances where a few waited a while and returned with sock profiles. Maybe they are under the radar of administration or quietly given a second chance.
That to me is really not important... either way.
Claimed by one, I write boring blogs and clip news articles, much the same as others, although he contradicts himself by posting similar boring things.
In closing this blog, I hope the instigators of hate will come to their senses and act like responsible adults and not 'shallow thought' gossip mongers. CS history records itself as the blogs of those who cause a ruckus often disappear and worse, their profiles go silent too.
Are your proud of your actions here?
Be an asset to CS and not a liability.
In the words of Rodney King: "Can we all get along?"
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