At this writing our fellow American, GW, is presenting his last snake of the union speech. If only it were his last day in office.
I have decided I'm not worried about the future of this country. It will fall to each one of us to become engaged in the welfare of our neighbor and the planet. I came to an epiphany of sorts this weekend. A weekend spent in the brilliance of my daughter.
She hails from a generation in their late twenties, for whom I have a new found understanding and respect. My own generation of cynics, and rightly so, might do well to heed the wind of change coming up behind us. This wind carries open minds and insight into the human condition.
Mr. Bush rants on about chasing people through the deserts of the world, his apparent empathy with what the average American faces at his kitchen table , and when he's done saying nothing, I'm suddenly filled with the idea that we might just survive this moron.
I did not raise my daughter but it is apparent she was raised by people who gave her a heart. Gave her a conscience.
The people I gave met through her are as equally engaged and engaging. The old timers that lost their dreams in the sixties and seventies can take comfort in having raised children who know how to love. An American majority that face hardships beyond all reason to straighten this country out. They know they will have to come together as one people to face the concerns we have left them.
The divisive nature of politics has not gone unnoticed. The corruption in government and business has not gone unnoticed. The threat to environment and the human condition have not gone unnoticed. None will be tolerated.
They know they must make a conscious decision to address and respond to the long list of dirty laundry that will lead them to a world that lives in peace with one another. A world that will not turn it's back on what's hard to look at. They have begun to emerge as a significant force for decency. They are not afraid to be active in a system that has let them down.
I seem to embrace a faith now that I have not realized for over thirty years.
Thank you Alexis and Whitney.
You inspire me.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Celebrity Cruise of a Lifetime
A brilliant new design for a luxury cruise ship by All Star Lines, is nearly complete. She should be ready for a launch date this spring. Her maiden voyage will embark from Paradise Island in the Bahamas. There has never been an ocean going vessel of this sort in nautical history. Luxury at any cost is the rule of the day.
Invitations are being sent out as we speak, to a host of celebrity passengers and idol worshipers. Among those already on board for this cruise is are a cast of characters that will include Miss Tyra Banks, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, Dr. Phil McGraw, Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey, Perez Hilton, in fact anyone named Hilton is invited, the Bush family, however many can get away, the Cheneys and a list too long and distinguished of American royalty to mention here. Surely there will be many a surprise guest aboard.
Taking place continuously in the main salon,will be fashion shows and model competitions hosted by Tyra.
Rosie herself will be overseeing the cold cuts buffet.
Self help seminars at which Dr. Phil can finally let his hair down.
Book club readings and endorsements by that literary genius of our time, Oprah.
A fair and balanced, twenty four hour a day No Spin Zone by our favorite American and your protector, Bill O'Reilly.
Nancy Grace will hold daily lectures on what it's like to parent the only set of twins in medical history, and why their father belongs in prison
Mr. Bush will spread democracy on deck like a coat of paint while handing out resumes.
Mr. Cheney instructs on the finer points of skeet shooting and safe gun handling on the fantail. Music by Kenny G and Celine Dion will no doubt please even the most refined ears aboard.
This is shaping up to be the cruise of the century boys and girls. If you are a fan or follower of any of the above names, and who' who in Washington and Hollywood, we urge you to seek out tickets now. The ship is huge and there still is nearly unlimited space available.
Paradise Island, this mecca for the bold and beautiful has been specifically chosen for the point of sail. At a steaming speed of close to twenty four knots, the vessel should reach the first point of interest in just under a day, upon which time the four foot thick hull, constructed of soap flakes, card board and rock candy will dissolve somewhere over the Puerto Rican Trench at a depth of some eighteen thousand feet.
A picture of a life boat will be included with every passage booked.
Invitations are being sent out as we speak, to a host of celebrity passengers and idol worshipers. Among those already on board for this cruise is are a cast of characters that will include Miss Tyra Banks, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, Dr. Phil McGraw, Bill O'Reilly, Nancy Grace, Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey, Perez Hilton, in fact anyone named Hilton is invited, the Bush family, however many can get away, the Cheneys and a list too long and distinguished of American royalty to mention here. Surely there will be many a surprise guest aboard.
Taking place continuously in the main salon,will be fashion shows and model competitions hosted by Tyra.
Rosie herself will be overseeing the cold cuts buffet.
Self help seminars at which Dr. Phil can finally let his hair down.
Book club readings and endorsements by that literary genius of our time, Oprah.
A fair and balanced, twenty four hour a day No Spin Zone by our favorite American and your protector, Bill O'Reilly.
Nancy Grace will hold daily lectures on what it's like to parent the only set of twins in medical history, and why their father belongs in prison
Mr. Bush will spread democracy on deck like a coat of paint while handing out resumes.
Mr. Cheney instructs on the finer points of skeet shooting and safe gun handling on the fantail. Music by Kenny G and Celine Dion will no doubt please even the most refined ears aboard.
This is shaping up to be the cruise of the century boys and girls. If you are a fan or follower of any of the above names, and who' who in Washington and Hollywood, we urge you to seek out tickets now. The ship is huge and there still is nearly unlimited space available.
Paradise Island, this mecca for the bold and beautiful has been specifically chosen for the point of sail. At a steaming speed of close to twenty four knots, the vessel should reach the first point of interest in just under a day, upon which time the four foot thick hull, constructed of soap flakes, card board and rock candy will dissolve somewhere over the Puerto Rican Trench at a depth of some eighteen thousand feet.
A picture of a life boat will be included with every passage booked.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Who's driving this train?
Some thirty five years ago, as a teenager, I became politically active for a time. Those were days of social conscience and the sort of hope that promised the dawn of a new age, for the lack of better words.
We gathered in various homes a few evenings a week and discussed the war in Vietnam and how to get George McGovern elected. I will say now my politics and my beliefs were largely formed by the people I fell in with, the music of the day and the fact that my big brother was fighting in the jungles of south east Asia. There were also a few girls I was so enamoured of, that I found myself under the spell of the democratic party in particular, just to be around them. I have no idea how others find their way to their ultimate political choices. My own choices would seem a bit shallow but in the interest of being perfectly honest here I cannot say I experienced any sort of epiphany that dictated my decisions. It seemed like common sense to follow a party that would end the war and put people to work.
I would thank those people now for showing me one road of many that, a lifetime later, I still travel, but now question the sincerity of. The party seemed in those days, to be the most genuinely concerned with the human condition. The war had been raging out of control with no end in sight. Then as now, there was no clear reason to be involved in such a conflict. Racial tensions were also high. The killings of JFK, and Dr. King still hung in the air so thick one could not escape the stench of loss. These were men that held the promise of bringing all people together under a sort of Utopian umbrella.
Perhaps because I was young, those ideas seemed to be viable. The theory of collective consciousness was somehow more than wishful thinking. If enough people believed we could change the world, then by god, we could. We felt on the verge of living in peace with one another and that humans would embrace the idea that we are all here to take care of each other and the earth.
Well, Mr. McGovern's campaign fell by a landslide to Richard Nixon in 1972. This, in my recall, had been the last straw in a movement that had begun to deteriorate a few years earlier. The idea that if one was against the war and concerned with the brotherhood of man, then one was no doubt involved in illegal drug use, free sex and branded a draft dodger. This applied to some but ripped the hearts out of the rest. The dream was over almost before it had begun. What remained was a huge portion of society that felt that their heroes had been taken, one by one and that our government was for sale to the highest bidder.
I had aligned myself with a party in belief that our government was fully capable of, and interested in the welfare of all Americans. I never really gave much thought to the two party system or why a free country needed two parties. It seemed to me then and now more than ever, let the best of the brightest run and let the best choice of the majority win. I will not go into the electoral process which seems to defeat the idea of every vote counting. If anyone can enlighten me further on this subject, please by all means do so.
Nearly forty years later, there is a palpable distrust of government. As much as one would like to believe our elected officials are working on our behalf, their actions for the most part would say otherwise. Government bows to the interests of big business in effort to win elections and implement their own agendas, gaining riches and power beyond all reason. I have no doubt there are a few in government that still believe they can make a difference. These folks are branded idealists and are kept around predominantly for amusement purposes.
Looking now at the antiquated two party system, I see no difference between them. It takes huge money to run and win an election. It takes inherent corruption and a winning smile to defeat your opponent.Big government means big government contracts to loyal friends. You buy me the election and I'll promise your kids the best education and that gleaming castle on the hill of your choice. As good Americans the rest of us are expected to accept a certain amount of indiscretion by our leaders for the good of the whole.
America has managed to impose itself as a dominant force throughout the world. Instead of providing an example of successful policy to developing countries, we dictate how it's going to be.
As of 2003 the US had 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries. We deploy some 253,000 uniformed men and women to inhabit these outposts. These installations bring massive wealth to civilian interests which design and build weapons for the armed forces. Companies such as Halliburton and it's subsidiaries have "won" the majority of contracts to maintain these installations. It comes as no surprise that our current vice president was once the chairman of this very company. This is a conservative estimate of our actual military presence across the globe. Numbers generated before we were in full swing in the middle east.
The general consensus seems to be, that we are targeted by terrorists as a result of our wealth and freedom. Our immoral ways of life. One would have to argue that the real reason must be due, in large, to our meddlesome policies in countries we have no business occupying. We have become the watch dog and police force in every corner of the world. As a result our economy is now largely based on military contracts.How is one to believe then, the rhetoric spouted on both sides in this election year, to be anything other than career politicians on a quest for the golden ring?
The republicans in the battle of their lives to distance themselves from the incumbent, yet follow party lines and appease the multinational corporate giants.
The democrats find themselves in a comfortable position due to the near dictatorship of George W. Bush and his regime who, have effectively turned Washington into a Superfund site that will take generations to clean up. The democrats however cannot seem to decide to run a civil contest and put aside their squabbles over race and gender. It seems apparent that one is in it to become the first woman president and the other to become the first black to inhabit the white house. The American public has already decided that neither of these issues are issues at all. Yet the top contenders have so far, not realized this concept.
The idea that "real change" is just around the corner is a joke at best. To inherit the office as it stands now is akin to bottling cooling water from Three Mile Island and selling it as spring water. The cast of hucksters hawking this cool drink of water is straight from the Twilite Zone.
Mr. Mike Huckabee wants to change the wording of the constitution to fall more in line with the bible. Did I miss something here? Why is this campaign regarded as anything but ludicrous. A faith based run should not be a part of American politics. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
Mitt Romney treats the race as some sort of olympic event after every primary having come out with "gold or silver". I would expect nothing less from a billionaire. What the hell kind of name is "Mitt" anyhow?
Mr. McCain is running on a purely military platform. However admirable his service record, including his six years as a guest at the Hanoi Hilton, it does not inherently qualify him to run this country. He seems to find no problem with comitting our military to Iraq for decades to come. Military contract anyone?
Nor does Mr. Giuliani's stint as mayor of New York qualify him for any higher office. He has been credited with "saving the city". If Ronald McDonald had been mayor at the time of the WTC attacks, he'd also have become America's hero. His record after the attacks is less than stellar, yet he was deified.
Mr. Ron Paul is the only candidate willing to take on the rebuilding of our government from the bottom up. The banks have taken our economy to the brink of destruction. People are losing their homes. Manufacturing is all but a memory in our country. I wonder how Mattell feels now about taking American jobs to China. The standard fix is to fire up the presses and print more dollars. Dollars worth only as much as the faith the public has in them. We no longer have any sort of standard to back them up. Only as long as people continue to believe this green paper is worth something, will the present economy keep it's decks above water.I am not naive enough to think Mr. Paul has a chance in this race. The country needs and deserves however, to have another opinion to examine, and questions raised that none of the front runners seem to want to address.
I do not claim to have the answers to the ills of government. I do know that it was designed as the government of the people and somewhere along the line that notion was lost. What i would hope is to find people outraged at such a loss, and accountability a priority.
I wonder to this day why the American public finds it so hard to understand who is actually driving the damned train. Again, it takes millions of dollars to buy your way into the white house. Promises are made in return for those campaign donations, long before the actual elections. Any candidate promising change is a liar. Whoever inhabits the office will get there on the backs of big business, not your vote. If a winning candidate does in fact effect change, you can sit back and wait for a scandal to drive him or her out of office, or an assassination , which generally sends the message.
We are in it for the long haul and on a track back to the stone age, unless a rude awakening occurs in the public at large. This is unlikely until there is not a drop of affordable fuel left to feed your hummer, or heat your house, if in fact, you still own a house. Need a clean glass of water? Better know where to find it or how to make it. As for myself I am glad I took the time to learn to build a shelter, fish, shoot and sail. I don't know when it's going to happen, but those who only know how to run a pencil and paper will starve first. Maybe none of this will come to pass. If it does, those I love will have a fighting chance.
A last thought...Wanna know who's got a good chance of taking the "gold" home in this election year? Call General Electric corporate HQ in Ct. Ask who's campaign sticker is on the side of Mr. Jeff Immelt's helocopter... The rants of a madman? Hmm...perhaps.
We gathered in various homes a few evenings a week and discussed the war in Vietnam and how to get George McGovern elected. I will say now my politics and my beliefs were largely formed by the people I fell in with, the music of the day and the fact that my big brother was fighting in the jungles of south east Asia. There were also a few girls I was so enamoured of, that I found myself under the spell of the democratic party in particular, just to be around them. I have no idea how others find their way to their ultimate political choices. My own choices would seem a bit shallow but in the interest of being perfectly honest here I cannot say I experienced any sort of epiphany that dictated my decisions. It seemed like common sense to follow a party that would end the war and put people to work.
I would thank those people now for showing me one road of many that, a lifetime later, I still travel, but now question the sincerity of. The party seemed in those days, to be the most genuinely concerned with the human condition. The war had been raging out of control with no end in sight. Then as now, there was no clear reason to be involved in such a conflict. Racial tensions were also high. The killings of JFK, and Dr. King still hung in the air so thick one could not escape the stench of loss. These were men that held the promise of bringing all people together under a sort of Utopian umbrella.
Perhaps because I was young, those ideas seemed to be viable. The theory of collective consciousness was somehow more than wishful thinking. If enough people believed we could change the world, then by god, we could. We felt on the verge of living in peace with one another and that humans would embrace the idea that we are all here to take care of each other and the earth.
Well, Mr. McGovern's campaign fell by a landslide to Richard Nixon in 1972. This, in my recall, had been the last straw in a movement that had begun to deteriorate a few years earlier. The idea that if one was against the war and concerned with the brotherhood of man, then one was no doubt involved in illegal drug use, free sex and branded a draft dodger. This applied to some but ripped the hearts out of the rest. The dream was over almost before it had begun. What remained was a huge portion of society that felt that their heroes had been taken, one by one and that our government was for sale to the highest bidder.
I had aligned myself with a party in belief that our government was fully capable of, and interested in the welfare of all Americans. I never really gave much thought to the two party system or why a free country needed two parties. It seemed to me then and now more than ever, let the best of the brightest run and let the best choice of the majority win. I will not go into the electoral process which seems to defeat the idea of every vote counting. If anyone can enlighten me further on this subject, please by all means do so.
Nearly forty years later, there is a palpable distrust of government. As much as one would like to believe our elected officials are working on our behalf, their actions for the most part would say otherwise. Government bows to the interests of big business in effort to win elections and implement their own agendas, gaining riches and power beyond all reason. I have no doubt there are a few in government that still believe they can make a difference. These folks are branded idealists and are kept around predominantly for amusement purposes.
Looking now at the antiquated two party system, I see no difference between them. It takes huge money to run and win an election. It takes inherent corruption and a winning smile to defeat your opponent.Big government means big government contracts to loyal friends. You buy me the election and I'll promise your kids the best education and that gleaming castle on the hill of your choice. As good Americans the rest of us are expected to accept a certain amount of indiscretion by our leaders for the good of the whole.
America has managed to impose itself as a dominant force throughout the world. Instead of providing an example of successful policy to developing countries, we dictate how it's going to be.
As of 2003 the US had 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries. We deploy some 253,000 uniformed men and women to inhabit these outposts. These installations bring massive wealth to civilian interests which design and build weapons for the armed forces. Companies such as Halliburton and it's subsidiaries have "won" the majority of contracts to maintain these installations. It comes as no surprise that our current vice president was once the chairman of this very company. This is a conservative estimate of our actual military presence across the globe. Numbers generated before we were in full swing in the middle east.
The general consensus seems to be, that we are targeted by terrorists as a result of our wealth and freedom. Our immoral ways of life. One would have to argue that the real reason must be due, in large, to our meddlesome policies in countries we have no business occupying. We have become the watch dog and police force in every corner of the world. As a result our economy is now largely based on military contracts.How is one to believe then, the rhetoric spouted on both sides in this election year, to be anything other than career politicians on a quest for the golden ring?
The republicans in the battle of their lives to distance themselves from the incumbent, yet follow party lines and appease the multinational corporate giants.
The democrats find themselves in a comfortable position due to the near dictatorship of George W. Bush and his regime who, have effectively turned Washington into a Superfund site that will take generations to clean up. The democrats however cannot seem to decide to run a civil contest and put aside their squabbles over race and gender. It seems apparent that one is in it to become the first woman president and the other to become the first black to inhabit the white house. The American public has already decided that neither of these issues are issues at all. Yet the top contenders have so far, not realized this concept.
The idea that "real change" is just around the corner is a joke at best. To inherit the office as it stands now is akin to bottling cooling water from Three Mile Island and selling it as spring water. The cast of hucksters hawking this cool drink of water is straight from the Twilite Zone.
Mr. Mike Huckabee wants to change the wording of the constitution to fall more in line with the bible. Did I miss something here? Why is this campaign regarded as anything but ludicrous. A faith based run should not be a part of American politics. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
Mitt Romney treats the race as some sort of olympic event after every primary having come out with "gold or silver". I would expect nothing less from a billionaire. What the hell kind of name is "Mitt" anyhow?
Mr. McCain is running on a purely military platform. However admirable his service record, including his six years as a guest at the Hanoi Hilton, it does not inherently qualify him to run this country. He seems to find no problem with comitting our military to Iraq for decades to come. Military contract anyone?
Nor does Mr. Giuliani's stint as mayor of New York qualify him for any higher office. He has been credited with "saving the city". If Ronald McDonald had been mayor at the time of the WTC attacks, he'd also have become America's hero. His record after the attacks is less than stellar, yet he was deified.
Mr. Ron Paul is the only candidate willing to take on the rebuilding of our government from the bottom up. The banks have taken our economy to the brink of destruction. People are losing their homes. Manufacturing is all but a memory in our country. I wonder how Mattell feels now about taking American jobs to China. The standard fix is to fire up the presses and print more dollars. Dollars worth only as much as the faith the public has in them. We no longer have any sort of standard to back them up. Only as long as people continue to believe this green paper is worth something, will the present economy keep it's decks above water.I am not naive enough to think Mr. Paul has a chance in this race. The country needs and deserves however, to have another opinion to examine, and questions raised that none of the front runners seem to want to address.
I do not claim to have the answers to the ills of government. I do know that it was designed as the government of the people and somewhere along the line that notion was lost. What i would hope is to find people outraged at such a loss, and accountability a priority.
I wonder to this day why the American public finds it so hard to understand who is actually driving the damned train. Again, it takes millions of dollars to buy your way into the white house. Promises are made in return for those campaign donations, long before the actual elections. Any candidate promising change is a liar. Whoever inhabits the office will get there on the backs of big business, not your vote. If a winning candidate does in fact effect change, you can sit back and wait for a scandal to drive him or her out of office, or an assassination , which generally sends the message.
We are in it for the long haul and on a track back to the stone age, unless a rude awakening occurs in the public at large. This is unlikely until there is not a drop of affordable fuel left to feed your hummer, or heat your house, if in fact, you still own a house. Need a clean glass of water? Better know where to find it or how to make it. As for myself I am glad I took the time to learn to build a shelter, fish, shoot and sail. I don't know when it's going to happen, but those who only know how to run a pencil and paper will starve first. Maybe none of this will come to pass. If it does, those I love will have a fighting chance.
A last thought...Wanna know who's got a good chance of taking the "gold" home in this election year? Call General Electric corporate HQ in Ct. Ask who's campaign sticker is on the side of Mr. Jeff Immelt's helocopter... The rants of a madman? Hmm...perhaps.
RON PAUL
Please do us all a favor, get the government and religion, which seem to have become synonymous, out of your living room, your mail box, and out of your life. Take a good look and listen to Sen. Ron Paul.
Everyone seems to want to quote the constitution when it behooves them to do so. Mr. Paul's campaign is based on that very document. Your liberty is at stake. Your hard earned dollar is at stake. Your freedom is at stake. Government waste is at the bottom of all of this.
The man does not need a five hundred dollar haircut or a John Mellencamp song to deliver his message.
The network news is trying to decide for you. Do not let them declare this man's campaign dead before the American people have decided.
Vote for Sen. Ron Paul. Keep your paycheck.
Everyone seems to want to quote the constitution when it behooves them to do so. Mr. Paul's campaign is based on that very document. Your liberty is at stake. Your hard earned dollar is at stake. Your freedom is at stake. Government waste is at the bottom of all of this.
The man does not need a five hundred dollar haircut or a John Mellencamp song to deliver his message.
The network news is trying to decide for you. Do not let them declare this man's campaign dead before the American people have decided.
Vote for Sen. Ron Paul. Keep your paycheck.
An American Treasure
For anyone that stumbles across this page that has a fetish for guitars, more specifically a passion for arch top guitars as I do, I want to spend some time here talking about a man I met in the late 90's when i was working in NYC. Spending my days in mid-town, five days a week, I was, like so many others, drawn to 48th st. during my spare time. This, the mecca in New York for musical instruments, houses some of the most spectacular music stores found anywhere on earth. The treasures available, if you have some dollars to leave behind, will make your head spin. Some of these shops are huge and can cater to every need of your band or orchestra if you have one. Whether you are in need of new or vintage equipment, if you can't find it here then you might as well be home trying to build it yourself.
In a somewhat lesser known, no glam or glitter shop on the north side of the street, called "Alex Guitars", there can be found a true gentleman and icon of the American guitar. His name is Carlo Greco. There is no end to the amount of talented luthiers building guitars in this country today. Carlo however, is royalty among the lot. Having been the general foreman of Guild Guitars from 1959 to 1977, and one of it's founders, this is a guy who has forgotten more about building guitars than most will ever learn. I have had an affinity for Guilds for nearly twenty years and have owned a number of them. I have always considered this company to be the most underrated of all American guitar companies. Years ago while living in Stonington Ct., I met another guy who worked along side Carlo for many years. His name is Gil Diaz. Gil stayed on with the Guild company when they moved to Westerly RI. in the late seventies. Though retired when I met him, he and his son Carlos ran a small music store in Westerly. I was fortunate enough one day, to be standing in the store when a guy named Hans Moust walked in. Hans, working his way up the east coast on a trip from his native Holland, was in the states on a hell bent search for Guild guitars. He is possibly the most knowledgeable guy in the world on the subject having published the "Guild Guitar Book" in 1995. This is the most comprehensive history of the company, it's people and instruments ever compiled. I have mixed emotions about that day. On one hand I was thrilled to meet the man behind such exhaustive research. He was another true gentleman, as have been, everyone I've met connected to the Guild name. I was sorely out of money at the time and in possession of one of the finest guitars I've owned in my life. This was a Guild "Nightbird". A semi-hollow body electric , with a gorgeous spruce top, gold hardware and active EMG pickups. I'm fairly sure this guitar is no longer in production but I could be wrong. Hans had started his trek in Nashville and was nearing the end when he walked into the shop on that fateful day. We got to talking and wouldn't you know it, the one guitar he'd failed to find in his search was the Nightbird. I had really not intended to sell it but I liked the guy so much, needed the cash and realized it would never have a better home than with Hans. I agreed to sell it. For his part he said I'd see it one day again pictured in the next Guild book. The first book had covered the company from it's inception in 1952, to it's move in 77'. He had plans for another book that covered the years since. Another odd thing about that day was that I agreed to sell this beauty to a guy who was out of money at the time. He'd already spent his wad on a pile of instruments he'd purchased on this trip. I went home, picked up the guitar and brought it to him anyway. He promised a check when he landed back in Holland. He made good on his promise. To this day I miss that guitar more than any other I've owned for some reason. I think it's not only because it was such a fine instrument but because it was a financially forced sale. Hans however did not get out of the country before signing my copy of his great book, to this day a treasured part of my collection. I have yet to see the second edition come out but perhaps it has. I will search that out when I finish here...
Skip ahead to the day I walked into Alex Guitars with an old Kay arch top I'd recently purchased . A huge blond thing that had apparently been sitting in an attic or barn for many years. It was filthy with some sort of mold, it needed a neck reset and the usual fret work, but seemed pretty sound. No cracks, no warped anything. It was the perfect time to find the man himself. I'd had a good idea of who I was going to meet but i was not ready for the most unassuming, humble guy standing before me. He looked over the guitar and wrote out a claim tag for me. "Two weeks" he said. Though my memory is less than stellar these days, I seem to recall the same time frame for every instrument I've dropped off since. He was never late with any.
I remember nearly falling on the floor the second I walked into that shop, as I gazed into a little glass case just inside the door. Sitting in there was an arch top built by the master himself. He told me that it had been commissioned by someone who'd backed out on the deal, after he'd built it. I cannot imagine the reason but it had nothing to do with the quality of the work. The price at the time I think was around nine thousand dollars. Worth every penny. Unfortunately I've never had nine grand to blow on anything. The last time I saw the guitar it was still there but the price had at least doubled. There are few luthiers who can demand such prices for their work. Carlo is at the top of that list. You have D'Angelico and D'Aquisto, Stromberg and a host of other greats. All dead as well. Along with a few other living masters such as Dale Unger, stands Carlo Greco.
The list of famous and not so famous players he has built for is quite staggering. From Tommy Smothers to Mark Knopfler. I need not go into that here.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that still walking and working among us is a national treasure in the form of this man. To a gun collector I would assume that meeting Sam Colt could register the same sort of awe and respect I have for Carlo.
I will say here that if you were to look up "hack" in the dictionary, my picture would appear. I am most certainly not the sort of player that deserves to even own an axe built by such a legend. He has however, over the years set up and repaired a number of guitars for me including everything from a strat, to a 1961 D-40 that I still have.
All I have tried to do here is perhaps raise some awareness for those who might find themselves in New York, in need of a good luthier and intrigued enough to go meet this guy and maybe put your guitar in his able hands for "two weeks". He's told me some great stories of the old days, he was with Gretsch before moving to Guild. He told me of Alfred Dronge, the owner of Guild, offering him the world if only he would move to Rhode Island with the company. Carlo declined because he could not bear the thought of moving away from his extended family.
I believe, and tell me if I'm wrong, that he was behind the first celebrity to endorse a guitar. That guy was Chet Atkins and the guitar was the Tennessean, also designed by Chet. In a city where you would be hard pressed to walk out of a door in mid-town, throw a rock and not hit a guitar player, there are so very few old school guys left of this caliber, anywhere. Do yourself a favor, stop in to pay your respects to a master, one hell of a nice guy, and a chance to marvel at his work.
In a somewhat lesser known, no glam or glitter shop on the north side of the street, called "Alex Guitars", there can be found a true gentleman and icon of the American guitar. His name is Carlo Greco. There is no end to the amount of talented luthiers building guitars in this country today. Carlo however, is royalty among the lot. Having been the general foreman of Guild Guitars from 1959 to 1977, and one of it's founders, this is a guy who has forgotten more about building guitars than most will ever learn. I have had an affinity for Guilds for nearly twenty years and have owned a number of them. I have always considered this company to be the most underrated of all American guitar companies. Years ago while living in Stonington Ct., I met another guy who worked along side Carlo for many years. His name is Gil Diaz. Gil stayed on with the Guild company when they moved to Westerly RI. in the late seventies. Though retired when I met him, he and his son Carlos ran a small music store in Westerly. I was fortunate enough one day, to be standing in the store when a guy named Hans Moust walked in. Hans, working his way up the east coast on a trip from his native Holland, was in the states on a hell bent search for Guild guitars. He is possibly the most knowledgeable guy in the world on the subject having published the "Guild Guitar Book" in 1995. This is the most comprehensive history of the company, it's people and instruments ever compiled. I have mixed emotions about that day. On one hand I was thrilled to meet the man behind such exhaustive research. He was another true gentleman, as have been, everyone I've met connected to the Guild name. I was sorely out of money at the time and in possession of one of the finest guitars I've owned in my life. This was a Guild "Nightbird". A semi-hollow body electric , with a gorgeous spruce top, gold hardware and active EMG pickups. I'm fairly sure this guitar is no longer in production but I could be wrong. Hans had started his trek in Nashville and was nearing the end when he walked into the shop on that fateful day. We got to talking and wouldn't you know it, the one guitar he'd failed to find in his search was the Nightbird. I had really not intended to sell it but I liked the guy so much, needed the cash and realized it would never have a better home than with Hans. I agreed to sell it. For his part he said I'd see it one day again pictured in the next Guild book. The first book had covered the company from it's inception in 1952, to it's move in 77'. He had plans for another book that covered the years since. Another odd thing about that day was that I agreed to sell this beauty to a guy who was out of money at the time. He'd already spent his wad on a pile of instruments he'd purchased on this trip. I went home, picked up the guitar and brought it to him anyway. He promised a check when he landed back in Holland. He made good on his promise. To this day I miss that guitar more than any other I've owned for some reason. I think it's not only because it was such a fine instrument but because it was a financially forced sale. Hans however did not get out of the country before signing my copy of his great book, to this day a treasured part of my collection. I have yet to see the second edition come out but perhaps it has. I will search that out when I finish here...
Skip ahead to the day I walked into Alex Guitars with an old Kay arch top I'd recently purchased . A huge blond thing that had apparently been sitting in an attic or barn for many years. It was filthy with some sort of mold, it needed a neck reset and the usual fret work, but seemed pretty sound. No cracks, no warped anything. It was the perfect time to find the man himself. I'd had a good idea of who I was going to meet but i was not ready for the most unassuming, humble guy standing before me. He looked over the guitar and wrote out a claim tag for me. "Two weeks" he said. Though my memory is less than stellar these days, I seem to recall the same time frame for every instrument I've dropped off since. He was never late with any.
I remember nearly falling on the floor the second I walked into that shop, as I gazed into a little glass case just inside the door. Sitting in there was an arch top built by the master himself. He told me that it had been commissioned by someone who'd backed out on the deal, after he'd built it. I cannot imagine the reason but it had nothing to do with the quality of the work. The price at the time I think was around nine thousand dollars. Worth every penny. Unfortunately I've never had nine grand to blow on anything. The last time I saw the guitar it was still there but the price had at least doubled. There are few luthiers who can demand such prices for their work. Carlo is at the top of that list. You have D'Angelico and D'Aquisto, Stromberg and a host of other greats. All dead as well. Along with a few other living masters such as Dale Unger, stands Carlo Greco.
The list of famous and not so famous players he has built for is quite staggering. From Tommy Smothers to Mark Knopfler. I need not go into that here.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that still walking and working among us is a national treasure in the form of this man. To a gun collector I would assume that meeting Sam Colt could register the same sort of awe and respect I have for Carlo.
I will say here that if you were to look up "hack" in the dictionary, my picture would appear. I am most certainly not the sort of player that deserves to even own an axe built by such a legend. He has however, over the years set up and repaired a number of guitars for me including everything from a strat, to a 1961 D-40 that I still have.
All I have tried to do here is perhaps raise some awareness for those who might find themselves in New York, in need of a good luthier and intrigued enough to go meet this guy and maybe put your guitar in his able hands for "two weeks". He's told me some great stories of the old days, he was with Gretsch before moving to Guild. He told me of Alfred Dronge, the owner of Guild, offering him the world if only he would move to Rhode Island with the company. Carlo declined because he could not bear the thought of moving away from his extended family.
I believe, and tell me if I'm wrong, that he was behind the first celebrity to endorse a guitar. That guy was Chet Atkins and the guitar was the Tennessean, also designed by Chet. In a city where you would be hard pressed to walk out of a door in mid-town, throw a rock and not hit a guitar player, there are so very few old school guys left of this caliber, anywhere. Do yourself a favor, stop in to pay your respects to a master, one hell of a nice guy, and a chance to marvel at his work.
Good Americans...
I wonder how many card carrying Americans at this very point in time, are facing ruin at the hands of the IRS or other government bureaucracies. I am not opposed to paying my Fair Share, to live in the country in which I was born, and the country I love. I have not however been asked for my Fair Share in my lifetime. I am questioning the bold inequities between rich and poor. Why celebreties are sent a ten thousand dollar tax break because they own farm land in Montana. How it is that multi-millionaires are in need of tax payer money to own and operate their own vacation land. I read a story today about the outgoing head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC, having commissioned a portrait of himself at the cost of 148,00 dollars. The artist hired was not even a native American. He said he could not find a native American artist that fit the bill. I would love to know where this money came from, you and I? Or was it part of funds designated to benefit tribal causes. Either way I find it an astounding waste and a self indulgent attempt at pompous immortality. Buddy, you want to be remembered? Do something noble with the trust and power given you by the American people. Do you feel you've left so little behind that you need to hang on a wall to prove you existed? How about a nice photograph then? At most this might cost a thousand bucks, with a nice frame and perhaps a little brass nameplate. I'm even willing to bet there's a native American photographer out there that could pull this thing out of his hat. Oddly a few hours after reading this story, I went looking for it again so I could get the guy's name right and to make sure i had correctly read the numbers. The story was gone. Vanished from the web like Jimmy Hoffa. I Googled it, used every search engine and news agency I could summon. GONE. Now how do you suppose this could happen? A national story about government waste blotted out in a few short hours.I guess what I'm getting at here is that the American public is made to stand by and watch their hard earned dollars wipe the butts of elected and appointed government officials, while, after being robbed they worry about how to heat the house for the next month. Can this really sustain trust in government? Why does no one seem to express outrage as to how their money, entrusted to public servants is wasted?We could indeed go into how the illustrious George W. Bush has squandered everything this country had going for it, around the world and at home. Let's leave that for later. I would ask you to take a good look at the candidates running for president at the moment. Taking a good look precludes getting your information from what is commonly considered television news. DO NOT let the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity influence your decisions. Search the web, listen to NPR or the BBC, who actually report the news. If you grew up in the years following the vietnam war, you will remember news reporting. Walter Cronkite and his peers of the day, reported the news. They did not make it, nor make it up. Fox "news" is not news. It is show business. How many times a day do they have to repeat Brittney Spears' name and dilemma in order to stay on the air? Wolf Blitzer and the "situation room"? Come on CNN, I'm supposed to get the image that you have your own little inside line to the white house? Is the "situation room" situated in a bunker below the oval office? We are being fed the idea that there are only a few viable candidates running for the highest office in our land. Far from the truth. Make up your own minds. MAKE UP YOUR OWN MINDS! Ron Paul who would cut the legs out from under government waste, has just this day been cut from the next debate held by Fox. He has already been deemed an unviable candidate by media "news". Also on this day Dennis Kucinich was cast out by ABC as a waste of space on the stage for the next debate hosted on that network. Dennis Kucinich is a guy who speaks from his heart. He's sadly been labeled a crackpot because he may have seen something in the sky he could not identify. He's also been known to utter words like peace and love on the earth. However I do not recall any stories about him though,that pertain to airport men's rooms. This country needs it's heart back. Could it be possible that were certain programs cut from government candy bowls we might see health care affordable or available to everyone? How about we trade the war on drugs for a healthy population?Possibly, the most important issues in our history as a country are at stake in the next year. A country I sadly find it harder and harder to make a living in. I want very much to ply my trade and go back to believing this to be the land of opportunity again. It seems more and more unlikely every day.
Labels: America, Bill O'Reilly, IRS, Ron Paul
Labels: America, Bill O'Reilly, IRS, Ron Paul
parasites
Surfing the channels as I am wont to do on any given day, i stumbled across a "show" entitled "My Super Sweet Sixteen". Oh Christ what is going on here??? Approaching her 16 birthday there appeared the most miserable little leach of a girl, obviously spewed from the volcanic pits of hell. From what I could gather in the moments I could stomach this tripe, her parents were about to throw a birthday party for this little animal. Hell, I'm all for birthday parties. My parents never went that far, but I understand the sentiment and wanting to thrill your kid on such a special day. This party however was thrown at a cost of a quarter MILLION dollars. I thought I'd heard wrong but the number came up a few times and my hearing is quite adequate. No clowns and ponies for this chubby little rodent. No way. South Pacific fire eaters and palm trees and rap stars and dancing bears and midgets and drag queens and fireworks and more stuff than a boxcar full of party planners could dream up then pull out of a hat. There was an actual scene where the birthday piggy handed out invitations to a waiting group of other little farm animals. This seemed to be a planned event in itself as there were twice as many greedy little hands awaiting an invite than there were invitations. This left twitching, disappointed and humiliated classmates standing in a burning heap wondering why they were not asked to join the "party of the year". After all, what good is a party like this one is shaping up to be, if you can't make somebody cry?
OK, I watched more than I let on. It was admittedly brilliant on the part of the producers i guess as human nature does not easily turn away from abomination, blood letting and the unexplainable. It was obvious that cruelty was a major part of rewarded behavior in this family's idea of child rearing.
Before the party the little gifts were sprinkled about by mommy and daddy. The diamonds bracelets, shoes, hotel suites and three or four outfits the kid would change in and out of during the course of the festivities. The rehearsals came next. of course, for the staged, grand entrance of our little queen. Party on Garth. The party itself was beyond description here. Basically a ballroom filled with the writhing, whooping offspring of the local elite. Among them seemed to be girls either about to burst into flames over the fact that this party was better than the one daddy had thrown for them, or plotting little Kitty's taking notes on how to outdo this shindig when their own time came. There were the obligatory pronouncements that this would be the party everyone would remember forever. "The best party ever".
Then came the end of the evening when the party pig of honor was lured outside to receive the grandest gift of all, her new Mercedes Benz. At this point there was something terribly wrong in tiny town. Tears began flowing down those porcine cheeks and shrieks of " you have ruined my life" were heard from our little star. My God, it was the wrong color! The car was the wrong color.
I can't bring myself to go on with what ensued here, so I will continue to the part where I have to challenge this sort of behavior, not on the part of miss piggy, but her parents and the producers of this show. Miss piggy herself could hardly be held responsible as she'd quite obviously grown up in an environment devoid of any sort of humanity. I am fully aware of the desire to do all that is humanly possible to make your kid happy. If one has the means then, by all means, give your kid the best chances possible in this life. Here is where i must part ways with the methods displayed on this train wreck of a program. Would it not stand to reason that perhaps our birthday girl might have been offered a choice by her parents that allowed her to possibly do some good in the world with the obscene amounts of money spent on this one evening?
Perhaps it might go something like this..."Hey darling, we thought you might like to think about something here. You know how there are so many less fortunate people living in thee world? You know how so many kids go to bed hungry at night? How many cannot read or afford medical treatment? How many will never reach their full potential in life because they cannot afford an education? What do you say we take the money we were going to spend on a party that will last just a few hours of your life, and actually change some one less fortunate's life forever? We could actually help somebody out, in your name. Think of it... You will carry this with you for life. If you don't really care to give someone a new chance, then what if we were to do something like help to save an endangered species or something. What if we were to dig a well for a village in a third world country? Or ten wells? How about you take a little time and think of a charity that means something special to you. Oh, you can keep the car and the diamonds, we just want you to think about it. We'll even straighten out the botched color choice, OK?"
Having seen the program I'm quite sure the kid would have thought about all of this for a full five seconds before turning them down but at least the option was on the table for a minute there. Had options like this been offered at an early enough age, she might actually go for it.
I guess I have to bring this rant to an end at some point so why not bury the bones here. In a capitalist society there is nothing wrong with making money. All the money you can. There are those with a brilliant history of charitable giving and selfless assistance to those in need. Perhaps many more than not. I have no figures on this. What I would hope in the future for those who would humiliate themselves and their kids on national television, think about what sort of kid you are raising and what sort of kids they will raise. What it might mean if your kid were to give a a kid who has nothing but dreams a second hand musical instrument or some books. There are so many possibilities that charity can bring in the lives of those that have so little. One less quarter million dollar birthday party could be just the start.
OK, I watched more than I let on. It was admittedly brilliant on the part of the producers i guess as human nature does not easily turn away from abomination, blood letting and the unexplainable. It was obvious that cruelty was a major part of rewarded behavior in this family's idea of child rearing.
Before the party the little gifts were sprinkled about by mommy and daddy. The diamonds bracelets, shoes, hotel suites and three or four outfits the kid would change in and out of during the course of the festivities. The rehearsals came next. of course, for the staged, grand entrance of our little queen. Party on Garth. The party itself was beyond description here. Basically a ballroom filled with the writhing, whooping offspring of the local elite. Among them seemed to be girls either about to burst into flames over the fact that this party was better than the one daddy had thrown for them, or plotting little Kitty's taking notes on how to outdo this shindig when their own time came. There were the obligatory pronouncements that this would be the party everyone would remember forever. "The best party ever".
Then came the end of the evening when the party pig of honor was lured outside to receive the grandest gift of all, her new Mercedes Benz. At this point there was something terribly wrong in tiny town. Tears began flowing down those porcine cheeks and shrieks of " you have ruined my life" were heard from our little star. My God, it was the wrong color! The car was the wrong color.
I can't bring myself to go on with what ensued here, so I will continue to the part where I have to challenge this sort of behavior, not on the part of miss piggy, but her parents and the producers of this show. Miss piggy herself could hardly be held responsible as she'd quite obviously grown up in an environment devoid of any sort of humanity. I am fully aware of the desire to do all that is humanly possible to make your kid happy. If one has the means then, by all means, give your kid the best chances possible in this life. Here is where i must part ways with the methods displayed on this train wreck of a program. Would it not stand to reason that perhaps our birthday girl might have been offered a choice by her parents that allowed her to possibly do some good in the world with the obscene amounts of money spent on this one evening?
Perhaps it might go something like this..."Hey darling, we thought you might like to think about something here. You know how there are so many less fortunate people living in thee world? You know how so many kids go to bed hungry at night? How many cannot read or afford medical treatment? How many will never reach their full potential in life because they cannot afford an education? What do you say we take the money we were going to spend on a party that will last just a few hours of your life, and actually change some one less fortunate's life forever? We could actually help somebody out, in your name. Think of it... You will carry this with you for life. If you don't really care to give someone a new chance, then what if we were to do something like help to save an endangered species or something. What if we were to dig a well for a village in a third world country? Or ten wells? How about you take a little time and think of a charity that means something special to you. Oh, you can keep the car and the diamonds, we just want you to think about it. We'll even straighten out the botched color choice, OK?"
Having seen the program I'm quite sure the kid would have thought about all of this for a full five seconds before turning them down but at least the option was on the table for a minute there. Had options like this been offered at an early enough age, she might actually go for it.
I guess I have to bring this rant to an end at some point so why not bury the bones here. In a capitalist society there is nothing wrong with making money. All the money you can. There are those with a brilliant history of charitable giving and selfless assistance to those in need. Perhaps many more than not. I have no figures on this. What I would hope in the future for those who would humiliate themselves and their kids on national television, think about what sort of kid you are raising and what sort of kids they will raise. What it might mean if your kid were to give a a kid who has nothing but dreams a second hand musical instrument or some books. There are so many possibilities that charity can bring in the lives of those that have so little. One less quarter million dollar birthday party could be just the start.
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