This One Wins The Prize For Ugly Guitars

I love ugly guitars, but Gibson has been building some real piles, man. I thought that the reverse flying v was cheesy (post here), but this one wins: The Reverse Explorer:

¡Viva Lawn Darts, Bitches!

Indeed, I'm a Libertarian whacko. I've had enough of this two-party-bullshit. Anyone that has seen the light and wants to deal with the patriot act appropriately is my pal.

Weed (er...) FREEDOM! (in my best brave heart voice):

Maybe This Is What's Wrong With Me

I've been really down lately, outside of music, at least. That stuff is going quite well, but otherwise it seems that there's little to get really stokeed about. From here:

Feds: Teen use of pot can lead to dependency, mental illness

By JENNIFER C. KERR

WASHINGTON (AP) — Depression, teens and marijuana are a dangerous mix that can lead to dependency, mental illness or suicidal thoughts, according to a White House report being released Friday.

A teen who has been depressed at some point in the past year is more than twice as likely to have used marijuana as teens who have not reported being depressed — 25 percent compared with 12 percent, said the report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"Marijuana is a more consequential substance of abuse than our culture has treated it in the last 20 years," said John Walters, director of the office. "This is not just youthful experimentation that they'll get over as we used to think in the past."

Smoking marijuana can lead to more serious problems, Walters said in an interview.

For example, using marijuana increases the risk of developing mental disorders by 40 percent, the report said. And teens who smoke pot at least once a month over a yearlong period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than nonusers, it said.

The report also cited research that showed that teens who smoke marijuana when feeling depressed were more than twice as likely as their peers to abuse or become addicted to pot — 8 percent compared with 3 percent.

Experts who have worked with children say there's nothing harmless about marijuana.

"I've seen many, many kids' lives negatively impacted and taken off track because of marijuana," said Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, director of adolescent services for Phoenix House treatment centers in California. "It's somewhat Russian roulette. There are so many factors, emotional, psychological, biological. You can't predict the experimentation and how it will impact a kid."

Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, called the study "an absolutely dishonest report, deliberately confusing correlation with causation."

"This very week the British government's official scientific advisers on illegal drugs issued a report saying they are 'unconvinced that there is a causal relationship between the use of cannabis and any affective disorder,' such as depression, he said.

The drug control policy office analyzed about a dozen studies looking at marijuana use, including research by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Overall, marijuana use among teens has decreased 25 percent since 2001, down to about 2.3 million kids who used pot at least once a month, the drug control office said.

While the drop is encouraging, Walters appealed to parents to recognize signs of possible drug use and depression.

"It's not something you look the other way about when your teen starts appearing careless about their grooming, withdrawing from the family, losing interest in daily activities," Walters said. "Find out what's wrong."

Sweet, Dude (Insert Lazerwolf Tie Dye Here)

Tonight, I got to try out my (old) new toy on a couple of numbers. I've been hesitant to change anything with rumored shows rolling along, but after listening to the recording from last week and seeing the video again, I decided that I'm really playing too hard a lot of the time.

The EH linear booster totally makes the electrik grandmother roar with way less effort, and doesn't rob too much low end. The gained out "hurting the preamp" sounds were pretty awesome, and it's transparent--it sounds like the amp on 11, and nothing more. Most of all, the rig is still under control, instead of getting all feedback-city (TM) on me. For the price (I think that mine was on sale for $30), it's something that no one with a tube amp should be without.

Maybe it's a little too much (sounded wicked, but sort of buried the PA) dimed, though. It seems pretty fucking loud, too. I'll have to do a little tweaking with the levels. I really want to get a decibel meter just so I have an idea about my SPL exposure.

Wheeeeeeeee--tinnitus sucks.

Indeed, Dude.

I was going to head up to Boulder to see if I could get arrested, but instead, patching blue jeans is today's project.

My grandfather still believes this shit:

Ellos me llaman el hombre de trabajo

• Was almost jumped by a pissed-off English Mastiff with large testicles.
• Called 911 when a dude hit a fence as well as a tree and was unresponsive to other dudes.
• Found a 30-gallon sack of weed in a dumpster.
• Made flyers at Kinkos.

I actually think today turned out pretty okay, even if my body is killing me.
----------------
Now playing: Mogwai - Glasgow Mega-Snake

High School is A Prison

All of my injuries are exceptionally painful this morning. Excepting the resulting pain, 14 hours of sleep means a lot of dreams, which is a positive thing, even if I don't want to relive any of this:

1. Riding with Scott Steele in his VW bus;
2. Ditching class;
3. Naked women (of course);
4. Drug use;
5. Stealing cars;
6. Tesla soundtrack;

I haven't seen Scotty in years. He's one of the only people that I occasionally run into from Niwot. Everyone else got out of town.

I have this dream frequently that I'm unable to make it to the Algebra II class with Mrs. Sauder. The funny part is that it's the only class that I did attend regularly when I was at Boulder High School. I don't think that I ever went to the class sober, but I attended the class and did well.

I almost always dream about naked women. I find it quite distracting.

When one wastes as much time abusing drugs as I have, it gets totally ingrained. I dream about the ritual often. Last night, I was doing blow and weed and mushrooms.

I relived one of the car theft incidents. I was drunk driving (tequila) in a stolen car with no license. We broke the axle on a suburban. This is a true story.

Oddly, I had that Tesla song with the electric twelve string electric as a soundtrack at some point last night. I don't even know what it's called, but it was HUGE in 1989--when I was living in SA, that was in heavy rotation. I'll have to steal that song before completing this post...it's totally here, friends. Cheesy guitar rock, all the way. I hate having something like that stuck in my head.

Honestly, I'm Conflicted About This Repost

I totally support the effort to locate Neil's bass, even if he replaced my dumb ass with the RC. Shit, we do have matching tattoos. It's a supercool instrument, too. Here is the repost from PMFS (emphasis added):

Last night at the Mastodon, Against Me, Cursive show Neil's bass was ripped off outside of the club.......

THIS IS WHERE WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!! this bass was the world to neil and was his baby so we need to pull together and find it for him!!!! so please help!!

the bass was stolen outside of the Warfield @ 982 Market Street in San Francisco between 4:15pm and 4:45pm on Wednesday, May 2nd 2007
there was security "watching" our gear but somebody pulled a fast one.
the bass was seen right up until 4:15 by the guys in Cursive and has not been since.

it was a 1979 Washburn "Hawk" bass
long scale
the knobs were all different colors: one black, two gold, and one metal
it was wood grain with a pearl trim
and there was a crack between the knobs that also made it his bass.

the bass was in a hard, black sbk case with several red and white spray paint stencils all over it.
things like:
"Git Some", "Fragile", "Planes" w/ thunder in the night forever and a planes skull, "Please Be Gentle", and there was several other random one of a kind art prints on the case as well.

the best photo of the bass we have is below>>>

side note> the knob you see on the right has been replaced with a black knob and the gold one has been moved down to where the knob is missing in the photo.

if you have any information please email no_rest@hotmail.com or call 773-793-5244
if you need a police officer right away please contact the San Francisco Police Department in regards to case number 070449444
officer d. sands badge #170 was there and filed the report.

PLEASE REPOST>>> WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!!! AND THERE WILL BE A REWARD IF IT IS FOUND!!!!!!!!

Behold! The weed wolf:

It totally matches my laserwolf shirt, man.

19th Nervous Breakdown; Dreams; Cable Entropy; etc (too long, too drunk)

It looks like I'm not going to be fired, even after my lively "conversation" yesterday. I was pissed.

This morning, I dreamt that I was getting high with Jay Leno. It's amazing how I still have stoner dreams like that. Apparently, we had purchased $80,000 worth of blow that we had to consume in one night. Action-packeed! Maybe I'm hanging out with the OC too much.

We had a very good (productive) practice last night. I'm pleased with how things are going, even if I've secretly (not any more) decided that Denber probably isn't going to get it (put on your surprised face). Andrew Warner will, but I'm not sure about the Denber Heepsters. Fuck 'em. It boils down to me getting to play with some great musicians who aren't flakey. Anything more is really extraneous. The new ones are a lot of fun--the old ones are still decent.

I've decided to revert to the classic 80s ampeg setup while the mesa goes to the shop for work. The big black bass-tard is really close to ideal, but it needs a little extra something for this band. Is within an RCH at this point, and I might wind up going back to the 6x6L6 setup if 6550s or KT88s and an adjustable bias don't help. On second thought, maybe I need to get the tuner out of the signal path. Hmmmmm. I saw a true-bypass tuner that I likeed recently. We'll have to see how I like the ampeg setup (which served me well for years) now. The cable entropy of the preamp/power amp setup makes me nervous. I will require a second loud rig (and another fender--might build up an OC-specific bass instead) for band number two (still at the top of their list), so it's good to work the amplifier gremlins out with the OC.

The ampeg doesn't sound bad, per se, but it's really really really clean.

Monkey-Puss (the feline formerly known as Jesus Christ) learnt to swim in the bathtub this afternoon. I was actually trying to drown her, but she was bobbing around and making chirpy noises instead. She's not even pissed at me. I wish that she would stay out of the bathtub when it was in use.

I've been on the verge of losing it for a week or so. I've totally fallen off the wagon, too. Three months of moderation is some sort of record for me since age ten.

I totally need a summer haircut, again.

The Thing of it is, I know what's happening (heavy) I'm really trying to refrain from the epic introspective (BS) posts. Also refraining from mundane shit. Actually, i'm preparing for delta server delta format. Keepin' it real, an' shit.A complete anxiety meltdown today. I parked the rig because I couldn't see straight, couldn't breathe, and was fully going to pieces for no apparent reason (this was really painful to me). There was frantic calling of friends that I don't think would participate in a conspiracy against me. Erich thinks that I'm in need of a drink (after 22 days sober? this is a record, indeed), and that things have been going far too well for me lately (or, better than I've become accustomed to). Thus, my unconscious things are the real conspirators. He also believes that people have better things to do. This all seems quite reasonable to me. ( i have a controlable desire to diagram sentences--should've done this post in latin just for fun--maybe next time)I know that it's completely fuckeed (tm), really. That doesn't stop it, though.(insert three hours here)A trip to the store of liquor (the bra-less wonder), and i'm much more relaxeed (tm). Dr. Vodka, Lift Your Skinny Fists (beautiful record) on repeat, some comfort food, and a quick chat with meine Donnerbrüder (et allia), and I'm back in one piece for the time being. Thank you to my best townie friends (and dr. e-dogg) on this one. I owe y'all one, really really.Still, I think that I need to pay a visit to a shrink (EEEK). There should be an anti-anxiety inhaler (or weed, as Erich suggests) or something else that's new and cool and instant.

I'm really trying to refrain from the epic introspective (BS) posts. Also refraining from mundane shit. Actually, i'm preparing for delta server delta format. Keepin' it real, an' shit.

A complete anxiety meltdown today. I parked the rig because I couldn't see straight, couldn't breathe, and was fully going to pieces for no apparent reason (this was really painful to me). There was frantic calling of friends that I don't think would participate in a conspiracy against me. Erich thinks that I'm in need of a drink (after 22 days sober? this is a record, indeed), and that things have been going far too well for me lately (or, better than I've become accustomed to). Thus, my unconscious things are the real conspirators. He also believes that people have better things to do. This all seems quite reasonable to me. ( i have a controlable desire to diagram sentences--should've done this post in latin just for fun--maybe next time)

I know that it's completely fuckeed (tm), really. That doesn't stop it, though.

(insert three hours here)

A trip to the store of liquor (the bra-less wonder), and i'm much more relaxeed (tm). Dr. Vodka, Lift Your Skinny Fists (beautiful record) on repeat, some comfort food, and a quick chat with meine Donnerbrüder (et allia), and I'm back in one piece for the time being. Thank you to my best townie friends (and dr. e-dogg) on this one. I owe y'all one, really really.

Still, I think that I need to pay a visit to a shrink (EEEK). There should be an anti-anxiety inhaler (or weed, as Erich suggests) or something else that's new and cool and instant.

Marathon

I totally almost got into an accident today during a FM radio sing along to this one. It's good to keep your eyes open while you drive. Music is an eye-closer, really (like kissing). Rutsy wasn't a horrible drummer, but this was their first record, which has a bunch of zep rips, so it's a little painful. I can't even begin to hit some of the vocal notes. P-basses rule, my friends. The dude in the song doesn't even know what real work is--try getting up at four, at work at five, twelve hours of actual real labor, home at seven, sucking down a bunch of chill out pills and doing it again. And I manage a rock project and stuff?!?

I thought that I had tomorrow off from the mighty (or evil) work-o-rama. However, unfortunately for me, a dumb ass put a truck into a ditch this afternoon (no show shenanigans tonight). Tomorrow will be day 11 of the current marathon (I ought to keep track of my hours, just to acknowledge to myself the indentured servitude). I require some performance-enhancing drugs (weed), or something. I'm feeling pretty good, actually (except for being bruised, abraded, lacerated and sore). I think that I know how I'm able to keep up this pace, and it totally has to do with George Thorogood. Rock and other stuff is keeping me afloat. Who'd have thunk?

There's so much more, but my lackadaisical (can't believe that I spelled that one right) computer use is feeling really good, and I'm way fuckin' tired.

More Video Madness, Kids

Leave it to the French to undertake something like this. Floyd fans out there (I know who you are) will dig this. Thanks, Toby. You rock. Weed.

PINK FLOYD ATOM HEART MOTHER

The Denver Sound [Scene] RPG

(I'm not quite motivated to expand this one adequately--felt really nerdy and I'm really burnt out)

Whilst driving about the county today, I received a telephone call from Phoenix (don't get me started about that city). Dude was looking for the one they call "Grape Nuts" (thanks John--I've been laughing for days about that). Seriously, it's like we were married or something. I explained to dude that I didn't have a current number on me, and he says, "I have like five numbers for him, I'll try some of these other ones."

This incident has to affect my constitution and thus, my hip-points somehow; I'm not sure if it's a positive or a negative thing. In the game, zero hip-points means an agonizing social death. My character appears to be on the verge of the agonizing social suicide most of the time.

Tom Murphy could do a much better job of writing (or writting) this post.