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May 2005
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Entries
May 01, 2005
Vonage gets a thumbs up
So far I'm pleased with my switch to Vonage for VOIP phone service. Then quality has been good and the price reasonable, I get much better features and I didn't have to buy new phones.
Yes, I know a bit of a gap in reporting.
Tubes rock
As I've mentioned before, I recently purchased an electric guitar. The thing was sold as a kit, with a small, 8 watt, solid-state amplifier. I was never super happy with the sound of the amp, and started to use my computer and GarageBand as an amp.
Certainly with that program there I had access to tons of effects and my Klipsch speakers, but it was inconvenient to have to sit at the computer desk to play.
What to do, what to do...
Continue reading "Tubes rock"May 16, 2005
Everybody needs a goal...
I've always heard — at least for computer stuff — that it is better to go ahead and have a project that requires you to learn something new than it is to try and "study" something to learn it.
Like Nike says, just do it.
But so far trying to learn how to play guitar I've followed the books and studied. So after a few weeks I can bang through a single verse of "On Top of Old Smokey". Not a very satisfying song, by the way.
So now I'm doing something different.
During a chance conversation with a fellow ex-Durhamite we talked about playing guitar and mentioned Jimi Hendrix's version of The Star Spangled Banner. I decided that would be a lot cooler to learn than some old folk song, and the song itself (but not how Hendrix played it) isn't terribly fast and is picked rather than chorded. That idea stuck with me, and I decided to make that the next song I worked on — instead of "Little Brown Jug".
Lots of people have written guitar tabulature for Hendrix's The Star Spangled Banner, but after looking around a bit I have decided to use Dead Joker's version. It is a little simplified and is generally an adaptation of the regular song, instead of a transcription of Hendrix's performance at Woodstock, like the very detailed tab from Rick H.
So my goal now is to learn The Star Spangled Banner before July 4, so I can get on someone's porch, turn up the volume and crank away.
Wish me luck — but if all else fails, I can at least play the very end.
Hoo Rah!