Joe G

For me, that band peaked with Master Of Puppets. 1986 for Christ sakes!

Now where's that dictionary....

Very inspiring thoughts Jim. I just placed an order for this album from BMG, and like a couple of other posters here, I confess that it will be the first Armstrong in my collection. One quibble: you used my name in a negative context THREE TIMES! Joe Gloss

Eddie Izzard's a stitch, but then I've only seen one HBO special of his bit.

Just wondering why he wasn't mentioned here, unless I missed it. Come on, USE ME!

When I just looked, there were 19,999 posts. This could have been the 20,000th. B) Edit: Yep, it was!

Mauve, actually.

Run for your lives!

Is Bill Withers not considered a soul singer as well?

Cripes! I wonder if the prices will come down in the future...

Classic moments from the not-so-distant past. Brings a tear to my beer.

Thanks for the info Rooster. Likewise, I rank Kurt Rosenwinkel among my favorite guitarists. I'm still waiting for the follow-up to The Next Step. Any word on this Phil?

Is this the guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel?

Another one for Donny

Sounds like this is the wave of the future. Interesting...

We're going in another direction talking about hearing protection, but it's important too. I was just wondering about the trend of in ear monitors for concert performances, and what kind of decibels are happening with those. That scares me a bit having something right in your ear that you don't have control of. I've been foolish in the past exposing myself to loud music without hearing protection, and I'm fortunate that my hearing isn't damaged more than it is. Anyone have experiences with the in ear monitors?

So Jazz, are the PT's you are working with confindent that you will be able to play again?

Since I don't have time to practice 8 hours a day, that never becomes an issue. There are times that I get fairly obsessed with a new piece of music, and end up playing the same phrases for a couple of hours on end without much of a break. That gets my fingers, hands, and wrists pretty sore. I practice a form of chi-gong that works all the joints and muscles pretty well to keep things loosened up. I don't want to turn this into another Effortless Mastery thread, but it does tie in. Our first instinct when picking up the instrument should be to breath and relax. There should be no strain whatsoever. It's easy to get lost in the music (and perhaps our fears about not being good enough) and before you know it, you're all tensed up again. That's when we need to stop, put the thing down, stretch, breath, relax and start again. Keep sending the message to the body that it's all about being relaxed and having an experience of pleasure, not pain. I've gotten much better at catching myself in the last couple of years when it comes to this. Musicians are athletes of the fine muscles. Taking care of our bodies as other athletes do should be a top priority. I think your teacher did you a huge disservice by telling you to ignore the pain you were having. I sure hope you can bring about a recovery and get back to playing again. Thanks for sharing your story.

SoulStream--keep reading, he addresses all of that!

Good points and, that's what I thought you meant. Wasn't it Watts who said, "You can get more stinkin' from thinkin' than you can from drinkin'?" Quite true. It's a trap I fall prey to all to often. Another way to view this is "being vs. becoming", and I think there are times for both. You're right, it's a difficult and not entirely effective way to spend all our days, focused on overcoming our massive personality flaws. There is a way to just rest in the "here I am, ugly, beauty and all" and be at peace with that. But don't come to me for lessons; I'm still working on it. OY! What a basket case!

Knee deep in da funk!

Don't know why I didn't strum....the right chord....when I was supposed to... Yes, I've been listening to the Metheny disc and it is very nice. Hard to keep the listener's interest up for a whole program of mostly quiet acoustic guitar music, (and that's coming from a guitarist) but if anyone can it's Pat.

Forget Rooster's avatar; I can't get past Catesta's! :rsmile:

Jim, could you elaborate on that a bit? What is it that you are wary of? Does your statement here relate to your earlier post in this thread? Just curious.