West of Denver
My life in a small town on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
Monday, October 23, 2023
THE "HIGH FIVE"
Saturday, January 29, 2022
QR CODES
Sunday, September 19, 2021
DOG "BUSINESS"
Friday, September 3, 2021
BICYCLING WOES
Sunday, May 30, 2021
IN PRAISE OF CHEAP BEER
Some years ago I played in an old-time band. The musicians in the group were the most talented and fun group of people I’ve ever known. Our jams were loud, raucous and fun and our concerts and contra dances were equally so. What made our jams so much fun was the ever-present inclusion of beer. In fact, looking at these fine musicians, one would think that they were more of a vegan-granola crowd. Not so! Rather, they were a group of the hardest-core beer drinkers with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of associating.
To give you a feel for what our jams were like, picture 20-30 musicians complete with guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles and other assorted stringed instruments. Along with their instruments were various sizes of coolers strewn about each containing various brands of beer.
There was one guitarist in the group who never brought any beer. Unfortunately, “Jim” would always select a spot next to me during our jams. Predictably he would ask me what brand of beer I happened to bring. At that time I was into the emerging IPA variety and would reveal the label of the bottle to him. He was quick to ask “Is it any good?” to which I would casually reply that I liked it. He would be put off by this response and would proceed to ask various detailed questions about the product such as where it was brewed, types of barley and hops used, water source, brewery employee relations, etc. One satisfied that the beer was up to his high standards he would reach into my cooler and help himself to a free beer. On an average night, of my six-pack he would consume four and I would get two.
After about four weeks of Jim’s grand larceny of my beer, I switched to the cheapest crap that I could buy. You know the kind - it’s usually at the end of the beer aisle in rusted cans that proudly proclaim that the beer was “aged in the truck”. Needless to say, Jim took umbrage to the fact that my beer selection was offensive to his refined palate. After several weeks of rejecting my cheap, disgusting and offensive beer, he selected another place to sit, far away from the perils of the nasty swill whose quality matched that of my guitar playing.
So, to both of my readers, I would like to leave you one small nugget of wisdom. If you happen to be sitting someplace with a cooler of beer next to you and should someone sit next to you and ask you if your brand of beer is any good, quickly respond:
“Oh hi, Jim. No, it’s pretty lousy stuff.”
Readers, enjoy your day.
Friday, April 30, 2021
STORAGE
Saturday, January 2, 2021
LOST
Over the years of my producing this blog I’ve written about my love of guitars. I’m not real sure if it’s a love of guitars or a love of buying and selling guitars. After some consideration I’m guessing that it’s the latter. This proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the act of losing money is addictive.
The past two weeks have involved my selling three Fender Strats, all of which I have sworn that I would never sell. The wife has learned to interpret that phrase as “I will never sell this guitar in the next 3 days.”
As is common in my marathon selling sessions, the minute I sell off unwanted instruments, my fingers magically drift to Craigslist to look for castaway guitars that have lost favor with their owners. Craigslist is a guitar freak’s godsend - eager sellers, reasonable prices and cash only.
Now, to the subject at hand.
Let’s rewind the clock to the mid-1960’s. One of my first guitars was a model called a “Texan” made by the Epiphone Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was very taken by the sound of this guitar when I tried it out in a music store. In fact, I passed over more notable brands such as Gibson and Martin in favor of buying the Epi Texan.
I kept that guitar through my years in the military and during college. This is where things get a bit weird. For the life of me I cannot remember what happened to my Epi Texan. Did I sell it, give it away, pawn it, lose it in a bet?
No matter - it’s gone.
To make things worse, I have learned that 1964 Epiphone Texans are very valuable collectors items. This is due to the fact that a Beatles song was produced using the very same model of guitar that I used to own, thus sending its value through the roof.
The final miserable chapter to this story is the fact that I can’t recall the name of the Beatles song in question.
All I know is that this experience has left me with some terrible emotional scars. Ultimately my feelings are that:
I’m not half the man I used to be and that there’s a shadow hanging over me.
Readers, enjoy your day.