Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Oh noes...!!!

And here I was, thinking I had suffered enough as a teenager...


Thursday, May 05, 2011

Needless to say, say it anyway...

   
    
    

  
  
It's been a bit quiet around here recently. Don't have any real 'inspiration' so no urge to write new stuff for my blog.

I have also activated my Facebook-page. I can remember joining Facebook years and years ago but I never did much with it. I had my weblog and also was quite suspicious about privacy issues on Facebook. That must surely have been clairvoyance... ;)
 
Let me see; after the last non-lyrics entry our town was shook up by that young idiot shooting down people at the local mall. I really don't have anything to add to that which has already been said so I won't even try.
       
Also we were having trouble with our one remaining cat, who turned out to be pregnant but from a still born kitten. She had to be operated on and I must say that the vet did an excellent job as always.
We are now looking for a kitten to keep Katie company. Not only did she lose her offspring but she(we) also lost her older brother about 7 weeks ago, so she is feeling somewhat alone.
    
As for the rest: I 'rebuilt' my acoustic guitar; new strings, a good clean-up and check-up, that sort of stuff. The neck of my guitar had been slightly twisted by natural causes(it is after all over 30 years old) so it was hard to play in tune across the whole neck. High notes would tend to be off key a bit. It was the reason I did not play for some time(years). So I was really delighted to find that the neck has 'twisted back'. It may be the influence of the weather and the storage cabinet, I don't know. What I do know is that I can now play nicely in tune up to at least the 9th fret. Which is more than enough for me as I don't really do acoustic solo's.

I also bought a digital guitar tuner which brings me to the next subject :

I got myself my first Smart Phone. I used to work with an old Palm Treo that a friend gave me. About a week ago I decided to, for the first time in many many years, treat myself to something new. I am now the owner of an HTC Incredible S with 8GB storage(though that will be 16GB later this month). An excellent phone, I can recommend it. Especially the sound is crisp and clear, which is what you want when you're hard of hearing.

In fact; the audio applications are quite good and I found what I consider to be the best one : 'PlayerPro'.

(The content displayed in this picture bears no relation to my own collection)


The player itself is quite good but it has one brilliant extension; a DSP-pack that comes with it for free. It includes a 12-band equalizer as well as a pre-amp and a bass-booster. Very good value for money as the whole application costs about 2 euro's...


 
     
     
What does this phone have to do with buying a guitar tuner?  Well of course I went to the Android Market to see what they have on offer, and I found a really excellent guitar tuning application for free.


 
 
It is better in quiet circumstances than in a smokey and noisy bar so I will keep the separate hardware tuner for live purposes. Still; it works beautifully and is incredibly sensitive.

And as for the rest; we are just surviving here.
  
Sometimes one should not aspire to greater things than just be.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Good lyrics

I have often told you stories
About the way
I lived the life of a drifter
Waiting for the day
When I'd take your hand
And sing you songs
Then maybe you would say
Come lay with me love me
And I would surely stay

But I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune

Many times I've been a traveller
I looked for something new
In days of old
When nights were cold
I wandered without you
But those days I thougt my eyes
Had seen you standing near
Though blindness is confusing
It shows that you're not here

Now I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune
Yes, I can hear the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune

Good lyrics for late at night when your knee is killing you

Here comes the helicopter -- second time today
Everybody scatters and hopes it goes away
How many kids they've murdered only God can say
If I had a rocket launcher...I'd make somebody pay

I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate
I don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states
And when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
If I had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate

On the Rio Lacantun, one hundred thousand wait
To fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate
Cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
If I had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate

I want to raise every voice -- at least I've got to try
Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes.
Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry
If I had a rocket launcher...Some son of a bitch would die