Random Friday Crap!

Weird combination of high and low tech in my house this week. I needed a reverb pedal for my guitar rig. "Reverb" for those who don't know is the sound a room makes when sound bounces around in it. You get it naturally when you crank a big amp in a big room, or you can fake it various ways like with a digital pedal or springs inside the amplifier. The spring reverb is pretty subtle, but the digital stuff can get pretty extreme. I've owned a half-dozen of the pedals, but never found one that I really loved. I sold the last one a few weeks ago.

I have been shopping for a new one, looking at stuff as high as $300. I don't have $300, mind you. Anyhoo, long story short I bought one yesterday for $150 and it has a USB port on the back to update the firmware and to download artist presets from the Internet. Or, you can use the iPhone app. The iPhone app is the most high/low tech combination I've seen in the 21st century. Does anyone remember the original telephone modem things? I don't just mean "dial up"... you used to have to actually use an old-style telephone and place the handset into a cradle and the beeping noises would play into the cradle and carry the signal. The iPhone app works the same way. You hold the phone up to the guitar and it plays a fast dial-up modem sound into the pickups, which travels down the cord to the pedal and changes the presets. It is the weirdest thing ever this week!

Also this week, I've fallen and I can't get up playing with Lily who has decided to not hate me. She still sheds hair like it is going out of style, and she's still skinny as hell.

I just saw a trailer for a Bobcat Goldthwait movie called God Bless America. Fun stuff.





... and my wife just got fired from her job. Lovely.