I have four acoustic guitars and a Paul Reed Smith solid body electric, but I’ve never had an acoustic-electric. So, for a while now, I’ve been toying with the idea of picking one up. I liked the Gibsons, Martins and Taylors, but I figured that I wouldn’t be using it enough to justify the hefty price tag. As luck would have it, I happened to be in a local shopping center in which a rather well-known and well-established music store was advertising that it was going out of business.

Having a bit of time to kill, I wandered in, not expecting to buy anything more exciting than a few new picks or an extra set of strings. I strolled into the acoustic guitar room and saw the Yamaha hanging on the wall. It played well and the electronics sounded sweet. The list price was $1,300, but the regular selling price was $899. After two markdowns (they really were liquidating everything in the store), the price was $570. At that price … sold!

I’ve played it a bit at home, and I like it. I figure it will come in handy for playing the larger venues on the Soft Food Tour.

The guitar’s specs and technical deets are here.

You probably couldn’t fill a shot glass with stuff I know about horses, but I know that these animals are magnificent.

Thanks to my buddy Brian, the Air Force Vet

via C&S

I believe that there is no better woman country music singer than Suzy Bogguss (and she yodels!).

Here is a compilation of the kinds of things she usually sings:

I was very pleasantly surprised to hear her do a Duke Ellington tune and sing hell out of it. She is, quite simply, da bomb.

What impresses me most about her performance in these two videos is the lack of techno gimmickry. She could do those tunes just as well in your living room.

1. Driving a spike into my forehead.

2. Lighting my clothing on fire.

3. Slamming my fingers in the car door.

4. Forcing bamboo shoots under my fingernails.

5. Watching even one second of the hoopla surrounding the inauguration re-coronation of The One.

Today The One will take the following oath, as required by the U.S. Constitution:

-“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Years of obfuscation and prevarication will permit him to make that statement with a straight face. He should receive an Oscar, which he can display next to his Peace Prize.

Behold the Distinguished Gentlelady from Connecticut.

Words fail.

via Jammie Wearing Fools

Best wishes from the House by the Parkway for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

One of the wisest things I’ve done to extend my walking-around time on the planet was to let my motorcycle license lapse. As such, I won’t be buying a one-wheeled motorcycle.

One-wheeled motorcycle? It seems nuts, but, after watching the video, I think I would feel safer riding around on one wheel than I would feel traveling about on one of these.

Thanks to my buddy Brian, the Air Force Vet.

Linked by Doug Ross. Thanks!

Christmas has passed. The rubble has been cleaned up, and the leftovers have been eaten. There is much I will miss about Christmas – the decorations, the family gathering, great food, watching small children anticipate Santa’s arrival, and the general good spirit exhibited by most folks.

There are, however, a few things I will not miss:

1. Commercial jingles sung to the tune of Christmas songs. I sometimes think that the “creative” people at ad agencies often aren’t very. Jingles sung to this song, more than any others, make me want to slam my head against a hard surface.

2. Local Car Dealership Commercials where the Owner of the Dealership wears a Santa hat and SHOUTS about the great Christmas deals he has to offer, even if you have no money and lousy credit. The end of the commercials often feature all the employees of the dealership standing in a mob (wearing Santa hats) and saying “Happy Holidays” in sort-of unison. Yeah, that’ll make me want to drop everything, run out and buy a new car.

3. Any parody of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, except for this one. (The Wiseass Jooette reminded me of this great oldie.)

4. The Catalog Tsunami. I normally receive way more catalogs than I want, but between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I probably receive twenty pounds of them. Dear Harry and David – Nice stuff, but no thanks – a thousand times, no thanks.

5. Photographs of dogs with fake antlers stuck on their heads. Not funny; not particularly cute, and I’ll bet the dogs hate it too.

Hey, in 362 days, we get to do it all over again.