Archive for December, 2004

Meaningless Ramblings

Posted by on Friday, 24 December, 2004

The first electric guitar amps did not work very well. They distorted awfully when turned up. I understand that the ever-so-popular Vox AC30 has a bit of a reputation for catching on fire. Technology has come a long way. Guitar amps potentially could work quite well now. However, somewhere along the line guitar players got it into their heads that an amp was supposed to sound distorted. Most guitar players will add extra distortion via a little box the guitar plugs into before it even gets to the amp. There is quite an industry for these little boxes if you care to look for it. These days, it is becoming increasingly popular to not use an amp at all, but just plug a guitar straight into a computer, then through the wonders of “acoustic modeling,” there are software programs that can digitally reproduce the sound of a vintage guitar amp, that did not work very well.

But we are not here to talk about guitar amps.

I was more than a little surprised last October to discover that my church actually sponsors a Halloween carnival. Halloween being, as it were, the “paganist” of pagan holidays. This year someone offered the explanation that over time Halloween has lost all of its meaning and therefore it is perfectly acceptable for Christians to celebrate it in anyway they choose.

I occasionally wonder at the first knucklehead who lopped down an evergreen and dragged it into his living room. I am told it was a Norwegian, although for what purpose I can not imagine. I should not be surprised if someone were to offer an explanation that was not remotely related to Christmas, but that this is merely another ritual that Christians have adopted as their own.

At this time of year, I can not help but think of modern pagans celebrating a Christmas which has lost all its original meaning, just as modern Christians celebrate Halloween. And when I look at my parents ornately decorated plastic Wal-Mart tree, I can not help but think of our old friends and their guitar amps.

26 hours later, I arrive in Geneva

Posted by on Wednesday, 15 December, 2004

I think insanely long travel times are good for jet lag. By the time you get there, you have no idea what time it’s supposed to be anymore, and are perfectly willing to accept whatever time they tell you. Especially if they say it’s about 9:00 at night and almost bedtime.

I spent seven hours in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. I avoided the redlight section. I thought about buying some absinthe, just because it was right there and I couldn’t find any when I was in South Africa, but what would I do with it now? Those were different times.

Apparently this was the first time in 12 days that the sun made it through the fog. I’m sure my mother was happy to hear that I had the A/C on in my car the day before I left.

Let Down

Posted by on Thursday, 2 December, 2004

I still get a few hits everyday despite the infrequency of my posts. Lately I tend to suddenly realize how long it has been since I posted anything new and throw up some poorly thought out, hastily written, badly grammatical bit of triteness that I wouldn’t even want to read myself.

The trouble stems from the fact that, what weighs most heavily on my mind is not of such nature that I feel like sharing with the world, and to talk about anything else feels hollow.

What then, one must ask, is the purpose of a blog, if not to share your thoughts?

Hey… who wants to know what CD I’m listening to RIGHT NOW!