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Hey Getfiddle.  Now that you've picked your guitar back up, how do you like accompanying yourself on lullabies for your daughter?  I get a real kick out of doing that.  One night my daughter came back downstairs while I was playing.  She was having trouble getting to sleep and so we sang a few songs.  I made sure they were age appropriate, of course.  John McCutcheon's Featherbed, The Rainbow Connection, that sort of thing.  It made us both feel good, and she had no trouble getting to sleep the second time. 

- Zurf

On the first thing, if you come across such a program, please post.  That would be wonderfully useful for practice.  I've been wanting to figure out how to use the recorder thingy I've got so that I can lay down some 12 bar blues strums to practice harmonica and bass riffs to.

I'm a puckerer.  I never have got the hang of the tongue blocking.  Some say it's easier, but I just wind up with a harmonica full of spit.  It takes some practice to build the muscles for a good pucker.  You'll be getting two or three holes for a while.  Your first big "HEY COOL MAYBE THIS WILL WORK OUT!!" moment is when you get a good clean single note.  It takes a while.  Stick with it.  Same as a horn player, you need to get those lip and cheek muscles tuned to a new and relatively un-natural shape and feel.  What I used to do is to practice at traffic lights in heavy traffic during my commute. 

The next big moment is when you remember to switch suck and blow for a decent scale when you get to the seventh hole.  Or is it sixth.  I forget until I get a harp in hand and start playing along. 

Above all, don't try and be Sonny Terry in five minutes.  Just relax and have a good time learning something new.   

- Zurf

Crank it 'till your ears beg for mercy!  Sweet guitar. 

- Zurf

WBH - I frankly don't know anything about war or the military and less about middle easter geo-politics, so I have to let that rest in the hands of the experts.  I wish there was more I can do, but there isn't.  At least not with any credibility on my part. 

What I meant by being glad that President Bush is no longer is office was based on his environmental record, especially with regards to rivers.  I don't even hold the economy against him.  That started brewing really badly no later than mid-way through President Clinton's second term.  Terrorism and our wars took our minds and press off the situation for a time, but that didn't mean the problem wasn't continuing to brew and worsen.

I agree with you that President Obama cannot turn the economy around by floating more money.  That's hardly an indictment of President Obama.  I don't think we can put the economy or its recovery at the heart of any person or party.  Increasingly, ever since WWII, the U.S. government has tried to govern through money rather than ideas, discipline, and effort.  They've done it for so long that now they've got so much money even they don't know how to spend it all and they're spending more than they've got anyway.  They've made themselves irrelevant.  Money only has to much influence. 

I'm going to leave it there so as not to take this into a "uh-huh" "nuh-uh" kind of political thread.  Anyone may disagree with me, of course.  All I've done is state my opinion, to which any and all are free to disagree or agree or ridicule.  I will not defend it further in this forum.   

- Zurf

The application of theory to the harmonica are addressed very well by a couple books by David Harp.  I mean, how can you not trust a guy named Harp on the subject of harmonicas?  Anyway, the first is a guitar case sized book called "Music Theory Made Easy", available from Amazon.  The second is "Instant Blues Harmonica"  - hint: it's not really instant. 

Anyway, both books are very useful for understanding how to apply the harmonica to both lead licks and backup.  He covers the difference between straight harp (which is played in the key of the harmonica) and cross harp (which is played in the fifth of the key of the harmonica).  He lays it out a little bit at a time, in easily digested chunks, and builds your knowledge much more quickly than you'd expect. 

Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty play mostly straight harp.  Sonny Terry, Huey Lewis, Bruce Willis (yeah THAT Bruce Willis) play mostly cross harp.  Neither is right, wrong, better, or harder.  I prefer straight harp for myself most of the time. 

Thanks for the reminder.  I need to pull out my books and brush up on my harmonica playing.  I've let it languish for a few years.  I've got a felt sack full of harmonicas that taste like Crown Royal and macanudos.  Time to clean them up and play them. 

- Zurf

Bad string day.  It happens.  A little carress, a little sweet-talk, fall back to a "comfort song" and it'll all be OK.  If not, well, next time it will.

- Big D

You already have.

- Zurf

Two crass ones, for which I will self-edit are:

"Colder than a witch's ***."   *** is a crass term for a mammory gland. 

The other is "Slicker than **** on ice."  **** is something that comes out the southern end of your dog when it's facing north. 

The doorknob one I always heard as "slicker than snot on a doorknob."  Which never made much sense to be because snot's kind of sticky. 

My momma had all sorts of phrases that I've no idea how they got started.  She used to say she was "mad enough to spit cotton."  She meant angry but always said mad.  No idea what it means, but I figure it must be very, very angry because she was usually a funny color between red and purple when she said it. 

My dad called someone "Lower than a pregnant snake" once.  He never says anything unpleasant about anyone.  That one's stuck with me as it was so uncharacteristic of him, but also because it was funny. 

- Zurf

Maria Sharapova is nice looking.  Off the court, she is the subject of posters, calendars, mens' magazine 'articles', and whatnot.  But as a tennis player she doesn't hold a candle to Martina Hingis.  Further, Ms. Hingis beauty was not only in her appearance in still photographs (which is very nice) but in her graceful movement and in the positive attitude she displayed at all times.  With only a modicum of movement, she obtained amazing results.  She smiled whether she won or lost.  Ms. Sharapova comes across as a bit of a snit, especially when she isn't doing well against an opponent (which is fairly often). 

Steffi Graf was amazing and had an attitude and comeback beyond that which should ever be expected.  Still, she relied on a power game to a great degree.  She had power all over the other women she was playing against and opened up the door to power players to follow.  After her comeback, she by necessity concentrated on placement and spin control and became an even better player.  However, at least two have surpassed her in the application of power tennis on the women's circuit.  The now retired Lindsey Davenport could use her height advantage for amazing power, and frankly no one touches Venus Williams these days and may never.  I'm afraid Ms. Graf, as talented as she was, would not have been #1 with Ms. Williams playing.  I never found her to be a "pretty" player.  Sure, she's a nice-looking woman, but with her it was all talent and determination as far as I'm concerned. 

Steelers rock.

- Zurf

Not exactly.  She surely is beautiful and that has its attraction on its own, but she really was very exciting to watch play as well.  She never seemed to panic or rush, and always kept each game and the matches in control.  She never lost, but was sometimes beaten (which she accepted as gracefully as she did wins).  Her strategy was always impeccable and she had absolute mastery of the basics of the game - which carried her to the top and kept her there for five or six years straight.  The only person who really ever contested her position was Lindsey Davenport.  I recommend checking her videos as well.  She's as tall as Venus Williams (6'2"), but didn't play the Venus Williams power game - using her height for power only when it was called for and not as a fallback position.  The two of them playing - Martina Hingis vs. Lindsey Davenport - were absolutely epic games. 

When Serena Williams plays on clay, like at the French Open, it's a thing of beauty.  But you should have seen Martina Hingis do it.  Simply amazing. 

- Zurf

p.s.  Go Steelers.

Serena not so much, but I must admit a certain disappointment when Martina Hingis retired.  Imagine that, born the year I moved into High School and she's retired with enough money that her grandchildren won't have to work if she handles it wisely.   

- Zurf

All at the same time?  'Cause that would be COOL!

- Zurf