Search options (Page 3 of 10)

I live in Windsor, On - across from Detroit. Might be too far, tho.
Randy

Paul McCartney's "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" makes me want to vomit. Worst song ever...

I'm not religious, but I like the old carols, my favourite (hardly ever heard anymore) is: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". Powerful lyrics.

I grew up with Hank Williams music, and never really appreciated it. I rediscovered Hank about 20-25 years ago, and include a number of his songs in my gig nights. His genius is in his "complex" simplicity. I am awed by his songwriting.

Four Strong Winds is one of my gig night songs. Ian Tyson wrote that song in the early 60's, and recorded it with his now former wife Sylvia. Neil Young's version is not my favourite, although it is probably the most widely listened to version. Simple song to perform, but, its simplicity allows for personal interpretation of it. It's my wife's favourite song from my playlist.
Randy

Another point in the union debate. If you check the statistics, in the post-war 1940's until the mid 70's, a majority of workers, excluding government employees, were unionized. At one point in the early 60's, some 70% were unionized.

In the 40's, 50's and 60's, one income per family would buy groceries, shelter and quite a few luxuries that were unheard of prior to the second world war. Corporations made steady profits, and the economy worked.

Today, excluding government employees, unionized workers represent less than 10% of workers. This was the result of the concerted efforts, during and after the Reagan years, to de-unionize North America, all in the name of "growth".

What do we have today? We have a HUGE gap between the rich and poor. We have a disappearing middle class. We have most families with both parents working. We have huge social problems that relate directly to these points.

Workers, with sheer numbers, who can afford to be consumers, were the driver behind nearly 4 decades of unparalelled economic stability, with a growing middle class and stable economy.

The drop in union membership in North America co-relates directly to the loss of the middle class, the concentration of weath and the growth of the plutocracy that really runs our governments.

A day of reckoning is on the horizon. I am glad that I am old and won't be around when people finally wise up to how badly they've been misled.

Randy

Certainly depends on my mood, but, 3 best - Cool Hand Luke, Jeremiah Johnson and Mr Smith Goes to Washington.

A year ago, I would have said "Avatar", but I just rewatched in on TV withouth the 3-D, and the movie was, to me, a bust.

Randy

Sorry, I only have a D35, and I don't make change...

I was 13 at the time, just starting high school. It was very frightening. I can remember being glued to the radio as the first Soviet transport ships were approached by the U.S. navy quarantine. It was very, very tense. That was October 27, 1961. The same day, an American U-2 accidently overflew Soviet territory and was fired upon and severly damaged. A low altitude recci plane was also shot down over Cuba that same day. The world came extremely close to annhilation that Saturday.

I credit the Kennedy brothers and Kruschev for ignoring the hot-headed military advice given to both parties by their military advisors. Curtis Lemay, in particular, was almost treasonous in his vigor to invade Cuba, and bomb it into submission. Lesser leaders may have gotten us all killed. It was, really, that close.

I suppose this event will be what it has become, simply a footnote in the Cold War. It seems, though that we learned from this. It was after this event that the "hot line" between Washington and Moscow was installed, so that leaders could communicate directly to head off escalations. In 1961, it took about 12 hours for communications between the two capitals, and no "live" link at all. This, of course, predated satellite communication by about 5 or 6 years.

For quite awhile, the brinkmanship was put on the backburner, resulting in the "detente" era of the late 60's and through the 70's. I believe that both sides were shaken badly by the experience, and were reminded how easy it would have been for this to get beyond control.

If you can't tell, I am a retired history teacher, and I was deeply affected by the events of those 13 day in October, 1961.

Randy

Personally, I would not do a "full" repair. No affect on the sound = a guitar with some personality.