I should've learned . . .

to play the guitar, and when I did, I should have kept the one I had!

I read an article today about how much people are paying for so-called "vintage" guitars - you know, the so-called Pre-CBS Fenders and the 1950s vintage Les Pauls?

Some people are dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars for these things. This particular ax, a Fender Broadcaster, number 37 of 50, was for sale in Germany for $20,570. Got any spare change?

I learned to play guitar on an old Yamaha that my dad bought. He loved music, but he had one problem - he was tone deaf. He could not make the instrument make the proper sound if you held a gun to his skull. My brother, the pianist, had no interest in stringed instruments, so I inherited the guitar. And it was a love affair that has not ended.

Some people would say that this is a hobby, but I beg to differ. This is a sickness. At one time in my life I owned six - six - guitars. I had a Yamaha steel string, another steel string knock off that someone gave me, a classical, a 12-string, a Gibson Les Paul electric, and a bass. I traded some of these around - including gasp! the Les Paul. That one I should have kept!

It was sweet - wine colored with gold hardware. A Les Paul Custom, no less, and I remember I dug ditches - literally worked for a construction company all summer - to get it. I choked for breath when I found it at home one day when I got back from work. My dad had secretly gone to the music store to get it. It was beautiful.

And I remember playing, and playing and playing that thing until my fingers went numb. "Sweet Home Alabama," "Purple Haze," "Spooky," "Brown Sugar," "Renegade," "Sultans of Swing," and any other guitar anthem I could learn, I learned. I also learned some Wes Montgomery-type jazz tunes to impress the fellas at the music store. (This photo is not of mine; I only had two pickups on mine, but the color scheme is the same, just to give you a taste. I saw one for sale on e-bay for $2,500! But that's the sickness talking)

A sidebar: - I actually got to meet a couple of the guitar gods of my wasted youth at the Super Bowl three years ago. I met - actually was in a press conference with and asked a question of - Carlos Santana. I also had a lengthy conversation with James Young of Styx, and of course we talked about guitars! And about nine years ago, an old girlfriend of mine and I interviewed Les Paul himself as part of an exhibit at the National Museum of American History here in Washington. My question for him? Why are the things so $&!@## heavy ? His answer - for the sustain son; you don't get the sustain in the high notes without the dense wood, and dense wood is heavy.)

But the thing about a Les Paul is it's a MEAT eater. It's not the kind of ax you can play in church (at least not in a stone Episcopal church like I went to in college).

So it sat in the case for years. Then when I moved out of the house after college - and got involved with my now ex-wife, I traded the Les Paul for - choke! - an Ibanez jazz guitar. It was a kinder, gentler instrument, but it was not the same.

So when I saw this article I remembered my wine colored mistress, with her golden hardware shimmering in the spotlights and her shiny black headstock inlaid with mother-of-pearl. I remembered how my classmates cheered - cheered! - when I started playing "Sweet Home Alabama" for the senior talent show in school. And I wondered where that guitar ever went. I hope it has a good home.

"525,600 Minutes ...."

Okay, so Rent took that one, and since I don't want to get sued, I give them all credit. But no royalties!

It has been one year since I started this blog. The first post (in the archives on January 28, 2005) was about the Super Bowl.

But the past year has been one of changes, some I will never forget, some I would just as soon not remember.

I do not want to get too sentimental about this. The Raves have been a forum for me to express feelings and to find out what other people think. I have also learned a few things - some HTML design, some CSS, and what it's like to have a pissed-off photography person write you a crappy note in public.

I have tried to be fair, and I have tried to get my facts right in stories about larger issues. I have enjoyed the comments and I hope that there will be more, for - God willing - the Raves will continue.

So I wanted to mark this anniversary, and to thank those who have stopped by. I have changed some of the links in the sidebar, because they ceased to be my favorites. I hope to add some more features in the future (as I learn more web design - I do want to entertain and inform you dear readers). And if I go to the World Cup this year, I plan to post from there, too, and promise to keep it real.

Your faithful correspondent,

David

The Squeeze, Part 2

I want you to look closely at this picture. This is, sickly as it might appear, a lion. In a cage. In a zoo.

And if you look really close you can see that it looks like he is sick - or has water running from his eyes - and he presents a pitiful picture.

He is as little like a lion as possible, but inside his heart there still beats something wild. The question I ask is this: What's inside you that God put there by design but somehow seems to have faded?

I often find myself frustrated with the so-called realities of life and what I believe God wants me to be doing. Sometimes I cannot reconcile the two. Jesus said no man can serve two masters, and it's true. It's either God, or the world; no middle ground.

However, while as Christians we are not to be conformed to the world (see my earlier post about the Squeeze) we still live here . And to live here takes money, and to make money you have to have a job - unless you steal or filch off others - and a job demands attention. But inside my heart there is a desire to chuck all that. Unfortunately this is where the tension comes in.

As the late Flip Wilson said in one of his comedy routines, "For this church to run it's gonna take money!" And what was the congregation's response? "Let it crawl, Rev! Let it crawl!

Now this is where the tension gets personal. I like to eat. I like to have lights on in the house. I like to drive a car and go on vacation every now and then. So I have to have money. So I have to have a job. But does that mean that my job and God's purpose are in opposition? Not necessarily. But sometimes, when the love has worn off, the frustration rises and the "over-it" factor comes in, it's really hard to remember those things.

Now part of the reason I'm complaining so much about that tension is that no one told me about it! I was not prepared for this midlife crap, and so now I am learning the game on the field, instead of in practice. So if you are a parent, prepare your children for real life. Not telling them how it really goes is abuse, plain and simple.

And in case you're curious, this is what a lion looks like on the savannah, where he belongs. Notice that there is a majesty about the beast, and there is an authority to him. He looks nothing like his fellow cat in the photo above.

It is said of Jesus that he preached with authority (Mt 7:29) and not as the scribes. And He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). Did you ever wonder why? Could it be because he was being who he was supposed to be and not what other people wanted Him to be? It got Him crucified, but His resurrection proves the point.

Thomas Merton once wrote that a tree glorifies God by being a tree because it is being what God created it to be. My hope for all of us is that we would be just like that tree - or this lion - and be what God created us to be instead of what we think we have to be to get by.

Now is the Winter of our discontent!

Take me Back! Take Me Back! Take Me back! This is a shot of Paradise Beach on Paradise Island. I took it earlier this month with a Fuji 1000 film camera and had it developed onto a CD so I could post it. There are more Bahamas photos in the Flickr thingy in the right hand column.

The weather in Nassau, the Bahamas, today, Thursday January 26,2006? Partly Cloudy, and 75 degrees at the airport.

Washington D.C.'s weather? Sunny with a high of 40 with 25 mph winds that make it feel like it's 25!

As I said: Take me BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!