Dabbling in tabs

I’ve really been enjoying having my guitar back (the Tokai that Todd mailed me recently). It’s also been fun looking up guitar tabs on the Web — mainly for intro licks that get me to sit down and practice for a few minutes. Man, gone are the days (for the most part) of plunking down big bucks for pricey sheet music. I still have a whole boxful at Dad’s house — but only those titles that made it past the culling: the others I flogged years ago at Logo’s Books in Santa Cruz to scrounge up some cash.

(Trivia: first sheet music I ever purchased was U2’s Joshua Tree; bought at Crow’s Nest music in Naperville, July 1989. I remember coming home and trying to work out a D chord on the back porch of our house. It seemed unlikely I’d ever train my fingers to automatically configure themselves in that position and I wondered how in the hell anyone could simultaneously sing and concentrate on finger placement. It was one of the more deflating moments in my life with music.)

Anyway, some of the easy licks I’ve “de-coded” are the opening chords/intros to the Doobie Bros’ “Long Train Runnin’” and “Rockin’ Down the Highway”, INXS’ “New Sensation”, “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, and, the crown jewel so far, Matt “Guitar” Murphy’s intro to “Sweet Home Chicago” from The Blues Brothers. (I have to say, though, that when I try to replicate what Matt’s doing in the film it doesn’t sound right at all, but I like the fact that I’ll have to work at it a bit more.) Just having fun, that’s all.

What’s surprising is that most of these riffs are fairly straightforward, which is a bit anticlimactic. I mean, it still takes a lot of practice to get them down well, but the notation is not rocket science by any means. I guess it’s just weird in some way to be able to “get inside” or crack musical referents that have a strong personal association. Don’t get wrong: it’s great — and way cool — but also a touch disillusioning.

I remember a story Lyle Larson once told when I was taking his courses on Twain and Hemingway at SMC. He was relating the time someone showed him how to play the basic melody of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata on the piano. For years he’d held that piece in such high esteem that it crushed him to learn how just about anyone could pick it up in a few minutes. Ever since, he’s heard the song with somewhat jaded ears, having lost some of the reverence and awe he held before, which is sad, really. Maybe some things are better left a mystery. Either that or I’ll just go back to Steely Dan, which is always a challenge…

The Police come to Honolulu

Concert ticket (plus surcharges): $114
Concert t-shirt: $35
Beer: $7 x ?
Chance to see The Police in concert for the first (and most likely last) time in my life?: a hell of a lot!

Last Saturday Adam and I went to The Police concert here in Honolulu. I almost didn’t go because of the absurd price of tickets, but we don’t get many big name acts out here so you take what you can get; and besides, it’s The Police! I never saw them back in their heyday and I simply couldn’t justify not seeing them. Sting said the last time they played the Blaisdell was back in 1981. (They toured here in ‘84 in support of Synchronicity, but I’ll bet they played Aloha Stadium for that one.) Plus, Honolulu is the final stop for this reunion tour that’s been on the road since last May.

(On a side note: Adam and I were both trying to remember the last big-time concert we’d each been to. The nearest I can remember is perhaps the H.O.R.D.E. Festival at the Shoreline Amphitheater in ‘97 or ‘98? I remember seeing Ben Folds Five, the highlight for me.)

The boys have all grown older (which was true of the crowd, as well) and the songs were a bit mellower, but their musicianship was still tight as ever. Plus, the Blaisdell Center only seats about 10,000, so there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house. Adam and I sat through the first half but spent much of the second hour on our feet, circling around the mid-level walkway. The cool thing there is we were able to walk right behind the stage, with the band maybe 20 yards away. (Can you imagine getting to check out Stewart Copeland’s drumming from that proximity? Hello!…) The security detail wasn’t down for loitering so we had to maintain a slow, measured shuffle, making at least 4 or 5 circumnavigations in the process.

Here’s the set list:

Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Hole In My Life
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can’t Stand Losing You
Roxanne
King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

Of note:

Fiction Plane (the opening act, featuring Sting’s son), were pretty good. The guy sounds just like his father, though I don’t know how much he’s trying to work that angle. Another Julian Lennon? He probably hates that criticism.

Ann, I was thinking of you often during the night. You and The Police will always go hand-in-hand in my mind (even though I developed my own relationship with their music years later).

And yes, during “Walking on the Moon” I sang as much of the lyrics to “Bussing in the Lounge” as I could remember. (John, I would have tipped a beer in your honor but I got a little ahead of myself when moving to let my neighbor pass by, accidentally knocking over the reserve I had stashed under my seat. I was thinking of you all the same.)

None of the t-shirts featured images of the band members today.

Though recording devices of any type were strictly prohibited, I’ll bet half the audience at any given time were staring at their cell phones instead of the stage. (While a good proportion of the remainder took in the jumbotron rather than squinted to see Sting…) For the time being, there are still quite a few videos posted on YouTube from the show that we saw. Just do a search for police concert honolulu.

(Honolulu Advertiser concert review)

(KameraKozo’s photos from the concert)

Easy Breezy

Yesterday it arrived: the Tokai Tele my brother gave me 18 years ago. [correction: Todd gave the guitar to me on July 6, 1991, when I was back in Chicago for a week; I just checked this against my journal. 2/22/08] The guitar is a replica of a late ’50s Fender Telecaster — though some say Tokai has equalled or ever bettered (!) the original Tele’s sound and tonal quality. Whatever — it’s a nice axe.

The guitar was with me in California throughout the 90s and went into hibernation there while I was off in Japan for three years teaching English. In late 2003 it migrated east to Wisconsin; more specifically, to my dad’s basement in Madison.

Lately, however, I’ve been feeling pangs of music withdrawal and a longing to play (electric) again. I asked Todd if he wouldn’t mind having the Tokai (and its “BreezySound”) looked at, tuned up, and sent to me out here in Hawaii. Anyway, it’s great to have her back again. I’ve only messed around for a couple of hours and already my fingertips are throbbing. (Admittedly, I haven’t play much at all during the past 4 years…)

As an aside, The Police are in town, probably having dinner a few miles from here. In less than three hours Adam and I will be there when the jams begin. Bring on the night!

Update (2/19/08)

From the research I’ve done on the Tokai Registry website, I’m fairly certain that my guitar was made in 1984 in Japan (the “BreezySound” headstock from that year matches my own). Todd says he bought it used at, well, here’s what he told me:

I picked it up the other day from Dad’s. It doesn’t seem to have sustained any damage. The plating is starting to show a bit of light pitting. I bought the guitar from Snukst Music in Chicago’s Polish district. I found a pick that I got when I bought it and I will put it in the case. It wasn’t cheap when I got it and I knew nothing about it. I just figured that you get what you pay for. I was cheesed off to have to pay extra for the case, but there you go.

Update (2/22/08)
(photo of me with the Tokai a week after I received it from Todd)

Adrian Cardoso Crain

I just found out this morning that Chad and Denise became parents on December 31st, and to prove it, here’s Adrian Cardoso Crain! I’m so happy for the two of them, but was surprised (and a little ashamed at myself) to learn that Denise had even been pregnant. (!) Guess it has been a while since we last spoke… In any case, this is great news. Here’s one little boy who has a lot to look forward to with Chad and Denise for parents, don’t you think?

From the vault

If any of you use Flickr, you’re aware that photos taken before the date you created an account cannot be uploaded. Well, they can, but in order to display them chronologically you need to “fool” the database by altering the upload date of older photos to the date of your account creation, then reconstruct a reverse time-line within the hours, minutes, and seconds of that one day. Sound confusing? It isn’t, really, but it can eat up a lot of time.

That said, I long ago made the decision to keep things in order as best I can. Yet, with thousands of older prints, negatives, slides, letters, souvenirs, etc. remaining to be scanned, most of this stuff will obviously not see the light of day anytime soon. And, as items do make their way out of the vault, you’re not going to find them at the top of our Flickr page. Instead, they will be (appropriately) filed deep within the chronological stack of virtual pages.

To help keep tabs on recently added items — usually determined by whatever project I happen to be working on — I’ve created a new set entitled recent archive additions. (Snappy, eh?) This new group will always be the last selection on our Flickr “Sets” page and will feature changing content, accordingly. (link)

Round Top Drive open for business!

After 21 months, 2 murders, numerous delays, cost overruns, and untold lost hours in detouring the long way around the mountain, the closed stretch of Round Top Drive has finally (!) reopened to through traffic. It’s been so long since the road blocks went up that I had to think hard about why the road closed in the first place. (Oh yeah, all that rain we got back in the spring of 2005…)

It was weird riding the Tantalus-Round Top loop, as I — like so many other cyclists — had become so accustomed to simply turning around and doubling back. Yipee!

12-0 baby!

What a magical, nail-biting ride it’s been. Going from “worst to first”, the University of Hawaii Warriors football team has completely electrified the state, capping a perfect season in a 21-0 come-from-behind win over the Washington Huskies. In addition to being the sole undefeated team in the nation, the Warriors clinched the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) title by defeating long-time rivals Boise State and are now bound for the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, where they’ll face powerhouse Georgia in their first ever BSC bowl invitation. With its heart, talent, faith, and fan-base of support, this team has shown that it takes more than big budgets and recruiting muscle to win football games. We believe! Go ‘Bows! (Honolulu Advertiser special section)