Guitar Licks

Has anyone out there seen this fabulous documentary called Who Killed th Electric Car? My wife and I have just finished watching this doc for the second time, and it just keeps boggling the mind.

I realize that this is quite the off topic subject for a guitar blog, but I just honestly want to gauge where everyone sits on this one. I’ve just started off my summer holidays, with the worst stomach virus that I ever have had and taking a number of days off from work to boot, and I stumbled upon this PBS doc while being a zombie on the old couch.

I realize that you should always take everything you see/hear with a grain of salt, but what if only a fraction of the info. about this story is true? Only a fraction … it would make all of us part of the biggest scandal/scam in the history of man! I don’t know about you, but this one really makes me think about it.

Can this thing really be bad/unhealthy for us? Could this thing really bring down the economy? Has anyone ever driven in electric car and lived to tell the tale? What terrible thing can come out of this new technology? Are they protecting us from something? Well here’s a story on experiences with the thing we call the EV(electric vehicle)!

I vividly remember at dinner at my in-laws house one day, many years ago, that flashed into my mind during the first time we saw this documentary.

For many months there was this odd looking red car, it looked like the front part of some B movie futuristic air plane, sitting in my in-laws neighbours driveway. The owner of the house, a long time family friend, was out of the country for an extended period of time and I was anxiously awaiting him to return so I could inquire about this futuristic car thing. Then, the moment that I had been waiting for!

I saw the neighbour and his buddy pull up into his driveway and started to go into this car. I told them, just before serving dinner that I’d be back soon, meaning I’ll be back … well much later. To make a very long story short, they told me that it was a HOME MADE electric car! Yes a home made one! I got to sit in this thing and said, “you gotta take me for a ride in this thing, PLEASE!”

It got up to around 100 kilometers an hour, you could go about 80 km. and to recharge it you just had to charge it into any 120V outlet. They ran a chord from the dryer in the basement to do this, really I saw it. It had not bad pick up and the best was when the car stopped … you didn’t hear a thing! And yes, I lived to tell the tale!

I understand this post is not the equivalent to the protester’s in the documentaries site has on line for you that is in favor of the EV1, but it’s all I have to personally share with you!

I apologize for the rambling on and on about this, but I think my meds have a little something to do with this post as well!

Keep on Jammin’ (and always be healthy before all of your vacations)

Just in case you have not heard of these guys, here is a little ditty and my old band Pylis played way back in the day.

It has everything you want in a tune to play live! It’s fun, difficult to play and most of all IT’S A CANADIAN BAND!!!!!

Enjoy!

Keep on Jammin’
Max Webster R.I.P.

The Transperformance tuning system called the Performer, will make tuning your guitar on the fly very simple. It is an interesting dream of many guitarists, whose idea’s have finally become a reality.

I’ve been recently researching modern day guitar tuning technology and I have found some very different approaches in how to achieve this.

On my other blog, Guitar Licks and Tips, I have introduced some of you to the tuning system called Powertune technology from a German company called Tronical on Gibson’s Robot Guitar. This type of tuning system that I talk about there, can be added and removed later if desired. The Transperformance system cannot brag of such luxuries.

There are 4 components to this system. They are the 1 touch tuning, the LCD readout, the tuner assembly and finally a foot switch. It has the mind boggling ability to hold up to 144 pre-set types of tunings, wow! It has the range of up to Tens of thousands of distinct tunings possible. But how many does one really need? Better way too many then not enough I guess?

The Performer does not manipulate the actual sound of your guitar. It works separately from the pick ups. It does require a 12 volt battery that lasts around 120 minutes though. I can not find the total weight of the product, but I am investigating further.

The testimonials are top notch don’t get me wrong but this thing sure looks heavy to me. If you’ve ever picked up a Les Paul then you may understand my train of thought. It can be used on Fenders, thank God, as they have shown on their site. I’ve never seen this product at all, so wish me luck in finding one here in town.

In later posts, I will break each individual component of this system to the best of my ability, so stay TUNED, ha!

Keep on Jammin’

Here is a good video from the CBC and City Pulse24 so check it out and keep informed about this tragic event!

Here is the affected area in Toronto.

There has been a HUGE propane explosion in Toronto’s North end had occurred around 03:25 and then 03:50. It has effected about 12,500 people in the immediate area. The injured ones have been taken to North York General Hospital. The shelters were sent to York University Campus.

Toronto has closed the busiest highway in North America. This has never been done before.

My sister in-law’s son and husband live around a football field length away from the blast. He said that when he woke up and went outside, all he saw was like a scene from a war documentary. There were blooded people running up and down the street obviously in a state of shook.

A fire fighter has just been confirmed without vital signs on City Pulse 24. My God have mercy on his soul and may his soul rest in peace if this is true.

The company is called Sunrise Propane, and what a sunrise it was for this company! At this link, look for the “A” symbol for the exact location. It’s fairly close to our home, but far away enough that it does not effect us immediately! There were confirmed stories of people who live in Niagara on the Lake have seen a mushroom like light seen coming from Toronto! That is quite a far distance from where the explosion took place!

More to come!