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Archives for February 2007

Well it had to happen sometime

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Today was like any day, at work in the O.R. recovery room. People coming in to be taken care of and then leaving when they are ready to go to either their in-patient room or to go to the final recovery room, then home.

Last weekend we were at my mother’s birthday dinner treating her to her favorite Chinese restaurant. During the meal I had developed a crack on the fingernail on my middle finger on my left hand. As you know I use my finger nails to play with most of the time and this is a big thing to have happen to a guitarist like myself.

I tried to repair it with a product called Ecrinal. This product is partially made of horse hair resins. This product is suppose to be one of the best on the market but doesn’t work well on my plain finger nails. I could have used crazy glue to repair it but I didn’t have any at the time. Note: medical crazy glue is used on some cuts to close them up in hospitals all over the world.

In my case if I had some crazy glue on me at the time, the glue more then likely would have traveled onto the top portion of the fingernail where the nail meets the skin, at the cuticle. If this happened, the nail will still grow out and the glue would hold the skin and nail together at that point, ahhhhh! It would not allow the nail to grow freely away for the skin, I’ve done it before without knowing what was going on!

So today, while transporting a patient to his room, he was very aggressive and we tried to get him to settle down so he would not rip out any of his I.V. lines. During this, I bent back my nail and it cracked to the point where I had to gingerly remove it from my finger.

I started to do so very carefully, only after the transport had been complete. I wasn’t sure if the nail was completely broken off from the rest of the healthy nail, which is still strong and attached to the other part of my finger.

As I was removing the damaged part at the end of my finger, I thought that it would be quite painful but to my surprise and relief, it came off rather nicely.

So now for the big question, do I get new nails or take the rest off and give the old nails underneath (the fake ones), time to breath? If you are not aware, if you keep fake acrylic nails on your fingers all the time, you run the risk of having very unhealthy looking nails later on in life? Bet you did not know that. Well there you go, you learned something new today!

Keep on Jammin’




My old trusty Roland BOSS Flanger BF-1

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This unit is a vintage pedal to be used with guitar and keyboards. The effects with this pedal is just awesome! It works like a dream when I play Spirit of Radio, Lime Light or Red Barchetta. It phases in and out with mind blowing effects.

If you are a keyboard player, you might want to take a very close looks at this pedal. It can give you a sound similar Leslie Amplifier. The closest to it that is out there. Many other accomplished keyboardist have similar views.

When I was jamming with Tony F., the best keyboardist I’ve ever had the honour to play with live, he wanted to give my pedal a try. To our amazement, it was the best sound that we had ever heard. Tony had the foresight and ear to know that a Leslie Amp. is the best thing going for the serious keyboardist. So he actively was searching for a pedal to give him that desired effect. Little did he know, he had the answer that he was looking for all the time, literally right in front of him!

If you are not aware, Leslie Speakers/Cabinets are speakers inside the cabinet that rotate, yes rotate to give you that natural whirling sound. They are those big wooden boxes that you see in church choir lofts. This will make you think twice when looking up at the band upstairs thinking that there are no undiscovered secrets in a church!

When the old band got together for a re-union show a couple of years ago, Tony told me that he still had that old pedal and that it still had the box and manual with it. It’s really nice to know that there are still very decent people roaming around the planet like him, a real throw back to gentler days.

On this Boss Flanger site you can hear the sound that you get from it. Check it out you vintage sound seekers. It also has a great picture at the bottom of the page.

Use the PaidByCash card online just like a credit card

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Don’t have a credit card, but want to purchase services or products online? Now you can with the new PaidByCash virtual Mastercard.

For the longest time we didn’t have a credit card. We’d misused ours in the past and had poor credit from being behind in payments. When our credit was finally ok again we still didn’t rush to get a credit card because we were afraid we’d fall into the trap of using it for things we didn’t have the money to pay for on our own.

As a result of this we missed out on opportunities to purchase items online at lower prices than in retail stores, and we couldn’t sign up for various internet related services like online games easily either. Now we have a credit card, but I still like the idea of a Virtual Mastercard as I can pay for items online right away with cash that I’ve already deposited into the cards account.

That’s right. With the new PaidbyCash service you can add money to your account and use the card online just like you would a credit card. The only major difference is, as I said, that you are paying for your purchases right away rather than on credit because you are using cash that you already put into the card.

This service will come in handy for those that like to play online games but couldn’t in the past because of a lack of credit card, and for those that want to purchase items at lower online prices too.

The PaidByCash card is accepted by pretty much every internet retailer, so you don’t have to worry that you’ll only be able to use it in a few places.

Check it out for yourself and see if you think this is great idea too.

Bruce Cockburn – If a tree falls in the forest

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Now this is a song that I will attempt when I get a moment or so.


I heard Bruce do an acoustic version of this one on the radio and as usual, they didn’t announce which album it was from. Is it just me or, does this tick you off too? As said best by Charlie Brown “AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

I love the use of his wammie bar on his guitar. He is the type of player who will either use or not use an effect and pull it off right both ways. This is what I shoot for when choosing a song that I want to play. If I can’t tackle a song correctly then I’ll try and try again! However, if I can’t, then I be a man and just let some get away!

Keep on Jammin’

Listen to great new musical artists at Unsigned.com

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A couple of months ago my wife introduced me to this great new site called Unsigned.com. It’s a site dedicated to giving independent music and vocal artists an outlet to be heard on the internet.

The site is a great place for unsigned artists to create a profile and upload their music. The website now has over 4000 artists and listeners using the site on a regular basis. When visiting the site you can find musicians that play in a variety of genres such as Rock, grunge, hip hop, metal, country, jazz, and New-Wave Artists. The variety is fantastic, and I’m sure anyone who loves music and enjoys discovering new bands will like Unsigned.com.

I mentioned New Wave artists because, believe it or not, I used to really enjoy new wave music. New wave has changed since it first came out in the 80’s but it’s still a great genre. At this time there’s 13 different artists listed in the New Wave category. You should visit and have a listen, or if New Wave isn’t your thing check out some of the other types of music that the independent artists have uploaded. You’ll be hooked on Unsigned.com before you realize what’s happening.

When I get my act together I’m going to have to upload some of my work onto the site. Then you’ll be able to hear some of my music too. Come to think of it, I’ve got a few friends that would probably be interested in Unsigned.com. If they upload their music I’ll be sure to let you know.

The Morley Fuss & Wah wah pedal

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This is the pedal that I lost some time ago to an old boss and friend at a company called Mr Case in Toronto. He used it many years ago when he was gigging and I wasn’t. The band always practiced in their warehouse and one night it was broken into and yep you guessed it, off it went.

I loved this thing for one reason and one reason only, the sound that I got when I used it for La Villa Strangiato, from Hemispheres, 1978.

This is the part when they start playing. He uses the Morley Wah pedal to get that great Gothic church organ effect.

I used to sit and try this effect for hours on end at home. With my old Boss Chorus, Boss Flanger and Morley pedal, running through the HIWATT it sounded just like a church organ.

For a pedal that I used for only one thing, it worked flawlessly! The way that the sound slowly just crept out of the amp. … It still gives me goose bumps just thinking of it.

The Fuss effect part of the pedal I never really explored, too bad ’cause it may have had some use at some point when I was playing a lot.

It was big, scary and cumbersome looking but I still miss it! RIP, Mr. Morley, wherever you’re playing.

Keep on Jammin’

First Echo Machine

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I was watching a copy of the Grammy Awards the other night. I’m honestly not into this stuff but when we found out that The Police were going to be playing, we taped it.

Halfway through the show we came across the memorial segment. In it, it showed that Roger (Syd) Barrett had passed away. My jaw hit the ground. My wife reminded me that we knew of it, but as usual I forgot.

So anyway, I went on a hunt for Roger(Syd) in cyberspace and found some of the equipment that he use and I learned about the Binson Echorec Box..

This thing reminds me of the Roland Space Echo that, Scott Merrit, a childhood guitar hero of mine from Brantford used. This Binson Box was the forefront of special effects pedals that has lost it way in todays crazy marketing world of guitar special effects.

So let’s pay some homage to the past and look for more blasts from the past and if your lucky, you’ll learn something that can be used today!

Keep on Jammin’

Handmade carpet sale at Tufenkian

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When I first moved to Toronto from my hometown of Brantford it was to go to college in order to become a jeweler. Yes, I did graduate and was a jeweler for several years before changing careers.

I lived in “co-op” with several other students. In other words I rented a room in a boarding house set up by the college for it’s students. Man that was a party house. But I digress.

I won’t go into the details of how I ended up having a beautiful Persian carpet since it’s a long story, but I did, and it was one of the only real design features of my room while I lived in the boarding house. Later when I moved in with my girlfriend, who soon became my wife, the carpet came with me.

Unfortunately the carpet went through a lot of wear and tear over the years – mostly in that old boarding house I lived in, and when my wife and I moved to the house we now own we got rid of the carpet.

Now I’m looking at the handmade Tibetan and Armenian carpets at Tufenkian. I see that there is a Los Angeles, New York City and Scottsdale Arizona Carpet Sales. It’s Tufenkian’s semi-annual rug sale.

The quality of their hand made carpets is superb, and I’m seriously considering ordering a new rug online. I really miss our old carpet and my wife liked it too. I also found out that if we register online at the site we can get an additional 10% off. That sounds like a pretty good deal – a sale and a discount on top of that just for registering.

Hmmm I think I’d better start to seriously look at these carpet designs.

Bruce Cockburn – If I had a Rocket Launcher Live

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If I Had a Rocket Launcher by Bruce Cockburn, performed live (10/21/06) at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Marty Balin featuring Slick Aguilar, Charlie DeChant, Gordon G.G. Gebert, Dave Trupia, Michael Sciotto.
Video 8:01 minutes

This is a favorite song of mine to play live. If you ever get the opportunity to see me perform, it will be on my play list. I do the acoustic version very well. The solo parts are challenging enough, and this is maybe the only song beside Neon that I can always change up every time I play or just have an extended solo to it.

Bruce plays the song in so many positions that he makes it all look easy, but the great ones always do don’t they.

My Larivee L-03 has the depth that you need to pull off a technical song like this live. My DigiTech chorus pedal is the perfect fit for this tune – like it was made for it. Hopefully when I find the time, I’ll tape video of it and let you be the judge on how to improve portions of the song, or which parts to eliminate. Hopefully the latter won’t come into play. 😉

Keep on Jammin’

Wow, I can play this song too

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Journey is a band that I really respect. The vocals are so powerful. The guitar is just cutting through the air and the keyboards bring both together like nothing that I can describe. I remember when this song came out, I pretended to be sick so I could stay at home and figure it out on piano.

To this day I still love playing this song, but I honestly wish I had vocals like these guys to pull it off just right!

Keep on Jammin’


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