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Charles Austin's avatar

Congrats on the Martin. (Enjoy!!🎉🎉) My cats have been freaked out by the annual artillery barage. I'm sick and tired of the bedwetting. Now you've got Warner with delusions of Barry Goldwater. 😡🤮 Let's hang in there.

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Mike Hammer's avatar

I lost friends who became Trump supporters and through Covid. I’m not going to lose any friends over who we think should be the nominee.

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LaurenAZGoodGirl's avatar

LOL. We watched Top Gun: Maverick yesterday afternoon as well. Yeah, I know..., but it's good clean 'merican fun, reminding us we can beat the bad guys when we all work together as a team.

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Susan Niemann's avatar

I thought Top Gun was pretty awful. I didnt even finish it. Your guitar sounds soooo great. Tim took me to the Martin factory in Nazareth PA... I was mesmerized. A month later, we were in a Guitar Center and I ended up with a Martin Junior... I took some lessons, tried to self teach via Marty Schwartz on line...and I suck. But it's still fun to pretend. 😂😂

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Charles Austin's avatar

I've dabbled at guitar from time to time. I love music, so maybe it goes on the bucket list

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Susan Niemann's avatar

Charlie, maybe we'll form a duo and hit the road! 😂

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Charles Austin's avatar

Yeah! We'll call ourselves "Extreme Dissonance".

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Susan Niemann's avatar

LOL!!!

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Coffee houses beware!

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Charles Austin's avatar

Blowing out eardrums from coast to coast!😂😂

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

I have just the amp for you...

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Susan Niemann's avatar

😂😂😂

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

It is 2 hours of on screen spooge-fest. 100% predictable, yet oh so cheesy. And Jon Hamm? Spare me.

As for the guitar, there is so much material on Youtube that it would be criminal to pay for lessons. That said, my recommendation is to find one or two easy songs, learn the chords, and strum along. The more you do that, the more it will make sense.

First song I learned was Rock you Like A Hurricane by The Scorpions, the main riff is 4 chords, and they are easy "power" chords (root-fifth-root) that are the foundation of rock music.

Or pick up a Ventures classic, Pipeline, it is an alternating theme with a simple picked melody line and you can make progress pretty quickly AND have a great song for beach trips!

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Susan Niemann's avatar

I will! Thanks for the tips!

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Mary R's avatar

Top Gun for women is analogous to beach babe flicks for college guys. All those pretty men in uniforms. Or board shorts.

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

I never got into beach babe flicks though. They are just so fake.

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Mary R's avatar

We all have our weaknesses. *written as she goes in search of trashy WW2 movies where there are many handsome men**

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

No judgement from me (queue's up Resident Evil and Fifth Element for some Jovovich candy)

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Mary R's avatar

😆

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Julia Fogg's avatar

Congrats on the Martin, it sounds awesome. Agree completely re. the so-called debate (more akin to a firehose of sewage-spewing Gish gallop). As for the fireworks, why can’t they do the drone light-show instead? My dog is terrified of the noise.

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Every year, hundreds of dogs get loose and far too many of them end up dead from auto collisions. It is heartbreaking.

Yet, my wife monitors NextDoor, and the number of posts of veterans who implore people to not shoot them off because they trigger their PTSD, and are filled with "patriots" who say "thank you for your service, but fuck off, if we don't blow shit up on the fourth, your service was wasted... (yeah, this is one of the reasons I lasted about 4 months on NextDoor when we moved in here, the fucking worst people, everywhere, flying their freak flag 24-7)

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Julia Fogg's avatar

OMG, yes, veterans’ PTSD!!!! How dreadful for them. I want to see the drone light shows replace fireworks, and I love fireworks.

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🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝's avatar

Congrats on the new guitar! I’m currently shopping for one for my son. He’s a 6’6” giant who wants a parlor sized guitar. It’s been fun. lol

Have you tried Thunder Shirts for your dogs? I’m a cat person, but I’ve lived with enough dogs that didn’t like fireworks to see those suckers in action and they’re pretty incredible. It even worked on the (203 lb) Cane Corso who was an absolute nightmare prior to the purchase and use of the Shirt.

I love Greg. His was the first Substack I ever subscribed to and he’s created an awesome community over at PREVAIL (and his weekly Friday YouTube live show the 5-8 as well).

Here is an excellent 5 minute summation of everything the New York Times does wrong. It’s a (usually daily) *reading* of the NYT by former Gawker editor Tom Scoca and he’s unsparing in his dissections .

https://www.indignity.net/indignity-morning-podcast-no-295-less-rigorous-than-gawker-dot-com/

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Thunder shirts have been a major no for us. For some reason, the constraining feeling freaks them out even more. Hemp based calming treats do help a lot, but it isn't perfect, and thus you get about 130#s of dog squeezing into the footwell of my wife's editing desk, cowering together about the bangs.

Of course, here we have idjits shooting off professional sized mortars (4 and 6 inch monsters) that shake the house, so even I get a bit freaked out by their lifting charge.

I don't get the Times, they seem to be 100% in the bag for Trump. I guess that does help their profitability, but at what cost?

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🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝's avatar

That sucks about the TS, but I can see how one dog’s happy place does not mean it will be thus for all pups.

Seriously, take the 5 minutes to listen to the INDIGNITY Morning Podcast. It’s great. And it shows us how we aren’t the ones going crazy.

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Yeah, we have tried all the suggestions, and nothing helps. I can say that using stronger narcotics / tranquilizers is even worse. They freak out far worse.

I will click on that pod. I need something to add to my Ed Zitron, Molly Jong Fast, and Jennifer Rubin diet.

(You should check out "Behind the Bastards" some fabulous discussions there, including a series on how much of a fucked up human Thomas Jefferson was. His actions never really lived up to his words on freedom, liberty, and equality. Seems he really liked owning people after all.)

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Jackie Ralston's avatar

The "debate debacle" nonsense is of a piece with "Hillary's illness" to my nose. For TFG's recent trial, his other pecker (that would be David) laid out how it was orchestrated. Now it's NYT and WaPo subbing in for the tabloids. It's infuriating that a lot of people seem to be falling for this bullshit again.

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🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝's avatar

The beginning of this video says it all about what a complete piece of shit Donald is.

https://youtu.be/1hjQcqi_8fQ

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mitch's avatar

Great writing sweaty spice . fire works at least air born ones illegal here too . Yet the major malls here allow them to sell them . You got off easy I was hearing them till 2 am lol. As for all calling out Biden to resign or stop race . I have little to say about that , or right wing podcasts . As for you knew baby the guitar , I wish I could of heard it sounds great , shape and smaller size seams to work great for you . great article .

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Thanks! The main thing about the guitar is the scale length of 24 inches. It is close enough to standard that I can still fret chords from muscle memory, but my late middle aged arthritic hands no longer can stretch for some of the cool licks (like even the little triplet pull-off in the main riff for "Carry on Wayward Son". That is the most infuriating thing about getting old.

The policing pre-4th kept the nightlies to a minimum, and the park that is about a quarter mile away that used to be a war zone is now quiet (good), but on the fourth, the police are far outnumbered, and the debris fields I walked the boy by today were impressive.

I am sure that those who put on the impressive private shows also bitch about the cost of gasoline, or the price of eggs, pumping their fists at Biden, excoriating on inflation, but they think nothing about dropping a grand or so on pretty bang bang toys.

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mitch's avatar

I used to play guitar , yet since my stroke can’t find a thin enough neck or length . thanks for advice Geoff

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Geoff Anderson's avatar

Yikes, that beats my heart attack. Some of the short scale guitars out there are amazing. I saw plenty on the shelf at GC.

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mitch's avatar

Happy your ok now .I will have to check gc but on limited budget thanks

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