Not much going on this afternoon. Jen and I had lunch together. Then she went to her computer to do some work and I did some chores around the house. I watched some TV… I finished season seven of the X-Files which means I have reached the (mostly) Mulder-free seasons eight and nine. The next 40 or so episodes are going to be tough.
I didn’t do any additional practicing, but I am packed up and ready to go to Lizardfish Mark II practice later tonight.
Everything I need is already at Mike the Bass Player’s house (except for a guitar), but the back pack has some emergency, just-in-case gear… just in case, you know? Some cables, some strings, some batteries, a couple of nasty overdrive pedals. Just in case. There’s a mic and some XLR cables too, but I don’t think we’ll be singing much today. Who knows.
It’s time to go help Jen cook dinner. The Red Sox have a 5-2 lead over the Angels in the top of the eighth. The Angels just had a lead off triple though. Is the collapse starting? We’ll see.
My favorite restaurant doesn’t exist anymore. The franchise does but my favorite location does not. It was The Border Cafe in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA. I am not sure if I remember the timeline right or not. They had a fire in the kitchen and had to close down. Then during the pandemic (I think) they gave up the effort and shut down for good. There is still a branch in Burlington, MA which was the one I had been going to almost exclusively for years even though I preferred Cambridge, and I think there is still one in Saugus, MA too. There were a couple in New Jersey somewhere with the same menu and decor but a different name.
We started going back when I was in my early 20’s. Harvard Square is generally THE place to be, and The Border Cafe had the best food and the best vibe. Their buffalo chicken sauce is to die for, really. Unfortunately, Cambridge is kind of a pain to drive to if you don’t live in metro Boston, so when the Burlington branch opened (much, much closer to home and really easy to get to) we sort of planted our flag there. It was never as good, but it was definitely good enough.
When Jen and I started dating we took the kids there. Neither of them liked it, and little four year old Harry actually felt sick afterwards. Jen and I still went pretty often but never with the kids. Also, we haven’t been there since the Pandemic. Four years. Now, having written this, I am kinda jonesing for their boneless buffalo chicken.
The Gibson Theodore… a lot of people hate it. I… I guess I… I guess I don’t hate it. I sure don’t love it, but I don’t think I hate it. I almost think it’s cool.
I’ll embed a video below that goes into depth, but the deal is that a few years ago Gibson unearthed a guitar design that was unused back in the golden era of the 1950’s and did a short, very expensive, run out of their custom shop. Recently they released a standard production model that is also grossly expensive, but a whole lot less expensive than the original version.
Yeah the body shape is kinda dumb. I liked the custom shop’s use of P90 pickups rather than the USA version’s use of humbuckers. I like the four knobs on the custom shop over the two master controls on the USA. I very much greatly prefer the bridge on the USA version.
I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t love it but I don’t really hate it. Weird, huh?
Change of subject: unrelated, both the Bruins and the Red Sox won today. The Red Sox snapped a really ugly four game losing streak. The Bruins… I think… clinched the Atlantic Division title… I think… didn’t they? No… did they? I knew they needed a win over Pittsburgh tonight, but I can’t remember if it was a win OR a Florida Panthers loss would clinch things, or was it a win AND a Panthers loss? Also, did the Panthers need to lose, or lose in regulation? I don’t remember. The Bruins won in regulation and the Panthers won in overtime. I guess I’ll find out the answer to this question in the morning. Whatevs, both of my teams won today. Happiness.
Back to the main topic. Where does the Theodore sit on my Gibson Guitar I-Want-One list?
Les Paul Junior
Les Paul Standard 50’s with P90 pickups
Firebird, but not a studio. I want the Firebird mini-humbuckers, not standard humbuckers
Les Paul Deluxe
Insert the Theodore here? Maybe.
Les Paul Special, or SG Special, or SG Junior
ES-330
Damn… that’s a long list. It’s also an insanely expensive list. Come on, Gibson USA. Help a brother out. Bring those prices down. I don’t want to start thinking about Epiphones. I’m a Gibson snob after all.
Both of those bird feeders need to be replaced ASAP. One of them had a big chunk crack off just because I tried to lift the lid. They are literally crumbling in front of my eyes.
Second, there is this stupid thing…
I cleaned the holy crap out of the window, and still the suction cups that hang this sucker barely stuck. I 100% expect that within an hour or two I will check on its status and find that it fell off.
I don’t like playing this sort of thought game. I never know what to say. I don’t do the whole seeing the future thing. My answer is always pretty much the same. Things are good today. If things were the same, more or less, 10 years from now then that would be pretty sweet.
It would be nice if the kids lived closer to us. It would be nice if I were a step or two higher up the company management chain. It would be nice if Jen and I could travel more. It would be nice if Jen and I had more time to spend together. It would be nice if I had more time (and energy) for music. I’ll be approaching retirement age, but I won’t be anywhere near being able to retire. It would be nice if that were starting to change.
Those are real life thoughts. The fun thoughts are the fantasy thoughts. Where do I see myself in 10 years? Living in a huge house with my wife, spending our way through a billion dollars worth of lottery winnings. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan for the future, right?
Inside the Red Head's Head 