Blahbbs

1 Million Free Steak Dinners outbackfreesteaks.com One per household... Thanks for posting that. A free steak might be what I need to give to my wife to keep her from killing me since I fell victim to GAS and just ordered a Malden Utopia a few minutes ago. Ssshhhh... don't say anything!

I wonder if they'll implement a Captcha code to stop sniping? Or maybe they could turn on a captcha code in the last minute of the auction..... Just sayin' --:blah:bbs

I don't know man... Paco and his buddies look like 70's porn stars. --:blah:bbs (random vids: no soundcard on this computer) And of course there is more to Mexican music than just Mariachi music. And more to Spanish music than just Flamenco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mexico http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_spain

Yeah, Flamenco is *very* different from traditional Mexican music. It basically has its roots with the Gypsies around the Mediterranean Sea and has pretty much settled over the years into southern Spain. Me, Mr.-Cheap-A$$-Guitars-and-small-gimpy-broken-fingers, gave it a go about 10 years ago. I still have my Manuel Rodriguez guitar even though I don't play it much anymore. It is terrifically satisfying when you can nail it, but dayum, it's probably one of the most challenging styles to play. I'm not sure how you would go about learning it by yourself. I spent a year with a teacher in the Portland, OR area trying to figure it out... His teacher was some dude to did some playing with Charo.... don't laugh... Ms. Coochie-Coochie-Coo could kick some ass. Listen to some Paco de Lucia (saw him live...he's a monster!), Paco Pena, or Juan Serrano to hear what can be done. Just avoid most of the milquetoast-wine-sipping-baby-boomer stuff like Jesse Cook, and most of Ottmar Liebert. That stuff will rot your brain. (I have to give Ottmar a little slack, though. I've seen him live a couple times, and when he shuts off his Rumba-playing automatons, he can pull off some nice stuff, too.) See if you have a Flamenco dance troupe in your city. Flamenco isn't just some dudes strumming guitars. The dancing and the minimalist percussion round it all out. I hope I didn't scare you off! Learn it and you'll be a god. I didn't get very good at it, but I think it has improved my strumming hand quite a bit. Here's something to start you off: --:blah:bbs

Hope your injury heals up soon! My pinky on my fretting hand was crushed in the hinge side of a heavy door about 15 years ago. I lost the joint nearest the tip, it's a couple millimeters shorter than it was, and when I make a fist, the finger overlaps my ring finger. It's got a little Harry Potter-like scar on the top, though (yipee). I'll have to post a picture someday. My fingers were stubby already, so this makes some chords a real stretch for me. --:blah:bbs