Yesterday saw the first level of Guitarmaggedon. I had been practicing a little for the event. I got there and a judge had failed to show up so we had to wait a half and hour for a new judge to show up. I was running out of being warmed up it took so long. I warm up by starting off on my scales and gradually get faster and faster. Anyway, we all got sequestered into a room and signed our names and picked the order we would go on. No one wants to go on first. Luckily I went on 3rd. There were 5 people so it was a good draw. I realized as I was leaving the room that I was the oldest guitarist there. Most of them were 18-24. I thought, hmm maybe an advantage. Then I go out and listen to the first guy. Everyone was nervous. Even I got a little nervous before I went up. I guess it has to do with being the sole one that everyone is looking at. The first guy had a little technical difficulty and missed some notes. The second guy was kind of slow. I go out there and instead of standing up I decide to start off by sitting down. Then 6 measures into it I jump off the chair and get into guitar stance 101. Guitar stance 101 is similiar to a karate stance except you grip the guitar and point it at the audience. Then close to the end I put the guitar behind my head and play. So my style was definitely on. My guitar playing wasn't as I had practiced it. Luckily, a good guitar player knows how to make mistakes sound like it was intended by playing it all in key. In the end I had reverted to Jimi Hendrix technicality. Hendrix was the greatest, but moments of drug-induced playing sounded like he was just playing anything without reason. That was kind of what I did(without the drugs). In the end they were able to pick the top 2 to go to the store finals. I was called first. I got a t-shirt and a 10% off card. So come March 22nd I must be ready to complete against better people. Or maybe I should retire while I'm ahead...

Thought of the Day
Dr. Rumack: Captain, how soon can you land?
Capt. Clarence Oveur: I can't tell.
Dr. Rumack: You can tell me, I'm a doctor.
Capt. Clarence Oveur: No, I mean, I'm just not sure.
Dr. Rumack: Well, can't you take a guess?
Capt. Clarence Oveur: Well, not for another two hours.
Dr. Rumack: You can't take a guess "for another two hours"?
Capt. Clarence Oveur: No, no, no, I mean we can't land for another two hours.
-- Airplane