Who's Holding the Oscar?

Surely you've seen these posters advertising the 78th Annual Academy Awards coming up this Sunday, March 5th. What hasn't been revealed are the identities of the two "vintage" celebrities holding the Oscar statuettes in the photos.

Well, I thought immediately that the man in the black tux was Cary Grant. It just looked like his tanned, manicured hands. And the French cuffs were a giveaway. Here's a more complete photo to compare (check out the cuffs):



I'm still not sure who the female in the white gloves is. At first I thought Audrey Hepburn, but a subsequent Google image search shows a different dress on Audrey when she won. Second choice Grace Kelly is close; she wore the white dress and gloves, but no necklace.

Anybody want to guess who she is?

Neil Diamond: 12 Songs

If you haven't heard the great new album 12 Songs from Neil Diamond, do yourself a favor and get it. ND fans especially will love it, but casual listeners will certain appreciate the simplicity and sincerity of Mr. Diamond's songs and performances (he plays guitar on every track) and the stripped-down production by Rick Rubin.

The songs are also pretty fun to play on guitar.
It's classic Neil Diamond circa 2006!

Mine's Bigger Than Yours

Yes! The Milky Way kicks ass!

SPACE.com -- Milky Way vs. Andromeda: Study Settles Which Is More Massive

Dubya and Rummy

This is a bad joke, but I just couldn't resist republishing it here:

President Bush and Rumsfeld are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, "Isn't that Bush and Rumsfeld sitting over there?"

The bartender says, "Yep, that's them."

So the guy walks over and says, "Wow, this is a real honor! What are you gentlemen doing in here?"

Bush says, "We're planning WW III."

And the guy says, "Really? What's going to happen?"

Bush says, "Well, we're going to kill 140 million Muslims and one blonde with big boobs."

The guy exclaimed, "A blonde with big boobs? Why kill a blonde with big boobs?"

Bush turns to Rumsfeld and says, "See, I told you no one cares about the 140 million Muslims."

A Thief With Taste and A New Guitar

I just discovered one more thing that poor crook took from my apartment. As I mentioned before, since he didn't find very much of monetary value in my apartment, he took the item with the most cultural value: my beloved Yamaha guitar.

Today I realize he took not only the guitar and its gig bag, he also took my Beatles music book. That was a huge book with almost all the Beatles songs in full piano score with guitar chord symbols. At least he had some taste. No doubt he's probably some starving musician in need of creative expression. Or maybe he thought, "What can I do with all my free time as a homeless person? I need a new hobby. Hey, I'll take up the guitar, and what better place to start than with the Beatles?!" More power to him.

The good news is, I invested in a new guitar last night! I chose an Ibanez acoustic-electric (model AEL20ETRS) and it is beautiful. I spent several hours on Friday at Guitar Center with my bandmate Frank, but I just wasn't satisfied with anything I played there. My price limit was about $200, and there are some decent models available in that range, but nothing that felt like an improvement on my last instrument and it is definitely time for me to step up a level so I can continue growing as a musician.

So Saturday evening, I met my friend Heidster at Sam Ash on Sunset and we spent several more hours playing various guitars. We were there so long, we went through two or three salesmen. But the staff at Sam Ash were very considerate and allowed us time to play with the instruments until we found the Ibanez (ridiculously pronounced AY-ban-nez, with the long "I") that felt right.

And I got a good deal on it. The guitar lists for $500, but it was marked down to $350. I bought it for $300. It's more than I wanted to spend, but I don't mind a bit investing more to get a better quality instrument and I feel very about the instrument I got.



Actually the financial investment is not only in the guitar, it's really an investment in ME -- and damn it, I'm worth it!

Special thanks to Frank and Heidi, and all those suffering guitar salesmen who have to endure the wishy-washy nature of rookies like me.