"Pssyche" - Killing Joke. A Geordie riff so awesomely simple, I can play it un-upside-down...

An old pal weighs in on the new Gibson...

New arrival: Gibson Invader. It needs work beyond my capability, so I'm taking it straight to my guitar guy...

I, too, keep a notebook containing lists of various ways to taunt the people I occasionally have to interact with. It's totally, completely, absolutely, definitely normal.

Happy #NationalGuitarDay! Here's my first "real" guitar - a Fender Stratocaster, bought new in 1986 for $435. It took a beating for a decade in various NYC and NJ venues... I still have it, too

I took a Wittgenstein seminar my first semester in grad school. I found the ideas interesting, but I emerged disgusted with Wittgenstein himself. So much of *Philosophical Investigations* is just him giving orders instead of arguments. Stop telling me what to do. Jeezsch...

Spotted in a building on campus. Never noticed it before. Profound? Nope.

Apparently some law schools do not adequately teach the distinction between p being true and there being evidence that p is true....

It's hard being one of the very few normal persons in one's profession

Living on a lighted stage approaches the unreal

Gave a quiz in my undergrad course this morning. One of the unsung joys of college teaching is watching new adults think.

OVERHEARD ON LINE AT A COFFEESHOP "Of course they booed him... all those European countries are democrat"

Meanwhile, my silver Gretsch is about to get a SD Psyclone Hot upgrade in the bridge....

Incoming. I'd say this is the last one, but....

Happy Monday! "Barbed Wire Love" - Stiff Little Fingers. Valentine's Day is coming

The Ramones at their 1989 Super Bowl half time performance

For me, nothing will top the Ramones' super bowl half time show in 1989.

Bad Brains could have played the SB opening. Just sayin'

Whole Foods in Nashville on a Sunday afternoon is a vibe. I just realized the super bowl's today. That could explain the woman buying a dozen bottles of wine.

Why are Tool fans?

Mellow Sunday, "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" - The Dammed. Preparing for my old timer lounge gig

Since so many have asked...

My plan of redirecting my guitar-acquiring energies to amps failed the moment I just went ahead and bought the amp I'd wanted since I was 16. So I guess it's back to guitars...

Today's behemoth chain guitar store casualty: Tool's "Sober," not-quite nailed by a dude with an improperly tuned $5k Gibson SG plugged into an unreasonably cranked Marshall stack

Got a request for an electric version of the unplugged warm-up riff I posted last week... I've probably been playing this little bit for 35 years. Typically, after a few run-throughs, I'm ready

A person who has no respect for others can't tell the difference between being respected and being played

Happy Friday! "Take It Off" - The Donnas. An unsuccessful attempt at Allison Robertson's incredible tone...

FYI: this morning, my current TA shared with me that she appears on the cover of a Buckethead album

When your political movement is based on the claim that only those who are part of the movement are truly Americans, it follows that any election that you don't win is fraudulent, any legal ruling that doesn't go your way is illegitimate, and all protest is insurrection

"Stigmata" - Ministry. Got a request for this one. I was never much of a fan, but happened to know it. Noisy.

Twenty years ago, I met Ray Davies in a Nashville hotel lobby. I was walking with Seyla Benhabib at the time.

"Implant" - Killing Joke. Another niche riff. The entire song is one chord (well, two if C to Cmaj7 counts as a chord change)

The central tenet of the predominant political movement of our day is that only its devotees are truly American

“Since those documents you saw outlining allegations of terrible people committing awful crimes against children does not involve me, the country needs to move on and stop talking about those crimes”

He didn't know him He knew him, but they weren't friends They were friends, but he was never at the island He was at the island, but it's not a crime to party with him...

Apparently "the Second Amendment applies only to those who support the government's policies" is a thing now

Had to break out my Les Paul today. Attempting to duplicate Allison Robertson's outstanding tone on The Donnas' "Take It Off"

If in the past five days you've gone oddly silent while your comms team devises a media strategy because you know that the recent revelations are only the tip of the iceberg and, above all else, you want to save your political career, you've already lost at life

Happy Monday! "Pink Turns To Blue" - Husker Du

At terminal A in EWR, there's a huge display of "True New Jerseyans," which features a broad range of notables from Thomas Edison to Ed Harris. No mention of Jerry Only... just sayin.

Caught up with this old-school troublemaker....

Imagine what's in the documents we've not seen

In Jersey with my stripped down Gretsch, warming up before plugging in...

Sometimes in Jersey, you accidentally stumble into friends you haven't seen since their wedding 25 years ago, when they're out celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary...

Sartre updated: Hell is people

Nashville airport at 7:06am on a Friday: I'd estimate a 2:1 person-to-guitar ratio

Batshit's about to get batshittier

Spotted in New Jersey a few years ago. Kinda sums up the vibe

BREAKING: The people who were caught lying about a murder now assure everyone they're telling the truth

Some current noise. Bracing myself for Newark Airport