I can't wait to see Rival Sons with Black Sabbath in Feb. at Madison Square Garden! I think the Sons should have spent more time trying to craft a hit song or promote one of their songs that would have been the most likely to be a hit. I don't think they have really done that. Instead they tour incessantly and thus have built a cult fan base. I guess it's the Grateful Dead m.o. Maybe one day they will have a hit, like the Dead eventually had a hit in the 1980s. I don't know how they tolerate the incessant touring. I hope Jay's voice holds up.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/see-keith-richards-play-raucous-gimme-shelter-at-apollo-theater-20151023 Keith and band doing benefit "Gimme Shelter" for Merry Clayton. Pretty cool.

I deleted my Facebook account and started another one under an alias. I was fed up. Fed up with being spyed on, fed up with Facebook encouraging me to spy on others. I don't care if one of my friends commented on something; it's none of my business. On your profile you can write in "None of Facebook's Business" in response to questions. But the biggest problem was just the constant info on what other people were doing. I'm not a voyeur. I don't stalk people. Everyone doesn't have to know everything about everyone they know. It is the creepiest thing ever invented. I use my new account to follow pages to get news on concerts and stuff and I have 2 friends.

I will be at the Madison Square Garden show. Got a floor ticket, a mini-"VIP" package, for $275.

Rival Sons opening act; almost too good to be true.

I read that as a comment on how inane most movie scripts are these days.

For once I agree with you. And everyone else too. I cannot believe how cheap so many people are. I got in an argument with some Rival Sons fans awhile ago because they thought tickets that were around $25 were too expensive. It costs $150 to see a Broadway show! (if you don't have a discount). A live performance is SUPPOSED to be expensive! And don't get me started on dealing with people in my business. What price would you put on your mental health? It's obviously priceless. Or so I thought. I've had people with good jobs argue about their deductibles and co-pays. They're lucky they have health insurance and a full-time salary. Somehow I managed to pay my own therapist $80 a session out of pocket 23 years ago when I was making $29,000! Of course I didn't have a cellphone, internet connection, or even cable tv. It's bizarre what people prioritize.

If I could find more Made in America goods, I would definitely buy them. I need a printer/fax/copier because I run a business from my home. It's not optional, and I don't have room for the supersize office machines. Maybe some of them are made in the US? I doubt it though. Ditto with a cell phone; I need it for my consulting job. I guess I don't "need" a DVD player but I gave up regular tv altogether because 1. it was crap 2. The cable company was crap and 3. save money. So w/o the dvd player I would only be able to watch movies on my computer (or god forbid the phone) and it's nice to watch some movies on a larger screen.

I think most people here are my age range, 40s to 60s. I was wondering if others have noticed that in the past 15 years there has been a sharp decline in the quality of goods and merchandise? Here are some of my experiences: 1. Bought 3 tabletop humidifiers in a row from Bed, Bath and Beyond that lasted less than 3 months each. I'm now fighting with BB and Beyond to get refunded for the last defective one, which only lasted 2 weeks. I've had to get Paypal involved. Needless to say I will never buy anything from Bed, Bath and Beyond ever again. 2. Bought a music stand from Amazon, for my sheet music, supposedly new. It came with no assembly instructions and no packing slip. I could not figure out how to put it together and thought a piece might have been missing, so I sent it back. At least Amazon, unlike BB and Beyond, agreed to a refund. 3. After my 1970s Swingline stapler died around 2005 I bought a new swingline stapler, made in China as Swingline closed all their US factories. It was an ok stapler for about 6 years then broke. I bought a new Swingline and this one staples about half the time. It is just a flimsy piece of junk. 4. Used HP printers for years but the last one, bought this year, was defective; did not work at all. After online tech support couldn't help me I sent it back to HP for a refund. Bought an Epson that is a piece of junk, constantly tells me there is a paper jam when there isn't. 5. Have also bought a two DVD players that lasted each about two years and the CD player for my stereo that I bought in 2003 has never worked right; I play CDs on my laptop which is attached to my speakers. I'm starting to feel like I spend my life sending back defective merchandise or fiddling with crap merchandise to get it to work right.

This Black Sabbath pizza looks tasty but I especially liked the description! http://www.riceandbreadmagazine.com/the-original-heavy-metal-pizza-the-black-sabbath/

LOL! Did you write this?

Although after re-stringing to the lighter gauge and thinking it was so great to bend more easily, I now realize the lighter gauge strings are harder on my fingers and it's very easy to go sharp or flat inadvertently. Thanks for the exercise tip, IpMan.

"Suicide is Painless"--the theme tune from MASH. The theme from Miami Vice.

Don't worry; there will be more Black Sabbath performances.

I couldn't get it to work.

Yes.

VALHALLA, I AM COMING! Actually I went past Valhalla and got off at the next stop.

I'm not looking to develop "stage presence"; I'm pretty sure my guitar playing is going to be limited to my apartment and maybe Central Park. :0 I did try the Fast Fret--some gunk came off of my strings, although they still seem dirty. It is easier to play now (the acoustic).

So, is this Page on the guitar solo? The uploader of the video says so, and it sound more like him than Keith Richards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SroCr2hx1ww#t=152

So I changed the top four strings to 9-24 and it is much easier to bend the strings. I kept the bottom two the same, the next heavier gauge. The only problem is sometimes I have a hard time SEEING the top string!

Does anyone have a tip for cleaning strings? The strings on my acoustic are filthy. My fingers are black after playing. Probably from bringing it to the park.

Thought this was intriguing--no wonder the chord sounds so good: http://www.openculture.com/2011/12/guitarist_randy_bachman_demystifies_the_opening_chord_of_a_hard_days_night.html

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to go re-string my guitar now!

I knew that the numbers corresponded to the gauges of the strings but wasn't sure which numbers meant which gauges. I thought all strings were wound. Maybe I should have been more precise in my question, but thanks for your comments anyway.

So maybe the thinner strings are actually better for reducing the grooves. Trying to learn Bron-yr-Aur which requires a hammer-on/slide...so I just bought some Ernie Ball "Super Slinky" in 9,11,16,24,32,42...I don't even know what these numbers mean. Nor did I realize there was a Regular Slinky and a Not Even Slinky...what is the meaning?