RAW DATA

If you play finger style guitar and use your finger nails, this review is for you. For those of us who play Classical Guitar, having good strong finger nails is absolutely vital. When the great guitarist John Williams was asked what the most important attribute of a guitarist is, his answer was not long fingers, dexterity, strength, coordination or anything related to these attributes. Rather, it was simply; good finger nails! This could be a very detailed subject to talk about but I will just say briefly that the sound quality and dynamics of classical guitar is directly related to the use of the finger nails (and flesh of the fingers) to pluck the strings. And so John Williams answer suddenly comes into focus and potential problems become clear.

Factors

If you have talked with any number of guitarists and looked at or noticed their finger nails, even looked at different photos of guitarist, you may have noticed a wide variety of shapes, sizes and other differences between their nails. I have been around enough guitarists to know that just about anyone can get a decent sound out of their nails if they work at and learn how to work with the nails that they have. Yet, any kind of aid that we can find to help maintain or improve the quality of our nails can be useful. Of course, one of the big issues is preventing breakage. There's nothing more frustrating than getting your nails in great condition only to break one of them accidentally during your daily routine. This is where we as guitarists share some of the same concerns as the cosmetic industry and some of that industries products may come in useful.

Oils, Lotions, and Creams

If you have read Rico Stover's excellent book on finger nail care, you will have encountered several good suggestions. One of these recommendations is Onymyrrhe (an ointment). I have read several excellent reports of this substance but have not tried it yet due to the price. And since Rico's book was published, he has discovered another product called Flexnail which apparently he recommends even more highly. But it is even more expensive and, since I am not that desperate, I have not tried it yet.

But I have recently found a product which I find helpful and is a much less expensive choice. That being Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme (big title). This product contains many of the natural ingredients suggested by Stover in his book. For example: Almond oil, lemon oil, cocoa butter, sunflower oil, beta carotene, to name just a few (there are more). I picked up a container of this product a couple of months ago. I think I paid about six dollars (US) for it. I like to apply it after taking a shower or bath especially. But as I used it and saw that it seems to last quite a while (still haven't used it up in two to three months), I have started applying it both after a shower in the morning and at least once before bed. I don't have any hard statistics on nail growth but it does seem to make my nails healthier and also seems to help avoid breakages. It generally promotes good, healthy nails by keeping them moisturized with seemingly essential natural ingredients.

Conclusion

So the conclusion is that this product might be considered for the award of best bang for the buck nail product for guitarists. Is it a better choice than the two I mentioned above? I guess it all depends on the factors involved. How bad are your nails? How much are you willing to pay in order to make them better? These are valid things to consider of course. But I think I can say that at the very least, and especially in the dry winter months, Burt's Bees Cuticle Creme is a worthy addition to your finger nail tools for promoting and maintaining healthy nails for guitar playing.

Possible Vendors:

• vserver Center (local).


• Netsonic


• Linode

How about a Latin domain name?

• Sonitus Fugo or sonitusfugo.net


• Sonitus Ductor, sonitusductor.net


• Sequtus Sonitus, sequtussonitus.net

What I am thinking of mainly is to move my mail server to a place where it will have more up time. Currently it
is at home and is subject to the inconsistencies of DSL. Another thing I am thinking of doing is offering email service
to friends. So if you are tired of gmail and worried about security, consider my service as an alternative.

de cetero fratres 

quaecumque sunt vera 

quaecumque pudica 

quaecumque iusta 

quaecumque sancta 

quaecumque amabilia 

quaecumque bonae famae si qua virtus 

si qua laus haec cogitate

Here's a hypothetical story. Disclaimer: I did not have any particular person in mind, it is completely made up. Any similarity to any living person is purely coincidental.

• A man kills another man in a violent act of cold blooded murder.


• The murdered man had an affair with the murderers wife.


• The murderer is known to be a guy with a bad temper and tendency towards violence and even being abusive with his wife.


• The murdered man has a history of promiscuous relationships with married women.

Who is guilty of the crime here? The murderer of course. He should be convicted and tried and subject to the highest form of punishment for his act. In deed, there is not much to like about this guy and perhaps even his wife will now be better off if he is put in jail and kept away from her.

Could the murder have been avoided? Most definitely. If the murdered guy had not had an affair with this particular women, he would not have been murdered by the woman's husband. But that's not to say that he wouldn't have encountered another man who might have reacted similarly. The problem is this guy's life style. He needed to stop being promiscuous and that would give him the greatest chance to avoid harmful conflict with another angry man in the future.

By pointing out the moral flaws of the murdered man are we saying that it is his fault that he was murdered? No, not at all. And to suggests that the murderer is not to blame for such a terrible act because the murdered man was the cause would be simply outrageous and totally unacceptable as well as completely un-just.

Application

Now let's apply this story in an analogous way to the 9/11 attacks and US foreign policy.

The terrorist acts of 9/11 were terrible and inhuman acts of violence against civilians. They were despicable deeds which should be punished. All who planned and participated in them should be found and brought to justice. But what was the motive and why did this small group of men do these terrible things?


Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11 attackers have stated the following as the primary reasons for making war on the US:

• US Position against Muslims in Palestine (support for Israel).


• Occupation of the Land of the Two Holy Sanctuaries (Islamic holy land).


• US actions in Iraq. Pre 9/11 this would have been enforcement of no-fly zones where thousands of civilians were killed by aerial bombing.


• US support for tyrannical governments in: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf States.

By taking note of these positions, does it mean that we are saying it is our fault that the 9/11 attacks occurred? Not at all. Like the story I made up, this gives no excuse what so ever for doing such a heinous act against innocent civilians. Analysis of motive has no bearing on the guilty party in the crime. The perpetrators of the attacks and all who helped or planned the attacks should be hunted down and brought to justice.

But it is important to note that our politicians and leaders are unwilling to acknowledge these reasons as being the primary motives. In fact, they are giving misleading motives to the attackers. For example, statements are made such as, "They hate us for our freedom." Why would politicians do this? What would they gain by having these misleading motives accepted by the general public?

The founders of our country were against interventionism. They wanted free and open relations with all. They believed in a military for the purpose of defending our country. By pointing out the motives of the 9/11 attackers and other terrorists acts against this country I hope to ignite a strong reaction against our meddling in the affairs of other countries. Our results in these interventions are extremely poor. We seldom get what we are seeking by doing it. We are better off not being the policeman of the world. We are better off setting a good example for other countries to follow. While I don't excuse the 9/11 attackers for what they did, it is safe to say that if we did not have military bases in the middle east, and if we were not propping up repressive dictatorships, and if we did not give unquestioning support to Israel, we very likely could have avoided 9/11 all together.

Counter argument: it doesn't matter what they say or what their motive was, they are Islamic extremest. Everyone knows that Islam is all about killing infidels and eternal rewards for engaging in Jihad. We should wipe these guys off the face of the earth.

This is basically a statement of a genocidal policy. I personally am not comfortable with it. I have more faith in the Gospel message to change and transform the Islamic world. I don't see a need to be an agent of judgment and I as a Christian am not called to such a mission. I would not vote for any politician who articulated this kind of mission or thought.

Update: related content

Professor Juan Cole provides counter analysis of passages in the Quran for those who characterize Islam and the Quran as violent.

First post of the new year. Well, over the past couple of years I have been getting back to playing my guitar more. It's mostly because of my son who started violin 2 years ago and the inspiration he has given me. This coming year I am planning on playing more and practicing as much as I can with the time available to me (which isn't much). I am playing once in a while at my church, frequently with my friend Tim who is a flute and wind player. It is fun for me and I can't think of a better place to play than during the worship giving glory to God.

Now on to this guy Grisha Goryachev. I mean, he's just raw talent isn't he? But also, he is teaching me about Flamenco guitar. All of the music he plays is a study of other, more prominent guitarists who came before him. In this case, this song was played by Paco De Lucia (video here). He's got it down pretty close to the way Paco plays it and that's not a small thing. But he makes it look so easy. I had a discussion with some friends about a year ago. We were talking about virtuosos and talented athletes. Do they discourage you when you watch them? Not me. I find it inspiring. When I see someone who can play so effortlessly, it makes me think that I can learn to play like this too. Well maybe not quite as good but still, I can learn it and get to a fair level of skill without much effort. It looks so fun that I want to try it.

Now along those lines (learning Flamenco guitar), I recently discovered this book by Dennis Koster. It is a great introduction to Flamenco guitar. It has a forward by Eliot Fisk (which says something right away about the content). It describes very well the basic dances and rhythms of Flamenco and gives a nice little history of the most famous players. I'm going to try and work through this and see if I can play a few Flamenco dances of the guitar. Stay tuned!

Here are what I perceive to be assumptions frequently made by Neocon politicians. Who is a Neocon Politician? Lindsey Graham would be a good example.

Intervention is necessary to guarantee US safety and to stimulate and promote democracy across the globe. False. Is there an example in US history where this proved to be true? Is there any case where the US has intervened either overtly or via secret services where the country is better off after the intervention than before? What about the cost in lives? The recent invasion of Iraq is a good example. Total casualties are estimated to be over 1 million. How many would have died in the same period under Saddam?

In order to stop terrorism we must transform radical countries like Afghanistan into modern democracies. False. By using military force in unstable Muslim regions like AfPak, we encourage more terrorism against this country. This is because military occupation builds resentment and stimulates recruitment of the local population to the cause of radical movements. See the excellent research done by Professor Robert Pape.

The US is the exceptional country in history. Therefor we should police the world. False. The US is not exceptional. Indeed, if the US would have been on the losing side in WWII, it very likely would have been prosecuted for war crimes for some of it's actions. We cannot afford to police the world. We are not an empire. If we have anything to show to other countries, it will be plane to see. It is counterproductive for us to try and coerce or manipulate the world to do things our way. The best way for us to have influence is to be a good example.

There is more to say on this. But this is a start. Stay tuned...

Eight years ago, Americans came to find out that our ambitious foreign policy had reached the point where it was making people in remote places become angry enough that they were willing to plot and scheme a plan which would result in the tragic death of many innocent Americans here in this country. On this day I want to urge all of my friends to educate yourself. The United States is spending an incredible amount of money on "defense" and foreign policy. We currently have about a thousand military bases outside the US. Included in these is a massive complex in Iraq which is about the size of Vatican City. Another massive complex is being built in the region known as AfPak. So the bottom line here is that the events of 9/11, up to this point, have not resulted in a change of approach in US foreign policy but rather an acceleration of the old policy and new plans for nation building in the name of freedom.

Suggestions. If you are reading this, I want to encourage you to set the goal this year of reading the trilogy of books written by Chalmers Johnson, known as the blowback series. Start by reading this article by Johnson written just a couple weeks after the tragedy.

This is an interesting show. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a full audio archive of the show anywhere on the internet. Locally, the only place to hear it is on KXCV in Maryville Illinois. There is a live audio link so I will try to give it a listen when I can. 7 pm on Wednesdays.

It is now Sunday and I am feeling so much better than this time yesterday. Last Monday I had the slightest bit of a sore throat. It came on very slowly and not until Thursday did I really think that I was dealing with some kind of virus. By then I had started to increase my vitamin C intake a bit, probably taking about 10 grams that day by the time I hit the sack. But Friday when I woke up, I was definitely sick with a cold. I still went to work even though my energy level was a bit low. I started taking about 2 grams of vit C every 1 or 2 hours but it wasn't enough. By the time I came home I was feeling very sick with lots of head congestion and my energy level was low. I stopped by the store on the way home to get some vitamin C powder. Using powder (sometimes sold as vitamin C crystals) is the most effective way to get the ascorbate into you system quickly. When I got home, I took 5 grams immediately and then another 5 an hour later. My stomach was tumbling just a bit. This is the telltale sign that you are at the max level of vitamin C that your gut can absorb. Taking any more is just asking for some diarrhea runs to the toilet. Now it was just a matter of waiting and keeping it up. I also took a 500 mg capsule of Niacin. I backed off the vit C just a bit through the rest of night, taking perhaps 3 to 4 grams each hour. I was absorbing this without any loose stool which means I was dealing with a pretty strong virus.

I woke up Saturday feeling just a bit better but still somewhat week. I had to keep the pressure up. I took some Niacin with more vitamin C and fish oil as well. I had to stay in most of the day and rest as well as keep taking vit C, making sure I was getting in as much as possible. I was feeling a bit week when I went to bed Saturday night. I was wondering if it was a lost cause and perhaps I should break down and take some cold medicine. But I really hate the drug like haze you get from that. Got to sleep around 9:30. I woke up around midnight. I was feeling maybe a bit better but I had a bad headache. I took some migraine medicine and then I had to stay up as the caffeine in this makes it hard to sleep. Well that was Ok, I could now make sure I was topping off the vit C every hour until I was sleepy enough to go back to bed.

I finally went to bed around 4. When I woke up (a bit late), I was feeling greatly improved. My head was much clearer. I was still slightly week feeling so I decided to stay home from church. I also had some loose stool which indicates that less vit C was being absorbed from my gut and I could reduce the dosage. It is now early evening and I am well on the way to recovery. I should be able to go back to work tomorrow without any trouble. Still taking a bit more vit C than normal for a while just to make sure. This was a tenacious cold. One of the strongest I have dealt with in a long time. I have a friend who was sick for 2 weeks recently. Taking vitamin C in the correct amount can really help reduce and lesson cold symptoms. Give it a try.

We were in Toronto visiting family for the past week. I asked on the Delcamp forum about Classical Guitar stores around the area that I might want to visit. I was originally looking for sheet music but one recommendation was a guitar store called the 12th Fret and since their web site indicated that they might have some nice instruments, I decided to try and take a look. The store is located not too far from Lake Shore Drive near the CN Tower and Rogers Stadium where the Blue Jays play so it was a nice scenic drive getting there. It is a fairly small place but the staff seemed very knowledgeable. I went to a small room in the back where there were classical guitars. The technician at the store was very helpful and complemented me on my playing. He had some background in studying Classical playing so this helped him to recognize any skill that I might have (even though I am very rusty these days). Here's a run down of the instruments I played.

• I was mainly interested in playing a Kenny Hill Fleta model and I was in luck to find that they did have the instrument there. It was a Brazilian Rosewood model done in French Polish. Now Fleta was one of the more famous Spanish makers of the mid 20th century. Segovia and John Williams played his instruments. This Kenny Hill model is a copy of the Fleta style. The first notes that I played were surprisingly responsive. The sound of this guitar was very deep and full. Loud but not harsh at all. Even the notes way up the fretboard sounded full and deep. It was also almost effortless to play. The action was quite easy and the width of the fretboard was noticeably less than a normal CG. The technician told me this was typical of a Kenny Hill guitar and that Hill tended to sell a lot to Japan and so he was catering to smaller hands. I liked the action but I really thought the width would suit me if it were wider. Never the less, the sound of this guitar was one of the most beautiful I have ever encountered.
  


• Ramirez 1a, Madagascar Rosewood. As a comparison, he brought out this nice Ramirez which was brand new. The 1a model is one of the most famous and respected CGs. Used by Segovia in his later years and by most of his students (like Parkening, Lorimer, Ghiglia to name a few). I myself have a 1977 1a model which is not in the greatest condition right now and could use some work. Now these older Ramirez guitars are most infamous for their huge scale length of 665 cm. But the new versions use the much more standard scale length of 650. I was surprised as I played this instrument that it sounded like a very typical Ramirez (quite beautiful) but was very manageable to play. The width of the fingerboard was the same (very wide) which I really liked and having that scale back down to normal made it a very desirable guitar in many ways. But the sound was noticeably different than the Hill Fleta. Much more of a mid range punchiness and loud but a tad bit on the harsh side if you push it. Still, this is an exquisite guitar. Unfortunately the Madagascar Rosewood (along with the Ramirez name) made it quite expensive too: $7700.00 to be exact.
  


• Cervantes with raised fingerboard. This was not a completely hand made guitar but it was surprisingly good. It featured the Thomas Humphries Millennium style raised fingerboard and tapered front. The tapering was a bit different as the face of the guitar was rounded instead of being a flat piece placed at an angle. Never the less the sound was excellent, especially considering the price of around $2500. However, it was hard to play. Action was quite high and a wide fingerboard which seemed to get even wider at the saddle. But I would describe the sound as Ramirez like and strong enough to play in a large hall. This was the first raised fingerboard guitar that I have played and I did notice that it made the upper register very easy to play even though in other respects the guitar was hard to play.
  


• 1973 Larrivee. This guitar surprised me a bit. The action was a bit high probably due to some change in the neck angle but still, I liked it's sound. It was very neutral and I think it would be a good instrument for Baroque or Renaissance music. I enjoyed playing it as it's sound was distinct and not so much in the Spanish tradition but still nice. The technician at the store told me that Larrivee did make nice guitars way back then but now is completely mass production based and focused on steel string instruments. What a pity as this was a nice instrument with it's own character.
  

We took a long drive yesterday. Luz checked out one of the Harry Potter audio books from the library. These are narrated by actor Jim Dale and I can't believe how excellent they are. The wide range of characters which Dale uniquely portrays is truly incredible and very enjoyable. It will add a new dimension to these books if you haven't heard them read before.

This is a great interview with the guitarist who had a big influence on me when I first started playing. I remember learning Mood for a Day very carefully by lifting the needle up and setting it down gently on small sections of the record in order to hear and learn all the notes. But I like what he says near the end of the interview and the demonstration he gives of not over driving the instrument. This seems to be very insightful.

To commemorate the moon mission of Apollo 11 40 years ago, NASA has set up We Choose The Moon. They are playing the audio of the mission radio communications as they happened in real time. It's amazing to think back to those times when computers were still very small and lacking in power. The systems used on the moon mission craft were only 64k of memory and the user interface provided by the DSKY is really silly by today's standards.

I remember very well where I was at the time of the landing (in Kansas City visiting my cousins) and watching the first steps on TV at night. It was a special time for me as I always had a good time with these members of my family and the space program of course was something that fascinated me beyond words at that age.

I am amazed at how much silence there is in the transmissions. There is a constant background of white noise that I find very comforting. Is there something psychological about this? Maybe it's a very old sound that we recognize subconsciously from our time in our mother's womb? Maybe not but at any rate, I like the sound. It's reassuring and makes me feel like I'm going somewhere to some important destination.

Yes, we had a catastrophic failure. Hard drive died. The good news is that I had a new server configured and waiting to go. It is a Pentium IV machine with two drives configured in software RAID so it is a little bit safer. The bad news is that I didn't have a lot of the old drive backed up so I lost a bit of stuff. I looked into what it would cost to get the data off the old drive but minimum $500 is a bit steep for now. I will save the drive for a rainy day.