Fretboard Warrior - Learn the notes on the guitar

The guitar is like a puzzle in that you know the instrument your holding can sound as good as a Eric Clapton or a John Mayer, the only problem is they have all the pieces in place (or most of em anyway) and you don't. One large piece that will clear up the overall picture for you is simply learning each note on the fretboard. Now this can be an arduous task. You know that the notes on the guitar are
C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C (the chromatic scale). From that point you can go up and down and find each note. The hard part is being able to pick a note anywhere on the guitar and instantly knowing what that note is. Just practice. A perfect practice tool for this is the Fretboard Warrior (which is free!). I came across this recently and have seen steady improvement. Now start putting the pieces together.

I tried out for American Idol Season 8

So I have to admit that I am an American Idol fan. I enjoy picking my favorite at the beginning (Matt Giraud for Season 8). I'd been getting a bunch of youtube comments saying I should tryout for American Idol and so I went ahead and did it. Spoiler...I didn't make it through. It was, however, an experience. I was the most amazed by how many talented singers there were. It seemed like everyone could really sing (I was looking for all those people who go through to make the show funny but surprisingly didn't find many). Even in the bathroom, everyone was singing, getting ready for there one shot to make it, it seemed pretty dramatic. Looking around, I knew that for many of these people it was there one shot to achieve their "dream." It was all very intense and entertaining.
What you don't see on the show is that in the first round you go up in groups of four in front of one or two judges. You step up, sing your piece, and then it's the next person's turn. This is all in front of an entire arena of people waiting to do the same thing, and they can all see you. Not necessarily what I was expecting, but it made it more memorable. Anyways, I sang "The Hurt" by John Mayer just because I love that song. Probably not the best choice seeing as nobody has really heard of it, but I thought I sang okay (apparently not well enough, but that's alright). One guy from my group made it through so I'm watching to see if he's still in the running.
All in all, I'm very proud of myself for giving it a shot. In life you're going to regret missing out on opportunities as opposed to going after something and having it not turn out exactly how you envisioned it. I might go try out again this year and I might not, but I can say that I tried, and it sounds corny but that's good enough for me (I'm easy to please).

David Bergman's Inauguration Photo

Take a look at this amazing panoramic image (it's like a google map where you can zoom in and move around) of President Obama's Inauguration. Here's how David Bergman made the photograph.

2009. a new year. a new blog

Riding along the coattails of the new year, I thought I'd spice things up a bit by posting here every day and see what happens. Don't hesitate to comment (yes you). Also working on a new website...

Snuggies

Just read an article in Time about this new "Snuggie" phenomenon. If you haven't seen the commercials for this strangely intriguing product, then please take a moment (I love the high-five at 1:05). It's basically a massive blanket that makes you look like some sort of comfortable monk. But anyways, the article goes on to say that there are more than 3 million proud Snuggie owners since the ad began airing in September, and that there will soon be an Outdoor Snuggie and a Snuggie for Kids, all very exciting. The video might give you a chuckle.