Now where did that come from?

Manure: In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large shipments of manure were common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but onc e water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM! Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening. After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term "Ship High In Transit" on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane. Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T " , (Ship High In Transport) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day. You probably did not know the true history of this word. Neither did I. I had always thought it was a golf term.

Go DevilRains...or DevilRods.. or Raps...DevilForks? Whatever!

Well, I'm off in LALA land. St Petersburg FL to be exact. Down here for a few days to visit my little girl and to watch her walk the grad line at the college she's spent the last 4 years at. I wanted to pull all the stops and show her a good time, so I pulled some strings and got tickets for all of us to see the DevilRays take on the Mariners. Honestly, the Rays are sturggling and some guy offered me 5 bucks to fill some seats, but the family doesn't have to kow that, right? As it turned out, I had the best seat in the house and the picture above is proof of that. More on the trip later, stay tuned.

Will Ferrell and the Landlord

Will Ferrell fan or not, this is way too funny. Check this short video:

The Landlord.

Picking and moaning

I've had an old Montaya guitar, a knockoff of the very excellant Martin D28. It always seemed to have a good sound and I'd been trying to play it since buying it in 1983. First year, I took lessons once a week and learned to read music a little and could pick out some short random tunes. It was not what I signed up for and bored to tears, dropped the lessons and shortly after, hid the guitar in the closet. It was guys sitting around playing and singing that had me going then and it took a while to find some, but it's guys picking around a fire that's got me hooked again. Good players, who know how bad I suck, but encourage me anyway. I've bought a few peices to play with, but the honest truth is that none fit nearly as well as the old Montaya does. I have no high priced intruments. The triple stand is holding on the right, the old Montaya, on the left is a Ovation BlackViper - hollow body electric, and in back is my beat up Taylor Big Baby. The one encased on the floor is a Martin D15 Custom I just picked up. It's nearly new, too new in fact. I'm going to have to get Peewee up here to stretch the strings a little, while maybe Malcolm strokes my Taylor. Charlie and Cpt Dick can beat on the ovation, while we all drink spring water. That'd be alright. How about it, who's in?