Campaign Finance Reform? Reform this…

I’ve been trying to sort out campaign finance arguments lately.

It’s Getting Even Tougher To Be Conservative

Leave it to Michael Yon to pull a “Steve Earle” on me.  Just when I thought I had one, solid, conservative stand on an issue Yon scrambles my brain with a little realism.  Man, I hate it when that happens.  Keep reading as I take myself on in a little self-debate about gun control.

Too Big To Fail

I’ve been hearing that phrase a lot lately.  AIG is too big to fail.  Got me wondering what that means, frankly.  And also what the cultural implications are.

I Wish I Had a Mortgage Problem

That way I could stay in that house I didn’t buy because I knew I couldn’t afford it, thanks to Pres. Obama’s latest way to ensure his re-election.

Why I Wear a Uniform

No, this is not about all the reasons I serve. This is about why it is important to wear a uniform in combat.

Paying for Abortions

Why is it so hard for some people to accept that I don’t want to pay for abortions?

Fixing Our Old, Broken Mess of a Country

No, this isn’t what you think it will be.

On the contrary, I am sick of people telling me how screwed up my country is.  How we are so lucky that we finally have a president who can get us back on track.

Yup, We’re Dumb Alright

I have had election/news fatigue for about a year now.  I don’t know if it is because there is a TV in my office all day, or if it is something else, but now that either the election is finally over…or maybe it is because I am disgusted with the result… I feel like I might get back into the swing of things.

CBG

I recently completed my first a cigar box guitar.

My first CBG, in honor of C Troop 1-230th Air Cav Squadron

Closeup of the box itself.

I think if you click either of these pics, you will get a full size image.  I put the fretboard on it, but then discovered that a string buzzed…and that I like to just slide on it for now, so I removed it.  My next one will have a fretboard on it, though.

I used the middle four strings from a standard acoustic set (ADGB) and tuned it to open g (GDgb).  The neck is three feet of poplar straight from Home Depot, with rivet heads to serve as grommets so the strings don’t cut a groove in the wood.  The box is straight from a tobacco store in down the street.  The nuts and bolts for the nut, bridge, and tuners are standard hardware for an OH-58d helicopter, the fretboard is (was) a yardstick I cut up, and the frets are (were) .042 inch safety wire.

The scary sombrero wearing skull in the front is my unit mascot, who I call ” Chuck” after our unit designation Charlie Trp 1-230th ACS “Comancheros” (pronounced: Charlie Troop First of the Two-Thirtieth Air Cavalry Squadron – Comancheros).

The two black strips on the box on the left and the right are zip ties I put on there to make a tight seal for the lid.  I will nail and glue the lid down when I get the electronics inside and placed where they produce the best sound.  I’m going to use a piezo setup, and make an amp out of cheap parts and make it electric.  I’ll post that as soon as I get around to putting it together.

I tried to put a sound file on here, but apparently I can’t even though there is a button that says I can.  I wish you could hear this thing, it sounds great.  Sort of banjo-like, and much louder than I ever thought it would.  If I figure out a way to put a sound file up (here or elsewhere) I’ll let you know.

Thanks to all the guys and gals on the cigarboxguitars group on Yahoo.  I haven’t done a whole lot of talkin on there, but I’ve tried to do a lot of listenin.  I hope I did them justice.  Wait till you hear it!

Eric Is Back Online

My brother is back posting to his blog: www.erics-corner-of-the-world.blogspot.com and he writes stuff you should read.  Look him up and say hello.  Apparently he was motivated to get back to blogging because he looked at mine…and I felt guilty that I hadn’t posted anything in a while, so here is a quick post.  I’ll see if I can get inspired later tonight and write some more.