Learning the Strings

With excitement, I am glad to announce that I've finally started guitar lessons! Finding the right teacher was a delayed process, one that started over a year ago. Two of my friends and I made the decision to start on our musical quest together, as we long shared a desire to play the instrument. We agreed to sit in a conference room, and interview some potential instructors by phone. The prospects seemed to offer a little something different based on their music experience, and yet they all made us even more excited to get started. Unfortunately, due to the availability of our chosen mentors and our own schedule limitations, we failed to make things happen.

That changed in October 2008. My friend and colleague, Kri, and I hired a new programmer into our company. Eric, as it turned out, was not just an experienced programmer but also a multi-talented individual. Coincidentally, one of his strengths is music. Eric plays the guitar, and honed his talent from the age of 12. Upon discovering Eric's secret skill, I asked him if he would would teach three of us who are very willing and anxious to learn to play the guitar. He eagerly accepted the challenge.

So, now on Mondays, in the now defunct studio located in our office building, Eric meets with the three of us gals for our weekly lesson. Instruction is simple enough for us amateurs who have never taken a lesson before, and Eric is both patient and encouraging. He has required that we practice daily, and by practicing an hour a day we will be stringing together notes in no time. It's a small sacrifice to pay for a fancy skill that I can add to my personal repertoire, and it's fun, too!

Ahh, Holiday Cheer

Right before Thanksgiving, I stepped into a local department store and cursed under my breath about it being way too early to play holiday music. They were blasting Christmas music full force, and it became even more annoying when I realized "Jingle Bells" was stuck in my head for days.

Even earlier than that I discovered that one of the radio stations I listen to had started playing holiday music 24/7. "Bah, humbug!" I exclaimed as I switched to the classic rock station.

Well, I don't know if it's due to the cold weather or because we have reached mid-December, but the holiday spirit has finally engulfed me. Today, as I work, I am enjoying tunes such as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Little Saint Nick" from the Elvis Presley Holiday station on Pandora.

Take that, Ebenezer!

Beware the Rickroll

The online phenomenon of Rickrolling has taken a place in the annals of web history. For those of you unfamiliar with the meme, Rickrolling is essentially a bait and switch where a person presents a web link seemingly relevant to the topic at hand. The link, however, leads to the 80's Rick Astley video, "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Apparently Rickrolling originates from the practice of "duckrolling," where a link would point to a peculiar picture of a duck with wheels. Earlier this year, I had read an article mentioning a poll that revealed that 18 million adults in the US had claimed to have been Rickrolled. Since the phenomenon has started, sporting events, radio and TV have Rickrolled unsuspecting spectators. With the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade being televised to millions of viewers this year, that number has multiplied exponentially, I'm sure.

Want to learn how to Rickroll someone, and see someone get Rickrolled? No problem - just check this out.

Too Busy To Write?!?

Going through the entire month of November without one single blog post makes me feel like a jerk. The most fantastic part of that statement is that there have been a handful of exciting things happening between the last post and December 1st. Let's see if I can recap everything since October:

• Saw New Kids on the Block perform at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. I don't care what anyone says; they are hotter than ever and put on a hell of a show.

• Traveled to San Francisco to watch the 49ers battle the Philadelphia Eagles at Candlestick Park. The Niners lost, but I don't care. They will always be my team.
  

• Enjoyed an extended Halloween via multiple celebrations. I actually had a use for two different costumes this year. I suited up as a boxer one night (a tribute to my recently acquired reputation of being the one who gets drunk and gets into fights at concerts) and an 80's rocker/GnR groupie on Halloween day (I just wanted to wear body jewelry, fishnets, and a mini-skirt to work).

• Took a weekend to Orange County, CA to watch my nephew play in the Mighty Mite Football Championship.
  

• Kept tabs on the presidential election whilst drunk at the Alkaline Trio, Thrice, and Rise Against concert at the House of Blues, and fought some random boy for apparently no reason.

• Watched OneRepublic perform at the Pearl. If you've never been to the Pearl, watch a concert there. If you've never seen OneRepublic, you're missing out. Such talent.

• Finally took the long-awaited trip to Cancun. Ridiculous, relaxing fun!

So, if you now feel caught up in the life of 408Down, you've been misled. There was much drinking and partying not mentioned above that happened in between all the major happenings...but you probably already figured that out.

Girl Talk

The buzz at the office today is Girl Talk. No, not discussion on boys, hair, and fashion - but rather mashup DJ Gregg Gillis and his recent release entitled Feed the Animals. It's truly a sundry mix of all you love and hate in hip hop and rock, giving it a newly balanced flavor that cannot be resisted. The brilliant thing about Girl Talk and other mash-up turntablists is that the music encapsulates the collectively diverse taste of our generation today. Back in the 90's music was dominated by the rise of rap and hip-hop which is in stark contrast to now, where pop, hip-hop, rock, reggae, house and other genres share equal ranks on the music charts. Club DJs probably have much to do with the crossovers, however. Can't wait to see how much more creative they get.

To sample some of Girl Talk, check out his myspace page here