The Daily News

 

Breaking News!

1  Johnny Manziel sighting in Sacramento last night.

2   I was over at our Safeway buying a few items for dinner, when the clerk said, "A customer told me he saw Johnny Manziel tonight." He was talking to the kid in front of me, who who must have been all of thirteen. He clearly had no idea  who Johnny Manziel was.

3  I said to the Safeway guy,"Why would he be in Sac?"

4  He said, "If the 49ers were interested, wouldn't he be in San Francisco?"

5  My answer: "Nope. Sac makes more sense. Anywhere in the Bay Area would leak." Hmmm. I'm surprised that no Sac shows picked up on the sighting. Safeway guy said, "Just because he told me, doesn't mean it's true."

6  I liked the clerk. He was smart, and he clearly knew football. "Maybe the guy's just lonely!" I said. We had a good laugh. I remember vividly the day Manziel had the 49ers for lunch. I wouldn't mind having him. 

7  I got home last night hoping to break the story, but I was also pretty anxious to have dinner. I realized that I really hadn't eaten yesterday because I spent the entire day repairing my guitars, polishing them and then re-stringing them. 

8  So I held back 'til this morning.

9  It might be a no-story, but it certainly makes Manziel a Person of Interest if you ask me. 

10  We shall see. I would like it if Manziel became a Niner. I saw him kick the Niners's ass this season, so on that alone, I would like it.

11  Moving On, Part One: When do pitchers and catchers report?

12  Just kidding.

13  I did spend the entire day flipping guitars. I began with my Yamaha, Annabel. I took all the strings off her, but one little piece fell off, and I had to glue it back. I cleaned her up with Murphy Oil Soap, which worked wonderfully.

14  I had time to Google how to clean guitars, and Lemon Pledge (which I used for years, but tell no one please), was a HUGE no-no to the purists. It always worked for me, because I never cleaned my guitars that often. This is living proof that I am not a guitarist, nor even a musician, for that matter. 

15  Google had pure guitarists giving Murphy a thumbs up, so I decided to use it, especially since Caitlin had an almost full bottle. 

16  Because the piece fell off of Annabel, I decided to wait 'til today to re-string her.

17  I turned my efforts to this reasonably elegant John Turser guitar I bought for dirt cheap at Musician's Warehouse on Tully Road, across from Eastridge.

18  It was a great acoustic. It was wired for amplifiers, so it could do both. 

19  I repaired it last year after a few things unscrewed, and stuff came undone. And then I left it sitting on a guitar stand, where it gathered dust and spider webs. 

20  I had just begun singing and playing guitar with the Twincesses when Annabel broke. 

21  I pulled out Turser yesterday and did the flip. It took me a while, because I took my time, since I had the time. 

22  Nearing the end of the day with the Twincesses, my job was complete.

23  It looked glorious, and it sounded brash and proud.

24  Strings that gave a thud in the morning rang with freedom and brightness in the early eve.

25  Memory issues disappeared into the night, and some great chord changes came back to me. I LOVE new strings and clean guitars! Do that today! It's gonna rain anyway. It's like knitting, only better.

26  Years ago, a friend of mine taught me this awesome chord arrangement for The Girl From Ipanema, a Brazilian bossa nova tune that was written in 1962. Antonio Carlos Jobim is credited with the music, and the lyrics were written in Portugese by a fellow named Vinicius de Moraes. The English lyrics were by a guy named Norman Gimbel. Who knew?

27  Thank you Wiki, for those tidbits. 

28  A week ago on a thudding guitar, I couldn't for the life of me remember that arrangement. There are variations of the tune all over the internet, but the one that my friend taught me couldn't be found. 

29  The only way I would be able to remember those chords would be to relax my mind and trust my fingers. 

30  On a guitar that has been shown neglect, it didn't happen.

31  But with a happy, shiny new/old guitar, the memory opened up, and the chords appeared.

32  Not only did they appear, they challenged me to continue on with the song, which has some amazing changes.

33  I got the second part of the song started yesterday.

34  I'm excited about re-stringing Annabel later today, visiting the babies, and playing more music. 

35  I hope I have the temerity and the patience to continue. That song might take me forever, but other songs are cake.

36  Moving On, Part Two: There was this cooking show called Sugar Showdown on late last night. It followed with a show called Donut Showdown. 

37  A bunch of donut shop owners competed. Most contestants were young. One guy was well into his 70's. His name was Stormy. I was conking out, but watching it like a one-eyed Jack. 

38  One ingredient they all used is some substance called Tahini.

39  That sounds like a place that gnarly surfer dudes might hang. 

40  "Duuuuude! Let's do, like, Tahini, Duuuuuuude!!!!!!!

41

42  Ha.

43  High on Tahini.

44  Where do ya take it from here? Well, Stormy won. He had diet donuts. They are the ones with holes in them. Nah, I just had to sneak that one in. Used it before. Stormy did win the donut contest. Good to see an old geezer going the distance. 

45  You take it home.

46  Know why?

47  It's Friday, Duuuuuuude!!!!!!!

48  All work must cease at noon, as you well know. 

49  And it will.

50  As the Lord is my witness.

51  It will.

52  Gottago. Great week. LOTS of laughs.

53  And music. And beautiful babies. Like them in the Newsie hats? They slay me! Cuties, I'm tellin' ya. So fun. I'm going to enjoy them every chance I can. We have lot of fun and music today too. Pretty sure. AND cuteness. So...gottago.

54  See you again.

55  Have a GREAT weekend.

56  Peace.

~H~

fin.