your heart swells and rains blood

The more I look at guitars, pedals and other musical equipment is equally proportionate to how much I want to purchase new or used musical equipment. 

I recently discovered that the recording quality on my computer is pretty decent (compared to the computer I bought in 1998, my mp3 player/recorder and my four-track tape recorder).  So I am in the process of getting a computer recording program like GarageBand.  I say ‘like’ because I have a PC and GarageBand only works on Apple computers.  So I’ve settled on MixCraft which is currently being shipped in the mail from New York. 

After discovering my computer’s recording capabilites I started asking myself if my current guitar (a Tanglewood acoustic guitar I bought in London circa 2002) is ideal of recording.  Its a pretty decent acoustic guitar but doesn’t have a cut-away which limits what I can play up the scale of the neck (obviously).  So I started looking at acoustic guitars with cut-aways and was kinda suprised to find that most acoustic guitars (or more since I last looked at guitars a couple years ago) are acoustic-electric which is kind of a bonus. 

I almost pulled the trigger on an acoustic Fender with a cut-away for just under three hundo but then thought, do I really need this?  The answer is/was no, of course not, but it would be nice.  But then again I already have an acoustic guitar, a two electric guitars and two amps (four if you include the crappy little microcube amp and the amp I sold to Steve but he hasn’t paid me for yet).  So that deterred me from that purchase. 

Items I would like to get in the future (I’m not sure how realistic this is):
- bass guitar (maybe a Hofner or Epiphone Allen Woody)
- ‘59 Danelectro guitar
- vintage Vox guitar amp
- acoustic-electric guitar w/ cutaway (as mentioned earlier)
- resonating guitar
- Neko Case’s voice (I heard you can get this on the black market)
- Jack White’s guitar playing abilities (which can be found at the cross roads)
- Bruce Springsteen’s crouch slide (easier to replicate than previously thought)

10 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY TO BUY TAPES ‘N TAPES TICKETS (OR FOOD, OR HEAT, OR WHATEVER YOU NEED MOST)

1. Go to the LIBRARY- Why buy books when you can borrow them? Here’s a library locator to help you out. At most libraries you can also get movies!

2. Eat at home – This can save you some serious cash! Start by making this Panang Curry recipe of Josh’s.

Panang Curry3. Bottle your own water and make your own coffee- This one is kind of a pain, but is pretty obviously beneficial.

4. Have a garage sale- Personally, I am definitely doing this. Offload your junk on unsuspecting folks.

5. Go veggie- If you can do three meatless days a week (without substituting fish), you could save $25 a week, which equals $100 a month, which equals $1,200 a year! That’s a bunch of Tapes ‘n Tapes tickets right there!!!!! Ha!!!

6. HAPPY HOUR- Everybody loves some cheap drinks and eats

7. Take the city BUS or ride your BIKE

8. UNPLUG your appliances- They steal your money even when you’re not looking at or running them. They’re evil like that.

9. FREE MUSEUMS – Also, going to free art gallery openings is always a good idea

10. CHEAP MUSIC! The wonderful people at insound.com gave us a coupon to pass on to you! You can get 15% off your order using the coupon tapesnsave15. The coupon is only good for the next two weeks, so get on it!

we know they’re all pretty simple, but we’re just trying to help out, ya know? that’s what friends are for.

2 Tbls Panang Curry paste (1 1/2 to 3 Tbls is normal range depending on heat)
6-10 Kaffir Lime leaves finely cut up with kitchen scissors (no wider than 1/16”)
1 can Coconut Milk
1 1/2 # Chicken Breast or Pork sliced thinly into strips no longer than 3”, or veggies or tofu
1 # of whole Green Beans, stemmed
1/2 C Thai Basil roughly chopped
2 Tbls Fish Sauce
2 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls Tamarind Paste (also called Concentrate)
3 cloves garlic minced

1. In a separate bowl, cover beans with boiling water, cover and let stand 4-5 minutes. Drain.
2. In 2 – 3 Tbls hot oil in wok, brown meat over high heat. Add minced garlic after the first stir. Continue cooking until done (3-5 mins). Remove to serving container.
3. Add 3 Tbls coconut milk to wok and heat over medium high heat for 1 minute. Add curry paste and lime leaves. Stir fry for 30- 60 seconds until fragrant.
4. Stir in remaining coconut milk and heat to boiling. Maintain gentle boil for 5 – 10 minutes until reduced in volume by about 25% or until it starts to slightly thicken.
5. Add meat back to pan. Add basil, fish sauce, tamarind paste, and sugar. Let simmer for about 10 minutes (no longer than 20 minutes)
Serve with rice