Hey you Wacky Cats! My buddy, Tommy G. makes some awesome and creative pickguards! They are made for Ibanez, Strats, and Telecasters. They are so cool that I ordered a couple for Christmas presents. Tommy is giving them to me. I'm not being nice, i just want to be able to look at them! Check them out:
I just thumb-printed about 85 8x10 photos, and my Pops signed them for me. Triple Crown Clothing will be selling them, if you are interested in the photo and thumb-print of a schmuck.
A few weeks ago I posted some comments on jasonbecker.com message board. They are below. I am sorry I haven't been posting many blogs on myspace. I write or reply on my new website almost everyday now. RE: Peter Marrino
I believe Peter is doing gigs in Las Vegas now. He was doing an Ozzy tribute show for a while. Yes, he was such a fun guy to hang out with.
RE: Raiders
Man, I am sorry! I don't know what Al Davis is doing. I was a huge Raiders fan when Ken Stabler was quarterback. I switched to the 49ers when Oakland moved to Los Angeles and I saw Joe Montana play.
RE: Pay Pal
Yes, I do have Pay Pal, but embarrassingly I don't know how to use it. Write to my mom at this web site's email. She will know. Thank you so much for thinking of that.
RE: YouTube
I think YouTube is awesome. It has really helped me, and I find cool stuff to watch. My friend Brian Acuff just sent me this cool version of Speed Metal Symphony:
RE: What I used to eat
I ate so much junk food it is embarrassing. I ate three Big Macs at a time. I always had cool ranch Doritos in my car. I ate tons of donuts every day. I constantly ate bologna and mustard sandwiches, but I hated white bread. Weird, huh?
I ate this crap later on, but growing up I ate really healthy and delicious home cooking by my mom. She was incredible.
RE: My favorite songs of mine
I agree with you about Images and Rain. I just wish I had had time before I couldn't play any more to re-record Rain. I wish the guitar tone was different. Uli Jon Roth wants to do a version of that song. He doesn't like my tone on that song either. Ha ha! I also would like to have made another Perpetual Burn type album. For some reason, I also dig Opus Pocus. The working title was "Fantasy."
RE: Marty Friedman
Marty and I are still the best of friends. We still stay in contact a lot. We keep each other updated on what we are doing.
RE: How I communicate
In "Personal Stuff" on this web site, click on How I Communicate. That is the spelling system I use.
RE: Learning to play
I definitely had frustrating times while learning guitar. Whenever I got stuck though, I would just keep practicing. I loved playing so much that I constantly pushed myself. It wasn't something that felt forced though. I remember feeling like I conquered the world when I learned the B flat chord.
My mom just found some of her old writing, and we found something out. I have always said that I started playing guitar at age 5. I did get my first guitar when I was 5, and my dad gave me a lesson, and told me to come back when I nailed it. Well, I didn't come back. When I was 8 years old my brother got a xylophone. My dad taught him a Bob Dylan song. I said, "Hey, why don't you teach me that?" He did and that is when I started playing guitar; at age 8.
I first played in front of my class in the 6th grade. I just stood there for 5 minutes, too afraid to sing and play. Finally, I did it, and from then on I wasn't nervous to play on stage.
RE: Arp cramps
I guess I was lucky because I never cramped up when doing broken chords. Maybe start really slow.
RE: Improvisation
I definitely had brain farts while improvising. Improvising was often a challenge for me. Sometimes it just flowed, but usually it didn't come out how I wanted it to.
Here is a quote I wrote for a new ALS research place:
I’ve thought about what I could say that would be encouraging for people with ALS. The trouble is, while I may be an inspiring example of perseverance and beating the odds, a very big piece of what makes this possible is the amazing support system of family and friends that I have. I am aware that this is something very rare in our modern world and is not available to all people. ALS does not mean your life has to come to a halt. Holding onto your passions and your humor, while being open to change, can inspire people to help you and get behind you.
The most important factor is to continue communicating. The system I use is on my website - jasonbecker.com . One needs drive and a reason to live, but assuming most people have that, my encouragement is as follows: To the person with ALS I say accept the need to find alternate methods of communication and use them if it becomes necessary. To the friends and family of the person with ALS I say your close and prolonged involvement in the life of the person with ALS is one of the most important and rewarding things you will ever do.
Jason Becker
Have a beautiful Christmas time y'all! Love you Cats