Sierra Mountain Times

I hope you’re keeping your New Year’s resolution(s). One of mine is to learn guitar before I turn 55, May 1st. I’ve never had any success with music lessons. Mom put me into piano lessons when I was eight, and I lasted only three weeks. But through the decades I’ve admired guitarists like Jeff Beck, Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Clapton, Jimi Page, Hendrix…In fact, I’ve been inspired by several local guitarists: Keno Rojas (of Plan B), Greg Noll (Crazy Ivan), Guy Dossi (Dossi on the Rocks), Patrick Karnahan (Black Irish Band), Tim McCaffrey and Thomas Atkins! (The latter two are the SMT publisher and editor, respectively). Every day Tim and Tom take turns strolling about the newsroom, strumming an acoustic guitar. They’re both pretty good. Tim REALLY gets into it, and I’ve encouraged him to develop a stage act for the local pubs/coffee houses. I can see it now: Appearing Live! One night only! Tim McCaffrey performs the songs of Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Pink Floyd – Live and unplugged – on his “little acoustic guitar” (You’d have to see it to believe it!) His guitar’s about 2/3’s the size of a normal acoustic guitar, and has groovy-looking flames on it. It’s totally out-of-sight! Anyway, both Tim and Thomas have inspired me, and I’m determined to learn guitar this year!! 

Happy Birthday to one of my all-time favorite guitar minstrels, Neil Diamond! Born in Brooklyn, NY on January 24, 1941, Neil debuted with his album, “The Feel of Neil Diamond” (Bang Records) in 1966. He’s sold more than 92 million records worldwide, including over 35 Top 40 singles and 18 platinum albums! The single “Cherry Cherry” reached #6 in 1966. “Thank the Lord for the Night Time” hit #13 in ’67. He’s had many other big hits including “Sweet Caroline” (#4, 1969), “Cracklin’ Rosie” (#1, 1970) and “Song Sung Blue” (#1, 1972). Remember his 1980 soundtrack LP “The Jazz Singer”, with its Top 10 hits “Love on the Rocks”, “America” and “Hello Again”? Neil has continued to write songs, release albums (Check out his 2008 CD “Home Before Dark”) and perform in concert! On January 24, he turns 69 – but he keeps right on rockin’! 

Was sitting on a bench in Columbia, circa 1854, and munching on a tasty hotdog served up by Lonnie “The Hungry Prospector”. He’s the dude who prepares/sells his award-winning dogs out of a covered wagon, across the street from the Jack Douglass Saloon. Anyway, I was takin’ a much-deserved lunch/reading break; reading the January 21st issue of Rolling Stone. The cover story is about the “battle over global warming”. In this issue, we also learn that on March 15th, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremonies, the “Class of 2010” will be announced and the Stooges, Genesis, Abba, the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff will finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Right on!! Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton will be touring together in 2010; and “Susan Boyle (is) on Fire”! Susan, as you all know, is the 48-year-old U.K. contest show star who blew everyone away with her singing! Her debut CD, “I Dreamed a Dream” is atop the charts at #1, and it’s sold 1.8 million copies! It’s one of the fast-selling discs of the Nielsen-SoundScan era, says Rolling Stone! 

Sign seen in Murphys: Pooper Scooper will clean up dog poop in your yard. Will come over once or twice a week! Call Andrew at Shirt Tales (in Murphys) at 728-8554! “People don’t want to do it, so they’re happy to see Andrew coming!” exclaims his mother, Susan. “He’ll do it for a small monthly fee of $15-$25, depending on the number of dogs and the volume of doo doo.” Thanks, also to Ed and Susan at Shirt Tales. They’ve been a reliable and convenient SMT distribution location for several years now! 

Recession buster of the week: (and a healthy one!) A pint of beer and a bowl of soup for just $3! Researchers confirm that if the average American male consumes one beer a day, he substantially reduces his chances of heart attack and stroke! And everyone knows that “soup is good food”! So stop by the Nugget Bar in Murphys on a Sunday afternoon (1:30 to 3:30-ish). Enjoy a beer (or other alcoholic beverage) and bartender Jim will serve you a big bowl of one of his special soups – at no extra charge!! 

Mike Hoffman, my friend in Murphys (the dude who has the “magic rain canoe”) wants everyone to know that the Who will be performing on his birthday, February 7th – although the Who’s concert has more to do, really, with the fact that the group is providing the half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl on 02/07/10! Speaking of football, I bought this awesome little book called “ESPN’s Guide to Psycho Fan Behavior”! 176 pages, and very informative, the books instructs you on just how to properly behave like a “psycho fan!” There’s even a feature called the “Psycho Fan Hall of Fame”! Number 10 on this dubious list is Beverly Grant. According to the book, Beverly, “a superior court judge in Tacoma, Washington opened a first-degree manslaughter sentencing in the death of a local man by urging everyone in her courtroom to yell, “Go Seahawks!,” two days before the team faced the Steelers in Super Bowl XL. When the response was tepid, she demanded that onlookers shout it out again. The prosecutor later took umbrage: “One family is seeing a son go off to prison, and one family is here to find justice for a murdered loved one. Do you think they want to root for the Seahawks?” Unreal, huh? 

GROOVY HAPPENINGS: Only 49 more days (as of this issue’s publication date) until the legendary Sonora Celtic Faire, rocks the Mother Lode Fairgrounds! (March 12-14)! It’s gonna be totally awesome this year! In the meantime, there are some groovy happenings taking place. The Original Snail Band will kick out the jams at the Nugget in Murphys, Saturday, January 23rd! (9 p.m.-ish) No cover! Plan B, Calaveras County’s favorite local band performs at Bear Valley’s Sky High Pizza, Saturday, January 23rd! (Show is at 9 p.m./no cover!) Then, they’ll boogie over to Mokelumne Hill for a gig at the Leger Hotel, on Sat., January 30! Wanna know something totall unreal? Jesus Christ Superstar (The 2009-2010 A.D. Tour) is playing at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto! With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Weber, this musical was called “groundbreaking” when it debuted on Broadway in 1971. You can see it again – with the 1973 movie’s original lead actor, Ted Neeley, at the Gallo, Friday, January 22nd, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, January 23rd, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.! Log on to www.galloarts.org! Back in the Mother Lode, Super Bowl parties are being planned, as we speak. One place that traditionally has a groovy party is Micki and Larry’s Sports Pub in Copperopolis. In fact, Ron Wilhite, a loyal supporter of the NFL and M&L’s informs me that the pub will be serving “turducken” (which you all know is a boneless chicken crammed with stuffing – inside a boneless duck – inside a boneless turkey!) M&L’s usually puts out a lot of complimentary grub for Super Bowl, and their party will start at 3 p.m.-ish; but if you want any turducken, please realize, it’s gonna go fast! First come, first served. If any of you out there know of any other groovy happenings, call my HD (hippy dippy) hotline (209-559-8368), and let me know! 

Well, Mikey’s Magic Rain Canoe (MRC) is generating a lot of storms, all right; though it might be causing some calamity as well: in Southern California, a fire department’s 4-wheel drive vehicle got caught in some serious mud; while up in Sacramento, heavy winds destroyed the flag at the State Capitol. And so much snow is falling, now we gotta worry about avalanche danger. On the bright side, the MRC just might be instrumental in breaking our drought! Hey, Mikey, just remember that Led Zeppelin song on the Zoso album: “When the Levee Breaks…” and please, use that MRC with care. In the meantime, peace, love and strong sandbags!