Dozer is...

...growing in to his name. Little guy hopped on the scale at Petsmart last night and settled out at a whopping 40.6 el bees. That's crazy! Unfortunately he's still a bit of a wiener. But I think he's growing out of that too.

I had a thought yesterday while watching one of my favorite artists rip some funk nasty blues licks on his guitar. (I'm talking about John Mayer, from his Leave the Light On DVD). Consider this: The stock of guitar players coming out these days seems to be less steallar in terms of playing ability and it got me wondering why. When did really being able to play stop being important? I think it could be the birth of the internet. Humor me a moment here.

Before the internet, kids who had access to guitars would sit locked in their rooms all day long and listen to records and play guitar. Wikipedia any great guitar players bio and you'll read the same story. Being that they studied heroes of the time, their playing started to develop along those lines and eventually fused in to what is their own style. Take Mayer for example. I hear Albert and B.B., Buddy and Muddy and some Stevie and Jimi in his playing. He puts it all together with his 8 years of solo acoustic noodling and it turns in to this incredible style which to me is just captivating.

So did the internet ruin good guitar playing? Probably not. I just didn't have the patience as a kid to study the way some do and now I wish I had. But I do think if I wasn't fascinated with the birth of the interweb I may have spent more time with my guitar. I have however resolved to try to get better this year. I just need to expand my references. It's something I enjoy, so why not slow down and take the time.

-MtR