The Danger of Gear Escalation

Escalation is the phenomenon of something getting more intense step by step, for example a quarrel, or, notably, military presence and nuclear armament during the Cold War. (Thanks, wiki)
Only slightly less harmful would be gear escalation, the trend amongst musicians to continually try not only to keep up with the proverbial Jones', but be able to confidently sneer in their faces "nah, nah-nah nah-nah" when you whip out your new piece of gear and toss it casually onto the stage.
In this band it's the never-ending quest to get the most technologically advanced piece of gear into the smallest, lightest form possible. This has its practical applications, however, since we fly with all of our own gear, and that's getting expensive, if you hadn't heard.
There are only a few ways to avoid escalation. One would be to take the "purist" route, which is to say "I don't believe in electronics, wireless technology, and them there 'FX' Processors; all I need is this here gee-tar (and a nice mic and PA system)". The other is the "vintage gear" approach, which is "this piece of gear is from 1973, man, I can't alter it in any way! Blasphemy!".
But RS&RB doesn't really subscribe to either route - so when one of us discovers some new thing that sounds better, weighs less, is smaller, or even just looks cooler, we get it, and for those 6 months or so before our new gear becomes obsolete, we're the envy of all the other guys. Then, 6 months later, well, you get it.
The end result is: We CAN fly with all our own gear. We DO sound pretty good in a lot of situations where me might otherwise not, and when I look down at my feet to see all those blinking lights, I smile more.
And truthfully, I don't think there are any hard feelings amongst us about who is able to have what at any given point in time. But I'm still looking for the atom bomb of gear - the thing that I buy that can never be bested, that just says "Tilby wins; this thing is as awesome as can ever be". Until then, I'm just saying all my gear is "vintage".

10 things I don't want people to know about me.

I've been fascinated lately with my generations need to blog. What sort of attention-starved generation feels compelled to post its every mundane action on the web and invite all their friends to see?
Besides me, that is.
But you see, this page, if you'll notice, is called a journal, not a blog. A subtle difference, but if you'll remember, journals are where people of the past would write their most hidden thoughts and sacred feelings; a place where you could bounce ideas privately off yourself, and laugh at yourself years later. Journals were written for the writer, and the generations to come when the writer is comfortably dead and spared embarrassment.

So here's my journal entry. Not a blog. This is an honest look at how I think today, and I reserve the right to change how I think tomorrow. Here are 10 non-glossy-non-bloggy things about myself.

1. I don’t like the Beatles. I think Crowded House does the same thing, but better.
2. “Meet the Robinsons” makes me cry. Every time.
3. I’m not very interested in getting to know the people in my neighborhood.
4. I don’t like cats.
5. I’m a tree-hugger.
6. I usually vote Democrat.
7. I think most popular country music is nothing more than a marketing campaign.
8. I think Disneyland is more trouble than it’s worth.
9. I can eat Cocoa Puffs all day and night.
10. When I was 11, I lit the Johansons field on fire with homemade black-powder bombs.


There, I think that about covers it.