Ever Have One Little Thing Change Your Entire Perspective?

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

I have.

Since this is a Hamer Fan Club website, you can probably guess that this involves a USA Hamer.

Of course, based on past postings, you could also guess that this involves a Yamaha, Westone, Jon Kammerer, or even an import Hamer.

Go with the first guess.

It's going to take about 10-14 days to get to completion on this.

Yes, I do plan on spinning out the suspense as much/long as I can.

[Bobby Marshall]

I just set the microwave popcorn for 2 weeks.

[django49]

SO?

[Montelovesco]

Well, I guess you don't want to hear the story of the midwife (?) being late, forcing me to help my wife to give birth to our first born son all alone?

PS: No joke, and THAT experience changed every perspective...

[Ting Ho Dung]

Obviously.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

Well, I guess you don't want to hear the story of the midwife (?) being late, forcing me to help my wife to give birth to our first born son all alone?

PS: No joke, and THAT experience changed every perspective...

Well, I'd like to hear that story.

[rj2858]

Yeah, seeing this video yesterday in serials new Schecter "Townshend" guitar thread

Now I had a great time in the '80's, I know that because I don't remember a lot of it.

The '80's covered me from my junior year in college, thru the age of 31, all of it, save for about 6 horrible months in the car business, working in the Nightclub biz. More gorgeous women than I could shake my stick at, fun all the time, making (compared to any of my conventionally employed buddies) way too much cash (most of it really was cash!), blowing all of it on going out, cars, motorcycles, season seats at Wrigley Field. Going to sleep at 6AM, waking up feeling "fuzzy" most afternoons, then starting it all over again.

Let me tell ya boys, there's nothing quite so much fun as having every waittress in the place knowing which one of them you were banging that week, or the night before, or whenever. Talk about your occassionally uncomfortable work environments! You'd just hope that the chicks who were customers, that you were trying to land, didn't have a link to any of the girls you worked with. The movie 'Cocktail' didn't begin to cover what it was like.

Anyway, back to the point. So I watch the video, (Absolutely no offense to you Rich - -you guys sounded good, and looked like you were having fun), but it was like seeing that time for the first time. Gawd, I kinda remember music like that. I think I can recall clothes like that. Did we all dress that way?

I remember the '70's so much better, and we looked so much cooler, and the music was better. I guess movies about the '80's aren't really exaggerating.

Sadly, I think I may still have a pair of parachute pants that have been tucked away in a box somewhere, since 1985.

Anyone know the number for the '80's? I wanna call and demand an apology!

[Montelovesco]

Well, I guess you don't want to hear the story of the midwife (?) being late, forcing me to help my wife to give birth to our first born son all alone?

PS: No joke, and THAT experience changed every perspective...

Well, I'd like to hear that story.

That's a simple one, and I will try, even if I am not sure with all the technical terms (I am not an gynologist), so sorry for any mistaktes:

My wife and I decided not to go to a hospital for the birth of our first baby but to do a birth at home, which may sound unusual, but that was (and is) quite common, and the risk for the baby and the mother is the same or even lower as in hospitals. And we did that only bescause the doctors agreed with that, in any other case we would have been gone to hospital.

We called the midwife when the contractions set in, and she asked us to call again when the contractions would come every 4 minutes. But somehow we missed that point - or the contractions pushed the "fast forward" button - and suddenly my wife had the contractions every 3 minutes. We called the midwiffe again, and she hit the road, but it was 15 miles trip for her and believe it or not, she was caught by a closed railroad gate. No joke.

At a certain point my wife said: "I think the head is already showing up", and so it was. A few minutes later I had a little baby (one very little thing) in my hands - the birth itself was quit flawless and fast -, not knowing what to with it, and my wife went: "Go and take a look in the book" (some "birth preparing" kind of book), and there it was written to put the littel one one the mothers belly and to put a blanket over it, and so I did.

A few minutes later the midwife came in - quote: "Men can be useful - sometimes" -, and first thing she wanted to know was: Is it a boy or girl. I completely forgot to look for after the birth...

Thank god it was a healthy boy ("Ariel"), and cutting the umbilical cord was a piece of cake after that birth...

Ariel is four years old now, and his younger brother Aeneas was born at home too, but this time the (same) midwife was with us two hours prior to the birth. I was extremly happy about that, because the second birth was a long and really painful thing for my wife, and it was a real relief that the midwife was with us even if the burden and the pain and all that laid on my wife, of course.

By the way, my stepson, 16 of age at that day, sat in his room during Ariels birth, playing World of Warcraft with his headphones on so he hadn't have to listen...

[DBraz]

Yeah, seeing this video yesterday in serials new Schecter "Townshend" guitar thread

Now I had a great time in the '80's, I know that because I don't remember a lot of it.

The '80's covered me from my junior year in college, thru the age of 31, all of it, save for about 6 horrible months in the car business, working in the Nightclub biz. More gorgeous women than I could shake my stick at, fun all the time, making (compared to any of my conventionally employed buddies) way too much cash (most of it really was cash!), blowing all of it on going out, cars, motorcycles, season seats at Wrigley Field. Going to sleep at 6AM, waking up feeling "fuzzy" most afternoons, then starting it all over again.

Let me tell ya boys, there's nothing quite so much fun as having every waittress in the place knowing which one of them you were banging that week, or the night before, or whenever. Talk about your occassionally uncomfortable work environments! You'd just hope that the chicks who were customers, that you were trying to land, didn't have a link to any of the girls you worked with. The movie 'Cocktail' didn't begin to cover what it was like.

Anyway, back to the point. So I watch the video, (Absolutely no offense to you Rich - -you guys sounded good, and looked like you were having fun), but it was like seeing that time for the first time. Gawd, I kinda remember music like that. I think I can recall clothes like that. Did we all dress that way?

I remember the '70's so much better, and we looked so much cooler, and the music was better. I guess movies about the '80's aren't really exaggerating.

Sadly, I think I may still have a pair of parachute pants that have been tucked away in a box somewhere, since 1985.

Anyone know the number for the '80's? I wanna call and demand an apology!

And you said I was showing off with my Hamer Miller... Man oh man it looks like you had fun!

[carfish7]

Yes. Parenthood. Followed by being told I had a life-threatening ailment and was 50/50 for survival beyond 40.

Actually getting in a room alone with an actual, real-live naked girl deserves at LEAST an honorable mention.........

Oh, and that first hit of Green Pyramid. Yeah, that's about it.

[dragan]

a few, hearing electric ladyland for the first time , surviving airplane crash in lake geneva wisc. surviving SIU, incl wild halloween party w/ hound dog taylor as entertainment , streeking & race riot , surviving 2 false arrests & jail in Dallas Tx ( i was eventually cleared of all charges ), death of both parents & many friends ins the 70s & 80s , birth of my son . guess these are not too little , but all changed my perspective . Rule 1 : dont sweat the small shit . Rule 2: 99.9% of what I worried about was small shit

[JohnnyB]

a few, hearing electric ladyland for the first time , surviving airplane crash in lake geneva wisc. surviving SIU, incl wild halloween party w/ hound dog taylor as entertainment , streeking & race riot , surviving 2 false arrests & jail in Dallas Tx ( i was eventually cleared of all charges ), death of both parents & many friends ins the 70s & 80s , birth of my son . guess these are not too little , but all changed my perspective . Rule 1 : dont sweat the small shit . Rule 2: 99.9% of what I worried about was small shit

Yeah, but how can that compete with the anticipation of getting a new guitar?

Me? All I got is reuniting and marrying my girlfriend from high school after 28 years, surviving 2 heart attacks, deaths of my nephew plus two best friends, a Christmas trip to Israel not too long after the 6-day war, 29-state music tour, yada yada.

[sirskelt]

Losing the use of my left hand with the dreadful fear I would never be able to play again. It will be 3 years ago very soon and I am about 90%. I may never get back to 100% but I am thrilled I can play again! (and tie my shoes, button my shirt and open a can of Dr Pepper, etc!). I will never take things for granted again.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

Well, mine wasn't as profound as parenthood or anything.

It's just, I've been hanging on to just over 40 guitars for over a year now. When I find a new "must have", it's been extremely difficult to decide which one to let go.

I thought I hit my perfect combo just a few weeks ago. I admitted that there were 4 scenarios that could get me to break my self-imposed vow to not purchase again.

...and wouldn't you know it, one of those conditions arrived!

This was a guitar that was love at first sight for me. If anything, more of an impact on me than the Blueburst Centaura.

Okay, so a new guitar is inbound (full disclosure: not paid for yet, but the deal has been struck). So that just means one guitar is going out, right?

Nope. Suddenly, with one guitar, there are 10 guitars that no longer matter to me.

Sure, they were decent guitars with some flaws, but well worth keeping. Some collectible, some good quality acquired for an extremely cheap price. But these were the guitars that have survived dozens of purges.

So why would just ONE guitar change my perception of nearly a dozen other guitars? How can adding just one guitar make nearly a dozen other guitars superfluous?

Dunno.

I think it might be that this guitar is so cool, it is going to take up so much of my playing time, that those other 10 guitars just don't matter much anymore. They won't get played, and they don't even hold as much attraction as minor collectibles, either.

[dragan]

a few, hearing electric ladyland for the first time , surviving airplane crash in lake geneva wisc. surviving SIU, incl wild halloween party w/ hound dog taylor as entertainment , streeking & race riot , surviving 2 false arrests & jail in Dallas Tx ( i was eventually cleared of all charges ), death of both parents & many friends ins the 70s & 80s , birth of my son . guess these are not too little , but all changed my perspective . Rule 1 : dont sweat the small shit . Rule 2: 99.9% of what I worried about was small shit

Yeah, but how can that compete with the anticipation of getting a new guitar?

Me? All I got is reuniting and marrying my girlfriend from high school after 28 years, surviving 2 heart attacks, deaths of my nephew plus two best friends, a Christmas trip to Israel not too long after the 6-day war, 29-state music tour, yada yada.

not at all in a good way! 2 heart attacks !? (that will change you perspective quickly ).I would imagine youve come to some variation on my rule 1&2 as well then .

[dragan]

"Okay, so a new guitar is inbound (full disclosure: not paid for yet, but the deal has been struck). So that just means one guitar is going out, right?"

"Nope. Suddenly, with one guitar, there are 10 guitars that no longer matter to me.

Sure, they were decent guitars with some flaws, but well worth keeping. Some collectible, some good quality acquired for an extremely cheap price. But these were the guitars that have survived dozens of purges.

So why would just ONE guitar change my perception of nearly a dozen other guitars? How can adding just one guitar make nearly a dozen other guitars superfluous?"

I could not explain it but I do understand it , sort of like disintrest in the harem now that youve fallin in love ?

[JohnnyB]

So why would just ONE guitar change my perception of nearly a dozen other guitars? How can adding just one guitar make nearly a dozen other guitars superfluous?

It's called a Newport, or maybe a Monaco.

I had a simialr experience when I decided on the home audio speakers I recently bought. During the audition at the dealer, these speakers were flanked by several others I'd originally intended to seriously audition. But after I heard the Magnepans, they were such a departure from the limitations and and colorations of cones bolted into a box that the other candidates no longer mattered to me. The 1.7s have been a game-changer for me fer-shure. From the looks of them they are certainly not conventional.

[rj2858]

And you said I was showing off with my Hamer Miller... Man oh man it looks like you had fun!

David - Trust me, though I know it may sound like it, that was not meant to be bragging. I was not better at it than a lot of guys I worked with, in fact I learned a lot from other guys I worked with, who were older and had been around the block. I couldn't believe how easy it was, and the lines some of these guys got away with. When I started, I was asking for dates, these guys were asking for nothing but 'take me home'. It didn't take long for me to catch on. Yeah, I had fun, but we all did.

When I saw this movie, I fell in love with this scene - every word Michael Douglas' character says here is true, especially the line about 'any guy with a Johnson has got a shot, because cool comes from the inside' - I saw some guys who really weren't good looking, walk out with scrumptious looking babes back in those days.

[rj2858]

Me? All I got is reuniting and marrying my girlfriend from high school after 28 years

This is cool, I love stories like this!

I wouldn't even realize how cool, if it weren't for reuniting with the love of my life, that I met in 1983...but lost, due to the events explained in my earlier entry in this thread.

[JohnnyB]

Me? All I got is reuniting and marrying my girlfriend from high school after 28 years

This is cool, I love stories like this!

I wouldn't even realize how cool, if it weren't for reuniting with the love of my life, that I met in 1983...but lost, due to the events explained in my earlier entry in this thread.

Like Sinatra sang, "Love's better the second time around … "

Our gap ran from 1972 to 2000, and the honeymoon has not stopped since.

[Rich_S]

I just want to make it clear that I NEVER owned, or wore, parachute pants.

[gorch]

Well, mine wasn't as profound as parenthood or anything.

It's just, I've been hanging on to just over 40 guitars for over a year now. When I find a new "must have", it's been extremely difficult to decide which one to let go.

I thought I hit my perfect combo just a few weeks ago. I admitted that there were 4 scenarios that could get me to break my self-imposed vow to not purchase again.

...and wouldn't you know it, one of those conditions arrived!

This was a guitar that was love at first sight for me. If anything, more of an impact on me than the Blueburst Centaura.

Okay, so a new guitar is inbound (full disclosure: not paid for yet, but the deal has been struck). So that just means one guitar is going out, right?

Nope. Suddenly, with one guitar, there are 10 guitars that no longer matter to me.

Sure, they were decent guitars with some flaws, but well worth keeping. Some collectible, some good quality acquired for an extremely cheap price. But these were the guitars that have survived dozens of purges.

So why would just ONE guitar change my perception of nearly a dozen other guitars? How can adding just one guitar make nearly a dozen other guitars superfluous?

Dunno.

I think it might be that this guitar is so cool, it is going to take up so much of my playing time, that those other 10 guitars just don't matter much anymore. They won't get played, and they don't even hold as much attraction as minor collectibles, either.

Well, I would take the chance and drive it to perfection. Get rid of another 10 guitars at the same time.

[Montelovesco]

Reading through all of this there is another little thing that comes to my mind (and again it has nothing to do with Hamers):

It was a 30 minute interview I did on the phone with the last man on the moon, Eugen Cernan. These 30 minutes were my "getting in touch with history as close as you can get" and that puts into perspective all that "I am the meanest, most important guy in the world and my d*** is so much blah blah blah"-talk you get in your everyday job.

And he was nice and humble too, by the way.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

Okay, the money has been sent.

The guitar will most likely be shipped Monday, and most likely arrive by Friday.

Expect NGD pictures by next Saturday...

[gorch]

CT's Live At Budokan definitely nailed my guitar taste to Hamer in '78.