Six String Greats (a story and a complaint)...

When I was in sixth grade, I started taking guitar lessons. For six weeks, my guitar teacher - a woman from the church my mother went to - had me playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." This being the heyday of Mtv, this was not the way I wanted to spend my Wednesday nights. One evening, just in from lessons, I was more than a little distressed. It was at that moment when my sister came out of her room, asked if she could see my guitar, and 30 minutes later re-emerged and played one of my favorite songs.

I don't remember what the song was. In some versions of the story, it was The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go." In others, it was "Photograph" by Def Leppard. The song doesn't matter. What does is that it was on that night, that I gave up on learning to play a musical instrument.

I tell you this because tonight I gave in and bought "Guitar Hero III," and I must say that while there's an interesting set of songs in it, it seems a tactical error to have mixed the guitar underneath the fake vocals. I'm just saying. And, honestly, "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison? That wasn't even good guitar rock when it came out.

Still, now I'll at least have an excuse for why I can't do any grading for the next several weeks.