Kind of off topic, but..

Earlier today I visited the new Guitar Center Boston location, near Fenway. It is quite possibly the most poorly thought out music store I've ever seen and pretty much convinced me that if I DO need to visit GC, I'll just drive out to Natick.

As you enter the store, you have the option of either taking a right, and checking out the accessories, or taking a gentle left, and entering the guitar area. Don't take that gentle left. Although the guitar area is bordered by a decent number of guitars and filled with a respectable number of amps, a) most everything is crap, b) there are a dozen kids playing waaaay to loudly, and c) the music raining down from the ceiling creates a useless background noise the purpose of which seems to be limited to forcing everyone into a volume arms race. Combine that with the usually not-very-good playing of everyone (to be honest), and it's a short hop to a headache in no time.

But low quality equipment and marginal players are what you expect in a music store. Especially on a warm Saturday afternoon in early Spring. So, taking all that in stride, I wander around. First thought: there's hardly any room to maneuver between the islands of amps set up across the floor. It's really cramped in there. After having made a circuit of the floor, I spotted a small room towards the back. I forget the exact name above the door, but this was the room where they keep the "good" stuff... 6 guitars behind glass (and therefore untouchable) and about 12 guitars, 6 to a wall, including high end Ernie Ball Music Man (great guitars), PRS (awesome guitars, but way overpriced), relic strats (I just don't get those), Les Pauls (nice, but I can't play them) and Gretsch something-or-others (never tried them, though they're supposed to be sweet). For amps, nothing special. But they did have an Egnator Tourmaster that I wanted to try.

Starting with the strat, I plugged in and played a few notes. Not for me. I moved on to the PRS, which was nice, but not my thing. A couple of Ernie Ball guitars later, and I'm jamming on an Axis Super Sport BFR (awesome guitar). As I'm playing, an employee comes in and asks me if I need any help. I replied that I just wanted to try out the amp. He assured me that was cool, and said he'd pop in later to see if I needed anything. So far, so good. I'll note that since I've been playing a long, long time, I usually have no problem picking up an expensive guitar, since I'm not gonna go Hendrix on it or anything, and I know which way is up (except for those V guitars. How do those things work?). I understand music stores not wanting every last person off the street playing the expensive stuff, but if it's hanging on the wall, with no sign saying otherwise, I've no problem giving it a try. Maybe it's a sense of entitlement, but there it is. I play by my own rules! Unless your rules are clearly posted. You can probably see where this is going.

As I'm sitting and playing, minding my own business and not cranking the amp, another employee comes in and says "hey, if you just wanna jam, you can play out there (points to room full of noise and bad players). This room is for the nicer, more expensive stuff. Where'd you get that Ernie Ball?" That's almost an exact quote. I replied that this guitar was hanging on the wall "right there" (pointing to the empty hanger in front of me), and that another employee had already been in here and said it was cool that I'm jamming. New employee goes on to tell me how everything in here is expensive (not actually true) and that they generally don't let people in here alone. I don't know if he thought I was lying about the previous employee talking to me or what, but he was kind of a dick. He left, while tossing over his shoulder "I'll see if I can get someone in here for you".

After that little bit of douche baggery, I just hung up the guitar and walked out. This incident, for me, sums up why I absolutely hate (HATE) going to GC. There have been really cool folks at some stores, folks who understand that as a player and buyer I may go through a dozen guitars or amps before I find one I like. I'm not smashing speaker cabs, or really doing anything than sitting and playing quietly. Those folks appreciate that I'm just looking for something that feels and sounds right. And as players themselves, they're usually helpful because they know what that's like. But then there are the folks who freak out that you're playing a guitar that costs over $250. Here's the thing: it's just a guitar. I'm not gonna do anything different with that $2500 Ernie Ball than I'd do with a $250 strat. It's a guitar. It's meant to be played.

I understand that they like to maintain the fiction that those little rooms off to the side are some sort of enchanted area where the real players get to see the fancy stuff. And sure, there are sometimes some really nice instruments in there. But it's not like I'm walking in there with a group of friends tossing stuff around. I just wanna play some mediocre guitars is all.

And one last thing... You kids! Get off my lawn!!!!!

Got my ticket

I finally got off my ass and bought my plane ticket! May 28th: leave for Hong Kong. July 4th: fly to Tokyo. July 20th: sadly, fly back home (do I have to??).

My initial search for tickets kind of freaked me out because the price was over $2k. Luckily, with a more thorough search, and after talking to some folks who know, I managed to get something for just a bit over $1k. Awesome. I'm still looking for a place to stay, but that shouldn't be a problem. I'm just holding out for a room with a private bathroom. I guess it'd be ok to share a bathroom over there, but I wouldn't mind spending a few more bucks to have my own. I like to live large. I should probably nail down a place soon, but it'll all work out.

Starting it up

Well, I somehow managed to get an internship in Hong Kong for a month this summer (June), which is pretty damn cool. It seemed like a long shot, but I ponied up the $250 application fee and submitted the form, thinking I'd be spending my summer at ITA doing the same ol' same ol'. But it looks like I'm gonna be leaving on a jet plane at the end of May.

After my month in Hong Kong, I'm going to hang out in Japan for a couple of weeks (July 4 - July 20 or so). When I was in Japan a few years ago, I spent about a month in Tokyo, with a few days in Kyoto. I'll definitely visit Tokyo again, since it's pretty much the coolest place in the world, but I want to try and get to some other cities in Japan.

"Why an internship in Hong Kong" you're probably not asking yourself? Well, one of my main goals in law school has been to live and work in another country. Never really had the opportunity to do that as an undergrad, so I'm psyched to do it now. And if I'm going to experience some time in another country, it may as well be somewhere as different from what I'm used to as I can manage. As I learned last time I visited Japan, it's amazing being in a country with a totally different culture, where there's no shared history, and it's obvious that I'm an outsider. Fascinating and totally cool.

I've never been a big picture taker, and I've never kept a journal. Which is sad, because every time I take a trip, there are so many interesting things that I'd love to keep fresh in my mind. It's never a problem holding onto the big things, but this time I want to document all the little things in between. What I do when I'm just hanging out. Which coffee shops and restaurants I visit. Which route I take to the subway. All those little things that fill in the days, between visiting the temples or major historic district. This time, I hope to keep all of that (most of that?) fresh in my memories by documenting it here.

At the moment, I'm still sorting out the logistics. Buying plane tickets (they keep getting more expensive!). Finding a place to stay. Hell, just getting all the visa documents together is a pain in the ass (I really need both a letter of good academic standing and a letter from my school stating my intent to return?). But I think I'm going to send that all out tomorrow. Also keeping an eye on plane tickets. Gotta pull the trigger sometime.

Now, back to eating Whole Foods chocolate chip cookies. I have no will power.