Fame Guitar Revisited

The Fame Guitar and Fame Guitar Classes

Earlier in this blog, (June 2012), I talked about restringing my Fame guitar for the first time ever. Over the past few weeks, I've stumbled across three of these bad boys for sale, and interestingly enough, all three still have their chipboard cases.

I don't remember how much these cost way back when. I know that I got it some time in the early to mid 70's, and that it was a fairly significant expense for my family.The book has a copyright of 1971, which sounds about right-I would have been 8 or 9 years old when I took the classes. 

To repeat what I have written previously, it is a Japanese guitar purchased when everyone still believed that Japanese stuff was junk. In doing some research, the Japanese had enough practice to be making some pretty decent instruments by the early 70's, and they were still using good tone wood. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure out which instrument factory made this guitar.

 I believe it is some sort of laminate, but I can't be sure. I don't think that I've done anything to the guitar except change the strings. The neck is interesting, a C-shape that feels both thick and narrow. It appears to have a rosewood fretboard, and the frets are still all in reasonably good shape. Pulling it out of the case, it's still pretty close to in tune, even though I strung it up back in June. Grant it, I don't play this one that often, but holding a tune is still a good thing.

I saw something on the internet that said it came with a record album, and that does sound familiar and could be somewhere in my mother's garage with the amplifier that came with it. I do have the book, and tried a few of the exercises in it. I might try some more, they aren't bad.

If I recall, you bought the guitar/amp package and signed up for lessons for an extended period of time. I recall going to a music studio in South Gate, CA (the same one that Weird Al Yankovic learned accordion, from what I can gather), where for one hour a week I would sit with a few other beginning guitar players. The instructor, some young guy with long hair and a tie, would fire up the projector for the "Chet Atkins Fame" method of guitar lessons. We would all dutifully play along with the recorded sound that matched with the slide in front of us.

You can see where I wrote "complete"
many years ago.

Though I wasn't too thrilled about it at the time-I really wanted to play drums-at this late age I'm glad that I did. I can read music slowly, and I learned several chords so I can actually play along with people. Some basic music theory stuck with me over the years, which I refine every time I go for guitar lessons. I can pick up most stringed instruments (ukulele, bass, mandolin and banjo), and make something that resembles music.

If you were part of the Chet Atkins Fame method, let me know. And if you know anymore about these guitars, let me know that, too.

I've downloaded video before, but for some reason I can't get the video to load on this. Check back and I'll have a video uploaded using the pickup on the guitar. That was the whole reason I was posting in the first place.

April 14, 2013 Update.

It took me a few weeks, but I got back out in the garage yesterday and redid the video, using the camera in my iPad mini. I thought about this after I made the video last night-the tone nob on the guitar was acting up just a bit, and I think it took a bit of treble out of the guitar. On my other Fame guitar post (June 2012), you can hear the sound without the pickup. I'm still using those strings on the guitar.

Please write back with any comments or info.

Thanks!

Andria's Seafood Restaurant and Market

Andria's Seafood Restaurant and Market

Ventura Harbor Village

Outside the restaurant

I've eaten a lot of seafood this week. Not intentionally, but it just seems to have worked out that way. I was going to write about my favorite local sushi place, Seaward Sushi, but I really didn't take very good pictures. I may get back to that one in a few weeks.

I did get some decent pix at Andria's Seafood Restaurant and Market, and we ordered a wide variety of food, so that's what I'm writing about.

Andria's is one of those Ventura institutions, going back a quarter century. It shares a parking lot with the Ventura Harbor Comedy Club, (one of those places that I'm always meaning to go to), Milanos, (okay Italian, but not great), and Brophy Bros. (A little pricey, with a somewhat loud, party vibe, but good).

Andria's always has a line extending out the door. On particularly busy nights, they'll take your order while your still in line, and have you pay at the register. On this particular Saturday, my family and I ordered the clam chowder in the bread bowl, fish and chips and calamari and chips.

There are plenty of seafood items on the menu, and from memory, I know that they have a pretty good cole slaw. The charbroiled dinners always seem expensive to me, so I've never ordered. I've seen them on other tables, and thought that they looked pretty good.

The dining room and patio areas are clean, and unlike many seafood places doesn't seem to have any lingering fish smell. The have lots of free condiments, including a very tasty tarter sauce, a so-so cocktail sauce, and various mustards and ketchups. Andria's also serves beer and wine.

Dinner

Our number was called pretty quickly. Portions are large, so much so that my kids didn't finish their meals and took a large portion home. The fish batter is light and fluffy, without being oily. The calamari was a bit on the chewy side, but still pretty good. The sour dough bread was very good, and Andria's lightly toasts the top of the bread. The chowder was thick and creamy with a good taste.

There is also a fish market in the back, with catches from the boats out in the harbor. The fish is fresh and fairly priced.

Large portions and non-greasy fried fish. Good stuff.

House of Cards, English Style

House of Cards, English Style

I found Kevin Spacey's "House of Cards," to be the best thing I've watched on television since "Mad Men," and now, while I anxiously await the next season, which is currently in production, I thought I would check out the source material, a BBC miniseries of the same name. It is also streaming on Netflix.

Staring Ian Richardson as Conservative Party Whip Francis Urquhart in a post-Thatcher, 90's era Great Britain, the plot follows the same lines. Urquhart is passed over for an important position in the Cabinet, and decides to take his revenge on those he feels didn't keep their promises. With his wife's encouragement, he decides to become Prime Minister, and in so doing has to pull some strings, making it seem like he's helping some powerful people in trouble, while using their weaknesses against them. Richardson, like Spacey, often speaks directly to the camera, which means we can see his motivation, but it also means that the character doesn't know everything the viewer knows.

The BBC version has three distinct volumes, in which "House of Cards"is the first. Unlike the American version, at the end of the three episode "House of Cards," Urquhart achieves his goal of becoming Prime Minister, whereas Underwood is still angling to become Vice-President. There are two more volumes, "To Play the King," (which I just started) and "The Final Cut."


Like Spacey's Francis (Frank) Underwood, Urquhart needs to seduce a young reporter, which he does with the implicit blessing of his wife. Now this part could be just me, or some sort of English thing, but where I could see Spacey seducing a young reporter (and in that maybe I see myself, being that Spacey, at 53, is just a bit older than I am), I had a hard time dealing with Richardson seducing a young reporter (though he was just 56 when this was made, he seems much older), and the character's desire to call him "Daddy" creeps me out a bit.

A distinct difference between the two is the strength of the wives. Where Underwood's wife has her own powerful life beyond Underwood, Urquhart's wife is strictly about supporting her husband, to the point of assisting in a murder. Whether it is a comment about American women, the times, or the need to flesh out Underwood's wife's character to help fill the 13 episodes, it certainly makes it more interesting to watch-and that the character is played by Robin Wright certainly helps.

My favorite line gets repeated often in both series's, said often by both Francis's to their reporter/mistresses, "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."

So as I wait for the new season of "Mad Men," (April 6!), watching the BBC "House of Cards," isn't so bad. I have to get used to the accents, of course, and the lighting and production isn't all that great. Then there's the bad English 80's hairstyles, but I do like getting wrapped up in a good drama.

Beach House Tacos

Beach House Tacos

668 Harbor Blvd.

Ventura Pier

Ventura, CA

It occurred to me that this blog is supposed to be about "Rick's Ventura," and I haven't written anything about Ventura since Lala's Panderia back in the second week of February. So since the wife and I headed to Beach House Tacos today on the Ventura Pier, I thought I'd get back to the originally stated mission of my blog-to talk about decent places to eat in Ventura.

Lunch

Beach House Tacos is run by the same people who run Eric Ericssons on the Pier. It shares the same casual, beachy vibe, and really, it isn't bad. Not great, mind you, but not bad. The food is more expensive then the real Mexican food that you'd find over on the Ventura Avenues or in Oxnard, and it isn't really Mexican like anyone in my family would make anyway. But it isn't overly expensive, either, and the view is pretty darn good.


I had the calamari burrito, which was calamari, rice, beans, lettuce and a mild salsa. My wife got the calamari taco and the Old California fish taco. The calamari taco came with green cabbage, avocado and a mild salsa, while the Old California had red cabbage, cherry tomatoes and a corn salsa. I also ordered some chips and salsa, and a couple of sodas, which came out to about $22.

Looking toward the ocean

Since it was a beautiful Sunday, warm and sunny with a mild breeze, the line was long and we were lucky to get a seat at one of the tables in the sunshine outside of their main, covered dining area. Beach House isn't the place to go if you're in a big rush, taking 20 minutes in line and over half an hour before our number was called. On the other hand, there are far worse places to wait for your meal than at the foot of the Ventura pier on a sunny day, which I reminded myself as my stomach grumbled.

The dining area

Beach House serves local microbrews and wine, and the patio looked like it could be an excellent place to knock back a couple of brews with a taco or two. The stand even has a sign with suggested micro brew and taco pairings, which I might have tried if I didn't have things to do after lunch. They also validate in the nearby parking garage, a definite plus when trying to find beach parking. I might come some Saturday or Sunday morning and try their breakfast, which is only served on the weekend, at some point in the future.

Again, if I want good, cheap Mexican food, their are several places on the Avenues that are better and cheaper. But none are on the beach, and that's what makes this place so special. Not bad, not too expensive, great views, and validated parking means that I'll be back.

Tito's Tacos

Tito's Tacos

11222 Washington Place

Culver City, CA 90230

I went to UCLA, and I after that I had a girlfriend who lived in Culver City, and why I never found Tito's Tacos back then confuses me a bit. Usually, if I was eating in that area, I would head to the Apple Pan, another place that I never found when I was at UCLA, but did find when I worked at the Nordstrom across the street. It wasn't until a few years back, when the parents of one of my water polo players raved about the place did I become curious, and not until this last summer that I went and found it.

First, it's cheap. Second, the portions are generous. Third, it's pretty good. 

Not great, mind you. Tacos are the crispy sort, with shredded beef, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and a mild salsa. Burritos have beans, chili con carne and cheese. Everything comes with crispy chips and they throw it all into a box. It is good, though, and again, it is cheap. The red salsa is sweet tomatoes, the green salsa is a little spicier, with pickled chilies and I find that when I'm there I'll dip my chips into both. The restaurant is clean and always crowded with college kids, old folks and people from the neighborhood.

As a rule, I prefer street tacos, smaller with just meat, onions and cilantro on soft, corn tortillas. However, about a half dozen times in the last six months, I've been driving by and pulled in for a taco and burrito. With a soda, the whole thing comes out under $10, and I'm full for the drive back to Ventura.

 Tito's isn't a chain and has been around since the 50's. It's right off the 405, so if you're out on the Westside, it's as convenient as traffic allows. And I'm sure that I'll go back again.

Chris & Pitts, 9243 Lakewood Blvd Downey, CA 90240 (562) 869-9069

Corner of Gallatin and Lakewood

50 is just around the corner for me, and as it looms closer, I find that I have a need to go look at things that I remember from my youth.

I lived in Downey from roughly 1977 to 1985, and while my family lived there, I thought we had really made it. We moved a few weeks after I started at Downey High School, moving from the very run down city of Bell, and the contrast was like night and day. I had spent a great deal of time in Downey before my family moved there, swimming on the Downey Dolphins swim club, but moving there was different. For one thing, I very rarely heard sirens. And another was there were some cool places to eat.

Onion Flower

One of the eating places I remember was Chris & Pitts. I don't remember going there often-I think the Sizzler was a cheaper, similar style place-but I do remember going. I also remember that we had their sauce at home most of the time, even if we didn't go often. I think it was just a bit expensive for us-or it could be that my Dad didn't like it, or possible a combination of both.

Cole Slaw and Salad

I thought they were all gone, and I hadn't even seen the sauce in some time. Then, about a year ago, I saw the sauce at the 99 Cent store. And when I was in Downey earlier this year, I saw the restaurant still where I remember it. Back in the 70's, they were all over the LA basin, but at this point, there are only three remaining, and all in old LA neighborhoods off the 605 Fwy-Bellflower and Whittier are the other places.

Chicken Soup

A brief Chris & Pitts history, according to the restaurant website, the sauce website and a framed article from the OC Register that was in the dining room. The restaurant opened in Lynwood in the 40's. The sauce proved popular, and the recipe was sold to another company, which continues to manufacture it. The restaurant expanded, but with the changing times shrunk back down to it's current three locations. Though the company that manufactures the sauce and the restaurant aren't directly connected, the restaurant still buys and uses from the manufacturer. Chris Pelonis, the original "Chris" of Chris & Pitts, still oversees the three remaining restaurants.

BBQ Baked Beans

So for the second time this school year, I was watching my team in Downey, this time Futbal in the CIF Finals. And as a bribe to my two older children who came with me, we went to lunch. Dark, wood panelling, naugahyde booths, and the smell of barbecue greeted us as we walked in, reminding me of restaurants I would see when watching 50's era Disney documentaries.

We were just a bit ahead of the lunch rush, but the restaurant slowly filled as we waited.

The menu was awesome! Like the rest of the place, like something straight out of the 50's, with big, color pictures of the food. Take a minute to follow the link to the website, the menu pictures are posted there.

Tiny, but tasty steak

Steak makes my son happy, so that's what he ordered. My daughter and I went with the Texas special sandwich, all of which came off the lunch special menu for $8.95, and including two sides. We also ordered the onion flower, a deep fried flower shaped sliced onion.

Great BBQ Sandwich

For what we paid, the steak was the right size, meaning pretty small. The sandwiches, however, were amazing! Large, with big chunks of beef and pork, and lots of Chris & Pitts sauce. The sides that we ordered were all good. I had the baked beans, which had a bit of a smokey flavor, and the cole slaw, which was crisp and fresh. My kids had the green salad, just ice burg lettuce and dressing, but it wasn't bad. My son also had the chicken, vegetable and rice soup, which was good. The onion flower was also good, served with C & P sauce and ranch dressing. Sometimes a deep fried onion type thing can be a bit oily, but this wasn't.

The service was nothing special, but with good food at a reasonable price, it didn't have to be. My daughter brought some of her sandwich home, which my wife has been picking at all day, so that means it was pretty good. I'd certainly go there again.

Fu Wing Low Restaurant, Fountain Valley

Fu Wing Low Chinese Restaurant

16545 Brookhurst St.

Fountain Valley, CA

(714) 839-4481

(Mile Square Plaza)

Unassuming Storefront at Night

Traditional Chinese Menu

 A family funeral and a high school soccer game brought me south last week, and hunger and a desire for Chinese had me combing the streets of Fountain Valley, looking for something off the beaten path. I pulled into Mile Square Plaza because there were a bunch of different restaurants. I parked and looked in all the windows, and Fu Wing Low had a big crowd in the small dining room and prices that I could afford.

Good Fortune Symbols

It seems that family owned Chinese restaurants have a look. They always seem to have red naugahyde booths, red table clothes and red menus. Red is the fire color in Chinese, and the color of good fortune, so small Chinese businesses, like restaurants, always have a lot of red. Goldfish, another common element in Chinese restaurants, also symbolize good fortune, and they brought the only contrasting color to an otherwise plain room.

Small, crowded room.

Chinese restaurants also seem to have a similar smell, warm and comfortable, the smell of cooking oil, soy sauce and rice. The smell of Chinese comfort food enveloped me as I walked out of the cold night air and into the dining room.

The owner, an older Chinese gentleman, immediately welcomed me and took me to a booth. A red menu similar to ones I've seen in most family owned Chines restaurant was quickly handed to me, and water and tea were at my table before I asked, brought by other family members.

There were only 14 tables in the place, and just about all were full. The owner seemed to know most people in the restaurant, inquiring about family, talking about a special meal and generally making everyone feel at home. It was Friday in Lent, so I was looking for some seafood, and had settled on Shrimp Chop Suey and Won ton Soup. I placed my order when the owner came back to my table and refilled me water glass.

The owner is in the blue shirt

"No, let me get you No. 2 dinner. It's only 50 cents more, and comes with soup, fried rice and an egg roll. You'll like that better. I'll add chop suey. Otherwise, the chop suey would be a la carte." On the menu, it had said that No. 2 was for groups of 2 or more, which is why I hadn't really looked at it.

The addition of fried rice and an egg roll sounded good to me, so I readily agreed. I settled in, continuing to listen to the owner and patrons as they chatted in a familiar fashion. It was almost 8, and the place was still crowded, with customers coming in all through the time I was there. At a table next to mine, a patron was asking a question about an item, and the owner responded that they'll probably like it, but if they didn't he would take it back and they can order something else, no charge.

Soup, egg roll and won ton

My soup, egg roll and fried won ton arrived shortly after, along with more water. The soup had a good cabbage base and flavorful broth, and both the egg role and fried won ton were crisp and warm, but not oily. Before I could finish, the rest of my meal arrived. All throughout, I had various members of the staff checking on me and filling my water glass.

Dinner

The chop suey was delicious. Fat, juicy shrimp, and crisp vegetables. Often, when having chop suey, the vegetables will be soggy or overcooked, but that certainly wasn't the case here. The bean sprouts, mushrooms and water chestnuts were all firm and flavorful. Sometimes, too, the sauce will be overpowering, but this added flavor but didn't overpower.

A fortune cookie and and almond cookie arrived just as I was finishing, and though I ate them both, I strangely didn't look at my fortune. I didn't even realize that I hadn't looked at my fortune until I was back in my car.

I paid the bill, which came out to $11.73 before the tip, and then headed to the restroom before my long drive from Fountain Valley to Ventura. Ordinarily, I don't think much of the bathroom, but this one had a bottle of Calvin Klein Man as an air freshener. I almost put some on, and then opted not to.

On my way out, the owner asked where I was from while shaking my hand and thanking me for coming. I said that I was from Ventura, to which he responded that I should come back again next week. I said that was a touch far, but that I very much enjoyed the meal. He said that I should come back anyway and bring the family, to which I agreed.

I'm not sure when I'll be back that way, but Fu Wing Low would certainly be on the short list of places to go.