Noise

Oh Taylor My Taylor

  • by Drew

I do love my Taylor. It’s not the most expensive model or anything. Actually, it’s only a couple steps up from entry level, but from a company whose half sized guitars list at a price that keeps them away from most beginners’ hands, two steps up is pretty good. What I love is the shape. It’s like a parlor shape, they call it the Grand Auditorium style. Sounds pompous, huh?

Actually, it makes for a softer, more balanced sound. It’s great for everything from finger picking to heavy strumming. It is an ideal singer’s guitar. And for a world-class instrument maker, it’s really not that pricey. Not when you consider the quality.

What keeps it so reasonable? Laminated back and sides. That’s why the next step, the step out of the lower rungs of production and into the realm of truly exceptional guitars is such a big one. Like, many hundreds of dollars big. That would be the step away from laminated wood into all solid hardwood pieces. Oh yeah, now we’re talking rich tone. Now we hear what different woods, exotic woods, can sound like. How different they can sound.

So I continue to build my new toy fund, sometimes coveting a vintage semi-hollowbody when I’m going through a noisy rock phase, sometimes dreaming fondly of a sweet, sweet acoustic that I’d probably be afraid to take out of the case.

Oh… decisions, decisions. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m at least a grand away from either option.

I suppose.

Life

Drama at the Drive-Thru

  • by Drew

I was on the road the other day and needed a quick burger so I did the drive-thru. I experienced a totally new act of sheer laziness/mental instability. As I was driving through a shopping center parking lot to the fast food franchise, a woman in an old rust bucket sedan of sagging vintage suddenly backed out of a parking space, gunning it. I slammed on the brakes to avoid rear ending her… or more appropriately, to avoid being front ended by her.

She then careered along a path parallel to the drive thru lane. I watched as she pulled around and cut in front of a car as the line progressed. She had bypassed the place-your-order box and was one car back from the pickup window. I ordered and ended up two cars back form the maniac, the driver of the car between us still shaking her head in consternation.

Momentarily, the line advanced and I rolled down my window to eavesdrop on what promised to be a juicy conversation. It will probably come as no surprise that the maniac woman was loud. Plenty loud for her complaint to carry across the fifty or so feet of parking lot asphalt.

I will not even try to recreate her colorful patois. Let me just explain in my own words. She had picked up her drive-thru order and pulled into the first available parking space in order to consume it in her car. At some point during her meal, apparently very close to the end, she realized they did not make her burger exactly how she wanted it. Specifically, there were onions and she’d said no onions.

The manager came to the window and graciously offered to recreate the burger, in psite of the line jumping breach of etiquette. She gestured for the patron to return the unfinished carcass. The customer asked belligerently what the manager wanted. The manager explained she would take the foul mistake burger back and dispose of it. The customer asked why. The manager said she just wanted to be helpul.

Then the customer admitted that she’d eaten it. But I thought you didn’t want onions asked the manager. The driver got exceptionally loud and angry at this. What was the manager going to do? Sell the burger to someone else? A torrent of expletives and insinuation followed. It did not stop until the new, onionless burger was proffered. In the mix, the driver suggested she be given another order of french fries and another soft drink. Apparently as some sort of payback for the pain and suffering she had endured.

So what do we learn from this? Well, for one thing, if you’re so large that covering yourself in drapery fabric is preferable to yoga pants and a big and tall man’s 4XL undershirt, you’re probably not going to get out of your car and walk into the fast food franchise when they get your order wrong at the drive-thru.

Seriously, though, when did it become acceptable to cut the drive-thru line without even making a stop at the talk box to try and score free food. And if you’re going to demand replacement food for an incorrect order, don’t you think you should be able to show what was incorrect about the initial order?

It begs the question – were there really onions on the first burger or was this just the chunky shyster method for doubling your value meal in the modern age?

 

Life

Talk About Buildup

  • by Drew

Seriously. Every other post I’m promising the new look and feel. And this post is a post like all those. It’s coming soon. We’ll have full on instructions and info about Mad Science The Card Game (cuz it’s almost done!) along with teasers for the upcoming treat Super Connected. They’ll be Skateboard Heroes comic info and links to new pages. Oh and the music. Yes, yes, yes… the music.

So be there or be square. Soon. With your wallets out. We’re gonna be hundredaires pretty soon. Probably won’t need any of the fancy new fangled Raleigh NC accounting. At least. not yet. But someday… Who knows?

Life

Are you…?

  • by Drew

There’s another Pope Street card game in the works. It plays with some similarities to dominoes, but with some cool twists and a pretty fixed game structure for easy play. Since you are trying to connect stuff in the game (sort of) we went with a nod toward one of my favorite bands of all time (Belly) in calling it Super Connected.

Not like, “Yes, Buffy, I’m so super connected I can hook you up with anything. Real Estate Louisville? No problem.”

More like “Dude, connect that card to this card. Yeah, like that. Super.”

What’s comin’ out of your mouth?

Life

Blingtastic

  • by Drew

There used to be this jewelry channel on cable. It was a shopping channel with certain hosts hawking rings and necklaces and such. The price would slowly drop as they tried to sell as many of their pieces as possible. The had jewelry online cheap too, but I really miss the reverse auction in slow motion of the cable channel. There’s a business Pope Street should get into, right?

Well, maybe not.

Life

So Mean

  • by Drew

I don’t mean to harsh on the overweight, but let’s face it, most of our country is overweight. I am overweight. Technically, I am morbidly obese… at least if you believe the weight/height expectations in the medical office. I have always struggled with my weight and self image. I get it. It’s no fun being chunky and questioning your personal physical beauty.

The thing is, people in this country seem to have just given up. I mean, the tiny tank tops I see young girls stretching over fast food bellies that would have indicated an unhealthy pregnancy in past generations… it’s gross. I’m sorry, but it’s gross.

I’m not saying everyone should throw tents over the massive jiggling frames, but some level of tact in selecting garments would be appreciated. Your acorn nuts if you think I’m going to give up on trying to look my best. Sure I’m nearing 40 and I have 3 kids, but it doesn’t mean I have to give up on looking… passable.

Life

Waaaaah

  • by Drew

The post title… that’s the sound of a whining baby.

Why? Well, maybe you take my last post as a little harsh. Yeah, I know there are lots of people who have tried to lose wait through diet and exercise and it just doesn’t work. Okay, maybe that’s true. Maybe there are people who have truly struggled for months or years with no results.

I know probably a dozen people in my relative immediate circle who have made that claim. Without sounding like a total ass, do I believe them? Honestly? Maybe like one and a half.

Seriously, I know it sounds mean, but leaving the bottom bun off your burger once a week is not significant diet change. Walking a couple of miles twice in the first weeks of the new year… that’s just not going to cut it.

And I know we’re all busy, but let’s be honest. You think you can maybe skip Dancing With the Stars in favor of improved health and increased longevity. Maybe go dancing for Christ’s sake. And not just this week, but every week. Like all the time. And if you absolutely have to catch the Walking Dead, park an exercise bike in front and ride through the hour.

Yeah, you can blow it off and worry about lipofuze side effects if you want, but me, I’m up for a challenge.

Life

The Genetic Lottery

  • by Drew

When you lose the genetic lottery, it is not always a bad thing. Sure, congenital high blood pressure and diabetes is a drag, but there are worse things, right. And even though I’ve learned that all the exercise and salt removal in the world will have no impact on my genetically ridiculous blood pressure, there are other… side effects worth mentioning.

It’s amazing what a couple of months of daily exercise do to your pants size for one. And it definitely makes you feel better. Sure, I wonder why my whacked metabolism keeps me from turning into a pole bean while other guys I know tip the scales at 120 after eating nothing but bagels and pizza 5 days a week.

But when somebody gets into the OTC meds and asks questions like is numia worth the price? I have to say stop and think. Maybe instead of doling out those hard earned dollars on questionable supplements

Noise

Codes

  • by Drew

Working on the Pope street redesign, I’ve been playing with those little QR codes a bit. I will probably incorporate some of that into a few pieces I’m working on – most notably the card game, though I can see saving some paper in future CD projects with direct links to lyrics and such from the sleeve. It makes me wonder about the usefulness of UPCs on products. On the one hand, it is helpful for outlets that use a symbol barcode scanner, but the reality of things is that most of my sales are made by hand, for cash. It’s a tough call. I mean, those barcodes cost real money, and while they look somewhat professional, are they really serving a purpose for little old me?

Noise

Updates Are Coming…

  • by Drew

As you may have noticed, Pope Street has been returning to roots. In a sense. There was a time before marriage and kids that Pope Street was a micro media empire with multiple genres of music and fiction put forth for your listening and reading pleasure. Then we went blog. For a number of years. Less music, fewer stories of the fictional variety. Lots of nonfiction about awful drivers, though…

Anyway, we’ve been getting back on that old school track with a series of recording projects that will begin to culminate in the next couple months. Of course, you are already checking out Skateboard Heroes (right?!?) and there are other comics in progress. Plus, we’ve got a new interest in card gaming, and any day now we’ll be seeing a new project come to life – Mad Science The Card Game. Trust me, you can’t wait.

Yeah, we got our hands in a lot o’ pies, huh? Not quite to the mobile homes for sale online marketplace just yet, but comics, music and card games… not too shabby, right?

© 2026 Drew Bancroft. All rights reserved. Totally.