It’s nice to have co-workers out on the west coast, some of whom I consider pretty close friends of mine. I don’t make it out to Ask.com headquarters as much as I probably should, but that doesn’t mean I’m out of the loop when it comes to goings-on in the Bay Area. In fact, if Massachusetts were ever erased from the map (and judging by the weather right now, we’re getting close), I’d have a solid network of friends on the left coast to rely on for fun and shelter to get me started again. In fact, ever since I graduated from college, I always thought I would end up in the Bay Area, at least for a little while. Hasn’t happened.
Regardless, I was mightily amused on Friday when a co-worker sent me the link of highlights from the Regional Finals of San Francisco’s Air Guitar Championships (you have to sit through a rather amusing local commercial first). I guess they have championships for everything now. Of course, I’ve been playing air guitar since I was a wee boy, which reminds me of a story. I had a ton of dental work done as a kid – spent many years in braces, retainers and rubber bands – and sometimes my mother used to go out and get me 7″ vinyl singles if I was in the chair for a particularly difficult procedure. After one certain appointment she presented me with a 7″ vinyl single of Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero,” which at the time was a big hit on radio in 1981. She said she bought it for me because she walked into the living room the week before and said she saw me standing there in the middle of the room playing air guitar to it. I was 10.
The video is damn funny. The co-worker who sent me this actually attended the festivities and she is friends with the third performer in the video, who donned some pretty serious ’80s gear to do his work. She also said it was hilarious to witness first-hand. My favorite is the guy who “sings” and “plays” on “More Than A Feeling,” with an obviously fake and nearly-falling-off Brad Delp-ish moustache. There’s also a female performer whom I hope didn’t win – she tries to pull off Bon Jovi’s “Living on A Prayer,” but her air guitar playing is very poor – it appeared more to me as an weak attempt to advance to the national tournament by pretending to be a stripper or something. All it really appeared to get her were some catcalls from the audience, most of whom I assume were males.
Extremely funny. I wonder if Boston has regional air-guitar finals, too? If I were to do this, I’d have to do something obscure like The Soft Boys “Black Snake Diamond Rock” or something, just to see the look on people’s faces.