Guitar

Michael Miller He has a delicate physical condition -- for two years, he has been confined to a wheelchair -- but Dusty Brandom won't be treated like a patient in Lincoln Elementary School's production of "Oliver!" In fact, he gets to play the villain. Dusty, a sixth-grader at Lincoln who has muscular dystrophy, would like to be a rock star -- he writes his own songs, plays guitar and loves Jimi Hendrix -- but this week at Lincoln, he is a different kind of performer.

Husein Mashni Having an American passport makes me one of the few people who can actually go in and out of the Gaza Strip these days. But it's not easy. I live in Khan Younis, south of the Abu Holie checkpoint, which means I have to go through that checkpoint, which is in the middle of the Gaza Strip, to get to the Erez checkpoint in the north, where the national border between Israel and the Gaza Strip is. Even if you're the president, when you come to Abu Holie, you sit and wait with the rest.

Gay Wassall-Kelly Dick Dale, "King of the Surf Guitar," was a self-taught guitarist -- a lefty playing a right-handed guitar upside down. He mastered almost every instrument and he knew how to sing. He moved to California in 1954, immediately finding the perfect surfing spot, the tip of Balboa Peninsula -- the Wedge. By 1959, only five years out of high school, he began performing locally and drawing notoriety. With his growing popularity, he added a few musicians and tagged them the "Del-Tones," which by then attracted standing-room only audiences.

When local musician Jeremy Ashida goes off to tour the Midwest this summer, he won’t have a tour bus — he won’t even book any hotel rooms. To find a place to rest his head each night, the 23-year-old plans to rely on the kindness of fans and new friends. If he gets stuck without a bed, he’s also bringing a tent. Making new friends comes easily to Ashida; thanks to his social networking efforts, his music page has had millions of hits on MySpace — primarily from teens, tweens and young adults — and he’s sold tens of thousands of songs on iTunes.

Tom Titus Playwright August Wilson's theatrical backyard is Pittsburgh's predominantly black Hill District, where his Pulitzer Prize-winning dramas "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson" unfolded. It's a rundown section of town where, inevitably, dreams go to die. In "Seven Guitars," now on stage at UC Irvine's Claire Trevor Theater, Wilson's indelible characters laugh, love, fight, sing and, yes, kill. We know shortly after the play begins that the central character's dreams of musical stardom will be cruelly snuffed out -- we just don't know how, when or why. Director Eli Simon and his splendid cast bring Wilson's slice of life among the less fortunate to a resonating pitch, recalling a time -- 1948 -- when African Americans were just beginning to rebel against second-class citizenship.

Those looking to become rock stars can find everything they need to wail at the Tex Us Guitar Show at the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center. Items will be shown and sold from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20. The show will have regular music appliances, such as amps, drums, books, parts, sound gear and guitars, but will also have specialty items such as violins, memorabilia, mandolins and banjos. Representatives from manufacturers, retail stores, guitar repair services and online companies will be in attendance.

For a half a dozen years, a CD player parked on a shelf in my dinky Newport Center office sat idle. I never bothered to plug the thing in. There wasn't a need. That's because an amiable chap named Francis Richard Nichol III — the Guitar Man as I was wont to call him, though his stone-washed, everyday name was Nic — occupied a similarly dinky space one door over. And the sound that spilled through our common wall and flowed out of the mail slot in his door was sufficient.

Antwon Byrd is not what you call a vocal leader. He said so. Byrd writes his feelings on paper. He plays them on a bass guitar. Byrd is as much an artist as he is a football player at Costa Mesa High. Coming up with poetic verses and smoothly plucking strings are a contrast to the collisions on the field. The first two allow the senior to express himself. “It’s just a way for me to escape reality sometimes,” Byrd said. With the Mustangs’ 0-5 start to the season, who could blame Byrd?

Dad, Thank you for your years of love, guidance and support. I couldn't have reached my goals without you! Go, Bruins!! Happy Father's Day. Love, Noelle A. Park Hi Dad, GC here on behalf of all your kids and grandkids. It's been six months since we held your hand, kissed your forehead and tearfully said goodbye. I think of you every day, whether in the eyes of my children or while quietly paddling out in west Newport. Fond memories from family and friends continue to be shared.

Troy Bolus GPA: 4.5 School Activities/Clubs: track, Photography Club Community: peer tutor, Illumination Foundation Awards/Honors: Most Valuable Player varsity track 2012, Best Varsity Jumper 2010-11 Hobbies/Interests: guitar, golf, skiing, founded College Peg-Com College Plans: UCLA Scholarships: none CdM Experience: Loved it! * Valerie Chang GPA: 4.91 School Activities/Clubs: 15 APs, Ordinary Differential Equations and Linear Algebra with BYU, World Love Organization (president)