Arts & Entertainment What the hell is a Big Muff anyway? >, cs: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff $70-120 Wie I was a teenager I dreamt of having a Big Moff. I’d heard of all the famous rockers and rollers who had gotten a Big Muff. I thought if I had a Big Muff Id be just like them. It’s no hair pie, but the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff has been giving fuzz to rock and roll since 1971. To give a guitar a distinctive sound, a “pedal” is applied to vary the sound wave and produce the sugar that your ears so desperately crave. Musicians often use an entire board of effect pedals to produce their own unique sound. Often, the exact combinations of such effects are a heavily guarded secret. Certain guitar players even go so far as to modify their own equipment so it will sound completely unique. Arguably one of the most famous effects ever applied to the guitar is fuzz distortion. The Big Muff Pi is one of the most widely utilized and culturally significant guitar pedals. Creator Mike Matthew’s inspiration for the effect pedal was Jimi Hendrix’s revolutionary sloppy distorted style in the late 60s. However, since the pedal was not produced until a year after his death, Jimi never got his hands on a Big Muff. The Big Muff was the flagship of the Electro- Harmonix fleet of guitar components until 1982 when the company was forced out of business. Its popularity in the 70s soared due to its slick sound, but artists relied on finding vintage Electro-Harmonix equipment in second-hand stores and pawn shops across the land, It wasn’t until the late 1990s that, due to popular demand, business resumed and Big Muffs were once again put on the street and given the freedom to strut their collective stuff. Today, multiple versions of the original remain. There is, first and foremost, the original New York version ($125)—compact, American-made and “not ready for another 8 years.” Also, vintage Fuzz pedals from the 1970s still fetch high prices on the inter-web ($150-1000+). My favourite Big Muff comes from the land of boiled cabbage and ham sausage. Our Soviet friends make an inexpensive Sovtek model ($70) that is just as reliable as the original and looks as though it was made from leftover parts of a nuclear reactor. If you want a taste of a Big Muff, look no further than your own record collection. Jack White loves a Big Muff, listen to “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.” Billy Corgan stomped a Big Muff all over the Smashing Pumpkins classic Siamese Dream. Mudhoney loved a Big Muff so much they even named their first album Superfuzz Bigmuff. Jimi Hendrix once famously played his guitar with his mouth; makes you wonder if he would have also turned on a Big Muff with his mouth if he had been alive today. Whatever Happened to...? sy ciccas Andrew Firestone Andrew Firestone, heir to the Firestone Tire empire, was the third bachelor to appear on ABC’s hit show The Bachelor. Firestone gave the last rose to bachelorette Jennifer Schefft; however, the two split amicably not too long after the show in 2003. Since his peak of fame in 2003, Firestone has competed in the Celebrity Poker Showdown where he placed third overall in the tournament championship and donated all his winnings to Direct Relief International. It seems as though the billionaire has made a bit of a reality television career for himself hosting Billionaire’s Car Club while also appearing in VH1’s Celebrity Paranormal Project and Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. Although the whole Bachelor thing didn’t pan out for him, Firestone is now married and has managed to snag himself a ridiculously good-looking wife: Serbian model Ivana Bozilovic. 16 Jesse Palmer Canadian Jesse Palmer, the hunky NFL player, hit the small screen to be The Bachelor for the show’s fifth season. After eight weeks of dating and much deliberation, the all-brawn athlete chose a woman by the name of Jessica Bowlin, with whom his relationship naturally ended a few months after the show. After the heartbreak, the quarterback spent a couple more seasons warming the bench until 2005 when the NY Giants cut him from the team and through some trials and tribulations he found himself in the CFL on the Montreal Alouettes “Developmental Roster.” Barely having a career at this point, Palmer ended up commentating on some NFL games and also has a co-host position on ESPN’s show College Football Live. Since demonstrating his broadcast skills, Canadian entertainment show eTalk has also picked Palmer up as a correspondent for both sporting and entertainment events. Charlie O’Connell You might remember Charlie O’Connell from movies such as Dude Where's My Car and The New Guy, or you might just know him as Jerry O’Connell’s even less successful younger brother. Either way, you should know Charlie got to be The Bachelor on the seventh season of the hit show where he chose labour and delivery nurse Sarah Brice. Unlike many of his other Bachelor counterparts, O’Connell actually managed to make his relationship last a little over a year, which is relatively impressive. Maybe there is something to this show? However, since his appearance on primetime television, he more or less has fallen off the radar. That said, he has appeared in some of Jerry’s projects, like Crossing Jordan, where he—you guessed it— played Jerry’s brother. Travis Stork You may remember ER doctor Travis Stork from the eighth season of The Bachelor. He was the one who chose a sweet school teacher who, it turned out, only lived a few blocks from his home in Nashville, Tennessee. However, due to the contractual constraints of not seeing one another until the finale airs, they claim their obviously strong connection was ruined by the network. Since showing his sensitive side on the eighth season of The Bachelor, Dr. Travis Storks’ career has taken off outside of the ER. After his breakup, he has become quite a recognizable figure in the television industry. Stork has been a frequent contributor on the Dr. Phil show, answering audience members and guests’ medical questions, not to mention boosting Phil’s swooning female viewership. Now, premiering on September 8", his new show The Doctors will highlight audience members who are too embarrassed to ask their family doctors certain questions and so, naturally, feel infinitely more comfortable asking on national television.