ROLAND repair

I just got an email with the subject shown above.  The content of the message is shown below:

Your Roland drum kit has been repaired and it is ready for pickup.
Regards,
Eric
Digi**** Electronics, Inc.

Nice! Finally!  After almost three months!!  I'll skip the ranting for now.  After all, I still need to drive the 60 miles each way to pick it up. (I could have forced my hand and made them ship it, but that would just be pressing my luck!)

More news, as it develops!

Channeling Tom Hanks

Going on two months ago, I reluctantly sent my entire v-drum kit in for repair, because one of the components on it (the hi-hat) went wiggy on me. Why they made me ship the entire thing, I don't know (heck, it cost the insurance company $280 in shipping alone!). The short version, every time I call to check the status on it, I get the same reponse, "we're waiting on parts, it should take about two weeks, we'll call you". So, as you've guessed, two weeks go by and no call. So I call them, and the cycle repeats- for two months?!?

At what point am I allowed to be pissed off? I mean, I can always revert back to the drum machine to write songs, but that's so... what's the word, limiting.

Instead of whining about it anymore, I thought I'd post some pics I forgot I posted in my flickr account almost a year ago.

(click for full size)

The Saga Continues! A Drumset (non) Update

Like sands through the hourglass...

The saga continues! I called the repair shop this morning to get a status update on my drumset, because two weeks ago they said "it should be complete in two weeks". After giving the guy my work order number he says, "oh yeah- we're still waiting on about five or six parts..."

FIVE OR SIX PARTS?!

Not being an electrical engineer, I can't tell if this is a good or bad sign. If they're going to just replace an entire unit because one piece on the inside is busted (as Americans are prone to do), I certainly would not mind a brand new high-hat, but that's just one part, right? In this case, to need five or six parts, I can only think of what else they might be replacing.

As a floor model, the set was "well-used" when I got it and pretty banged up. While I didn't know it at the time, it is actually missing a few screws here and there too. It wasn't until I downloaded an Owner's Manual that I became aware there should have been velcro fasteners for all of the cables (neither the manual or fasteners were given to me at purchase). A musician friend who owns the exact same kit went down the list of what was missing or "not right". Most noteably, in his words, my kick drum is "thrashed". I didn't think much of it at the time because it played just fine. (Tip: Unless you can give it a good top-to-bottom inspection, *and know what to look for* never get the floor model from Guitar Center!) Again, if they choose to replace or fix the kick drum too, how awesome is that? However, if- and here's where it get interesting, the repair shop is opening up the components and pulling out guts and motherboards and replacing them, my experience in building an rebuilding computers and working on cars and tells me this is a great point for something to go wrong and get overlooked until the entire set is shipped back and I discover the problem three months from now.

Or, I could just be paranoid and going through withdrawals of not having a drumset for almost a month.

Got any "repair center" horror stories? Share them in the comment section below!

Is Obama the New Bob Marley? (Part Two)

A few days ago I posited a theory about the similarities between Barack Obama and Bob Marley. My own observations were mostly a discussion about the surprising number of songs written about the former, with the positive tones and call-to-action like lyrics involved. The themes in these recent songs about Obama are almost identical in content to those of Mr. Robert Nesta Marley. My friends called me crazy but I know I'm right.

Today I stumbled upon a similar discussion from the Trinidad and Tobago News Blog (who knew!). They identified some similarities such as, "Robert “Bob” Nestor Marley and Senator Barack Obama both have one thing in common: a white parent. Bob Marley’s father was British and white; Senator Barack Obama’s mother was American and white..." Sure, that's kind of interesting, but not really what I was going for in my own supposition.

How about this one:

"Like Bob Marley, young white Americans totally identified with Obama’s message about their future. They felt Obama’s “positive vibration.” Like Bob Marley, Obama’s youthful, white –looking, physical appearance was the magnetic force to draw young white Americans to his side. They not only saw themselves in his political mirror but also clothed themselves in his rock star persona a la Bob Marley."

Okay now we're getting into some Thesis quality material! Okay one more...

"Bob Marley’s lyrics spoke to revolutionary change in society between the “Haves” and “Have nots” and exhorted the oppressed/ marginalized to “get up, stand up; stand up for your rights”.

Similarly, Senator Barack Obama’s campaign lyrics/ rhetoric spoke to ” change ” in America after eight years of President George Bush’s failed domestic economic and foreign policie

s."

And "Boom goes the dynamite!" I knew it wasn't just me, I just knew it!

I encourage you to validate my own astute observation skills and visit the Trinidad and Tobago News Blog, where you can read Dr. Kwame Nantambu's article in its entirety. And of course, whether you agree, disagree, or have thoughts of your own, I encourage you to leave a comment!

Related Links:

• trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
• bobmarley.com
• whitehouse.gov
  

Music That Makes You Dumb (Or Smart, Depending On How You Look At It)

From beatcrave.com (slightly edited for humorous intent):*

"A CalTech grad student has conducted an interesting (albeit somewhat unscientific) study relating music preferences with SAT scores... the results show that the “smartest” students’ favorite musician is Beethoven... at the other end of the spectrum is... Lil’ Wayne!"

Bwahahaha!!

Usually this is where I say "and they spent how much gov't funding for this?" But in this case, the guy is at CalTech, which means he likely dropped a boatload of cash for the priviledge to tell us what we already know. The chart below is pretty interesting!


*Read the post in its entirety at: www.beatcrave.com

Is Obama the new Bob Marley?

Last night I went onto the iTunes Store because I had heard that Obama's Weekly Radio Address is available as podcast. Being the lazy/resourceful person I am, I typed "obama" into the iTunes search window. I expected to see a lot of Daily Show clips, official footage, news shows, and political podcasts. However, what I *didn't* expect to see, was all the songs about Barack Obama!

It seems a lot of rap artists have something to say about Obama, which is not surprising. But so do artists from from almost every other genre as well- country, pop, "world music" such as Calypso, Soca, and even Congolese! And it doesn't stop there- reggaeton, mariachi... Seriously- mariachi! But the most popular genre of Obama songs appears to be Reggae, which I find quite interesting. And I'm not talking about some piddley no-name indie artists either. That is, unless you consider Cocoa Tea and Steel Pulse "little". (For those not into Reggae, these two artists are about as A-List as it gets!) I then sauntered onto YouTube and BitTorrent to find even more artists singing about the 44th President of the United States.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong, but I am not aware of any other U.S. president that has had even *one* song written about them (not counting the ones that mock them are string along sound bytes to a techno beat), not to mention a whole boat load. Everyone seems to love Obama (well, not everyone, but you know what I mean). Given the rock star treatment Barack already received from the media and everyday people, and I now as I've discovered, the music community as well, this all leads to my conclusion/question/speculation-- Is Obama the new Bob Marley?

My co-worker mentioned that this pro-Obama scene we're experiencing is very much like when John Kennedy was elected but of course, with the 21st century twist. But I'm not old enough to remember that, so if you are old enough to share your own insights, please feel free to do so!

Two Weeks?!?!

It took four days for UPS to ship my drum kit 80 miles. *shakes head* (I asked/begged if I could just drive it down there myself but they said no?!?) Given the hassles involved just to get it on a truck, I'm glad they managed to send me an email letting me know it actually made it to its destination. But, as it turns out, that was the easy part!

Now, I don't know much about repairin' electronical devices, but I do know where to get a part just like anything electrical in about 48 hours- you know, that Internet thing? So, after two days of not hearing a thing about the status, today I took it upon myself to contact the shop I sent my drums to. After telling them 12 different kinds of information, they verified they had received the shipment, and that it may take 2-3 weeks to get the thing fixed.

2-3 WEEKS?!?! I could have ordered the one broken part and had it shipped in 2-3 days! The price we pay to not spend money! Go figure!

And of course, I've put it into my calendar to bug them again in 14 days. :)