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