drums, fondue, oh my

last night's foray into the wonderful world of fondue was awesome...great conversation, great food, and great company...there was this pot in the middle of the table and the waiter would pour in stuff so you could cook your food in it...I had the seafood trio (I know I'm a veggie but I eat fish, because I hate fish, fucka fish) and the cheese appetizer was this cheddar cheese thing with beer, garlic, and other yummies...the salad was good but the raspberry walnut vinaigrette was a bit much...but the desert was really good...we got the chocolate yin-yang, dark and white chocolate swirled in the form of a yin-yang which we dipped cheesecake, fresh fruit, and marshmallows in...yes it was filling...and so was today's venture out to the Old Country Buffet...that place is funny man...it draws some of Manassas's finest, including some dude with bedhead wearing his pajamas...no lie, he was wearing his pajamas and he was WITH people in their Easter Sunday best...how funny...anyways, also yesterday I finally was able to get the wife her own iPod, which she loves as well as purchase some accessories so I can make full great use of my drum stuff...the only disappointment was that guitar center (who has not only the most annoying staff but also the most annoying customers--more on that later) didn't have a double-pronged tom mount so I could pull my toms a little closer...all I really got there (and I say that liberally not thinking of the end price) was some hardware mounting stuff--enough for two cymbals--plus two Sambago bells, a Zilbel...then I went over to my in-laws and borrowed my brother-in-law's cymbals, he has a ride and crash that I like...he also has a hi-hat I may borrow in the future just to be a punk...anyways I put up some new pictures of various things from the past month or so, it includes some pictures of me and the wife all dressed up before our anniversary dinner, some pictures of our friends before we went out to a Manassas pool hall/dive bar, and some pictures of my dad's birthday slammer in Rockville...oh and some pictures I just took of my newly configured drum set...it's exciting! and those I've put below:



my roto toms:



my new low/high Sambago bells:



the right side of my drum set:



the position of my new second ride:



So now here's my new specs:

6" Zildjian Zilbel Cymbal
12" Zildjian Wuhan China Cymbal
20" Sabian Ride Cymbal
18" Zildjian Rock Crash Cymbal
14" Zildjian Rock Hi-Hat w/attached tambourine
14" x 8" Ludwig Snare Drum
13" x 4" Pearl Brass Picollo Snare Drum
3 Roto Toms
Bongos (these actually suck pretty bad, they're precariously mounted and one skin was the victim of a cat's claws)
Low-pitch Cowbell
Dual high/low Sambago bells
12" Ludwig Tom
14" Ludwig Tom
16" Ludwig Floor Tom
16" x 22" Ludwig Bass Drum
12" Zildjian Splash Cymbal
6" Zildjian Splash Cymbal
16" Zildjian Rock Crash Cymbal
18" Zildjian China Low Cymbal
20" Zildjian Light Ride Cymbal
17" Zildjian Medium Thin Crash Cymbal
Djembe

Plus a DW 5000 Double Bass Kick Pedal, Pearl three-side square rack, and of course, a stick holder! I also plan on mounting my drum machine so I can jam along with pre-defined beats and be all Dillinger-esque...rad.

oh and about the Guitar Center dickheads...this one dude works in the drum center who is just a total egomaniac, which is funny since he's just a salesman really who knows stuff about drums...actually it seems that every drum salesman I've ever met can be a douche at times...anyways at x-mas my wife bought me a drum rack and I went with her and he was not only mean and degrading towards us (read: me) but he also proclaimed how he only worked during x-mas since his jam band that played Dead covers (I couldn't make this up if I tried) paid most of his bills and he was all rock-n-roll...so anyways amazingly enough this SAME guy was at the Guitar Center on a Saturday, telling a customer that he used to be a manager but didn't want to be anymore, and was only part-time (that's an interesting part-time gig you got there, since you're ALWAYS there when I go there) and was bickering with an extremely obnoxious customer who was trying to whittle the salesman done from the $3200 drum set down to a mere 3 grand...first off, the drum set wasn't THAT nice, it's bad when the hardware is better than the set...it played only decently and was more of a lame classic rock set that could have been made in the early 70's (ooooh but it's vintage that means it MUST be good! bah humbug, vintage drums are dumb--unless of course they're "vintage" Ludwig drums circa mid '90's and then they rule)...anyways this guy kept telling the guy that he was "ready to talk turkey"--dude you're buying a fucking drum set not a car--and that the guy he talked to promised him some price that as the obnoxious jam band salesman claimed was only $80 over cost, which they never did, since they never could go less than $100 over cost...interestingly enough (and conjuring inner smiles) the salesdick was wrong as he was told by some manager (you know, what he didn't want to be anymore) that that price was just fine...ugh, sales are stupid...could you imagine doing that for a living? kissing people's ass, lying, and trying to cheat people all the time?...no way. that sucks...I like my corporate whore job just fine thank you very much...

so after all that drum whoring, what I still want is a new drum throne (mine sucks, falls apart, and kills my ass), chimes and a washboard (because that would be some prog-rock of me), an 8" or 10" splash, one more crash cymbal, another effect cymbal preferrably a crash thing with rivets, a GONG!, an earth plate, maybe a drumbal, a re-mix efx cymbal, a timbale, smaller toms and one more floor tom, and most importantly the double-pronged tom mount...and I'm sure when that lotto ticket comes through I'll be able to afford all that stuff...