Guess What my Dumb Dog Did…
May 29th, 2008
This is from one of those big beef knuckle bones which she loves. When she gets them separated, this is what happens when she tries to get all the marrow out. It happened once before, which I thought was a fluke, apparently not though. It had to be cut off. Here’s a tip, use a needle file, it won’t cut you or the dog. When you get half way through, take a pair of wire cutters and put it in the cut. The bone will just snap. Don’t worry, Noel was none the worse for wear. 
David Cook vs. The Who
May 8th, 2008Cook is my favorite of the Idols, but he’s no Daltrey. There is so much awesome in The Who clip it can hardly be contained.
Broadway Photo - Bait and Switching Asshats.
May 4th, 2008My wife and I have been looking for a new digital SLR. So I do lots of searching the internet, and come up with some low prices via various mail order places. Having gotten the old camera from a mail order place (with good success), I figured why not do it again. Anyway, I settled on Broadway Photo ordered the camera for $618 and waited. A couple of days later I got a halfway unintelligible phone call from them to “confirm” my order. First I get put on hold for 5 minutes, then when unintelligible guy does pick up he tries to sell me a better battery. I say, don’t worry I’ll get it myself. He tells me that their price of $100 is the best I’ll get, and that the stock battery only lasts 15 minutes. It’s ok, I say again because google has let me know the battery can be had for $30 or so - a little less than the $100 deal they promised. Anyway we go round and round about the battery and he finally gives up. Then he asks me if I want the Japanese or American model. The American model is about $860, the Japanese is $780. So I said what about the $618 price - well that doesn’t include the “handling” charge. The website didn’t mention the handling charge, and he tells me all products have a handling charge. So right about the time I start to argue he puts me on hold, for about 10 minutes this time. When he comes back, he’s a little irritated and asks me “which will it be, the Japanese or American model?”, I tell him to cancel my order, and immediately get hung up on. So I call him back, to make sure he heard me, (which he did - and he was pissed), and make sure it’s cancelled. Well, it was and I got a confirmation email, but the whole thing irritates me.
A lot of people will put up with being sold extra crap, but jacking up the original price $70-240, isn’t something anyone will swallow, right? Turns out, they sell a lot of “grey market” merchandise that won’t be serviced by the manufacturer. Google will quickly show you how many people have complaints with these idiots. Apparently, almost every camera store with a Brooklyn area code is the same way. A lot of them are operating under the different names. I’ll probably go with Beach Camera which is where we got our first camera, pretty low prices, and good service. Try them if you’re looking for a camera.
Dean Guitar Review
April 18th, 2008I just got a Dean Vendetta as part of my participation in the Little Kids Rock program, and I figured I’d give a review here for those of you in the market for a new electric guitar. The first thing I have to say about this thing is it’s light. I almost thought it wasn’t real wood, but turns out it’s Paulownia, a fast growing tree native to China. Seems as though its a sustainable resource, and can actually reclaim ecologically stressed patches of land by adding organic contents to the soil, while its roots break up compacted soil. If Wikipedia can be believed anyway.
It’s got dual humbuckers, 3 way selector switch, volume and tone controls. The bridge is a Tune-O-Matic. The finish on the body is good, you can see a few finish glitches on the head and neck though. Nothing major, just a few little sanding marks. I can’t really complain because the playability is so good. The action was good (not amazing, but good) right out of the box, the neck was smooth, and the frets were well dressed. It stays in tune, and the humbuckers are fairly quiet. The neck profile is a little fatter than a typical Fender, with a slightly radiused fretboared, probably about a 7. I will say when I took it out of the box, the two knobs for volume and tone fell right off. They don’t have set screws, and rather than fool with the posts to get them to fit I used a couple of extra knobs I had sitting around.
Anyway, the kicker for this thing is that I’ve seen it for just over $100. I remember a time when a $100 guitar was a total piece of unplayable garbage. This is a good guitar, great for a beginner. I might have bought one to have as a beater electric, something you’re not worried to take to school, where the kid inflicted damage potential is high (of course I got mine for free). I heard Brad say over at the Brad Sucks website it would be cheaper for him to fly to a gig, buy a guitar then throw it away, then it would be to pay to have his guitar shipped. At this price he’s probably right. The thing is, there’s plenty of quality guitars at this price point out there. Most from China, I guess with CNC machines the cost to produce each component is almost nil at the numbers they must turn out. I’m guessing materials and shipping are there biggest expense. I’d like to try some of the higher end Deans, because their bottom of the barrel model is pretty good.