[rescue] Re: Drive Reliability (was SCSI drive for sale at buy.com)

[Skeezics Boondoggle]

On Fri, 25 Apr 2003, Dave McGuire wrote:

>    I play drums.  Classic and modern rock covers for the more
> "commercial" efforts (people in bars usually want to hear songs that
> they know), rock/jazz fusion (more rockish though) jam sessions.

That's so true.  I play drums too - it's the natural instrument for a
sysadmin - feels damn good to pound on things at the end of a fscked up
day. :-)

My current band (Big Dumb Animals) started out doing all originals, but
started adding more covers since people that frequent the places that
actually pay musicians around here want covers.  Feh.  We like the dives
and funkier clubs, but hey, a gig's a gig, so if they want covers we'll
try to accommodate 'em.

We tend to pick really obscure stuff to cover, though, and like to put our
own twisted interpretations on things.  It's probably heresy, but doing a
punk-rock Smokey Robinson tune, or an acoustic Clash cover, John Hiatt
slowed way down, or Nick Lowe sped way up, or the occaisional 20-minute
Chuck Berry/Pink Floyd/Eric Clapton/Rolling Stones medley is fun, but it's
the Dukes of Hazzard theme song that brings down the house.  People have
weird tastes. :-)

Mostly it's just a great reason to get together every week with "the guys"  
and drink, smoke, belch, laugh, and make major amounts of noise.

>    My equipment was a Tama Imperialstar 9-piece acoustic (piano white, 
> gorgeous) earlier, and a set of Roland VDrums (TD-10) now.  I'm 
> thinking of picking up an acoustic kit again though; I miss my old one. 

Damn, that's a handsome kit.  I'm playing a classic old Ludwig kit that's
seen better times, but is still in decent shape, and is LOUD, man.  Big
step up from the no-name refurbished kit I got for $150 when I started
out... unlike computers, though, I'm not much of a "technician" when it
comes to drums.  I don't obsess about the best kit, the best cymbals, the
spiffiest hardware - what I lack in skill and talent I make up for with
exuberant enthusiasm and a complete lack of shame. :-)

>   I still have all my old cymbals, as they were a significant investment 
> and are much easier to store than the shells!

Hell yeah.  My only vices are computers and drums - both expensive 
hobbies!

Oh!  Speaking of which...

ObRescue: there was a small earthquake (3.9) in the Portland area
yesterday.  Barely felt it.  But it finally got our building manager to
respond to my request to find a place to temporarily set up the Cray
CS6400 sitting in our lobby up here on the TOP FLOOR... I have something
like 5,000 lbs of computin' iron up here, and in a 100+ year old brick
building sitting on a fault line, yeah, it's probably a good idea to find
someplace closer to the ground.  So in the next few weeks I should be able
to boot the sucker up down in the sub-sub-basement, which if nothing else
should make for some really cool photos.  It's cavernous and spooky down
there.  :-)

-- Chris