Co-worker and drummer

Dumb Face
Originally uploaded by mlusby.

Sheesh, what a day was Monday! I was participating in Alternative Transportation Week, so I walked to light rail. There's a lot of jasmine blooming, and it was a pleasant walk and ride. But of course, it's a longer trip than driving.

That afternoon was my meeting with co-worker, Mega. Well, I was figuring it would be about an hour, but it was an hour and a half. We yelled at each other for about 75 minutes, then talked calmly for another 15 and shook hands on the way out. The crux of it is that we just have VERY different modes of communication. I mean, we have some different philosophies and stuff, too, but the main thing is that neither of us was communicating in the way the other wanted or expected. (He's still crazy, but at least I have a heads-up now on how best to deal with him.)

Anyway, I got home at about 6, then had to rush out to band practice.

We worked up several new songs, so it would have been a really good practice, but for the fact that the drummer... couldn't drum if he was sitting on John Bonham's lap and in charge of just the high hat. I swear to god, we'd be MUCH, MUCH better off without a drummer at all, since we're fighting against whatever he's doing most of the time. I asked him a couple weeks ago (in a VERY NICE tone, I swear) "So, J, do you count when you're drumming?" And he said no. That's like.... not pedaling when you bike!!!! Maybe it's more like not measuring when you cook -- if you're REALLY good and have a lot of practice, you can manage it, but not as a novice.

Anyway, last night he was so all over the place that one of the other guys and I were suggesting that he not even use his arms and just hit the bass drum on 1 and 4. But we couldn't get him to count, no matter how much snapping, clapping, gesturing, or counting-out-loud we did. He just, like, FEELS the drums, and it's like the whole time he's drumming it's just a long, random, no-counting space jam. A big, messy, drum-solo forever and ever. It's driving me nuts.

I got home at about ten to ten. Long, long, dumb day.