A Real Bad Deal – Maybe someone can help…

[OriginalPosterLost]

I was emailed this a couple days ago. I have the mailing list set up so that I get all the replies and I think James thought that all of you would see this. Anyway, maybe someone that reads this might be able to help. Pretty sad. If you think you know any of these jerks email him.

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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 15:07:35 -0500
From: "James Ward" <eamoss>
To: <contact>
Subject: beware brother beware

fellow and sister jmascis fans,

i am sending this message in hopes that perhaps someone can help me with my struggle. if not i hope this message will serve as a reminder to be careful about who you put your trust in because there are some bad people out there.

to get to the point i will painfully disclose the particulars that make up my sad story. i recently went and saw jmascis and the fog at the Cats Cradle in Carrboro, NC. The show was on Oct. 26th on a Thursday night. The show was incredible. It was the first time that i had ever seen j live and i was very impressed. All of the new material sounded great and i was very happy to hear some of the old favorites; a truly good set. I was stunned when i found that Mike Watt was playing bass. You must understand that i have no complaints about the show and i highly recommend to anyone who has not seen the show to do so, however, brace yourself because it gets lonely down this road.

at the show i met some kids who i put my trust in. my instinct does not usually fail me and i like to feel as though i am a good judge of character i guess i am not as good a judge as i thought. the kids were supposedly traveling to washington, dc to see the show the next night and i thoght that i would be kind and let them crash at my apartment in order to get some sleep before having to hit the road. i also thoght that it would be a good chance to hang out with some fellow fans and hear stories about how they got turned on to j and other bands. i mean, after all, isn’t a large part of seeing a show getting to meet new folks?

once back at my place we had a few beers and listened to some music. we listened to the basics: dinosaur, yo la tengo, spacemen 3, sonic youth. the kids were really fond of my sonic collection which included many imports and eps along with the standards. after talking i came to find that one of the kids,"john", played guitar and so i thought it would be nice to pass the guitar around and play some tunes. just as "john" was impressed with my rare sonic yth collection, so to was he impressed with my Martin D 28 that was a gift from my father. I have had that guitar for ten years and it is very much a part of me. Although it is constructed of wood and steel, it trancscends the material realm. Any true musician must understand what i am trying to express. When someone sets out to create music, their instrument becomes part of them, an extension of spirit and soul. That guitar and i speant a lot of time together, it was my dream and each day that i was with that guitar i was living my dream. well, that dream is over.

a couple of days after having "jimmy" and "john" over after the show, i was going to get a sonic youth cd out of the case and listen to it on the new cd player that my girlfriend had just bought me for my birthday. I quickly noticed that the cd was not in the case, no biggy sometimes i leave them in the player. I then went to get another sonic cd out and noticed it missing. You guessed it. All of my sonic youth cds gone. Thurston Moore solos gone. Lee Ranaldo solos gone. Imports and original ssts gone. the very next thing that i thought was "my guitar!" You guessed it, just as the cd cases were remaining, so too was my guitar case but the most important part, the guitar, was gone.

not only are my cds and guitar gone, but also a lot of the faith that i have placed in humanity is gone. and that is probablly more sad than anything because i have always tried to be kind to people and place a lot of trust in people to do the right things. After this experience my spirit has become just as calloused as the fingers on my fret hand.

i am not writing this message to preach to anyone i do not want to sound as though i am on the provervbial soap box but i do want to say that i think there is a very sad trend in music these days. Sonic Youth had their shit stolen, i hear that Jon Spencer had some of his stuff stolen, Rick in Southern culture on the skids had guitars stolen and i am sure there are many others who have had the same thing happen to them. there is something seriously wrong with a person who steals a musicians instrument. instruments allow for music and is that not what brings us together? what if nobody has any instruments because they have all been stolen. i do not think that someone who steals something sacred is capable of playing the kind of music that i want to hear.

sorry about that. if you can help me i would appreciate it. "Jimmy" supposedly is in the Navy stationed in Norfolk, VA and "John", the quotation marks are mine because this may not be their real names, is supposedly living somewhere in FL. if no one is able to help that is cool, i just hope that my experience might in turn help someone else to avoid having to go through the same horrible ordeal. be careful who you trust there are bad people who will take advantage of your kindness.

"Jimmy"/ "John" if somehow you get this message and your conscience starts to hurt you, you can e-mail me at [email protected] i will do whatever it takes to get my guitar back, it is irreplaceable to me. if not please take care of it, it was my most dear possession. i honestly would like to think that if you knew how special it was to me that you would not have taken it.

there never really is a good time,

James Ward

[OriginalPosterLost]

Damn that makes me angry! It’s bad enough to have an instrument stolen, but the Martin D-28 is the Holy Grail of acoustic guitars. My Dad had one stolen shortly after I was born.

The first step would be to call all pawn shops, music and CD buy-back stores in the area and see if you can intercept them.

Other than that, I don’t really know what else I can do to help, but if there is anything, I will gladly do my best…

~Matt

PS: This goes for anyone that owns an instrument… Always write down the instrument’s serial number and store in a safe place. It also doesn’t hurt to memorize it as well. This can help greatly in tracking it down…

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"If you can’t pay money… At least pay attention!" – My Dad

[This message has been edited by Mattman (edited November 09, 2000).]

[OriginalPosterLost]

…and get insurance!! stuff like this can be covered on your renter’s/homeowner’s policy. take pictures of the guitar (serial number in the picture).

what a weird story. i guess you can’t trust anyone.

Keith

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[OriginalPosterLost]

Wow that is such a sad story, I feel for you that sucks in such a huge way!!! Makes me think of a quote from Classy Freddy Blassie…Pencil neck geeks, dirty freaks, scum sucking losers with lousy physiques. In a perfect world we could sic Blassie on these guys and have him wrestle them into submission. The only other alternative I can think of is if anyone here has some of the mia cds posted in their myspace folders…share your password only with this guy….at least he could hear the tunes on his computer.

You sound like a good guy, hopefully things work out for you.

Take Care,

Allison

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