I Bought a Counterfeit Shure SM57 Microphone off eBay

I am so freakin' MADDD!!! Can't the Chinese find legit ways to make money? Every time you turn around some Chinaman is selling fake goods on eBay. And their counterfeits are very hard to disinguish from the real deal unless you know what to look for. They manufacturer and sell a LOT of musical oriented items. Microhones, guitars, and amplifiers are constantly counterfeited. I should have known better than to buy a mic off eBay. Some items you should just stay away from! As you can see, externally this mic looks just like any other SM-57.

But if you open it up you'll see that the wires are the wrong colors inside. They should be yellow and green. This one has blue and green.

Also, the counterfeiters use the same serial number on every box. (Every mic should have its own unique number.) Have a look at the serial number here. Then look at the picture below it. It comes from another post I found on the interweb from some guy who bought three of these counterfeit mics. All three have the same serial#, and mine is the same as his. The only difference between his boxes and mine is that his says Made in Mexico and mine says Made in China. (Shure probably has offices in both locations.)

I should be able to get my money back, but it may take Months while the case is in dispute. According to the retail sales page for the mic, this guy/gal has already sold 42 of them at $85 each. Here are some more pics of my microphone just so you can see how much it looks like a real SM-57. Once they get the wiring colors down, it's going to be next to imposible to tell the difference between the real ones and the fakes. And beneath the pictures of the mic I'll post a screen capture of my conversation with the Shure rep who confirmed my mic is a fake.

Rediscovering The Beatles Live 1964-65 at the New Musical Express

Just found this today thanks to a friend of mine. It made me feel like a kid all over again. The first clip is of The Beatles portion only of the New Musical Express (NME) Poll Winners' Concert in 1964. The second clip features all the bands that were among the most voted for as best band the following year, 1965. The Beatles play second to last in that one. (The Kinks play last, but they weren't meant to be the show finale--they simply arrived late.) There are a lot of good bands in the second clip, many you've probably forgotten about. For instance, Van Morrison's first band, THEM, from Ireland is there along with the Rolling Stones, The Searchers and others. Have fun.

Ever See a Polack Pine Tree?

The Crooked Forest

During the 1930s, a grove of around 400 trees was planted in the West Pomerania region of Poland that grew crooked. Today it's known as the Crooked Forest. To this day, no one knows why they grew this way. Some people have speculated that they were purposely bent by placing weighted objects on them in an attempt to grow crooked wood for certain wood working projects that required bent wood such as rocking chairs or boats. However, that's just a guess. What makes these trees even more mysterious is that another grove of around 200 trees was also planted during the 1930s in the Savoy Mountain State Forest of Berkshire, Massachusetts, and it too grew crooked.

Savoy's Crooked Forest

For some reason, the Savoy tree grove has disappeared today; however, at least one former ranger from the area insists they have not gone away, but instead have grown to such a height that you have to look up to see the bends that used to be near the ground in the old days.

Isn't it strange that two groves of trees, both planted during the 1930s in two different parts of the world would grow crooked like this? Weird.

Disability Update

Thanks to all those who sent up prayers for me. They worked! I not only start receiving disability benefits this month, but I got nearly 16K in back-pay. That was just enough to get me out of debt with a little leftover. I can't tell you how good it feels to be debt free! On top of it all, my book formatting business is doing really well and growing all the time now. At this rate, I may be off disability in just a couple of years. It sure is nice working from home. It's the kind of business I can do from anywhere in the world. All I need is a laptop and a satellite USB card. Who knows, maybe I'll save up and buy an RV and become one of those retirement RV people who roam the country. Okay, probably not. But it's nice to know I could if I wanted to! There's a lot to be said for being debt free and being able to work from your computer anywhere and anytime. It's very freeing. I highly recommend it.

Kids React to the Beatles (funny)

Going to the Disability Doctor Thursday

If you have time, say a prayer for me. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 A.M. I have to go to a doctor that Social Security uses to help determine disability benefits eligibility. My arthritis has progressed to the point where I can only stand for about 5 minutes at a time. The window cleaning business is quickly becoming a thing of the past. I’m down to working 2 hours per day, 3 days per week with it. My osteoarthritis is degenerative and has gotten MUCH worse this past year. (My X-rays show how it’s progressed, but I have to see this doctor anyway for some reason.) It’s still confined to my back at this point. My dad had to take early retirement for the same condition. His spread to his hips and knees very quickly. He needed to have them all replaced but settled for just the one hip that was hurting the worst. I’m praying that doesn’t happen to me! The more I stand on my feet and especially climb a ladder and reach up with a pole etc., the more damage it’s doing to the pads between my discs. I need to get out of this job before it’s down to bone on bone. Disability doesn’t pay much, but I’ll make about $10K with my book formatting business this year, and that’s just about the max amount I can make and draw disability at the same time. With the two together I can just make it. I’m hoping that within a few years I can go full-time with the new business, but in the meantime I need some help!

Several people have told me that hardly anyone gets approved for disability the first time they apply. In fact, a lady told me just the other day that her brother was denied the first time, and he had terminal cancer! I can only guess they figured his hadn’t progressed to the point where he couldn’t work anymore yet. If I get approved the first time through, I believe I can start drawing benefits in February, 2016. That will be just about perfect for me. Also, my medical care through the VA has been pretty bad overall. If I’m on disability, I should be able to get on Medicare Part B, and I think that will be a whole lot better. I can stay in the VA health care system and be on Medicare at the same time, so I don’t need the Part D drug coverage because the VA will pay for all drug costs.

I believe this is the best thing for me at this time. I don’t want to be one of those people who milk the system though. I hope to be on my own again in 2 to 3 years. . . well, unless my arthritis progresses to the point where I can’t even sit down without pain. Also, I need to get dieting seriously right now, and being away from my window business is the best way to do that. I lost a ton of weight back around 1990 when I was laid off from Kroger for nearly a year. I just went to the track every day and made losing weight my job! It was easy to keep focused on the goal when that was all I had to do. If I can get really skinny again, most, of not all, of the pain in my back may disappear altogether. At least for a few years. The arthritis may worsen to the point where no matter how skinny I get, it won’t help. But it may buy me several pain free years, maybe even until retirement. And it’s possible my arthritis will crawl to a stop at some point and never get much worse. That’s what I’m praying for. I hope that within the next two years I’ll have my life back. I’m only 56. I should have a lot of life left in me if I just have time to heal up!

Thanks.

Chris Smither Live at Haddon Heights Park, NJ

Wonderfully recorded outdoor concert with the best singer/songwriter of all-time. I especially like the song he wrote from his seven year old daughter's questions about life at 21:45