T-Mobile sent another white phone. This is the third white phone they sent. When I asked them to just cover the cost of the phone, since, you know, I've been waiting a month for the phone and I've had to make three trips to UPS to ship the phones back, they said all they could do was reimburse me for the shipping. Fantastic. All the lunch breaks I spent talking to them and driving to UPS are apparently meaningless.

My solution: I'm going to a physical T-Mobile store to get the phone. I figure if I can look at it and make sure it's the right phone, it will be the right phone.

Let it be known. T-Mobile customer service sucks. Their ordering process is awful. Expect nothing for your wasted time. Expect nothing from their "Customer Loyalty" department. Expect plenty of apologies, but nothing in the way of compensation for your time and effort. T-Mobile clearly does not care to hold on to long-time customers.

CK's mom was gracious enough to give me a gift certificate to local music store Good Records for my birthday. I used the opportunity to go on a long-waited shopping spree for some albums I've wanted for a while. The take:

- Rodrigo Y Gabriela - 11:11 (CD + DVD set)
- Black Joe Lewis - Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! (CD)
- Mudhoney - SuperfuzzBigmuff (LP + MP3 download voucher)
- The Jesus Lizard - Liar (LP + MP3 download voucher)

I think it's really cool that you can buy an LP and get LP sound quality and also get digital versions of the songs to dump to your ipod or burn to CD. Or, better yet, I can hook up the record player to my music recording equipment and record tracks from the LP as if I were recording live music tracks. The computer won't know the difference. Hooray for RCA inputs! And Garage Band. Assuming Garage Band will be able to interpret the tracks and make MP3 files out of them. I suppose any signal fed through my USB interface will end up on one track on Garage Band anyway, which means I'd just make each song on the LP a one-track song in GB and then convert the songs to MP3. This post just got really nerdy.

If you have a record player and the stylus (needle thing) is bent, do not play your records. The bent needle could damage the record. Get a replacement stylus. I found out last night that the stylus on my turntable was bent, probably during my last move, and I've been calling all over town searching for a replacement. None of the stereo stores in town carried them. I didn't feel like ordering one online and waiting 5 days. Then I tried Guitar Center. Jackpot. They carry them.

So there you go. If you need a new stylus for your record player, find a Guitar Center, or other similar music store that carries DJ equipment. They should have one.

I'm really excited for this string of shows starting tonight:

1. Regina Spektor - lucked into some great seats for tonight's show at Nokia Theater. It's a larger venue than I've seen her at before, but I'm still excited. This will be my third Regina show.
2. Friday - David Garza - Rock House Films - I haven't seen David play a small show in years. I'm pumped to see him again in a small venue. I'm taking CK and this is her first time seeing David.
3. Saturday - Swell Season - Palladium - CK invited me to this show. We saw Swell Season at the same venue about a year ago, so it will be neat to see how they've changed.

Three quick show reviews for you.

Regina Spektor - Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie - 11/12/09

This is my third time seeing Regina, and the first time I heard her new songs in their entirety. I listened to clips on iTunes but hadn't yet heard the full versions. Of the three shows, this was my least favorite. Regina seemed to rush through the songs and hardly said anything more than "Hi" and "Thank you." She's normally much more talkative and engaging. My sister saw Regina in Austin the night before and said Regain did the same thing in Austin. As always, however, she sounded great and the band helped provide additional texture and dynamics to the songs. I'm not that crazy about her new songs, though. I don't exactly know why, but something is missing that was on the previous albums. I'll look forward to her next record. All in all, I can't complain about the show. Any Regina performance is a treat. Her talent and creativity are hard to match and always put a smile on my face. She played plenty of old songs, including many I wouldn't have expected, and some acapella songs as well, one of which I think was entirely about the color of boys' eyes. She also busted out with Ode To Divorce, which I've never seen her do live.

David Garza - Rock House Films - 11/13/09

I haven't seen David Garza in years. I don't remember when the last show was, but it was at least three years ago. Rock House Films is a "studio" in what amounts to a large-ish living room in someone's condo in Uptown Dallas. It's an intimate place for a performance - only about 70 people fit, all in folding chairs or couches - and the stage has hardly enough room for a drum set, a guitar player, and a bass player. Because we're on the verge of clocking over into the next decade, David made a point to work backwards chronologically through his albums. Since I've been out of the David Garza loop for quite a while, I didn't start recognizing the songs until about half-way through set, or circa 2000. He played many of my favorites from Overdub, This Euphoria, Culture Vulture, and Conmigo. Towards the end of the set, David realized he only had 15 minutes left until the music had to stop, so he raced through a bunch of dance-able songs and a small group of dancers, including CK and me, got up to shake it down in the small space in between the stage and the first row of folding chairs. Afterward, CK and I met David and took a picture, which we're hoping will be sent to us by the photographer girl we met.

Swell Season - Palladium - 11/14/09

CK and I saw Swell Season at this same venue about a year ago, so it was a treat to see them again at the same place and observe the changes in their sound and stage presence. The extra year or touring, recording, and fame fared well on the group. They looked like they were having as much fun as they were last year and they played with as much heart, if not more. I didn't know any of the new songs, but they were great. Glen and Marketa are now touring with Glen's prior band, The Frames, and the added rhythm section, electric guitarist, and violinist really complete their sound. Of course, Glen and Marketa played plenty of songs on their own, but the most rocking moments were definitely with the band. Though there was one exception - a song I was hoping Glen would play. Last year, Glen played a Van Morrison song by himself. It was just his voice and his guitar, and it was awesome. He ripped through chords at light speed - on his acoustic, which seems like it would ruin the guitar, hence the massive holes in his old beat up Takamine - and screamed out the lyrics to the song (not even sure what they are) at the top of his lungs. He sounds like he's exorcising demons. Ridding himself of years of pent-up aggression and emotional baggage. It's quite a sight. At the end of the song, he loops his chords and the end result is a tidal wave of acoustic guitar. Walls of sound run into each other and reverberate against the walls and floors of the venue, flooding the space and then disappearing when he turns off the loop. If you have the chance to see Swell Season on this tour, and you're into the singer-songwriter vibe, go see this show. Their new songs and old songs are all worth hearing - and seeing.

I leave for Argentina with The Evil I (remember him?) in two days. I sent my passport in for renewal with four weeks to spare, and they turned it around in about two and a half weeks, even though the website says it takes four to six weeks. So in case you were wondering, sending your passport in for renewal is a good idea after the summer travel rush but before the holiday travel rush.

Evil I and I plan to do the backpack thing - that is, no suitcases, just a big traveler's backpack. We're also staying in hostels to make sure we give ourselves plenty of opportunity to meet people our age who are traveling. I did the backpacking thing in Europe for a month many years ago and liked it.

I've been reading about the general dress code in Buenos Aires and, so far, I've gathered that BA is quite the fashion-conscious city. The blurbs I'm reading compare it to New York. My general rules when traveling abroad are:

1. No tennis shoes
2. No logo shirts
3. No backpacks
4. No caps
5. No cargo-style zip-off pants that travelers seem to like

Basically, dress the way I do at home. But I would like to have some kind of bag for carrying water, camera, guide book, sunglasses, etc. I'm thinking the best option is one of those shoulder bag things. I have a Timbuk2 messenger bag that has served me very well for 10 years, but it's rastafarian green, yellow, and red colors may attract too much attention, so I may end up getting a simpler day bag of some kind. Then again, wouldn't the rasta bag make me stylish, and therefore I'd fit in? Whatever. I'll figure something out.

The Black Joe Lewis "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!" cd I got last week is really impressive. You gotta hear this cd. It's like James Brown on crack. If that's possible. They ran the singer's vocals through some kind filter, or engineered them somehow. The vocals sound simultaneously far away and in your face at the same time, and also somewhat distorted. It's a little hard to explain (clearly).

My favorite lyric on the cd is in the song Get Yo Shit. The gist is that the singer is consoling his special lady friend who thinks Joe Lewis doesn't love her. She says he never buys her any presents. His response:

"Yes I did, I bought you a box of chicken but I ate it on the way home." Then she asks if he even knows her name. He says, "Yeah, it's Melissa."

"Naw dumbass, it's Roxanne."

Bummer.