Elissa drives a mini-van with bumper stickers that say: "My other car is a Mclaren F1" and "My dumbek is on the honor roll at such and such High School"... however, Elissa just usually arrives at gigs in a limo. I think she works for the government, and now you know how your tax dollars are spent ($400 hammers anyone?).

That Mclaren F1 looks awesome!

I'm so going to pay for this...

;P

As far as one master's drum vs. another, who cares? They are both awesome drums. However, I'm not gonna spend $500 on a dumbek ($350 + $150 shipping), especially sight unseen (so I'd buy a Souhail before I'd buy a Hossam). But despite "names" and "branding" and other erroneous hoopla, I'll just stick with GeF's. Ferrari's and Lambo's break down just like my Dodge POS. However, I can afford to have my Dodge POS fixed or buy a new one. Names on a drum don't impress me; only the drum does. I've seen $100 Alexandrias that sound better than some of the high-end stuff. My two cents.

Out...

I dunno....
I ordered two Tablas from Hossam, one for me and one for my friend. They were packed so carefully with bubble-wrap that they could have fallen off of a building and would have been fine. My Tabla is perfect, it's not busted, not chipped, and sounds awesome. So is my friend's.
I'd also received two Riqs from him over time, both carefully packed.
Maybe he has some lame-ass assistant not packing them properly.

This is MY actual "dream car". (it's actually more attainable than other folks fantasy car)
Imagine it in black with a brown leather interior (custom obviously) and a killer sound system. 327 with a 4 speed. Nothing fancy, just real slick. :)

www.jeffhight.com/corvette.cfm

There's room for my tabla.