Acclaimed Bassist Christian McBride Says TSA Thuggos Seized (And Kept) His Bow
If you're one of those who trots out the tired line, "It's a free country," you'd best stop doing that, because it no longer is.
Our civil liberties are being stomped on, eroded, and yanked from us at every turn and Americans are just standing around blinking like bewildered cows as it happens.
Adrian Chamberlain writes for The Times Colonist that the bassist's bow was seized at the border on the way to Victoria:
Bassist Christian McBride blamed U.S. authorities for confiscating his bow before he arrived in Canada to play the TD Victoria International JazzFest.Performing Monday at First Metropolitan United Church, McBride said that he'd been forced to borrow a bow he was not used to.
That same day, McBride wrote on his Facebook page: "Now it's confirmed. I can tell you that the good ol' TSA [America's Transportation Security Administration] confiscated (aka stole) my brand-new bow right out of my hard case . . . I arrived in Saskatoon only to find the bow missing inside the case to my Lemur Travel Bass."
He added: "Maybe they thought it was a weapon (idiotic) or they were looking for ivory, of which there wasn't any. I will get to the bottom of this."
...The Associated Press reported this week that musicians are concerned that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's stricter rules on transporting items containing elephant ivory are inflicting unintended complications on the music community.
...Noonan said a great number of professional and student musicians are playing with bows that contain a small quantity of African elephant ivory, which were legally crafted and legally obtained. She said it's unlikely that they would have asked for particular documentation when they purchased the bows.
via @MarcDanziger
Good bass bows ain't cheap; the cost can easily be in four - or even five - figure range.
With every passing day, I'm becoming more (grudgingly) admiring of how the Chinese government deals with corrupt officials.
Fatwa Arbuckle at June 26, 2014 8:54 AM
> Posted by: Fatwa Arbuckle
☑
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at June 26, 2014 8:58 AM
I simply don't travel anymore. When I was in my early 30s I used to go places, and now in my mid 40s I don't. I'm not happy about that, but I refuse to put up with this shit and don't see any way to change it.
Maybe I am "standing around blinking like a bewildered cow," and I hear this complaint about Americans a lot, but never from anyone who has a practical suggestion to offer. Voting for Ron Paul didn't work.
What exactly am I supposed to do? Take a gun to an airport and start shooting holes in TSA employees? If an effective solution presents itself, I'll be first in line to sign up. In the meantime, I'm just glad I never had kids who will be stuck inheriting this mess.
Pirate Jo at June 26, 2014 12:08 PM
Yes, as an occasional business traveler, I'd like practical suggestions, too. When does the revolution begin, and who is going to begin it? And who is going to compensate those of us who participate when we lose our jobs or lose a client or suffer some other tangible economic loss because we didn't put up with the screening and ended up missing an important meeting? I suppose we can all start blogs and write about it, as Amy does ... but it appears that nothing has changed yet as a result. Is that really "doing something" about it, vs. what the rest of us, who have to earn a living by some means other than blogging or writing books and articles, are doing? Does bitching to our spouses and friends count? If not, how big does our audience have to be for it to count as a protest?
JD at June 26, 2014 12:38 PM
I know what you're all thinking.
(Air quotes) "'Bass Players,'" (smirk), Amirite?
Amirite?
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at June 26, 2014 1:49 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/06/26/acclaimed_bassi.html#comment-4797481">comment from JDI suppose we can all start blogs and write about it, as Amy does ... but it appears that nothing has changed yet as a result.
I would guess more people's minds have been changed than they would have if I'd instead blogged about celebrities.
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2014 2:00 PM
My regular cello bow cost about 700 bucks. My good one set my husband back about 2500 dollars, and gained him title of best gift giver ever. This is what a reasonably serious player might spend, and is nowhere near what Mr McBride's bow will cost to replace - if it can be replaced. It may have been a priceless antique. If he is using a top of the line commercial bow, probably 15 to 20 thousand dollars. Certainly enough to be over the Grand Theft line.
The impact of losing his particular bow is something only a musician can understand. The tool becomes an extension of yourself, and the meld takes time to make. It would be almost like someone taking Aida and handing you her identical twin. Looks the same but not the same, and an awkward replacement that would take a long time to get used to.
I hope Mr McBride is able to raise a big enough stink and gets his bow back from the ridiculous, greedy government.
A side question this article raised: I have several small chinese ivory carvings that were a gift circa 1980s. Do I need to take them on a long drive in the country and fling them into a freshly plowed field somewhere lest I find myself a person of interest to the Feds?
bmused at June 26, 2014 3:45 PM
They managed to almost break a key off my sax...it's a nice one, too, a Yanagisawa, so it's not like it's a flimsy practice instrument.
I was going through Detroit and I was going to carry it on. The guy took it out of the case, looked inside it to make sure I had no contraband in it, and then tried to put it back in the case. If you've ever seen a full-size sax case (not the hard shell travel case that I use now) it's this big square, solid case with (guess what!) a cut-out in the shape if the sax body in it (the neck of the instrument goes in a separate little case and is stored in the bell)...how hard is it to put it back in? He must not have had a Fischer Price Peek-a-Block when he was a kid. He put it back in turned about a quarter, and lo and behold the lid wouldn't shut. Did he take it out or otherwise try to adjust the position of the instrument? Of course not! He leaned on the lid-ARGH!
$200 to fix it at my destination, on the phone they told me that maybe I shouldn't be taking it with me. Brilliant.
I really am surprised that there aren't eggings or something at airports of these imbeciles. When are the American people going to get tired of it and snap?
crella at June 26, 2014 5:41 PM
My husband took his fountain pen out to go through the checkpoint, and forgot to pick it back up out of the bin. When we realized and ran back, 'There's no fountain pen here, sorry'...it was a $1,000 pen he got as an award, and he used it for 10 years. I called the TSA and bugged the bejesus out of them for 6 months or more. No pen.
Maybe this guy will get his bow back because he's famous.
crella at June 26, 2014 5:44 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/06/26/acclaimed_bassi.html#comment-4797927">comment from crellaWow, Crella...just awful...the pen and the sax.
Amy Alkon at June 26, 2014 6:02 PM
Plain and simple -- I refuse to fly until the TSA is gone. I told that to the "interviewer" when they hired me into the company I work for. She must have made a note somewhere because they let me drive to the HQ in the Mississauga, ON, Canada (about 500 mi) without a peep about it.
Jim P. at June 26, 2014 6:50 PM
"When are the American people going to get tired of it and snap?"
I'M WAITING!!!!!
Please be more specific about this "snap" of which you speak. This "snap" sounds worthwhile as long as it will be effective.
Maybe life just hasn't gotten uncomfortable enough for us yet.
Pirate Jo at June 26, 2014 8:12 PM
Unfortunately, the "snap" is most likely to be a while in coming. People are still to comfortable, witness JD's question above: "who is going to compensate those of us who participate when we lose our jobs".
Ain't no one gonna compensate you. Revolutionaries lose their jobs, their homes and often their lives. That's the price to be paid.
As long as people are still too comfortable; as long as they still have too much to lose, it isn't going to happen. And yet, the longer people wait, the bloodier and more disastrous the correction will be.
When it does happen - perhaps 20 or 30 years down the road - it's going to be an ugly, bloody revolution, because the government is arming all of its various branches right now. DHS in particular is becoming the homeland military force, and will be used ruthlessly to suppress dissent.
a_random_guy at June 26, 2014 10:18 PM
The sax is practically good as new, I'm still playing it. Poor DH still moans about his Cartier pen...poor dear. I tried! I was a total PITA on their answering service (you have to leave a message with the TSA, nobody ever answers). I wasn't rude, but I left a message every other day for the longest time, and kept writing emails to them until they wrote back and said it wasn't in the Lost and Found. No fooling....
crella at June 27, 2014 5:21 AM
If you still fly, you are completely okay with the TSA.
Because getting to your destination is still more valuable than that infringement on your rights.
Radwaste at June 27, 2014 10:28 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/06/26/acclaimed_bassi.html#comment-4799853">comment from RadwasteI sometimes fly but I am reluctant to fly because of the rights violation and the fact that I cannot remain quiet in the face of it (always a danger to actually boarding one's flight). I stand up how I can but my getting in a car and driving to Boston from Los Angeles for the next ev psych conference I'm attending is just not feasible, especially since I get deathly carsick even on short journeys.
Amy Alkon at June 27, 2014 10:39 AM
Given the TSA is prone to "confiscate" certain food items, I would recommend, if it were not illegal to do so, that you bake such items with enough poison to kill any TSA agent who eats it.
lujlp at June 27, 2014 1:47 PM
"Given the TSA is prone to "confiscate" certain food items"
Jesus above, don't get me started (again! ;-P ) . My mother was on dialysis 3 days a week and not all that able to get out and around. We have a house in GA and I'd have her down 2-3 times a year if she was able to go (if not I went to her) as it was warmer in the winter, a change of air for her. I was able to arrange for her to have her dialysis near my house.
I remember the TSA taking away her jars of apricot jam that she couldn't find near her..apricot jam, from a 78-year-old little old lady with one artificial knee and a dialysis port, the country was saved from a grave threat!
crella at June 27, 2014 10:11 PM
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