Category: Entertainment

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Saturday Evening Soundtrack (Literally)

Peter Gabriel – Passion (1988)

When The Last Temptation of Christ originally opened on August 12, 1988, it was playing at the Northpoint Theater in San Francisco. This was not one of my usual movie venues in The City, but there was such buzz about the film I wanted to see it nevertheless. I don’t remember who I saw it with, although it was probably Philip, a very cute bear I was dating whom I met—at The Detour nonetheless—the night of the Pride Parade the previous June.

Philip is a story unto himself and maybe someday I’ll share it. He’s no longer with us, another victim of the early 90s, so I’ll be kind because I do have mostly fond memories of our time together.

Anyhow, the release of the film was highly controversial, drawing significant protests, which led Universal to release it six weeks earlier than originally planned. Despite opening in only 123 theaters across the United States and Canada, it grossed over $400,000 in its opening weekend.

Frankly, I’m surprised it grossed that much.

The film didn’t move me one way or another. The strongest memories I have of it (I only saw it that once) was of the dream sequence (?) Jesus was having as he hung on the cross wherein had gone on to live a “normal” life and raise a family, and the protestors who greeted us as we left the theater, threatening us with hellfire and eternal damnation.

I do remember laughing in their faces.

But the music was ambient and haunting, and that’s what prompted me to purchase (and recently repurchase) the CD. With a few exceptions, I’ve never been a fan of Peter Gabriel’s work, but for some reason Passion really captured me.

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We Never Knew How Good We Had It

Yeah, there was a lot of shit going on in the 60s, but compared to today… it almost seems amusing. Thankfully we had a lot of really good television; television (and television stars) that weren’t appreciated nearly as much as they are now.

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In Theaters On This Day 45 Years Ago

𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 is a 1981 American psychological biographical drama film directed by Frank Perry and starring Faye Dunaway, Steve Forrest, Mara Hobel, and Diana Scarwid, with supporting performances from Rutanya Alda, Howard da Silva, Jocelyn Brando, Alice Nunn and Xander Berkeley in his feature film debut.

Adapted from Christina Crawford’s 1978 autobiography of the same name, the film follows her and her brother Christopher’s upbringing by their adoptive mother Joan Crawford depicting her as abusive, controlling, and manipulative, constantly prioritizing her Hollywood career over her family.

I saw this opening night in the theater. While it’s considered high camp today, some of these scenes remain as deeply disturbing as they were 45 years ago.

“Tina! Bring me the axe!”

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Iconic

American Horror Story (S2 E10)

And then I say bo add a b then
I say the name and banana fanna and a fo
And then I say the name again with an f very plain
And a fee fy and a mo
And then I say the name again with an m this time
And there isn’t any name that I can’t rhyme 🎶

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Lunchtime Tunes

Orville Peck – Stampede (2024)

Okay, in the interest of full disclosure, I loved Orville’s album of duets, Stampede.

Cowboys Are Frequently Fond Of Each Other, Midnight Ride, the famous Glen Campbell song Rhinestone Cowboy, and You’re An Asshole I Can’t Stand You And I Want A Divorce, are probably my favorite tracks, but I have to say his latest album, Mule, grabs me in a way this one only brushes against me.

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And Her Face Just Ghostly

Munich Machine – A Whiter Shade Of Pale (1978)

Another lesser-known project by “The Godfather of EDM,” Giorgio Moroder. It was also the debut of Chris Bennet, whom he collaborated with on Giorgio & Chris the following year.

My two favorite tracks on the album harken from Side 2 of the original vinyl release: La Nuit Blanche and In Love With Love.

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In Which Your Host Effects A Successful Repair On A Piece Of Vintage Stereo Gear Without Destroying It

The other day I was dusting in the Living Room and after I moved my big Yamaha (as in main component) CD player to get underneath it I went to put on some music and the drawer wouldn’t open. I know it wasn’t the belt because I had successfully changed that with the proper size and thickness a couple weeks ago and it had been working without any problem ever since. No, this was something new. I was able to pry the drawer open with my fingernail and it worked just fine afterward, but the next time I moved it the problem returned.

I finally got tired of dealing with it, so I popped the cover yesterday to see if I could determine what was happening. I had the cover off 30 seconds and I immediately identified the problem.

There’s a wide copper grounding strap that makes contact with the metal tray when it slides into place. The raised nubbin that makes the actual contact with the strap was getting snagged on the strap when the tray attempted to slide out.

When I changed the belt, I pressed down on the copper strap a little too forcefully, and since tolerances are everything in this equipment, it made contact just fine, but was too tight to let the drawer slide back out. I gently bent the piece back upward a hair’s breadth, and everything worked normally again; something I need to keep in mind in case I ever have to swap the drawer belt on this unit again.

I don’t know why this just started acting up, or why it worked fine and then stopped once the unit had been moved (probably because I haven’t used it but a couple times since I changed the belt, preferring instead to concentrate on my portable players) but it’s fixed now, and that’s good enough for me.

When I was doing some research the other day, I learned that the DAC (Digital To Analog Converter) in this player was actually made by Panasonic. Panasonic, not Yamaha itself or even Sony. Panasonic.

Why is this significant? This deck dates from the period that Technics/Panasonic were pushing their own “MASH” (“Multistage Noise Shaping,” a 1-bit digital-to-analog conversion technology developed by Technics/Panasonic to improve sound quality and reduce distortion in CD playback) chips—yet there is no “MASH” branding anywhere on this player.

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Period Specific For The Player

Yanni – Keys To Imagination (1986)

Yanni before he became YANNI and the caricature of all that was horrible about 80s New Age music. The second—and my first—of his albums holds a special place in my heart because it—along with Patrick O’Hearn’s Ancient Dreams were a gift from my ex the first Christmas we were in San Francisco. I hadn’t heard of either artist, but immediately fell in love with both.

I bought only two more of Yanni’s albums—Out of Silence and Chameleon Days—before he hooked up with Linda Evans and his music went to hell..

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Oh Great…

Now I’ve got The Lonely Goatherd as an earworm the rest of the day.

No, not this version:

That file still makes me laugh.

I don’t remember the context under which I created it, other than the screaming goat was sort of an inside joke between myself and a coworker at DISH in response to something our horrible supervisor did.

Said coworker was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a work husband, but I cut off all contact after we moved back to Phoenix and he admitted he voted for Trump in 2016. It was kind of a surprise because he was a very liberal guy.

Gawd…I don’t even remember his name at this point.

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Morning Ambient

Chris Spheeris – Desires Of The Heart (1987)

Chris is only one of two artists whom I’ve written (as in a handwritten, ink on paper) who has ever responded. For that reason alone, he remains one of my favorite Ambient/New Age artists

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Morning With Pussy

Pussy Tourette – In Hi-Fi (1993) & Who Does She Think She Is? (1995)

Whatever happened to Pussy Tourette? An extensive internet search comes up with precious little. The most comprehensive thing I found was via grokpedia (including her real name, Mark Cliser, who, through further searching I learned is now 63 years old). Seems the last thing she released was EP1 in 2007—now only available for download via iTunes. There isn’t any physical media available for this release.

These albums prompt so many good memories of my life in SF during the 90s, including my return to The City in ’98 as I was winding my way through Oakland, just before I crossed the Bay Bridge.

I remember how scandalous the lyrics were considered at the time. Now you hear much worse on a daily basis.

And while you’re at it, GET OFF MY LAWN!

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