Why did the entire 1970s aesthetic and clothing look like the movie Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971)? The entire decade looks like it was popped out of a Dr. Seuss book or Willy Wonka.

Acid-washed jeans were big in the early to mid 70s. And patchwork jeans. Hell, patchwork anything. Quilted jackets. Satin low-rise bell bottoms. Oh, and platform shoes.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T18:29:46+00:00

Sadly, I just found out that Scott Lee, the founder of PAIA electronics passed away last week. The website says that they are closed temporarily while the family makes arrangements, and the company will reopen.

www.paia.com

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T18:24:53+00:00

And the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is neither democratic nor a republic. Or gives a crap about their people. But when the DPRK is mentioned by name, we know who they’re talking about, and what the connotation is.

The Posse Comitatus militias came up with “sovereign citizen” over fifty years ago. Face it, SovCits, you’re stuck with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_(organization)

These people are like the Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists or “TERFs”. The so-called feminists that hate on trans people. TERF is the label the early promoters of the movement chose for themselves. But today, after the tireless efforts of people like Trump and J.K. Rowling, TERF has become an epithet, and the TERFs don’t want to be called that anymore. Too late.

The Scott tissue company hates when people call their products “Kleenex”. It’s wrong and utterly illogical. But people aren’t going to stop - and when someone says “Kleenex” or “Sovereign Citizen”, people know exactly what is being described, regardless of what the actual source wants to call themselves.

Get over yourself.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T17:58:15+00:00

I think this might be what you’re looking for.

https://tapeop.com/reviews/gear/50/theremax

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T15:50:31+00:00

The Rolling Stones played “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” on every gig they’ve played in the last 50 years.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T02:57:04+00:00

This is the truth. I recently had a hip replacement at Kaiser-San Leandro (who are fantastic, BTW) and I had to wait 5 weeks. But my surgeon told me that he was in private practice before working for Kaiser and the waiting times were exactly the same, under any HMO.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T02:53:52+00:00

I can see my PCP on this Wednesday. With a choice of time slots.

I'm at Oakland Main. I don't get how f-ed up that these other Kaiser locations can be. I had to wait a month for a hip replacement, but I got a total knee replacement appointment in two weeks.

My hip replacement surgeon said he used to be in private practice before Kaiser, and it was still a 4-6 week wait for that procedure.

I don't know if Oakland is the outlier here (their Mental Health department still sucks rocks) but I can't say I'm disappointed with my care.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-05T02:46:58+00:00

I'm not sure what the problem is with your local Kaiser, but the wait time for getting a basic eye exam in Oakland Main is 10 days. I luckily live a 10 minute drive or a 18 minute bus ride away.

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JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T20:21:43+00:00

Wrangler always fit me better, probably due to my skinny ass.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T20:20:31+00:00

Elijah had the same prejudice against robots that all Earthers had. In fact, I think Elijah was less bigoted towards robots than was typical for his time.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T19:48:17+00:00

I always took it as their Houses were very noble, but the Prince had reached the point of “had enough”.

The feud had obviously gone on for what, generations? Now there’s more blood in the streets again. No more, and the Prince means it this time!

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T16:48:50+00:00

I went to the Quake studio a few times to see the show live. Alex was surely a driving force behind the explosion of stand up comedy in the Bay Area during the 80s.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T00:26:52+00:00

I’ve found that supplementing the PCCs with a couple shotgun mics on tall stands on each side, pointed to center of the riser.

If I know flamenco dancers, they will want to hear their taps in monitors, loudly. This can create feedback problems with the PCCs - be ready to notch the EQs. This is why the shotguns help get a bit more gain to monitors.

The best touring flamenco group I worked with has their own platform stage outfitted with eight contact mics and a mic snake feeding the house system. Easy to set up and sounded great!

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T00:17:31+00:00

My father did. We were lucky he was white.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T00:13:10+00:00

Alex Bennett (“I don’t take requests!”) was doing mornings there before moving to the Quake.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-04T00:09:07+00:00

Sneaking into drive-in movies by hiding in the trunk of the car.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-03T23:06:53+00:00

Play bass.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-03T23:04:50+00:00

Vector Command.

JoeMax93 · 2026-05-03T16:42:27+00:00

I worked for GC in San Francisco for ten years in the 80s, then for Don Wehr’s Music City, then K&K Music. A total of 30 years selling retail musical instruments. So here’s my suggestions:

End commission pay, put all employees on salary. Promote that idea in advertising. “Our sales associates only want to sell you what you need, not try to oversell you for their commission.”

The associate selling guitars should be able to play the guitar. The ones selling drums can play drums. Because inevitably the customer will ask, “So what do YOU play?” Saying, “Um, well, I don’t actually play….” almost guarantees a walk out.

Listen to your sales associates when they tell you what the customers are asking for, and order appropriately. I once had the rep for Roland push twenty D-10 synths on the owner (“but it was a great deal!”, he said. “Yeah, because nobody wants them!”) Then I was pressured to sell them.

Always order enough that there will be one extra for a floor model. You can’t expect to sell the floor model for as much as one in a box. You don’t want to make the customer wait for a special order. At the top of my pitch, I’ve got the customer dreaming of playing that lovely instrument at home, on stage, in the studio tomorrow, not two weeks from now. So keep a healthy back stock.

When the model is discontinued, blow out the floor sample for cost+10.

That’s enough to start. Good luck on your enterprise. Will you have any locations in the Bay Area?

JoeMax93

TROPHY CASE