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Not sure how many people will understand this, but gay people of my age group celebrated this event. Look up Anita Bryant.

When two of my childhood worlds collided

Steve said: "My parents were racist. They'd never admit to that, and probably actually believe that they were not racist. But I grew up in a house where the "N" word was used often. I remember my Mom telling me not to make friends with Black kids in school, because they couldn't be trusted. Even though I understood from an early age that way of thinking was wrong, some of that prejudice is bound to seep through. That's why racism is so prevalent. Because it's passed on through generations, because kids think their parents have the answers." Which kind of reminds me of the Poem by Philip Larkin. Now all Larkin's poems were pretty dark - sort of the poetry equivalent of Arthur Miller plays. This one is called "This Be The Verse" They fuck you up, your mum and dad They may not mean to, but they do They fill you with the faults they had And add a few more, just for you But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats Man hands on misery to man It steepens like a coastal shelf Get out as early as you can And don't have any kids yourself

Nutella cookies.

Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe

I didn't get a lot of abuse, physical or verbal. Just a few times when I was gathered in a gay event. I guess I'd use the term "passable". Most people don't catch on until they've known me a while, and then usually because I bring it up. I'm also not a small guy. And I have no fear of being hit (thanks Dad). It's been some time since I've been in a physical altercation, but I've gotten scrappy in the past. Usually defending a smaller, weaker gay friend. Nothing gets me more pissed off than a bully. Toss in a homophobic bully and we've got a fight. Luckily those are few and far between in the bay area. There is one bully that I truly want to punch in the face though...

June is gay pride month. I remember my first time marching in a gay pride parade. It was 1984 and I was 23 years old. It was in Anchorage, Alaska. I had just recently come out to my family, and I was finally ready to overcome my embarrassment and stand with my friends in a public setting. It was absolutely a milestone for me after years of shame. During our march a protest group from the Anchorage Babtist Temple decided that they could not let a group of LGBTQ people come across as normal, and allow us a peaceful march. I was personally spit on and damned to hell by a very Motherly looking woman in her 40s. A few people were actually slapped and punched. The police were called to the scene, but did nothing at all. Instead of having the effect they had hoped for, it just cemented our will. That event more than any other started my personal quest for equal rights. About that same time period, Ronald Reagan's stance on AIDS activated my interest in politics. While I don't really think of myself as an activist, I do believe in being out, open and taking a stand. I try to encourage others to do the same. I also remember a night at the gay dance club " The Village", when a group of gay bashers came in to wreak havoc. That didn't work out how they had planned, as they were vastly outnumbered. I'm sure they expected a group of "nelly" little queens to cower at their feet. But what actually happened was that they were outnumbered by about 5 to 1, beaten and ran out of the club. Cops were called, but again did nothing, even though a license plate was observed and given. Later I moved to Texas. In Texas I first lived in a town called Tyler. I moved there with two friends. In Tyler the rental properties are mostly managed by a few companies. We tried to find an apartment, and even though we all had good credit, could afford first and last months rent and so on, we kept being denied. I couldn't understand why. After about a week of trying multiple places with no luck, we happened to be at WalMart shopping. I noticed two obviously gay guys, went over and introduced myself, then told them about our plight. They told me about an untold rental policy against gay men, where 3 or more men would not be rented an apartment together. They told us that you have to act straight and apply with only one other male. I was a bit dumbfounded at that. After that we went another route and looked at renting houses from private owners. We found a place in one day. 3 years later I moved to Port Aransas, TX, to help my Mom with her storage business. In lovely Port Aransas I encountered sub contractors that would not work on site unless I left the jobsite. I actually put up with that for several years, then realizing that I was the main reason why the business was successful, I just declined to leave the jobsite. The subcontractor could either stop being a bigot and do his job with me there, or a new subcontractor could be hired. He chose to keep making money off of us, but still tried to be an intimidating prick. It didn't work. I guess I'm spouting all of this because a recent post about parents going to gay pride with their child really got me thinking. Thinking how things have changed so much over the years, at least in California. I doubt things will change in small town Texas anytime soon. I thought about how I had been embraced at my job for being a great carpenter, and treated as a valued co-worker by the crew and subs. I thought about how I hadn't heard the word "faggot" in 6 1/2 years. I thought about having a straight best friend that is completely unaffected by my homosexuality. I thought about the many LGBTQ people around me living their lives around other people that are almost oblivious to any difference. Not long after moving to Texas, I was doing some remodel work for an Aunt. One day off the top of her head she just said to me, "I don't mind gay people, I just don't like it when they flaunt it in my face". I had no idea what to say to that, so I said nothing. Maybe a day or two later she said, "at least you're not one of those militant gays". At that point I popped off with a sarcastic."yeah, I hate those, they're almost as bad as militant Black people". Expecting a shocked silence from her, I was instead bombarded with a tirade of agreement, only she didn't use the term Black people. She actually though I was being serious. I re-evaluated my need for money over my need for respect, and left that day, job unfinished. I haven't spoken a word to that Aunt since. Today I'm considering semi retirement, and evaluating where I can afford to live vs. where I want to live. I'm having a hard time imagining going back to that mindset. I would honestly rather struggle financially than mentally. Sometimes we forget how good things have gotten compared to how things had been previously. My mental health and sense of self worth, while not perfect, is better than it's ever been. I just want to recognize that. I want to thank all of you for being a part of that for me. And I want to hear what you think about gay pride and what, if any effect it's had on you or your loved ones?

3 watts per channel of the purest Class A you'll ever hear! 🤣

In spite his persona lost part of my consideration, I still like his musicianship Aging is tough, but it's a nice set of tunes. I didn't know the song titling the album is giving its proceedings to the starving children in Gaza. https://album.link/i/1737901577. It's available on Qobuz too.

On a related note Steve, I found your retirement job in Knoxville tn. It’s a place called vintage lumber. No matter the context you’ve got to be their ideal employee.

Warning: Episode 6 😉🍿🫣

Duly noted, Steve. If anyone would know good dick noir when they see it.

It's a private dick noir, and it's good.

I've been around gay people since early childhood so it's pretty normal. My childhood friend who I've known since before we could walk is gay and we both knew he was gay by the time we finished junior school. Had several other gay classmates too and it was no big deal, most of us had way more difficulty dealing with girls than gays. Which isn't to say everything was great for them, it wasn't, 1980s Canada was more progressive than most places but gays still got lumped in with the nerds and picked on about the same amount. By the 90s when I was high school everyone was pretty much the same, there were very few distinctions between races, sexes, nationalities, or whatever. Pretty much every social group was actually diverse, the group I hung out with had blacks, Indians, Asians, Pakistanis, whites, a couple gays, and a few girls too. It was like whatever, we're just people. At the same time, I did have TV & internet so I could see how different things were in other places and I was like "you can't be serious, what is wrong with people?" And that's when I began to understand why gay pride parades and other such mass celebrations are a big deal.

I'll be honest -- because they're so often lumped in with Babymetal, I didn't realize they played their own instruments. So they're more akin to Nemophila. But I will correct that. I will start paying much more attention to Band-Maid. And they have all* their albums on Spotify, just in case you're willing to "settle". 🙃 *I think. More than 1, anyway. The whole playlist is great.

Those look to be perfectly baked. Are you? 😂

I'm sure the Mini Shangri-la is just a rehashed Jade II as they never sold in the quantities Hifiman wanted. I'm getting one though so I can laugh at hifiman some more. The Perun stuff is mehhhh at best.

Daaaaaamn...

Those earpads had to go and they have a pretty clever magnet system for them: Just now I noticed the R laser etched into the mini XLR plug so there is some indication. The earpads pull off and have a metal ring in them that is easily removed. The pads are 110mm so a lot of aftermarket stuff will work here. I replaced them with some Kennerton pads I had sitting next to my desk and I much prefer the fit. Now the issue is that the earpads barely hang on as the magnets are so weak with the thicker leather of the Kennerton pads

Well the SRS-X1000 just showed up unexpectedly and with all of my cameras out of juice the phone had to do. It really doesn't like the halogen lights in the kitchen... First off, this made me laugh out loud... here is how they came out of the box: Now for anybody familiar with the vintage SR-1/2/3/5 and SR-X series... this is usually how they arrived too with one or both earcups loose from the headband. Packaging is also very reminiscent of the SR-X boxes: I must say though that I fucking despise these new Stax boxes from a graphics design point of view. It looks like any cheap, tacky crap out of China... the older ones were unique and had their own thing going on but this just fucking blows. Now for the headphones it was a quick trip into the office for a listen so no more pics. Usual rig of Denarips Terminator and Carbon CC. They do feel nice in the hand though, very light and the cable actually has copper colored lines/dashes on it, not gold ones as they often looked from the pics. Gone is the blue cable... why they made that I have no idea. The headband has a lot of extension to it so even melon heads can use these. There is no padding on the headband at all but the material is firm here, not loose like on the original SR-X units. Earpads are nice and snug and seem to be nice quality, leagues ahead of the garbage on the L300/L500's. Now for sound... these sound pretty good which is a fun thing to say about a Stax set for a change. They are nice and neutral, not much forward slant here but they are quite extended on top. The bottom end is a bit lacking (smaller drivers and all that) but it is very mid-bass happy so quite fun to listen to. Midrange is a tiny bit closed in at times and the soundstage is quite closed in but it doesn't really bother me. Just that odd moment where something sounds a tad bit off but yeah... these are so much better than the L300... it's not even fucking funny. Might even be able to finally retire my aging fleet of SR-207 test headphones good... we'll see. I'll update more in the coming days but after an hour, yeah get a set. Now for the amp, first thing you notice is that it's a good inch deeper than the 252S and all of the other desktop Stax amps before it. I haven't done any circuit analysis yet but this is clearly just a version of the last 252S circuit and yup... it's still all through hole in 2024. Utterly bizarre... The extra length in the chassis is just there for the fuse and a breakout board for the RCA's. There are clearly spots on the PCB for - inputs so they might make a balanced version of it at some point? Been there, done that and while fun... it adds very little to the performance. Input Jfets are K81's so 2SK2881's and those riser boards seem to be PCB capacitors. I need to take a look at them in more detail but yeah, quite odd as they are numbered from 1 and up to 4.

After almost three and a half months, the KGST is finally in operation, and is sounding great. Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and given guidance. I am really surprised at how good the 40 year old headphone sounds with this amp. Special thanks also to Bigir and Dr. Gilmore for such wonder contributions to the community.

Godspeed, Parnelli Jones... One heck of a run, sir! https://www.hagerty.com/media/motorsports/when-i-talked-with-parnelli-jones-it-wasnt-about-racing/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_UN_DailyDriver_Thursday&hashed_email=5a40c51c3d4254d5f58319200ca2ac8bb44b94437291b38bd1d989d5554293b0&dtm_em=5a40c51c3d4254d5f58319200ca2ac8bb44b94437291b38bd1d989d5554293b0 HS