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Let's talk about Frankie, baby! In the early 1960s, Frank Sinatra commissioned a home hi fi that was an impressive mix of studio gear and high end consumer kit. The heart of it was a modified McIntosh C-22 preamp. It had one input that was three channel, made specifically for an Ampex correction: a Presto 800 open reel tape deck (visible behind Frank.) Studio recordings in those days were primarily three channel, with the center being for the lead vocals. Final mixes were almost always mono, of course. Sinatra liked to take home the day's recordings from the studio and see what he thought of them that evening. An artist taking home the actual multitrack masters might sound insane, but it was Old Blue Eyes in the 60s. Though visibly impressive, the three units below the Presto are just VU meters. The tuner below the C22 is a Fisher R200. Below the Fisher at the bottom are a trio of tape head preamps made specifically for the Presto. Of course the tape transport, VU meters and preamps are all studio gear, not generally used by (or available to) the public. There were three power amps for the speakers, housed in a different room. Presumably they were Mac tube monoblocks, but there is basically no info out there. Similarly, there is no reliable info on the make/model of the speakers themselves. I've seen Altec-Lansing and JBL floated as likely brands. There was also a huge "Rek-O-Kut" turntable system that could both play back records and cut acetate disks(!) It had its own dedicated space. What the unit lacked in sex appeal, it made up in physical stature. Even a stock C22 has complex mono/stereo routing. (I oughta know, I've owned two of them since 1999 ...for reasons I cannot entirely explain.) Frank's custom unit was modified, but I don't know to what extent. Based on my research there is conjecture that the television output was wired into the C22. Frank was an early pioneer in the world of home theater. In the bedroom, Frank had a high end Grundig all-in-one system. I can neither confirm nor deny if Nancy Reagan ever got to hear a tune or two on that Grundig. Thank you for coming to my TED talk, now help yourself to a pack of smokes on the way out.

I first saw this video in 1992. I was in WalnutCreek, CA killing a few minutes before going to work. My best friend and roomate, and then boss, Paul came down the stairs, saw tears streaming down my face and thought something terrible had happened. When I explained it was this video, he basically mocked me for being such a sensitive baby. The funniest part of that interaction was that he was a tiny, effeminate, obviously gay man, whom I had physically come to his aide several times when homophobic "tough guys" had threatened him. But that all being true, his 115 lb., nelly frame was absolutely right about my extreme sensitivity. I cry at sad TV commercials. I have no problem jumping into a group of assholes bullying some smaller guy, but show me a puppy getting a vaccination shot and I'm wiping the tears away. Anyway, more than 30 years later and this video still has me attempting to divert rivers of salty tears. There are reasons of course. I've been in that hospital room many times, holding the hand of a friend that wasn't going to make it. And I've also been the Son of a macho, Texan that wanted all of his Sons to be exactly like him. Then later in life he was cheerfully cooking breakfast for boyfriends that had stayed over. Pretty surreal when you grow up thinking that if he ever found out that I was gay, he'd walk away from me without ever looking back. Watching children grow up must be a magical thing. But watching your Father grow up into a caring, accepting human being is also pretty great. Oh yeah, this was about a music video...

We are off and running on the fund raising and 1/3 of the way there already, thanks d-_-b !

It's like seeing a Bentley parked in a trailer's car port.

Logged some hot miles this afternoon riding to York, ME. Feels like temp was 93F and it felt every bit of that. Thank god for a little tail wind.

If it annoys you too much, let me know what you want to donate and I'll do it in your name. Thanks for kicking off the party, Mikey and Todd! I'm going to ride up to the Maine coast this afternoon for a friend's 50th and it's a scorcher! It's 9AM and it's already 80 in the shade. Good thing the ride will end at the beach.

^ I was expecting her to say “mad world” at some point

Split Enz, True Colours (everything except "I Got You")

I Was thankful we were lucky with our timing. Others may not have been so lucky https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/big-sur-wildfire-22381679.php https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3V1TIFGzb/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== EDIT: California’s Big Sur sees evacuation orders as Timber fire grows https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/big-sur-timber-fire-evacuations?CMP=share_btn_url