February 22, 2012

  • Crimson Audio RM Music Link Speaker Cable, Part 3

    Audiophiles don't understand popular music, and they still don't "get" Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy."  In this song, RSF make fun of the stuffy, self-absorbed attitudes of male models. 

    When you are in college, it is understood that when your housemates bring guests for overnight stays, you have to vacate the room, and find another place to stay.  Since I lived on campus all four years at UCSC, that was pretty easy for me to do, whenever my roommates/housemates had overnight guests.  I knew my neighbors, was friends with many. 

    Some time in the Winter '92 quarter, my housemate had like half a dozen of his sister's friends over.  The rest of us bailed, found other places to stay.  I asked my friend and classmate, Kim, if I could stay with her.  It turned out that her roommate was going home to San Jose that weekend, so the timing was perfect.  Kim lived off-campus, so for me, it was an adventure of sorts   

    Okay, in my last post about the Crimson Audio RM Music Link Speaker Cable, I complained about the lousy lo-flow fixed shower heads found in UCSC's bathrooms.  But 20 years ago, I lived in the Crown-Merrill apartments, where inspectors came only during winter and spring breaks.  Thus, while we were living in the apartments, we could switch out the fixed shower head.  In that Winter '92 quarter, my roommate Eric went home, brought back a wrench and shower head at the end of a hose, similar to the one above.  Hooray!

    Well, one time, Kim's roommate brought over guests, so Kim asked if she could stay with me.  I showed her how to turn on the water, and how to adjust the water temperature.  The shower head was left on the "massaging blast" setting.  Kim blurted out, "You guys are dumb!"

    "You guys are dumb."  Those words have bounced around my skull for years.  Well, we audiophiles are dumb.  You see, too many of us don't use or have a cable burn-in device.  So, Lummy gets smart, and sticks the RM Music Link on the audiodharma Cable Cooker for 4 days.

    Okay, that Friday on which my roommate invited his sister and friends over, I packed some belongings, and headed for Kim's apartment.  Since I had to take the city bus, it took a while for me to get there.  But when I did, I found a small 1-bedroom unit.  Kim and her roommate crammed the living room with stuff.  All that stuff made my apartment look barren!  I recall Kim making pho, Vietnamese rice noodle soup.  We then sat on the futon couch, and watched TV.  Sorry, I don't recall what we watched.  I was still gazing at the lil' TV, when Kim got up.  She curled her finger at me, and asked, "Aren't you coming?"  It took me a while to figure out that she wasn't interested in TV any more, and was headed for the shower.

    Up until now, Kim was just a friend and classmate.  I thought I was just going to wait for her to finish showering, but no, she wanted us both to go in. 

    "You guys are dumb."  You see, Kim liked to use the "misty spray" setting on the shower head.  Back then, I didn't.  So when she turned it on, I blurted out, "F--, it's cold!!!"

    Kim said, "Calm down.  You just haven't gotten used to it.  But once you do, you'll find that the whole room heats up, gets steamy like a sauna.  I love the spray.  It doesn't dry out my skin as much."

    I also noticed that Kim used those mesh bath sponges, the kind made famous by the Zest commercials featuring Craig "Ironhead" Heyward.  And Kim was right.  Using the spray setting and mesh bath sponge does get you clean, but also leaves your skin not as dry.  The capper?  While bathing herself, Kim sang, "I'm Too Sexy."