How I got fired from Hastings
'We both got fired on exactly the same day'-Modest Mouse
Hastings on the drag in Austin was a big porn source. Sure there were true porno shops in Austin, but on the main drag by campus Hastings was right up there. We sold tons of adult mags, and I'm not talking about Playboy here. We rented porn films, but they were cable versions. If you've never seen a cable version porno it goes something like this. Two people are playing tennis, they take a break, they start kissing and heavy petting, the clothes start to come off, then they are playing tennis again. Or another technique was to move the camera away from the private parts, so you could only see from the mid section up. Bottom line cable version porn was bad by any measure. The films weren't good enough to sit through without the sex, and the sexiness was too weak by porn standards. I could never understand the market. Remember this was way back in the day, VCRs were far from standard in most houses. We rented vcrs like crazy, can you imagine. A night at home watching VHS tapes was so coveted that you would rent a bulky plastic suitcase VCR and a stack of tapes for the weekend. It sounds so strange by today's standards. VCR rental would run you like $20, and there would always be technical questions. I spent an inordinate amount of my shifts on the phone saying these things;
'Is your tv cable ready?
'Did you adjust the tracking?
'Is you tv on channel 3 or 4?
'Well sir you're not gonna see penetration, they're cable versions....I know....I agree'
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah getting fired. One Saturday night Bill and I were having a bit of Crown before work and just kinda carried over into our night shift. I was the Manager (I know) and we were blasting Elvis' 'Burning love' over and over all evening, and getting drunker by the hour. Well someone complained (naturally) and we both got fired on exactly the same day.
It worked out well for me cause I landed at Sound Exchange, and there drunk and disorderly was encouraged.
Hastings on the drag in Austin was a big porn source. Sure there were true porno shops in Austin, but on the main drag by campus Hastings was right up there. We sold tons of adult mags, and I'm not talking about Playboy here. We rented porn films, but they were cable versions. If you've never seen a cable version porno it goes something like this. Two people are playing tennis, they take a break, they start kissing and heavy petting, the clothes start to come off, then they are playing tennis again. Or another technique was to move the camera away from the private parts, so you could only see from the mid section up. Bottom line cable version porn was bad by any measure. The films weren't good enough to sit through without the sex, and the sexiness was too weak by porn standards. I could never understand the market. Remember this was way back in the day, VCRs were far from standard in most houses. We rented vcrs like crazy, can you imagine. A night at home watching VHS tapes was so coveted that you would rent a bulky plastic suitcase VCR and a stack of tapes for the weekend. It sounds so strange by today's standards. VCR rental would run you like $20, and there would always be technical questions. I spent an inordinate amount of my shifts on the phone saying these things;
'Is your tv cable ready?
'Did you adjust the tracking?
'Is you tv on channel 3 or 4?
'Well sir you're not gonna see penetration, they're cable versions....I know....I agree'
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah getting fired. One Saturday night Bill and I were having a bit of Crown before work and just kinda carried over into our night shift. I was the Manager (I know) and we were blasting Elvis' 'Burning love' over and over all evening, and getting drunker by the hour. Well someone complained (naturally) and we both got fired on exactly the same day.
It worked out well for me cause I landed at Sound Exchange, and there drunk and disorderly was encouraged.
posted by Robert_M at 10:07 AM
3 Comments:
I urge the Minter blog to share some "Hey Man" Bill stories with the rest of the world. My favorite one is drunken Bill meets Neil Finn.
Well the trouble with that is I can't remember much about that incident.
Neil Finn was the leader of Crowded House, and his brother Tim joined the group for the terrific Woodface album. So Bill was at some meet and greet party, and we hear him shouting in Neil Finn's ear;
'hey man a lot of people say TIM FINN SUCKS! but I don't man I think he's really good'
Still makes me giggle.
As long as you are taking requests, I always enjoy hearing about Chocolate P.
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