Tag Archives: Matthew Gusul

A humble apology to that magnetic strip

An Editorial By Matthew “Gus” Gusul

Now hear this: To the audio cassette, I hereby say a heartfelt, “SORRY!” And I regret it has taken me 16 years to realize my error.

At 14 I became a dedicated vinyl collector when I discovered how beautiful it is to put the needle down on some hot wax. I am talking 33s and 45s. (I did not venture into the sub-genre of weirdo – The 78 Collector.) Simultaneously, I started an all-out war on any other audio format: digital, compact disc, 8-track, or cassettes – all were trash!

But in May I bought a 1982 Toyota Tercel, mint condition if I overlooked a scratch or two. Nestled inside its dashboard I found a fully functioning cassette deck. Bonus. So my wife Liz and I hit the Salvation Army and the downtown Victoria record stores.

Here’s the collection we found:

I am not saying that cassettes are the best audio format; Vinyl still holds that position for me. But some music is meant to be listened to on cassette because it simply sounds better. Musicians and producers used all their skills to make their songs sound good on that tiny magnetic strip encased in a plastic shell. Thanks to my little blue car, I am discovering that music all over again.

Take Journey’s Departure: you have not listened to Any way you want it until you hear it loud and proud banging out of my 1982 speakers . With Journey at full volume, my car is not simply a way to get from A to B; it is a time machine. I can relive the 80s while travelling from Mayfair Mall to Elk Lake on Pat Bay Highway at 75km/h.

Next, The Clash. Wow – just wow. There are so many classic songs on this tape: I fought the law, Career opportunities, Garageland, White Riot. Liz and I yell the Garageland lyrics as loud as we can — “I don’t want to hear about what the rich are doing” — while driving our 30-year-old car through the streets of Cordova Bay or Oak Bay.

A couple of weeks ago I reluctantly turned 30: I felt like I was having a funeral for my twenties. But then I got this brand-new, plastic-wrapped (still with Zeller’s $4.95 pricetag) version of REM’s 1987 release Document. Yup, I gave it to myself. I’d bought it in May and had yet to open it. So, it became a birthday present from 29-year-old Gus to 30-year-old Gus. Listening to such a great cassette turned out to be a fantastic treat. When REM recorded It’s the end of the world as we know it, The one I love, Odd Fellows Local 151, they were envisioning people — perhaps even me! — listening to it on cassette.

Needless to say Guns ‘n’ Roses, Dire Straits, and Bon Jovi all sound great on tape — something I’d never have known without my Tercel. (Note: The Madonna cassette belongs to Liz.)

Maybe this article should be called something like “Ode to the Cassette” or “Kids, throw Away your iPod and Grab your Walkman.”

Matthew “Gus” Gusul is The Coastal Spectator’s Online Editor.

The Q but with Longer Hair

Every day I drive to work from my nice Elk Lake acreage (rented not owned – I am still a student); I listen to Jian Ghomeshi and his show The Q. I love listening to him on the CBC. He has great charm: consequently, the artists and public figures he invites on his show feel comfortable and open up in ways they do not with other interviewers.

It is two weeks until my thirtieth birthday. This morning I sat up in bed and sang the words “Soon I’ll be Thirty, I don’t want to be Thirty.” My wife has grown accustomed to how weird I am, so she just asked the sensible obvious question: “What are you singing?” “Moxy Fruvous – Stuck in the Nineties,” I replied. She had never heard these words. I was astonished that she had no idea what I was talking about.

Moxy Fruvous is a Canadian vocal folk group that sang politically satirical songs during the late eighties to late nineties. They released a great album in 1993 called Bargainville. The lyric I sang this morning was from one of the singles off the album. Of course, Jian was a member of this awesome band.

So let us occasionally remember a different phase of the career of the Canadian radio host Mr. Ghomeshi. Below is a link to one the band’s best tunes “King of Spain.” Note the great nineties fashion and Jian’s awesome long locks.

 

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Matthew (Gus) Gusul is the Online Editor for The Coastal Spectator.

Move Over Rocky Horror Picture Show: The 21st Century Has Its Own Midnight Movie

By Matthew “Gus” Gusul

If I were to re-visit the 2010 version of myself he would never believe that in two short years, he would be writing an article about Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. In 2010, when I was first forced to watch the movie by my wife and brother-in-law, I assumed (and hoped) I would never watch The Room again. It is a terrible movie. It has very little merit as a piece of art. If someone set out to intentionally make the worst film ever, they would fall short in comparison with this movie. In my opinion, everyone involved in the creation of this work should be forced to sign a decree commissioned by the government, monarchy, papal office, or some Hollywood higher power that all parties involved will never again, under any circumstances, engage in another artistic endeavor in their lives and to do so would be criminally and artistically negligent.

The Room is written, directed, produced, and starring Tommy Wiseau. Hmmm. Warning signals go off at this point. It is the story of a man who is in love with a woman who cheats on him with his best friend. He discovers the affair and the audience sees his world unravel. “Everyone betray me. I am sick of this world.” Also, the movie features a number of sub plots that are briefly introduced and go nowhere. There are major holes in the plot, long pointless panoramic views of San Francisco, characters inexplicably entering and exiting the story, a game of football played in tuxedos in a back alley, and as far as I can see, no reason why anyone should watch it.

Against my better judgment, my wife and I attended The Room at Cinecenta on the University of Victoria campus on a Saturday in late January 2012. I knew little of what to expect going to this movie. All I knew was that the movie was terrible and that we needed to bring plastic spoons. I went with a sense of dread, but I was surprised at my experience. I had fun and my eyes have been opened to a 21st century cultural phenomenon.

It was a packed house filled with over 150 weirdos, nerds, and innocent bystanders (like me), corralled in by the freaks (like my wife) who enjoy this movie. Many of them were dressed like characters from the movie and playing catch with a football. This cult even has its own greeting, borrowed from the movie. Instead of saying hello to each other, the greeting of choice was “Oh hai, Marc”, a quote from the movie. Okay? …The movie started and we quickly learned some of the rituals of audience behaviour. Every time a character would inexplicably exit the scene, the audience would yell, “But you just got here!” During the long panning shots of the San Francisco skyline the audience would yell, “Go! Go! Go!” until we were returned to the action of the film. At several points in the movie, audience members threw plastic spoons at the screen and yelled “Spooooooooooooons!” It took some time to sort out what was going on, but I eventually realized there was a framed picture of a spoon in the main room of the house where the couple lives together. If you see the picture – yell and throw. Throughout the entire show people yelled or booed or cheered at the film, except one scene that takes place in a flower store. At the beginning of the scene, people in the audience shush everyone. The audio and video are not in sync and the audience finds humor in this poorly executed editing. This moment highlights the delight the audience finds in this poor quality film.

This phenomenon is not unique to Victoria. It has been happening since 2003 all over North America, and is just starting to enter Europe. Originally, The Room was released as a drama. Audience members started showing up to screening to mock the movie, and creator Tommy Wiseau changed the film’s listing to dark comedy. Now this movie has drawn a cult following that has made it a full-fledged movement complete with Internet memes, YouTube videos, and merchandise. The beauty of this phenomenon is the community created by moviegoers and fans who attend, not to celebrate brilliance as is often the case, but to celebrate poor quality; the epic fail that the movie represents. This movie is something we can all excitedly boo.

Perhaps this says something of a generation and of 21st century art culture. We have been wowed in so many ways. How many times has a masterpiece been crafted for cinema? All of us can name titles of tens, if not hundreds, of excellent films. The new generation has proclaimed that it enjoys poor quality art, giving rise to 21st century art culture, one that enjoys celebrating and making light of the shortcomings of The Room.

This is a phenomenon that will not go away. Trust me, I checked with the 2020 version of myself on this one. If you haven’t done it yet, go see this movie. If you don’t, you will be left wondering what all these weirdos, nerds, and innocent bystanders are laughing about.