Last weekend was official Spring Cleaning Weekend at chez Saleski: chasing out the killer dust bunnies from underneath the couch, removing the Munsters-style cobwebs from a few of the corners, running the all-in-one floor swabber/scrubber/vacuum over the particularly nasty spots, cleaning off the front porch (no, that dried up Christmas tree didn't really need to be there any more), picking up various bits of front dooryard cruft, like the chunks of plastic from the windshield washer bottle that was accidentally sent through the snow blower. You know, just tryin' the make things look a little less white trashy.

In the middle of the marathon vacuum session in the living room (marathon length unavoidable when your danged living room is 30 feet long) I get the idea that some loud music needs to happen. So in goes the copy of Billy Joel's Kohuept that we'd picked up earlier in the day (because me & TheWife had seen Joel perform "Angry Young Man" on an episode of American Chopper). Ah, it sounded great—the hammered piano intro, the loud guitars, the way the music started cutting out and back in...

Obviously, that last bit was not so pleasing.

After issuing a few choice words directed at the DVD player (an older Sony piece of junk that I am looking forward to going all Office Space on when I get a replacement), I just shut everything down as the equipment didn't need to be getting in the way of my agenda to make the house neat.

Later in the afternoon when all we had left to do was to hose down the kitchen, I again got the musical urge (right, like when don't I have it) and put a different CD in, figuring that it was just the 'ole Sony being particular. Twenty seconds into The Donnas' "It's On The Rocks" and things go all haywire again. I go over to the stereo and turn the volume down, noticing that the sound cut out any time the knob was moved. Hmmm...maybe I can't blame it on the DVD player for once.

Then the smell hit me. That very unhappy odor of burning wire. Uh oh. I pull out the receiver a little and, sure enough, eau de smokin' wire was pouring out of the vent holes.

So there you have it, the very last bit of music played through my almost 20 year old Yamaha RX-900U ("Natural Sound Stereo Receiver") was Spend The Night by The Donnas. Hey, what a way to go, four naughty girls playing big, loud & fun rock. I think of them as the racy cousins of Kiss and The Ramones. Fun to hear all of the sexuality and innuendo of "regular" rock turned upside down. With tunes like "Please Don't Tease" and "Take Me To The Backseat", what I want to know is: "Where were they when I was a kid?!!!"

If I cut a hole in the top of the receiver and plant some flowers in it, would that be too white trash?