Oral Distractions

It’s conceivable, though, that the ladies featured in the clips run on my show reminded the crew of dancers or porn starlets they’ve enjoyed. For the record, none of the actresses who starred in my films has worked in those branches of the performing arts — so far as I know. However, there was plenty of material to make the bluenoses reach for their stopwatches, as Dan and I discussed, at length, the life and work of Russ Meyer. Meyer, the so-called "King of The Nudies", directly inspired my second feature Vixen Highway, and, according to Dan, has stained all my work. That may be true about my third movie, Proinhibition, concerning a futuristic rehab center populated by chemically dependent dominatrixes. We also discussed that film’s New York premiere, at a festival, Cinekink, dedicated to the strangely uncommercial genre of S&M cinema. But, for some reason, the discussion was cut from the final broadcast. Whether that was due to time constraints, or the titles of the other films on Cinekink’s roster that I mentioned, only editor Maria Tototzintle knows for sure.

Oddly enough, the possible subject of a documentary of mine, 6th District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, is director Heinz’s favorite visitor to the SPNN studios. Michele, needless to say, has never been a guest on Butter City. But, as the director recalls: "I do a live show every Thursday evening when the Legislature is in session. Michele Bachmann was a guest quite frequently when she was in the Legislature. There are certain characters that are a show all by themselves. [Michele’s] animated, she’s controversial, she always has an opinion." As Minnesota’s first female member of the House, Michele continues to grace cable access programs — when she has free time between groping the President and saving the world from fluorescent light bulbs.

Strangely, Heinz, as expert as he is at directing traffic on the multi-screen monitor bank, is not a cinema kinda guy. "I think I go to see maybe one movie a year, when my children drag me to these things. I don’t watch movies on DVD or on TV. I own a DVD player, but just for making copies of sporting events I cover." This, despite his career as a mercenary of the video arts, and despite the fact that he lived in Germany – the home of cinematic greatness in the 1920’s – for the first nine years of his life (those nine years being in the 1950’s, not 1920’s).

Whether Butter City will be broadcast in Germany, or any other nation or state outside of Minnesota, is a question that probably only audiences, through whatever measurements of viewership SPNN employs, will be able to answer. Though Dan would clearly like to see the show go worldwide, and, just as importantly, desires a wardrobe sponsor, Myron has yet to pursue national or international distribution. Not only is he exhausted by what he had to go through to get the production carried by Twin Cities Public Television, which now airs Butter programs about two months after they premiere on cable access, but, as he says, "Right now I’ve got enough local talent that’s the bread and butter, if you will, of the show to keep it going." Heinz adds to that sentiment by noting that getting national networks to run a show is a "tough nut to crack."

Nuts, popcorn, bread, butter — whatever your poison, it will make a perfect compliment to a half-hour dedicated to oral distractions and the visual ones that accompany them. And, as you watch, remember that this confection is brought to you by a production team made up of volunteers. Perhaps inspired by his unpaid status, Heinz makes sure to ask every one of the guests, as they leave the studio, if they do whatever they talked about for a living. In almost every case, he says, they burst out laughing.