I feel better now

I hardly ever get depressed, and when I do it's only for about a week and then I snap out of it. A week before Christmas I was feeling down till I saw a TV commercial for something called a Snuggee.

It's a blanket that you can wear. At the start of the ad there's a woman on the couch under a blanket- the phone rings. What's she gonna do? Her hands are under the blanket.

The Snuggee commercial takes normal-looking people, adults and children, and makes them look like creepy cult members in bright bold primary color Druid robes.

The commercial shows that everyone loves a blanket with arm-holes. There's an old man in his chair at home in a Snuggee. There's a family at a sporting event clapping their hands in Snuggees. There's a convict in his cell in a Snuggee.

If I could go back in time there's only one thing I would change: I'd find a way to be in this commercial in a Snuggee. People would stop me on the street and I'd say, "Yep, that's me".

2009 in 3-D

2009 is going to be a huge year for 3-D. First, on January 16, there's the release of the My Bloody Valentine remake. Then, just 18 days later, Friday the 13th Part III will finally be out on DVD in three dimensions.

As far as Ft13 III, I've been waiting for years; I remember coming across an online petition asking Paramount to put the 3-D version on DVD. Very soon the dream will be coming true. I've seen the flat Part III on HBO but the only 3-D movie I've ever seen in the theatres is Jaws 3-D, which was awesome. They've gotta get that out on DVD soon.

I don't remember if I saw the original My Bloody Valentine on HBO or if my dad rented from the video store up the street. I liked it a lot though- I'm gonna rent it after Christmas, maybe New Years Eve.

I get a feeling the decision was made to make the remake in 3-D because, otherwise, there wasn't much of a demand for a MBV remake. Most 19 year-olds have probably never heard of the original. It doesn't matter to me though- I'll be there on opening night.

50 Foot Wave "Power+Light"

50 Foot Wave Power+Light

Thursday night 50 Foot Wave introduced their new record Power+Light on the website Cash Music. It's an great collection of songs (especially the first two) clocking in around 25 mins.

You can hear Power+Light at http://50footwave.cashmusic.org/

Also, for the past year, Kristin Hersh has been releasing a track a month from her forthcoming album Speedbath, for free, at Cash Music. It's funny- generally a new song would be posted towards the end of each month, and if KH was a couple days late posting that month's song the fans on the forum would start posting- in a polite way- 'Where the fuck is this month's song; it should've been up 13 hours ago'. I'm no exception.

Some of the songs I could take or leave, but the good ones are beyond belief and they'll be stuck in your head for days and weeks and months. You should check them all out but if you're on a tight schedule download "Speedbath", "Morning Birds", "Fortune", and "Slippershell".

You can find the newest song, plus links to the other downloads here:
http://kristinhersh.cashmusic.org/

Belly postcards

The two 7" singles from Belly's album Star each came with two postcards.

The doll and the chair came with "Gepetto" and the other two came with "Feed The Tree".

I bought the "Gepetto" record years ago at a store called Main Street Records. I mailed the green skin/ black-haired doll postcard to my friend Angela when she went away to college, but I saved my favorite- the chair- and I've still got it.

The chair is one of my all-time favorite Chris Gorman photographs; I love the way the colors shift.

Now that I think of it, there might actually be six postcards in the series. I think on the white & black side where it had the "Belly" logo in the top left corner it said "1 in a series of 6", which means I'm gonna have to track down the other two.

The Breeders "Divine Hammer"

"Divine Hammer" was one of my favorites when I got Last Splash for Christmas in 1993. While I still like "Cannonball" better, "Divine Hammer" has the better artwork.

"Body of Evidence"

Body of Evidence (1993)

"Can you really screw someone to death?"

That's the question that Body of Evidence asks, and the question that Frank Dulaney's (Willem Dafoe) 10 year-old son asks him when Dulaney takes on the defense of Rebecca Carlson (Madonna), who is accused of killing her elderly boyfriend.

I saw this movie 15 years ago when it came out, and again the other night; it was much better than I remembered.

For one thing, it's a really attractive movie- I'm thinking of the car ride in the rain where red and yellow lights are flashing on Madonna and Dafoe. And in nearly every scene there's either a pretty background or a striking view out the window.

Joe Mantagna played the prosecutor and even though he did a fine job, I was a little disappointed as I was expecting a little Joey Zasa but it never happened.

Also in a supporting role was Julianne Moore as Frank's wife Sharon. I just found out a while back that she played the best friend in Hand That Rocks the Cradle so I really wanna watch that again. I loved her in that ("What is this? A parade?"). She doesn't have much to do here, but she does have a quick scene with Madonna in the courthouse ladies room towards the end of the trial.

"Wish me luck?", Madonna says, and Julianna Moore slaps her like she called her 'lady' and asked what was wrong that she needed all those prescriptions.

I was watching the movie and thinking Willem Dafoe must be on the short side because I read that Madonna's really tiny- 3'7" or something- and he's just a little taller than her. But he's very likeable; he looks like evil death but he's actually earnest goodness and he should open his own charm school.

The problem with this movie is that it could've been so much better. It's not that it's too serious; it just would've been better if it was more of a comedy. I don't mean campy or some kind of parody of Basic Instinct. I just think they should've thrown in more good jokes- like when Madonna replies to the police that she's never done cocaine in Oregon- and less Law & Order-type wisecracks.

Anyway, Body of Evidence: good movie.

Get it while you can

To keep myself in the habit of blogging on a regular basis, I'm going to be straying for the next week, straying from the usual format and focus of this blog, RJ Battles, and I, RJ Battles, will be giving you, Faithful Reader, a glimpse into my everyday life.

But eventually these personal posts will be deleted by me when I clean house and streamline this site. So read while you can.

It was a bit of an uneasy sleep last night. At 4am I got under the blankets and, hugging one of my pillows, fell asleep. Two hours later, rested and ready to start the day, I pulled the blankets over my head and slept till quarter to 10.

It was then that I got up and started getting ready for my noon shift. I was more fun and easygoing than usual- I think it's after effects from the three Somas I took Tuesday.

After I got out of my second job I visited with some friends. My plan is that the next time we get to spend a night together we should play a game (I don't know what it's called)- someone says, say, "Julia Roberts", and then the first person says Pretty Woman, the second person says Ocean's Eleven, then I say Steel Magnolias, and so on till someone either can't think of a movie she starred in or names a movie she wasn't in, and that person drinks.

So after seeing my friends I walked to the store for two $2 scratch tickets (won $5 on one), but, more importantly, found 11 cents on the ground. My salsa jar where I keep my found money has nearly $3 in it. I love adding money. The highlight of my day is unscrewing the cap and dropping a penny in. Is the highlight of your day reading about it?

Correction

Correction:

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt aren't married.

By the way, last year I saw something really funny on TV. I don't know who she was but this actress was talking to her friends and one of them said that Maddox always looks unhappy. I'll paraphrase her response-

"No shit, he's unhappy. Imagine you're an orphan in fucking Cambodia. Then one day you win the fucking lottery- some rich American actress wants to adopt you. Jackpot! You finally get to escape and live in Hollywood. Then what happens? She ends up taking you on a tour of every fucking third-world hellhole on the map. I'd be feeling burned too."

Always leave them wanting more

So many of my faithful readers have been clamoring for my long-awaited review of the film Shattered Glass. All I can say is: It will be well worth the wait. If you're waiting to read my review before you watch the movie yourself you don't really have to hold off.

And all the readers who haven't been begging for the Glass review are getting antsy so my Breeders post. That will be more tricky, because, for whatever reason, Blogger isn't letting me add pictures, or at least, Blogger didn't let me the last two times I tried. I'll fix that problem in time or, hopefully, the problem will fix itself.

So what do I have to offer?

The other day, someone- someone who I've only known a short time- asked me what makes me angry. They've only seen my shiny cheerful side and wanted to know what if I ever get thrown into a rage, and if so, what does it.

It's a good question and I thought for a moment before answering. RJ's a pretty easy-going guy and there isn't much that gets me mad. Still...

Dr. Phil.

He's such a fucking douchebag. I hate the fact that he is happy and successful. Oprah- though she's very smart otherwise- is the type of powerful person who is easily tricked by shady, crafty people. She's always looking for something profound. She's a sucker for pretty words and clever slogans, folksy wisdom.

In my head I can hear her saying,"I heard [fill in the blank] and something clicked in my mind and I thought 'That is so true'", because she's said it a billion times.

So at some point, Dr. Phil was giving her some of his hillbilly fortune cookie shit and something must've sounded profound to her and now he's on every weekday from 4 to 5.

Combovers.

Having a combover is probably the shadiest, sleaziest thing a person could do (I'm surprised Phil doesn't have one). I feel bad for the poor barber who has to cut their hair. Imagine trying to give good haircuts and some guy comes in once a month with 6 inches of wispy locks from just above his ear that he wants you to leave alone.

Those are the main things- Phil and combovers- that's my answer. But theres's more.

That guy from Good Charlette & John Mayer. Both are "serious musicians", especially Mayer- "a sensitive singer songwriter". So how could he date Jessica Simpson? You don't have to be a music snob to consider her trash. Same thing with Benji (or Joel) and what's-her-name.

And, while we're at it, let's talk about movie stars who just happen to fall in love with whatever actor they happen to be cast with in a movie.

Out of all the people in the world they convince themselves that their perfect match is their current co-star. The perfect example is Angelina Jolie. How many co-stars has she married? Johnny Lee Miller, Billy Bob, then Brad Pitt (plus she fell in love with a woman who starred in a movie with her). It annoys me.

Partytime

I'm having a party- not this weekend, but the weekend after- most likely Friday, December 5th.

Right now I'm thinking of what I'll serve for food-
I'd like to go with appetizers: fried artichokes, stuffed olives, quesadillas- one time I made them w/ leftover Moo Shoo Pork and they were excellent.

Beer is boring so I'd like to go w/ vodka drinks, & maybe gin too. I also wanna make a tray of Jello shots- maybe cherry and lime for Christmas.

Choosing background music will be tough. So many of the songs on my computer are depressing and/or un-partylike. Lots of Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann, and Kristin Hersh. Then again, there's always "Strict Time", "Long Shot", & KH's cover of "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey".

Then there's my famous snack mix:
flat China Boy Chinese noodles
La Choy Chinese noodles
Croutons

For activities I'd like to set up a photo shoot where we can all take new profile pictures for out Facebook & Myspace pages. That's always fun.

It's gonna be great. I can't wait.

Coming Attractions

Coming soon...

***** My review of "Shattered Glass"

***** Spotlight on The Breeders

***** Plans for after I die

***** My recipe for a great snack mix

A Message To All My Friends

I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends. Everytime I've needed help you've been there. I wonder what I would do if anything ever happened to you. I've realized that if you die I won't be able to sponge off you anymore and that makes me sad.

That's why we need to make a plan for the future: I'd like to be in your will and/or the beneficiary of your life insurance policy.

And even if you don't have a fortune you can still leave me something. But, and this is very inmportant- it has to be something you know I'd want. For instance, Amber, please don't leave me Dusty as a joke because- I assure you- the joke will be on Dusty, a sad, scary joke, probably involving a woodchipper aimed at your headstone. I'm not a religious man, but I'd like to imagine you in the afterlife hearing a choir of angels, not the sound of shredded dog meat spewed onto a marble block.

I guess what I'm saying is: give me what I want and nobody gets hurt.

"Friday the 13th 3" 3-D DVD News

I saw yesterday that Friday the 13th 3 is coming out on DVD in 3-D in February. I can't wait.

Now they've gotta do Jaws 3.

"Blue Velvet"

Bluuuue Velvet (1986)

I'm watching Blue Velvet and you're watching it with me.

Kyle MacLauchlan plays a young man name Jeffrey Beaumont whose father has just had a heart attack. Later, in a field, he comes across a severed ear covered with ants. He breaks into the apartment of Dorothy Vallens (no relation to Ritchie). When she comes home early he hides in her closet till he's discovered. She's pissed, but instead of calling the cops, she makes him strip, and- on her knees- she kisses him.

They're interupted by Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). He's pissed and huffing something. Jeff is back in the closet watching Frank rape Dorothy ("Don't you fucking look at me!" Frank keeps saying).

He's in and out.

Jeff comes out of the closet and gets Dorothy to bed. Rossellini has an intersting role- going back and forth between dominating to submissive. Roger Ebert has said he has a big problem with this movie- he feels that Rosselini is forced to degrade herself for no good reason- the story, the movie, doesn't justify the position that she puts herself in, and the situations that she/her charcater has to endure. I can't say whether or not it's worth it. I can say that she puts everything into her performance. (Did I mention I'm drunk on vodka? Just thought I should mention that. I don't always write this bad, sorry.)

I've been watching reruns of season 2 of Twin Peaks, amazed by how young Kyle Maclauchlan looks- and he's just a kid in this film.

Laura Dern too. A few years later she's in Wild at Heart. For a young woman she gives a very strong performance as Jefrey's girlfriend. She's still stunning; the last time I saw her she was playing the Poet Lauriet (that's probably spelled wrong) of the Bartlett administration on The West Wing. Still beautiful and interesting to watch.

I've seen parts of this movie before and always wanted to see the whole thing. Watching it you can see the progression to Twin Peaks- related images and themes. The moods that thet set are similar. I love a work of art that sets a mood. I've got no interst in movies that have a message or motive.

Clue sets a mood. My roommate has the DVD and I'm gonna try to watch it this weekend.

While everyone does a fine job in their role, ultimately it doesn't matter if things had been diferent. Chris Isaak could've been Jeffrey, Hellen Mirren might've been Dorothy and Sally was almost played by Molly Ringwold. None of that would've made a difference. It's the story and the music- it's the mood that this movie sets that makes it special.

n a side note, everyone in the movie looks exactly like mid-1980s, but miraculously they don't look dated like it was St Elmos Fire or something. That's an achievemnent.



And look at Brad Dourif- he's got the Miami Vice clothes but he's still a creepy guy from One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest and The Exorcist III.

And Dean Stockwell. I'm not sure but I think he's playing Joe Pesci's character from JFK. He might've been in as many Columbo episodes asd Peter Falk. I'll always remember him as Tony, Tony The Tiger, the best thing about Married to the Mob- even better than Matt Modine.


Gary Oldman in must've been thinging of Hopper in this movie when he did The Professional. He's super-creepy when he does what he he does with whatever those thing are. I think that song "That Thing You Do" was writtten about him.


(Note: You should see all the shit I just deleted. Retarded. Even worse than what you've just read.)

Leg-breaking news

When I was a kid I thought they were saying "leg-breaking news", as if the reporter was chasing after a dangerous story with such zeal that he might actually break one or both of his legs.

Car commercials, I realized last year, aren't saying "$250 'Do It' Signing". My whole life I've barely paid attention to car commercials and because of that I'm as bad at identifying cars as I am at identfying dogs.

There was one day last week when part of the Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours" played in a loop in my head- from "I been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror" to "So I drew a new face and I la-aughed" and all day long I wondered what it means. Why is he checking his tongue?

"Amityville II: The Possession"

Amityville II: The Possession

I was over at Final Girl this afternoon reading her post about the Amityville series. She mentioned that she was avoiding Part II because she can't stand Burt Young-"he looks like he smells like armpits and motoroil".

I couldn't agree more.

In the comments section, at least three readers pointed out what I wanted to: yes, he's a scumbag, but he dies a 1/2 an hour into it. They also said what an excellent movie it is and, again, I couldn't agree more.

Amityville II: The Possession might be the scariest movie I've ever seen.

The Possession is really a prequel, loosly based on the murders that ocoured before the Lutzs moved in. In 1974 Ronald DeFeo murdered his entire family. He later claimed that he had been possessed by a demon.

The film follows the oldest son, Sonny, as he is taken over by a demon in his family's new home. While listening to his walkman voices command him to "kill them all". His family sings "Happy Birthday" to him as a voice in his head calls them pathetic and says they deserve to die. One night he is home alone and an evil force follows him from the basement to his attic bedroom (the attic with those windows) and pushes him onto his bed where the spirit pounces on him, the camera rising and falling repeatedly. When his family comes home, Sonny sleeps with his sister and afterwards the mother suspects.

Anyone who has seen the movie will tell you that the second half of the movie is a blatent rip-off of The Exorcist. The DVD box may even admit that, I don't know. But before that is one of the creepiest sequences ever put on film.

It's bedtime on a stormy night and Burt Young is smacking the mother around. With relativly subtle make-up, the son looks evil and dead; he moves mechanically down from the attic and shoots his parents with a shotgun; then he goes after his siblings till there are only two left: his 7 year-old brother and his sister/girlfriend. He stalks his brother before creeping up behind and shooting him. Then he closes in on his sister while she begs for her life. He just grins.

It was incredibly upsetting to watch when I was eight. By then I'd already seen Halloween I & II plus a couple Friday the 13ths but they were nothing compared to this. For months after I'd lay in bed terrified that it could happen to me, that I might be possessed by a demon and forced to murder my family- watching it happen and unable to stop myself.

I was home alone one winter night about 12 years later. My roommates were away for the weekend and The Possession came on TV. It didn't keep me awake that night, but I found that it was still a highly effective movie. It fell apart at the end but the first half still makes Amityville II one scary movie.

Death Cab for Cutie

I was driving to a friends house and heard the coolest song. It's by Death Cab for Cutie- "You Can Do Better Than Me".

It reminds me of Tom Wait's "Anywhere I Lay My Head" but more sharp and polished.

At less than two minutes it leaves you wanting more- I wish it was fifteen minutes long.

When I looked it up I came across the album cover which I like- a simple idea and very attractive. I downloaded some of their other songs so I can see what they're about; I'm sure I'll find others I like.

This blog is over a month old

I don't officially feel like a blogger; maybe it's because my blog is so new, maybe it's because my blog has no readers. I think the main reason is that the blog has not yet fallen into place.

I want for it a forum for graphic art, specifically record sleeves. Beyond that I want it to spotlight things that I consider to be beautiful and worthy of attention. For example, in a previous post I wrote about the opening scenes of The Exorcist & The Shining, both examples of stunning visuals.

I'm not a writer, so all of this will be a big challenge (but fun).

I would like this to be a place where if someone happened to stumble across this blog they would find thing to interest them and hopefully appreciate some of the record sleeves, or decide "I think I'll check out the opening shot in The Shining and see what RJ is talking about". That is my goal & hope.

Hopefully along the way I'll improve my writing skills so that the blog is clear and fun to read.

So anyway, if you're reading this I hope you'll stop in from time to time. I plan to make it worth your time. Thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
RJ Battles

Movie Titles

I'd like to take a moment and complain about modern movie titles. I think they're missing a certain style and/or creativity.

Titanic
Twister
Gladiator
Volcano

How about an earlier Titanic movie- A Night To Remember? The title may not tell you what to expect exactly, but then again, there's promise.

"Get Right" by Jennifer Lopez

When Jennifer Lopez started making records it reminded me of Don Johnson, but actually I like most of the singles I've heard, especially "Get Right". I don't understand why it wasn't a hit or why it's never on the radio.

I love that video- Lopez dressed up in different outfits and wigs- it's just fun.

This song came out during an unhappy time in my life. I was bored and lonely and looking for something to fill the time, usually it was sleep. Sometimes, though, to help yourself you have to help other people. I began giving away all my money to inner-city teenagers, expecting nothing in return but heroin. "Get Right" was on a mix CD that I'd made and would listen to on the way to the city. Liz Phair's "Erecting A Movie Star", Bonnie Raitt's "Let Me In", "Cold Water" by Tom Waits- good songs to listen to while you're driving around looking for drugs.

My friend and I used to go together for a while, meeting on the edge of town- whoever had the most fuel in their car would be the driver and we'd go into the city. It was nice working together; we each had our own money, but for a while I was out of work and her car was out of service. I drove and she payed. She got her car back before I found work so she payed a while longer, which was sweet (the way to my heart is through my veins).

After I stopped I worried that certain songs might trigger cravings. Not really. It's only when my local TV news station does a report on flu shots. By the way, now's a good time to get a flu shot and I've gotta get myself to the city.

Hang on

The two B-sides are instrumentals; "Surf Epic" is over ten mins.

Stephen King

Years ago I took a class called "Ethnic Literature where we read Down These Mean Streets and Love Medicine. We were allowed to choose the subject of our final essay and, and the professor rejected my choice, Ayn Rand, saying that would be like letting me write about Stephen King, "Ayn Rand is not literature, or even good writing".

Though she didn't say it, the rejection had more to do with AR's politics than her writing abilities. AR was, after all, Russian by birth so she would've fit into the "ethnic literature" catagory.

Having read most of AR's writing, though, I can understand some of the complaints. While I wouldn't change much about The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged could use some serious editing. It's not that it's a long book; it's just that so much of it is not needed. I could chop out at least a quarter of it without losing a thing. Plus, despite what she or anyone else has said, nearly all of her post-Atlas writing had a very bitter tone to it.

But anyway, back to SK- at the time I had only read The Shining and Gerald's Game, both of which I liked.

Over the past few years I've picked up a few of his books from the library and borrowed others from friends.

Carrie I don't know what I expected but I was a little disappointed. Maybe because this was the big book that started his carreer.

Salem's Lot Again, not his best, I think, but I read it in two days. I'd even read it again.

Pet Sematary The movie was one of the scariest I've seen. I think a lot of that is because the subject matter itself is so upsetting. I couldn't imagine being a parent and reading it or seeing the movie.

Christine Fun, fun, fun

Misery I enjoyed it except that it made me crave pills big-time.

Delores Claibourne As good as it was, I can't help liking the movie better. I think I read somewhere that the part was written for her. And to this day if I ask my brother for money he'll say "I'd really like to help you, Delores, but all my money's tied up in cash".

Lisey's Story I read it one Sunday this past summer, which is always a bad idea. I get involved in the story and in that world and feel very freaked out afterward. The same thing happened with The Regulators and Desperation. Luckily a friend called an hour after I finished and said she was coming for a visit so that helped me snap out of it. I noticed this book got very good reviews, even from the New York Times.

I also read some of the other novels and short story collections; my favorite was Night Shift- just about every story in it is good.

My other favorite SK book is On Writing. I've read it about three times and if my copy was here I'd probably read it again. It's like you're in English class and SK is sitting at a desk Spaulding Gray-style and talking about life & writing.

And I love that kind of thing. I'm not a writer but I love reading about writing and "the creative process". I can't get enough of it.

A lot of people put SK in a catagory of "airport bookstore" writer, and that bothers me. I think it's a tremendous feat to write an entire book that someone else will want to read all the way through. Really. Haven't you started a lot of books- supposedly great books- and found them unreadable?

Michael Crichton, dead at 66

This August a friend loaned me his copy of the book Sphere and I read it on the front porch over a weekend. It was a lot of fun and it made me wanna see the movie and read some of his other books.

I've heard my friend and his ex-girlfriend talk about Jurasic Park and the differences between the book and the movie; I think I might get that from the library this week.

What I liked, aside from the story itself, was the way that MC introduced scientific ideas in a clear way, without them seeming out of place.

Good news!

I'm relieved- earlier in the week John Barleycorn shut down his blog, Look Back in Anger. I thought he was done blogging, but he started a new blog John Barleycorn Reborn. So far every post has been great (for whatever reason I think his best posts have one-word-titles and that's what's on the new blog.

It's good to have JB back.

Big Plans

In honor of the 3 week anniversary of this blog, later this week I'll be posting my first review of a movie I did see; I'm very excited.

Also there will be some general 4AD posts.

Stay tuned.

"Dig For Fire"

I'm always excited to find a remix version of a song I like. My first experience with remixes was when I found the 12" section at my local Strawberries. I had no idea about them so I was thrilled to find the Madonna "Open Your Heart" 12" single- it was like the 45 with the same black and blue photo and a 10 minute-plus version.

What I liked about that remix, as opposed to other song remixes I've heard over the years is that it kept the basic sound of the original- it just stretched it out and changed things around (and in the case of OYH, it added an couple of new lines).

What I don't like about certain remixes is when they take the original song and just add some generic dance/techno background, for instance, the "Rescue Me" remixes.

Remixes of rock songs- or at least rock songs I like- are rare. There's my favorite: "Slow Dog (Radio Remix)" by Belly; it was the B-side to "Gepetto". It had a fast intro and a fade at the end.

Another is from the Throwing Muses Not Too Soon EP- "Him Dancing (Remix)" an extended version, about twice the length of the original.

Then there's the Pixies "Dig For Fire (Remix)" which aside from the intro isn't that different. Still, just the idea of a Pixies remix is exciting to me. Plus the EP had a couple really good B-sides- "Santo" & "Winterlong".

These are just a few DFF-related pictures.

Don't go Look Back in Anger

This afternoon I went to check one of my favorite blogs and it was gone. There had been a post mentioning that "Look Back In Anger" was done but I was hoping it was just gonna be a name change. A couple weeks ago he had written about a couple other people, including Dave Lozo, deleting their blogs.

I'd found the writer through myspace- his brothers screen name was a quote that I recognized from The West Wing; his page led me to John Barleycorn, who I wrote to, asking if he took the name from the Frank Black song. We talked a couple times and he seemed like a nice guy but I didn't want to be a pest and end being the subject of a blog post.

I'll miss LBiA; for two years I enjoyed all the posts- except for the ones about video games, which I skipped.

Hopefully, it'll be back, maybe under a new name, we'll see.

I'm crushing hard

I want to be clear on the fact that I'm not receiving any compansation for the following post. I want to make it even clearer that I'll say anything in this blog if the price is right.

I love the new Camel Crush. I fell in love about 3 weeks ago after a friend introduced us. He explained,"They're like regular cigarettes till you press down on the filter and it turns into a menthol". There's, I guess, a small plasic ball inside filled with menthol, and even though menthols are nasty, I love a good gimmick.

I'll take a couple puffs, then crush. I love the way that *pop* feels. It doesn't matter that it's menthol. For all I care it could be bleach or ammonia or a combination of the two. *Pop* Mmmmmm.

Its not all 4AD and Paisley Park here

I didn't hear the Sugarcubes till "Hit" in 1991. I picked up their last album Stick Around For Joy from a tape club I belonged to at the time. I like it but I remember it seeming very same-sounding at first. "Walkabout" & "Hetero Scum" were favorites back then; now the songs that stand out are "Lucky Night" & "Happy Nurse".

Before I go any further, I wanna make it clear: I love the Sugarcubes. Listening to them make me very happy. But why does that guy have to talk/sing in every fucking song? I wish Elektra would re-release each album with his voice remixed out. They can leave him in for "Gold", "Pump", & "Hot Meat". That's it.

Also, by the time I got It's It, their remix collection in 1994 it was already dated. Some other time we'll get into remixes of rock songs. For now I just wanna say, if you haven't heard any of their songs try "Bee" from Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week. Or just buy the whole album; you can probably find it for under $5.

My least favorite sub-plot

AMC is playing all the Godfathers again tonight; watching Part II reminded me of, what I consider, the most annoying sub-plot in some movies:
The complaining wife.

Think of a movie like Donnie Brosco- good movie, interesting story. So how come every 15 there's another scene with Anne Heche whining that Johnny Depp isn't around enough? Instead, couldn't there be just one line of dialogue, maybe Johnny saying to a co-worker at the FBI, "Yeah, my wife is pissed cause she never sees me".

I didn't see all of JFK but I think the same thing happens there. There are other movies too, but I can't think of them right now. If you think of one let me know.

The thing is, whatever it is that the main character is doing, whatever their main purpose is- that's why we're watching the movie. Who wants to keep hearing, "You never spend any time with me & the kids"?

One week anniversary

This Saturday- October 18, 2008- is the one week anniversary of the birth of this blog. Incidently, the delivery was brutal; I was in labor for 18 hours, and frankly, there was some tearing.

I'm still sore, but tonight, God willing, my "doctor" will "prescribe" something for the pain. Stick a fork in me; I won't feel it. I'd like for the next couple days to be like one long Aimee Mann song.

Anyway, it's gonna be a big day. See the space between this sentence and the last? It doesn't look like much distance- but in between writing those two sentences I thought for 3 full minutes about 3D porn. I wonder if there is any; I'll look it up later. I was just thinking: it would be awful to get caught jerking off and wearing 3d glasses.

But like I was saying, Saturday is gonna be huge. Stop by, and please, bring whatever leftover bottles you've got in your medicine cabinet. We'll go through them together and see what's what.

While there are some blogs that I've been reading for years, this is all pretty new to me- like when other people link to past posts of theirs with highlighted text. To my mind, that must be something they took years to learn. I can Instant Message, download songs, & find free porn, but there are a lot of basic, Baaaasic things that are beyond my reach.

Anyway, my point is: someday I'll be able to- for example- place pictures in the middle of my text. Other blogs do it; I've seen it. It's probably simple. Someday I'll reach the level of simple. that's my promise to you, The Reader.

The focus of this blog will mostly be on record sleeves. Plus I'll be throwing in some of my other obsessions:
movie trivia
general trivia
3D movies

Did you know that Sherilyn Fenn dated Prince for a while and they continued to be friends afterwards (at least up to the point when she was on Twin Peaks). That seems so weird to me.

random Kristin Hersh

I really like the back of the In Shock EP, and even more I like the back of the Like You EP.

"Sunny Border Blue"

Produced, arranged, composed, and performed by RJ

When I think of Prince, I think of the big hair, the motorcycle, the purple jackets; I think of "Purple Rain"-era Prince.

I don't know if that was his best album, but it was definitely his best time overall. The B-sides were his best (except for "God"), and the sleeve design was the best (except for "Take Me With U").

"17 Days","Erotic City", & "Another Lonely Christmas" are three of my favorite songs to this day (though, while the other two have held up pretty well, "17 Days" seems slightly dated, also whenever I hear it, it seems so much slower than I remember- like when your walkman batteries are dying).

First I got the "Doves" 45- loved the back cover with all the flowers and that purple text. Even more, though, I loved the record label itself which was a section of that picture with the same pointy lettering. It was the 1st time that I had seen a label that wasn't the usual Sire or Portrait or Epic. Very exciting.

My new favorite show again

Tonight, my roommate was watching last night's episode of Desperate Housewives so I went in and watched it with him. Five minutes into it he had to press Pause because I was asking a thousand questions;
"Does what's-her-name still have cancer?"
"Whatever happened to Zack?"
"Susan has a son?"
"How did Carlos lose his vision?"
"It's 5 years later?"

I haven't watched DH since midway through the 2nd second season; I didn't lose interest, I just missed a few episodes and figured I'd catch up eventually. Which I did.

What I loved about the show is that it's so funny and I saw tonight that it's still the same. Bree is great.

The other thing I love is all the people that joined the cast, either for a few episodes or for good. Agent Cooper, Julia Sugarbaker, Aunt Jackie (plus Fisher), the weird guy from Band of Brothers, and most of all, Mrs. Landingham.

Did you know that Sheryl Lee, the actress who played Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks, was the supposed to play Mary Alice Young? I guess she even filmed some scenes for the original pilot. That would've been neat, a good idea, but they probably made the right choice- the woman who does the voice is perfect and I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it now.

It's October so...

...it's a good time to write about a horror movie. Jeepers Creepers (2001) was on yesterday and I got to see it all the way through. Not bad. I had seen a 1/2 an hour of it a few years ago and for whatever reason didn't catch the rest. I remember I thought the actor who played the brother, Justin Long, was the guy from The Doom Generation. Nope, that's somebody else.

I don't have much to say about the movie, but one thing always seemed odd to me and I could never figure it out: during the scene where the brother and sister are getting a police escort, the song "Peek-A-Boo" comes on the radio, but it's not Siouxsie and the Banshees. It's kind of a watered-down cover. I don't get that. Maybe the Siouxsie version was just too dated (yeah, 1988), maybe it's too weird with that accordian and everything. Still, I think the original version would've been more effective. It's loud and jarring.

On a side note, I used to share a room with my younger brother and and he'd be stuck listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees (not much like the Metalica and Megadeth that he liked). One time we were watching Beavis & Butthead and they were watching the video for "Peek-A-Boo"; one of them said, "This is music for people who don't have any friends", and my brother laughed and laughed.

Throwing Muses

Through Belly, I heard of Throwing Muses. I got one of their albums, Red Heaven, at a big record store about 20 miles away from home. I didn't know till I got to my car and opened it that it didn't have Tanya Donelly on it, she'd already left the band and this was their first record without her.

I listened to it on the way home, and while I wasn't crazy about the singer's voice there were a few songs I liked. Next I tried Hunkpapa, this one had two TD songs, one-"Angel"-that I really liked. Besides that, I also liked most of the Kristin Hersh songs-they were really interesting. I'd drive around with it in the tape player and when I was at school or walking around the songs would be playing in my head.

Whenever I went to this record store I'd be there for at least a 1/2 hour, looking at everything. I had looked at the tape for The Real Ramona probably five times over five different visits before I finally got it.

What was so strange about that album is that the tracks aren't listed on the outside at all. The tape just has the barcode, the CD back has a picture of the band gathered around a rock in the ocean.

I like that: It's just a basic black & gray design with a mysterious photo on the front and white letters-"Throwing Muses The Real Ramona". This was their third full length album and I like that the idea was, "We're not even gonna list the song titles; this is the new Throwing Muses album".

I think it's great; it's not my favorite TM record, but it's their most fun. I think Rolling Stone called it "their slap-happiest record to date" and that sounds about right.

Reviews of movies I've never seen: "Righteous Kill"

Righteous Kill (2008)

I've been wanting to review this movie ever since I saw the trailer and decided I didn't want to watch it. It's the movie everyone's been waitng for: Al & Robert, together for a full movie, not like The Godfather Part II where they had no scenes together, or even Heat where they shared the screen for about 10 minutes.

I'm basing this review on the trailers I've seen.

Turn-off #1: "Sympathy for the Devil". Right off the bat I'm annoyed that the movie studio is trying to make it seem like a Scorsese movie by playing a Rolling Stone song.

Turn-off #2: This looks like every shitty movie the two of them have been making for the past 10 years.

Turn-off #3: They don't mention that Pacino worked with the director on his last film: 88 Minutes (from earlier this year), a movie that critics hated and people avoided in droves.

Turn-off #4: They're playing cops, and clearly this isn't just a cop movie; it's all about loyalty and "the brotherhood".

Those two are getting old but that's not the point. They could each live another 60 years and I still don't think either of them will ever make another good movie.

"Hey, again, up for a spin?" Record labels

Spotlight on some cool record labels. One of them-the "Gepetto" 7"-I've got. I'd love to have that awesome one with the small red (poppy?) flowers.

1. "Divine Hammer" The Breeders
2. "Gepetto" Belly
3. "Hang On To Your Ego" Frank Black
4. "Now They'll Sleep" Belly
5. Surfer Rosa LP Pixies

Reviews of movies I've only seen parts of: "American History X"

American History X (1998)

American History X was on TV this afternoon and since nothing else was on I watched for a while, beginning during a whites vs. blacks basketball game and stopping at Edward Norton's arrest (plus I missed a few scenes while I was flipping around).

I'll be honest- many people recommended this movie to me over the years but I avoided it, and not because of Ed, or even because it's a "movie with a message" (which is, I guess: racism is wrong).

No, I stayed away all these years because one time I overheard some people at work talking about "the curbing". I heard a guy say that at one point in the movie a character is made to lay in the road and put his open mouth over the edge of a curb and he then gets stomped in the head. I love horror movies and action movies and I consider myself to be pretty tough. But this sounds like the most horrible thing in the world. I decided that day to never watch American History X.

I still don't know if that really happens in the movie, and if it's as extreme as he described it-I was out of the room making waffles and when I came back there was a guy laying in the street and Ed Norton was surrendering to the police.

Again, I have to say, I was unimpressed by Edward Norton's acting. He's never the guy, he's never the character, he's always the greatest actor of his generation giving yet another fearless performance.

You know who was good though: the other Edward (but have you seen pictures of him lately? Gigantic. Not as big as Corey Haim with his headband on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Idols, but close). He's very believable as the adoring younger brother.

Plus I couldn't get over how young Beverly D'Angelo looks. I think she's beautiful and I've loved her ever since the Vacation movies.

You know who was awful in this movie? What's-her-name with the weird name and the creepy eyes. Can't stand her.

Anyway, this is a movie with a message, with an overly dramatic title, and the music (like during the basketball scene) is ridiculous. Would I watch this movie all the way through? Yeah, I guess. I can probably even watch the curbing scene; it can't be any more upsetting than what I've been imagining all this time. I already know how it ends but that's fine; I've only seen the last 10 minutes of The Usual Suspects (which, I take it, is a surprise twist) and I'll watch that someday.

Reviews of movies I've never seen: "The Life of David Gale"

I've never seen The Life of David Gale (2003), not even flipping around on a Saturday afternoon, or-since I've been looking for a job-on a Wednesday afternoon.
All I knew about it at the time it came out was that it's a death penalty movie starring Kevin Spacey.

Thank you, but no.

I put Kevin Spacey in the category of actors who are considered great but seem totally unbelievable to me. Edward Norton's another one. Watching Red Dragon I could see him imagining his lines on the page. The script was practically in a balloon over his head. He wasn't any better in Primal Fear, the movie that put him on track to be the next big actor. Which reminds me, he was alright- just alright- in The Score, which I really liked.

Anyway, nobody was good in Primal Fear; in fact, I really disliked Laura Linney after seeing it, and I didn't realize that she isn't an asshole till I saw her in You Can Count on Me, and I only saw a 1/2 an hour of that. Laura Linney also stars in TLoDG. Is she any good in it? I don't know, I never saw it. She only appears in flashbacks, I'm guessing. Probably a lot of the movie is flashbacks; the rest probably takes place in a prison, possibly Death Row.

Before you get too impressed that I seem to magically know details of a movie I've never seen, I guess I should let you know: I read about the movie. I don't know exactly where it came to my attention, but I read somewhere that Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times hated this movie-0 stars. If I remember right, it was the ending, the very last shot, that bothered him. He didn't reveal details so I looked it up. Now I know, but like Brittany Murphy, I'll never tell.

This brings it back to why I didn't care about the movie in the first place: it's a death penalty movie. That's why I didn't want to see Dead Man Walking (I would like to rent Shocker, though). There's nothing worse than a movie with a message.

Frank Black "Headache"

The 1st two are the covers of the Headache EPs. The orange one is better as it's got 3 great b-sides, though the silver one is worth getting for "This Is Where I Belong".







These two are from the 7". I like them both, but I could do without the purple circle.