Just some Christmas Pixies

Pixies Live In Chicago (1990)

I don't know if this picture is the actual front cover of this release. It's the picture eyesore.com put up. The tracks are:
1. Bone Machine
2. Cactus
3. Debaser
4. Gigantic
5. Gouge Away
6. Holiday Song
7. Nimrod's Son

The Breeders "Title TK"

The Breeders Title TK (2002)

The Breeders have had a mixed-up life. They started with Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly. Kelly Deal joined and TD left though they overlapped on the EP Safari.

From what I understand, the original plan was KD & TD would alternate records; one would write the songs on one album, the other would write songs for the next. Pod was Deal's record. The demos that Donelly made ended up being the first Belly LP Star (you can download those demos at Tanya Donelly's website).

The Breeders second full length Last Splash was a hit along with the single "Cannonball".

After that things got spotty. Kelly Deal got busted after signing for a UPS package of heroin and that put the Breeders on hold for a while.

Under the name The Amps, Kim Deal put out Pacer with some new band members. Pacer had some good songs but the sound was a little blurry.

There were some EPs and the occasional soundtrack song during the nine years leading up to 2002 and the release of Title TK.

When it comes to Breeders albums Title TK and Pod are probably tied for first place. the songs are very cool. Any weak tracks? Yeah, "Put On A Side", but even it's OK, no need to skip it.

And it's got some awesome songs:
"The She", "Forced To Drive", "Son Of Three", plus there's a new version of the Amps "Full On Idle" (I think I like the original better overall, but Kelly's backing vocals are cute on the new one).

Above are some pictures from the CD sleeve, which unfold into a mini-poster (or two).

Merry Christmas

I want to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the readers of RJ Battles. Thank you for coming here and leaving the occasional comment; I hope you've enjoyed it so far- there will be a lot of new things coming in 2010 and you won't want to miss them.

Tonight I was looking back at the posts that I put up this year. I'm pretty happy with them, or most of them. I think I've collected some pretty cool images here at RJ Battles and I think if someone were to stumble across this site and wasn't even familiar with the 4AD artists or the Sugarcubes or Aimee Mann they could still enjoy the pictures.

Plus, I think my writing is getting better. I'm not a writer and I don't plan on being one ( except for my childrens book that I'm working on and maybe a play that I've started ) but I still wan to write well and clearly so that this blog is enjoyable to read.

*****

I remember going to Tower Records in Boston ( must've been December of 1995 ) and looking through their imports section ( or maybe it was just their CD single section and seeing Kristin Hersh's The Holy Single. I didn't buy it- my interest in KH/TM had cooled since I'd first heard the Muses in 1994- and I never did buy it though a few years ago I downloaded the songs.

Four tracks:

KH does a Alex Chilton song "Jesus Christ"- I don't like it; a churchy folk song;

"Can The Circle Be Unbroken" which I think is pretty sad;

"Amazing Grace" ( you may remember TM played this on the Counting Backwards EP- I love the Muses version; it's long and drawn-out in the same way that "Hook In Her Head", from the same era, is. It's one of the rare Muses songs where it sounds like they really enjoy playing, like they just wanna go on and on ) KH's solo version is beautiful with strong guitar work.

Probably the most Christmassy song is the new accoustic version of "Sinkhole" ( it's the sleighbells, I think ).

Pixies "Dig For Fire"

In 1994, not long after I bought Bossanova, the last of the records I bought to catch up on the Pixies, I found the Dig For Fire EP. I know Frank Black says Bossanova is his favorite Pixies record but it isn't mine. I think it's uneven and I don't like the track order. I think changing the order of the songs would've improved the album a great deal. Sometime I'll post my idea for a proper track sequence. In the meantime, let's talk about the Dig For Fire EP.

I love it because it has a remix of "Dig For Fire" and I like remixes (not dance remixes) of rock songs, like Belly's "Slow Dog" or the Breeders's "Safari".

"Dig For Fire" is mostly the same except the beginning is much shorter.

This EP also has "Velvety Instrumental Version"- OK; also a cover of Neil Young's "Winterlong" which Frank Black says is his favorite Pixies song. But my favorite, at least from this EP, is "Santo"- it has a cool sound, it's catchy, I think it represents every aspect of the Pixies sound. Also it reminds me of the scene in "The Exorcist" novel right after the spiderwalk.

I found this image on the 4AD website and I like the tint of the photo so here it is.

Will The Pixies Record Again?

There were small signs leading up to it from 2000 on so it wasn't a huge surprise to me when the Pixies got back together in 2004. Frank Black was reaching back to early solo material ("Surf Epic" into "Dog in the Sand"), then "Velvety"- the Pixies's instrumental B-side got words on Devil's Workshop, and finally the Pixies started to rehearse together and did a bunch of warm-up dates in Canada.

It was exciting, not only because they were finally playing together again, but because they recorded two new songs: "Bam Thwok" written for potential use in a Shrek sequel, and "Ain't That Pretty At All" for a Warren Zevon tribute album.

I got to see them in Lowell, MA in December of that year, and as good as it was, it wasn't the thrill it would've been for me a few years back. It's hard to say exactly why.

Throughout the reunion there were a lot of rumors back and forth; FB was willing but Kim Deal wasn't interested- she said she'd sooner record a record with her mother before getting back into the studio with Black, causing one poster on the Frank Black Forum to comment, "She didn't rule out a new Pixies album, she just said she wants to do a record with her mom first".

Now it's 2009 and the Pixies just did a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of Doolittle, playing the whole album and the related B-sides. And by the way, that's part of what I think would've made the 2004 shows better- for the most part, the stuck to songs you'd expect, the ones like "Where Is My Mind" and "Debaser" and "Wave of Mutilation". People want to hear "Build High" and "All Over The World" and "The Navaho Know" and "Santo".

Someone pointed out something in their review of the Doolittle tour: the Pixies reunion has lasted almost as long as their original run, and still there've been only two new songs and one was a cover. Meaning: If something was going to happen it should've happened by now.

That's the disappointing thing.

I love this sleeve

Belly Now They'll Sleep 12" vinyl EP
Track one: "Now They'll Sleep"
Track two: Thief"
Track three: "Baby's Arm"
Track four: "John Dark"

In 1995 I snagged this EP on CD at Tower Records in Boston and on the way back visited my friend Paula at Regis College ( I bought the Seal My Fate EP that same day ).

As you can tell, for the 12" cover they used a layout of the entire CD package. All four images look so good together along with the extra white. It was a very good idea.

Today I was a dishwasher

One of the dishwashers at the place I work, my friend Josh, sprained his ankle this afternoon and my boss texted and asked if I would like to fill in.

I rushed right over. I'd just spent $18 on a Christmas present for my father so I figured 3 & 1/2 hours would balance things out and while i had things to do, they could wait. After, I had some errands to run, so that's why I didn't put any time into my Lifetime horror movie script today. And right now it's twenty after ten and I'm working in the morning so I'll have to do it tomorrow night.

The thing is: here, in the early stages it's a real chore- a friend walks in, "Hi", "Hi", "How are you?", "Good, how are you?". It's fucking boring. Buty I can't punch up the diologue till the diologue is written, so it's gotta be done.

I wish I had a writing partner, but then, there are a lot of things in my life I wish I had a partner for.

The childrens book is on hold for now

Actually it's been a while since I did any work on the childrens book- I want it to be a Bunnicula style book with pictures. What I'm working on instead is a horror movie that i want to write and direct for Lifetime. In the old days, TV showed movies like Dark Night of the Scarecrow- there were real made-for-TV horror movies.

Now there's really no limit to what you can see in horror movies on TV. I always think it's funny when they play a movie like Vacation a lot of stuff, really tame stuff, is still cut out- they're playing the movie the way it was editied for TV back in the mid-80s.

But I don't want violence or gore, just suspense and excitement. I wonder if I'll somehow make the movie and then bring it to Lifetime or if I go to Lifetime with the idea and then make it for them. I'll worry about that later.

"Bunnicula"

I want to write a childrens book so I re-read one of my favorite books from when I was younger. What I liked was the mood that it set. Reading it you got the feeling and the the excitement of being in this house, which is very much like your own, and having all these things happen. I like that it shows pets having a secret life.

And I like the scene where the dog is spending Friday night with one of the sons while he reads and eats chocolate cupcakes. It sets a mood, which I think is the best thing a book or a picture can do. It isn't the entertainment, and it isn't any message, it's just the mood.

Re-reading it I found it was a much simpler story than I'd remembered, very brief. I'd thought it was a little longer.

Now I'm just posting cause I'm bored

There must be some task or chore i'nm avoiding because here I am, posting again. I like to think this is a pretty fun blog, but, come on. Even if I had one reader before my 8 month vacation we can assume he's moved on, found another record sleeve site. That's only natural.

Really though, could it be that there is someone or a bunch of people out there who put RJ Battles in their Favorites folder and have been checking for new posts every morning before they scan their email? Yeah, I think so too.

Let's do an RJ Battles Year in Review, that has to be fun...

January- Was lonely and did nothing but work and go on the computer.

February- Spent a lot of time watching West Wing reruns on Bravo and the West Wing season 4 DVD.

March- Kristin Hersh's "Strange Angels" on headphones and I barely like that record; I sold most of my better CDs.

April- Moved into a horrible, shitty apartment building. Turned one year older.

(Note: This really has been a good year. It doesn't sound like it, I know.)

May- Got settled into my new position- got a little better every day.

June- It's December, I can't remember.

July- Celebrated the 4th of July, watched fireworks display.

August- Found out my cavities are growing.

(Note: I swear good things happened this year)

September- I was really looking forward to the falltime, it's my favorite time of year. I really thought I'd get to be in a relationship again.

October- I got my hopes up bigtime. Oops. Misunderstanding, sorry.

November- Hidden cameras show, made plans to move, had a great Thanksgiving

December- we'll see.

Tanya Donelly

I hope Tanya Donelly has something new coming out soon. It's been too long.

Throwing Muses "In A Doghouse"

Last week I bought "In A Doghouse". Listening to it made me think about how well a lot of those songs would do on a movie soundtrack. "Hate My Way", "Fish", "And a She-Wolf", "Rabbits Dying", "Cry Baby Cry", "Lizzie Sage"- they'd all be good in a movie, especially a horror movie. Someday a smart filmmaker will figure it out.

Pixies "Minotaur"

This fall 4AD put out this huge box set of all the Pixies albums with new photos and while i wouldn't mind flipping through it, I'd never buy it, unless i happened to strike it rich. From what I understand, it's all new artwork and that's not what I'm looking for. I'd rather photos and graphics that were maybe considered at the time. Alternate album covers, shit like that.

Frank Black "Teenager of the Year"

I read somewhere that the Pixies are gonna record some new songs in 2010. I can't say I'm excited- I think it'll be interesting. I think it'll be a challenge because so much time has gone by and the pressure's on.

I like the Pixies. When I first heard their songs in 1994 I loved them. i couldn't get enough. I bought everything and played it over and over, then I started buying Frank Black records.

To be honest, I wouldn't even think of listening to the Pixies now. Aside from "The Purple tape' and the two songs they did in 2004 I've listened to everything else- B-sides included- so many times. The same thing goes for the first two FB albums. In fact, I'll probably never listen to them again.

I can't believe it's been 15 years since TotY came out. It's crazy.

One thing i'd love, though, is a remix album with songs from those albums- minus the keyboards. Just straight rock songs. That would be interesting.

New computer

So I got this new computer for Christmas from my best friend. I really wasn't expecting it.

When I moved to this new place I set up my old computer and the monitor stayed black and the green light faded to orange and when I told him I thought my monitor was dead he said he thought my computer was fried.

He was right, because when I plugged my new computer up to the old monitor everything was fine.

There's a lot that's happened pver the past few months but i don't know how much of it I'm going to go over here; I might just stick with new things and tell the occasional story.

Hidden Cameras show

The first week in November I got to see the Hidden Cameras play at the Iron Horse in Northampton. It's my first time seeing them- I'd definitely go again- and i have to say: I've been to a lot of shows and I think this one was special. The music was very exciting. I thought it was too bad that the crowd was so small. You'd think that in Northampton more people would know about the Cameras but in the weeks leading up to the show, and since- no THC cds at the local record store.
I have none of their albums though i'd like to change that and I know a few of their songs, my favorites being, of course, "AWOO" & "Death of a Tune".

An interesting sidenote: I first heard of THC through the myspace page of John Barleycorn, who used to run a blog that I followed. When I originally stumbled onto his myspace page, I thought he had taken his name from a Frank Black song. Nope. Anyway, we got to talking, I became a regular reader of his blog, and then found out later that he's actually from this part of the state and went to high school with my best friend. Anyway, he was at the show- he must've made the trip from Boston. I almost said hi but decided against it. I don't really know him.

I'm online again

It's been a long time- 8 months- without the internet but now I'm connected again and I can update on a regular basis. Will the old magic still be there? Of course.

So anyway, a couple nights ago I started reading one of the new Ayn Rand bios that came out this year, Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller. I'm halfway though, after skipped through a few boring sections. Years ago I read the Branden books: Judgement Day & The Passion of Ayn Rand; it's a lot of the same information. having read those two and seeing the cable movie of The Passion I read this book knowing what some of the diologue would be before it was spoken.

And one thing that is always mentioned and then glossed over is how Leonard Peikoff is is bannished to the University of Denver for two years. That's huge and couldn't at least get its own paragraph, come on.

Anyway, we'll get into all of this in detail later. It's just so good to be back.

Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins

Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat

I remember reading a lot about Jenny Lewis a couple years ago. I think Elvis Costello was saying good things about her record Rabbit Fur Coat and I planned on checking it out.

This week I finally got it. I wish I'd heard it sooner.

I've been listening to it without skipping anything (except "Rabbit Fur Coat", but I'll probably give it another chance tonight). You know how when you listen to a new album and a couple songs jump out at you and even after only a couple listens will be playing in your head when you're walking around at night or at the grocery store? Here, that would be "You Are What You Love" and "Rise Up With Fists!!". I can't get enough of them. I want to play them over and over- especially the former as it fits in perfectly with what's going on with me now- but I'm afraid I'll get sick of them. I think this CD will be in my player for a long time.

Kathy Griffin's book

Kathy Griffin just put out a book, the story of her life, called Official Book Club Selection.

As long as you don't expect it to be as funny as her stand-up or TV show you'll be fine. Last week I read Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka, It's Me, Chelsea and that was more of a humor book, though not very well written. Yes, there was a certain conversational style but someone should've cut out all the "obviously"s. Still, she wrote it herself and I laughed at certain parts; some phrases were very surprising and original. She knows how to tell a story.

So does KG, both in her act and on paper, though the styles of telling are very different. I have a feeling that KG wrote this book herself, the same as any author, and an editor polished it.

There is a lot of detail about all the hard work that went into her success and not as many celebrity stories as I'd expected. Luckily, she tells the entire "Seinfeld" story, which I had heard only pieces of before. The most surprising thing is when she tears into Steve Martin- only a couple pages but one of my favorite parts of the book. The Brooke Shields chapter is, as they say, worth the price alone. Everything about Brooke, Andre Agasi, Brooke's mother, and Suddenly Susan comes out. I've never seen that show but I got choked up reading about the suicide of David Strickland.

The chapter that comes the closest to what you'd expect from a book by KG is the chapter "Fanning Flames in Hollywood,and Yes, I'm Talking About Dakota".

KG had a red carpet running-joke about Dakota Fanning checking into rehab and it angered Steven Spielberg and the studio behind the upcoming War of the Worlds. One of her agents told her later that she wouldn't have gotten in so much trouble if, instead of Fanning, she had said Haley Joel Osment or the kid from Jerry Maguire, because their careers were just about over. She said that comment showed the true heartlessness of Hollywood.

I think the reason the joke hit so close to home for Spielberg is because it wouldn't have been the first time this kind of thing happened. Remember when Drew Barrymore was in ET and Spielberg was like her second father. Once the movie had made its millions and Barrymore was into drinking, drugs, and rehab at a ridiculously young age. Maybe he sent her flowers or some notes of encouragement (maybe), but I don't recall her making her comeback in any of his films. I just remember the Amy Fisher TV movie and Poison Ivy.

The reason most people will buy the book are for the chapters about her ex-husband Matthew Moline and all the money he took out her ATM while she was sleeping. She broke the news on "Larry King Live" and it's all here in detail. Nobody could've yanked the book from my hand when it came to the part where she had to question the two people, other than herself, who knew her PIN number: Moline, and her assistant Jessica.

KG's book is interesting, well written, and there are some lessons in there too if you want them.

Bonus post!!!

It breaks my heart to see (1) next to the month of August here at RJ Battles. That would go for any one of the twelve. But this past August was such a good time that it seems like a real shame that there's no real record of it.

There's a lot we could've talked about: The White Stripes, Daniel Craig as James Bond, The Picture of Dorian Gray, growing plants under glass, annoying co-workers- there's so much more.

We can still talk about it I guess. The cold weather is coming, and I'm going need someone to talk to when it's snowing outside and the sidewalks are empty and my computer screen is glowing like a warm fire and I'm holding a cigarette and a cup of hot chocolate and I hear reindeer hooves on the roof blah blah blah

Anyway, we'll talk about it later.

Answered Prayers

All summer I've been waiting for the return of the UMass daily. I love their horoscopes. I re-printed a bunch of them here a couple months ago. If you haven't seen them look them up. If you have read on. They were so much fun to read and some day I hope to search the UMass library archives so I can read every entry from the 08-09 year- I started reading them in April so I missed a lot.

Yesterday I was walking by the newspaper box on the sidewalk and spotted the first issue of this school year and actually smiled when I saw it.

When I got home, sitting on my bed and eating a hot slice of pizza, I jumped straight to the last inside page and there they were. I had only read the Airies entry and I knew that last semester's horoscope writer was gone, graduated. I'd give an example of the new writer's horoscopes but there's no point. I don't see any attempt to anything at all with the horoscope forum. He (or she) has had all summer to think of something to write that might be worth reading.

Sure, it's too soon to judge, I know that. But there are no time restrictions on disappointment and that's what I'm feeling now. I haven't picked up today's paper yet but I'm curious to see if there'll be any improvement.


Last night, after watching Magnolia* for the 5th time, I started reading Truman Capote's Answered Prayers, his incomplete (or unfinished- whatever you want to say. Some people think he had more to write, others believe he may have written more and destroyed it) final novel. It was great fun to read and I finished this morning in bed over coffee and cigarettes. It's too bad there isn't more- not that I care about any plot or want to see what happens. What makes it fun readinmg is the small touches- certain phrases, funny remarks, economical descriptions. It isn't really one full story, just many small full stories, and that's what makes it good.


Be on the look out for my upcoming review of Magnolia. It'll show up here at RJ Battles later this month.

August

I never give people music to listen to because everyone's got different tastes and it's always awkward when someone has you listen to something. Still, this past weekend I gave my friend the Liz Phair WCSE CD that I'd just bought a few days before; I'd already listened to it about 6 times- at home and on headphones- and I wanted a break, plus I thought it would be something differnt that she could listen to in the car.

Anyway, I like it a lot, maybe even more than Whipsmart.

I've been writing a short story and I'm thinking of putting it up here, at RJ Battles, serialized, like Bonfire of the Vanities in Rolling Stone. Before it was published as a book, it ran in the magazine- as he was writing it. He said that it forced him to continue on with it and stay on schedule. He'd already non-fiction books like The Painted Word and The Right Stuff. Bonfire was his first novel. I don't know if my short story will be better than BotV- I haven't read it yet. I like the novel he wrote after, A Man in Full, but I also skipped over a lot.

Library books (that's a boring title, who would want to read that?)

Usually when I go to the library I take out a couple books on paintings. I look through them and pick out ones I like.

Last week I got:
Scenes of American Life put out by the Smithsonian, and
Only In America by Pierre Rosenberg

In SoAL most of the paintings are related to the Depression or the Works Progress Administration. They'll show WPA artists ina group studio, or coal miners walking home. Most are done in a way that datestamps them to that period.

One artist, Paul Cadmus, does a golf scene in that 1930s style that looks like colored pencil. It's the same style used on the booklet illustration for the Aimee Mann The Forgotten Arm LP.
As Kathy Griffin said Anna Nicole Smith said: "I don't like it".

There are some bright spots. "Skating In Central Park" by Agnes Tait, realistic but a little like American folk art. And Tyrone Comfort's "Gold Is Where You Find It"- a painting of a man drilling in a mineshaft.

The other book, Only In America has some good pictures but the text is annoying.

As the author says, the book is made up of 100 paintings that are unique to American collections and have no match in Europe.

Along with each selection there is text and it almost always says something like, "Why would I choose this painting over _____ by the same artist?" or "How could I include this over that...?"

It's filled with excuses, and who cares. It's clear- anyone would have some different opinions about which pictures to include and there'd be a lot of reasons as to why.

It's funny. Even the book's Introduction is titled "Why this book?"

Twilight

Twilight (2008)

I was in the library's DVD scetion right after they re-stocked and I saw Twilight. I'd never read any of the books and never had any big desire to see it but I got the feeling I should take the opportunity.

For a PG-13 movie, it was good. I wish it was an R rated movie; I was watching it praying for a sex scene but I'll have to be content with the mountaintop scene.

Seeing it doesn't make me want to read the books, though. I've heard they're fun and "addicting"; I also heard Stephen King called them poorly written. I just liked the movie because of the leads- they made it good. I'll definitely see the sequels.

LtSLaS

Kristin Hersh's Learn To Sing Like A Star LP came out in January 2007 but I had downloaded the previous November. I had to delete my harddrive last year and I finally bought the album a couple weeks ago.

I think it's a fun record, even though there are a lot of dreary songs like, "Ice", "Vertigo", and "The Thin Man".

It starts with "In Shock", an OK song- I don't think it should've been the single. Even the slow 2nd track, "Nerve Endings" would've been better. "Day Glo", where she quotes Olivia Newton-John, is stronger; it's angry and fun. The two sonds that I could see being popular singles are "Under The Gun" and "Sugar Baby". Other songs like "Peggy Lee" or "Winter" would sound good on a movie soundtrack. There are a couple song fragments and instrumentals scattered throughout; most are good to ok. The album ends with "The Thin Man"- I don't know, it's a little too dramatic.

If it had been up to me I would've changed a few things: drop "The Thin Man", group the fragments at the end, and add the In Shock B-sides. Here's what it would look like-

1. Sugarbaby
2. Nerve Endings
3. Day Glo
4. Under The Gun
5. Blackstone (B-side)
6. Windowpane (B-side)
7. Winter
8. Peggy Lee
9. In Shock
10. Christian Herse
11. Piano 1
12. Piano 2
13. Ice
14. Vertigo
15. Wild Vanilla
16. Poor Wayfaring Stranger (B-side)

Download the songs and try my order- you'll like it.

Cereal Horoscopes

A friend of mine had picked up some Hannah Montana cereal (only for the taste- it's the same as the Legend of Zelda cereal they used to make). I ended up with the leftover box; it reminded me of the old days, back when I had Nintendo and used to play tLoZ all the time.

On the back of the box there's a Word Find and also horoscopes. Here's a few:

Aries- The challenge of being the first born in the zodiac is to be a fashion leader, not a follower.

Pisces- You're a Disco Diva and you love it...

Capricorn- People could feel competetive with you but there's plenty of room on the stage for everyone. Rock your accessories with a bright ring, belt, and bag. And don't forget to offer a compliment to others.

Virgo- Your friends would love to have your closet. Besides being super-organized, it's filled with stuff they envy. You look great in strong colors with just a touch of glitter. Be true to yourself!

Libra- Owning your look is how you make it rock. Sure you could fill your arm with bracelets, but why, when one or two will do. Let others come to you for fashion answers- you know they will.

There's a lot coming up

There are a few posts I'm working on (now I write and edit first before posting, except for this post cause I just wanna get on right now and write- I've been gone too long).

I've been reading a lot lately. Because I love reading, of course, but also because I'm hoping it'll maker me a better write and this, RJ Battles, a better blog.

There a lot of good advice in Stephen King's On Writing. Also in Strunk & White's Elements of Style, which SK recomends. I got that from the library last montha and read it twice, good fun. I wanted to read some Ira Levin but, unfortunately, my library has only his books which I don't wanna read- I saw the original Stepford Wives movie, and I wanna read Rosemary's Baby, not the sequel.

What I really wanna get my hands on is A Kiss Before Dying. In her Romantic Manifesto Ayn Rand raves about that book and then goes on to slam Levin for following it up with an occult book, Rosemary's Baby. Of course by the time Rand wrote that she was very bitter in general (I think) so I believe her judgement was out of whack.

My friend wants to get back on his computer now so, till next time- take care.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Last summer a couple friends and I picked up some percs and BK Steakhouse Burgers and went to see this. We couldn't wait and we ended up liking it, though we each still have our favorites (for me it's The Last Crusade).

Right away I have to say: the scene of the soldiers getting shot bothered me then and yesterday when I watched the movie again. Callous. We'll talk more about that in a minute.

It's a thrill seeing Jone's shadow on the car as he puts his hat on. Just like when he visits Marion's bar at the beginning of Raiders.

Shia Labeaf bothers me a little; maybe it was all the "new Tom Hanks" hype. I can say it was a mistake to dress him up like Brando with that gay cap on his head. He just looks like he's 14.

I enjoyed the scenes of Indy and Marion, they make a nice couple and I'm glad they brought her back.

One thing I could've done without is John Hurt. I can't fucking stand catatonic characters in movies. Every scene with Hurt dragged and just seeing his filthy hobo face on the screen made me angry.

I remember reading an interview with Spielberg where he said he tried to give this film the same look as the others. Mostly he did a good job, but one thing I don't remember from the other Indy films is that glowing white sky. It seems like this movie has the same look as Minority Report.

I like the movie but next time we have to talk about Spielberg and his newer movies.

I've got to make a plan

Since January I've been slowly but steadily working towards getting together with a co-worker (who I trained, incidentally). We never worked together after that day- it almost seems like it was scheduled that way on purpose, but I know it's just my bad luck.

Since April we've been in different departments and only saw each other once a week. Then at the start of May, the schedules changed again and we didn't see each other till this past Wednesday.

We talked longer than we had before. And it wasn't me who initiated it. There were some suggestive (not sexually) comments made (not by me), and now I wish I had given my number. Because today I checked next week's schedule- the name isn't on it. Either it's a vacation or it's the end of everything.

It kills me because I feel like I'm really close to making this work. Like I think next week something would've happened, 90% sure.

I'm going to have to formulate a plan for making contact because it can't end this way. That's too fucked up.

Songs you should check out

*Aimee Mann "Driving With One Hand On The Wheel" Ultimate Collection, also Safe and Sound (One of the best AM songs ever, also check out the B-sides "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes" and her cover of "Baby Blue")

*Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach "Toledo" Painted From Memory (The best song on the record, though you might also like "God Give Me Strengeth")

*k.d. lang "Your Smoke Screen" Drag (The album is pretty dull; you might also like her cover of "The Joker" though. "Your Smoke Screen" is written by the other guy from Sugar.)

"The Office"

I'm just seeing this show for the first time. I picked up Season 3 on DVD at the library. It's a pretty fun show and even though I normally don't like Steve Carrell, he's funny here. Same with Ed Helms- I've seen him on the Daily Show and he's OK, but he plays a great character, Andy Bernard, who joins the show in Season 3. I thought I'd be annoyed by Dwight but he's funny, Jim too. Pam is very likeable and I was surprised how funny she is too. My favorite though is Creed ("If that's flashing, lock me up.") The best is the episode with the watermark when he's trying to blame it on the girl from the factory, then he takes up a collection for her after she's fired and pockets the cash.

Aimee Mann summer tour

Aimee Mann is going on tour this summer. I'm hoping to see her at MassMOCA or in Norfolk,CT this July.

Last week at the library I picked up Aimee Mann Ultimate Collection. She's very much against this release, which was done without her permission. She wrote about it on her website and you can probably still read it there or at amazon.com. She's not happy with the song selection, sleeve design, and, especially, the way the liner notes try to make it look like she was part of the process of putting the collection together.

She's right about the song selection- it's too heavy on I'm With Stupid and doesn't have anything older than 1997 ("Wise Up"). I'm glad I picked it up though cause I've got a new favorite song: "Driving With One Hand On The Wheel", a B-side which was also on an abortion rights benefit album. I love it; it's one of her "fun" songs.

One thing I found strange though- if you look at the way "Aimee Mann" is written on her newest album Smilers, it's the same way it's written on the cover of Ultimate Collection. Odd.

Also, I found this import version of her Christmas album and I really like the cover photo and lettering.

I'm here without notes...

...and with limited time. I'm at the local library. I miss having the internet at home. That way I have access to more information and can write better posts. But, I'm here and I wanted to take the chance to write a little something.

The past week has been fun and it's given me a lot of hope for the future. I went out drinking for someone's birthday, I made 2, maybe 3, new friends, and I've decided to make some big changes.

I guess the biggest thing is having new friends (nothing wrong with the old ones though). It's just that it's fun learning about new people and their way of doing things. It's helpful. Plus, though I've met a lot of people since moving here a few months ago, it's really good to actually connect with someone and to know that they'd like to have something to do with you outside of work.

"U-Mass"

I've got to wait till September for more, but I've been loving the Horoscopes in the UMass Daily Collegian for the past two months.

The paper's free, and everyday there's at least one that makes me smile. It's great. Ever since I started reading the Horoscopes I've been clipping them out and putting them in a box in my closet. I've gone through them so I can post some of my favorites here. There's no byline, but the comics editor is listed as Nick Bush, so, for now, he gets the credit.

Again, these weren't written by me, they're Horoscopes from the UMass Daily Collegian.

ARIES A pillowcase full of doorknobs will be the last thing you see today.

SAGITTARIUS Your shotgun marriage to an AK-47 could only lead to a messy divorce.

AQUARIUS Your arguments have more holes in them than the Pope's condoms.

ARIES No matter what the angry, pitchfork-wielding mob may have to say about you, I still think you're beautiful.

AQUARIUS You've reached a spork in the road, which has rightfully confused you.

AQUARIUS When the detective asks what you were doing on the night of March 20 you will have to admit to seeing Jonas Brothers 3D.

ARIES You are left to wander in the wilderness of your own discontent. Hopefully you can find some civilized drugs soon.

LEO I'm not sure how eating sod emphasizes your Irish heritage, but whatever makes you happy.

TAURUS You've been getting bad advice lately, mostly from me. Stare at the sun from now on to find answers.

PISCES Go Twitter about something. Douchebag.

AQUARIUS Muttonchops will suit your round Aquarius head, whether you are a man or woman.

(Notice how so many of my favorites are for Aquarius? I'm not one, though. I'm an Aries. -RJ Battles)

TAURUS Candles are definitely the sexiest way to burn your home to the ground.

AQUARIUS Today you should be creepy and order a gyro while rotating your hips.

PISCES The habit of needing to touch every corner in a room 14 times before leaving is really slowing you down.

AQUARIUS All the kings horses and all the kings men won't get the Hepatitis out of your bloodstream.

VIRGO Breastfeeding is not a hobby.

VIRGO You're skinnier than an Ethiopian distance runner. Put some meat on dem bonez.

GEMINI Blasting Maroon 5 songs from your car with the windows down will bring you all the negative attention you could ever want.

ARIES Botox was never meant for de-wrinkling your genitalia. You should know that's impossible anyhow.

That was fun, I hope you liked those too. In September when classes start again and the Collegian is running I'll put up some more and I'll find out for sure who is wring the Horoscopes.

"Amityville II: The Possession" Final Girl Film Club

Last November I reviewed Amityville II: The Possession here at RJ Battles. Around that time, over at Final Girl, there was a discussion about the movie in the comments section. She hates Burt Young and had been avoiding the movie, but, everyone- including me- tried to talk her into giving it a chance. Now Amityville II is the May selection for the Final Girl Film Club. There is a link to the Final Girl blog at the bottom of this post. I've tacked my original review onto today's post, following this introduction-

I love horror movies and being scared. I'm easy- even the worst Friday The 13ths can scare me.

There are three movies, however, that terrified me: Candyman, The Blair Witch Project, and Amityville II: The Possession. The first two effected me- I'll still go camping, but only in real campgrounds with other people around, and I'll never say 'Candyman', even once, in front of a mirror.

Amityville II had me scared for at least six months after I first saw it. I was raised by Catholic parents but my brothers and I had no religion in our lives aside from our nightly, abbreviated prayers: "Now I lay me down to sleep. God bless everyone I love".

I never thought much about God, then or now, but, after seeing this movie around the age of 7 or 8, I thought a lot about the Devil.

I don't remember now if my mother mentioned that Amityville II was based on a true story but she did say that there had been cases of possession reported in the newspaper. I came to believe that it could happen, not only that someone could be possessed but that they could be forced to kill people. I'd lay in bed thinking about how horrible it would be, and I wondered if the Devil tried to possess me would I be able to fight it. I believed I could, but still, I wasn't 100% sure.

When I watched Amityville II recently, I was surprised by how horrific the murder sequence is, still, after all these years. The thunder & lightning. The drugged-up zombie walk. His evil face.

The first half of the movie holds up very well. The atmospere- really the most important aspect of any horror movie- is right there. It's still scary, unlike The Amityville Horror, which I didn't think was that scary the first time around. (The Lutzs were just potheads who bought a house that they couldn't afford.)

RJ Battles, May 11, 2009

The following is the original RJ Battles review of Amityville II: The Possession from Sunday, November 16, 2008.

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, loosely based on the murders that happened 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 blatant 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 relatively 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.


Final Girl http://finalgirl.blogspot.com/

Since I'm rushed...

...I feel like I'm just skimming over things and not giving enough details: "Good Night and Good Luck is good...the acting is good...it's in black & white". I guess my movie reviews are only good when I write them out first and give them a quick polish. And I don't think there's much to say about the last two movies.

Maybe I'll stay away from movie reviews for a while. I could give you all new details about my personal life but that might be less interesting. I would like to say that last night I wrote a list of 5 or 6 goals for the next two months and one of the more important ones is to get into a relationship. It's been a very long time- very overdue.

We'll talk more about that later. Later.

Did I mention...

...I have neither cable nor internet at my apartment so I've just been getting movies from the library. The other night I got-

Good Night, and Good Luck It was a good movie, black and white, though it really didn't need to be. I watched it twice, without and then with the director commentary. George Clooney got on my nerves a little- too sarcastic and jokey without being funny. I forgot that his aunt is Rosemary Clooney. I always think of him as George from "The Facts of Life". Is it worth seeing? Sure. But I'm glad I watched it for free; I wouldn't pay money.

The other movie was-

The Talented Mr. Ripley As much as I can't stand Matt Damon, he was very good in this. Probably his best role, aside from maybe the lawyer in The Rainmaker. Jude Law was good too, but he reminded me too much of when he played Alfred Douglas in Wilde. Cate Blanchette had some good scenes, as did what's-her-name with the blonde hair. I'm pretty sure I hate PS Hoffman and he's such a dickwad in this movie- couldn't wait for him to die. My favorite is probably the guy who played the detective towards the end- he's Jimmy Gator in Magnolia and the library detective in that episode of Seinfeld. All in all, it's alot of fun to watch and the background views are beautiful, especially in Rome and when they're out boating.

I'm at the library right now and I just got The Player and Zodiac. Sometime this week we'll have a long talk about David Fincher.

I also grabbed Roger Ebert's book on Scorsese, called Scorsese, and I picked up a couple CDs: kd lang's Drag and Aimee Mann's I'm With Stupid. I'll tell you all about it very soon.

And don't forget: Monday is Final Girl Film Club day.

Good good news

It looks like I'll be going to see Aimee Mann sometime in July. There are a couple of options:

First, there's a show at MassMoCA in North Adams on Saturday, July 11. That could be rough because I don't want to take a night off from work.

My other option, the one I'll probably go with is Infinity Hall in Norfolk, CT on July 21- it's a Tuesday so I won't have to take any time off and hopefully I won't have to work too early the next morning.

So if you're in love with me and stalking me this could be the golden opportunity you've been waiting for.

"Final Girl Film Club"

It's always been my dream to be a member of the Final Girl Film Club. Her's is one of the first blogs I ever read and it's still my favorite. About a year and a half ago, well before I started my own blog, I asked for her advice on what makes a good blog. I liked her advice, which for privacy's sake I won't repeat here (not that I think she'd mind; it's just that it was a private conversation (not that I think she'd even remember- it was a brief conversation)).

I wish I could write like her. Her blog is always fun to read; whether she's joking or being serious it's always a good time. It's taken me some time, but I've accepted the fact that I'm never going to write like her. So instead I'm just going to be myself, write as well as I can, and hope for the best.

The date of the next Final Girl Film Club movie is May 11, and the movie is Amityville II: The Possession, a movie which I reviewed here last year. I like the review that I wrote, still, I plan on watching the film again and writing something fresh. It's always been one of my favorite movies and it had a major effect on young RJ, so I think I have a lot to say about it. And now that I've finally written my first major movie review (Shattered Glass), I think I'm finally ready to put out a really good post on Amityville II. By the way, did you read my review of Shattered Glass? If you haven't, check it out.

Anyway, mark your calender and stop by on May 11. I'm not Final Girl, but I'll try to make it fun.

"No Direction Home"

Last week I went to my parents' house and borrowed No Direction Home from my dad. I watched the whole thing that night and I liked it a lot.

First off I wanna say: I really impressed myself- when an old clip from a performer was played their name wouldn't come across the screen until well into the performance. Still, right away, in almost every case, I knew who it was. Even Odetta who I had never seen or heard before. I'd only heard her mentioned by the beatniks in John Water's Hairspray.

Joan Baez was amazing- they show her young and singing a song about Jesus (by the way, is she singing, "Think I'll call him 'save-you'"? Is she saying savior and I'm just hearing her wrong? Anyway...), she's so pretty and her voice is beautiful.

It's funny how chubby Dylan is when he first comes to NYC, at least in his face. Baby fat.

And the British concert-goers cracked me up. One serious-looking guy says "I think he's prostituting himself". And it's funny that they hated the "rock" half of the show and still they werte also bored by the "folk" portion.

That Pete Seeger guy came across as a douche when it came to the story about how he wished he had an axe to cut the cables during a Dylan show because there was too much distortion and he couldn't make out the words.

What I really liked, because Dylan doesn't interest me much, is just the description of Greenwich village in the 1960s. It seems like a very romantic, exciting time. If I could time travel it would be cool to spend a day and night there.

"Juno", "KInsey", "After Hours"

I'm at a friend's house and just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. Things are going good for me, but I miss being here at RJ Battles everyday.

Last week I caught Juno- it got off to a rough start but it was cute. I liked Ellen Page, and especially liked Allison Janney (The West Wing) and the guy who played Juno's father. Janney was perfect as Juno's stepmother. I bet she must've loved playing the role after the weak last few seasons of TWW. It's like they stopped writing diologue for her. I think the script would just say "CJ sits in her office and stares into space looking troubled".

Here she's got a lot of good lines (though I think her speech in the ultrasound lab is too wordy).

I love the line Juno's father had when he told Juno he was gonna come with when she went to meet the couple looking to adopt: "I don't want you getting ripped off by a couple of baby-starved wingnuts".

My major problem with the movie, aside from Michael Cera and his one-note earnest delivery (The Weekly Standard said he's the new Jack Lemmon), is the way abortion was just jumped over. They never really addressed why she backed out. They would've done better to never even bring the subject up. Instead, Juno became a movie that pro-life people could claim as a victory for their side. The Weekly Standard gave it a good review- probably mostly because Juno decides against abortion.

I watched Kinsey this morning. I liked it though it was only occasionally interesting.

After Kinsey I popped in After Hours. I was curious to see it because I wanted to compare it to Cape Fear, Goodfellas, and The King of Comedy. It's not the usual type of movie you'd expect from him, though from the very first scene you can tell it's one of his movies.

I didn't like it, not because it wasn't well made or because the characters weren't likable- it's well done and the cast is great. I just don't like that type of bad luck movie. It's just one bad thing after another for Griffin Dunne. Even though After Hours got good reviews and people consider it a smart dark comedy, I don't think it's half the movie that Who's That Girl? is.

Right now I'm reading a book on Stanley Kubrick and one on Gus Van Sant. Actually I'm only reading chunks of them. In the Kubrick book, all I'm interested in is The Shining and Full Metal Jacket (the book was written before Eyes Wide Shut came out), and in the Van Sant book (2001) I'm only reading about Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, and Psycho. I didn't realize, maybe because I was so young at the time, that a lot of people blame River Phoenix's drug use and OD on his involvement in MOPI.

I'm thinking the next time I'm at the library I'll look for a good biography of Phoenix.

Don't Worry

I haven't set up internet at my new apartment, that's why there've been no new posts in a while. I wanted to put something up when I went to my parents' for Easter but I was very tired and just did some laundry and went to bed that Saturday night.

I'll be getting some things ready, plus I'll finally join the Final Girl Film Club next month. The movie is Amityville II: The Possession, which, as you know, I reviewed a while back.

I'm going to give it another look and put something semi-new together, I think.

Rabbit

On the first day of each month you're supposed to say "Rabbit"* as you step out of bed- it's a good luck thing. I guess it's a kid superstition, but I never heard of it until I was a junior in high school.

Even if you didn't say "Rabbit" this morning, it's still your lucky day because last night I finally posted my review of the movie Shattered Glass and now you can read it...

So what do you think? Is it worth the wait? You have to remember: I'm not a writer. I'm trying to write better though. For you. It's all for you, Damien. I think if you go back to my first post from back in October 2008 and read everything between then and now you'll see improvement.

Anyway, I'm just glad that I finally got it over with; I feel like now I'll be able to move onto other things.


*Some people say "Rabbit, rabbit".

"Shattered Glass" review by RJ Battles

Shattered Glass (2003)

(I just want to say I love the movie poster and the way it looks like a post-Scream slasher movie.)

Shattered Glass is the story of Stephen Glass, who, in the late 1990s was a young writer at The New Republic, as well as a contibutor to Rolling Stone and George. His career was on the rise until it was revealed that he had made up a lot of his stories- completely made them up.

Hayden Christensen plays Glass. I've never seen any of Christensen's other films so I had no idea what to expect. All I can say is: he must be a really great actor because not once while I was watching did it cross my mind that he was acting. It all seemed totally real to me. The Edward Nortons and Kevin Spaceys of the world are always performing, always acting. But not this guy.

And there's the Christian Bales and Jared Letos, gaining and dropping hundreds of pounds for realism, and to show the lengths they'll go in service of their craft.

If you've ever seen a picture of Stephen Glass you know he's kind of pasty and dorky. Hayden Christensen, if you've seen him, is beyond movie star good-looking. He's closer to Greek statue good-looking. Still he doesn't go for any drastic makeover to get into character. He throws on some glasses and parts his hair on the side. WaBOOM! He's Stephen Glass! It's refreshing.

Our first introduction to Glass is a voice-over where he explains the world of journalism as well as the way he deals with people. In my words: in a world of assholes he's able to disarm people by being polite and humble.

There's a wraparound device to the story here. Glass has been invited by his former high school writing teacher to speak before her class and tell his story. This gives the movie audience some background into jounalism and The New Republic. That's fine, though it's done in a West Wing kind of way, like the September 11 episode they did where a group of students were stuck with senior staff in the mess and they lectured the kids on the roots of terrorism.

Anyway, when we get to the offices of TNR we see that Glass's co-workers are very impressed with his stories, and, if he weren't so kind and humble they'd be more jealous than they are. At the weekly meeting where they talk about the stories they're working on it's always Glass who has the best ideas.

The first sign of trouble on the horizon is when Glass's editor asks to see him about a story he's written about convention of young conservatives. The subjects are furious; they say that Glass's story is completely untrue. It comes down to a small detail- in the story "Spring Breakdown" there's a reference to a mini-bar being in the hotel room, but it turns out that the hotel in question doesn't have them in it's rooms. The editor, Michael Kelly doesn't seem particulary upset about the problem, still, right away Glass offers to resign. Kelly just wants an explanation and Glass says that the mini-bar in the room must've been rented. Later, Kelly makes a call to see if guests are able to rent mini-bars- they are- and he lets the matter drop.

Next we get to see more of Glass, both in and out of work. Despite his success in journalism, he says that his parents won't be happy with him unless he goes to law school. There's a hint that Glass might be secretly gay, and the hint comes from Glass himself. He tells a friend at work that he's worried that people mistake him for a homosexual and tells a story about a dinner meeting with a fellow writer. He says the two of them were walking down the street after dinner when, out of nowhere, the guy kissed him. It seems like an odd incident for him to bring up. After the movie came out Glass was interviewed and when asked about it he said he had "no idea" why that scene was in there and didn't give any clarification.

Michael Kelly has been having problems with the publisher of TNR and eventually he's fired and another writer, Charles Lane, is chosen to take his place. Kelly had been very protective of his staff and extremely well-liked, so there's resentment against Lane, even though he does his best to be fair with the writers.

Not long after Kelly's exit, Glass outlines plans for his next story at the weekly staff meeting. Again, he's got an interesting lead, another story that everyone else wishes they could write about. The story, which eventually becomes "Hack Heaven", is about a teenager who hacked into an internet company called Jukt Micronics. He vandalized their website and posted the salaries of the top executives, but instead of pressing charges the company offered him a job as a security consultant. The kid had a list of outrageous demands and Jukt agreed to them all during a closed-door meeting during a hacker convention at a nearby hotel.

The editor at an online magazine, Forbes Digital Tool reads "Hack Heaven" and asks one of his writers, Adam Penenberg(Steve Zahn), how he got scooped on the story and says he should look into doing a follow-up. As Penenberg investigates he finds that nothing checks out. He can't track down anyone mentioned in the story and there's no listing for a Jukt Micronics. Eventually the people at FDT come to think that Glass had been set up by a source and they get in touch with Lane.

Because Glass is not only the young star of TNR but also everyone's puppy, Charles Lane approaches the problem very gently. All he wants are the notes and contacts so he can talk to the sources himself. Glass gives him some dead-end phone numbers and homemade business cards. He also pulls up Jukt Micronics's website where they've posted a statement complaining about TNR's treatment of them.

Eventually a conference call is set up between Forbes and TNR. As the meeting goes on, it becomes clear to everyone that the sources are fake and the website is a sham, and an amateur sham at that. Glass admits that he now believes he has been "duped"

I think that up to the point of what happens next, anyone watching would be on Glass's side, hoping that he gets away with it all. If anyone in the audience was going to turn against him it would be now, because while Lane is trying to get Forbes to go easy on him and consider the damage this could do to his career, Glass is complaining to his co-workers, telling them that Lane is trying to (I'm not crazy about this phrase, but) throw him under the bus.

Lane tells Glass he wants to see the hotel where the hacker convention was held. Once there it dawns on Lane that Glass wasn't duped- nothing in the story was true.

Later, Lane is at the office, looking through back issues. He realizes that "Hack Heaven" wasn't the first time that Glass had turned in fake stories. Glass comes to talk with Lane, and, crying, he pleads with Lane to forgive him. He hints that he might kill himself, but Lane doesn't soften. This movie was generally well-recieved, but one complaint that some people had was that it didn't do enough to explain why Stephen Glass did it. Why would someone who was so talented make up stories? Why would he risk his career in such a reckless way over and over. I think the movie does answer that question, though in a subtle way .

Glass liked being defended. He was the kind of person that other people wanted to protect, and everything he did provoked that response. He was kind and smart and innocent and modest. Towards the end he wasn't looking for Charles Lane to save his career- his career over no matter what. He wanted Lane to hold him say he forgave him and everything was alright. When Lane blew off his suicide threat that was when Glass had truly lost; that was his defeat.

The movie was based on a Vanity Fair article of the same name by Buzz Bissinger and it follows the story faithfully. There's very little in the article that isn't in the movie and vice versa. It's too bad that a lot of people haven't seen this movie and probably won't because the subject matter doesn't seem like something that would intererst them. It's a good story well-told.

After the truth came out, TNR was pretty embarrassed. Though they already had high standards and whatnot, I tend to think that there's a new attitude in the offices of TNR since the Stephen Glass incident. I get the feeling that they- everyone there: writers, editors, and fact chackers- have a very strict idea of what can be considered factual writing. That would explain why they came down on David Sedaris a couple years ago in an article by Alex Heard called "This American Lie". Heard cites about a dozen weak examples of exaggeration and comes to the conclusion that Sedaris's biographical essays should be in the "Fiction" secion of the bookstore. It's clear that TNR consider themselves the guardians of what can be called factual writing. They seem to me like ex-drunks who act like anyone who drinks has a drinking problem.

P.S. Thank you for waiting so long. If they ever make a sequel I'll have my review up in a more timely manner, I promise.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

David Lynch has said that it was his intention that Twin Peaks would never reveal who killed Laura Palmer; he wanted it to stay a mystery and he knew that once the problem was solved the show would start to fade away. There was a lot of pressure from the network, though, and not long after the answer came out, the show was cancelled.

I thought it would be alittle funny if I kept on saying that my review of Shattered Glass was just around the corner and then keep pushing it back. I was gonna write it and post it eventually, but I was thinking of a few months down the road.

Now I've decided that now is the time. Not right now, probably not even today (though maybe today), but at least sometime this week.

There are still other record sleeves I wanna spotlight and write about but I'm done with that being the main focus. There are a lot more things I want to write about here at RJ Battles so I'm going to broaden the scope (or possibly narrow the scope- I'm not sure yet). The point is: you can expect some changes around here in the coming days and weeks.

House

My friend and I love House and we'll always dive into a House marathon whenever USA is playing one. My friend, like me, prefers the original team of Cameron, the blond guy and the black guy. Those were the good old days.

A little backstory: I think the show started in 2004. Anyway, I never heard of it until my grandmother's 80th birthday in December of 2004. My Uncle Joe, who usually only watches History and Discovery, mentioned a new show he liked- it was about a cranky doctor who pops pills the whole time, but he wasn't sure what the name was. Nobody at the party had seen it or heard of it. "I think it's called House or something like that," he said. "Is it Doogie Houser, MD?" everyone kept asking. That's the first thing I thought of too. He had no idea what Doogie was so when people explained that show he said that wasn't it. Everytime someone new walked into the room and joined the conversation they made the same guess and it was funny to see him get more and more pissed.

Anyway, since he said it was a good show I gave it a chance. I had just gotten onto a new work schedule after years of second shift so I was able to watch prime-time TV again. And I really liked it. Turns out it's Vicodin that he's popping and I'm very in favor of that.

Now when me and my friend watch it we like to catch the way each episode falls into the formula:

*Before the opening credits, the patient will be about the give a speech at work or school or they're playing some sport or giving a performance. They collapse and/or start spazzing and that sets the scene.

*Someone will mention the case to House who will be disinterested till some odd aspect is mentioned. Then he's all over it, writing on his white board and bouncing ideas of his team. He'll say that the patient is lying about something, then he'll send one or two of his doctors to break into the patient's house looking for clues.

*Cameron and blondie will put the patient in MRI machine or some sort of test situation and while they bicker about their relationship or about House the patient will start freaking out for one reason or another and the mystery grows.

*Other times the team will have a diagnosis and while they're explaining it to the patient, the patient will start bleeding from their eyes or ears or bellybutton and it's back to square one.

*They'll come to another conclusion but the course of action always comes to the same scene: "We're going to start him on ____; either he gets better, or it will kill him".

*The treatment will work but there will be more complications till they end up, again, without a diagnosis. Finally comes the "ah-ha moment"- Wilson will be lecturing House on his attitude or drug use, or House will be treating a clinic patient and the solution will come to him in an instant. Problem solved.

And I'm not complaining. I don't care if every episode is the same and they just change a couple basic details each time. It's a fun show.

One thing I really like is when they shake things up during the first segment. They make you think one person is going to be the patient but it turns out it's someone else. One time, there was a guy at some kind of wind farm on the North Pole. One of the blades came loose and sliced a guy's leg open but it turns outb that the responding medic was the focus of the episode.

In another one, a teacher appeared to go into labor but while on the ground she noticed one of her students had blood running down his leg.

Guess what I'm working on

I'm sure most of you check in every day, not just for for the record sleeves and my great writing, but, because you're hoping it will be the day when I finally post my review of the movie Shattered Glass.

I know. It's been a long time. Maybe you've given up hope.

But the wait is almost over. It'll surely be up by Easter.

Hang in there.

Shows

I missed the Throwing Muses show in Boston last Saturday. I'm disappointed, but I was thinking: I'm lucky; I've been able to see a lot of good shows:

I didn't really start going till I was in high school. In 1994 I saw an acoustic show by Kristin Hersh at Smith College when she was supporting Hips & Makers. The next month at Smith I saw Frank Black acoustic opening for They Might Be Giants. I was able to see him again, two nights in a row (Pearl St. & Toad's Place), with a full band.

In 1995 I got to see Belly and Throwing Muses. Belly had put out King and in April I went with some friends to Providence to see them at Lupo's. Superchunk opened. TM played nearby at UMass on Mother's Day but I had to work so I caught them at Toad's Place on my day off. Back then they used to sell concert tickets at Filene's (formerly G. Fox, now Macy's) at the mall. I blushed buying them when the middle-aged cashier confirmed the ticket order- "'Throwing Muses w/ Ass Ponies', that should be an interesting time...".

I saw Frank Black a few more times. The summer that the first Catholics album came out I went to a show at the old Century Lounge in Providence. Then another time at Pearl St. when he started doing Pixies songs again. In 2001, around the time of Dog In The Sand I saw him at the Iron Horse in Northampton and the next night at the Indigo Lounge in Vermont. That night in Vermont I got drunk on gin and popped 9 Tylenol w/ codeine 3s. The drive home was awesome. The DitS tracks they played were so much better live, especially "I've Seen Your Picture" and "Stupid Me". At the start of the show, FB said "Let's break the ice with some Tom Waits" and played "The Black Rider".

In the spring of 2003 Throwing Muses did a show at the Middle East and Tanya Donelly joined in. I should've had a better time but I messed things up. I've only been to Boston about 5 times so I don't know the city well. I ended up getting to the club early and decided I'd try to get some drugs before the show- I found my way to Chinatown and tried to score but ended up getting ripped off. I guess I'm lucky I didn't get stabbed, but still, I wish I'd planned ahead.

In August 2004 Elvis Costello & the Imposters did a show at Lupo's; it was great, but at the request of the band there was no smoking allowed. Lame.

In December 2004 I saw a show I never thought I would: the Pixies. Got to hear a lot of my favorite songs.

The only show I've been to since then is Kristin Hersh at the Iron Horse, April 2007. It was full band, but the string section had visa problems and couldn't make it to the states in time, which was fine by me. They do a great job on the Learn to Sing Like a Star album but I'm just against strings in rock songs. I had a good time at the show and was a little better than usual- I struck with drinking mostly and just did a little morphine.