Friday, February 25, 2011

BEE


I've yet to read Bret Easton Ellis's follow-up to Less Than Zero, Imperial Bedrooms (I couldn't find it the library today, but they did have Stephen King's latest collection, Full Dark, No Stars, and I got that).

I did, however. come across a good long interview with him online. I forget who did it but it covered a lot of subjects, including Ellis's writing process, his opinions on critics, and his thoughts on the film and publishing industries.

I love reading thing like that. One of my favorite books is Stephen King's On Writing. I'd love it if Ellis wrote a book like that.

The Godfather Part III: part two





I fell asleep. My loveseat is so comfortable, and I'd made a nest of blankets and pillows.

I fell asleep sometime after the murder of Don Tommasino. Don Altobello and Don Luchessi put out a hit on Michael; they hired a father & son team.

I like the ending (and I'm not going to give it away). I'm disappointed that I fell asleep because it's very exciting. I think it's safe to tell you that it echos the endings of the first two films.

One thing I don't care for and never did is the scene where someone falls in a huge stairwell. You can clearly tell that it's special effects. That particular scene was used in the original trailer for the movie and it bothered me in 1990 too.

I'd love to read a book that goes into detail about the making of this movie. I bet there are a lot of interesting stories. I read that originally Al Pacino didn't think he was getting enough money and refused to act so they re-wrote the movie and called it The Death of Michael Corleone, and he changed his mind. Robert Duvall was offered as much money as Pacino so he refused to appear. His character was killed off, and the new family lawyer was played by George Hamilton; that seems to be a kind of 'fuck you' to Duvall, since his replacement was seen, even back then, as a joke- known more for his tan than his acting talent.

Robert Di Nero wanted to play Vincent, even though he'd already played the younger Vito in Part II. And Madonna wanted the part of Mary, even though she was way too old.

A lot of people speculate about what the movie would be like if Wynonna Ryder hadn't dropped out. I always liked her, but, like I said, Sofia Coppola was perfect for that role.

The Godfather Part III is an excellent movie, and I can't think of anything I would change about it. Wait. Al Pacino. I don't think he played Michael as well as he did in the first two films. What he gave was his typical early 1990s performance- too loud, too much shouting. The earlier Michael was more even. In the first two films he really seemed to be the character; here he's doing more acting.

One more thing- Diane Keaton's role could've been written better. You'd think after all these years she would've gotten the nagging out of her system, but no. She's older, but still she can't just let things go.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Everyday's the 14th




"Keep It Together" (1990) Madonna

I meant to re-post these on Valentine's day since the colors match that day so well. There are two different version of this 12" single on CD, with one of them including the extended version of "Cherish".



Note: Of the two back covers, I prefer the text of the bottom image. The only thing that could improve it would be the small photo that the other image has.

The Godfather Part III- part one



The Godfather Part III (1990)

(It started on AMC at 8pm. I was just looking and saw that it's running until midnight. I had thought it would be over by 10pm or 10:30pm. I don't know if I'll be up past 11pm. We'll see. So I'm starting to post now.)

There is a general opinion that the original Godfather movie is one of the greatest movies ever and most critics say that The Godfather Part II is even better.

As for The Godfather Part III, nobody is saying that it's a bad movie. Just that it's the weakest of the three.

The year 1990 was an odd time for movies. There were already a great deal of sequels coming out in the late 1980s. But 1990 saw the release of four sequels to classic films from the early 1970s.

The Exorcist III: Legion
The sequel to The Exorcist (1973) which was written and directed by the author of The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty.

The Two Jakes
Roman Polanski directed Chinatown (1973) and the star, Jack Nicholson, directed the sequel.

Texasville
Peter Bogdanovich directed this film as well as The Last Picture Show (1971).

Expectations were high for all of these films, but especially The Godfather Part III.

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the first two films, returned to do the third. He had been resisting Paramount's offers for years, but in the 1980s he had made a lot of bad business decisions and he really needed the money.

But wait. This is all too much backstory. Let's get to the movie that's on right now...
There's a shot of a framed photograph hanging on the wall. It's a photo of Michael and Kay. After a moment you can see a reflection in the glass. It's Kay (Diane Keaton). She's got a tight perm and is wearing a shiny gold bathrobe. A few minutes later you see party guests dancing to disco music, but this is the first sign that the movie is set in the late 1970s.

We're introduced to Vincent, Sonny's son with his mistress from Part I. Vincent meets a reporter, played by Bridget Fonda. Moments later he gives her info about one of the gangsters at the party. "He dips his bullets in cyanide." It's a chilling statement, but it seems an odd touch- isn't there a code of silence, or, at the very least, isn't there some discretion?

It doesn't matter, because her character disappears. I don't mean something happens to her or she goes missing. She just doesn't show up again after the scenes from the morning after. She spends the night at Vincent's house, they hook up, and then the two of them are attacked by a couple of hitmen sent by Joey Zasa, Vincent's enemy.

I never understood what Fonda's character was doing in the movie. That is, not until I came across a quote from the actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. She's known for taking strange, unlikely roles. After playing the girlfriend of one of the Baldwins in Backdraft she said: "In mainstream movies, the woman's role is mostly just to prove that the leading man is heterosexual".

Well said, and so true.

Francis Ford Coppola got slammed hard for casting his daughter Sofia in the role of Mary after Winona Ryder dropped out. Sofia got slammed pretty hard too. Critics said she was a poor actress but I think she's a good actress and she's also perfect for the role.

So right now it's 10:10pm. Michael has just come out of a diabetic coma and Vincent and Connie tell him that Vincent has killed Joey Zasa. Michael's pissed but he lets it go. His main concern is that Vincent stop dating his daughter.

Now Michael is dealing with Don Altobello, a longtime friend of the family. He's played by Eli Wallach. The name looked familiar so I looked it up and was surprised to find out that he played the skinny sinister-looking guy with the thin mustache from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. He looks so different here. You'd never know it was the same guy.

I'm going back to the loveseat. I'll be here again later.



Note: I just found out today (3-21-11) that Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) plays the press agent at the beginning of the film- "You think you know better than the Pope?" I read Bob Woodwards Wired last week, and Novello co-wrote the movie script Noble Rot with Belushi in the months leading up to his overdose.

Later tonight...

Later tonight I'll be blogging about the 1990 film, The Godfather Part III. My original plan was to copy Final Girl and do what she did with the Halloween series and all the Friday the 13th movies- watch all the movies and blog about them at the same time.

Final Girl is my blogging role model and she comes up with a lot of creative ideas. Doing all the Godfather movies would've been fun, but, really, it wouldn't work. Is there anything new that anybody can say about the first two films?

Anyway, the movie starts in a few minutes. Check back here at RJ Battles later on tonight.

(If you'd like to watch with me, it's gonna be on at 8pm on AMC.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Godfather Part II

I love The Godfather Part II. great story, and I'm always impressed that they put it all together just two years after the first one came out.

While I could watch it over and over, I could do without the flashbacks. They're good the first time, but if you've seen them once you don't need to see them again.

I have a question though. I've always been confused. Why does Vito go see Fannuci if he's just gonna kill him ten minutes later? It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm sure there must be a good reason.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ambition


It's 5am and I couldn't sleep so I'm watching a Danny Devito movie called House Broken (2009). He and Katey Sagal play the parents of two grown sons and they want the guys to grow up they leave them home alone.

It's an unfunny comedy. It's not unwatchable, just boring. I'm writing about it because it stars Skyler Stone as one of the sons. I first saw him in 2005 when he had his own show on Comedy Dentral called Con. I saw it once and I think it lasted just one season. Later he did the movies Waiting and Accepted. Looking at his imdb page I saw that he had ten entries for 2010. Ten. Nothing too great, single episodes of Lost and Raising Hope and the direct-to-video Hostel III. Still, he's getting a lot of work.

Whenever I see things like this I always think about how little I do.

1) It's winter, and traditionally, I spend those three months watching Tv wrapped in a blanket, and,
2) I've never had any ambition

Right now, my bedroom is a big mess, I'm spending too much money, watching too much TV. I'm not even reading anything.

I've said before: I need to pretend to be ambitious.

I've gotta keep busy and work towards the future. I'm not in my twenties anymore and I'm getting old fast. I need to work hard now so that when I'm old I won't have to worry about anything.

So from now on I'm not going to be easy-going about things, I'm going to fuind productive things to do after work, and I'm going to save money.

Actually, I won't start today- since I only slept till 2am and I've gotta work till 4pm, I'll probably go straight to bed when I get home. But I'll start tomorrow.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

RJ leaving the state?


Yesterday it was warm and sunny, 65 degrees. Tonight on the walk home it was about 20 degrees with strong, bitter-cold winds blowing. I fucking hate winter.

Right now I live in New England, with roomates, about 40 minutes away from my parents and most of my family.

In December my good friend moved to Baltimore MD and is living with his sister and her husband. He has invited me to move down and I said no. Later I said I'd think about it. Tonight, when the wind blew my hood off for the twentieth time, I thought about it again.

My friend came to visit me last month, and on the last day of his trip we stopped at my parents' house for soup and sandwiches and when my friend brought up me moving south she seemed in favor of it.

Still, I'm not sure that I'm in favor of it. I don't wanna live so far away from my family.

Of course, by the time I'm in a position to move, it'll be warm and I'll have forgotten how shitty winter is here.

I'm gonna have to think some more about this.

Friday, February 18, 2011

New Header for spring


Yes, it's the dead of winter, but today it was 65 degrees so I'm starting to think about spring.

I hate winter and can't wait for it to be over. December's gone, January too. There are ten days left in February and then March 19 is the last day of winter. Spring is almost here.

By the way, I'm thinking that eventually I'd like to have a permenant header for this blog- one definitive image and an RJ Battles logo. I'm doing sketches for the logo right now.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

David Sedaris



I first read about David Sedaris back in 1997. The local free weekly, The Advocate, did a story about his book Naked. There was a short excerpt in the article from the story "I Like Guys".

The paragraph that they used struck me as corny so I dismissed the idea of reading his book. He had written about one night at in the dorm room when he and his friend on the other bunk were both masturbating. The last sentence-"Our love had the power to move bunks"- seemed lame (I've come to like that story but I'm still bothered by that sentence).

I finally read the book after seeing the TV show Strangers With Candy , starring Sedaris's sister Amy. I loved that show and thought she was amazing so I decided to give his book a chance.

The first chapter "Chipped Beef" wasn't good and I skipped ahead to the next one "A Plague of Tics" and was blown away. Then there was "Get Your Ya-yas Out", which is probably the funniest thing I've ever read. I read and re-read that book so many times and it's still funny. "True Detective", another story from Naked, is a perfect piece of writing.

I bought his first book, Barrel Fever, and the follow-up to Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day. By the time that book came out Sedaris was very well-known and critics couldn't say enough good things about him.

I didn't find Me Talk as funny as Naked, but I think that's the nature of comedy. One of the most important elements of comedy is surprise. There were some laugh-out-loud moments in Me Talk, but for the most part it wasn't as funny because I knew what to expect. I imagine that if you asked people what their favorite David Sedaris book was they'd name the one that they'd read first.

Some people say that Sedaris's books aren't as funny as they used to be but I don't think that's true. And actually, while Naked is my favorite Sedaris book, a close second is Dress Your Family in Courdoroy and Denim.

The stories in Dress are funny, but mostly they're sad. Or bittersweet. I'm thinking about "Consider The Stars" where tells about trying to make friends with one of the kids in the popular crowd at his middle school. It's an amusing story but then the last two pages come and there's real yearning there.

The two stories about his youngest sister Tiffany are heartbreaking. First, in "Let It Snow" you see her as a little girl, desperate for affection, and l;ater, in "Put A Lid On It" you see her anger towards her brother and her whole family. Plus, you can tell that Sedaris is genuinely worried about her.

The saddest story in the book is "Repeat After Me". Again, it's a great story, told in a funny way and then you come to the end and it's heartbreaking beyond belief.

Which brings us to his latest book (I'm not counting Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, that's a different kind of book), When You Are Engulfed In Flames. Maybe it's because I'm not crazy about The New Yorker, but I get the feeling that his newer stories are trying too hard to be New Yorker pieces. Also, the long story, has the same problem that the final story in Naked, "Naked" had.

I've read a lot of people say that "Naked" felt tacked on, and they felt that he went to the nudist trailer park simply for material for a story. I have to agree and I feel the same way about "The Smoking Section". There's something about moving to Tokyo for a season to quit smoking that seems ________.

I can't think of the words to describe it, so I'll just say "not good".

Note: I read Alex Heard's Sedaris piece in The New Republic, "This American Lie" and I thought that it was bullshit and completely unfair. Heard deliberately misreprestents stories and tries to twist them around. I believe that after their Stephen Glass incident, The New Republic writers had it drilled into them every word that anyone types must be the absolute truth. I'm sure that after scrutenizing themselves, and then each other, they were hungry for someone else to target so they went after Sedaris.

Sedaris has always admitted that he exagerates, and really, if you're going to publish a conversation from when you were twelve, you're not going to remember everyone's exact words, so why not sharpen it to make the diologue as funny as possible? Alex Heard and The New Republic completely missed the point.

Anyway, I'll always love David Sedaris. He's an excellent writer, while the element of surprise isn't there, that doesn't mean that it can't come back. I look forward to reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. Maybe Sedaris will take things to another level and we'll all be surprised again. If anyone can do it, he can.

EPs: "Now They'll Sleep" by Belly






Now They'll Sleep EP (1995) Belly

Now They'll Sleep was the first single from Belly's 1995 LP King. Now They'll Sleep perfectly represents the songs on King and it's very catchy.

The title comes from The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy and everyone are on their way to see the wizard they come upon a field of poppies. The Wicked Witch of the West is watching through her crystal ball and says "Now they'll sleep".

I've never seen the movie Tank Girl but "Thief" is on the soundtrack. It's also on the soundtrack of Twister; I've seen that movie three times but still I don't know when it appears or if it does at all. Back in the mid-90s, a lot of "alternative rock" songs would show up on soundtrack albums- not because they were in any way related to the story, but because record companies wanted to boost soundtrack sales or they wanted to promote certain bands.

I used to skip over "Thief" and didn't like it too much till I gave it a second chance when it appeared on Sweet Ride: The Best of Belly.

It is a good song, but track three, "Baby's Arm", should've taken its place. I've always loved "Baby's Arm"- it sounds like Star-era Belly. It almost sounds like Real Ramona-era Throwing Muses. It has a demo feel to it and it would be cool to see Tanya Donelly re-record it for a solo album.

Track four, "John Dark" was supposed to be on King but got left off. That's fine, it's a little weak and a little dreary. Plus the lyrics turn me off.

Although I love the color brown I found the front cover a little disappointing. On the other hand, the set-up of the back cover is cool. You can tell they were trying to do something different from the Star-era EPs. The Star-era EPs are impossible to top but it was a good try. The inside image- red flowers, half covered with a white text pattern are the best part of the package. With a bright "Belly" logo slapped on it would've made a perfect front cover.

I think it was the Frank Black Headache 10" and 12" where v23 started using photos of record sleeves for their record sleeves. The 12" Now They'll Sleep EP uses the entire CD package all layed flat with a "Belly" logo on top.

I don't own the 12" but I've seen the cover online, as well as the record labels, but I've never seen what the back cover looks like. I'm dying to see it. If you have a scan of the back cover, I'm begging you, please send it along to me. I'll love you forever.

I've found- online- most of the things that I'd looked for forever: Baby Silvertooth, the inside of the Feed The Tree EP, the back cover of the Gepetto 12" EP.

If I can't find the back cover online and if nobody sends it to me then I'll probably buy it online; I've seen it on ebay and internet record stores, but I don't want to have to do that.

I bought the Now They'll Sleep EP CD, along with the Seal My Fate EP CD back in 1995 at Tower Records in Boston. I remember going to visit my high school friend Paula at Regis College afterwards. That was a fun day.

Monday, February 14, 2011

New writing methods


This year I'm going to try new ways of writing- I wanna see what works and what doesn't.

So this is gonna be a five-minute post. Just five minutes, no topic other than the day that just ended.

Tonight my friend and her boyfriend came over and we watched Shawshank and during commercials she switched over to a show called Sex Robots that followed a man who was coming out as a robot fetishist and people who were building sex robots.

I'm still not convinced that it was a real show.

It made me think about the A&E show Intervention. I think it's funny that it poses as a show that wants to help people. If anything, it can help by example, by which I mean: viewers can watch the addicts and think "I don't want to be like that". that's fine. But they can't clain that they actually want to help the actual addicts featured on the show. If they did they would never air any episodes.

Take Allison. No matter if she gets clean or not, no matter what she ever does, she'll always be the It's Girl, as in "It's like I'm walking on sunshine". She was refering to huffing those cans of duster that you use to clean your computer. She was a wicked freak in that show and if it were me I'd kill myself. her life is over. You don't bounce back afte that.

The truth is, Intervention is only about exploiting the addicts. They want the craziest behavior, the ugliest scenes, and the wierdest comments. The producers can try to deny it but that's the way it is.

Some other say I'd like to write about the sad slide that A&E has taken. They used to play moives like Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle, now it's all shows like Gene Simmons's Family Jewels and The Two Coreys. The Discovery Channel is even worse- it used to be an educational science station, now it's all ghost stories.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Atlas Shrugged- Part One, Trailer


People have been trying to make a movie of Atlas Shrugged since before I was born. I always imagined that when it was done it would be sleek and stylish. Something that would be filled with stars at their most beautiful, and stunning backdrops. Filled with the kinds of scenes that Ayn Rand saw in Russia that made her crave the American lifestyle.

The trailer for Atlas Shrugged- Part One came out yesterday and I saw it tonight. I had read a little about the movie's production so I knew that it would be kind of do-it-yourself. The look of this movie- it's not made-for-TV or even direct-to-DVD- it looks like a commercial. A car insurance commercial.

The acting looks flat. Everything about it is so plain. There's a certain cheapness that I can't quite nail down.

I can tell, though, that it's a horrible movie. More to come.

Liz Taylor


I've never seen any movies by Elizabeth Taylor, though I've always wanted to see Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolff? She and Richard Burton are supposed to be amazing in it.

The picture above is one of my favorite photos. I think it originally ran in Life magazine. That's where I first saw it anyway, in one of those large Hollywood issues. She looks so perfect as do the colors and textures.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Still eating

I was lying in bed on my loveseat and I started to feel hungry again so I made some kettle corn, flipped around, and found The Cable Guy's on. I know it's not very popular and didn't do too well at the time, but it's really funny and this and Dumb and Dumber are Jim Carey's best performances (his "Somebody to Love" is so good).

In other news, I saw somewhere that they're making another Pee-Wee Herman movie. I love Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

Mmmmm, that was good

So I just finished eating and now I'm having Friendly's banana split ice cream for dessert. I feel fatter already.

I've asked some riends for advice, but really, I already know what will really help me pack on the pounds: I've got to quit smoking.

Smoking kills my appetite, and whenever I'm hungry and I don't have any food or money I know a cigarette will fix everything.

I don't wanna quit. I do, however, want to cut down to 5 cigarettes a day. That was one of my new years resolutions and one of the few that I can remember.

It hasn't gone so well.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. Another of my resolutions, try to save money, has gone even worse, but it's not hopeless, as I'm not in debt or anything. I've been deep in debt before and it's an awful situation. It feels terrible to know that you're going to have to work and work just to break even.

If I could give young people just two pieces of advice it would be:

1) Take care of your teeth, and
2) Don't go into debt

You've got to make your teeth last a lifetime, and you should only borrow money if you absolutely have to and you should pay it off right away.

You can save yourself a lot of heartache if you follow my advice.

Note: My teeth are in good shape, but I wish that I took better care of them- I've got about three cavities that I need to take care of before 2011 is over.

Another note: I'm watching the end of The Score again. Ity's the only good movie De Niro has made in the last 15 years (though I saw Everybody's Fine yesterday and it was alright- didn't like the ending though)

I'm on a mission


And my goal is to gain 15 lbs by the end of the month. Since last Friday I've been eating like a hog. Kettle corn, Toaster Streudels, crackers with pepperoni & horseradish-flavored cheddar cheese, plus McDonalds every single day: hamburger, dollar-size fries, and dollar drink.

By the way, I went to Wendy's last Friday and I got the fries. They've changed them. I can't remember what they're calling them, but they taste like the kind of fries that you get at a state fair or carnival. They're so fucking good. And what sucks is: I don't live close to a Wendy's. The nearest one is 45 minutes away, othersise I'd be going there every single day.

So tonight- in fact, the minute I finish this post- I'm going to prepare one of my favorite meals. I don't know what it's called but I got the recipe from my Uncle Joe, who probably found it on that old Food Network TV show, Two Fat Ladies.

You need:

1/2 a package of bacon
One head of cabbage
A little olive oil (or veggie oil)
Salt and Pepper
A little onion, maybe a quarter of one (optional)

Get a large soup pot and pour in a little oil.
Dice the bacon, seperate and cook it in the pot till it's done.
Scoop out the bacon, leaving the oil and bacon fat.
Slice the cabbage into thin strips and stir it into the liquid.
Add some salt and A LOT of pepper.
Once the cabbage is cooked to your preffered tenderness turn off the heat and stir in the bacon.
Enjoy.

I usually leave out the onion but I do chop up a little garlic and add it once the bacon is almost done, it adds a nice flavor.

Something to buy for me

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Fun at RJ Battles

My plan for the year was to make RJ Battles a fun place to go. I'd like to make it funny too, but i'm not so good at that, though I have my moments.

I have some interest in politics but I have zero interest in talking about issues with other people- it's a drag, and even if it was possible to change other people's opinions, why would you want to.

I have a clear opinion on all issues, all except one. I'm on both sides of the gay marriage debate. And I have a problem with the extreme people on both sides.

This is the way I look at marriage:

For years and years, all over the world, there have been marriages between a man and a woman. A man and a woman would come together and be joined as one, meaning that their friends, family, and community would view them as one single unit.

And for most of the people who are alive and old enough to vote, that's how they grew up with the idea of marriage.

Now over the past 40 years gays have made a lot of well- deserved progress. Homosexuality used to be viewed as a psychological disorder. Now it is seen by most rational people as a normal part of life. Even if they have reservations about it, they've accepted the fact that it isn't evil.

Still there are a lot of older people that legitimate concerns about allowing gay marriage. And the people who are most passionatly pro- gay marriage need to admit that even 20 years ago, nobody was saying that gay people should be allowed to marry. It's till a very new idea and people aren't sold on it yet.

My friend Pearl (a straight widow) said to me once, "Life is so short; if gay people want to get married then just let them," and I think I agree with her.

There are people who say that allowing gay marriage will weaken the intitution of marriage and I don't believe that. A lot of people have pointed out the multiple marriages of people like Rush Limbaugh, and again, I have to agree. There are way too many straight people who don't take marriage seriously. the get married for the wrong reasons, for instance, they get married because they feel they're expected to, or they start seeing all their friends get married. And they don't take the vows seriously- it's a promise that you make to love and care for another person until death. And you make this promise in front of all your friends and family.

Divorce should be a last resort. I'm not saying it should be harder to obtain a divorce, I mean, people who marry should make every attempt to make the marriage work.

I've seen it- people get bored, or let themselves go, or they keep looking around because they feel like they deserve someone better, their "feelings have changed", they've "grown apart", they "don't feel that magic anymore".

I believe that straight people are doing great harm to the institution of marriage, and I tend to think that gay people just might strengthen marriage.

Monday, February 7, 2011

I wanna blog something

Over at Final Girl she did two movie marathons and blogged during them. She did the Halloween series, the original and all the sequels, and the same thing with Friday the 13th. If you have some free time and you want to have fun you can go to the Final Girl archives and look them up.

I don't want to copy her (yes, I do), but I want to do something likwe that. I want to do something for a few hours and blog about it- I want you to feel like you're with me the whole time.

I could do the Godfather movies, but, really, what can I say? Maybe it would be fun if I listened to all the Pixies albums, in order, and put up a post for each of them. And it would feel like you were up here in my bedroom listening with me.

Even better, what if I blogged during something we could all experience at the same time. Let's say we watched football and we watched the Superbowl together (I know, it was yesterday)- I could blog and you could keep checking in to see what I say and you could leave some comments.

I'll have to keep thinking about this. In the meantime, I'm going to bed, I'm tired.

If you have any ideas, send them along. I love comments.

Promos and posters





1) The main poster for the movie Shanghai Surprise, and the package cover, shows Sean Penn and Madonna kissing. This is an alternate poster and it's a lot more old-fashioned.

2) I guess this Throwing Muses promo was sent out to radio stations back in 1989. When I first saw it I thought it was a book of matches, but, no, it's smelling salts. ("Dizzy").

3) I thought that the only promo posters for Star were the large band photo with the Belly logo and the other one whioh had all the circles with different record sleeve images inside. Then the other night I saw this on ebay.

4) I also saw these on ebay. I love the poster for Trompe Le Monde- both posters actually.

OPP







(Other People's Photos)

I'm always on the look-out for cool images that I can draw/paint I the future. usually I want intersting faces, but I always need a good-looking background too.

I found these photos on Facebook; some were taken by friends, others are by strangers.

1) I love the sky in this picture. It would make a nice watercolor.

2) Same thing with this photo. It was taken in Goshen, MA. The top picture was taken in New Orleans.

3) I used to work with the girl in this picture. She looks lovely, as do the Christmas lights. I love the blurry glow and unusual colors.

4. I like stairs and this photo has a neat angle. I think this view could be disorienting for the viewer, but in a good way.

5) What an odd scene. A run-down storefront or something along with a fake lagoon or something. It could be altered and made into a neat painting.

EPs




In addition to a brand new album, this year is also supposed to see the release of a Throwing Muses anthology including a second disc of B-sides.

In honor of that, I'm going to do a series of posts about EPs, extended plays. My definition is anything that isn't an album and isn't a single (one song and one B-side).

This will be the first post and I chose Throwing Muses Counting Backwards EP as it's one of my favorites.

This EP has it all: bright, colorful artwork, a guest musician, and B-sides that are better than the single, plus another B-side that's more interesting.

Now, "Counting Backwards" is a good song- it kicks off The Real Ramona and is the perfect bridge between their previous LP, Hunkpapa, and the new direction of Ramona. I think I read somewhere that the song is about a certain therapy that was suggested to help with bipolar disorder.

Track 2 of the EP is "Amazing Grace" and it's probably one of TM's best songs. The song is so well-played and the guitars are amazing, especially accoustic lap steel guitar played by guest musician Joe Harvard. At 5:43 it's a long song, but not too long; it just gets better and better. The ending is incredible.

"Same Sun" is the third track and I always thought that the lyrics were pretty interesting. It's an odd song. There's a mention of a "postcard" which makes me think that "Same Sun" may have somehow inspired the sleeve artwork for The Real Ramona which includes a postcard. And maybe "Same Sun" was originally part of the album tracklisting but was ultimately left off (because it's so strange).

By the way, back in early 1995 I remember reading a story about Belly recording their upcoming LP King and one of the songs mentioned was "John Dark". "John Dark" ended up, instead, on the Now They'll Sleep EP. One of the songs on the Seal My Fate studio EP was "Diamond Ribcage", which includes the line, "My heart in diamond ribcage"- I suspect "Diamond" was orinally supposed to be on King as so much of the sleeve art features playing card symbols- clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Shit, I should've saved those theories for when I post about Seal My Fate.

Anyway, the forth and final track on the Counting Backwards EP is "Cottonmouth", and I get the impression that it might be the all-time favorite song of most Throwing Muses fans. Unless my memory is messed up, I think I first heard it at a Kristin Hersh solo show at Smith College back in 1994. There's a very cool (partial) video on Youtube showing Throwing Muses playing "Cottonmouth" and you can hear the crowd singing along and nearly drowning out Hersh.

There's something special about this EP. Actually, there's a lot special about it, but what I'm talking about now is the tracklisting. The order is odd, I'd say...I think the obvious choice would be to put "Amazing Grace" at the end because 1) it's so long, and 2) it has that "last track" feel to it, and 3) it just rambles on and on (in a very good way, of course). But it's placed as the second track and the best song comes at the end.

An odd choice, but it works.

Though it's only an EP, Counting Backwards is an essential Throwing Muses recording, maybe the essential Throwing Muses recording. Even more than The Real Ramona, it represents the high point of the original line-up.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

More people

Right now, like other years before, I'm "watching" the Superbowl. That means it's on with the sound low and I'm doing other shit, including listening to my playlist, which is playing Elvis Costello's "Puppet Girl".

(I just wanna say- I was disappointed that it and the other 13 Steps Lead Down B-sides weren't included on the bonus disc of the re-release of Brutal Youth, but I've since found out that those songs are amoung about 9 others that were written and recorded with his ex-wife, Cait, and meant for a singer named Wendy James. So maybe they'll see their own release someday. In the meantime, I've got them on my computer thanks to the magic of the internet. Now we're on to the next song, "Your Smoke Screen" by kd lang. This song perfectly describes the relationship I'm in at the moment.)

Anyway, remember last month when I posted about the death of Herb Ritts, which happened in 2002 and I just found out about.

Yesterday I learned of a few more. Did you know that Paul Harvey died? Over a year ago? I was even more surprised to find out that Ken Ober died, also over a year ago. Ober was the host of MTV's Remote Control. I don't know what surprised me more- the fact that he died (of a heart attack) or that he was 52.

The point is: I've got the read the paper every day from now on. I miss too much.

Friday, February 4, 2011

I'm hoping this cigarette doesn't make me puke


I had a fun time last night. At dinnertime my friend Kate texted and invited me to see some her friends who are in a band and were doing a show at a club. And the club was in Worchester. I was so excited to go and we had a really good time. The band was excellent. (I'll get their name and add it in here soon.) i had one screwdriver and halfway through the show Kate ordered a medium pizza that was delivered right to the club.

You know how good pizza or Chinese tastes when you're drinking or drunk? That's how it was.

On the way back west the Pike was nearly empty and Kate drove so it was a relaxing ride. I could've fallen asleep.

Since we wouldn't be getting back till around 3am and Kate had to work at 6:30am (I had today off, luckily) I decided she could sleep better if she just stayed at my place. Less driving and I live closer to our work.

It was so nice having her stay over. She slept on my twin bed and I slept on the loveseat. I considered starting my day today early but twenty minutes after I walked Kate to the door I was back on the loveseat and under the covers. My day started at 9am.




Note: I don't have a good reason to post the movie poster above. Except, of course, that it's so cool. Imagine, you're a movie poster painter, and your boss says, "Hey, I want a poster that ties in the two nastiest scenes from the movie, but make it classy too by showing people that the movie stars Lee Remick and Gregory "Atticus Finch" Peck".

By the way, I love the first two Omen movies. And the Italian graveyard scene from the original is one of the best scenes in all of horror movie history- the lighting really sets a mood. It isn't daytime, it isn't nighttime, it's just in-between. So creepy.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

"Faith" George Michael




I never bought the Faith album but I think I made a copy of it from the library.

The new deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition just came out and I'd like to get it someday, maybe used in a year or two.

There are 2 discs and a DVD. The first disc is the re-mastered album-

Disc One
1. Faith
2. Father Figure
3. I Want Your Sex (1 & 2)
4. One More Try
5. Hard Day
6. Hand To Mouth
7. Look At Your Hands
8. Monkey
9. Kissing A Fool
10. A Last Request (I Want Your Sex 3)

Disc Two
1. Faith (Instrumental)
2. Fantasy
3. Hard Day (Remix)
4. I Believe
5. Kissing A Fool (Instrumental)
6. Love's In Need Of Love Today (Live)
7. Monkey (7" Edit)
8. Monkey (A cappella)
9. Monkey (Remix)

I like all the singles from Faith- "I Want Your Sex" is still a cool song, "Faith" holds up very well, and "Kissing A Fool" is under-rated. Back when "One More Try" came out, I'd always listen to the radio in bed on headphones; that song always made me sad. As for the other album tracks... they kind of sound a lot alike, especially "Hard Day" and "Monkey". I get the feeling George Michael was dating a junkie when he made this record.

Back in the 80s, when it came to B-sides, instrumental versions made good filler. It'd be cool to hear the instrumentals of "Faith" and "Kissing A Fool". One remix of "Monkey" would probably be plenty, but all three are good. I'm surprised to see "Fantasy" there. It was the B-side for "Freedom 90". That's how I knew it and I didn't realize it was that old.

I remember I had the cassingle for "Freedom 90", and when I was driving my friends Angela and Ally used to love it but they hated "Fantasy" and always fast-forwarded over it. I think it's a cool song.

The DVD contains an interview and seven music videos, including the uncencored version of "I Want You Sex".

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I need a scanner badly

Tonight I was doing some sketches. Maybe they could be called blueprints. I'd like to scan them and show them to you.

Everyday I walk past this old shop that's on a residential street, houses all around. I'd like to buy it, fix it up, and make it my home.

I don't think I'll ever be able to buy a real house. But I'd like to have one by the time I'm forty.

So here's my plan: find an existing structure and make it into a house. A one-bedroom, maybe a with a small guest room. My whole adult life I've mostly lived in apartments. I'm comfortable with the size of a one-bedroom apartment. But having neighbors so close really sucks. They're always being loud and stealing your parking space.

So I'd like to find an old factory shop or a large garage on someone's property, preferably one with an existing working bathroom- I know nothing about plumbing and anyway, I don't want to start from scratch.

My cousin is an architect and a lot of my family members are handy and know about building. If I can find a basic building with a bathroom and sink I can take care of the rest. One storie is fine, though I'd love a second floor or even just a loft with a ladder. When I was ten my family rented a cabin on a lake and it had a bedroom loft and the ladder was in the living room and from the big bed we had a nice view of the lake. It was really cool.

So tonight I did some sketches of what I would do with a basic structure with the bathroom at one end.

Here's what I'd do: Imagine the bathroom on the far right-hand side. I'd have a linen closet in the bathroom that would extend out. On the outside of the bathroom I'd have another, larger closet. If there was a second storie I'd have the staircase right next to that and I'd put a daybed underneath the staircase for unexpected guests to crash. It would be small and simple but closed in with a wall there'd be a built-in bookshelf and light so they could read a little before they go to sleep.

The bedroom would be in the opposite corner from the bathroom and it would be tiny- just enough room for a bed, a small nightstand, and a small dresser. There might be a closet that extends into the room next to it.

Between the bedroom and hallway leading to the bathroom I'd put a small kitchen- small with just enough room to prepare and cook food. There wouldn't be a table or anywhere to sit. Any extra space would be used to put in a small closet to use as a pantry.

The largest room in the house would be the living room. That's where I'd entertain company. The far left-nand side would be where I'd put a couch, a loveseat, a recliner, a couple bookshelfs, and a coffeetable. On the kitchen wall or the loveseat wall I'd put a small table for 3 and nearby there would be a small work desk.

I think it would be an awesome place to live and a great place to have company. If I had some guests sleeping over, someone could sleep on the couch (maybe it'll be a fold-out bed), and someone else could sleep on the daybed under the stairs. A third person could sleep on an air mattress on the living room floor. A forth person could just hop into bed with me.

The place I'm imagining would be a little bit larger than the typical one-bedroom apartment. But I could set it up in a way that would be the best possible use of space.

I think about the house where I grew up- a full basement, a downstairs with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and 1/2 bath, an upstairs with a full bath and three bedrooms, and an attic.

My friend Amy lives in Springfield and while her house is very very nice, most houses in the city are smaller. The house where she grew up is set up exactly like mine, but all the room are much smaller and their downstairs 1/2 bathroom also holds the washer and dryer. I look at their house and see the ways that they make the most of the available space. My parents' kitchen has a large pantry that you can walk into with counters for preparing food. Instead of that, Amy's house has a large storage closet and a spicerack that is built into the wall and has a door.

I also think about my uncle and aunt's house on the Cape. It's one of my favorite places in the world and I feel incredibly comfortable there. A hundred years ago it was a schoolhouse and the room that they use as a kitchen was once the school's cloakroom. It's one narrow room with all the regular kitchen stuff and counter space, but there's nowhere to sit and you really don't want more than one person in there at a time. Their dining room seats about six comfortably and it's also the computer room.

The living room holds a couch, loveseat, recliner and coffee table, and like the dining room, it's tight. At large gatherings guests are usually spread out betweent he two rooms without feeling seperated.

The tightness of space is eased by the fact that my uncle and aunt are the best hosts I've ever known. Years of having relatives from the other side of the state has given them a lot of practice. The summer beach season is always a busy time for them. We used to visit every year when I was a kid and the first year I lived away from home I spent the winter there. It still feels like home.

I'd like to have the kind of place that friends and family could visit and have that same feeling. I want them to feel safe and comfortable. I want them to feel like they're at home.

Is anyone reading this blog?



I'm guessing no? People have in the past. Some readers have even left comments. But I can't remember the last time anyone left a comment.

This was never meant to be a blog with a lot of traffic. My main focus is record sleeves, and not a lot of sleeves either, just the ones I like, by bands I like.

Frank Black and Throwing Muses fans have checked in from time to time and that's about it.

But I like to think that they and other people stop by once in a while, or maybe even every couple days, to see what's new.

While I'm not an entertaining writer like Final Girl, I think I've become a better writer (better than I used to be, not better than Final Girl) and this blog is somewhat fun to read. And while I'm bad at writing about music I do think I'm a better writer than The Daily Guru who has- according to him- a huge following.

I think I just need to get the word out there.

Also, if you are reading this, maybe leave a comment sometime, just so I know you're out there. I'd feel better.

Thanks, RJ







Note: I love those two photos.