RJ Battles

I'm tempted

2012-01-26T19:26:00.001-08:00

Right by where I work there are two record stores: Turn It Up- a used record store, and Newbury Comics- a chain record store that also sells used CDs. Both are great and I spend a lot of time at each.

Right now Turn It Up has a CD that I really want to get, but then again, it's kind of a waste. It's a CD maxi- single for The Pixies's "Alec Eiffel". It's got the same B-sides as "Planet Of Sound" so I don't need the music. But I really like the sleeve. It's got a cool cover, but what I like best is the back cover. And what I like best about that is the eye on the top. I especially like how it has a border around it.

The Trompe Le Monde-era isn't my favorite time for Pixies sleeve art, but there are some aspects of it that I really admire. The back cover of TLM is one of the best Pixies images- beautiful and a great idea. And the "Alec" CD package goes along well with that image.

It only costs $3 and I get paid tomorrow. This time tomorrow night it might be mine.

Good night.

Movies

2012-01-25T08:52:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm watching a movie called P2 on Sci-Fi. It's supposed to be pretty good. I hope it is. Weird choice for a title though. I read somewhere that Wes Bentley, who's in the movie, was hooked on heroin for about ten years and a lot of times I just did movies for money for drugs. I don't know if P2 is one of them.

We'll talk more later.

SOMEWHERE

2012-01-14T17:00:00.001-08:00

Somewhere (2010) Sofia Coppola

After the rough time she had with The Godfather Part III I hate to talk shit about Sofia Coppola but I'm really bothered by her 2010 movie Somewhere.

Why would anybody make this movie?

I waste a lot of time. I admit it. But this kovie is a waste of everyone's time. Anyone who has ever watched this movie has had their time wasted, so it amazes me that some people- like Roger Ebert- praised it.

Stephen Dorff (who I've disliked since the 1980s. He's a less talented Ethan Hawke (who I think sucks also) and I don't even like his chest hair) plays a bored, boring straight actor.

Here we see a shot of two woman pole dancing. Then a shot of Dorff lying in bed looking sleepy. Back and forth, back and forth. Later, he effortlessly gets a lady at a party into bed. They're having fun for about a minute, then he's fast asleep.

This is Coppola's way of showing us that Dorff isn't enjoying his life; he isn't even feeling it.

Every scene, every shot, I think Why? Why does she keep showing 20 second shots of Dorff in the shower? It doesn't further the story, it doesn't help introduce us to the character, it's not visually interesting, it's not even sexy. Later we see footage of Ghandi on Dorff's TV late at night. Then a shot of him lying in bed watching, the same way he watched the pole dancers.

Whatever Coppola has to say with this movie she should've just said. She's could've written a one page essay and payed to have it run in Vanity Fair or Good Housekeeping. Something like:

"Some actors, despite their success, are very bored with their lives. But if they try to connect with their children it will help them mature and find happiness."

Wait, she doesn't even need a full page ad. She could print up postcards, Stephen Dorff's picture on one side, text on the other. Or she could ask The Strokes to set that statement to music.

But that bullshit message is not enough to carry a boring, unattractive movie like Somewhere.

And one more thing. Why is it that Mac Culkin or Dakota Fanning has a hit movie and then afterwards every single child actor in a movie is either a fanning or a Culkin? Is it studio pressure? Go with a name people might know?

In conclusion, I dislike Stephen Dorff.

Yer Ghost

2012-01-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

These are some images that I just came across and think are pretty cool. I think some of the pictures are from the 7 inch and others are from the CD single or the 12 inch.

Note: Notice how similar the last image is to the artwork for The Pixies's Bossanova text.

1993

2012-01-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

I guess at some point back in 1993 you could buy this poster set from 4AD or v23. I'd love to have it. They're so beautiful. Safari has an amazing cover- I love the rainbow- colored gorillas and elephants and the colors and different directions of the text. And the Frank Black: Frank Black poster- the colors are perfect.

My favorite, of course, is the Belly poster. All the differnt circle fascinate me. The only Belly record I own is the "Gepetto" 7 inch but I want them all. And a while back I found a website that shows the fronts, backs, and labels of a bunch of Belly 45s, but the problem is the page soesn't let you take the pictures- you can only post a link to their page. It sucks.

It don't matter if you're black and white

2012-01-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

Let's start the new year with some Belly and Throwing Muses from the olden days.

Movies, good and bad

2012-01-05T18:05:00.000-08:00

I was just over at Ken Levine's blog, By Ken Levine, and he had written about certain movies and directors being over-praised. This is because of the new Diablo Cody movie Young Adult. Then he brought up the fact that Woody Allen, because he's done some great work, is able to get away with making a lot of shitty movies- movies that are praised beause he made them but would be ignored otherwise.

A few readers chimesd in to complain about Young Adult, Cody, and Juno ( I don't think anyone mentioned Jennifer's Body. That means none of them have seen it). I think Cody is unfairly criticized. I'm not saying she's perfect; I just think people complain about the wrong things. A lot of people say about Juno that teenagers don't really talk like that, but that doesn't matter at all.

Like Ayn Rand always said, she didn't want to write about the people she saw everyday. She wrote about the people that she wanted to see everyday.

And would you rather watch a realistic movie about teen pregnancy where the girl cries for 2 hours and searches her soul for an answer, or do you want to see a movie where the girl is clever and has a little fun with her situation? I like Juno just the way it is. If people don't talk like that then maybe they should.

Quentin Tarentino gets a lot of shit for having characters that sound like him, especially in Death Proof, but I like his voice and I like the things he has to say. I don't care if all the charcters sound the same either, like on The West Wing when Aaron Sorkin was writing it. Having one persons stamp on a work is almost always better than something done by a group of writers. The focus is stronger. It's one person's vision.

Anyway, Happy New Year.

Attraction

2011-12-31T00:52:00.000-08:00

I don't have a certain type, but they all fall into the same catagory: the wrong guy. In my early 20s I was a magnet for compulsive liars and drug addicts. I didn't know much about drugs back then, and I'm still not much of a liar, but i made a connection with that type of person, and to a certain extent, I still do.

That doesn't really bother me, but one thing that I find hard to accept is my attraction to certain horrible characters- ones you've probably read about or seen on the news.

I'm, not trying to be shocking or funny. I hate to admit that I've been attracted to a certain mass murder who was executed for his horrible, disgusting crimes. I always thought he was very handsome, and he's the kind of guy that I would focus on when I was in middle and high school: angry, moody loners. I don't wanna say this guys name; I'll just say that I believe that if I had gotten to meet him I coukld've changed the direction of his life and he wouldn't have fallen in with a bunch of anti-government miltia-types.

He was probably into guys, or was at least confused, and being in the Army really fucked him up for good. I think his fucked-up "mission" became a substitute for sex. And I wish this guy had never been born- hundreds of people would habve happier lives today- but, still, I was truned on when I read a Vanity Fair article where he told the writer about how his jail cell is video-monitored and the guards can see his morning "pup tent".

There's also a certain guy who murdered one woman and was involved in ther disappearance of another. He's an evil person, but I came across a shirtless photo of him and saved it to the computer.

I'm not gonna worry about this too much. I'm also attracted to other- normal, decent, law-abiding- guys.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T17:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't yet written in my journal about Christmas 2011 and since I'm kind of pressed for time and I haven't written here in a while, it's all going here.

For me, Christmas started this past Friday night when I did all my Christmas shopping. I only bought for my three roommates and my 2 year old niece so it didn't take long. I came home and wrapped everything, and when I haven';t yet gotten the Christmas spirit, wrapping presents always does the trick.

I worked the next day and afterwards I went to my parents house and we got ready to go to my cousin's house where we go every year for Christmas Eve.

I love it. Two things, though, hit me this year. Every year it's exactly the same. Same great food, same routine, same family members. I guess that's pretty comforting. Because it's always the same, I was time-tripping a little, because it felt like last year's Chjristmas Eve was the day before- that's how close it all felt. Also, my cousin Josh asked me what was new and I realized that not a single thing about my life had changed from the year before. Nothing. I guess I could feel thankful and instead I feel like a big fat loser.

We drove home and my dad ghot ready for bed and my mom and I sat in the living room with the two dogs, one on each of our laps and we watched old movies and read and waiting till 11pm when my brother got home from work. After a quick visit we all went to bed.

Tghe next morning we did presents and I helped mom clean and get lunch together. It was just us, my parents, my brothers, and my brother John's wife and daughter.

I got Gigi 2 books and a notebook with a light-up snowman cover. She opened the first gift and tossed the book aside so fast that I wish we had it on video. No interest. But she loved her Dora pajamas and insisted on wearing them instead of her cute Santa suit.

Gigi and John's wife Stacie were tired so they didn't go to my grandmothers to see everyone before they came to my parent's for dessert. My mom's side of the family was pissed at John because they wanted to see Gigi and had presents for her so they ended up stayjing at Noni's and not coming for dessert. I think my mom was disappointed and sad but she didn't say anything. It's just that she had made brownies and Christmas sugar cookies with buttercream frosting and I'm sure Christmas didn't feel complete without coffee and dessert together.

I went to bed early and the next morning i woke up sick and spent the entire day in bed until 7pm when a friend came to pick me up and take me home.

I had a really good time though I wish I had stepped in and offered to drive Stacie home for a nap or said that I'd take John and Gigi up to Noni's. All the hard feelings could've been avoided but I was tired myself and not really thinking.

So that's my Christmas story, hope you enjoyed it, and I hope that you yourself had a great Christmas.

If I don't talk to you before then, Happy New Year. Love RJ

Here's what I don't like

2011-12-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

This is going to be one of my rare negative posts. I try not to write about things that I don't like but- that's not what this blog is about- but sometimes I have to talk about these things.

I love the Bravo network. There's The Millionaire Matchmaker and Million Dollar Listing and Tabitha's Salon Takeover plus a bunch of Kathy Griffin specials.

I also loved Project Runway. I'm pretty sure that the creators of PR and Sarah Jessica Parker got together and created Work of Art- the Search for the Next Great Artist. It's just like PR only with visual art.

I saw a few episodes of the first season and while I wasn't impressed with the artists the show was interesting to watch.

My problem with Work of Art is the show's "Tim Gunn". I don't know who he is or what his name is but I hate him. He's a fake and a tool and I can't stand his fucking combover. Someone needs to call him out on it and as far as I know, no one has.

It pisses me off so bad. He's got a scraggly tuft of hair up front and then all this hair from the side of his head combed into it. Some combovers work for a minute or two but this isn't that kind of combover. This is the kind where you see the person and their part is so oddly placed that it's all you can see.

I hate combovers and the people who have them. The rules of manners probably forbid it, but I believe that whenever someone encounters somebody with a combover they should be allowed to say to that person, "You're bald and I don't appreciate you trying to deceive me".

FROZEN

2011-12-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

Frozen (2010) Adam Green

I'm trying something new. I like the blog By Ken Levine, and one of the things he does is he writes the names of movies and TV shows in all caps, especially in the title of his posts. For now I'm just doing that- using caps in post titles. I'm hoping it'll make the subject clearer.

Anyway, tonight after work I went on the computer and also turned on the TV. I wasn't watching it; it was just on the Encore station, but at one point I looked up and saw three young people sitting in a ski lift chair. Right away I knew what movie it was. Back in February of this year the Final Girl Film Club selection was Frozen, a 2010 movie by Adam Green.

I remembered reading about it and I also remembered that most of the people who reviewed it liked it. It has an interesting set-up for a scary movie: three people stuck on a ski lift while all the staff shuts down and leaves for the week, not knowing that the three are still up there. I missed the very beginning of the movie so I don't know how the filmmakers settled the one major stumbling block to any modern horror movie: cell phones.

I imagine it must be really hard to come up with ideas for horror movies now that everyone has a cell phone and can call for help. I guess "no signal" is how they get around that for now, but what are they gonna do when coverage is universal? I guess they'll still think of something.

Anyway, the movie was really good and well done. As Final Girl said, the characters aren't very likable, but I don't think that their personalities bothered me as much as they bothered her. She called them assholes but I saw them more as nice people who did a few asshole things, as we all do, or at least, as I do sometimes.

I'm not gonna say anymore about the movie except that you should see it. Just know that it's very upsetting in places- a lot of places.

Moving on. Today was my day off but I had some office work that I needed to do so I forced myself to go out into the cold and go in. Before I left I was on Youtube watching clips of Chelsea Handler, both her show and her on Ellen. She's so funny, I love her.

The Informers

2011-12-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to see The Informers for a while. The Informers was the first Bret Easton Ellis book I read. It was the book cover that got my attention. Back then, I'd go to the library and choose the book that with the cover that looked the most "artistic'. That's what got me to read The Virgin Suicides and The Tale of the Body Thief.

As for The Informers, I'd remembered all the stories about American Psycho but I wasn't interested in reading that until after reading The Informers. The Informers cover had a blue sky with clouds and a black block with the letters of the title cut out and the all the type was set at an angle.

I was flipping around the other night before bed and caught the middle of The Informers. I watched 20 minutes and it was all so dull and boring that I turned it off and went to bed.

I have a theory that any movie with an "all- star cast" is terrible. I have a soft spot for the Cannonball movies but they're bad. And I love Garry Marshall- Penny's brother. He's great director (Pretty Woman), and a great actor (Soapdish) but you couldn't pay me to see his two newest movies, Valentines Day and New Years Eve. The ads make me angry.

Anyway, I've read Ellis say that The Rules of Attraction was the best movie made from one of his books and I agree. It did the best job of capturing the attitude of his writing.

I've been away too long

2011-12-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

I wish I was one of those bloggers who post every single day. I give a lot of shit to The Daily Guru but at least he's consistent. I do have an excuse, I guess: I have zero readers. But that could always change. And if someone does start reading RJ Battles, I wanna be ready. Final Girl has been extremely inactive this year and she's probably lost a lot of readers because if you keep going to a page and seeing the same old post you lose interest. Why bother? When there's a new post every day or every other day it's exciting and it feels like there's something going on. When three weeks or a month go by with no new posts the page starts to feel like a ghost town and it's very sad and a little depressing.

Also, I've always suspected that I've had readers all along. A small silent minority that lurks on the edge of RJ-town. They read but don't comment. They keep me writing, just not often enough.

Anyway, the focus today is on cassette sleeves. We've got two Madonnas and one Elvis Costello.

I guess around the time of EC's Brutal Youth album, he and his wife wrote an album's worth of rock songs and he decided to give them all to a singer named Wendy James. He and his wife recorded demos of all them and some of them showed up as Brutal Youth B-sides. I picked up the CD single for "13 Steps Lead Down" and it included "Puppet Girl", "Basement Kiss", and "We Despise You". I've since lost that CD but I always liked those songs- they were good songs and best of all they didn't have those awful keyboards that ruined a lot of EC songs over the years.

Sometime in the mid 90s Madonna was trying to soften her image after Sex, Erotica, and Body Of Evidence so she put out Something To Remember, a collection of her older ballads. "Oh Father" was re-released and this is the sleeve.

Also, after the success of the single "Into The Groove" it was included on later editions of Like A Virgin. They made it the first song on the second side.

Red Heaven sampler

2011-12-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

Red Heaven sampler (1992) Throwing Muses

I came across this image and was surprised by the tracklisting. The record company actually came up with a really cool and interesting selection of songs. And the track with the most radio appeal- the remix of "Firepile"- appears at the end of the CD.

1 "Dio" isn't my favorite song from Red Heaven but I like it a lot nad it's held up pretty well for a song that's almost 20 years old. It has a great energy.

2 "Summer St." is the kind of song that can easily get stuck in your head. It should've been released as a single. Over the years there have been so many excellent TM songs that could've found a large audience but they weren't released as singles because they didn't sound like what was on the radio at the time. It's too bad. It's a huge loss.

3, 4, 5, 6 Four tracks from the Firepile EPs including two original songs and two covers. All have high energy, even the slower "City Of The Dead". From the credits it looks like the Bernard George really became part of the band well before University.

7 "Firepile (Remix)" I love remixes of rock songs. I'm thinking of TM's "Him Dancing", Belly's "Gepetto" and "Slow Dog", and The Pixies's "Dig For Fire". This "Firepile" remix is awesome. The drums and guitars sound so clear and loud. It's much more intense than the original album version.

The Exorcist

2011-12-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

Sliding & Driving

2011-12-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

Sliding & Driving (1996) Tanya Donelly

I might've mentioned some of this in an older post, but here it goes again: I loved Belly back in the early to mid 90s. Then they broke up and Tanya Donelly went solo. I remember being in the big Tower Records store in Boston back in 1996 and seeing the Sliding & Driving EP in their vinyl single section. it couldn't have been priced at more than $9.99, but as much as I loved Belly (and Throwing Muses), I didn't buy it.

I think I suspected that the music wasn't very good and I based that on the sleeve. I didn't like the colors or the collage style of the images. The lettering was cool but that was it. I also ignored Lovesongs For Underdogs when it came out in 1997. Maybe I decided that I'd pick it up someday, and I did, but that wasn't until 2003.

I'd made the right decision and I'd made a mistake. I was mostly right to ignore Sliding; half the songs weren't that good. But I really missed out by waiting so long to get Lovesongs. It's worth it for "Landspeed Song" alone. Then there's "Goat Girl", "Clipped", and "Swoon" (also included on Sliding).

But there's more that I'd missed out on: if I'd gotten Lovesongs back in 1997 I also would've picked up the CD singles and heard all the amazing B-sides.

"These Days"

"Moon Over Boston"

"Vanilla"

"Bury My Heart" and my favorite- maybe my favorite song ever-

"Influenza"

Anyway, here are some Sliding & Driving images.

Peeptown, PA

2011-12-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Almost ten years ago, one of my oldest friends got married and moved to Betheleham, PA. The town used to be the home of one of the largest steel mills in the country. Production declined over the past thirty years and now Betheleham Steel is out of business.

Now Betheleham is the home of the Just Born Co., maker of Mike & Ike candy and Peeps. My friend lives less than a mile away from the factory. I've wanted to visit so badly so that I could go on a tour and watch the Peeps being made.

Anyway, I came across this painting on Wiki and I like it a lot.

Dizzy

2011-12-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

"Dizzy" (1989) Throwing Muses

There's something cool about the images on the "Dizzy" record sleeve. There's a certain hologram/3-D element to the cactus. I'm going to do some watercolor painting over the next couple days and I'm hoping to do something similar. If it's good I'll post it here.

Songs from Little Creatures

2011-12-06T20:48:00.001-08:00

"The Lady Don't Mind"
"Road To Nowhere" (1985) Talking Heads

I own the first two Talking Heads albums on vinyl. Originally I bought them on one those "2 on 1" tapes that Warner Brothers used to put out. They did the same thing with some of Prince's early albums- you'd get, say, Controversy on Side A and Dirty Mind on Side B and the whole thing would cost about $7.99.

The other Talking Heads album that I have on vinyl is Little Creatures. A lot of people call it their first big "pop" album but I don't know. Yes, it has catchy songs, but I don't think they compromised anything.

There's one thing I don't like though: I've read a few times that David Byrne felt that the structure of "Road To Nowhere" was too simple so he added the gospel intro. I think that part is lame and it nearly ruins the song. Oh well.

The sleeve for Creatures is interesting. The album came out in 1985 and the style of the sleeve is very similar to Prince's Around The World In A Day. In fact, each albums single record sleeves are alike too as they both use isolated images taken from the larger album picture.

Take Me To The River

2011-12-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

"Take Me To The River" (1978) Talking Heads

This is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs- the drums sound do good. The top sleeve is cool; I love it when artists use a variation of the album cover for a single's sleeve.

2011-12-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

Lovesongs For Underdogs (1997) Tanya Donelly

I love the tape itself and I think the T-shirt image is an interesting choice.

Lately

2011-12-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was tired and spent most of the day in bed. When I wasn't sleeping I was watching movies, propped up with pillows. Shattered Glass was on so I watched that again.

As always, I'm really looking forward to Christmas and I'm hoping to start shopping the weekend after next. I've been working a lot over the past couple weeks so I'll have a good amount of money.

Do you look forward to Christmas, and what is your favorite part of it?

New David Sedaris

2011-11-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

Just recently I found an essay that David Sedaris wrote for The Guardian this past summer. It's called "Chicken Toenails, Anyone?" and it's one of the funniest things he's written in a long time. He comes down pretty hard on both Chinese food and Chinese people and certain people have complained in print.

In tone, the essay would've fit in perfectly in Sedaris's earlier collections like Barrel Fever or Naked.

I have no problem with people complaining about Sedaris or his writing. But I totally disagree with the critisism that he's recieved for this essay. He doesn't say anything that is untrue, and it's unfair of other writers to call him racist or even insensitive.

What I really want to write about is the piece that Alex Heard wrote a few years ago in The New Republic. Heard's essay bothered me then, and it bothers me even more now. I'm going to go into full detail later this week. If you'd like to read it yourself there's a link to it on Sedaris's Wiki page.

The Vampire's Assistant

2011-11-29T22:33:00.000-08:00

I really like this movie. It's on now, but I first saw it last fall when I was staying at my friend's house while I had a couple days off and he was at work. I got to sit on his recliner drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. That was a good time.

Anyway, I can't stand the lead- he seems like a goody-goody in real life, Steve is more interesting. I like the monkey girl and John C. Reiley is really good.

Shockaholic

2011-11-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

Shockaholic (2011) Carrie Fisher

This weekend I bought Carrie Fisher's new book, Shockaholic. She's already done four novels, all loosely based on her life, starting with her best known: 1987's Postcards From The Edge which was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep, Shirley McClaine, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, and Richard Dreyfuss and directed by Mike Nichols (Dreyfuss is thanked on Postcard's acknowledgements page; he went through rehab around the same time that she did).

Around the same time that the Postcards movie came out, Fisher realeased her second novel, Surrender The Pink. I read in an old Entertainment Weekly interview that Steven Spielberg bought the movie rights before the book was even finished. Reading the novel you can see why there is no Surrender The Pink- The Motion Picture. I started reading with a lot of interest because the book is supposed to be based on Fisher's relationship with Paul Simon and the two of them are an odd pair that I find interesting. But the book is made up of the kind of dialogue that dragged down Postcards- the worst part of her first novel were the sections where the characters had converations about their feelings.

I haven't read the two newer novels, Delusions of Grandma from the 90s or The Best Awful from around 2005 but from what I understand Delusions is more of an invention and Awful is almost entirely drawn from real events in Fisher's life, from the birth of her daughter to her ex-husband leaving her for a man to her cable TV interview series to her opiate relapse (Oxycontin) to her stay in a mental hospital.

A couple years ago Fisher went on what she called her "one and a half woman show" Wishful Drinking and released a book based on that material. It was a great book with some interesting stories, but most people felt the same way I did: the book was too slim and most subjects were touched upon too briefly.

Her new book, kind of a Wishful Drinking II, is Shockaholic. While this one is also too slim (162 pages) it covers its subjects in more detail. In this case I wish there were more subjects and a little less detail. There are really only five main subjects: her ECT treatments, Michael Jackson, a 1985 blind date with Chris Dodd (plus Ted Kennedy), her step-father Harry Karl, and her father Eddie.

All of it is interesting, especially the MJ section, but I was hoping for more stories about the movies she made, and I don't mean Star Wars. I'd like to here about The 'burbs and The Time Guardian (though she does mention Hollywood Vice Squad and Liberty.

Anyway, while the book is needlessly vulgar in spots, it's well-worth reading and a lot of fun.

Note: The top image is the one that's on the cover of my book. Before Shockaholic was released I saw the bottom image on Amazon. I belive the bottom image was used on non-US editions of the book, but that's just a guess.

Pod (1990)

2011-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

Pod (1990) The Breeders

HMV makes cool ads

2011-11-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a little Hips and Makers and Strings.

Ramona

2011-11-18T18:47:00.001-08:00

I love The Real Ramona and everything related to it. The other day I saw this cool promo for TRR; I wish I had it. I love the album cover, the black background with the fern, the postcard, the photo of the band at the beach, the cover photo and the way that they use that image on the inside of the sleeve- everything.

I read somewhere that Kristin Hersh was working on a follow-up to Rat Girl and it's supposed to focus on the recording of The Real Ramona. I hope it's true; that'd be awesome.

So much time on the computer

2011-11-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

I waste a lot of time.

I'll have two days off in a row and I just sit at the computer looking shit up. Say there's a movie on, like the other night, when The Town was on TV. After I had to go to Wiki and look it up- who was in it, stories about the production, the stars. From there I go to other pages: actors, then movies they were in, then other actors.

Ben Affleck is a good director. I can't even think of any flaws. None. And he does a good job of involving the audience. You feel protective of the bank robbers, even Jeremy Renner. He's so believable and you don't notice at all that he's acting. I think he was nomintated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Oh wait, I thought of a flaw. I forgot, there was one thing that bothered me: I don't wanna give anything away so I'll just say that I don't believe that Renner's sister would be given the information that she has and gives to the FBI. I think it would be too risky to tell her, especially considering the heat that the robbers are under at that point. They're so careful so it seems like a huge lapse.

But anyway, it's an awesome movie. Good story, the car chases- especially the one in the middle of the movie- are unnerving and realistic (no, I've never been chased, but I witnessed part a police chase last week and it was freaky), and the breakfast scene with Affleck, his girlfriend, and Renner is wicked suspenseful.

Back to Jeremy Renner. He's the best thing about the movie; it wouldn't be the same without him. I never saw (and don't really wanna see) The Hurt Locker but I do remember seeing him years ago in one of his earliest movies, maybe his first starring role: Jeffrey Dauhmer in Dauhmer. I didn't see the whole thing but one scene sticks out in my memory. It's a scene where Dauhmer is in his late teens or early twenties and he's been living with one of his aunts and his father comes for a visit. His father goes through his closet and finds a mannequin or something and other creepy stuff and then he sees a lockbox that belongs to him and he demands to know why his son has it and what he's keeping inside. They argue and finally his father is about to smash the box open and at the last moment Dauhmer says that he's hiding porn magazines inside and he doesn't want his aunt to know and his father backs down. It's a strange scene because as you're watch you're on Dauhmer's side; you don't want his father to find out what's really inside, even though the discover would end up sparing the lives of innocent people. It's funny how movies can end up messing with your sympathies. Or scary, really.

Anyway, time to get ready for bed. If you're a loyal follower of RJ Bttles then I've got good news: I'm going to be here a lot more, maybe even everyday.

Good night.

One more thing. As you know, I don't like combovers. They're stupid and they annoy me. But I think I know the point when I became really hostile towards them- it was an episode of Dateline or 20/20 and Jeffery Dauhmer was being interviewed along with his father and the father had a total combover. That pissed me off. I wanted to punch him in the face. His son tortured and killed people and deprived families of their loved ones, and he's afraid to appear bald on TV. What a fucking dickhead. If I was the interviewer I would've brought it up. First question, probably.

Talking Heads

2011-11-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

"Slippery People" from Speaking In Tongues.

Italian Wedding Soup

2011-11-07T18:43:00.001-08:00

I had never thought to look before, but the other night at the store I came across Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup. It's nowhere near as good as when my father makes it, but it's good enough for a quiet November night at home. Mm-mm, good.

Comedy Central is finally showing reruns of It's Always Sunny- I'd seen a few scenes years ago but I had never managed to catch it when it was playing. I don't even know if they're making new ones but I hope they are. Mm-mm, good.

Have I ever mentioned how I used to love Talking Heads? I was obsessed with them and David Byrne's solo records. This was around 1996. I'd gone to Newbury Comics in Hyannis and they had Sand In The Vaseline on cassette for $4.99. I think I ended up loving 99% of the songs on it. I was amazed, especially by songs like "Warning Sign", "I Zibra", and "Memories Can't Wait".

Everything about the collection was awesome: it had early, unreleased songs like "Sugar On My Tongue", out-takes like Speaking In Tongues-era demo "Popcicle", newly (1991) finished songs from the Naked sessions, plus essays from each band member and stories about every song on the tapes.

And, of course, I loved the packaging since it had reproductions of a bunch of album and single sleeves.

I wish Belly's Sweet Ride packaging was done the same way. If they ever put out a box set, I'd love to see it come with a bocklet that shows all of the Belly sleeve images- front, back, and inside, plus the labels, postcards, and posters. I would buy that no matter what it cost.

How not to write

2011-11-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

Is it better to say bad things to someone or behind their back? That's a good question, and like a lot of difficult questions, the answer is, "It depends."

Here at RJ Battles I've written some unkind things about the blog The Daily Guru. But every time I wrote one of those posts it crossed my mind that maybe I should send a message or a comment directly to TDG. Just friendly suggestions. But there's not much fun in that, plus, who knows how those suggestions might be recieved. It's been my experience that people don't want to hear anything about their work other than "It's awesome".

So I'm not going to write to TDG and point out what I think are some flaws in his writing style. Instead, I'm going to highlight them here at RJ Battles and let his mistakes serve as a lesson to other writers out there. Stephen King said that the only way to be a good writer was to write a lot and read a lot. And reading bad writing is as important as reading good writing because it shows you what not to do.

The problem with The Daily Guru is that his music reviews are locked into a basic magazine music review formula. As a result, sentences are bloated with cliches and pointless phrases.

I'm going to use two recent reviews as examples.

On October 26 he posted about The Ronettes's "Be My Baby". In the first sentence he uses the phrase "one can easily argue". Then in the third sentence he says, "and yet it can easily be argued". He also ends the second paragraph with "one can easily argue".

Like most of the TDG posts, the "Be My Baby" review is four paragraphs long, and in a piece of writing that size overused words and phrases start to jump out at the reader.

The first, third, and forth paragraphs all contain the phrase "there is no question".

In paragraph two, the phrase "completely unique" is used two sentences in a row.

In one sentence he writes, "nothing short of iconic" and in the very next sentence he writes "nothing short of legendary". In the next paragraph: "nothing short of hypnotizing".

That's bad, right? No, it's good compared to today's post, a review of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

Four paragraphs containing a total of 28 sentences. Again, there are some cases that can be argued easily. But for the most part, there are no cases to be argued- there is, in fact, no question.

Paragraph One
"there is no question"

Paragraph Two
"it is without question"

Paragraph Three
"there is no question"
then, in the very next sentence-
"Yet there is no question"

Paragraph Four
"Yet there is no question"
"is without question"
"there is no question"

I saved my favorite thing for last. This is a sentence from Paragraph Four:

"Yet there is no question that the original stands far above the reach of any imitator, as the fragile beauty that Simon and Garfunkel created here is without question one of the most breathtaking moments to ever be captured on tape."

That sentence is pretty amazing on its own, but then when you think about how many times the phrase "no question" is used- 7- in a 28 paragraph review, you wonder how the writer could avoid noticing. It's crazy if you do the math- 1 out of every 4 sentences contains the phrase (except, as we know, that isn't exactly true; the phrase shows up twice in one sentence).

Anyway, (That's one of my own overused words; I'm no great writer myself. I know.) if you go to The Daily Guru and read these posts you can see that the phrases that he overuses are not needed. If they were erased his writing would be a lot cleaner. From Strunk and White's Elements of Style: "Omit needless words".

Play dead

2011-10-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

I had Bjork's Debut on tape but not this version- mine ended with "The Anchor Song", not "Play Dead", which I've never heard. My sleeve was a lot like this one but the "Bjork" logo near the song titles was the other one. I think I like this one better.

This week

2011-10-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

I've been inactive lately and a lot of my time has been spent in front of the computer. I like looking things up: music stuff, blogs, news, but mostly movie trivia. Last night I saw a half-hour special from around 1994 where Quentin Tarentino talks about Robert De Niro's movie career- especially his movies in the 70s.

He talks about how in 70s De Niro was the biggest name in acting and he worked with the strongest directors of that time: Coppola, Scorsece, Cisero. He has a lot of praise for his performances in Mean Streets, Godfather II, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, but what's interesting is that Tarentino get's critical of De Niro's later work. He says that he and his friend used to run to see De Niro's movies the day they came out but after a while it wasn't such a big deal. De Niro stopped being choosy about his projects and did more movies. I think that's a very good point, especially if you look at the movies De Niro's done over the past 15 years. I don't even have to list them; you know what I'm talking about.

I never payed a lot of attention to John C. Reilly. He was good in Magnolia and Dolores Claibourne, but the movie that I really like him in is one that I never thought I'd watch, never mind like: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009). Reilly is great in that movie, just like everyone else in it- except for the lead, some boring kid.

There's a book I wanna read called Portrait of a Monster. It's about Joran van der Sloot. He's creepy, creepy guy and I can't believe he's only 24. He liked Natalee Halloway on May 30, 2005, and then he killed another woman exactly 5 years later. Lifetime made a movie about Halloway and I don't know who played van der Sloot but it wasn't who it should've been: Nick Stahl.

Oh shit

2011-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

I forgot my anniversary. Me and RJ Battles have been together for 3 years, 3 years this past Tuesday, but I didn't stop by and write anything that day.

I didn't realize this until late last night, and while it's not a big deal, I really did mean to do something. 3 years is kind of a big deal. That's a long time.

But really, I've been neglectful of the blog for the past 6 months anyway. I haven't been too busy; I've just been less ambitious than I usually (which isn't very).

I follow 3 blogs. Even though the writing comes off like a high school newspaper student trying to sound like a People Magazine music reviewer, I do usually learn something new about a song that I'm half-way interested in. The writer, Joel, is knowledgable, but "Guru" (a word I don't care for anyway) is a stretch. Also, you can see where a lot of the info comes from- read his post about Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot" and then take a look at the song's Wiki page- seperated at birth.

For the past year or so I've been following the blog By Ken Levine. He's former writer for M*A*S*H and Cheers and he's a baseball announcer (so, as you'd probably guess, I skip any posts that show a picture of a baseball diamond). I came across his blog one day when I was on Wiki reading about Cheers. There was a story about Carla's husband Eddie and the whole backstory about why he left the show so abruptly and a link to Levine's blog where he tells everything in full detail. It's very interesting and his blog is full of posts like that. Levine also co-wrote the movie Volunteers starring Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and John Candy. Remember when people made a big deal out of the characters drinking Coke in the movie while the movie company, Tri-Star, was owned by Coke? He gives the details behind that story too. Also, he was in a mini-feud with Aaron Sorkin a couple years ago and a mini-feud with Roseanne this year.

Both The Daily Guru and By Ken Levine feature new posts every single day. It's part of The Guru's "mission", and Levine's blog was voted one of the 25 Best Blogs of 2011 by Time Magazine so that makes for an eager audience. My favorite blogger isn't as productive, or, at least, hasn't been lately.

Last year, Final Girl put up 387 posts; so far, this year there have only been 92- for July, August, and September there were a total of 6 posts. She's written every day of October, but that's because it's October. I mean, I'm not complaining (but I am)- I'm just surprised that someone who ammassed such a large following would just let it all wither. Because I'm sure that a lot of people don't even bother checking in anymore. Final Girl might be on their Favorites list but they gave up on it and have found new blogs to read.

But I'm sure she's got a lot of other projects to work on, and maybe she just wants a break from constantly writing about horror movies. Maybe she's said just about everything she wanted to say about the subject.

What I know for sure (if I can say that, if it's OK with Oprah) is that if she decides to get back into Final Girl full-time, she's such a good writer that she'll attract just as many people to the site. It'll never be a ghost-town (NPI).

Pixies after "Trompe Le Monde"

2011-10-10T21:15:00.003-07:00

I was just at the Frank Black Forum and one of the threads was about someone was wondering if the Pixies recorded any songs together after their last LP, Trompe Le Monde- there was a link to Youtube and a couple clips of Pixies demos.

One of them- "Hang On To Your Ego"- I'd heard before. Still, it was interesting to hear it again. The other was "Brackish Boy" which ended up being recorded for 1993's Frank Black. Youtube just has a clip but I'd love to hear the full song; it sounds really good.

Now I'm listening to other songs from a bootleg called The Purple Tape 2. It's got "I Can't Forget" from the Leonard Cohen tribute, I'm Your Fan, and "Born In Chicago" from Elektra's 40th anniversary collection.

"Born In Chicago" is a throwaway, but "I Can't Forget" is interesting. It sounds like it was recorded the same day as their other tribute album song from that era, Neil Young's "Winterlong".

It's great, though, hearing songs like these. I love the Pixies but I've played the shit out of all their songs- even their B-sides are worn out so it's good to hear something of their for the hundredth time instead of for the thousandths time.

Here's some news:

Stephen King has a new novel coming out this fall called 11/22/63 and I read yesterday that they're making it into a movie and Jonathon Demme is directing. So many great directors have done SK novels, I think the only one left is Scorsese.

Let's see, there's been DePalma, Kubrick, Cronenberg, Carpenter, Mary Lambert, George Romero, am I forgetting someone?

Also, King is working on a sequel to The Shining. It's going to be called Doctor Sleep. Interesting title.

I just realized tonight that tomorrow is a big day: it's going to be the 3 year anniversary of RJ Battles. I can't believe it's been that long.

I want to do something special but I'm not sure what would be "special". I'm going to have to sleep on that. I'm going to bed now, Good night.

Pixies after "Trompe Le Monde"

2011-10-10T21:15:00.001-07:00

The computer

2011-10-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

In general I'm not very ambitious, but today I was feeling super-lazy, so I spent almost the whole day on the computer looking up random shit. And for the past three hours I've been on Youtube, mostly watching Kevin Smith.

I don't care for his movies and I don't see why people make such a big deal about them but I like him a lot. He tells a great story- when he talks about Prince the whole story is probably longer than a half hour but it leaves you wanting more.

He also tells a funny story about a fued with Tim Burton. I love that kind of thing. He seems very truthful, a lot like Kathy Griffin. Some things are, I'm sure, exagerated for effect, but I feel like he's really trying to be as real to life as possible. I like that.

Best songs since 1999 (not since "1999")

2011-09-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Here it is- the very last day of September and I'm back.

I was without internet for a few weeks- the router was broken here at my house.

Luckily, there hasn't been much to report so you haven't missed anything. One thing I wanna talk about tonight, though, is songs from the past decade that I really love.

Last night I was on YouTube and I kept looking up videos for songs that really got a strong emotional response out of me over the last 10- 12 years. Songs that I consider beautiful and near- perfect, and- in some cases- kind of get me choked up.

One of the first songs I thought of was 1999's "My Love Is Your Love" by Whitney Houston. A second ago I said "near- perfect"; this song might be perfect. I'm not a big Whitney fan. Then again, I grew up with her music and there are a lot of her songs that I'm very, very fond of:

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

"Moment of Truth" (the B-side of the previous song)

"How Will I Know?"

"I Will Always Love You"

"I'm Your Baby Tonight"

"We Didn't Know" (duet with Stevie Wonder)

While "My Love Is Your Love" wasn't a huge hit and a lot of people have never heard it, I think it's one of those songs that everyone who has heard it, loves it. Right now, I think everyonwe considers "I Will Always Love You" to be her signiture song, but I believe that in the future, "My Love Is Your Love" is the song that she will be remembered by. From the very first lines it has something special.

One song that reminds me of a certain time period in my own life- around 2004- is the Sarah McLauchlin song "Fallen". While it's a bit over-produced it still hits its marks. It's sad and regretful. It's like a serious blues song. And I think a lot of people can relate to it. And even if it doesn't reflect your own life, I think that for four minutes or so you can imagine that you relate to it.

I never bought a Dido album and I only know her singles. I don't know why I've never sought any of her other songs. It' strange because the Dido songs that I've heard are so good and they really hit me. I know three Dido songs. The most popular is probably the weakest of the three: "Thank You". But it's a great song. Then there's 'White Flag". I love the sentiment. I'd really love the song but something doesn't match up. Maybe I just don't belive what she's saying. And for a song like that you have to belive that it's true and not just a love song.

I'd say that Dido's best song is the first of her's that I heard: "Here With Me". With this song I belive that she means ever word she says and this song still gets to me.

There's one song from the past decade that really hits me hard. I love all the songs from Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Aimee Mann, and Jenny Lewis. But it isn't a song from any of them. It's a big, commercial, radio song that really gets to me and puts a lump in my throat.

One summer- either trhe summer of 2008 or 2009- there was this big hit on the radio called "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. I heard it a few times and didn't understand the appeal. I still don't.

A few months later, Lewis released another single, this one called "Better In Time". I fell in love. This song is so sad and so sweet and Lewis sings so beautifully. I feel two things when I hear this song. I relate to it because I've been through it and I understand it. And at the same time, I feel so bad for Leona Lewis. When she says "Gonna smile cause I deserve to" I get choked up.

Anyway, there are a lot of great songs that I've enjoyed over the past dozen years but those are the ones that hit me hard.

These days

2011-09-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already September 4. This summer- this whole year- has flown by. The sad thing is, I have nothing to show for it. I feel like spring and summer are the time when you've got a lot of energy and daylight and you accomplish a lot so that when the weather turns cool you can relax knowing that you've done what you need to in order to prepare for the winter. You reap what sow and falltime is harvest-time. I've got very little to harvest cause I've done next to nothing in 2011. I certainly have no savings.

But I guess it's not too late. Really, it's still summer, so I can still get things done.

I want to-

1) Save money

2) Do spring cleaning. I'd like to clean and organize my bedroom and take inventory and get all my clothes into order.

3) Have a sexy summer romance (That's not gonna happen. Next.)

4) Be in the moment, so that time stops passing me by

So, this Friday I'm taking a train to Baltimore. I've never been to Baltimore and I've never been on a train before- this is gonna be a big weekend.

Roger Clemens

2011-09-03T02:08:00.001-07:00

I was just reading a story about Roger Clemens in USA Today. It turns out that he's gonna be re-tried for perjery. The defense is saying that the prosecutors purposely introduced banned evidence so that they could start fresh- one of the jurors said he believes that the government has no business investigating steroid use by ballplayers- and, of course, he's right.

I think they should leave Clemens and the other baseball players alone, but anyway- I liked something I read in the story. The defense is accusing the prosecutors of having a "win-at-all-costs" attitude. Maybe the prosecutors should try some steroids.

Home

2011-08-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

It's time to tell you about where I live.

December 1, 2009, I moved into this house on the outskirts of town- it's a 45 minute walk to my job downtown. The house id owned by a 48 year old man I'll call Papa Bear. He's a very cool guy, very enthusiastic with a lot of energy. He has a white Alaska Husky that's a lot like him, Porter. Porter is very friendly, always shaking his tail and holding a toy in his mouth.

For at least 20 years, Paopa Bear has been friends with an older guy I call Stickman. Stickman has been living here with him ever since he bought the house around 1995. Stickman is around 55 but looks and seems older (though I think he thinks he can pass for 40). He's a second shift nurse and he expects to have the bathroom all to himself for the 2 and a 1/2 hours leading up to the time he leaves for work. He takes insanely long showers and God knows what he does with the rest of the time.

The third and final roommate is a 20 year old coolege student who works part-time but spends most of his days and nights playing computer games. He pays partial rent and Papa Bear buys all his groceries and cooks dinner for him every night. I call him Baby Bear. Between his size and the way that Papa Bear cares for him the name fits perfectly. I like Baby Bear. All he needs to be happy is a computer game, some pot, and maybe some Doritos and Mountian Dew. He's got a good attitude. Like Papa Bear, he's got a good attitude: enthusiastic. It'll be late afternoon after a long day of work, or it'll be 10pm and I'll be in bed so that I can be up at 5am, and I can hear Baby Bear on his headphone/ speaker set, talking to his teammates, and it's very relaxing. It's loud sometimes but it never bothers me; it puts me right to sleep.

Here's how everyone gets along: I get along with everyone. Me and Papa Bear talk a lot. It can be rough sometimes- he's always gotta be right. And he's the dominant dog. Sometimes, too, it seems like he's being contrary on purpose. But that's it. Those are my only complaints, and, anyway, that's what makes him Papa Bear. I'm always happy to talk to him and he's very easygoing and flexible.

If I don't talk with Baby Bear much, it's only because he's almost always at the computer and i don't want to interupt. There are some trust issues as well. For instance, he never owns up to doing anything wrong when Papa bear asks who's the one who did something. On the other hand, I've overheard him rat out Stickman for certain things.

I've gotten along with Stickman but he's gotten crabby with me over stupid shit, like cutting into his bathroom time. But really, it's not that we've clashed so much- I avoid him because I overhear his fights with Papa Bear.

About once every 3 months Stickman will come home from work and get into a shouting match with PB. These fights get loud and ugly. Once, PB yelled that Stickman was a miserable piece of shit with no friends and no teeth. I was listening and laughing into my pillow.

Stickman and Baby get along alright. The have pot in common. But really, I don't think that Baby likes Stickman. I think he's using him for free pot and free cigarettes. Baby helps himself to smokes from both PB's and Stickman's packs when they're not around. I've heard them yell at him but most of the time Baby gets what Baby wants.

I mentioned that I have some trust issues with Baby Bear. It's because of this: For the first 6 months that I lived here, baby was sneaking into my room and taking cigarettes. Now I just said that he'd take cigarettes from the other guys. Well that's different. They had an understanding. Baby would help himself while PB was at work or while Stickman was outside doing yardwork all afternoon.

Baby was taking my cigarettes when I went to take a piss or while I was downstairs for 2 minutes putting my clothes in the dryer. It seemed like sometimes I'd have less cigarettes than I thought but I didn't think anything of it till one day I brought a load of laundry downstairs. As I walked past his room we nodded at each other. When I opened the washer door I could hear squeaking of floorboards directly above me and my bedroom was directly above me. I dropped my socks and rushed up the stairs. Honestly, I didn't want to catch him- that would be too awkward. But I caught his shadow in the hallway. When I got to the top of the stairs he was across the hall in Stickman's room, playing with Porter.

What really confirmed my suspician was one day later that week when I had company but they didn't park in the driveway. Baby came home a few minutes after we did and I was taking a piss. From the hallway you can always tell if someone's in the bathroom- you can hear the fan and you can see light through the door. My friend told me after that he opened the door without knocking, looked surprised to see them, and then said he was looking for a Sharpie to borrow.

So, yeah, I like Baby, but he's a little sneak and that bothers me. I feel like I should visit with him more often, but since i don't trust him I figure, Why bother?

To be continued...

Journal

2011-08-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping a journal since I was in high school. I ended up throwing away the first 5 years- it all sounded so dumb. I also threw away another big chunk so now what I have is some notebooks going back to 2005, plus some enries that I made on the computer.

Nowadays I always write on the computer. One problem is that a year ago I had to delete my hard drive and one whole year had to go. It didn't bother me because nothing had really happened. Nothing happens in my life; it's very boring. I guess I'm lucky. In fact, I know I'm lucky.

My family is, for the most part, happy and healthy, as am I. I'm in my mid-30s and both of my parents are still living. Plus I have an enjoyable job and a place to sleep and a little bit of money and I owe less than $300.

I wish, though, that my diary was more interesting (I almost went back and deleted "diary" and replaced it with "journal" but, why bother?).

Maybe I'll start making entries here at RJ Battles instead of on Microsoft Notepad. That'll force me to make them more interesting.

The reason that I've always kept a journal is because I wanted to preserve my memories. My goal was always to record events that happened so that I could go back and read the diary and instantly be brought back to that particular day. It hasn't worked.

So maybe this new way will be better. We'll see tomorrow.

"Lost in Translation"

2011-08-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

I was reading Final Girl last night and saw her review of Battle Royale (2000). The name sounded familiar- where have I heard that recently? I know. Online I saw a clip of Quentin Tarentino listing his 20 favorite movies since 1992. Battle Royale was his top pick. He listed some other Japanese movies, including Audition, which Final Girl reviewed recently also. Plus, Boogie Nights, Speed, and The Matrix. A lot of his choice surprised me, especially Lost In Translation. I'll defend Sofia Coppola for The Godfather III, but I'm not crazy about her movies. The Virgin Suicides was good for what it was- it set a mood, which I consider one of the best things a movie can do, but I don't really like the mood that she set. Then there's Marie Antoinette- it doesn't do anything for me.

And then there's Lost In Translation. I'd seen parts of it before. It's just people lying in bed watching TV. That's what I do and I don't want to see that. Boring.

I'm 45 minutes into this movie, I keep waiting for it to wow me but I just wanna go to bed. Is this really a good movie? Really?

"Pumped Up Kicks"

2011-08-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

"Pumped Up Kicks"
Foster The People

My friend Amy slept over last night and she woke up before I did so while I was laying in bed I heard some of the songs that were playing on whatever music station she had the TV turned to- probably VH1- and I heard this song and I love it.

It's so cool and so fucking catchy. I've been playing and replaying it on Youtube for the past half hour and I can't get enough of it. Check it out.

Corinne Bailey Rae "The Love EP"

2011-08-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Love EP
Corinne Bailey Rae
Released: March 13, 2011

I wish more artists would do things like The Love EP. I love covers. Of course, my favorite thing is when musicians cover recent songs, like when Joss Stone recorded The White Stripes's "Fell in Love With a Girl", but I'll settle for an older song.

Here, Corinne Bailey Rae covers Prince, Wings, and Bob Marley, but most importantly, Belly. That was a surprise. Even more surprising was the song choice. It wasn't "Feed The Tree" or "Gepetto" or even "Judas My Heart". She chose "Low Red Moon", the slow, dark track that closes side one of Star.

"Low Red Moon" is the second track here, and it stands in sharp contrast to the song that opens the EP, Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

Here's the full tracklist:

1. I Wanna Be Your Lover
2. Low Red Moon
3. Is This Love
4. My Love
5 Que Sera, Sera

If you like Corinne Bailey Rae, or if your just interested in hearing new versions of these songs, then you should pick up The Love EP, it's a great CD.

David Fincher and flashlights

2011-08-10T16:29:00.001-07:00

I've never seen this mentioned anywhere before, but David Fincher seems to be obsessed with flashlights. In Se7en there are some scenes of cops in dark rooms shining flashlights. In Panic Room, Kristen Stewart does Morse Code with a flashlight. Even in The Social Network there's a party scene towards the end where cops show up with flashlights. I'm pretty sure Zodiac had some flashlight scenes too- I can't remember. You can go back to David Fincher's early work- Aerosmith's video for "Janie's Got A Gun" has cops with flashlights searching a car.

Estelle Parsons

2011-08-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

I was just watching the last 20 minutes of Dick Tracy. I remember I saw it when I was 14 and I had a really hard time following it.

Anyway, the credits rolled and I was looking over all the big names. When it came to the characte of Tess Trueheart's mother it said "Estelle Parsons".

Why does that name sound so familiar? I looked it up and now I know- Estelle Parsons was Beverly, Roseanne's mother on Roseanne.

Online, I noticed that Parsons starred was in Bonnie & Clyde and I'm thinking that's probably where she met Warren Beatty.

Estelle Parson's was great on Roseanne.

The Breakfast Club

2011-08-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Breakfast Club (1985) directed by John Hughes

A lot of people love John Hughes's movies from the 1980s. And for most people, their favorite is The Breakfast Club. I have a soft spot for those movies too, but my favorite is Weird Science- it's more of a sex comedy and it's very funny (we'll talk more about it some other time).

Anyway, The Breakfast Club was on yesterday and it had been a long time since I'd seen it all the way through so I watched it.

It was hard. The movie has some good scenes- it's like a well written play- but there are certain scenes that I can't even look at. I'm talking about those ridiculous 1985 dance scenes. They seemed out of place back when I saw TBC in the late 80s and now they just seem funny but not in a good way. How about when Emilio Estevez shouts and the glass shatters.

And speaking of glass shattering. Whenever I'm flipping around and happen to catch TBC at the beginning I always forget about the David Bowie quote. It's something from one of his older albums, Hunky Dorey maybe, and remember how the image acually shatters and the pieces fall away like it's a Friday the 13th title sequence?

I just can't take The Breakfast Club seriously. It's a total product of 1985. It's a shame when talented people try to be fashionable instead of trying to be timeless.

I'll say one good thing, though: I love the scene where Judd Nelson sticks his knife into a table or chair or something, and then when nobody's looking Ally Sheedy reaches over and steals it. Perfect. That's better than 10 shattering David Bowie quotes.

Dustin Pedroia

2011-07-30T20:07:00.001-07:00

I don't know a lot about baseball and I avoided playing it when I was a kid- I'm no good at that shit.

But latey I've gotten into the Red Sox and Dustin Pedroia. Something about him is very interesting. I wanna buy the book he put out in 2009, Born To Play: My Life In The Game.

The only problem is: Pedroia co-wrote the book along with Ted Delaney. I don't care if someone works very closely with their editor, but when you put a famous person together with a writer you know that the writer is going to take over and then the person's voice is lost.

I'd rather read a sloppy book by Pedroia than a neat, organized book by a real writer. But anyway, I checked the library last year and theyb didn't have it; I'm gonna try again Monday.

I also wanna try his salsa.

Meeting new people

2011-07-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

I consider myself the kind of person who doesn't attract other people. Not that I repel people. Just that out in public, I'm not the person that a talker come up to. I'm bad at conversations and I think other people sense this. That's good for me because I mostly enjoy listening to other people talk.

But the last 2 days thing have been different.

Yesterday afternoon I was waiting at the bus station and smoking a cigarette when a chubby woman in her late 40s came up to me and started talking about how she almost missed her bus earlier and how she had an argument with the driver. She told me the whole story and we talked about busses in general plus the weather and the tornado that rolled through the area on June 1st. She was clearly a little "off" but not so strange or crazy that I felt like making a run for it or politely finding another place to wait. She was nice and harmless.

Today, a the same place, the same thing happened. I feel so popular. I was talking to this guy that I had talked to before when this other guy came up to ask the other guy what time it was. The new guy mentioned that he'd just gotten out of prison and we congratulated him. Then a funny thing happened. Of the two of us, the jailbird started talking to me. The other guy ended up drifting off and Anthony told me about how he liked to work on, and race, cars and how big his 3 year old son was. I know nothing about cars but it was interesting and I pretended that I knew what he was talking about. Turns out that he started with one kind of car and added parts from another kind of car and modified everything.

He's 22 years old and he was very happy when I said that I'd thought that he was 25. He said that's because he's matured now. He's learned to forgive his father and other people who've hurt him and because of that he's able to forgive himself. I said that's a good way to be. It's healthy.

Turns out that he was taking the same bus and that we live in the same part of the city- on the edge of town. I got on the bus first. I'd hoped that he'd sit near and, in fact, he sat right next to me and we talked the entire time. I was disappointed when he got off the bus before its final stop but he had somewhere else he had to go.

I'm hoping that we'll run into each other again. He might be trouble, but he seems like a good person.

Machete

2011-07-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

Machete (2010) Directed by Robert Rodreguez and Ethan maniquis

Machete is a great Friday night movie to watch while you'tre sitting at home on your loveseat drinking cranberry/ raspberry juice cocktail and eating croutons straight out of the bag.

That's the scene here except it's Tuesday night.

Normally movies with all-star casts suck. There's Mars Attacks. That movie is a piece of shit. And I look back fondly on the Cannonball Run movies but they're pretty weak.

Machete, though, is a good movie. I'm still watching it. Right now Lindsay Lohan is naked, Splash-style. Don Johnson and Cheech Marin are reunited- they were great in Tin Cup- but here they don't share any scenes. Jeff "The Lawnmowerman" Fahey does a good job as one of the bad guys and I can't get over how different he seems now that he's older.

Danny Trejo doesn't have a lot of lines, but he carries the whole movie well. After years of supporting roles this is his first time being the leading man and he does a great job.

So here's what I really think about Machete: It's an entertaining movie, but it just seems like an episode of CSI :Texas only it has nudity, swearing, and more blood. Note: Now I'm eating a bowl of bread & butter pickles. They go so good with croutons. Anyway, I can't help comparing Machete with Jackie Brown and Kill Bill. And Machete lacks all the elements that make Jackie and Bill special. I could watch Quentin Tarentino's movies over and over again. There are so many scenes that I love and am amazed by. If I never see Machete again that's fine- there's not one single scene that I remember and think, "That was great, I'd like to re-watch that".

Machete's over now so I'm gonna have one more cigarette and then I'm going to bed. Big day tomorrow, maybe. Good night.

Amy Winehouse

2011-07-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

I got home from work around 6pm and, like always, got on the computer to check on news and whatnot. Had I gone to USA Today online instead of my local paper I would've seen the news right away. As it was I scan the local headlines and didn't see the story about Amy Winehouse till I scrolled down.

I've gotta say: I'm surprised. Yeah, I knew she had plenty of problems, but it never occurred to me that she might die. She seemed like a survivor, in spite of, or because of, all the trouble she got into.

I liked the two songs that I heard on the radio, "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good". I checked out Back to Black at the library and while i thought it was good, nothing else jumped out at me. Still, those two songs are excellent. I love how "Rehab" has that 60s sound to it but I can't think of any particular song from that time that it sounds like.

And she was so cool looking- that beehive was so unexpected and so right. She was very pretty and she seemed like she'd be fun to hang out with, at least until she started coming off as more of a fighter, somebody who actually gets into fights with people.

I think the whole thing is so sad. Like I said, I didn't see this coming. I always imagined that, while she may or may not keep getting in trouble, she'd have a decades- long career and a lot of amazing songs in the future.

On a side note, Twitter is starting to annoy me the way that it's become a legitimate news source. Everyone's Twitter account is being quoted. I know it's early, but have you read any thoughtful comments from any of her fellow musicians? I haven't. Only Tweets that don't look much different than the comments that teenagers leave on their friends' Facebook pages. "RIP Amy", ect.

Summer plans

2011-07-22T00:04:00.001-07:00

Summer plans. I'm not talking about camping or going to the beach. I'm talking about a couple of blog ideas I have. I don't keep notes or make lists of potential topics (though I'd like to). So what I do is make note of my plans and ideas here, at RJ Battles. That may, I might have other things on my mind, but when I come here I'll see the older subject ideas and get to work.

Number One: I'd like to write about all the Stephen King books I've read (plus some of the movies). Someone once asked King what book he'd most likely be remembered for. Not what he considered his best book, or what he wanted to be remembered for, but which one had the best chance of being read far, far into the future. He answered The Shining, and I can kind of agree- it sounds like a sound choice, but I disagree. I chose another book and I'll get to that in my upcoming Stephen King post.

Number Two: I wanna write about Frank Black and all of his solo albums and songs. Of all the musicians that I like, the two whose music most excites me are Kristin Hersh and Frank Black. The ups and downs and highs and lows of FB's musical output are extreme. So many awesome, amazing songs (usually un-released or B-sides) and a bunch of weak, uninteresting tracks (singles, of course- you knew I was gonna say that). There are a lot of things to talk about.

I can't wait to write these two posts. It's just past 3am so in a couple minutes I'll be back in bed and this time I'm gonna fall asleep. 5am will be here soon.

I need a new banner

2011-07-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I keep on forgetting- it looks like it's still Eastertime here. But I wanna do something really cool and not just the usual Belly collage (not that they're not great, I just wanna do something different).

I'm going to a Jack & Jill tomorrow night and I can't wait. The last time I went out and had a few drinks was March 2. This weekend I'll tell you all about the party.

I like to go to the blog By Ken Levine. Levine used to write for M*A*S*H and Cheers. He's also a baseball announcer and he was involved with a mini-fued with Aaron Sorkin back when Studio 60 was still on the air. Two months ago Levine was involved in a smaller mini-fued with Roseanne over an article she wrote for New York magazine. I like Roseanne and Sorkin but in both cases I have to side with Levine.

So anyway, I found Levine's blog last year when I was looking up Cheers on Wiki- Wiki linked to his blog and an intersting story about why Eddie Lebeque was written off the show. I've been reading every day ever since. Plus I've read just about every post from the archives...

...Ok, I just remembered my point. Today he wrote about the quality of the movies that have come out so far this year. I haven't gone to the movies yet this year but I've been watching a lot on Comcast and Netflix and I have some opinions.

It's too much to get into tonight- in ten minutes the lights will be off and I'll be in bed- but we'll talk about this later this month. Or early next month. We'll see. Good night.

Things to do and people to see

2011-07-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I wrote about Jincy Willet's short story "The Best of Betty"*. I just wanna say again how good it is. I think anyone would like it, but it helps if you grew up reading advice columns like Ann Landers and Dear Abby. My local paper also carried Dr. Ruth for a while too.

I'm just gonna take this time to recomend a few other things you'll like.

I like just about every O Henry story I've read but my favorite is "The Last Leaf". Check it out- it's very short and won't take much of your time but you'll always remember it. You can easily find it online. Also, if you get the chance, see O Henry's Full House. "The Last Leaf" is acted out, along with "The Gift of the Magi".

One of my favorite songs from the last 10 years is "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley. I heard it one time on the radio and then never again. I thought it was Jewel so that made it a little harder to track it down on the computer but I still found it on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, if you're in a bad mood with time to kill watch some of Kathy Griffin's Bravo specials. She has a couple new ones out- "50 and Not Pregnant" and "Gurrl Down". She talks about Steven Segal: Lawman and spending her birthday with Cher.

Ok, I guess I've given you enough to do. Now go do it.

* "The Best of Betty" is from Jincy Willet's book Jenny & the Jaws of Life.

New Posts

2011-07-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately but for the rest of the month I'm going to try posting more often. Probably more movie reviews but who knows, it could be anything.

I just wanna mention quickly: Yesterday I re-read Eudora Welty's "Why I Live At The PO". It was in a paperback that I borrowed from my parents years ago. It had been on the big bookshelf in the living room for as long as I remember and it's called Short Story Masterpieces. It's got Hemmingway, FSF, Joey Conrad- all the big names. I like the F. Scott story, "Winter Dreams" but that's about it.

Years ago I read the short story collection that David Sedaris editted; there were some really good stories- I liked the one by Flannery O'Conner, but my favorite was by an author named Jincey Willet called "The Best of Betty". I've re-read it about 10 times. It's amazing and one of the best things I've ever read. I still can't believe that someone could come up with all that. If you ever get the chance, check it out.

Sedaris also included "Why I Live At The PO". I'd been curious about her; I've read a lot of writers say how great she is. So I Looked at the local library and all I could find was a large-print book called A Writers Beginning and it was the published version of a speech she had given later in life. I liked it a lot but I could tell that it wasn't her best work- I'm sure it didn't really represent her real writing output. So I read the short story in Sedaris's book and I have to say: I don't get what the big deal is. It was good, and there were a couple funny lines, but they weren't really funny lines.

So I re-read it yesterday and I feel the same. What's the big deal? I'm gonna have to give her another chance. She must be good, I'm probably just missing something.

My sleep disorder

2011-07-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've always had a problem with insomnia- even as a little kid. From the age of 10 to 14 I listened to the radio on headphones before bed. I figured I might as well do something and I like music. There are certain songs that when I hear them now it takes me back to that time. For instance, George Harrison's "I Got My Mind Set On You" or "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life".

My mom always woke me up for school so that wasn't an issue until I moved away from home. The first few months of first adult job I overslept a lot. Eventually I turned that around and started getting up early every single day. I started work at 7am but I got up at 4am. I started to like that- I'd amke coffee and watch the early newscast. By the time I got to work I felt fully awake and ahead of the game.

Three years of that and then I moved back to this area and started hanging out with an old friend from high school, Angela. A drinker and a pot-smoker, she liked to take it easy. And she loved sleep. A lot of times I'd end up sleeping over her house and it wasn't like sleeping at my other friends' houses. Angela had a big soft bed with 8 pillows and a big white down comforter. Hungover, we'd sleep well into the morning and sometimes the afternoon. She helped me re-discover my love of sleeping in.

Now I stay in bed until the last possible minute but I don't like that. I feel awake enough when I get to work, but it seems wrong to avoid the day like that. I feel like I don't have control over my sleep habits. At bedtime I lie in bed for hours, tossing and turning, not ready to end the day and surrender to sleep, and in the morning I pull the covers over my head and ignore the urgent need to pee because I don't want to leave the safety of my bed.

This is not good. I'm off tomorrow, it's past midnight, I'm heading to bed soon, and my alarm is set for 7am. I hope that I'll get up when the alarm sounds but i don't really have anything important to do tomorrow. I have some chores and errands but none are really pressing and if I spent the entire day in bed nothing would go wrong.

I've gotta do something about this problem. Is anyone else going through this? Talk to me.

Bear and Bunny

2011-07-15T02:22:00.000-07:00

The other morning I was at work and a customer who was sitting by the window stood up and said, "A bear just ran down the sidewalk".

The resturant is located right in the center of town so that's unusual. Last summer one of my roommates saw a bear in our backyard, but we live on the outskit=rts of town. Two weeks ago I saw a family- a mother bear and three baby bears walk across the parking lot of the apartment complex next door. The mother grabbed a trash bag and dragged it across the lot and behind a building. It was around 7pm on a Friday night.

The bear the other day- a baby, 4' and about 175 lbs- drew a crowd and was very scared. I ran outside in time to se it climb over a metal fence and back onto the sidewalk. I heard that afterwards it got onto our patio and tried to get into the dining room. Customers screamed and the bear got scared, shit on the patio, and ran across the street. Then it went up a tree.

I'm sure dozens of people called animal control but I saw in the paper that the bear ran away on its own.

Two nights ago I was outside at home having a smoke when there was a comotion in the bushes next to me. I looked over and saw four tiny bunnies running around a railroad tie. Then I saw a stray cat- probably feral- run off with something in its mouth. I chased it up the driveway yelling, "Put down that bunny!!"

I went around the house and when I got back to where I started I saw a baby bunny laying on its side in the driveway taking short, ragged breaths. My roommate was due back at any time and I wanted to get the bunny out of the driveway so I ran up to room to get something to move it with. When I came back out a moment later the bunny had died.

10,000 Maniacs

2011-07-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan, but I like a few songs by 10,000 Maniacs. "These Are Days" is the song that got my attention, but it was the other song off Our Time In Eden, their last studio album (I know- they're still together, they've put out a bunch more albums. But I consider the end to be when Natalie Merchant left), "Candy Everybody Wants".

"Candy Everybody Wants" is one of my favorite songs ever. I've been thinking of it lately because it was featured on the blog The Daily Guru. The Daily Guru is a blog that I've talked a lot of shit about here at RJ Battles, but I have to admit: once in a while he picks a good song. He's still over-using "truly" and "iconic" (especially "iconic"- I think it's his favorite word) but the writing doesn't bother me as much now. Either it's getting better or I stopped caring.

Anyway, tonight I went on You Tube cause I wanted to see the official video and right away I was surprised- I'm positive it was it was directed by the same guy who did the video for Belly's "Slow Dog". The style, the editing, the make-up, the dancing- all the same. The "Slow Dog" video is much more hyper but so is the song.

If you get a chance, check them out. I'd put up links if I knew how to do that sort of thing. Sorry, you're on your own. Good night.

The two prequels to The Exorcist

2011-07-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005) Paul Schrader
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) Renny Harlin

I remember when each of these movies came out and I remember not being interested in seeing either of them.

It was only recently that I discovered the story behind them and it's really interesting.

Morgan Creek hired Paul Schrader (screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) to direct Dominion. When the movie was almost complete they saw it and got nervous. The studio didn't think it would be succsessful so they set the film aside and hired another director to start over and make the movie again. Their new choice was Renny Harlin, director of Die Hard II and Deep Blue Sea. Morgan Creek wanted more of a horror movie and that's what Harlin gave them.

I saw Harlin's The Beginning first. I have to say: it isn't a bad movie. In fact, it's scary and suspenseful- a true horror movie with lots of violence and gore. Most of the actors are good, especially Stellan Skarsgard as Father Merrin. He doesn't look like Max Von Sidow when he was younger, but he looks enough like him that you can imagine that he is the younger version of the character.

The main problem with The Beginning is the special effects. I've read people complaining about CGI before. Over at Final Girl, Stacie Ponder has pointed out its problems in a number of her reviews. I don't watch a lot of recent horror or sci-fi movies so I haven't seen as much, but from what I have seen- including Harlin's Deep Blue Sea- I have to agree.

Just as the sharks in DBS looked dumb and fake, the hyenas in The Beginning look ridiculous. It's only been seven years and already the movie looks dated because of them. Also. at the very beginning of the movie, there's a scene of a battlefield with victims crucified upside-down and you can tell that all of it is done with computers. It's distracting. And all of these "horrific" images have zero impact.

The day after I watched The Beginning I saw Dominion. It's weird because both films have a lot of the same actors and the same sets and the stories are similar. Both films have Stellan Skarsgard as Father Merrin, the CGI hyenas (though Dominion- to its credit- doesn't use them as much), and an unneeded scene of the delivery of a stillborn child.

Another element that both movies share is the backstory. During WWII, Father Merrin is the priest in a small village and a Nazi orders to name the villager who killed one of his soldiers. Father Merrin can't or won't so the Nazi instead orders Father Merrin to select ten villagers to be executed, otherwise the Nazis will gun down everyone in the village.

The way that this scene is handled by each director highlights the main difference between both movies. Harlin inserts fragments of this episode as flashbacks- anytime the movie slows Harlin uses the image of a young girl being shot in the head. It all seems so tacky and corny and cheap.

Schrader plays out the episode in its entirety at the beginning of the movie and it's much more powerful that way. But Schrader does something even better: he ties this incident in with the rest of the movie. It isn't just something that happened to Father Merrin that makes him doubt his faith. It's connected to other events and, in fact, brings the entire movie together.

Harlin's movie was released in 2004 and got bad reviews and didn't make much money. Because of this, Morgan Creek allowed Schrader to finish and release his version, which got better reviews and did a little bit better at the box office.

William Peter Blatty, the writer of The Exorcist and the writer and director of Legion: The Exorcist III said that Exorcist: The Beginning was his "most humiliating professional experience", but that Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist was "a handsome, classy, elegant piece of work".

I don't know about that. First, for all of its many faults (I'm thinking of the scene where the British officer goes crazy and sees his butterfly collection come to life), The Beginning isn't a terrible movie. Its main problem is all the CGI effects.

And Dominion isn't classy or elegant though I'll say it is handsome. It was Schrader who filmed the horrible chilbirth scene that's featured in both movies. And he overuses CGI and special effects too, just not as badly as Harlin does.

But basically, Blatty is right: Dominion is the better movie. If you get the chance, though, watch both (they're on Netflix). I don't think it matters which one you see first. And the stories are different enough that one won't ruin the other.

Just want to mention a few other things-

One of the main characters, Father Francis, is played by different actors. Gabriel Mann plays him in Dominion but he wasn't available to return for the re-shoot so he was replaced by James D'arcy. The funny thing is, both actors are terrible. Gabriel Mann is probably the worst of the two but I liked him better for some reason.

Harlin uses a few elements from tth original Exorcist: the statue of Pazuzu from the Iraq prologue, the St. Christopher medallion, and the clock pendulum (the pendulum is used incorrectly- in the original movie it was a sign that Father Merrin was getting older and wouldn't survive the battle this time; there was no reason to feature it in The Beginning- Harlin just wanted to use an element from the original).

Dominion features a weird dream sequence. I don't understand it but, in its way, it wasn't too different from the dream sequence in The Exorcist, and the neat thing was, the sequence included a quick shot of the white-faced demon from the original.

Also, during the credits for Dominion I happened to notice that the music was done by Angelo Badalamenti, the man who does the music for David Lynch's movies. I was surprised because Badalamenti's music is pretty distinctive I'd think I would've noticed it during the movie but I didn't.

Last Carrie Fisher post

2011-07-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last time we spoke we were talking about that David Spade movie- I couldn't really get into it; it just wasn't Joe Dirt.

The other night I was flipping around and Wishful Drinking was on HBO- it was during the Hollywood Inbreeding section- and I stopped to watch it again.

There's one thing that came up and I'd meant to discuss it earlier: This is the kind of trivia that fascinates me and it's one of the aspects of Carrie Fisher's life that I'm really interested in.

Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon were together ("on and off," she says) for about 12 years- roughly 1978 to 1990. In the beginning they were both part of the cool Saturday Night Live crowd. Simon was good friends with Lorne Michaels and Fisher partied with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (plus SNL guest host Buck Henry- I know him as writer of To Die For and The Graduate).

Fisher and Simon married in 1983 and divorced about a year later but they got back together at some point and tried to make things work. Let's talk for a moment about the songs. Simon's 1983 LP Hearts and Bones was meant to be a Simon & Garfunkel record but it didn't work out and it ended up being a solo album. It's been acknowledged that two songs, "Allergies" and the title track, are about Fisher. The first has a few good lines but it suffers from early-to-mid-1980s production; it was an ugly time for music. Songs from that era- unless they were made by Prince or Cyndi Lauper or, of course, Tom Waits- just haven't aged well. Even Elvis Costello couldn't escape this. Listen to his records from that time. He's said that the keyboards that were popular then "date-stamp" the songs.

While "Allergies" has the stamp, "Hearts and Bones" sounds more like one of Simon's songs from the 70s. Not in a bad way, it just has certain touches. It wouldn't sound out of place played along with "Something So Right" or "Still Crazy After All These Years".

It's been suggested that the song "Graceland" makes references to Fisher and that sounds right to me. Three other songs from Graceland's Side One are probably about her too.

So the two divorce and while he has huge success with the Graceland album- I think it got the Grammy for Album of the Year- she made movies like Hollywood Vice Squad.

Her friend John Belushi didn't make it; he had overdosed in 1982. Life went on. His friend Dan Aykroyd had been writing a script and a part just for him. After Belushi's death Aykroyd kept writing and Bill Murray ended up playing the part when Ghostbusters was made the following year. Bob Woodward wrote a book about Belushi called Wired. Among the many sources was Fisher. She doesn't pop up in the book very often but when she does it's usually saying something thoughtful.

Sometime around 1985 Fisher overdosed on painkillers and ended up in a drug clinic. She got clean and wrote about the experience in the 1987 novel Postcards From The Edge. I read it last summer. It holds up pretty well, even a lot of the jokes, so I can see why it was such a big deal back then.

Plans were made to turn Postcards into a movie starring Meryl Streep. Fisher was hired to write the screenplay and Mike Nichols signed on as the director. As Fisher says in Drinking, in the late 1980s she was living in New York with Simon and she kept leaving to visit the movie set. This led to the end of their relationship.

1990. The movie of Postcards came out. Fisher's second novel, Surrender The Pink came out (like Postcards, this book draws from her life and Pink is based on her relationship with Simon. Simons album Rhythm of the Saints came out. It contains what Fisher says is "the last song Paul ever wrote about me"; it's called "She Moves On".

Now, I read and watched Postcards, I read Pink, and I know a lot of Simon's songs, plus I'll read whatever magazine article I can find online. But none of that means anything. Nobody really knows what happens in a relationship. The people actually in it don't always know.

But there's one thing that I find interesting. Simon & Garfunkel provided the songs for Mike Nichol's The Graduate. They all became friends I guess. Then Garfunkel was cast in Nichol's next project, Catch-22, while Simon was left alone and pissed in NYC. Simon ended up putting his anger into the 2011 Honda Accord theme song, "The Only Living Boy In New York".

Twenty years later, Mike Nichols took away another partner and Simon wasn't even asked to provide any songs (Carly Simon did the music).

That is what really fascinates me about the whole thing.

Fun on Friday

2011-07-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

When Joe Dirt came out in 2001 I had no desire to see it, didn't even think of it. Then I caught it Comedy Central and I've seen it 20 times since then. I know every word of it (except for whatever Comedy Cenral might've cut out of it). Now Dicky Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) is on. I'm catching it halfway through, I'm about ten minutes in and so far it seems just OK.

I was just looking at USA Today- Nike has re-signed Michael Vick. Fuck him and fuck Nike too. What are there, over a hundred professional football players? Nike couldn't go with another one?

It's been a beautiful day, looks like it's gonna be a warm, breezy night, and the weekend is here. Tomorrow I'm going to a cookout at a friend's house and Sunday my parents are having a party. It'll be nice to get my mind off things for a while.

I'm gonna get back to the movie. Dickie's learning to ride a bike and he keeps crashing into things.

More Carrie Fisher

2011-06-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

My obsession with Carrie Fisher is winding down. I caught Wishful Drinking on HBO OnDemand three times (I read the book last November), and yesterday I found some old articles about her from Entertainment Weekly.

You know, she used to be a script doctor. From what I understand that job pays a shitload of money- studios, desperate to finish out-of-control movies, call in writers to fix the script: pulling the story together and, especially, punching up the dialogue.

Whoopi Goldberg brought CF in fix Sister Act when Whoopi was fighting with Disney (Disney Pictures, not Walt). CF also helped with Hook and The Wedding Singer.

Yesterday I read an article from 1990. The movie version of Postcards From The Edge was about to come out at the same time as CF's second novel, Surrender The Pink. The story said that Steven Spielberg bought the rights to Pink before the book was even finished. I've read both novels and I can say: Surrender The Pink is a big disappointment. Especially considering it's about CF's relationship with Paul Simon. That relationship fascinates me- their early days with the SNL crowd, their marriage that lasted about a year, and all the songs he wrote about her: "Hearts and Bones" from Hearts and Bones, "Graceland" from Graceland, and "She Moves On" from She Mo- The Rhythm of the Saints.

But anyway, I think I've found out all I can.

Throwing Muses Anthology

2011-06-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Anthology (September 5, 2011) Throwing Muses

I can't wait till Anthology comes out. Disc Two (B-sides and rarities) is going to be one of the greatest CDs ever. So many excellent songs together for the first time. It's just a limited-edition bonus disc, but I believe it should be released on its own and promoted. It's all from the 90s and none of it sounds dated at all. I think it could be something never seen before: a B-sides album that becomes a hit. Why not?

Disc One was a surprise for me. I wasn't expecting "No Way In Hell". Same with "You Cage", "Finished", and "A Feeling".

Most of TM's singles were left off- as far as I know, the only one on there is "Bright Yellow Gun". I wasn't expecting 'Dizzy", but I wonder if BYG was included because it came out when they had their biggest mainstream exposure and that's the one TM song that most people might've heard before, or, if it's a song that the band really likes a lot. I like BYG but I prefer "Shark", still, nobody's heard it.

The only song I would've left off is "Vicky's Box", but I know a lot of people like it and the ending is pretty cool.

Anyway, I'm hoping that TM will come to Massachusetts when they go on tour. I'll definitely get a ticket. I missed them when they came to Boston in 2006 and I'm not letting that happen again.

Note: By the time I got to the forth paragraph in the press release I was expecting to read "we decided to eschew "White Bikini Sand" and "Santa Claus".

Question Of The Day: Answer

2011-06-20T22:11:00.001-07:00

This Siouxsie and the Banshees sleeve for "The Passenger" (1987) reminds me of the artwork for The Pixies Bossanova (1990).

The images are similar to the Bossanova sleeve while the colors are a lot like the ones on the "Dig For Fire" sleeve.

And no, I'm not saying that they copied the Banshees, maybe they never even saw the sleeve; I'm just saying maybe they did and it gave them ideas.

Devil

2011-06-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

Devil (2010)

This movie came out last September. I really wanted to go see it then but that didn't work out. It was on Cinemax last night so I got some chips, mini-donuts, and blue gummi sharks and put all my pillows on the loveseat.

You might not want to keep reading- I'm giving away everything here.

The movie starts with helicoper shots of a city (NYC, I guess. It's probably made very clear in the movie but I don't pay attention to that kind of thing), and it's creepy cause the images are all up-side-down.

The movie is narrated with a voice over from one of the characters, Ramirez, one of the security officers at the office building where the story takes place. The incidents are based on a fable that Ramirez's mother told him as a child and the whole movie has a fable-like feel to it. The movie was produced and co-written by M. Night Shyamalan and I guess that's kind of his thing, especially in movies like The Village and The Lady In The Water, neither of which I saw. I've only seen The Sixth Sense and Signs, but I really want to see The Happening.

Anyway, five people are trapped in an elevator and one of them is the devil. I love this kind of story: people stuck somewhere- there's a blzard or the bridge is washed out and one of the people is a murderer. This movie is a tribute to Agatha Cristie and especially her And Then There Were None.

Devil does two things very well: keeping the viewer guessing, and making the characters scary. And Ben Larson, the new temp security guard is fucking terrifying. Sometimes, Tony the mechanic is too. It goes back and forth and you don't know who really is killing the other passengers.

If there's one weak element to the whole film it's when the Devil is finally revealed. It isn't as scary as it should be and I'm not sure why. Probably because at that point you get the idea of how it's going to end. You somehow know that Tony isn't going to die. He's safe, won't even get a scratch. And while Ben and Tony take turns being scary, they're just using facial expressions and getting the job done. The old lady can't pull it off. At one point her eyes turn completely dark; I get the feeling that effect was added in post production when the filmmakers saw that she just wasn't scary enough.

Also, just a thought- does M. Night Shyamalan have some experience with drunk driving or hit-and-run drivers. Like Signs, this movie hinges on beloved family members killed by another driver.

Anyway, Devil is very good movie. I was surprised that it was PG-13, but after seeing it I guess it falls into that catagory. It's just weird cause this type of movie is almost always rated R.

Question of the Day

2011-06-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the first RJ Battles Question of the Day- what does this record sleeve remind you of?

I'll give you the (my) answer tomorrow (or later today, after I get out of work).

I wish I had readers

2011-06-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

There are so many subjects I wanna touch on. I've seen some good movies and shows lately- I finally got to see all of Wishful Drinking, and last night Hoffa was on- it's a surprisingly attractive movie. The dear hunting scene, for instance, may have been shot on a soundstage but it works to its benefit. The yellow sky is pretty and adds excitement; it heightens the scene.

I have to say: I saw the ending a mile away, and not just because we all know Hoffa dies at the end. I knew who would kill him because a) He looks too innocent, and b) when the kid makes a phone call he uses Bobby's last name even though he shouldn't.

I'm just wondering, what does Bobby send gift-wrapped to the newspaper? I think I know but I'm not sure.

About a month ago I saw Paul Simon on Letterman around 1986 or 1987. Simon mentioned how he hates it when people allow their songs to be used in ads. Then I remembered that "The Only Living Boy In New York" is being used in a car commercial. It could be that he had nothing to do with that, but I thought I read somewhere that, unlike most singers, Simon owns the copyrights to his songs. I'm interested to hear the full story.

That's it for now, I hope to be back soon.

Tornado

2011-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

The headquarters for RJ Battles is located in western Mass., and yesterday, around 4:30pm, a tornado rolled through the area. My town was only hit by thunderstorms, but the tornado went right down my Noni's street, fucking up a grammar school and a house and leaving her without power. Her road had to be closed because of trees and power lines in the street.

The tornado went from Westfield to West Springfield, over the Connecticut River and into the south end of Springfield where it did a lot of damage.

A couple people died, including a mother who was shielding her teenage daughter in the family's bathtub.

The day started like any other. It was warm, humid, and sunny. In the morning, a co-worker told me we were supposed to get thunderstorms around 4pm. Just before I left work at 2pm my boss came over and told me that there was a tornado watch on.

Yesterday morning nobody could've predicted the way that the day would turn out. I'm sure that poor woman never thought that before the sun went down she would die.

There was a tractor trailer turned on its side and countless cars crushed by trees and homes and businesses destroyed.

Here, around 8pm, I looked out the window after the thunderstorm ended. The dark clouds were gone and it was unusually bright. The sky was bright yellow and everything had a strange dark glow to it. I went for a walk around and it felt so weird to see all the trees and buildings so oddly lit. It's something I've never seen. I wanted to take a picture but I don't think that would captured the way that everything looked. The light was just too weird.

Today things are back to normal here, but just a little to the south it's still a big mess. All day it was sunny, but all day it was also very cool and comfortable. At times it got very windy too. I'd love for the whole summer to feel like today did.

I'm about to go to bed- windows open, ready for a cool, comfortable sleep, and thankful that my friends and family are safe.

I've been busy and sick

2011-05-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

I know I've been neglecting RJ Battles this month. There are a few reasons: Nobody reads this blog; I was sick last week, I've been working a lot this month.

But in June I'm going to be around more and I'm going to do big things.

You're probably wondering why I keep writing even though I have no readers. I believe that someday i will have readers. And when people do discover this blog there will be a lot of material for people to read.

People will find this blog, realize how awesome it is, and then they can dip into the archive and look at past posts.

It's not probable but it is possible.

Note: I like this photo; I found it on a friend's Facebook page- I guess he or a friend made it at work.

Throwing Muses

2011-05-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Over at KristinHersh.com there's news of a 4AD Throwing Muses anthology that's due to come out later this year. It's supposed to be one disc of "the best of", and another disc of B-sides plus rare songs, like University-era "Hillbilly".

I decided to come up with around 25 tracks that would best represent TM. I'm including B-sides, as so many of their best songs are B-sides.

If you don't know Throwing Muses you should download these songs and burn your own compilation.

The Best of Throwing Muses
1. Fish
2. Hate My Way
3. And a She- Wolf After the War
4. Mexican Women
5. Colder
6. Cry Baby Cry
7. Mania [Live]
8. Devil's Roof
9. Him Dancing [Remix]
10. Cottonmouth
11. Cry Baby Cry (Lennon/ McCartney)
12. Two Step
13. Honeychain
14. Carnival Wig
15. Rosetta Stone
16. Red Eyes
17. Crayon Sun
18. Snakeface
19. Surf Cowboy
20. Tar Kissers
21. Buzz
22. Half Blast
23. Speed and Sleep
24. Amazing Grace

The last TM album came out in 2003. Whenever I listened to it I'd always skip over the songs "Status Quo" and "Speed and Sleep". I had no idea what I was missing- "Speed and Sleep" is one of the best TM songs ever.

Rain

2011-05-18T19:35:00.001-07:00

It's been raining non-stop since this weekend and it isn't supposed to end for a couple days. It's been raining hard, but it's a cold rain, not the cool, thunder and lightning kind.

It fucking sucks.

Anyway, yesterday I watched the re-make of Swept Away. I saw almost all of it. A coupe weeks ago I saw the last ten minutes. It's so sad. The crdeits start to roll and you're like, "Oh shit, that's not supposed to happen". Yesterday I was watching it hoping it would end differently, but it didn't. Same exact thing happend.

I've never seen any other Guy Richie movies. When Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels came out it looked like it was going to be a Pulp Fiction rip-off. Same with Snatch.

Swept Away was not as bad as everyone said. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. And Madonna did a pretty good job.

I wish I had more to say but I don't. This blog has been a little lifeless lately. I hope it's just lately. I hope this isn't usual. Anyway, things will get better soon. Probably not this month, maybe in June.

By the way, I can't believe it's almost June. This year has flown by. It's crazy. Why is time going by so fast? Is this what happens when you're in your 30s? I want time to slow down right now.

I'm going to bed. Good night.

Oh, by the way, soon I'll be posting my review of The Rules of Attraction. There's something to look forward to.

Local story

2011-05-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here at RJ Battles I just write about record sleeves and things like that; it isn't current events.

But last night I was at this pizza shop in town, waiting for my onion rings, and reading the local paper.

There was a story about a 4 year old pre-schooler who rides to school on a smaller bus (I'm not talking about a "short bus"; I'm just saying, according to the story, it isn't full-size), and the other day he didn't get off at the pre-school because he fell asleep. The bus driver continued driving and parked at her house.

As the newspaper writer says, this is where the stories of the bus driver and the child begin to differ.

The bus driver says that once she arrived at her house she made a routine check of all the seats, as is required, and saw the sleeping boy. She woke him up, took him inside, and tried, unsuccessfully, to contact the school.

The boy ended up arriving at the school after 9am.

The boy says- or, according to the mother, the boy says- that he woke up alone on the bus, managed to open the bus door, and went up to the driver's house and knocked on the door.

The mother wants the police to press child endangerment charges and for the driver to be suspended while the investigation takes place (she's furious that the same driver was there to transport her son the next day. She said she plans to keep him home tomorrow).

The owner of the bus company said that all the busses are equipped with GPS so they know everywhere a bus goes and what time it's there. And further, all evidence they've seen backs up the driver's version of events.

There are some things I'm not sure of. I think it's possible that this boy simply dreamed that he woke up alone on the bus. Maybe he just wanted an interesting story to tell his parents- how he woke up trapped on the bus but managed to open the bus door and let himself out.

Or maybe he's telling the truth and the bus driver is lying to protect her job.

Either way, I'm 100% on the side of the bus driver. Why should she lose her job just because some kid fell asleep? And I don't care if he's 4- who falls asleep on the way to school? What, was he up till 3am studying for a test the night before?

So maybe she dropped off the students- the ones who managed to stay awake for 15 minutes- and then she drove home, parked the bus in her driveway, and went inside without walking through it. How many bus drivers really bother doing that? Because how often is there still a student on the bus?

This kid was in zero danger. Maybe he slept for 30 minutes in some driveway on a quiet street on a cool, sunny morning. He got to school eventually.

Before even reading the story, just based on the headline, where she's described as "irate", I already didn't like her. If there's ever been a situation where everyone involved should just laugh it off, this is it. Instead, she's trying to ruin the poor bus driver's life.

I hope the bus driver makes it through this, and I'm glad to see that the bus company is standing by her. Hopefully the mother will decide to pull out Sleepy McGee and home school him instead.

There are some people that I've come across and right away I can tell that they're assholes. It's like they have signs over their heads: Trouble flashing in neon lights. At work I'll see the glow and stand back and watch while someone else takes care of them and I watch it all unfold. Afterwards the co-worker will come up to me and say, "That guy was such a fucking dick".

I know that the mother is that type of person. I'm also thinking that she might be hoping to make some money off of this. I'm sure she's talked to a lawyer.

Anyway, this isn't the usual kind of RJ Battles post, but it is something that interests me so I guess it qualifies.

Clem

2011-05-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Clementine (plus Lovey)

More Greg

2011-05-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's my friend Greg and my friend Mark.

Greg

2011-05-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here's my friend Greg at my house.

Amy and Tigre (Fatty)

2011-05-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here's my friend Amy and my roommate's cat.

Lego Day

2011-05-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

I'm planning another Lego Day sometime soon...

"Cherish" 3" CD single

2011-05-11T18:36:00.003-07:00

Cherish 3 inch CD single

Storage

2011-05-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I might have to delete my harddrive- I'll be sorry to lose all the songs I've downloaded, plus all my journal entries since October, but that's the way it goes.

While I can, I want to save some of my favorite pictures. I should probably just start a flicker account but that takes time and I've gotta work early tomorrow morning.

Here are some Madonna "Cherish" sleeves-

It's official

2011-05-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

I am a focused, driven, ambitious person- hungry for challenges and success, on a non-stop express train to my many goals.

I finally started a couple days ago. One of my new things is that I'm now shaving every day that I have to work. It used to be that I'd skip a few days and get a little scruffy. Nobody said to be more clean shaven. In fact, two of the managers said they like my "scuffy look", and the owner said I looked "very GQ". My skin gets irriated, but eventually I'd like to start shaving everyday, even my days off.

Something I've been doing for the past two days is cleaning my room. I want it to be organized and use the space better. All of my art supplies need to be at arm's reach and there's gotta be a place to work where I don't have to move shit around before I get started. That's important.

I've got library books that were supposed to go back at theend of march. I'm gonna return them this weekend.

Part of my new system is I'm not going to put things off anymore. That means there's a lot of catching up to do cause I've put off a lot of shit.

I've filled up an entire sheet of paper with money-making plans and schemes. Some things just won't happen, they're bad ideas that wouldn't work, but most of the things on the list are do-able. One example is window displays.

I live in a town with a very popular downtown. There are a lot of businesses on and around Main Street with small-to-medium-sized storefront windows and ever since I moved here I've wanted to design eye-catching visuals. I think I could do some great stuff, especially around Christmastime.

I'm going to choose a few stores that need help. Then I'm going to do some sketches, find the cheapest way to execute things, and then present the blueprints to the business owners.

I'm very excited because things are different now and I'm seeing opportunities everywhere.

Around New Years I cleaned out a pickle jar and put on a label that said Car Jar. At one point there was over $60 inside but I ended up needing the cash for something else. I'm starting over and everything goes in there from now on. Not everything, actually. I'm gonna check out some banks- sometimes they'll put $50 in your new account after the first 60 days. I also got, for Christmas, a change bank that has a digital display and counts your change as you insert it.

But the point is: you reap what you sow. I'm planting seeds (including some basil seeds- both of my original terrariums are back in business) for things to grow in the future.

Promo EC EPs

2011-05-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

These EPs were released to promote the Elvis Costello LP All This Useless Beauty. They've got live tracks and EC covers by other artists and I think all of them include the song "Almost Ideal Eyes". I like the sleeves.

Long Long Long

2011-05-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Whether it's a book or a movie, if it's long it's gott ab eworth the length.

2001 is on right now. I've seen it before but I don't recognize any of the scenes I'm seeing now. I think that's because the first time I watched it I lost interest and started doing something else (like I'm doing now).

Every time I come across a written description of it I have to laugh when people call it "thrilling" and shit like that- it's boring as fuck. It's long, and there are so many scenes that just aren't needed. There's no point.

I'm not against long movies. Look at the first two Godfather movies- they're long, but there's so much in there. Try to find a wasted scene. Then there's Magnolia. Yes, it tells its stories at its own pace; there's nothing wrong with that. But watching it you too many scenes that go on too long. There's fat that should've been trimmed. I could've done without Tom Cruise's character altogether, but even with him, the scene of him delivering his speech goes on for too long. That goes double for his scene at Jason Robards's deathbed.

When you watch Casino, another long movie, if anything, you wish the scenes would go on longer.

The best exacmple of a book that's too long is Atlas Shrugged. The first time I read it I loved the clarity- every idea was explained very clearly. But over the years I've come to see it as needlessly long. 35% of the text could easily be cut away, maybe even more. Ideas aren't being made clear, they're beaten into the ground. They're over-explained.

I wrote a post here about Atlas Shrugged. I don't know how to post a link but you can easily find it by scrolling through all the content on this blog, RJ Battles.

My favorite songs of my lifetime

2011-05-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

I was thinking today about all of the songs that I loved and was obsessed with when I was younger that I still think are good. To be on this list I A) had to love them in the past, and B) still think they're cool, and C) not be embarrassed to name them.

Note: I'm going to go in the order that I liked them- not the order in which they came out.

My first favorite song, and also the first record I ever owned, is "Summer Nights" from the Grease soundtrack. The ending has always gotten to me; I think the song really sets a mood. The first record I ever bought was "What A Feeling" by Irene Cara from the Flashdance soundtrack.

I think my first two choices need a little explanation: when I was younger I spent a lot of time with my two older cousins, Krissy and Shari, and it had a big impact on my musical tastes, probably permanent. These first two songs are a little girly, but I feel a sense of excitement when I hear them.

I loved Michael Jackson- pre-Bad- but I can't think of a favorite song, one that I was really obsessed with. On the other hand, my fascination with Prince came next and I've got a lot of favorites. Prince has been known for putting out excellent B-sides. The two Prince favorites come from that catagory. I couldn't get enough of "17 Days"- it's almost hypnotic. It has the coolest sound and the coolest lyrics. It made me want to smoke, though I wouldn't start until 8 years later.

"All I got/ Is 2 cigarettes/ And this broken heart of mine/ So let the rain come down"

"Another Lonely Christmas" is amazing, start to finish. When I first heard it I hadn't had a banana daquari, and I still haven't. I hadn't had a girlfriend, never mind a dead one, but still I felt like I could relate to this song. I was 8 years old, but I understood completely.

Of all the songs on this list, the one that most of you don't probably don't know, and probably never will, is also probably the best. For the We Are The World album, Tina Turner recorded a cover of The Motels's song "Total Control". It's an awesome song (I've heard the original, and while it's great, Turner tops it), the guitars are awesome, and it holds up very well for a song that came out right in the middle of the 1980s- a decade that has a very distinct, and very awful sound. I would bet that this song could be released today, in 2011, and be a big hit, and nobody would guess that it was recorded in 1985.

There are a lot of Cyndi Lauper songs that I could list. I'd like to put on "The Goonies R Good Enough" or even its B-side, "What A Thrill", but my favorite Lauper song, the one that I'm most obsessed with is "Heading For The Moon", the B-side to "True Colors". It is easily the most dated song on this list, but I believe that it was dated at the time, so it's canceled out. It's such an odd song, but it really stays with you.

Actually, I'm not done with Cyndi Lauper yet. I loved her A Night To Remember album, though it was really the start of the end of her career (I know, she's put out a bunch of albums since then and she still has a huge fanbase. But I mean this is when she started to become practically "alternative"). There are a ton of good songs on Night, but the one that I cherish is the closer, "I Don't Want To Be Your Friend" , the sweetest and catchiest bitter song ever.

Madonna's put out a lot of records, but aside from "Has To Be" from the "Ray Of Light" single, she's only had one real B-side: "Supernatural" from "Cherish". It was always instrumentals or lesser album tracks (though "True Blue" was back with "Ain't No Big Deal", the song that was originally meant to be her first single but ended up getting shelved and left off Madonna). But "Supernatural" was a Like A Prayer out-take and it really shares the sound and attitude of that album. How much better would that album be if "Supernatural" took the place of "Dear Jessie"? Number one, the LP would be 30% less gay. "Supernatural" is an awesome song, perfect pop with a Jimi Hendrix-style guitar intro (I wonder if it was Prince- he did play on "Love Song" and "Act of Contrition", though I'm not sure if he's on the song "Like A Prayer").

In the 1990s my interests turned more towards rock music. The song that led me in that direction was the Divinyls's "I Touch Myself". I love the intro- it still gives me a thrill. That summer I played the shit out of the Divinyls album and that fall I bought all their old LPs on tape and played the shit out of them too.

From there I moved on to "Kiss Them For Me" and The Sugarcubes's "Hit". Of those two songs "Kiss Them" has held up the best- the sound is so mysterious and I still think the video is beautiful.

The song that totally led me in a new direction is The Breeders's "Cannonball" . I still think it's a perfect song, I'm still amazed by it. But also, my interst in The Breeders brought me to try The Pixies- one night I just went to the record store and bought Doolittle and I was hooked. I loved the sleeve design and the weird song titles. I listened to the tape on the drive home and I was in love. Over the next few months I bought every single Pixies recording I could find.

I'd like to list a Pixies song here but there's really no way. I wouldn't even listen to a Pixies album today- I just played it all too much. Even the B-sides. Even the rare songs. I've played "Rock-A-My-Soul" as many times as "Debaser". It's all worn out.

The song "Feed The Tree" got me into Belly, Tanya Donelly, Throwing Muses, and Kristin Hersh, but here I'd have to list "Gepetto"[Remix]/"Slow Dog"[U.S. Radio Remix]. Those are the two tracks on the "Gepetto" cassette single that I played over and over in my first car. Nothing made me happier back then.

I'm not a big Whiney Houston fan, though I do own The Bodyguard soundtrack. Still, she sings one of my favorite songs of all time, "My Love Is Your Love". That's about as close as a song gets to perfection and nobody could do it better than she does. It wasn't a huge hit for her. It isn't "I Will Always Love You". It isn't even "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?", but I think that in the future it will be the song that Whitney Houston is remembered for.

Around 2003 or 2004 I finally saw Magnolia. I never liked Boogie Nights, and I don't even like Magnolia, but I was amazed by it and I became obsessed with Paul Thomas Anderson. But even more importantly, I heard Aimee Mann's "Save Me" and I fell in love with that song. I love the guitars, I love the drums, and her voice sounds perfect- so cool. Everything about the song is perfect and, of course, it should've won the Oscar for Best Song (I think Phil Collins won that year).

I was out driving one night a few years ago. Actually, I was driving by my old apartment, the one where I'd first watched Magnolia, and I heard this awesome song that I'd assumed was sung by Jewel. I didn't find out until about a month later that it was actually a band called Riley Kilo. The song is called "Silver Lining". I don't know what to say about it. If you've heard it, you know. If you haven't heard you should seek it out. Buy the album (Under The Blacklights), download it, look up the video on Youtube. You're going to love it.

There are a few more songs I could throw onto the list, but I think that's enough. Besides, my fingers hurt and we've both got other things to do.

Good night,
RJ Battles

ET Battles

2011-04-29T23:11:00.001-07:00

I'm waiting for my friend to get here from Baltimore and the end of ET was just on in the background while I played Jamie Cullum's "Get Your Way" on Youtube...

...You know how the credits roll and towards the end they list the songs and performers and whatnot. Well I guess EC's "Accidents Will Happen" is in ET somewhere- there are three other songs, one of which is "People Who Died" by Jim Carrol. That's weird, right. The Basketball Diaries, junk and sex and everything. In ET?

EP- Elvis Costello and the Brodski Quartet

2011-04-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Elvis Costello and the Brodski Quartet (promo) Live at New York Town Hall

This CD isn't getting the full treatment. I picked it up for 50 cents at a used record store; it was in a box- one of many- full of hundreds of Cds that almost nobody would ever want.

Well, I wanted it. Not only did it have one of my favorite songs from The Juliet Letters, "I Almost Had A Weakness" (note: I could do without the lyrics and vocals; I'm in it for the melody and the title), but it also has a Tom Waits song and one by the Beach Boys.

The EP opens with "More Than Rain". I'd never heard Wait's version. I've heard it now once. Track two is "God Only Knows" from Pet Sounds; it's probably the best song on the CD.

The third song is called "They Didn't Believe Me" which left no impression on me and the Cd ends with a version of "Weakness" that doesn't sound too different from the LP version.

You might like this EP. And if you can find it for 50 cents too then I say, go for it.

Posters-Kristin Hersh

2011-04-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

Kristin Hersh Sunny Border Blue

Posters-Throwing Muses

2011-04-22T20:20:00.001-07:00

Throwing Muses Limbo

Posters- Amps, Breeders

2011-04-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Amps Pacer
The Breeders Safari
The Breeders Last Splash

Dusty Duddums

2011-04-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Dusty Duddums (1999-2011)

Cashword

2011-04-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

I love Cashwords. Cashwords are a $2 scratch ticket here in MA (there's also a $5 cashword that I don't bother with).

They've been around since at least 2008. The good thing about them is they take a while to finish. Before Cashwords, we had Bingo, but I lost interest in them.

I've won $100 before on one before. It was October 31, 2008.

I bought two tonight and lost both times.

Anyway, work fucking sucked, made some biscuits for dinner, did laundry, now I'm ready to pop two Tylenol with PM and go to bed.

Happy Birthday Charlette Rae, I think.

Mermaids

2011-04-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Mermaids (1990) directed by Richard Benjamin

Mermaids was on the other night so I stayed up to watch it. The ending is hard to watch so I almost stopped early but I made it through. It's upsetting when Kate slips and nearly drowns, even if you know that she's fine at the end.

I first saw this movie years ago, with my mom and my older brother, back when we were in high school. Set in Massachusetts in 1963, it's a sentimental film to begin with. My mom is the same age as Cher, and I remember that while we watched the movie my mom told us about her memory of the day Kennedy was shot.

It's hard to believe that 21 years have gone by. 1990, 1991- that was a very carefree time- that's the way it is when you're young.

The movie Mermaids was good then and it still is. The story is told well. There's just a small group of characters, all family and friends, no villians. It's just Charlette vs. Mrs. Flax, and Mrs. Flax vs. Lou. Everyone in this movie is so good.

I looked up this movie earlier and saw that it was directed by Richard Benjamin. The name sounded familiar. Of course- My Favorite Year, such a good movie (plus The Money Pit, ok, but very 1980s).

Anyway, great soundtrack. I love hearing Smokey Robinson and the Miricles doing "You Really Got A Hold On Me". And, by the way, Michael Schoeffling ("Jake Ryan") plays Joe, the caretaker at the local convent. He's 50 years old this year.

Flip my wig

2011-04-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

I bought a wig for $5 at a thrift store this afternoon. I t looks like my real hair, only a little lighter and straighter. I'm gonna wear it at work tomorrow. I hope I'll be able to sleep tonight.

There aren't a lot of comments on the posts here at RJ Battles, especially not lately, but I still believe that I have readers. Quiet, shy, faithful readers.

That delusion keeps me going. That's how I can continue writing about all the things I write about here. Plus, I think if somebody stumbles upon this blog and they like what they see, there's a lot of past content that they can skim.

Maybe someone like 4AD artists and v23 designs. If that's the case, they've probably been to Eyesore.com. Eyesore does album covers, but here at RJ Battles I try to include the back covers and the inside artwork, plus promo posters and postcards. So they'd probably see a few things they hadn't seen before.

Also, people in my age group share some of my interests. We grew up around the same time and saw some of the same things. And I write about movies and TV shows and books that they'd be familiar with. I'm not funny or even very insightful, but I try to throw in some interesting trivia.

I try to make this the kind of blog that I'd like to read. If I was surfing the web, say, 4 years ago, and found this blog, I'd be in love with it. I'd be thrilled to see some of the Belly sleeves and Throwing Muses posters. And I'd enjoy reading the movie reviews.

Anyway, not every post is gold, in fact, most are just OK. But I think that overall, this blog is a success. I think that it could be valueable to people. For information, for beautiful images, and for fun trivia.

I've said this before...

2011-04-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

...but I'm going to be- or pretend to be- more ambitious.

I'm too casual and relaxed. Too easy-going about everything.

I should be driven like Madonna. That sounds like fun. I don't know how long I can keep that going but I'm going to try.

I have a plan which I came up with last night: I'm going to save up for a car. I plan to have enough by summertime (right now I have none).

My plan is to not waste money the way that I usually do. I'm going to start a savings account and throw all my money into it. Also I'm going to look at different ways of making money.

New for April

2011-04-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend today. She's 23 and I was wondering if she knew the song "My Love Is Your Love". She does, but to her it's an old song, something from when she was a kid. She looks at Whitney Houston almost the same way that I saw Diana Ross when I was growing up: an older act who still puts out music, but isn't new or vital- she just plays catch up and puts out records in whatever the style of the day happens to be. When I was a kid Diana Ross was doing disco songs like "Upside Down".

Anyway, our talk made me think about all the good things that have come out since 1999 so tonight I started compiling a list of good songs, albums, moives, and books that have come out over the past twelve years.

Over the next week I'm going to put out list as a way of giving exposure to some good things that you might've missed the first time around. If you have any ideas to add please let me know.

Thanks, RJ

Shitty interview

2011-04-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

I should probably have better things to do on a Saturday night than tearing into an 18-year old internet article but I don't.

Some guy from the website WithGuitars.com posted a link to an old Throwing Muses interview on the KristinHersh.com message board. I read it and it was interesting, and at the bottom of the page there was a link to an article on Belly from 1993. The author's name is Steve Janes.

It isn't just the mispellings, mistakes, and missing words, though that's a big part of it. The whole thing is bad, even though the writer talks about doing research and making notes.

Here's the first sentence, exactly as it appears:

Belly has been described as an "alternative rock and based in Newport, Rhode Island".

Then the writer describes the beginning of his phone call to Tanya Donelly and the static on the line:

My pause, is due to Tanya's comments we have both watched too much X Files, know it sounds like I am mankind excuses, but, but...

The whole article is sloppy, but what makes it worse is that Janes tries to be stylish. All of these cute touches annoy me but the one that bothers me the most is coming up. Donelly talks about how the Star LP has been successful but she's still not sure if Sire Records understands the album or knows how to market it properly.

She has not lost her innocence or curiosity but she has also gained a more balanced, relaxed and, dare I say it, pragmatic view of the music industry.

Never mind the incorrect phrasing; "dare I say it" is such a lame journalistic cliche anyway, but it doesn't even fit in here. Pragmatic? What's the big deal? "Dare I say it, pragmatic...". I don't like it when people write certain things because they think it will give their writing "style".

If you get a chance, read the whole article at WithGuitars.com.

http://www.withguitars.com/belly-in-93-talking-star-and-feed-the-tree/

(I can never post links here but you can copy the text and place it in the search box.)

I did come across one interesting quote in the article. Janes asked Donelly if she was worried about the video for "Feed The Tree":

"A little bit, just because of the money spent and cos the guys that made the video were kind of idiots in some ways. Well, I mean the director of "Feed The Tree" was very pretentious and very LA."

I saw on Wiki that "Feed The Tree" was directed by Chris Applebaum. I know for sure that he directed the video for "Now They'll Sleep". It seems odd that Belly would choose to work with him again. (I never liked the "Feed The Tree" video, but the video for "Now They'll Sleep" is very good and one of my favorites.)

Look Out!

2011-04-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Shark EP

2011-04-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

Shark EP (1996) Throwing Muses

Shark is one of my all-time favorite EPs.

It is perfect in every way.

I love the packaging, but the best thing is the songs. It is made up of re-named re-recordings of some of the best songs from Throwing Muses's 1996 LP Limbo.

At the time, Limbo was supposed to be their final album. They were splitting up for lack of money. Limbo is, by far, thier greatest record; it contain their strongest songs and they never sounded better.

I'm pretty sure that "Shark" (2:52) is different from the LP version; it sounds tighter and more violent.

(The song contains elements of an early TM song called "Clear and Great" that was written in the early 1980s and re-recorded for their In A Doghouse collection along with "Catch" and "Lizzie Sage".)

Track two is a new version of "Tar Kissers" called "Tar Moochers". While the album version is loud and distorted, the EP version is more country-sounding and clear. The drums, in certain sections, are jarring and urgent. I love both versions so much that it's hard to decide which is better. I think it's a tie.

"Serene Swing" (3:10), the re-recording of "Serene", also switches identities here. On the album it's almost a ballad. Here, it's all a wash of electric guitar. I definitely prefer this version to the original.

The last song, "Limbobo"(I love the new name), is one of Throwing Muses's best songs ever. It sets its own mood and atmosphere.

The song starts with some kind of mechanical drum sound and then fills with a growling, grumbling bass buzz. It's scary and hypnotic- it sounds like pure evil. The vocals slide in along with a softer guitar sound.

"Limbobo" is like the flipside of Throwing Muses's version of "Amazing Grace" from the Counting Backwards EP. Instead of ending where it could, it goes on and on, making it one of TM's longest songs (7:19). You listen and wish it could go on forever but it's kind of a relief when it does end.

The Shark EP contains four of the best songs that any band could hope to record. It's a shame that few people ever got a chance to hear the Limbo LP and even fewer will ever hear the Shark EP.

You should seek out the Shark EP. It's amazing and you won't be disappointed.

More Carrie Fisher

2011-04-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't find out until last night, but Carrie Fisher used to have her own show on the Oxygen Network for two seasons back in 2002 and 2003- Conversations From The Edge With Carrie Fisher.

The interviews were done in her home and she talked with George Lucas, Jude Law, Diane Sawyer, Diane Keaton, and Janeane Garafalo.

There was only one interview available to watch on the internet but it is the one that I would most want to see: Courtney Love. The interview was awesome. Very intimate- they talked about everything. Courtney described her type: frail. She's attracted to frail, fragile men. She said that's why she was attracted to Edward Norton- he was slim, with thin wrists and thin ankles.

If you get a chance, watch the whole interview on Youtube.

This morning I found a website called Fuck Yeah Carrie Fisher. It's mostly photos and 85% are from Star Wars but there are a lot from the 80s and early 90s. She was so cool and stylish. I poured over three pages and added the site to my Favorites so I can go back and see the rest of it.