Lately I've been obsessed with the passing of time, and I've always been interested in Lord Alfred Douglas.
It wasn't until recently that I realized that he lived to be 74, dying in 1945. It seems weird to think about: he was born in 1870 and was with Oscar Wilde in the 1890s. It was such a far-away time. But Douglas died in 1945, one year after my father was born. They were alive at the same time.
And Douglas went to jail too, for 6 months, after losing a libel case brought by Winston Churchill (!!). he was in jail in 1924, the year my Noni was born.
Douglas's only child, Raymond, died in a mental hospitol in 1964, just 10 years before my older brother Matt was born.
Anyway, it all just seems so strange to me, but it doesn't really matter (plus I think I already wrote about this last year, I'll have to check).
Good night.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
It was cold when I walked 50 minutes to my 7am shift at the resturant and I fucking froze. I did it all last winter and when people ask me how I manage I Tell them the truth and say, "I don't know".
The 6:30am person makes coffee and sets up everything. I like that shift because it allows 30 minutes for my face to thaw before the doors open at 7am. As the 7am guy I take off my coat and hat and start serving customers right away.
I like everyone who works on my side of the resturant. There is one girl, however, who, although we are friends, kind of bugs me. She's chipper and too excited and at the same time very serious and a perfectionist. She'll have a valid complaint against me or someone else but treat it like a crisis and go over-the-top. It's maddening sometimes.
She's vegan and big into recycling and conserving. We all compost what we can if it's easy and doesn't take extra time. She composts everything, even our many coffee ground-filled filters- that's fine, but things like that take her away and leave more work for the rest of us.
There was some conflict this morning and it still "grinds my gears". All phone calls to the resturant come to my section. Not long after I started working there someone called for the owner and I took the message and asked if they'd like to leave their phone number. "No, they've already got it."
I posted the message and later on that day the manager had a talk with me and explained that the owner always want the phone number with the message because they don't want to have to look for it. It's a good point so since then I've always made sure to get the caller's phone number. The callers sometime get annoyed but I don't care. A couple people refused and the moment they hung up their message went straight to the trash. There's no way I'm gonna get yelled at for them.
A girl- I'll call her Aimee- started working here 3 months ago. She did badly at first but she's gotten better. Still, almost everybody dislikes her at varying degrees. She's got her problems but I don't think she's as bad as everyone says. I've made excuses for her and defended her to a lot of people, including the girl I mentioned above. She used to hate Aimee but recently she's started to soften, thanks in part to me.
This morning Aimee had one of our vendors on hold; they were looking Ronnie, the main baker who also does all of our purchasing. I said to Aimee, "Be sure to get their phone number. They might not want to and they'll say that Ronnie already has it but get it anyway. Ronnie doesn't want to have to look for it".
I can see why people here get frustrated with her- as she hung up the phone I looked at the paper: no fucking phone number. Twenty minutes later, I had to go up to the office and- stupid me- I handed the message to another manager to give to Ronnie and the manager politely gave me shit for the message not having a phone number. I should've just tossed out the note and I'm still kicking myself.
It wasn't a big deal but it wasn't something I wanted to hear about at all. The manager then made it clear that I wasn't in trouble or anything, she just wanted me to spread the word and make sure everyone knew. But I got defensive and couldn't make it clear enough that I had flat-out told Aimee, "Get a phone number".
It pisses me off. I fuck up enough and I'm always happy to take the blame, but I'm not a manager or anything so I don't wanna be responsible for thing other people do.
It was cold when I walked 50 minutes to my 7am shift at the resturant and I fucking froze. I did it all last winter and when people ask me how I manage I Tell them the truth and say, "I don't know".
The 6:30am person makes coffee and sets up everything. I like that shift because it allows 30 minutes for my face to thaw before the doors open at 7am. As the 7am guy I take off my coat and hat and start serving customers right away.
I like everyone who works on my side of the resturant. There is one girl, however, who, although we are friends, kind of bugs me. She's chipper and too excited and at the same time very serious and a perfectionist. She'll have a valid complaint against me or someone else but treat it like a crisis and go over-the-top. It's maddening sometimes.
She's vegan and big into recycling and conserving. We all compost what we can if it's easy and doesn't take extra time. She composts everything, even our many coffee ground-filled filters- that's fine, but things like that take her away and leave more work for the rest of us.
There was some conflict this morning and it still "grinds my gears". All phone calls to the resturant come to my section. Not long after I started working there someone called for the owner and I took the message and asked if they'd like to leave their phone number. "No, they've already got it."
I posted the message and later on that day the manager had a talk with me and explained that the owner always want the phone number with the message because they don't want to have to look for it. It's a good point so since then I've always made sure to get the caller's phone number. The callers sometime get annoyed but I don't care. A couple people refused and the moment they hung up their message went straight to the trash. There's no way I'm gonna get yelled at for them.
A girl- I'll call her Aimee- started working here 3 months ago. She did badly at first but she's gotten better. Still, almost everybody dislikes her at varying degrees. She's got her problems but I don't think she's as bad as everyone says. I've made excuses for her and defended her to a lot of people, including the girl I mentioned above. She used to hate Aimee but recently she's started to soften, thanks in part to me.
This morning Aimee had one of our vendors on hold; they were looking Ronnie, the main baker who also does all of our purchasing. I said to Aimee, "Be sure to get their phone number. They might not want to and they'll say that Ronnie already has it but get it anyway. Ronnie doesn't want to have to look for it".
I can see why people here get frustrated with her- as she hung up the phone I looked at the paper: no fucking phone number. Twenty minutes later, I had to go up to the office and- stupid me- I handed the message to another manager to give to Ronnie and the manager politely gave me shit for the message not having a phone number. I should've just tossed out the note and I'm still kicking myself.
It wasn't a big deal but it wasn't something I wanted to hear about at all. The manager then made it clear that I wasn't in trouble or anything, she just wanted me to spread the word and make sure everyone knew. But I got defensive and couldn't make it clear enough that I had flat-out told Aimee, "Get a phone number".
It pisses me off. I fuck up enough and I'm always happy to take the blame, but I'm not a manager or anything so I don't wanna be responsible for thing other people do.
Friday, January 28, 2011
A new interest or obsession
This past fall I was obsessed with Carrie Fisher. I was into looking up info about her life and work. I'd already read Postcards From The Edge, but in October I got Surrender The Pink from the library. It's her second novel and it's a fictional account of her relationship with Paul Simon.
I also looked up old news stories and interviews and read her Rolling Stone "Big-time Girl Talk" interview with Madonna. That was an interesting read.
Last week I was re-reading parts of Kathy Griffin's book and it got me interesting in the alternative comedy scene of the early and mid 90s. Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, ect. And today I was reading about Judd Apatow. I'm not very impressed with his movies and IFC has been playing old episodes of Freaks and Geeks and I don't see what the big deal is. Still, I can't help but be impressed with how busy he's been. He worked on The Ben Stiller Show (on Wiki it said that the two of them met in 1990 outside an Elvis Costello show) and did a re-write for The Cable Guy script and after that he went to write for The Larry Sanders Show, one of my favorite TV shows.
He wrote movie scripts and created his own TV shows. He's in his early 40s and hwe's accomplished so much. It makes me feel like a slacker, but then, I am one.
Last year I was always posting here about all the ideas I had for books and movies I wanted to write. I started them all and finished none of them. And even if I finished, say, my Lifetime horror movie, what would I do with it? Do I set up a meeting with someone from Lifetime or just put it in an envelope and mail it? I can see a fat package sitting on my dresser for weeks until I finally shove it in a drawer.
I've got to change the way I do things. Or, even better, I need a partner to keep on top of me.
I also looked up old news stories and interviews and read her Rolling Stone "Big-time Girl Talk" interview with Madonna. That was an interesting read.
Last week I was re-reading parts of Kathy Griffin's book and it got me interesting in the alternative comedy scene of the early and mid 90s. Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, ect. And today I was reading about Judd Apatow. I'm not very impressed with his movies and IFC has been playing old episodes of Freaks and Geeks and I don't see what the big deal is. Still, I can't help but be impressed with how busy he's been. He worked on The Ben Stiller Show (on Wiki it said that the two of them met in 1990 outside an Elvis Costello show) and did a re-write for The Cable Guy script and after that he went to write for The Larry Sanders Show, one of my favorite TV shows.
He wrote movie scripts and created his own TV shows. He's in his early 40s and hwe's accomplished so much. It makes me feel like a slacker, but then, I am one.
Last year I was always posting here about all the ideas I had for books and movies I wanted to write. I started them all and finished none of them. And even if I finished, say, my Lifetime horror movie, what would I do with it? Do I set up a meeting with someone from Lifetime or just put it in an envelope and mail it? I can see a fat package sitting on my dresser for weeks until I finally shove it in a drawer.
I've got to change the way I do things. Or, even better, I need a partner to keep on top of me.
A "pet" peeve
Right away I have to say: I don't like the phrase "pet peeve", or, more specifically, I don't like the word "peeve". But anyway...
For whatever reason, I've always tended to think of cats as female and dogs as males. Why are some people so quick to correct me or get mad when I refer to a pet using the wrong gender?
My roomates have two dogs- a dark female German Shepherd named Tasha and a snow-white fluffy male Huskie named Porter. The female, Tasha, is very loud and aggressive and barks all the time and annoys the shit out of me. The male, Porter, is quiet and friendly, always wagging his tail. He gets so excited his whole rear end wags from side to side.
If I say about Porter, "Wow, she looks so happy", my roommate is quick to correct me, "Porter's a 'he'".
We have three cats too, and the male, Tigre (aka "Fatty" and "Fatty-Boom-Batty"), is the most outgoing; he'll scratch on my bedroom door to be let in whenever I have company. My friend Amy actually gets annoyed at me when I refer to Tigre using 'she'.
Who cares? What difference does it make what gender a pet is? If you're visiting a friend do you treat their male cat differently than their female cat? I don't. So what's the big fucking deal?
I have another complaint. Have you noticed that in movies where the main characters are madly in love with each other the two of them are always boring, uninteresting people. Take Twilight: New Moon, which I happen to be watching right now- Bella is moody and crabby. She's no fun and neither is Edward. You wouldn't want to spend five minutes with either of them, so really, who could love them?
For whatever reason, I've always tended to think of cats as female and dogs as males. Why are some people so quick to correct me or get mad when I refer to a pet using the wrong gender?
My roomates have two dogs- a dark female German Shepherd named Tasha and a snow-white fluffy male Huskie named Porter. The female, Tasha, is very loud and aggressive and barks all the time and annoys the shit out of me. The male, Porter, is quiet and friendly, always wagging his tail. He gets so excited his whole rear end wags from side to side.
If I say about Porter, "Wow, she looks so happy", my roommate is quick to correct me, "Porter's a 'he'".
We have three cats too, and the male, Tigre (aka "Fatty" and "Fatty-Boom-Batty"), is the most outgoing; he'll scratch on my bedroom door to be let in whenever I have company. My friend Amy actually gets annoyed at me when I refer to Tigre using 'she'.
Who cares? What difference does it make what gender a pet is? If you're visiting a friend do you treat their male cat differently than their female cat? I don't. So what's the big fucking deal?
I have another complaint. Have you noticed that in movies where the main characters are madly in love with each other the two of them are always boring, uninteresting people. Take Twilight: New Moon, which I happen to be watching right now- Bella is moody and crabby. She's no fun and neither is Edward. You wouldn't want to spend five minutes with either of them, so really, who could love them?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
TM posters
I love this University poster, great colors. I'm not crazy about the sleeve for that record but a lot of the University promo posters I've seen look really good.
I saw TM for the first time at Toad's Place in New Haven in 1995. I probably mentioned it here before, but back then most club show tickets were available at the record store Strawberries or at the mall clothing store Filenes.
I bought my TM tickets at the returns desk at Filenes and when they printed out the woman behind the counter said, "Throwing Muses and...Ass Ponies, hmm, that should be a fun night!" I smiled and blushed and got away as soon as I could.
HMV
HMV, the record store, put out, I'm finding, some really cool promo posters. These are pretty neat.
Too old for a rock band T-shirt too
But I like this Belly shirt. It was either $4.99 or $9.99- I can't remember.
Posters on EBay
I'm too old to buy or hang posters, but if I wasn't, I might get some of the ones I came across tonight on EBay. Take a look.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Home Alone
I had company this past weekend and he just left tonight.
He arrived exactly at midnight, beating the snowstorm by about 30 minutes. We stayed up all night, eating, smoking (cigarettes; just say nope), and watching TV.
Did errands the next days. Then we spent most of the next three doors in my bedroom, watching TV. I think I mentioned before: whenever friends come over, we don't go into the kitchen, we don't hang out in the living room, we don't play cards at the dining room table- we sit up in my room, surrounded by blankets and pillows.
I do all my entertaining in my bedroom. The only other time we went out was to go to my parents' house for a quick visit. Mom had made chicken soup and she also made me and my friend ham and pickle sandwiches. They were awesome and it was the perfect lunch for a cold January day.
I love to have company stay over, but there's definitely a letdown after they leave. My room feels so big and empty. I guess it's nice to be able to sleep on the bed instead of the floor.
I've missed RJ Battles this weekend. Don't worry, I'm back.
He arrived exactly at midnight, beating the snowstorm by about 30 minutes. We stayed up all night, eating, smoking (cigarettes; just say nope), and watching TV.
Did errands the next days. Then we spent most of the next three doors in my bedroom, watching TV. I think I mentioned before: whenever friends come over, we don't go into the kitchen, we don't hang out in the living room, we don't play cards at the dining room table- we sit up in my room, surrounded by blankets and pillows.
I do all my entertaining in my bedroom. The only other time we went out was to go to my parents' house for a quick visit. Mom had made chicken soup and she also made me and my friend ham and pickle sandwiches. They were awesome and it was the perfect lunch for a cold January day.
I love to have company stay over, but there's definitely a letdown after they leave. My room feels so big and empty. I guess it's nice to be able to sleep on the bed instead of the floor.
I've missed RJ Battles this weekend. Don't worry, I'm back.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I'm back
I'm sorry for not being here often enough this month. I've worked everyday since Tuesday but now I've got the whole weekend off because I've got company.
I love having someone stay over- it's always exciting.
Right now we're watching Youth In Revolt. As you know, I'm not crazy about Michael Cera. I mean, he's fine, he's just over-rated. Watching this, though, makes me want to re-watch Part One of Aimee Mann's Christmas Carol where she plays Scrooge. Cera stars in Part Three, what's-his-name-from-The Office is in Part Two, but it's Part One that I really like. Mann is leading a band meeting and laying down the law. "And I don't want to hear word one from you..." and then, "You can tell Tiny Tim from me, "Bah a-fucking humbug". Good stuff. Check it out if you're on Youtube.
By the way, I re-installed Soulseek and I've already got a bunch of cool songs. One I love is "A Case of You"- I've got one by kd lang and another by Prince. I got Throwing Muses's Hunkpapa on tape in 1994 and then years later I got the CD for the bonus track "Santa Claus"; now I've got the mp3s. One song I really want is from kd lang's cover album, Drag. It was written the (other) guy from Sugar and it's called "Your Smoke Screen". Perfect words.
My new favorite song is "Moon River". Last year American Laundromat Records put out a collection of lullabies and Tanya Donelly does "Moon River". I like that American Laundromat label; they're based out of CT and they do mostly tribute albums. They did one for The Cure and Donelly worked with Dylan At The Movies for "The Lovecats" while Grand Duchy did "A Strange Day". The also made a 80s soundtrack compilation and Frank Black did "Repo Man" while Kristin Hersh did "Wave of Mutilation"
I love having someone stay over- it's always exciting.
Right now we're watching Youth In Revolt. As you know, I'm not crazy about Michael Cera. I mean, he's fine, he's just over-rated. Watching this, though, makes me want to re-watch Part One of Aimee Mann's Christmas Carol where she plays Scrooge. Cera stars in Part Three, what's-his-name-from-The Office is in Part Two, but it's Part One that I really like. Mann is leading a band meeting and laying down the law. "And I don't want to hear word one from you..." and then, "You can tell Tiny Tim from me, "Bah a-fucking humbug". Good stuff. Check it out if you're on Youtube.
By the way, I re-installed Soulseek and I've already got a bunch of cool songs. One I love is "A Case of You"- I've got one by kd lang and another by Prince. I got Throwing Muses's Hunkpapa on tape in 1994 and then years later I got the CD for the bonus track "Santa Claus"; now I've got the mp3s. One song I really want is from kd lang's cover album, Drag. It was written the (other) guy from Sugar and it's called "Your Smoke Screen". Perfect words.
My new favorite song is "Moon River". Last year American Laundromat Records put out a collection of lullabies and Tanya Donelly does "Moon River". I like that American Laundromat label; they're based out of CT and they do mostly tribute albums. They did one for The Cure and Donelly worked with Dylan At The Movies for "The Lovecats" while Grand Duchy did "A Strange Day". The also made a 80s soundtrack compilation and Frank Black did "Repo Man" while Kristin Hersh did "Wave of Mutilation"
Monday, January 17, 2011
I'm surprised
So, I'm on the internet for about an hour (or three), and I like to just look up different subjects. I read that Katey Sagal sang back-up on an Olivia Newton John song from 1985 so I decided to look up that song- that led me to look up different ONJ albums and compilations (when I was younger I bought Greatest Hits Volume Two- the sleeve folded out into a big picture of her, and I thought it was so cool. But the record skipped, and my parents, not wanting to make a hundred trips back and forth to K-mart decided we'd just get the money back. Really, it's just got about 4 good songs).
Anyway, I looked up the Physical LP and saw that the photographer was Herb Ritts. Well, then I scrolled back up and looked at the cover again and- normally I'm very slow, but- I noticed that the pose was very similar to Madonna's True Blue cover, also by Ritts (by the way, I'm not the only person to notice this- it's mentioned on his wiki page).
Being a big Madonna fan I knew about Herb Ritts. He did a shitload of Madonna photos, including the pictures during the Like A Prayer- era. His first music video was "Cherish" and he directed Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do Without You" and Chris Isaaks's video for "Wicked Game" (the second one- David Lynch directed the first).
So I go to Herb Ritts's wiki page. I'm disappointed to find that he directed a video for Britany Spears (and I don't care if I'm spelling her name right), and even more disappointed to read that he died of pneumonia at the age of 50. Wow, I thought, when did that happen? Just after Christmas, 2002.
What the fuck. I know people get distracted around the holidays and don't follow the news, and I know that his death wouldn't be a huge news story, but still. I'm not finding this out until now?
Note: The True Blue cover really is a lot like the ONJ cover. True Blue's shiny blue background looks a lot like the water on Physical.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Snow day and snow night
No work today. And I might be entertaining tonight.
I'm looking out my window right now and it's a sight. It looks like a black and white picture and it's mostly white and the rest is grey.
I turned into someone who hates and dreads winter. Today reminds me of why I used to like it.
February used to be an exciting time. I liked cutting snowflakes out of plain white paper. They looked nice on the classroom windows. And the snowy view out those windows, the houses and yards down the road looked nice anyway.
Yes, I've got to shovel today, but I'm going to enjoy it a little. And I'm going to make the rest of the day fun too.
I'm looking out my window right now and it's a sight. It looks like a black and white picture and it's mostly white and the rest is grey.
I turned into someone who hates and dreads winter. Today reminds me of why I used to like it.
February used to be an exciting time. I liked cutting snowflakes out of plain white paper. They looked nice on the classroom windows. And the snowy view out those windows, the houses and yards down the road looked nice anyway.
Yes, I've got to shovel today, but I'm going to enjoy it a little. And I'm going to make the rest of the day fun too.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Auto-biography
Does it look sexier when I write it like that? A little, I think. The brief impression of someone choking themself while they write.
Anyway, in 2010 I read four memoirs, all good, and all written by women.
Official Book Club Selection Kathy Griffin
Are You Somebody? Nuala O'Faolain
Rat Girl Kristin Hersh
Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher
I recomend all of them, but I suggest pairing them to balance things out. Take them two-at-a-time.
Pair the Irish ladies, O'Faolain and Griffin. The sad story of Are You Somebody? will be softened by Griffin's book. And Wishful Drinking will cheer you up and bring you back to reality after Rat Girl.
Since Fisher's and Hersh's books both deal with mental illness and feature odd, old-Hollywood actresses- Debbie Reynolds and Betty Hutton- their stories are strangly similar. Both Hersh and Fisher were diagnosed with manic depression just as it was going through its name change to bi-polar. Their mental heath workers also told them both about historical figures who were bi-polar, such as Saint Francis.
I'm looking to read another autobiography soon but I think this time I'm gonna go with a man. I just can't think of anyone yet. Any suggestions?
Note: Another similarity between Rat Girl and Wishful Drinking is the focus on the personal shame of being mentally ill. Hersh writes a lot about being ashamed of her manic behavior. And Fisher tells about the time that she went off her medication and didn't sleep for six nights- she thought everything on TV was about her and when she checked herself into the hospital she signed "Shame" instead of her name.
Anyway, in 2010 I read four memoirs, all good, and all written by women.
Official Book Club Selection Kathy Griffin
Are You Somebody? Nuala O'Faolain
Rat Girl Kristin Hersh
Wishful Drinking Carrie Fisher
I recomend all of them, but I suggest pairing them to balance things out. Take them two-at-a-time.
Pair the Irish ladies, O'Faolain and Griffin. The sad story of Are You Somebody? will be softened by Griffin's book. And Wishful Drinking will cheer you up and bring you back to reality after Rat Girl.
Since Fisher's and Hersh's books both deal with mental illness and feature odd, old-Hollywood actresses- Debbie Reynolds and Betty Hutton- their stories are strangly similar. Both Hersh and Fisher were diagnosed with manic depression just as it was going through its name change to bi-polar. Their mental heath workers also told them both about historical figures who were bi-polar, such as Saint Francis.
I'm looking to read another autobiography soon but I think this time I'm gonna go with a man. I just can't think of anyone yet. Any suggestions?
Note: Another similarity between Rat Girl and Wishful Drinking is the focus on the personal shame of being mentally ill. Hersh writes a lot about being ashamed of her manic behavior. And Fisher tells about the time that she went off her medication and didn't sleep for six nights- she thought everything on TV was about her and when she checked herself into the hospital she signed "Shame" instead of her name.
My ideas for a Madonna collection
This past year Madonna put out her fifth collection- now there are three greatest hits, a ballads CD (Something to Remember), and a remix collection (You Can Dance).
Her greatest hits collections have been disappointing to some of her fans. The first one, The Immaculate Collection left out songs, such as "True Blue" and "Who's That Girl". Celebration, from 2009, leaves out soundtrack songs like "This Used To Be My Playground" and "I'll Remember". Plus, like Prince's The Hits/The B-sides, the sequencing makes no sense- it's one thing not to go along chronologically, but there's got to be some kind of rhythm or flow.
My own complaint is the album artwork, specifically the cover shot. Of all available photos they had to go with that one? It's not so much that it's a lesser photo, but the album is called Celebration- yes, she looks high, but not high and happy.
The thing is, an album like Celebration has to include "Material Girl" and "Dress You Up". I've seen interviews where Madonna says she hates "Material Girl" and these aren't even recent interviews. The song is dated, but even worse, it sucked when it came out.
What Madonna should put out, as opposed to a greatest hits CD, is a best of collection. That way, the usual suspects can be dropped and better, lesser-known songs can get the spotlight.
Luckily for everyone, I've already selected the songs and put together a tracklisting. Here's what I'm thinking: two discs, 27 songs.
The Best of Madonna
Disc One
1. Secret Garden
2. Angel
3. Into The Groove
4. Crazy For You
5. Ain't No Big Deal
6. Open Your Heart
7. Who's That Girl
8. Live To Tell
9. Like A Virgin (Blond Ambition Tour Version)
10. I'd Rather Be Your Lover
11. Lucky Star
12. Stay
13. Like A Prayer
Disc Two
1. Supernatural
2. Express Yourself (Remix)
3. Till Death Do Us Part
4. Secret
5. Justify My Love (Remix)
6. Vogue
7. Don't Tell Me
8. Erotica
9. Rain
10. Ray Of Light
11. Nothing Fails (Edit)
12. I'll Remember
13. Erotica (William Orbit Remix)
14. Beautiful Stranger
"Secret Garden", the closer from Erotica, is an excellent, overlooked song and would make the perfect opener for a collection like this. "Angel" has always been overshadowed by other Like A Virgin singles and even by its B-side, "Into The Groove". "Crazy For You" would lead into one of Madonna's earliest songs, "Ain't No Big Deal", which finally came out as the B-side to "True Blue". Yes, it's very dated, but it's fun, and it's something new and different. Also, it's no worse than "Dress You Up".
"Like A Virgin" was never one of my favorite songs but I love the way she did it on the Blond Ambition tour; it's exciting, especially the intro. "I'd Rather Be Your Lover" from Bedtime Stories is a great song, and if Madonna wasn't, at the time, trying to present a less sexual side after Sex and Erotica and Body of Evidence it probably would've been released as a single and been a huge hit.
"Stay", the closer of Like A Virgin, has held up well and is a good example of Madonna at her best in the mid 1980s. Disc One would close with "Like A Prayer", a song that was probably the biggest change in Madonna's career. It signaled a whole new direction for her music.
To open Disc Two, I chose "Supernatural", the B-side to "Cherish" with its Jimi Hendrix-style intro. The Like A Prayer-era is my favorite period in Madonna's career. I think that's when she made her best songs and really put music first. Then Warren Beatty made her dye her hair blond again and everything back-slided. Still, there'll always be "Till Death Do Us Part". The real instruments, as opposed to keyboards, really stand out on this track. It's too bad she didn't do more songs like it.
Then again, there's "Secret", which wouldn't be the same without the guitars. Both Justify My Love" and "Erotica" would be better represented by remixes- for "Erotica" I'd go with the WO Remix; it combines the best of the album version and the Sex version.
"Nothing Fails" is one of my favorite of Madonna's songs from the past decade. I would, however, edit out the swollen gospel chorus towards the end. Too much.
"Beautiful Stranger" from the first Austin Powers sequel is an excellent song and features all the best qualities of Madonna's greatest songs.
Anyway, maybe I left out some good songs from the past ten years; maybe I could reconsider. But the basic idea- that Madonna's back catologue would be better represented by a "best of" collection- is a sound one. There are a lot of good songs that don't get the attention that they deserve and Madonna is, as a musician, underrated.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Talented Mr. Battles
The other day I was off from work and before I jumped into a Roseanne marathon I watched The Talented Mr. Ripley and I think if anyone is looking for a cool band name they should go with Marge Maintenance.
I don't like Matt Damon but he was pretty good in that movie and the ending is so sad. I want to see the original movie version because I read a few reviews that said that the newer version wasn't nearly as good and I think it was pretty awesome.
You've got Cate Blanchette playing a pest who keeps showing up at the wrong time and fucking everything up. Phillip Seynour Hoffman, who always plays assholes- all the way back to Scent of a Woman- and he's wicked dick here..."How's the peeping, Tommy? Tommy, how's the peeping? Tommytommytommytommy".
Gwenyth Paltrow- good through the beginning and fucking excellent at the end. I always think of Jude Law on Inside the Actor's Studio where he was sort of tool-ish but he totally nails it here. You believe he's Dickie Greenleaf the entire time.
And then the best: Philip Baker Hall as the American private eye..."In America, we're taught to check a fact, before it becomes a fact"..."Don't care for b.s.- don't care to speak it, don't care to listen to it".
Now I really wanna read the novel by Patricia Highsmith- she sounds very interesting, though I read in later years she turned into a fanatic and a bigot. I guess she also wrote Strangers on a Train which I'd like to read.
Friday, January 7, 2011
I'll watch "The Score" again
Why not?
The Score (2001)
Flix is playing the shit out of this movie and I don't care. I could watch it all day.
Let me say again: I love the music, all of it, but especially the song at the very end which is probably called "I'll Make It Up As I Go Along" and sung by Diana Krall (who is probably Mrs. Costello, unless he's moved on again); I love the actual film score too- exciting and old fashioned; and I really love the De Niro's apartment. I'd love to live in a place like that: well furnished but dark and shadowy no matter the weather. I'll say it: this movie is worth seeing for the apartment alone.
So I'm having my last cigarette of the day (I mean it) and my second Swiss Miss and last of the day, then I'm going to bed. On the loveseat? Maybe.
The Score (2001)
Flix is playing the shit out of this movie and I don't care. I could watch it all day.
Let me say again: I love the music, all of it, but especially the song at the very end which is probably called "I'll Make It Up As I Go Along" and sung by Diana Krall (who is probably Mrs. Costello, unless he's moved on again); I love the actual film score too- exciting and old fashioned; and I really love the De Niro's apartment. I'd love to live in a place like that: well furnished but dark and shadowy no matter the weather. I'll say it: this movie is worth seeing for the apartment alone.
So I'm having my last cigarette of the day (I mean it) and my second Swiss Miss and last of the day, then I'm going to bed. On the loveseat? Maybe.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Carrie
Carrie (1976)
I'm watching Carrie now and Tommy and Carrie have just been elected Prom King and Queen. The scenes that come before this make me think about the sequel Carrie 2: The Rage. The scenes where Tommy and Carrie dance and Tommy and Carrie sit at the table and talk are so sad and heartbreaking. Did the makers of the sequel watch the original? Didn't they feel anything, and if they did why wouldn't they want to create a movie that would make viewers feel something?
I'm not crazy about Carrie. It's just too sad. But it's good. For a movie aimed at teenagers it's very good.
I'm watching Carrie now and Tommy and Carrie have just been elected Prom King and Queen. The scenes that come before this make me think about the sequel Carrie 2: The Rage. The scenes where Tommy and Carrie dance and Tommy and Carrie sit at the table and talk are so sad and heartbreaking. Did the makers of the sequel watch the original? Didn't they feel anything, and if they did why wouldn't they want to create a movie that would make viewers feel something?
I'm not crazy about Carrie. It's just too sad. But it's good. For a movie aimed at teenagers it's very good.
I wish I was Catholic or Jewish
I am catholic, technically. Both my parents were raised Catholic. As kids, though, my brothers and I weren't raised with any religion. In my life I've been inside a church about ten times. As kids we said abreviated prayers, "Now I lay me down to sleep. God bless everyone I love". That's it.
A quality I see in large Catholic families- my father's is one, my mother's, though not as large, is another- is activity. Keeping busy. Little idle time.
My brothers and I had chores and schoolwork and play, but there was a shitload of idle time and lots of TV. Honestly, it made me kind of dull. Or maybe I was dull anyway. Chicken or egg.
And Jews seem to be very ambitious. They look at the world a certain way. They see opportunities.
You know I'm obsessed with Patti Stanger and her show The Millionaire Matchmaker. She's so smart and she's always thinking. She's always observing people and you can tell watching the show, she always has. She's got everybody pinned down, in a box, in a catagory. She asks a question but she knows the answer. She says something and already knows what the responce will be because she knows people.
The flipside that makes me uneasy is that it's a little too calculated. It's all a game. Manipulating people, telling people exactly what you know they want to hear. Sell, sell, sell. And I'm not anti-business. It's just "networking" that bothers me- looking at social situations and trying to turn it into business. But oh well. It doesn't bother me much. It just isn't me.
What I've been thinking lately is, though, I've got to become a lot more disciplined. Of course that always happens after I read a Madonna interview (I just read one from a 1989 issue of Interview and the 1994 Norman Mailer piece from Esquire.
If I kept busier and had more self-control I'd be much better off.
A quality I see in large Catholic families- my father's is one, my mother's, though not as large, is another- is activity. Keeping busy. Little idle time.
My brothers and I had chores and schoolwork and play, but there was a shitload of idle time and lots of TV. Honestly, it made me kind of dull. Or maybe I was dull anyway. Chicken or egg.
And Jews seem to be very ambitious. They look at the world a certain way. They see opportunities.
You know I'm obsessed with Patti Stanger and her show The Millionaire Matchmaker. She's so smart and she's always thinking. She's always observing people and you can tell watching the show, she always has. She's got everybody pinned down, in a box, in a catagory. She asks a question but she knows the answer. She says something and already knows what the responce will be because she knows people.
The flipside that makes me uneasy is that it's a little too calculated. It's all a game. Manipulating people, telling people exactly what you know they want to hear. Sell, sell, sell. And I'm not anti-business. It's just "networking" that bothers me- looking at social situations and trying to turn it into business. But oh well. It doesn't bother me much. It just isn't me.
What I've been thinking lately is, though, I've got to become a lot more disciplined. Of course that always happens after I read a Madonna interview (I just read one from a 1989 issue of Interview and the 1994 Norman Mailer piece from Esquire.
If I kept busier and had more self-control I'd be much better off.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Can not get moving
I was sick yesterday and slept almost the entire day, except in the morning when I walked to the post office to mail a couple letters.
And that's fine; I had the day off and I broke up the sleep between my loveseat and my bed. The only problem is if you sleep too long your dreams start to get too memorable- not exactly nightmares, not even unpleasant, just un-fun. I think it's your body's way of saying "get up". This morning I layed in bed and kept on changing positions because my back was killing me. When I couldn't stand it another second I dragged myself into an upright position and started the day.
Today I walked into town for food because I was starving so I got some chips and gummi bears.
There's been a Roseanne reunion on for hours. What am I gonna do?
And that's fine; I had the day off and I broke up the sleep between my loveseat and my bed. The only problem is if you sleep too long your dreams start to get too memorable- not exactly nightmares, not even unpleasant, just un-fun. I think it's your body's way of saying "get up". This morning I layed in bed and kept on changing positions because my back was killing me. When I couldn't stand it another second I dragged myself into an upright position and started the day.
Today I walked into town for food because I was starving so I got some chips and gummi bears.
There's been a Roseanne reunion on for hours. What am I gonna do?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Hey
Hey, you guys, writing dialogue is hard. You know that I'm trying to write a scary movie that I can sell to either Sci-Fi or Lifetime. The story is coming along fine but I can't think of anything for the characters to say. I wish silent movies were still in style. I could make a killing.
Writing dialogue feels weird. Maybe because I've alwasy thought of myself as a drawer and I've always been shy. Words, especially spoken words, don't seem too important to me. If you're drawing a picture you don't have to think about what the person is saying. In case you're wondering, no I don't think that white line is supposed to run down it.
Maybe the movie will be about deaf-mutes. I think that's my only hope.
Above is a painting that I came across last night- it has nothing to do with this post. There's just something about the water that I like. It's by Herbert Draper and called Halcyone (1915). The mythological Halcyone Days are 7 storm-free days in winter.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Drawing
I'm having the worst time drawing. Here's the thing: if you draw, you have to do it every single day. Otherwise, you get rusty. Then when you go to draw again it looks like shit. So you don't draw, until months later, and it sucks again, so you don't draw. And so on, and so on.
I've been drawing every day since December 23. I've done some good pictures, but most have been shitty and I've had to shred them. Slowly it's coming back to me.
I wish I had a scanner. I wanna show you the good pictures and the bad pictures.
So I'm off tomorrow and the next day. I'm going to try to draw as much as I can. I'm even going to break out the watercolors.
I'm hoping that by the time I go back to work I'll have a couple good pictures that are worth saving.
Wish me luck.
I've been drawing every day since December 23. I've done some good pictures, but most have been shitty and I've had to shred them. Slowly it's coming back to me.
I wish I had a scanner. I wanna show you the good pictures and the bad pictures.
So I'm off tomorrow and the next day. I'm going to try to draw as much as I can. I'm even going to break out the watercolors.
I'm hoping that by the time I go back to work I'll have a couple good pictures that are worth saving.
Wish me luck.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1-1-2011
It's 2011 but it feels a lot like 2010.
While I'm close to my goal of 5 cigarettes a day, I broke down and got McDonalds today- but no more!! I'm going to be strong.
Last week I cleaned out a pickle jar and tonight a slapped on a label that said "Money for Car" and I put in two $1 bills. It's a start. I want to buy a car in June.
Last September I read a book called Your Money or Your Life which belongs to my best friend's wife. Actually I only had a chance to read the first 100 pages but I got the idea. The point of the book is that if you handle your money right you can retire much earlier than you think. The writers, a husband & wife team, point out that a lot of people are working just so they can afford to work. When you compare their income to the money they spend on cars, car repairs, take-out food, work-related medical bills, work clothes, ect, some people are actually losing money by working.
Their core belief is that your life and your life-energy are the most important things you possess. And you need to be careful with the way that you spend your time and the product of your life-energy, money.
That means that you have to stop and calculate exactly how much money you bring in, and how much money you send out. Everything, right down to the penny. Once you do that you can clearly see what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. If it costs you, say, $30 a week for a manicure, you've got to calculate how much of your life and life-energy you're trading away to pay for that and decide if it's worth it.
Anyway, I look around and I see a lot of areas where I'm spending money wrong, buying things I shouldn't. Whenever I buy something now I think, "If I had to sell this, how much, if anything, would I get for it? Is it really worth spending money on?
I stopped buying CDs a long time ago and I never had a lot of DVDs, but I look at people that are so proud of their huge DVD collections and you know that 90% of those DVDs have probably only been watched once and will never be watched again. Some have never been watched and never will be. It's a huge waste and if they went to sell them they'd only get a small fraction of the money back.
I'm very serious about my new attitude towards money. In fact, I'm saving for that car, but once the time comes, my situation may have changed so that I won't really need it as badly and I won't even buy it. I'll just save the money.
We'll see.
Anyway, Happy New Year, and I hope to see you often in 2011.
While I'm close to my goal of 5 cigarettes a day, I broke down and got McDonalds today- but no more!! I'm going to be strong.
Last week I cleaned out a pickle jar and tonight a slapped on a label that said "Money for Car" and I put in two $1 bills. It's a start. I want to buy a car in June.
Last September I read a book called Your Money or Your Life which belongs to my best friend's wife. Actually I only had a chance to read the first 100 pages but I got the idea. The point of the book is that if you handle your money right you can retire much earlier than you think. The writers, a husband & wife team, point out that a lot of people are working just so they can afford to work. When you compare their income to the money they spend on cars, car repairs, take-out food, work-related medical bills, work clothes, ect, some people are actually losing money by working.
Their core belief is that your life and your life-energy are the most important things you possess. And you need to be careful with the way that you spend your time and the product of your life-energy, money.
That means that you have to stop and calculate exactly how much money you bring in, and how much money you send out. Everything, right down to the penny. Once you do that you can clearly see what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. If it costs you, say, $30 a week for a manicure, you've got to calculate how much of your life and life-energy you're trading away to pay for that and decide if it's worth it.
Anyway, I look around and I see a lot of areas where I'm spending money wrong, buying things I shouldn't. Whenever I buy something now I think, "If I had to sell this, how much, if anything, would I get for it? Is it really worth spending money on?
I stopped buying CDs a long time ago and I never had a lot of DVDs, but I look at people that are so proud of their huge DVD collections and you know that 90% of those DVDs have probably only been watched once and will never be watched again. Some have never been watched and never will be. It's a huge waste and if they went to sell them they'd only get a small fraction of the money back.
I'm very serious about my new attitude towards money. In fact, I'm saving for that car, but once the time comes, my situation may have changed so that I won't really need it as badly and I won't even buy it. I'll just save the money.
We'll see.
Anyway, Happy New Year, and I hope to see you often in 2011.
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