ET Battles

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

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

Kristin Hersh Sunny Border Blue

Posters-Throwing Muses

Throwing Muses Limbo

Posters- Amps, Breeders

The Amps Pacer
The Breeders Safari
The Breeders Last Splash

Dusty Duddums

Dusty Duddums (1999-2011)

Cashword

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

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

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...

...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

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

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!

Shark EP

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

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.

Change of plans

I was going to re-watch To Live and Die in LA and write about it but I quickly lost all interest. Not even the appearence of Dean Stockwell- I forgot he was in this- could pull me back in.

But at 10:15pm, The Ring (2002) started. I'd never seen it before except for 5 minutes in the middle and one minute towards the end, but I knew the basic story and I've seen some of the movies that tried to rip off some of the images- I'm thinking about the creepy girl from the Amityville Horror remake- so maybe that's why it didn't scare me as much as it should have.

I have to say: the opening sequence was good. I didn't realize till just now that it totally rips off the opening to Scream. Watch both yourself and see if I'm wrong.

Also the horse scene was crazy and totally unexpected, right up to the blood in the water.

I already knew the girl was gonna crawl out of the TV; that was the end scene that I already saw so the effect was lost on me. I can say, though: I'm not the kind of person who yells at characters in horror movies, but...I actually groaned and said, "Come on", when that guy backed into his own tall shelf like he forgot it was there. Couldn't he just trip and sprain his ankle? What I don't understand is how he made it from the floor to his chair during all that. Anyone?

All in all, it was good, but I think I'll skip The Ring 2.

Wheatbacks- part two

My friend Pearl collects wheatback pennies; she has tins full of them. I used to give her all the wheatbacks I found but then we stopped talking for a while and since last year I've been saving them for myself.

I've got 138, but none of mine are worth anything. The most valuable ones are the 1955 double-dies. I'll probably never find one of those, but at my job I run two registers and I come across one every week or two. There have been days where I found 2, even 3, but my best day was when I looked into the register and saw that every single penny was a wheatback. Someone must've opened one of the coin rolls and the entire roll was full of wheatbacks. I traded out all fifty and took them home and put them in my washed-out pickle jar.

I've also got an Indianhead pennie from 1899 and a Buffalo Nickel where the date is rubbed out (that's common for Buffalo Nickels).

"Murphy's Romance"

Murphy's Romance (1985)
Tonight I'm reviewing another movie from 1985, Murphy's Romance. It was on cable this afternoon and while I missed the first ten minutes, I caught up quick.

A divorced woman (Sally Field) moves to a new town with her her young son (1985 was a big year for Corey Haim- he also did last night's movie Silver Bullet, and Secret Admirer).

James Garner runs the local drug store/ soda fountain and he befriends her and her son.

Soon her ex-husband, Bobby, catches up with her and moves back in. At the same time, Field and Garner get closer, making for an awkward three-way relationship (not sexual, though).

Murphy's Romance is a charming movie and James Garner is excellent as a gentleman widower who always does and says the right thing. I like when he takes Bobby aside to confront him about his cheating at cards during a late-night game betweent the four of them. Bobby has been dealing from the bottom of the deck and Garner, not wanting to say anything in front of the boy, asks Bobby to talk with him on the front porch.

Haim is better in this than he was in Silver Bullet and in Firstborn the year before. His performance here is closer to his acting in 1986's Lucas. He showed a lot of promise in Lucas but that ended up being his best work. He did well in The Lost Boys, and he was charming in License to Drive, but he never again was as good as he was in Lucas.

Later, I'll be reviewing another film from 1985- To Live and Die in LA, directed by William Friedkin. Friedkin is one of my favorite directors. I don't always like his movies, but I'm always impressed by his visual style.

"Silver Bullet"

Silver Bullet (1985)

Stephen King wrote the screenplay and the novella upon which the movie is based, Cycle of the Werewolf. I read that the original idea was to write a very short story to go along with an illustrated calender. The story grew into a full book.
King says that in the book he took great liberties with the lunar cycle- in Cycle, the full moons fall on holidays, a nice idea and keeping with the original calender idea.

There are some problems with this movie. People should watch it as a lesson on what to avoid.

I'm tempted to say that the worst thing about it is the soundtrack. The 80s keyboards, and holy shit- the song that plays over the end credits: "Take me on a joyride/ I believe I can fly".

Coppola, Carpenter, and Scorcese seem to be the only people who can mix film and music well.

Also, the movie takes place in 1976- a special year for RJ Battles, the year I was born- but it doesn't feel like the mid 1979s. Also, it was 35 years ago, but even back then people could tell the difference between an animal attack and something a human might do. Nobody ever talks about that. There's a debate about "private justice", but nobody really talks about what's actually going on and the absence is distracting.

After a while you realize it's because no one cares, least of all the filmmakers; this is just another Friday the 13th.

There's something else that bothered me: right away you see the brother and sister fighting. But later that night they come to an understanding. Still, for the next hour, they act like it never happened. So why bother, what's the point?

Sometimes when you see a movie as a child then you have a certain affection for it, even though it isn't very good. I didn't see it for the first time until tonight. Still, I can't imagine anyone having any affection for this film. It has its moments, but even its best scenes don't add up to much.

This movie is a big disappointment.

April

I have a feeling that April is going to fly by. March did. It seems like it was just the beginning of February.

What's the plan for RJ Battles this month?

I'd like to make some terrariums and post pictures of their progress and I also wanna go to my parents' so I can scan some pictures and post those too.

I've been watching a lot of good movies and I want to write revieews but i don't know how to write them. I posted about movies here before but I don't think they've been fun or interesting to read. Maybe I'm wrong.

I like to go to Final Girl and go through her reviews archive, whether it's something I've seen, or want to see, or know I'll never see. It's always fun and interesting. I'd like my reviews to be like that.