by rustedrobot | Mar 31, 2004 | Uncategorized
Well, I guess it was ten years ago this week that Kurt Cobain made an unsuccessful attempt to ingest very quickly-moving lead for dinner. Not to exhaust the adage that “time flies,” but shit – time flies. In April of 1994 I was in my last year at Kent State and I had reached that point in college – you know, the 2-3 months before graduation that you’re just dying to finally get out of school. I was definitely broke, working part-time at a horrendous department store for $4.50 an hour. I remember specifically one phone call home to my parents when I was bitching up a storm about how little money I had. They sent me a nice package a few days later which got me through the next few weeks. At the time, it was like someone handed me one million dollars.
Anyway, I first heard about the Cobain business while stocking shelves at the department store. I’ve since forgotten the name of the store. At the time, I, much like a lot of other music fans in college, was really saddened, but not-so-shocked by the event. Ten years later (and probably twenty in maturity), I’m still saddened that we don’t have any more music from him than what he left us with, which wasn’t much, but with every growing day I feel less and less sympathetic. Suicide is weak, easy-way out and it does nothing but leave everyone else close to him crushed. It’s the ultimate cop-out and arguably the most egotistical thing one can do. Naturally, I feel more sad for his child than anyone else, left to deal with that beast Courntney Love. Not that the child would be any better off had her father lived.
Anyway, as a music fan, Nirvana was one of very few immensely popular bands that I really enjoyed listening to. I still yank out their records a few times a year because they have quite a bit of staying power, even if the whole “I hate myself” trend is over (thank god). So other than this post, I offer no wonderful memories of Kurt Cobain, only a little bit of contempt, some retrospective of my college days, some thanks for giving us some good music and a little sadness we couldn’t hear more. The “Unplugged” special remains one of the more compelling music moments of the ’90s, only because I was sure it was a sign of where Nirvana (or Cobain himself) was headed. Just listen to any Mark Lanegan solo record – and wonder what might have been if Kurt had gotten himself some help.
Of course, Nirvana/Cobain very well might have done a slow fade much like a lot of their contemporaries at the time. We can only speculate. Hell, Kurt himself said it best when he admitted they were simply the Cheap Trick of the ’90s and that they stole everything they ever knew from The Pixies. Ah well. Time marches on.
Song now playing: The Geraldine Fibbers – “You Do Right”
by rustedrobot | Mar 29, 2004 | Uncategorized
There are two movies I’ve watched recently, both war related, that have really spurred my thoughts about war. Actually, it was one movie and one mini-series.
Be Good, Smile Pretty was a gut-wrenching documentary about Tracy Droz, whose father was killed in Vietnam only a few weeks after she was born. Her father, whose name was Donald Droz, did get to see and hold his daughter for a brief period during a two-week respite from the Army, but that’s all. The documentary is largely focused on Tracy and her attempts to wrestle as many memories about her father out of the cobwebbed minds of people who knew him – friends, grandparents, her mother, his siblings and Droz’s fellow soldiers, most notably a very touching and moving scene involving John Kerry, who knew Droz and served closely with him. The power of war and its raw effects on the men & women who have experienced it were very much on display here – almost every person interviewed broke down in tears at one point or another, especially Droz’s wife and Tracy’s mother, who seemed to be horribly torn between trying to almost forget he existed and move on with her life (which she clearly hadn’t) and addressing her loss head-on. A terrific, moving, real life film.
Now, Band of Brothers, a ten-part HBO mini-series might be the definitive salute to the enormity and gravity of World War II. This is the true story of Easy Company and the 101st Airborne, a group of men who consistently were presented with the most dangerous elements of war, whether it was being horribly outmanned, badly led or trapped in horrendous conditions and emerging victorious due to sheer heart, intelligence, common sense and amazing leadership in Major Richard Winters, who is as compelling a character as I’ve seen portrayed in any film. I should mention that this is, by no means whatsoever, any kind of U.S. cheerleading effort. There are plenty of scenes where the actions of our soldiers are as reprehensible as you can imagine. This is simply a story of ordinary men, plucked from small towns all over the United States, who did extraordinary things in situations in which in believe would be unbearable mentally and physically for many of us today.
Band of Brothers succeeds on so many levels that it is astonishing. The mark of a well made movie or mini-series is when you feel like the actors are actually the people they are playing and this does that, and then some. My words here don’t do it a lick of justice. The series should be required watching for any history class of anyone even remotely interested in not just war, but monumental events in the history of our country. I am very much against war, personally, but watching these episodes has me in pursuit of the mailing address for Richard Winters, now 86 years old and living in peace since the war, which was one of his wishes. Band of Brothers has moved me enough to write him a letter and thank him for his efforts and the efforts of so many more faceless, nameless veterans who put their lives on the line. A truly moving experience.
Song now playing: Pavement – “Summer Babe”
by rustedrobot | Mar 26, 2004 | Uncategorized
Celebrity musings:
How sad is everyone that Penelope’s last name will never be Cruz-Cruise?
How much money would I have paid to witness this in person? Oh, a lot. A lot. My favorite is the quote that set him off. Hilarious.
Sammy Hagar is back with Van Halen, according to an interview with Hagar this morning on the Howard Stern show. Which begs the question: if a tree falls in the woods……..anyway, the Van Halen library is a true embarrassment after Roth left. Even when Roth was there, there was plenty of dreck to muddle through. Although just this morning I was humming “Drop Dead Legs” to myself and thought that might be an ok song after all. Oh my – that’s two straight postings that mention David Lee Roth. My heartfelt apologies to my reader(s).
Watching the news the other night, we couldn’t help but be sadly amused by the whole Bobby Brown thing. He’s up here in Boston in court for not paying child-support and spent a day or two in jail. It’s also clear he’s had his issues with hitting women, including his current wife. So we’re watching the news the other night and his lawyer, who is undoubtedly a first-class ass hole, said “The most important thing to Bobby is family.” What a joke.
Sloan is coming back to Boston!
by rustedrobot | Mar 24, 2004 | Uncategorized
I’ve been meaning to mention here for a few weeks now how much I’ve been enjoying the Fox show Arrested Development. With any luck, they’ll not yank this great show off the air – they’ll give it some room to breathe and get the word of mouth thing going. I am convinced that if they’re patient with it, it will be a big hit in 2-3 seasons. I thought the same of Freaks & Geeks, though, and look what happened to that show. Damn, Fox, don’t screw this up. That said, here’s an interview with Jason Bateman, who stars in the show. The interview itself is pretty softball material, but I always felt I needed to work Jason Batemen into my weblog.
Heh – check it out. David Lee Roth will be on The Sopranos. It’s ’80s Wednesday on the Robot. Which reminds me, “Union of the Snake,” by Duran Duran came on the radio during my visit to the gym this morning.
Song now playing: The Volebeats – “Don’t I Wish”
by rustedrobot | Mar 23, 2004 | Uncategorized
I remember when the Republican governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, was running for office, one of his most oft-repeated promises was to bring job creation to our state. He said things like “I am a businessman, and I will bring a business-like approach to our state government.”
Well, he’s delivered on his promise. In very business-like fashion, the state of Massacusetts has lost over 50,000 jobs on Romney’s watch. Can Romney be blamed entirely for this? Probably not. Some of it can be attributed to bad luck, very much like Clinton’s good-luck during his eight years in office, when events completely out of his control swung our economy up to levels we’ve never seen before and may not ever see again.
So yesterday’s announcement, which targets outsourcing, will give low-interest capital loans and also some grants to companies that add employees in Massacusetts and supposedly incentivize companies to stay in our state, seems too little too late. Romney’s been in office now for well over a year and has virtually said and done nothing to address job creation or outlined any kind of plan to enhance it. Yesterday’s “plan” is a case of simply jumping on the bandwagon against outsourcing, a popular dart board these days and a weak attempt at trying to identify with a hot issue. That Romney and his team couldn’t come up with something more creative or more promising isn’t a huge surprise, really. After all, he’s a white-collar businessman. But it is a huge disappointment.
It could be argued that one of the reasons for our state’s problems can be blamed on the outrageous cost of living. People are leaving this state at a much faster rate than they are moving in. Why? Because you can make a comperable salary in a lot of other cities and get much more value and a better house for the place you live, not to mention far better weather. You can give all the tax incentives you want to big business to come and/or stay here, but if those companies can’t find the right people, what’s the point? Until they come up with a plan to make living affordable within 50 miles of Boston, good people will keep leaving faster than they arrive. Hey, enjoy your grants and tax breaks in the boardrooms. The problem isn’t going away.
Song now playing: Scud Mountain Boys – “Freight of Fire”