So I just wrote a fan email. Yup. That's were I am in my life, a year or so after my last "Broken Record" update. It's sad times folks, sad, sad times. Usually there is a 1001 Albums or Arnold post happening around now. I'm completely behind on writing them. I just finished up a week of holidays, and most of the holiday was spent doing things other then being on a computer. I'm on a computer all day at work, it's a break to do other things. Usually "other things" would be terribly exciting, but I basically lie around eating and watching TV, playing vid games, sleeping in, sleeping for no reason, and going on mini-ventures mostly on my own. It's weird, since passing the age of 35, I'm more and more content to be on my own, and do things by myself. It's really depressing to think about so I try not too. You'd think going to things like comedy shows would be a great place to meet people, but not for me. I just bolt the hell out of there as soon as it's over. Hell, I had some pub time prior to a show Thursday night. I was sitting at the bar, enjoying a pint. I girl sat a few seats down and gave me a very warm smile. My reaction? "Uuuggggh". I actually verbalized it! What the fuck? So yeah, I'm so far into my head it's ridiculous. So here are my current "personal" updates, as per my last blog.
EXERCISE: That 100 push-up challenge mentioned in the last broken record? I did it for 2 days and promptly dropped it for Rock Band. It was ridiculous. I have as of May started a new workout that is a tight 20 minutes and features the kettle bells. I call it my "Hopeless Workout" since it's 4 yoga things and a kettle bell swing. It does work though. It would work fantastic if I restricted my eating more and made it a point to do the work out regularly instead of "whenever", but it works none the less. At least it did until birthday week with 3 cakes to be eaten...
VIDEO GAMES: Rock Band 3 came out and it's a bit of a fizzle. I still play regularly. L.A. Noire however is causing me to lose sleep! It's the PERFECT game for me- a game about a tough ass L.A. detective solving cases. I'm crazy hooked on it, to the point were I'm already looking forward to replaying it. A really great game, it gets a recommend.
HATING THE CURRENT GENERATION AND CULTURE: I've officially reached that age, I hate the current high school generation and our current culture. I don't mind how they dress or the music. I hate their entitlement. It seems that culturally things have completely shifted to a point where everyone sees themselves as victims and special, and therefor they are entitled to be assholes for no reason. The amount of people I see on a daily bases being rude and snarky for absolutely no reason, it's sickening. It's not helping me get out of my head and be a gregarious person, that's for sure. I also recognize myself falling into this trap, and it kills me. I'm working every day to not do this, but it's really fucking hard when you're confronted by it.
I don't know, that's about it. I'm looking for suggestions on beginners cook books. I want to teach myself how to cook properly. I'm thinking of attempting a meal a day. If you lived under my current conditions, you would realize what a huge pain in the ass this is going to be. Anyways, if anyone has a favourite book they'd care to recommend that is pretty idiot proof for idiots to use, I'd appreciate it. The cooking isle of the bookstore I went through was daunting.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
1001 Albums: 0441 - 0453: It's The End Of The Seventies!
As the title says, it's another decade put to rest! How exciting! As a result you get three extra reviews this post! Aren't you lucky? Ruzzells Rambles, the blog that keeps on giving! Yup, purely an altruistic motion on my part, and nothing to do with falling horribly behind. Anyways, this is a bit of a long one, so let's get to the list!
0441 Marianne Faithfull – Broken English - More famous for being Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend then anything else, Mariaane croaks out an album! Literally croaks out. She sounds like she smokes 5 packs of glass shaving cigarettes a day. I didn’t care for this. It’s silly. It has a terrible cover version of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” and the final profanity filled “Why’d You Do It” is hilariously awful. I’m also guessing the final song is the reason this album is on this list. It was probably considered a very bold move to have an established singer sing such lines as “Every time I see your dick I see her cunt in my bed”, but really, it’s so over the top it’s silly. This is a pass!
![Cut [Explicit]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00299HX1O&tag=ruzzell-20)
0442 The Slits – Cut - This band has a super cool name. They were an all girl punk band which is also super cool. Thankfully the music lives up to the presentation. Kind of a harder edge New Wave thing going on, I really enjoyed it. A nice comeback after that warbling Marianne Faithfull album.
0443 Elvis Costello – Armed Forces - Wow, Elvis sure cranked out the albums didn’t he? This one wasn’t as good as the previous ones, and some of the songs actually sounded the same. Perhaps three albums in as many years was just too much. Anyways, it does have a cleaner and more polished sound, you can tell Elvis is growing as an artist. Which is a good thing, but I just don’t find it as interesting as the previous ones.
0444 Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps - I think this was the first Neil Young album I bought, on cassette. So I’m very biased about my love for this one. The first side (or half a CD, you kids are missing out not having sides of albums to listen too these days...) is mostly acoustic, and amazing. “Pocahontas” is a great song. Side two is electric and recorded live but with over dubs. There’s not a bad song on here, with tracks like “Welfare Mothers” and “Hey Hey My My” still getting performed regularly in concert. Like I said I love it. That said, I love “Live Rust” even more. It’s the concert that the live tracks was taken from, in full, featuring killer acoustic and electric sets full of songs from Young’s entire career. And if you like that, the DVD of the concert is pretty great too, it has Jawa’s!
0445 Gang of Four – Entertainment! - I’ve said it before, but I still always think I’m going to get a reggae album based on the name “Gang Of Four”. And I’m always surprised to find a solid punk offering instead!
0446 Cheap Trick – At Budokan - An album so popular that the band continues to ride on it’s success to this day! I’ve never been all that impressed with it, but this latest spin I found to be kind of fun. It’s a dopey, fun little record to listen to I guess. Nothing wrong with that!
0447 Fleetwood Mac – Tusk - This one lost me. All the tracks are really slow and moody and dull and boring and it goes on and on and on until it ends and you can move on with your life.
0448 Pink Floyd – The Wall - I have a bit of a love/hate thing going with this. I discovered it as a teenager, both the album and the movie, and it was my introduction to Pink Floyd. I was absolutely obsessed with it for an entire summer. I couldn’t tell you how many times I listened to it or watched the film. In hind sight, it was probably not the best way for an anti-social teenager to spend his time. Anyways, as grunge came around, I moved on with fond memories of how awesome it was. The last time I listened to it a few years ago and I thought it kind of silly, and Pink Floyd on the whole pretty silly really, only liking the old sixties stuff that is genuinely silly and brilliant with Syd Barret. Anyways, this latest listen too reaffirmed my love for this. Taken as a whole, and it really only should be taken as a whole despite some great songs on their own right, it’s as brilliant as it’s hyped to be. A surprisingly frank look at loneliness through popularity, it could only have been created by famous rock stars with huge egos. It SHOULD be awful, but that it’s both not awful and assessable enough that not famous rock stars can identify with the loneliness, it’s great. And a recommend.
0449 Public Image Ltd – Metal Box - This one is great because of the package, which was a film can. The music contained is better then the debut, but still not all that great. I prefer the Sex Pistols.
0450 Michael Jackson – Off the Wall - This isn’t a bad disco-ish R&B album. It’s also nothing all that special, I prefer Jackson in the old Jackson 5 Motown stuff. I wonder how he gets his socks so white?
0451 The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette - Another cool band name, and a cool album title! The music was pretty good. Solid punk stuff with a hint of the hardcore that will come around in the 80’s. Not a life changer, but also not a disappointment.
0452 Gary Numan – Pleasure Principle - Gary Numan is awesome for one thing, and one thing only, and that is the song “Cars”. It’s a great song, and it’s on this album. I was surprised to find the rest of the album was pretty good too. The song “Films” is awesome and the whole thing sounds like what I kind of wish Kraftwerk sounded like after those first couple albums on the list.
0453 The Specials – Specials (1st Album) - Ska enters the list! Welcome Ska! I don’t know much about you outside of Evan Dorkins comics about the New York Ska scene. I did like this though, it was punky but ska and sounded like what No Doubt wished they sounded like. A dead solid album to wrap up the 70’s!
And that's that. I have mixed feelings about this decade. There were some great albums, but none of them were really surprises. Where was the first rock album I ever owned, the brilliant* "Rock n' Roll Love Letter" by The Bay City Rollers (given to me by my dad from a non-returnable over stock in their record department at "Happy Sound")? Pretty big fail there, 1001 Album list! If someone asked me what stood out in the 70's part of this list, I wouldn't have an answer. I discovered new things in the 50's and 60's, mainly that I'm 100 years old and I like old time-y country and western music. I had no such discoveries here. This could be a sign of trouble ahead, I'm certainly more aware of 70's music, so maybe that's why there are no surprises? Entering the 80's means I'm entering the period where I actually became a music consumer. I used to read Rolling Stone and everything, I must of had my finger on the pulse of the music scene! Hopefully I'm an egomaniac and completely ignorant so I will have nice surprises in the future!
Yes, let us be positive and look forward to the 80's with wide eyes and excitement! It's the decade of Rubic's Cube and Nintendo, it has to be great!
*I haven't listened to this since I was about 6 years old, but I trust it holds up enough to be accurately described as "Brilliant".
0441 Marianne Faithfull – Broken English - More famous for being Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend then anything else, Mariaane croaks out an album! Literally croaks out. She sounds like she smokes 5 packs of glass shaving cigarettes a day. I didn’t care for this. It’s silly. It has a terrible cover version of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” and the final profanity filled “Why’d You Do It” is hilariously awful. I’m also guessing the final song is the reason this album is on this list. It was probably considered a very bold move to have an established singer sing such lines as “Every time I see your dick I see her cunt in my bed”, but really, it’s so over the top it’s silly. This is a pass!
0442 The Slits – Cut - This band has a super cool name. They were an all girl punk band which is also super cool. Thankfully the music lives up to the presentation. Kind of a harder edge New Wave thing going on, I really enjoyed it. A nice comeback after that warbling Marianne Faithfull album.
0443 Elvis Costello – Armed Forces - Wow, Elvis sure cranked out the albums didn’t he? This one wasn’t as good as the previous ones, and some of the songs actually sounded the same. Perhaps three albums in as many years was just too much. Anyways, it does have a cleaner and more polished sound, you can tell Elvis is growing as an artist. Which is a good thing, but I just don’t find it as interesting as the previous ones.
0444 Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps - I think this was the first Neil Young album I bought, on cassette. So I’m very biased about my love for this one. The first side (or half a CD, you kids are missing out not having sides of albums to listen too these days...) is mostly acoustic, and amazing. “Pocahontas” is a great song. Side two is electric and recorded live but with over dubs. There’s not a bad song on here, with tracks like “Welfare Mothers” and “Hey Hey My My” still getting performed regularly in concert. Like I said I love it. That said, I love “Live Rust” even more. It’s the concert that the live tracks was taken from, in full, featuring killer acoustic and electric sets full of songs from Young’s entire career. And if you like that, the DVD of the concert is pretty great too, it has Jawa’s!
0445 Gang of Four – Entertainment! - I’ve said it before, but I still always think I’m going to get a reggae album based on the name “Gang Of Four”. And I’m always surprised to find a solid punk offering instead!
0446 Cheap Trick – At Budokan - An album so popular that the band continues to ride on it’s success to this day! I’ve never been all that impressed with it, but this latest spin I found to be kind of fun. It’s a dopey, fun little record to listen to I guess. Nothing wrong with that!
0447 Fleetwood Mac – Tusk - This one lost me. All the tracks are really slow and moody and dull and boring and it goes on and on and on until it ends and you can move on with your life.
0448 Pink Floyd – The Wall - I have a bit of a love/hate thing going with this. I discovered it as a teenager, both the album and the movie, and it was my introduction to Pink Floyd. I was absolutely obsessed with it for an entire summer. I couldn’t tell you how many times I listened to it or watched the film. In hind sight, it was probably not the best way for an anti-social teenager to spend his time. Anyways, as grunge came around, I moved on with fond memories of how awesome it was. The last time I listened to it a few years ago and I thought it kind of silly, and Pink Floyd on the whole pretty silly really, only liking the old sixties stuff that is genuinely silly and brilliant with Syd Barret. Anyways, this latest listen too reaffirmed my love for this. Taken as a whole, and it really only should be taken as a whole despite some great songs on their own right, it’s as brilliant as it’s hyped to be. A surprisingly frank look at loneliness through popularity, it could only have been created by famous rock stars with huge egos. It SHOULD be awful, but that it’s both not awful and assessable enough that not famous rock stars can identify with the loneliness, it’s great. And a recommend.
0449 Public Image Ltd – Metal Box - This one is great because of the package, which was a film can. The music contained is better then the debut, but still not all that great. I prefer the Sex Pistols.
0450 Michael Jackson – Off the Wall - This isn’t a bad disco-ish R&B album. It’s also nothing all that special, I prefer Jackson in the old Jackson 5 Motown stuff. I wonder how he gets his socks so white?
0451 The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette - Another cool band name, and a cool album title! The music was pretty good. Solid punk stuff with a hint of the hardcore that will come around in the 80’s. Not a life changer, but also not a disappointment.
0452 Gary Numan – Pleasure Principle - Gary Numan is awesome for one thing, and one thing only, and that is the song “Cars”. It’s a great song, and it’s on this album. I was surprised to find the rest of the album was pretty good too. The song “Films” is awesome and the whole thing sounds like what I kind of wish Kraftwerk sounded like after those first couple albums on the list.
0453 The Specials – Specials (1st Album) - Ska enters the list! Welcome Ska! I don’t know much about you outside of Evan Dorkins comics about the New York Ska scene. I did like this though, it was punky but ska and sounded like what No Doubt wished they sounded like. A dead solid album to wrap up the 70’s!
And that's that. I have mixed feelings about this decade. There were some great albums, but none of them were really surprises. Where was the first rock album I ever owned, the brilliant* "Rock n' Roll Love Letter" by The Bay City Rollers (given to me by my dad from a non-returnable over stock in their record department at "Happy Sound")? Pretty big fail there, 1001 Album list! If someone asked me what stood out in the 70's part of this list, I wouldn't have an answer. I discovered new things in the 50's and 60's, mainly that I'm 100 years old and I like old time-y country and western music. I had no such discoveries here. This could be a sign of trouble ahead, I'm certainly more aware of 70's music, so maybe that's why there are no surprises? Entering the 80's means I'm entering the period where I actually became a music consumer. I used to read Rolling Stone and everything, I must of had my finger on the pulse of the music scene! Hopefully I'm an egomaniac and completely ignorant so I will have nice surprises in the future!
Yes, let us be positive and look forward to the 80's with wide eyes and excitement! It's the decade of Rubic's Cube and Nintendo, it has to be great!
*I haven't listened to this since I was about 6 years old, but I trust it holds up enough to be accurately described as "Brilliant".
Monday, June 13, 2011
Pumpin' Iron For the Man!
It's that time folks, time for another film from the movie master, Arnold Schwarzenegger! You would think I would be better at spelling his last name by now, but you would be wrong. In your FACE high school education! Right, let's get too it, times a wastin'!
Pumping Iron (1977)
Arnold gets the starring roll in his next film, a documentary following some body builders competing in the 1975 Mr. Olympia body building competition. I’m not sure if “starring” is the right word, he is on the poster though. I think this means that this was filmed before Arnold's break out roll in Stay Hungry which came out in 1976. Christ, who knew this was going to be so complicated? It’s like, math or something! Anyways, while this is about the competition, Arnold steals the show with his charisma. Most of the film is set around a rivalry between Arnold and future Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno, with Arnold constantly ribbing and eventually driving Lou out of his mind. Lou never “Hulks Out” though, which really would of made the final third of this film interesting. I probably should of spoiler-ed that bit.
There’s not really much to say about this, since it is a documentary. It’s not like you can really criticize or examine performances. I did get two things out of this film though.
1: Body building has really changed. I admittedly know nothing about the sport. I do know that I find body builders freakish and gross. They are just too big, like bizarre versions of people. Or like someone stuck an air tube up their ass and inflated them to barely bursting proportions. This must be a modern thing since in this film, no one is really gross. Lou is on the cusp of being freakish, and actually looks much larger then Arnold. Arnold though, while certainly not small, does however look “naturally” muscular. Everything looks perfectly in proportion on his frame. It’s quite impressive.
2: Anyone who’s seen this movie should not of been the least bit surprised of Arnold’s recent scandals. He frankly admits to being a not all that fussy pussy hound. This type of candid Arnold seems to be long gone. I don’t think you’re going to see much of the Arnold lounging around on a couch with a doobie reminiscing about how awesome he is these days.
And that’s what makes this film kind of sad. I like 1970’s “I take no bullshit” Arnold Schwarzenegger! It’s a shame that’s lost. That’s about all I got on this. If you like body building or documentaries, you will probably like this. If you like Arnold, you will surely like this since this is probably about as close as your going to get to seeing Arnold more like he actually is.
3.5 out of 5 Arnies
So far Arnold's career is going up, up... and maybe away? Next up is Scavenger Hunt. Nope, I never heard of it either. Let's hold thumbs that Arnold does good!
* Just to clear up any confusion, despite what the poster says, there is no blood or guts in this movie.
Pumping Iron (1977)
Arnold gets the starring roll in his next film, a documentary following some body builders competing in the 1975 Mr. Olympia body building competition. I’m not sure if “starring” is the right word, he is on the poster though. I think this means that this was filmed before Arnold's break out roll in Stay Hungry which came out in 1976. Christ, who knew this was going to be so complicated? It’s like, math or something! Anyways, while this is about the competition, Arnold steals the show with his charisma. Most of the film is set around a rivalry between Arnold and future Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno, with Arnold constantly ribbing and eventually driving Lou out of his mind. Lou never “Hulks Out” though, which really would of made the final third of this film interesting. I probably should of spoiler-ed that bit.
There’s not really much to say about this, since it is a documentary. It’s not like you can really criticize or examine performances. I did get two things out of this film though.
1: Body building has really changed. I admittedly know nothing about the sport. I do know that I find body builders freakish and gross. They are just too big, like bizarre versions of people. Or like someone stuck an air tube up their ass and inflated them to barely bursting proportions. This must be a modern thing since in this film, no one is really gross. Lou is on the cusp of being freakish, and actually looks much larger then Arnold. Arnold though, while certainly not small, does however look “naturally” muscular. Everything looks perfectly in proportion on his frame. It’s quite impressive.
2: Anyone who’s seen this movie should not of been the least bit surprised of Arnold’s recent scandals. He frankly admits to being a not all that fussy pussy hound. This type of candid Arnold seems to be long gone. I don’t think you’re going to see much of the Arnold lounging around on a couch with a doobie reminiscing about how awesome he is these days.
And that’s what makes this film kind of sad. I like 1970’s “I take no bullshit” Arnold Schwarzenegger! It’s a shame that’s lost. That’s about all I got on this. If you like body building or documentaries, you will probably like this. If you like Arnold, you will surely like this since this is probably about as close as your going to get to seeing Arnold more like he actually is.
3.5 out of 5 Arnies
So far Arnold's career is going up, up... and maybe away? Next up is Scavenger Hunt. Nope, I never heard of it either. Let's hold thumbs that Arnold does good!
* Just to clear up any confusion, despite what the poster says, there is no blood or guts in this movie.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Stay HAAAAAAANGRY!
Welcome film fans, to the latest installment of the Arnold Schwarzenneger film project! It is still happening, it will not be stopped! It probably wont be complete either, I'm sure I'm missing movies. I have NOT missed one yet though! So let's take a look at the mighty Arnold's next film after not doing anything in The Long Goodbye.
Stay Hungry (1976)
Now we get a proper Arnold movie! Not only is he the co-star, he stars opposite “The Dude” himself, handsome young Jeff Bridges! Not only does he star opposite The Dude, but he’s trained by Robert “Freddy Kruger” Englund! That’s right, it’s The Terminator, The Dude and Freddy all in a movie together! Clearly this is potentially the greatest movie of all time! It could of been if it was made in the year 2000, but it was not. So what is it?
It’s the story of a recently orphaned rich young fellow played by Bridges who’s looking to buy out The Olympia gym to complete a business deal. Then he gets hooked on body building and the receptionist. Arnold basically plays himself, a patron of the gym who’s training for the Mr. Universe title. Arnold does not play himself in that he is a crazy likeable sweet heart instead of a crazy likeable egomaniac. His character is charming, humble, sweet and basically the guy you want to be buddies with. He even plays the fiddle at a country dance! A roll very far removed from the wise cracking tough guys he will end up playing. Arnold is so good, he won Best Acting Debut at the Golden Globes for this performance. Hard to believe isn’t it? Mono-sylabic AHHHHNOLD getting a best acting award! Oh what could of been- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hamlet! And on his third film, not his debut Hercules In New York! They must of fell in love with his voice since this was the debut of it on screen. He was dubbed in Hercules and didn’t speak in Long Goodbye. Remember? Have you not been keeping up with these? Go read those reviews already!
The movie itself is pretty great with only one miss-step. It’s directed by Bob Rafelson, who’s not very active now a days, but was responsible for the amazing character study Five Easy Pieces that solidified Jack Nicholson as a major actor after Jack’s coming out in Easy Rider (which Rafelson produced). Not only that, but Rafelson was co-creator of The Monkees, and the director of their criminally unappreciated movie Head. The man should surely be Sainted for bringing the world the gift of The Monkees. Why is the Catholic Church so unfair? Anyways, this film is more in the Five Easy Pieces vein then Head, and is pretty damned fine. None of the characters behave in the way you would think based on stereotypes. It has a comedic element that stays naturally subdued until it sadly goes out of line with a slapstick sequence of body builders running loose in Birmingham (Alabama) to goofy music. It’s a big miss-step, especially considering the cause (I wont ruin it since it's an important plot point that's really miss-handled in this sequence), but not enough to ruin the movie. So this one gets a hardy recommend. I’m surprised I’ve never seen it before, what with the cast and all. This is a great find!
Oh, the film also has Sally Field in it. She plays the receptionist. I’ve never liked her, she’s the type of person where just the look of their face annoys you. For me anyways. She was good in this too. That’s how good this film is!
4 out of Five Arnies.
There it is, a dead solid comedy/drama featuring Arnold that was born out of the new Hollywood ashes that was BBS. What's BBS? Why not buy the boxset and find out. It get's 5 out of 5 by me, even though Arnold Schwarzenneger isn't in it.
![America Lost and Found: The BBS Story - The Criterion Collection (Head / Easy Rider / Five Easy Pieces / Drive, He Said / The Last Picture Show / The King of Marvin Gardens / A Safe Place) [Blu-ray]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B003ZYU3SC&tag=ruzzell-20)
Next up will be Arnold's big star turn, the documentary Pumping Iron! Hold thumbs!
Stay Hungry (1976)
Now we get a proper Arnold movie! Not only is he the co-star, he stars opposite “The Dude” himself, handsome young Jeff Bridges! Not only does he star opposite The Dude, but he’s trained by Robert “Freddy Kruger” Englund! That’s right, it’s The Terminator, The Dude and Freddy all in a movie together! Clearly this is potentially the greatest movie of all time! It could of been if it was made in the year 2000, but it was not. So what is it?
It’s the story of a recently orphaned rich young fellow played by Bridges who’s looking to buy out The Olympia gym to complete a business deal. Then he gets hooked on body building and the receptionist. Arnold basically plays himself, a patron of the gym who’s training for the Mr. Universe title. Arnold does not play himself in that he is a crazy likeable sweet heart instead of a crazy likeable egomaniac. His character is charming, humble, sweet and basically the guy you want to be buddies with. He even plays the fiddle at a country dance! A roll very far removed from the wise cracking tough guys he will end up playing. Arnold is so good, he won Best Acting Debut at the Golden Globes for this performance. Hard to believe isn’t it? Mono-sylabic AHHHHNOLD getting a best acting award! Oh what could of been- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Hamlet! And on his third film, not his debut Hercules In New York! They must of fell in love with his voice since this was the debut of it on screen. He was dubbed in Hercules and didn’t speak in Long Goodbye. Remember? Have you not been keeping up with these? Go read those reviews already!
The movie itself is pretty great with only one miss-step. It’s directed by Bob Rafelson, who’s not very active now a days, but was responsible for the amazing character study Five Easy Pieces that solidified Jack Nicholson as a major actor after Jack’s coming out in Easy Rider (which Rafelson produced). Not only that, but Rafelson was co-creator of The Monkees, and the director of their criminally unappreciated movie Head. The man should surely be Sainted for bringing the world the gift of The Monkees. Why is the Catholic Church so unfair? Anyways, this film is more in the Five Easy Pieces vein then Head, and is pretty damned fine. None of the characters behave in the way you would think based on stereotypes. It has a comedic element that stays naturally subdued until it sadly goes out of line with a slapstick sequence of body builders running loose in Birmingham (Alabama) to goofy music. It’s a big miss-step, especially considering the cause (I wont ruin it since it's an important plot point that's really miss-handled in this sequence), but not enough to ruin the movie. So this one gets a hardy recommend. I’m surprised I’ve never seen it before, what with the cast and all. This is a great find!
Oh, the film also has Sally Field in it. She plays the receptionist. I’ve never liked her, she’s the type of person where just the look of their face annoys you. For me anyways. She was good in this too. That’s how good this film is!
4 out of Five Arnies.
There it is, a dead solid comedy/drama featuring Arnold that was born out of the new Hollywood ashes that was BBS. What's BBS? Why not buy the boxset and find out. It get's 5 out of 5 by me, even though Arnold Schwarzenneger isn't in it.
Next up will be Arnold's big star turn, the documentary Pumping Iron! Hold thumbs!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
1001 Albums: 0431 - 0440: The Wheat Is Growing Thin!
The seventies continue to roll on by, we're up too about 1979 I think. This pack was better then the last one, with one of my all time favourites to be found, and some nice, if not completely memorable surprises. That's all I got. These posts are getting hard to write!
0431 The B-52s – The B-52s (1st Album) - Ah yes! The B-52s make their glorious appearance on the list with this, their debut record. Fans of “Love Shack” may be surprised at the low-fi, almost surf sounds on this one, but it’s entirely charming. “Rock Lobster” will prove to be their first “hit”, but the whole thing is well worth a listen or 50.
0432 Holger Czukay – Movies - This is an album I did not like, but I did think it clever. So it’s weird like that. It’s basically jazzy mood music, but with cut ups and sampling from I’m guessing movies as well as other things. So it’s kind of neat, and I’m sure progressive for 1979. I just would rather listen to something else. I kept thinking "This guy probably came up with that Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers” stuff, which in my case is never a good thing.*
0433 The Police – Reggatta de Blanc - Another solid Police album! I think I already mentioned how much I dislike Sting as a solo artist, but man, this band was good back in the day! This one is a step up in production from the previous album, but still keeps a touch of the raw sound that is so sorely lacking in Stings solo work. “Message In A Bottle” is the opener and I think a hit for the band, but the whole thing works as an album.
0434 The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials - On this debut album, The Fall failed to impress me much. I guess it was a decent punk debut, but nothing really stood out. The best thing about it is the cool title I’m afraid.
![Fear Of Music [w/Bonus Tracks]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B0012F92FG&tag=ruzzell-20)
0435 Talking Heads – Fear of Music - Talking Heads third album- are we going to get their whole catalog? Anyways, it was good, but not as impressive as their first two. It was more polished and better produced, by Eno no less, but nothing grabbed me like the first two. So it’s a bit of a pass.
![Unknown Pleasures [Collector's Edition]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00122OPYW&tag=ruzzell-20)
0436 Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures - Of course Joy Division would make this list! I saw the movie “Control” so I know all about this tragic band. They were all really sad, and wrote sad songs. Then the lead singer killed himself. Ah Joy Division! I’m not a big fan. I’ve given their music more chances then I should and I just find myself not getting into it. The albums not bad for a debut. That’s about all I can say, I’m sure there are fanatics out there that can praise it for me.
0437 Chic – Risqué - Another disco sounding R&B album. If you like that type of music you should like this. The only memorable thing about this one for me is one of the songs on it was sampled on a song on my beloved “Electric Breakdance” tape that I had when I was in grade 4 or 5. That tape came with a poster that showed you how to do sweet moves like the wavy arms thing and The Worm. Man, I loved that tape! This album wasn’t as good. That tape better appear on this list!
0438 The Undertones – The Undertones (1st Album) - A rather enjoyable punk offering that leans a bit to the pop side. I never heard of them, it’s a shame they didn’t do more. Or maybe they did. I should probably wikipedia some of these.
0439 The Clash – London Calling - What is there to say about Rolling Stone Magazines number 8 album of all time that hasn’t been said before? The answer is NOTHING! I’ve loved this one since i first heard it, and I loved it yesterday when I listened to it again. And I loved it when I played it in Rock Band 3 since you can buy it there too! So yeah, not really a bad song on it, even though they stretch into other genres more then you think they should. As a two LP set (in it’s original incarnation) none of the songs feel like filler. The music contained sounds both spontaneous and tight. It gets a full recommend!
0440 Japan – Quiet Life - I fell asleep and woke up in 1983! Not really, but this album sure sounds like it’s from 1983, which is probably why it’s on this list. It’s pretty ground breaking since nothing on this list hinted at it. Anyways, this album would fit perfectly in a shirts off cuddle with Duran Duran and Flock Of Seagulls. Not a bad album, the production was a bit off so the vocals didn’t sound quite sweet enough. This album also has a pretty bad cover of The Velvet Undergrounds "All Tomorrows Parties". It proves that no one should try covering The Velvet Underground. Still, worth a check out if you’re into this type of music.
There it is! Next post will see us hitting 450 titles, and the dawn of the Eighties! Isn't that exciting? Even a little bit? Kind of? I mean, it's not like winning a lottery, but still, as far as listening to music based on lists it's not bad... oh go chase yourself then!
*Curiosity got the best of me, so I wiki'd this one. This guy was one of the originators of that band "Can" that had me so miffed on earlier posts. There's apparently a secret history of Rock in which Can is the greatest band in the world. Who knew? I still have to watch that documentary on the band that I found.
0431 The B-52s – The B-52s (1st Album) - Ah yes! The B-52s make their glorious appearance on the list with this, their debut record. Fans of “Love Shack” may be surprised at the low-fi, almost surf sounds on this one, but it’s entirely charming. “Rock Lobster” will prove to be their first “hit”, but the whole thing is well worth a listen or 50.
0432 Holger Czukay – Movies - This is an album I did not like, but I did think it clever. So it’s weird like that. It’s basically jazzy mood music, but with cut ups and sampling from I’m guessing movies as well as other things. So it’s kind of neat, and I’m sure progressive for 1979. I just would rather listen to something else. I kept thinking "This guy probably came up with that Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers” stuff, which in my case is never a good thing.*
0433 The Police – Reggatta de Blanc - Another solid Police album! I think I already mentioned how much I dislike Sting as a solo artist, but man, this band was good back in the day! This one is a step up in production from the previous album, but still keeps a touch of the raw sound that is so sorely lacking in Stings solo work. “Message In A Bottle” is the opener and I think a hit for the band, but the whole thing works as an album.
0434 The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials - On this debut album, The Fall failed to impress me much. I guess it was a decent punk debut, but nothing really stood out. The best thing about it is the cool title I’m afraid.
0435 Talking Heads – Fear of Music - Talking Heads third album- are we going to get their whole catalog? Anyways, it was good, but not as impressive as their first two. It was more polished and better produced, by Eno no less, but nothing grabbed me like the first two. So it’s a bit of a pass.
0436 Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures - Of course Joy Division would make this list! I saw the movie “Control” so I know all about this tragic band. They were all really sad, and wrote sad songs. Then the lead singer killed himself. Ah Joy Division! I’m not a big fan. I’ve given their music more chances then I should and I just find myself not getting into it. The albums not bad for a debut. That’s about all I can say, I’m sure there are fanatics out there that can praise it for me.
0437 Chic – Risqué - Another disco sounding R&B album. If you like that type of music you should like this. The only memorable thing about this one for me is one of the songs on it was sampled on a song on my beloved “Electric Breakdance” tape that I had when I was in grade 4 or 5. That tape came with a poster that showed you how to do sweet moves like the wavy arms thing and The Worm. Man, I loved that tape! This album wasn’t as good. That tape better appear on this list!
0438 The Undertones – The Undertones (1st Album) - A rather enjoyable punk offering that leans a bit to the pop side. I never heard of them, it’s a shame they didn’t do more. Or maybe they did. I should probably wikipedia some of these.
0439 The Clash – London Calling - What is there to say about Rolling Stone Magazines number 8 album of all time that hasn’t been said before? The answer is NOTHING! I’ve loved this one since i first heard it, and I loved it yesterday when I listened to it again. And I loved it when I played it in Rock Band 3 since you can buy it there too! So yeah, not really a bad song on it, even though they stretch into other genres more then you think they should. As a two LP set (in it’s original incarnation) none of the songs feel like filler. The music contained sounds both spontaneous and tight. It gets a full recommend!
0440 Japan – Quiet Life - I fell asleep and woke up in 1983! Not really, but this album sure sounds like it’s from 1983, which is probably why it’s on this list. It’s pretty ground breaking since nothing on this list hinted at it. Anyways, this album would fit perfectly in a shirts off cuddle with Duran Duran and Flock Of Seagulls. Not a bad album, the production was a bit off so the vocals didn’t sound quite sweet enough. This album also has a pretty bad cover of The Velvet Undergrounds "All Tomorrows Parties". It proves that no one should try covering The Velvet Underground. Still, worth a check out if you’re into this type of music.
There it is! Next post will see us hitting 450 titles, and the dawn of the Eighties! Isn't that exciting? Even a little bit? Kind of? I mean, it's not like winning a lottery, but still, as far as listening to music based on lists it's not bad... oh go chase yourself then!
*Curiosity got the best of me, so I wiki'd this one. This guy was one of the originators of that band "Can" that had me so miffed on earlier posts. There's apparently a secret history of Rock in which Can is the greatest band in the world. Who knew? I still have to watch that documentary on the band that I found.
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