Nullarbor Song (2002) – Kasey Chambers

Posted on September 23, 2023 by observationblogger — 36 Comments

The Nullarbor Plain (Latin: nulla feminine of nullus, “no”, and arbor, “tree”) is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its north. At its widest point, it stretches about 1,100 kilometres (684 mi) from east to west across the border between South Australia and Western Australia. – Wikipedia

On the 13th of January 2023, my brother Jonathan wrote the following to me about his road trip across the Nullarbor Plain in Australia:

Well, I write to you from a little town in WA (Western Australia) called Norseman which is about 800Kms out of Perth. I just came from Border village which essentially is a ‘roadhouse’ with a small pub and accommodation (shacks) in SA. So, I can tick off the Nullarbor drive now which I can clearly say is no mean feat. I managed to download the Kasey Chambers song and listen to a couple of times on the cross. There is a line in the song which I can relate to which was reference to dingos. Earlier this morning as I was having a coffee and watching the sun rise I could hear a very strange crying noise which startled me at first until I realised it was a pack of dingoes howling – quite an incredible sound and I assume noting Kasey Chambers’ line is a common occurrence. 

Nullarbor Song is my Desert Island Kasey Chambers song. It is one of the first songs I learnt on guitar. It’s one of the only songs I learnt on guitar.

When the fire burns out here
It’s brighter than the city lights
Warmer than a heart of gold
And dingoes howl just to break the silence
The sun comes up just to break the cold
Last night I woke with the stars looking back at me
Swallowing the sky
I felt no anger, I felt no shame
I felt no reason to cry

If I’m not here in the morning
I’ll cry a river of tears
I’ll learn to live in a new town
But my heart is staying here

When it’s quiet out here a hundred miles away
You can hear the train on the line
The whistle blows just to break the silence
I wave just to break the time
I close my eyes, I think of runnin’ water
I think of runnin’ away
But the fire’s burned to ashes and it’s darker than before
But I can see as clear as day

If I’m not here in the morning
I’ll cry a river of tears
I’ll learn to live in a new town
But my heart is staying here
I’ll learn to live in a new town
But my heart is staying here

Kasey Chambers music has already featured here 6 times…. and expect more to come. Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. From July 1976 the Chambers family travelled around the Nullarbor Plain, where the parents hunted foxes and rabbits for pelts during seven or eight months a year, spanning nine years.

In another Kasey song about the Nullarbor called Nullarbor (The Biggest Backyard), she sang:

When I was a little girl
I had the biggest backyard in the world
It went on for miles and miles, was wide as it was high
Down to the horizon, all the way up to the sky
And every now and then
I heard a vile tree cry my name
When I was a little girl
I had the biggest backyard in the world
Covered up with red dirt as far as I could see
I shared it with the railway and the Aborigines
Southwest of Adelaide

More information: At home with country superstar Kasey Chambers | 60 Minutes Australia

I’ll conclude this post with the rest of my brother’s message about his road-trip across the Nullabor Plain:

As I said the trip especially in a small car is quite a challenge and you have to have your situational awareness on high alert. I had a road train pull off the road around one KM in front and the dust it produced put me in complete brown out where I had a car in front of me and could not see for a few seconds. This morning I got smashed by a locus swarm. I now have 100’s of dead locus all over my radiator and front car which I will have to deal with once I get to Rockingham. The 1000s of Km across from Brissy to Perth for a huge amount had no phone reception which was quite worrying as a car fault could really put you in a bad situation. I did have plenty of water and food but when it is 40 degrees outside it doesn’t take much to get in a bad way. 

Below, I have presented Kasey performing Nullarbor Song live and as usual playing guitar beside her is her father, Bill Chambers. I hope you enjoy it.

References:
1. Kasey Chambers – Wikipedia

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Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on September 22, 2023 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

What I admire most about Little Miss Sunshine is it pulls no punches. It flies in the face of modern day – ’emotionally correct’ Hollywood filmmaking. In some sense, the whole movie is a reflection of 7-year-old Olive Hoover’s outlook on life. She’s courageous and follows her passion of wanting to be a beauty queen despite the push – back from ‘society’ (the Super Ego), specifically her ‘suitability’ to contest; considering she doesn’t ‘seemingly’ possess or exude conventional beauty pageant traits.

As the movie unfolds; we witness how Olive’s drive and belief in herself challenges the adults around her; who all think (apart from the mother, wonderfully played by one of my favourite Australian actresses – Toni Collete) they are intelligent and have the formula on ‘life’. But in fact, compared to Olive – they are broken and teetering on the edge of their own precipices. Over time because of Olive’s courage, outlook and actions, the adults’ question and challenge their individual modus operandi and worldviews and their behaviours and perspectives on life change as a result. It’s kind of a form of indirect ‘Ontological Shock’.

IMDB Storyline:

More than anything, 7-year-old Olive Hoover wants to be a beauty queen. When she qualifies for the prestigious Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest, the entire family embarks on a long road trip from Albuquerque to California in their 1978 Volkswagen Station Wagon Type 2. However, the journey is anything but smooth. As Sheryl, Olive’s overworked mother, struggles to be the voice of reason, Richard, her unsuccessful husband, tries to promote his self-help program. To further complicate matters, Dwayne, Sheryl’s son from a previous marriage, has decided not to utter a word until he joins the Air Force Academy. At least, troubled Uncle Frank just tags along. And on the road to success, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. What has the future in store for Olive? Does she stand a chance of fulfilling her dream?

Anyone who hasn’t seen Little Miss Sunshine but wants a small taste of its approach and method, I have presented a clip below from the dinner scene. When I watched this scene again while preparing this article; what impressed me so much was its attention to detail, especially the mannerisms / nuances in each performance and the impact of uncomfortable pauses / silences. Check out how Greg Kinnear’s character receives Frank and consider the pause here: ‘Good…. (pause) to see you‘. Do you really think his character is happy to see Frank?
The choice of shots in editing are standouts here as well. For example, something so seemingly inconsequential like when Steve Carell’s character picks up the ‘McDonalds glass’. You don’t have to be told what he’s thinking – you know it as he is looking at it and pondering the ‘whole meaning – thing’. Silent reflection can be more impactful than words. This movie treats its characters and audience with a lot of respect and that can only be a good thing.

The following are excerpts from the Wikipedia reference below:
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Little Miss Sunshine was a box office success, earning $101 million, and was praised mainly for the performances, direction, screenplay and humor. The film garnered four nominations at the 79th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Michael Arndt and Alan Arkin won Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

References:
1. Little Miss Sunshine – Wikipedia
2. Little Miss Sunshine – IMDB

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Piano Sonata No 14 in C Minor Op 27 No 2 Moonlight (1802) – Ludwig van Beethoven

Posted on September 21, 2023 by observationblogger — 7 Comments
Sonata quasi una fantasia – Title page of the first edition of the score, published on 2 August 1802 in Vienna

This Piano Sonata commonly known as ‘Moonlight Sonata‘ is one of Beethoven’s most recognised pieces. It was even a popular favourite in his own day. It was originally titled ‘Quazi una fantasia’ (Nearly a Fantasy), but the name Moonlight Sonata grew popular later, likely after Beethoven’s death. The subtitle reminds listeners that the piece, although technically a sonata, is suggestive of a free-flowing, improvised fantasia. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Julie “Giulietta” Guicciardi. You imagine having this dedicated you? ‘Oh gee, shucks the Van – you didn’t have to…‘

Moonlight Sonata is one of the first pieces I heard by Beethoven and made quite the impression, like it has on millions of people. After having heard it more than 100 times, there are other lesser-known Beethoven classics I prefer to listen to these days. But even still, as I listen to it again for this article, it makes me shudder in awe of its immense beauty.

(Most of the information presented in this article was sourced from the Wikipedia reference below)

Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata. This sonata is considered one of the earliest pieces of the Romantic era. Many sources say that the nickname Moonlight Sonata arose after the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. This comes from the musicologist Wilhelm von Lenz, who wrote in 1852: “Rellstab compares this work to a boat, visiting, by moonlight, the remote parts of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland…”.

In his book Beethoven’s pianoforte sonatas, the renowned pianist Edwin Fischer suggests that the first movement of this sonata (Adagio sostenuto) is based on Mozart’s “Ah Soccorso! Son Tradito” of his opera Don Giovanni, which comes just after the Commendatore’s murder. Upon listening to that piece in Act 1 from Don Giovanni I can see why Fischer makes that argument. Fischer claims to have found, in the archives of the Wiener Musikverein, a sketch in Beethoven’s handwriting of a few lines of Mozart’s music (which bears the same characteristic triplet figuration) transposed to C♯ minor, the key of the sonata. Also, in 1787 when Don Giovani was written, a 16-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven came to Vienna and wanted to take lessons from Haydn and Mozart. This would not eventuate as Beethoven’s mother fatally fell ill and he had to return to Bonn.

Below is the full performance (3 movements) of Moonlight Sonata by pianist Valentina Lisitsa. She wrote:

‘Hello all. This is the original complete recording of the Sonata the way it was meant to be. Back in those days there was a 10 minutes file limit and therefore I had to split performance in 2 parts. The 3rd movement went viral while the first file did not. Playlist does not work in the opposite way and there are hundreds of channels that stole my recording and rebroadcast it in full. So I should have it published as it was played. Enjoy! I think when performed complete the concept of the performance is different.‘

References:
1. Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven) – Wikipedia

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The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 41) – Hades and Persephone

Posted on September 20, 2023 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

Ankidroid additions related to Science, History and Philosophy. More information about Anki can be found in this article.

The First Earth Eon

The Hadean Era is between 4.54 and 4 billion years ago. There was no air; the earth was besieged by Lava floods, magma and volcanos, resembling the apocryphal ‘hell’ of Hades (God of the underworld – land of the dead) from Greek mythology.

The blood-red moon appeared 15 times bigger than it is now and located just 20,000 miles away. The earth’s spin grew slower over time and the days and nights became longer. The moon drifts away from Earth 4cm a year.

In case you wondered how the Moon might have formed: The New Science of Moon Formation

Persephone

In Greek Mythology, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Hades, god of the underworld (her uncle twice over) fell in love with Persephone when he saw her picking flowers in a meadow. He carried her off to live with him in the Underworld, (or perhaps abducted is the better word) and married her.

Persephone was initially distraught, but Hades was kind to her and showered her with gifts. He put Persephone’s throne right next to his and allowed her equal rule alongside him. She became Queen of the underworld. The marriage of Hades and Persephone symbolized the relationship between life and death.

Her temporary return to the surface represented the embodiment of Spring and vegetation.

As silent as my husband, Hades himself,
who sits all day in his library reading scrolls
lost to the world above us. “Why did you bring me
to this stagnant country,” I ask him, “if not to talk?
To sit and brood in a chair made out of bones,
or stare out the window at the unchanging garden,
in which only yew trees grow, and never speak?
Why abduct the daughter of Demeter?

Excerpt from Theodora Goss’ poem – Persephone in Hades
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Posted in Reading, Science

Now That I Found You (1998) – Terri Clark

Posted on September 19, 2023 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

I first heard Canadian country music artist Terri Clark’s Now That I Found You on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) radio and procured her record How I Feel. I listened to it a bunch and cherished the first half. I hadn’t listened to it in ages until today’s featured song appeared in my collection. After sifting through the tracks on How I Feel I realised that I should have added two more songs from it: Everytime I Cry and I’m Alright. Canada has produced other fine female country music artists whose music I have enjoyed, including Anne Murray and Shania Twain.

Now That I Found You is a song written by Paul Begaud, Vanessa Corish and J.D. Martin and recorded by Terri Clark. It was the first single released from the album How I Feel. It reached number 2 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart in July 1998 and number 2 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. How I Feel, the third studio album by Terri Clark achieved two top 10 places on the US Billboard Country Charts including today’s song. The album was certified platinum in both Canada and the US.

How can I believe
That my heart would find someone like you
You see me, the real me
No in bewteens, I had nowhere to hide
You took away the walls around me
Made me feel safe to share my truth

I see the heavens open, a heart that once was broken
Is holding nothing back
Now that I found you
You hold me like a prayer, you touch me everywhere
A lifetime just ain’t enough to love you true
Now that I found you
Now that I found you

I do believe we’re meant to be
Our chemistry will last forever
And through the years
We’ll see some tears
We’ll conquer fears
And together we will grow
Looking in your eyes
They tell me
I no longer have to feel alone

Below are excerpts from Wikipedia beow:

Terri Lynn Sauson, known professionally as Terri Clark was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on August 5, 1968. Clark’s grandparents, Ray and Betty Gauthier, were both noted Canadian country musicians, having opened for artists such as George Jones and Johnny Cash. By high school, Clark had grown to love country music and worked at a local Chinese restaurant to save money to move to Nashville, Tennessee. 
After graduating from High School in 1987, she moved to Nashville where she got her start playing at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a honky-tonk bar across the alley from Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium. At that time, country music executives were largely uninterested in traditional country, but record producer and singer Keith Stegall gave Clark advice and encouragement to not give up. In 1994, Stegall became an executive at PolyGram/Mercury Records in Nashville and promptly signed Clark to a record deal.

Clark’s albums have accounted for more than twenty singles, including six Number Ones. In 2004, Clark gained one of country music’s crowning achievements when she became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. She was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018 and will become a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

References:
1. Now That I Found You (Terri Clark song) – Wikipedia
2. How I Feel (album) – Wikipedia
3. Terri Clark – Wikipedia

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11/9 – 17/9/23 Nicotine Withdrawal, Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, Abelard and Heloise & The Ending of World War I

Posted on September 18, 2023 by observationblogger — 21 Comments

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

72 hours of Nicotine Withdrawal
Presentation at Addiction Mindset

Until last Tuesday morning (12 September) at 1048am I battled nicotine addiction since I was 18 years old. That means I spent 31 years consuming 3 nicotine products: cigarettes → e-cigarette (vaping) → Nicorette chewing gum. I probably spent 100 thousand dollars (on all these) and that’s being conservative. During those same years I had also been consuming alcohol ranging from binge drinking stints in my early adulthood to in later years – full-blown 24-7 monthly drinking bouts (the latter I have referred to as being ‘in the cave’). I consider I have spent at least 200 thousand dollars on alcohol products in my lifetime. I wrote a ‘reflections’ post in March this year called ‘I Won’t Forget‘ during one of my latest, but brief sobriety spells.

Since last Tuesday when I went cold – turkey I also haven’t drunk alcohol. I wanted to use this opportunity to pay tribute to the Addiction Mindset channel and other subject related video channels since they helped me to understand what I would be facing with nicotine withdrawal and provide some motivation. I hope without nicotine cravings I will be averse to consuming alcohol. I found that both usances went hand in hand. Any-hows I am about to enter my seventh day of Nicotine abstinence and I can say I no longer suffer cravings for nicotine. It makes me feel sick even to think about Nicotine and alcohol or contemplating how I wasted – what should have been the best and most productive years of my life. For instance, the realisation of not being able to provide a family home for my kids because of my self-indulgences is not nice; because if anyone deserved a home of their own, even a room for themselves – it was them.

Regarding my current mindset and outlook; it’s a strange sensation to no longer be craving any addictive product. It’s as though I’ve been reset to before the day, I first drunk my parents’ cheap cask wine from the refrigerator and washed off the vomit (with a garden hose) from my mattress out the front of the family home.
I can’t explain why I went cold turkey last Tuesday (apart from being broke, bored of it all and feeling like sh/t) or how I endured the challenges of 3 – 5 days of intense nicotine craving, but I can say:

I won’t forget your amazing grace.

UTMB: Up close and personal at the biggest, wildest trail race in the world
BBC Sport Article:

Welcome to Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a race so epic it has been described as the World Cup, Tour de France and Super Bowl of running. None of those does it justice.

UTMB covers 106 miles, starting and finishing in Chamonix and passing through three countries – France, Italy and Switzerland – as it circumnavigates Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe.

The distance is only half the story. Runners must tackle 10,000m of elevation gain – comfortably more than the height of Everest – cope with temperatures ranging from below zero to 30C, and handle any conditions thrown at them by mountains which are normally the preserve of skiers. Helicopter search-and-rescue insurance is compulsory. (Read entire article here)

Abelard and Heloise: Medieval Romance and Philosophy
Centre Place Lecture

Abelard and Heloise are among the great scholastic philosophers of the 12th century. Their affair led to their secret marriage, which was discovered with terrible consequences for them both. Nevertheless their letters have kept the romance alive for centuries, and Abelard’s philosophical ideas helped change the course of Western thought.

The Ending of World War I: The Road to 11 November
Gresham College, a lecture by David Stevenson

This lecture will re-examine how the First World War ended, anticipating the centenary commemorations in 2018. It will discuss both why Germany requested a ceasefire, and why the Allies and America granted one. It will argue that the German army was near collapse, and that Germany was not defeated by a ‘stab in the back’ at home. None the less, the Allies had good reasons not to press on to Berlin.

news on the march the end
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Posted in News, Reflections, Sport and Adventure

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (1987) – Starship

Posted on September 17, 2023 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

[Pre-Chorus: Grace Slick]
Let ’em say we’re crazy
What do they know?
Put your arms around me
Baby, don’t ever let go
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we’re heart to heart

The above Pre-Chorus by Grace Slick after Verse 2 of Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now gets me every time. How the song works up to this point and her delivery of it in the video below is spectacular. This song video is what you might have watched curled up on a rainy-day Saturday catching the Top 40 on Rage (where it reached No3) in Australia. Not that it rained often where I lived in Western Sydney, but it helps conjure the mood I wanted to convey. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now is not likely a song I would have run to school saying, ‘you must hear this guys‘, but at least I had this song to pass down to my daughter and she’s a huge fan. Even I had to tell her to watch something else. Ok, I’ll admit the song video is feel-good, catchy and entertaining.

This is another one of those countless pop songs where I prefer the sound in the verses and pre-chorus´ over the chorus which saturates the listener. This song just has two verses! Give me at least another verse and pre-chorus and remove (at least) one chorus. So, let’s look at the timeline here; Verses 1 and 2 (including pre-chorus’) take us up to 2:10 min of a song which lasts 4:27min. The majority is filled with a repetition of the Chorus. So less than half the song contains the meat in the sandwich (if you like). Any-hows, what do I know? Starship made a megahit with Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.

[Verse 1: Mickey Thomas]
Lookin’ in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I found is too good to be true
Standin’ here beside you
Want so much to give you this love in my heart
That I’m feelin’ for you

[Pre-Chorus: Grace Slick]
Let ’em say we’re crazy, I don’t care ’bout that
Put your hand in my hand
Baby, don’t ever look back
Let the world around us just fall apart
Baby, we can make it if we’re heart to heart

[Chorus: Both]
And we can build this dream together
Standing strong forever
Nothing’s gonna stop us now
And if this world runs out of lovers
We’ll still have each other
Nothing’s gonna stop us
Nothing’s gonna stop us now
Oh, whoa

Excerpts from the Wikipedia article below:

Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now is a song co-written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond and recorded by American rock band Starship for their second studio album, No Protection (1987). It is a power ballad duet featuring vocalists Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas and is the theme to the romantic-comedy film Mannequin.

The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, Warren’s first single to do so. Elsewhere, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now topped the charts in Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it became the second-best-selling song of 1987. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now received a nomination for Best Original Song at the 60th Academy Awards.

In a radio interview, Hammond said that the idea for the song came from his impending marriage to his live-in girlfriend of seven years after his divorce from his previous wife was finalized. He had said to Warren, “It’s almost like they’ve stopped me from marrying this woman for seven years, and they haven’t succeeded. They’re not gonna stop me doing it.”The song has been considered “feel good” propelled by a strong synthesizer beat.

References:
1. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Wikipedia

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Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby (2012) – Cigarettes After Sex

Posted on September 16, 2023 by observationblogger — 4 Comments
Greg Gonzalez of Cigarettes After Sex performing at Positivus Festival in July 2017

I first heard Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby in follower’s House of Heart‘s blog. This was back in 2018, so it has taken 5 years to get here in the Music Library Project. The band’s debut extended play (EP), I., was released in 2012, with today’s featured track eventually becoming a sleeper hit. It received little fanfare but went belatedly and unexpectedly viral 4 years after its release.
The silky vocals stand out against the moody, synth-driven production. I also enjoy Donna Missal’s version which I have presented below.

Whispered something in your ear
It was a perverted thing to say
But I said it anyway
Made you smile and look away

Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby
As long as you’re with me, you’ll be just fine
Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby
Nothing’s gonna take you from my side

From the Wikipedia reference below:

Cigarettes After Sex is an American dream pop band formed in El Paso, Texas, in 2008 by Greg Gonzalez. The band is known for their ethereal, limerent and often dream-like musical style, lyrics often based on the themes of romance and love, as well as Gonzalez’s voice, which has been described as “androgynous”. While marketed as an ambient pop band, Cigarettes After Sex are also considered to be shoegaze, Slow core and indie rock.

Referrring to the band’s name Cigarettes After Sex, Gonzales said:

“I think the music had to catch up with the name, almost,” he says. “The name was based off a moment where I was, you know… having what the name says. It was autobiographical, like a lot of the songs. I found that the more I thought about the name, the more the sound of the songs started to match it. The music became this kind of soothing comedown, but also a kind of euphoria.”

Reference:
1. Cigarettes After Sex – Wikipedia
2. Hear Donna Missal Cover Cigarettes After Sex’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You’ – Discover Music

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Reality Bites (1994) – Ben Stiller (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on September 15, 2023 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

Reality Bites captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s grunge scene among young adults. I was about their age when this movie came out. I could relate to the philosophical musings and desire to make a difference but not knowing how to go about it in world where young people feel anonymous and disenfranchised and dealing with modern day issues. I saw it again on cable just the other day after decades not seeing it and the memories came flooding back. I think it held up pretty well and I know it has achieved some cult status.

IMDB Storyline:

In this study of Generation X manners, Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder), the valedictorian of her college class, camcords her friends in a mock documentary of posteducation life. Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) is her best friend, a perpetually unemployed musical slacker. Vickie Miner (Janeane Garofalo) is a manager at the Gap who worries about the results of an A.I.D.S. test, while Sammy Gray (Steve Zahn) has problems grappling with his sexuality. When Lelaina meets Michael Grates (Ben Stiller), an earnest video executive who takes her homemade video to his MTV-like station, she must decide what she values – the materialism of yuppie Michael or the philosophical musings of Troy.

I had a bit of a crush on the actress Winona Ryder and think this is my favourite role by her. Steve Zahn and Janeane Garofalo were solid and and Ben Stiller (who also directed) is good despite being an atypical role for him. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $40.9 million worldwide against an $11.5 million budget. Critics highlighted the performances of Ryder, Hawke and Garofalo in particular.

The writer Helen Childress wrote and rewrote Reality Bites (70 drafts) 9 over the course of three decades. Ben Stiller signed on to direct it in 1992 and worked with Childress for nine to ten months developing the script. Childress and Stiller had a script that was ready to be filmed for TriStar Pictures, but the studio put it into turnaround. They received a phone call informing them that Winona Ryder had read the script, wanted to do it and that Universal Pictures had agreed to finance the film.

After completing several period pieces, Ryder was drawn to Reality Bites because she was looking “for something a little more contemporary because I really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change“. She read the script in one sitting and “found it very true to life.” She further speculated in an interview, “I think my character is very close to what I would probably have ended up as if I hadn’t become an actress“.
Ethan Hawke was at this point unhappy with the direction his career was taking. He recalled that his career was in a lull after the buzz from Dead Poets Society had faded. Winona Ryder was a fan of his work and stipulated in her contract that her involvement in this movie was dependent on Hawke starring opposite her. She chose Hawke after seeing him in A Midnight Clear (1992).

References:
1. Reality Bites – Wikipedia
2. Reality Bites – IMDB

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Posted in Movies and TV

Nothingman (1994) – Pearl Jam

Posted on September 14, 2023 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

2 Nothing Men in the space of two days, which has gotta mean something.
Nothingman is one of my favourite songs by Pearl Jam. It is the second song to feature here from their third album Vitalogy. Their previous entry from the record is another one of my all-time favourites: Better Man. Nothingman features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music by bassist Jeff Ament.

Vedder on the song: Nothingman was written in an hour, and so I like listening to that ’cause it just happened and somehow captured a mood there, at least for me in the vocal. Any time I can nail down a song, a thought, in a half hour, that feels really good.  Vedder also stated, “The idea is about if you love someone and they love you, don’t f/&k up…’cause you are left with less than nothing.” Discussing his attitude toward his first wife, Vedder commented, “But I just know that without her, I’d be a kite without a string, a nothing man.“

Once divided, nothing left to subtract
Some words when spoken can’t be taken back
Walks on his own with thoughts he can’t help thinking
Future’s above, but in the past he’s slow and sinking

[Pre-Chorus]
Caught a bolt of lightning
Cursed the day he let it go

[Chorus]
Nothingman
Nothingman
Isn’t it something, nothingman

[Verse 2]
She once believed in every story he had to tell
One day she stiffened, took the other side
Empty stares from each corner of a shared prison cell
One just escapes, one’s left inside the well

Upon its CD release, Vitalogy became the second-fastest selling album in history, behind only the band’s previous release Vs., selling 877,000 copies in its first week and quickly going multi-platinum. The album received critical acclaim from critics and has been certified 5x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of at least five million copies in the United States. 

More information about the album from the Wikipedia reference below:

Tensions within the band had dramatically increased by the time they were working on Vitalogy. Producer Brendan O’Brien said: “Vitalogy was a little strained. I’m being polite—there was some imploding going on.” Bassist Jeff Ament said that “communication was at an all-time low”. Drummer Dave Abbruzzese stated that the communication problems started once guitarist Stone Gossard stopped acting as the band’s mediator. According to Gossard, Vitalogy was the first album for which lead vocalist Eddie Vedder made the final decisions. At the time, Gossard thought of quitting the band. Gossard said the band was having trouble collaborating, so most of the songs were developed out of jam sessions. He added that “80 percent of the songs were written 20 minutes before they were recorded.” During the production of Vitalogy, lead guitarist Mike McCready went into rehabilitation to receive treatment for alcohol and cocaine abuse.

References:
1. Nothingman – Wikipedia
2. Vitalogy – Wikipedia

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