Spitball Army

Faces on a Manhattan subway platform. Loose floral print shirts in the Laguna Beach art district. The signs along the World’s Longest Yard Sale. The shapes in a child’s woodcut puzzle of the United States. The colors in a summer succotash. The smack of a baseball on a wooden bat. A buck dancer and string band sweating under a shade tree. A watermelon chin slurp. The bloom from an exploding rocket over the Boston Hatch Shell. “Successions of men, Americanos, a hundred millions, one generation playing its part and passing on, another generation playing its part and passing on in its turn, with faces turn’d sideways or backward towards me to listen, with eyes retrospective towards me.”*

I can hear the fireworks
I can hear them echoing
I can see the boats in the harbor
Lights shinin’ out
I can hear the people shoutin’
Way up and down the line
And it’s almost Independence Day**

Approximate playing time: 76 minutes.

1. Jake Shimabukuro  “Stars and Stripes Forever”  (2007)
2. Noel Coward  “I Like America”  (1951)
3. Simon & Garfunkel  “America”  (1968)
4. Kim & Jim Lansford  “Cowboy Sings to His Herd”  (1994)
5. Tricia Walker  “Heart of Dixie”  (2000)
6. Bruce Springsteen  “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)”  (1973)
7. Ella Fitzgerald  “The Real American Folk Song”  (1959)
8. Hall & Oates  “United State”  (1980)
9. Billy Bragg & Wilco  “Christ for President”  (1998)
10. David Crosby & Graham Nash  “Immigration Man”  (1972)
11. Dan Bern  “They Don’t Got Baseball”
12. U2  “The Hands That Built America”  (2002)
13. Johnny Cash  “The Gettysburg Address”  (1972)
14. Joanna Smith  “Battle Hymn of the Republic”  (2007)
15. Dave Alvin  “Fourth of July”  (1994)
16. Randy Newman  “Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)”  (1974)
17. Lucinda Williams  “American Dream”  (2003)
18. Gillian Welch  “Elvis Presley Blues”  (2001)
19. Paul Simon  “American Tune”  (1973)
20. Bettye Lavette  “Streets of Philadelphia”  (2007)
21. Sean Costello from How’s Your News  “God Bless America”  (2008)

* Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
** rearranged lines from Van Morrison’s “Almost Independence Day”

[Letter postmarked on 4 November 1942 at 4 p.m. at Alton, Illinois. Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Illinois. Return addressed to Richard N., Portage Des Sioux, Mo.]

November 4, 1942
Alton, Ill.
above Dam
1:00 o’clock

Hello Darling,

How is my little wify now? I am fine, dear. This whole patrol [I] felt as though I could lick the world – do you know why, hon? I think you do, hon.

The trip back was uneventful. The train was 10 minutes late out of Chicago and 15 minutes late into Alton. I had a whole seat for my self to sleep in until 5 minutes before the train left Chicago. 3 Navy men came on and one plunked himself next to me. Darn. He was a cook on those invasion barges we saw in St. Louis going up the river. He said the barges were all right in the rivers but as soon as they got in the lakes it was bad. They went in circles, got flooded, and hit a lot of things. He said once they hit the lake he couldn’t cook any thing, either.

After I got off the train, I was going to take a bus into town. As a car was passing and I wiggled my thumb and they stopped for me and took me to the bridge. Then I walked the rest of the way to the boat above the dam – about ½ mile and picked up the boat at 7:30. This whole patrol has been very cold. Every morning, there was ice on any small pools of water. Very little sunshine.

Honey, these liberties don’t do me any good, honey. I get home and I don’t want to go back. When I do get back I keep thinking of the things we did when I was home and I want to turn around and come tearing right back to you. I don’t think I will ever forget that Saturday night at your house – will you, hon?

Well, darling, I haven’t much more to say because I said most of it at home. That was quite a talk we had that night, wasn’t it? I will close now honey by telling you I love you more every minute and will continue to do so, hon. Good-by now. Keep those wonderful letters coming, hon.

Love
Dick xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I live in the Crestwood neighborhood of Birmingham. There is a movie theatre down the street from me called The Edge 12. I can walk there from my home, if I so desire. This theatre has twelve screens. They frequently show films of great merit. They also show films for everyone else. We all get to choose.

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

Four new films have opened at The Edge 12 this week:

Larry Crowne (2011)
Directed by Tom Hanks.
Written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
Starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
Rated PG-13.

[The official Universal Pictures blurb for Larry Crowne:]

Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he’s worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves…often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.

[Their first draft:]

Everyone’s favorite everyman, Tom Hanks, makes a triumphant return to the big screen as the titular Larry Crowne. Saddled, after serving time in the U.S. Navy, with a dead-end job at a corporate megalo-mart, Larry has begun to settle into a life of comfortable mediocrity. Turning away from the harsh reality of a low hourly-wage and no chance for advancement, he drones away at his job, waiting for the occasional pat-on-the-back from management. Then, one day, as it eventually comes to all big-box slaves, a pink slip comes to Larry. Lost, he decides to explore that refuge of the unemployed: school. There, he develops a crush on his Etiquette & Elocution teacher (a fetching Julia Roberts) who is looking to temporarily bed one of her students as a remedy for her lagging marital relationship. Between this bedroom rondel and his new membership in a scooter club, our simple hero, Larry, who has every reason to think his life has stalled, will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover you’re right.

Midnight in Paris (2011)
Written and directed by Woody Allen.
Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, the ghosts of Cole Porter, Zelda Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, and the city of Paris.
Rated PG-13.

Gil and Inez (Wilson and McAdams) travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents’ business trip. Gil is a struggling writer and falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s were the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil’s nighttime forays in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city, but farther from the woman he’s about to marry.

Monte Carlo (2011)
Directed by Thomas Bezucha.
Starring Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy.
Rated PG.

Here’s another film set partly in Paris: three young women vacationing in Paris find themselves whisked away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress. I have seen the target demographic for this film, and it is not me.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Directed by Michael Bay.
Starring Shia LeBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Tyrese Gibson, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and the parts from a 1944 Willys Jeep.
Rated PG-13. (This film opened at The Edge 12 on June 29th.)

In this third film in the movie franchise based on a popular children’s toy, the Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets. When they get there, they find out that they’re all just imaginary characters stuck inside of a snow globe belonging to an autistic child.

Transformers 3 (as this film is also being called) is being screened in both 3D and 2D at The Edge 12. The New York Times‘ A.O. Scott says that “Transformers: Dark of the Moon is one of the few recent 3D movies that justify the upcharge.” He should know: he watches movies for a living.

The following seven films have been extended for another week:
• Bad Teacher
• Cars 2
• The Green Lantern
• Jumping the Broom
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins
• Super 8

The following four films ended their current run this week:
• Bridesmaids
• The Hangover, Part II
• Incendies
• X-Men: First Class

The Edge 12 has some ongoing promotions. Tuesdays are no longer just a recurring day of the week there, but have been dubbed “$5.00 Tuesdays”: most films can be seen for just a $5.00 admission ticket. And, on Fridays, The Edge 12 offers free popcorn at all shows.

The Edge 12 Theatre is located at 7001 Crestwood Boulevard. A recording detailing all movie times can be accessed by telephoning (205) 795-3500; a real live human answers the phone at (205) 795-3595. Showtimes can also be found on the MovieTickets website. The theatre has a Facebook page under the name The Edge 12 Birmingham and tweets under the handle @Edge12Bhm.

Information in the capsule summaries above might have been provided, in varying degrees, by IMDb, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes and Wikipedia.

An amazing hamburger, served with tomato, pickles and pesto that originated in my backyard vegetable garden. Wish I could claim those onions as home-grown…perhaps next year.

[Letter postmarked on 24 October 1942 at 8:30 a.m. at Alton, Illinois. Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Illinois. Return addressed to Richard N., Portage Des Sioux, Mo.]

October 24, 1942
Alton, above Dam
10-12 watch P.M.

Hello Darling,

Received your letter of the 20th, post marked Berwyn, oct 20, 8:30 P.M. I suppose you are wondering why that last letter of mine ended so abruptly. Well, as I said before, where we are on patrol, we mail our letters as catch can. There was a man leaving our dock just then and it couldn’t wait – so that is the reason. The above reason is also why I am so interested in when you receive my mail and if you receive it. So when you write me, hon, give me the date on the letter received and the post mark on the envelopes just as I do on yours, will you please, hon.

Well, there hasn’t been anything new developing lately except we have a real electric light now, that’s why I am writing you at this hour of the night. Pratt left a long extension wire on board and we plug into a house on shore. It really makes it nice.

What did you think of the stationery of my last letter?

We had a lot of excitement down here to-night. Boys who were on liberty to-night kept dropping in on us. All totaled, there must have been about 10 through the course of the evening.

Now for your letter, darling. I like that “just want to write you a note.” I am glad it was a very nice letter or you would have heard about that note business. Darn it hon, 21 hey – some people have all the luck, don’t they? Honey, I sure wish I was in that group from Chanute so you could play hostess to me. Say, just how hospitable were you hon, you know, that stuff need be carried only so far. I don’t doubt that you couldn’t handle all 80 of them – you have such a big heart, honey. Tell me, was it very hard? Just kidding, hon.

That sounds like some lunch, hon. I would like to see you eat one like that at least 2 times a day for a while, honey. Big shot, didn’t get back to work till 2:30. You deserve it, honey, when you do work, I know you do the work of 5 people in an hour. I honest and truly wish you wouldn’t work so hard, honey, you would be better off.

That is quite a deal, running into someone who knows Davidson. I must remember that name. I am going to try and get in touch with Davidson this Sunday. He is in St. Louis a lot. He drives a train from Mattwe to St. Louis, you know.

I was going to ask for a leave this weekend but I know you are working to-morrow, and I don’t think I would get it anyway. The skipper is going to the rifle range, the motor makk is getting 10 days. With the skipper gone that will put me in charge of the next patrol – a chance I have been waiting for a long time, a chance to do my stuff. Next patrol, we will be coming in on a Friday and I am going to try for from Friday morning till Monday morning when the boat comes by Alton on the way down to WoodRing. I am holding my thumbs, honey. We have a new man in charge at the base now, maybe I can do better with him. Any way, I am going to try, hon.

Tell me exactly what you mean by “Kings Row” being wonderful, honey.

The next time you see Marty, give them my regards and best wishes, hon. Tell them to stay home in their new house so some one can visit them once in a while. Maybe that’s why they don’t stay home, hey?

My mother had one of the girls at the office type up a bunch and she sent them to me, not a bad idea, hey?

So you would like to hug and squeeze me to death, hey honey? “Oh death, where is thy sweet sting?!” – Shakspier – But he didn’t know what he was talking about – I do, honey!

As I was saying in that letter before this, hon, I never listened to all the words of this song before, but they really express my thoughts, dear. The next time you hear “My Devotion,” hon, listen and think of me, darling; they are just my thoughts set to music, darling.

Well, honey, keep those sweet letters of yours coming, and I will do my best, too. I have been lucky this patrol.

Good-by now darling, remember I love you with all my heart and only live for the day I can hold you in my arms and kiss your sweet lips again.

Endless love
Dick xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He offered to share his garden harvest with her. She, catching neighborly contagion, dug up his plants and gave them to a friend.

No titling on front of card.

Printed on back of postcard:

1038 – BALANCED ROCK AND STEAMBOAT ROCK
The roadway from the western entrance of the Garden of the Gods separates the famed Rocks, which attract countless visitors.  Balanced Rock stands firmly on a seemingly pin point base.  The “Deck” of the Steamboat Rock affords an excellent view point.

Publishing information: “Rembrant Post Card.  Published by Noble, Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

Burt Bacharach with Dionne Warwick.

I almost started this blog post by stating that Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest songwriters living today. That would be untrue, technically, if the accepted definition of songwriter is “one who writes words and music.” Bacharach doesn’t write the words.

But, if that definition were to be altered slightly to read “one who crafts words and music together,” I could get away with it. As it is, I feel completely confident stating that Burt Bacharach is one of the greatest – if not the greatest – composers of pop songs living today. Go ahead, name someone better.

As you can see by the dates of the songs on today’s playlist, Burt Bacharach’s heyday was in the 1960s. The majority of his songs were written in partnership with lyricist Hal David. And, for most of their time writing songs together, their muse – the singer who would most often introduce their work to the listening world – was Dionne Warwick. Get this: on the Rhino Records compilation CD entitled The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits, only two of the 24 songs were not written by Bacharach/David. That’s some long, successful track record. There may be only a few of the songs on this playlist that were never recorded by Warwick, even though she is represented here by only two of her own recordings. That just gives you an idea of the composer’s reach.

I have heard it said that Bacharach’s songs are as difficult to perform as Mozart’s classical music. Alluring, deceptively simple to the casual ear, a landmine to manuever in performance: the mark of two musical geniuses. I’ll buy that. As proof, check out that undulating time signature in “Promises, Promises,” if you can catch up with it.

Approximate playing time: 79 minutes.

1. Cher  “Alfie”  (1966)
2. Jill O’Hara  “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”  (1968)
3. Aretha Franklin  “I Say a Little Prayer”  (1968)
4. The Turbans  “Three Friends (Two Lovers)”  (1961)
5. Isaac Hayes  “Walk on By”  (1969)
6. Herb Alpert  “This Guy’s in Love with You”  (1968)
7. The 5th Dimension  “One Less Bell to Answer”  (1970)
8. Gene Pitney  “Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa”  (1963)
9. Dionne Warwick  “Promises, Promises”  (1968)
10. The Walker Brothers  “Make It Easy on Yourself”  (1965)
11. Luther Vandross  “A House Is Not a Home”  (1981)
12. Tom Jones  “What’s New, Pussycat?”  (1965)
13. Dionne Warwick  “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”  (1968)
14. The Shirelles  “Baby, It’s You”  (1961)
15. Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66  “The Look of Love”  (1968)
16. Adam Wade  “Rain from the Skies”  (1963)
17. B.J. Thomas  “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”  (1969)
18. Elvis Costello  “God Give Me Strength”  (1998)
19. Carpenters  “(They Long to Be) Close to You”  (1970)
20. Jackie DeShannon  “What the World Needs Now Is Love”  (1965)

[Read more →]

[Letter postmarked on 22 October 1942 at 5:30 p.m. at Alton, Illinois. Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Illinois. Return addressed to Richard N., Portage Des Sioux, Mo. On the back of the one-page letter is a handwritten list titled “Answers to Examination Questions.”]

Oct 22, 42
Below Dam
Alton Ill. 1:20 A.M.

Hello Honey,

Here I go again, darling, I don’t have anything to say but I am going to write to you anyway. How is that?

First, please excuse the paper, darling, we used up all of that other and this was the only stuff I could find. Do you recognize the back of this piece? Take a look and tell me, darling.

When I looked at the back it brought to my mind the wonderful, wonderful trip we had down here and then in thinking about you it made me want to be up there with you so very much, darling. I think I will swim up there if they would just let me out of this place for a while.

Darling, as I was driving back from St. Louis the other night, I had the radio on. They played a song that really gave me goose pimples when I heard the words. The name of the song was “I See Heaven When I Look at You.” That expresses my feelings exactly, honey. If I am not mistaken, I think I said that to you once a long time ago, honey. Now some artist had put it to music. He just beat me to it, honey. With you as an inspiration, I know I would have done it.

I went to that Hollywood thrill show in L. the other night but I just couldn’t get interested in it, honey. All I could see in front of my eyes was you. That was all the thrill show I needed, hon, I could have saved the trouble of going to the show.

There was
[letter ends abruptly here]

I live in the Crestwood neighborhood of Birmingham. There is a movie theatre down the street from me called The Edge 12. I can walk there from my home, if I so desire. This theatre has twelve screens. They frequently show films of great merit. They also show films for everyone else. We all get to choose.

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

Three new films are opening at The Edge 12 today:

Bad Teacher (2011)
Directed by Jake Kasdan.
Starring Cameron Diaz, Jason Segal, Justin Timberlake and someone named Lucy Punch.
Rated R.

Here’s a movie to give Bridesmaids a run for the off-color money. Bad Teacher (promoted with the tagline: “She doesn’t give an ‘F'”) is a comedy centered around a foul-mouthed, junior high school teacher (Diaz) who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague (Timberlake) – a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher (Segal). For a quantitative measure of how much you will either love or despise this film, count the number of bleeped expletives in the trailer below.

Cars 2 (2011)
Directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis.
Featuring the vocal talents of Owen Wilson, Larry le Type de Câble, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro and Brent Musburger (as Brent Mustangburger).
Rated G.

Star race car Lightning McQueen (Wilson) and his pal Mater (le Type de Câble) head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix race. But the road to the championship becomes rocky as Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. With a character named Mater (presumably a Redneck form of the word “tomato”) in France, we’re only one small step away from a Freedom Fries joke, folks.

This kind of movie is relatively review-proof; that doesn’t mean that several critics won’t take a stab at it, anyway. Speaking for myself: I’ll pass. But, in the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that my library-borrowed copy of the first Cars movie is – at this very moment – queued up in my DVD player, ready to roll.

Incendies (2010)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Starring Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette.
In French, Arabic and English.
Rated R.

When notary Lebel sits down with Jeanne and Simon Marwan to read them their mother Nawal’s will, the twins are stunned to receive a pair of envelopes – one for the father they thought was dead and another for a brother they didn’t know existed. In this enigmatic inheritance, Jeanne sees the key to Nawal’s retreat into unexplained silence during the final weeks of her life. She immediately decides to go to the Middle East to dig into a family history of which she knows next to nothing. Simon is unmoved by their mother’s posthumous mind games. However, the love he has for his sister is strong and he soon joins her in combing their ancestral homeland in search for a Nawal who is very different from the mother they knew. With Lebel’s help, the twins piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate as well as the courage of an exceptional woman.

Incendies was honored with eight Genie Awards (the Canadian equivalent to the American Oscars), including Best Picture, and was one of five finalists for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. If I see one film in a theatre this week, this will be the one.

The following eight films have been extended for another week:
• Bridesmaids
• The Green Lantern (2D and 3D)
• The Hangover, Part II
• Jumping the Broom
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins
• Super 8
• X-Men: First Class

These three films closed their current run yesterday:
• Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
• Madea’s Big Happy Family (quite possibly the longest-running film to date in this theatre’s short history)
• Thor

The Edge 12 has some ongoing promotions. Tuesdays are no longer just a recurring day of the week there, but have been dubbed “$5.00 Tuesdays”: most films can be seen for just a $5.00 admission ticket. And, on Fridays, The Edge 12 offers free popcorn at all shows.

The Edge 12 Theatre is located at 7001 Crestwood Boulevard. A recording detailing all movie times can be accessed by telephoning (205) 795-3500; a real live human answers the phone at (205) 795-3595. Showtimes can also be found on the MovieTickets website. The theatre has a Facebook page under the name The Edge 12 Birmingham and tweets under the handle @Edge12Bhm.

Information in the capsule summaries above might have been provided, in varying degrees, by IMDb, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes and Wikipedia.