Without a soundtrack, human interaction is meaningless. I once spent an evening chatting about the complexity of modern relationships with a male acquaintance, his ex-girlfriend, and her roommate. When I went to bed that night, I thought our conversation had been wonderful. Twelve hours later, I was informed that the ex-girlfriend spent the entire evening "in a rage," apparantly because the other male in our foursome had been "brooding and surly," creating a tension that subsequently made the ex-girlfriend's roommate "completely uncomfortable" with the nature of our dialogue. I never noticed any of this. I never have any idea how other people feel; they always appear fine to me. But if somebody had pointedly played Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" that night, I'm sure I could have constructed some empathy.
- Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
I saw Gwyneth Paltrow on Oprah -- this is what living with my Grandmother is doing to me -- and I was thinking it'd be great to write an episode of "Tobey & Clark" which explains how our eponymous dynamic duo became friends while Tobey was babysitting Apple Marten and Clark was autograph hunting in Hollywood (and yes, it is odd to talk about myself as though I were a fictional character, but not as odd as you'd think).
That's what I want to talk about today. An entire season's worth of "Tobey & Clark" episode ideas, including the aforementioned "Apples and Origins," because I'm finally coming out of my recent crippling self-esteem issues and feeling creative (though not necessarily profitably so) again. I'd also love to regale you with this true life story of how Granny -- who agressively sells Mary Kay products in her retirement -- told me that her Mary Kay unit's mantra is "I love my life. I am a powerful woman," which is funny to me because over the last five years, my personal mantra -- which I utter to myself whenever the going gets tough -- has become "I hate my life/self... life/self..."
I want to talk about these things, but I can't -- or at least I can't without cleverly working it in with a rhetorical device, nudge nudge wink wink.
This is what I hate about my little "NEXT:" endings... There are times when I simply don't feel like actually writing the post I planned on writing, but I feel obligated to try and follow through, because I made some awkward promise with whatever wingnuts actually read this dribble.
So. Anyway...
I've said that my personal version of Garden State wouldn't measure up to the original. But I know you must be wondering if the same is true of the soundtrack. Well, judge for yourself:
The actual Garden State soundtrack:
"Don't Panic" - Coldplay
"Caring is Creepy" - The Shins
"In the Waiting Line" - Zero 7
"New Slang" - The Shins
"I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" - Colin Hay
"Blue Eyes" - Cary Brothers
"Fair" - Remy Zero
"One of These Things First" - Nick Drake
"Lebanese Blonde" - Thievery Corporation
"The Only Living Boy in New York" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Such Great Heights" - Iron and Wine
"Let Go" - Frou Frou
"Winding Road" - Bonnie Somerville
My "Garden State" soundtrack:
"Wicked Little Town (Tommy Gnosis Version)" - The Bens
"I'll Take New York" - Tom Waits
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" - Blind Willie Johnson
"Homesick" - The Vines
"It Hasn't Happened Yet" - William Shatner
"Snowball in Hell" - They Might Be Giants
"Hummingbird" - Wilco
"The Vampires of New York" - Marcy Playground
"Black" - Pete Yorn
"Biggest Lie" - Elliott Smith
"Day Job" - The Gin Blossoms
"Minimum Wage" - They Might Be Giants
"New York State of Mind" - Billy Joel
"Space Oddity" - David Bowie
So yeah, I suck it up there, too. Seriously, any soundtrack that includes William Shatner ain't gonna be beloved by anybody but me. And some of these songs are thrown into the mix "just 'cause". What can I say? Life is full of disappointments... like the way this entry ended up turning out. Of course, that's why "Snowball in Hell," which has this great line If it wasn't for disappointments I wouldn't have any appointments fits in so well.
To tell you the truth, I'd really like to get away from all these "this is what my day was like" stories and get to a point where I'm writing broader essays that you'd almost swear were publishable.
Par example...
NEXT:
"The Life Aquatic with Thaddeus Venture"
- Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
I saw Gwyneth Paltrow on Oprah -- this is what living with my Grandmother is doing to me -- and I was thinking it'd be great to write an episode of "Tobey & Clark" which explains how our eponymous dynamic duo became friends while Tobey was babysitting Apple Marten and Clark was autograph hunting in Hollywood (and yes, it is odd to talk about myself as though I were a fictional character, but not as odd as you'd think).
That's what I want to talk about today. An entire season's worth of "Tobey & Clark" episode ideas, including the aforementioned "Apples and Origins," because I'm finally coming out of my recent crippling self-esteem issues and feeling creative (though not necessarily profitably so) again. I'd also love to regale you with this true life story of how Granny -- who agressively sells Mary Kay products in her retirement -- told me that her Mary Kay unit's mantra is "I love my life. I am a powerful woman," which is funny to me because over the last five years, my personal mantra -- which I utter to myself whenever the going gets tough -- has become "I hate my life/self... life/self..."
I want to talk about these things, but I can't -- or at least I can't without cleverly working it in with a rhetorical device, nudge nudge wink wink.
This is what I hate about my little "NEXT:" endings... There are times when I simply don't feel like actually writing the post I planned on writing, but I feel obligated to try and follow through, because I made some awkward promise with whatever wingnuts actually read this dribble.
So. Anyway...
I've said that my personal version of Garden State wouldn't measure up to the original. But I know you must be wondering if the same is true of the soundtrack. Well, judge for yourself:
The actual Garden State soundtrack:
"Don't Panic" - Coldplay
"Caring is Creepy" - The Shins
"In the Waiting Line" - Zero 7
"New Slang" - The Shins
"I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" - Colin Hay
"Blue Eyes" - Cary Brothers
"Fair" - Remy Zero
"One of These Things First" - Nick Drake
"Lebanese Blonde" - Thievery Corporation
"The Only Living Boy in New York" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Such Great Heights" - Iron and Wine
"Let Go" - Frou Frou
"Winding Road" - Bonnie Somerville
My "Garden State" soundtrack:
"Wicked Little Town (Tommy Gnosis Version)" - The Bens
"I'll Take New York" - Tom Waits
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" - Blind Willie Johnson
"Homesick" - The Vines
"It Hasn't Happened Yet" - William Shatner
"Snowball in Hell" - They Might Be Giants
"Hummingbird" - Wilco
"The Vampires of New York" - Marcy Playground
"Black" - Pete Yorn
"Biggest Lie" - Elliott Smith
"Day Job" - The Gin Blossoms
"Minimum Wage" - They Might Be Giants
"New York State of Mind" - Billy Joel
"Space Oddity" - David Bowie
So yeah, I suck it up there, too. Seriously, any soundtrack that includes William Shatner ain't gonna be beloved by anybody but me. And some of these songs are thrown into the mix "just 'cause". What can I say? Life is full of disappointments... like the way this entry ended up turning out. Of course, that's why "Snowball in Hell," which has this great line If it wasn't for disappointments I wouldn't have any appointments fits in so well.
To tell you the truth, I'd really like to get away from all these "this is what my day was like" stories and get to a point where I'm writing broader essays that you'd almost swear were publishable.
Par example...
NEXT:
"The Life Aquatic with Thaddeus Venture"
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