David Foster and I caught up for a few drinks to swap stories about our missions and gossip about our fellow operatives (Mister 8 – did you feel your ears burn??). Our little spy cabal/quorum gazed across the water and sank a few beers, unlike some prissy drinks that are shaken and….. *groan*, as we sought respite from the blazing Australian sun, I wondered briefly about Rob and thought whether he was mad living in London where it’s dark all day long and cold?

David tried to convert me to saint-hood, but I resisted and we also quickly discussed The Watchmen soundtrack. I was poked and scratched in the eye the other week by a fir tree, meaning I could only see out of one eye for awhile, so I have been listening to soundtracks instead of reading books. The injury made me wear an eye-patch for a short-time and as I was then a spy pirate, the site nearly became TheSt-arghhhh-si.com.
The Watchmen, who A.S, the man behind Mister 8 is a big fan, as he is a comic book nut, was a pretty bad film, however Armstrong, I do agree with your comment about the opening credits but question your sense of taste loving something that is poor compared to Jeremiah, which was later turned into an awful TV series. There are times when I want to nuke America or at least execute people who turn great European or British books, films and TV series into Americanised versions for audiences with their lack of irony and cultural sophistication. America does do some fantastic stuff of their own, but when it’s the conversion stuff from the “Old World”, it’s 99% deplorable, but heck what do I know as I’m a snob.

Jeremiah follows the set against the backdrop of America, which was fighting a racist civil-war between white (WASP) and black (Black-Power), till someone presses the nuclear button and re-sets America. In this post-apocalyptic world Jeremiah has his adventures. I wont go into too much detail apart to say it’s a cruel world where there is a lot of sex, violence and cruelty and not one ounce of pity throughout the stories. The Watchmen has at the core of it heroic characters and they are trying to do good deeds, where in Jeremiah you kill or you sexually abuse then kill to survive. Not sure if there are English translations, but Armstrong get the books and a French dictionary and enjoy.
To get an idea of the drawings here are some examples:

So with the really bad movie in mind I had no great hopes when played the soundtrack, but it’s a good-ish soundtrack.

1. Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance This is just bad noise and I couldn’t wait for this track to finish.

2. Unforgettable -Nat King Cole. Great song, makes me just instantly chill-out . When I listen to this, I can see myself in a tuxedo with the bow tie rakishly loose and I’m sipping a whisky watching life slowly beautifully slip by.

3. The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Bob Dylan Never been a Dylan fan, never understood the hype, but it’s a great song.

4. The Sound Of Silence – Simon And Garfunkel. Yet again, I was never a fan of S & G till recently, one of my sisters loves them. This is a great song and I’ve always agreed with Eric Cartman who think hippies are a menace to society and a waste of space. Have a wash and go do something meaningful with your life instead “all they do is smoke pot and play frisbee”. It’s immature but Cartman will make me laugh till I die.

5. Me And Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin. Looking on wikipedia, she is a famous signer who died early, but I have to admit that I have never really heard of her and couldn’t name any of her songs. Song is ok, and when I saw the title I imagined a different version of the song. Or maybe I’m confusing this with Mack the Knife..

6. I’m Your Boogie Man – KC & The Sunshine Band. Psych the TV show makes me laugh and I loved the episode (Disco Didn’t Die, It Was Murdered!) where they go back to the 1970s and I want to live a 1970s day, but the whole world has to join in so that I’m not a freak in a badly fitting afro, wearing those cheap looking multi-coloured glasses like John Lennon, (Does anybody else think The Beatles were crap or is it just me) with jeans that don’t allow me sit down as I browse the supermarket. The image I want to portray is that I’m a cooler and much saner version of John Travolta. This is a good song.

7. You’re My Thrill – Billie Holiday I have a music loving crush on Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, even though their styles are different. Great song.

8. Pruit Igoe & Prophecies – Philip Glass Ensemble I’m always a huge fan of classical, especially classical style music in movies. I’m not sure if this an original song, but was bits of this in The Matrix? I always like good Catholic chanting with hints of Latin or Russian Orthodox sounds, and I also like Graham Greene novels and this is leading me to start thinking that I might be a Catholic who likes your old fashioned vengeful god rather than the happy clappy stuff or those con men TV Evangelists. If those con men were Muslim they would be denounced as terrorists, racist and called Mad Mullahs, but because they are supposedly Christian, we overlook that they line their own pockets from donations and are not promoting Christianity, but rather a cult in their own image along the line of the North Korean leaders. TV Evangelists represent one of the core stereotypes that the rest of the world uses to laugh at Americans, even though the Catholic Church has a Pope with eyes that scare me.

9. Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen It’s now a fact of life that in every TV series or film which needs music to set the background to a death that they pick Hallelujah. It is a great song, great lyrics and this is a very good version, but let’s see some imagination in the film scoring world.

10. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix. Don’t like the song, don’t like Hendrix – Rather listen to The Doors

11. Ride Of The Valkyries – Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Let’s be honest it’s a great piece of music, but he was antisemitic and had his music adopted by Hitler and this will always overshadow his legacy. This blog allows me to make opinions, some I will later regret and see as childish, but why is it if you criticise something that is Jewish, you are labeled as antisemitic. The whole world rejoiced recently to celebrate 20 years of the Berlin Wall coming down, but at the same time closes their eyes to the wall between Israel and Palestine and that is wrong. Am I antisemitic or naive that I think the wall in Israel is appalling?

12. Pirate Jenny [Live] – Nina Simone Has a great voice, but it’s not one of her best. At least they didn’t choose one of her more common tracks. Not prepared to criticise Nina in public.

Why this album doesn’t have First We Take Manhattan by Leoned Coen, which was the greatest song in the movie is beyond me.

I’m re-reading this entry and I see that I’ve insulted:
David Foster – for laughing at his enjoyment of The Saint, even though Roger Moore has the acting skills of a wooden puppet.
Roger Moore now added
Mister 8 and America for having no taste and no sense of irony whilst they give money to those Christian saviours on TV. And learn how to make and then spell whisky – no ‘E‘.
Rob at Deighton for frankly being English and living in London, when he could get on plane and live somewhere where it’s nice and warm or just nice. Australia needs teachers Rob and the Ashes will be back in Australia very soon anyway, plus it was started just outside Melbourne.
England now added
The Pope, for having evil looking eyes
Israel for questioning their national defense policy.
The Political Correct lobby for questioning what is defined as antisemitism.
My Chemical Romance, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix for being crap
The music industry supporting the movie industry for their lack of imagination when it comes to choosing songs.
You, dear reader for trying a very lame pirate joke and for the randomness of this post.

Apologies to all.

Hippies – you don’t deserve an apology!

Overall, the soundtrack is ok-ish