Rob's House

The Dreams of Jeffrey Bützer: Part 1

I began cataloging my dreams in 2003. In order to maintain the absurdity of early morning writing, I try not to edit much from the way they read in my notes when I first wake up. Here are a few selections from my journal  More


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A Brief History of Rock Music in American Cinema (Part 1)

Long before rock music had such an impact on film, Hitchcock argued in favor of what he called “pure cinema.” In this method of filmmaking, the visual or the mise en scene of a shot or sequence is the most important part of the film. To Hitchcock, dialogue was unnecessary for a filmmaker who could master the art of telling a story through images alone.  More


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This week: Candy Bars and Snacks

I went to buy a candy bar Friday night, but I had no idea there what to buy –there were so many to choose from. I thought to myself “better do some research, Randall.” I mean, I don’t want to blow 89 cents without knowing what I have in store for the evening. Luckily, there are some folks kind enough to review candy bars on Amazon. Special thanks to “Spooky Chick” for her endless insights. She really has a stranglehold on candy reviews.  More


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The Grass Being Greener Loves Harvest of Hope

After a six-hour drive to Jacksonville (in the middle of the night), the creation of BIRD MURDER (the best made-up band name ever), a few hours of sleep in the city’s oldest inhabited house, a deliciously hand-crafted breakfast, a second helping of way too much food at lunch (served by an authentic Italian Nonna), and a final hour’s drive, the four of us landed on the St. John’s County Fairgrounds in St. Augustine, Florida.  Our reason for going such lengths?  The Harvest of Hope Festival, duh.  More


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Amelie vs. Ice Cube?! Really? When did that happen?

In order to better inform myself on what to buy, I regularly check reviews of products online. To me, Amazon seems the most helpful in my decision making process, so it is this site that I will most often refer to for my new column here in Dry Ink.

Suffice to say, there are a lot of movies and cds out there and with so many choices, making the right one can be hard. This week I wanted to watch a newer French movie. According to people’s “likes” on Facebook, Amelie is a good one to try. However, I quickly learned that the film is anti-catholic, Romanticist, features a psychotic main character, and is not as good as Sir Ice Cube’s Are We There Yet? not to mention the high level of taint!  More


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Collected works from 2005-2009. I hope they entertain you.

1. A New One

I cried myself to sleep
and wept for too long
I spent a night with her
It was biblical in its intensity
We took a nap and woke up
in a bread and milk community
People stared and wished upon my death
I talked with a rent boy
about his debts
The rain washed my troubles away
I took another nap
and dreamed about my final breath  More


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Words Through The Years

This is my first book of poetry. 40 poems. It is a collection of writings from 1995-2005 and I put it out in 2006 I think. I hand made about 100 of them. I sold 25 or 30 copies for 5 dollars each and handed out the rest as gifts around the holidays. They were scribbled on napkins and written on pieces of cardboard then shoved down my pants on many rough nights over the years. I hope you enjoy.

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And How Atlanta Will Never Hear Anything Weirder Or More Daring On Commercial Radio Ever Again

When I was working nights at 99X, I used to make fun of Steve Craig quite often. He was an easy target, with excessive banter about the Tiki bar in his backyard, his plane and his battle with gout. Okay, so maybe he didn’t have the gout, but that false story only followed suit. I used to make up fables about Steve fighting forest fires with his plane, saving countless Whitetail deer and wild rabbits with his efforts, and then retreating home to have a nice tropical drink out of a coconut shell.  More


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On Bill Daniel’s Ground Score

When Roger Miller sings of smoking found stogies in the 1965 wayfarer ballad, “King of the Road,” his baritone swagger unapologetically weds the romantic liberties of Jeffersonian democracy with the providential urban blessings that would soon come to be known as ground score.

Coined by Deadheads who combed through trampled fields and parking lots after Grateful Dead concerts in search of left-behind drugs, food, money, and other treasures, the term “ground score” now refers to any trinket or token of value that one stumbles upon. For drifters in particular, such as the troubadour of King of the Road, ground scores comprise an object-based underground currency, replacing the spirit of Keynesian economics with the ragtag wonders of a Kurt Schwitters assemblage.  More


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Notes on an American Bad Ass

Napolean Hill was a bad ass, plain and simple. An American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal success literature, that’s right, self-help books.  More