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I have been writing since I was 10 years old. I have written 3 articles for my high school newspaper, and numerous articles that I have published on my website. Hopefully someday my articles will make me some money. Here is a portion of some of my articles. I had some others posted here, but this is just my best ones in case "the right person" is reading.
ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS MOVIE REVIEW TRAN-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA PLAY IN LITTLE ROCK ON DECEMBER 29, 2007 "LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN" CD REVIEW THE RISE AND FALL OF A GREAT RECORD LABEL CELEBRATIONS OF THE NEW MILLENIUM
"ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS" MOVIE REVIEW My wife and I just saw the Alvin & the Chipmunks movie last month, and I felt it was very interesting, intriguing, and on top of that – extremely entertaining. I used to watch the 1980s cartoon when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much from the cartoon accept that David Seville was like a father figure to the three chipmunks and he was also their manager. The movie opens with the chipmunks in a tree in the woods singing while gathering nuts. They haven’t even met David yet. David on the other hand is a struggling songwriter, trying to make it big. He shows his friend who is an executive at a major record label, but he doesn’t make it and is always shown the door until he meets these 3 chipmunks. At first he doesn’t like these chipmunks because they make a mess out of his house, but than he finds out they can sing so he starts to like them, and writes a song for them “Christmas Don’t Be Late” (all you Chipmunk fans know this song I’m sure!) and the song is done exactly like the original (David’s spoken words included) – only difference is the fact that they have modernized it for the movie. When he takes the song and his new-found animal friends to his executive friend, the executive doesn’t buy it until midway through the film when the chipmunks realize they truly messed up and need to fix David’s career. When they do, they become rich and famous and end up paying the price for fame and lose Dave becoming the record executives slaves until Dave wins them back at the end. I enjoyed it and I recommend it. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5 – the guy who played David Seville did alright, but I think I could see someone else better in that part.
TRAN-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA PLAY IN LITTLE ROCK ON DECEMBER 29, 2007 My mom and I went to see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra in Little Rock, Arkansas. I never even heard of them until she told me about them last year, but they apparently have been around since 1996. I really enjoyed the show and I definitely love what they are doing with music. What they are is this huge group (I believe of about 10 musicians), and some of them are classically trained and some were rock musicians. What they are doing is bringing classical music to the rock fans. They are definitely a group I feel will be around for a long time and if they ever come to your town their show is definitely worth going to! Laser lights and everything! I give them 5 stars out of 5 stars.
"LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN" CD REVIEW
It took them 20 some odd years and a few live gigs since they got back
together in 1994, but The Eagles have officially came back on October 30,
2007. That date marks a date in Eagles history because even though they
have been back together since the Hell Freezes Over tour in 1994, they
haven’t really put out many new studio tracks – just a few here and there.
“Hell Freezes Over” had 4 new tracks and the rest were live tracks of
their best songs. There double CD they put out back in 2002 titled “The
Very Best of The Eagles” had “Hole In The World.” We were beginning to
wonder if they were going to put out a new studio disc. After waiting for
13 years (how long they been back together) they finally recorded a new
studio disc. 2 discs – 11 on disc 1, 9 on disc 2. This time however, the
album is exclusively sold at wal-mart or on their website.
THE RISE AND FALL OF A GREAT RECORD LABEL I just finished reading a great book titled Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records by Rob Bowman. For those of you who don’t know, Stax Records happens to be one of the greatest independent record labels that ever existed, and is one of the most important ones in music history. There were 3 great soul and R&B labels in the 1960s: Motown (in Detroit, Michigan); Atlantic (in New York City); and Stax in Memphis, Tennessee. If you listen to a lot of music, and actually study the sound of it, you can definitely tell if it was Motown, Stax, or Atlantic. Most Atlantic records had the Doo-Wop sound (stuff like the Coasters and the Drifters); Motown had a really great R&B feel; Stax had a bluesy feel, mixed with a little bit of jazz fusion. All 3 labels had these same fundamentals, but each label recorded in different styles and sounds so not to sound like somebody else. Stax was founded by brother and sister team Jim STewart and Estelle AXton in 1957. They originally called it Satellite Records, but because of a small label in California having the same name, they changed the name to STAX. They opened it up in an old movie theater in a neighborhood that some really great musicians (whom all eventually became famous) lived in. Memphis Slim, Booker T. & The MGs, and Aretha Franklin have all lived in this neighborhood. Al Bell, who would later become president of Stax Records in the late 1960s and go on to produce some of the greatest songs Stax had put out in the 1970s, did not come to Stax until 1965. Some of Stax’s important musical lineup include: Sam & Dave (“I’m A Soul Man”); Isaac Hayes (Who with David Porter wrote a lot of the great songs that were released on Stax and also put out the popular 1970s funky track “Theme from Shaft”); Albert King (“Born Under a Bad Sign”); Booker T. & The MGs (“Green Onions”); and the Staple Singers (“Respect Yourself”); Otis Redding (“Sitting On The Dock of The Bay”); among tons of others. At a point in time when most businesses were segregated, especially in the south, Stax Records was one of the few businesses that was integrated proving that music really knows no colors. Stax’s greatest years were between 1957 and 1968. This was when Booker T. & The MGs, Albert King, Sam & Dave and Otis Redding were all big hits. Isaac Hayes did not start his recording career until 1969. During the 1960s he and songwriting partner David Porter wrote songs for some of Stax’s greatest acts. The biggest hit they wrote together was “I’m A Soul Man” which was famously recorded by Sam & Dave. Unfortunately, nobody’s perfect in this world and bad business moves can cause for a company’s downfall. In December 1967, Otis Redding was killed in a tragic plane crash at the age of 26. When he was killed, Stax lost their most important recording artist. Also, in April of 1968, Martin Luther King was gunned down by James Earl Ray outside of his motel room at the Lorraine Motel, also in Memphis (on an interesting note, during Stax’s hey-day in the 1960s, the Stax artists would hang out at the Lorraine Motel and work on songs – writing or rehearsing – when not recording in the studio). When Martin Luther King was assassinated, the black Stax artists were furious, upset, and mad. They didn’t want to work with their white counterparts anymore. Also, Steve Cropper left a year later because he was getting sick of being treated like he was an “Employee” – working like it was shift work. Booker T. would also leave, and in 1969 Isaac Hayes would begin his recording career which eventually ended his relationship with David Porter. Apparently, since Isaac started a recording career he didn’t want to write or produce songs for other people anymore. Estelle Axton also left the company, and around the same time Jim Stewart thought it would be a good idea to sell the company, so he sold it to Gulf & Western, the owners of Paramount Pictures. Later, he realized it was a bad idea and so he tried to buy it back without much success, he and Al Bell tried to sell it again to regain some finances, and this time to probably the biggest corporate label: CBS records. CBS at the time mainly had a line-up of rock artists and country artists and was looking to purchase a label so they could have a soul roster. Little did Jim or Al realize was that CBS mainly wanted to buy the company so they could put Stax out of business. When CBS tried to purchase Stax, they had a distribution deal with Stax, yet when Stax would send CBS records to distribute, those albums and 45s didn’t get properly distributed. Stax decided to cut off the deal with CBS, which was in breach of contract meaning Stax would owe CBS money. Because of Stax owing CBS money, and never having finances gained back to them because of the business deal with Gulf & Western they worked with Union Planters bank in Memphis on there finances, which also was a bad business deal. In 1976 Stax ended up owing so much money, that the famous recording studio ended up getting locked down by security guards who kicked everybody out, only giving them 15 minutes to get there personal affects and had to leave, never to come back. Such bad deals ended up forcing Isaac Hayes into bankruptcy some years later, and Jim Stewart never recovered either. Sadly, the building remained empty for over 11 years and even though it should’ve been saved and put on the national historic landmark registry, it was demolished in 1988, leaving an empty lot until 1999, when the city of Memphis realized the historic aspect of it, and rebuilt it to look just like the original building and now housing a Stax museum there with historical Stax artifacts. I’m happy to inform you that this year marks Stax’s 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, Stax is making a comeback. Isaac Hayes’ next album will be released on Stax Records (which is now owned by Fantasy Records). There will also be a couple of other modern soul artists who will have albums released this year on Stax. Also released this Year is “Stax: 50th Annversary” 2-disc set of all the greatest songs released on Stax including Booker T. & The MGs – Green Onions; Otis Redding – “Respect”, “Sittin On The Dock of The Bay”; Sam & Dave – Soul Man; The Staple Singers – Respect Yourself; among other great songs. There is also going to be a Stax Documentary on PBS in August. Be on the lookout for these great Stax releases from “the little label that could.”
"RAY" MOVIE REVIEW I finally was able to see the biopic “RAY” with Jamie Foxx in the lead role as the late-great Ray Charles, and let me tell you: it is most definitely a must see for every music fan and musicologist! Jamie Foxx fit the part perfectly, and this I found very astounding. I find it really amazing how you can’t picture certain actors in certain rolls and they do the job perfectly! They’d do such a good job they deserve Oscar nominations for them. A real good example is Will Smith portraying the great Mahammad Ali in “ALI”. No one, knowing the norm of his usual rolls, would ever picture him playing such a serious character as Ali. Will, I never pictured Jamie Foxx portraying the great Ray Charles either. Not with what he usually does, but he did so will at it that you’d think it was really Ray! The movie starts off when he was in his late teens in the 1940s when he goes from his hometown in Georgia all the way to Seattle, Washington where he got his break. A 5 day road trip, and there he mysteriously runs into Quincy Jones, who was just a teenager at the time – I’m sure his name does ring a bell. One thing I didn’t know about Ray until I saw this film was that he was an adulterer and a drug addict. He was a heroin addict for quite some time until he finally kicked it in 1966. According to some online information about him, he started using dope when he was 16. He also experimented with Marijuana. I was really surprised and it just goes to show how naďve I really am about all the great musicians. A lot of them I wouldn’t think would ever have done such a thing like committing adultery or use dope, but it just goes to show how much you can underestimate their persona because of their music. All the great music legends may be music legends and icons but they all have deep dark domestic secrets. Whether it be drug abuse or adultery! Paul McCartney still smokes Marijuana to help influence his music. The movie pretty much ends in 1966 when he kicked his drug habit, but it’s a definite must see. It talks about his upbringing from poverty, to his struggling as a musician in seattle trying to score a record deal, he tries to find love, and even though he has found it he’d prefer being with a groupie girl more and using his dope more than being with his wife and 2 kids, and than he realizes that his kids wasn’t worth it so he goes and gets clean and breaks the heroin addiction for good, but most of all it’s about his great music! We will all miss Ray Charles and I’m sure this movie is great for memory’s sake! I give it an A+++ 1930 - 2004
"SCREAM 3" MOVIE REVIEW In case you haven't known, the "Scream" trilogy was always meant to be a trilogy. When Kevin Williamson turned in his spec script entitled "Scream" he also turned in a 5 page outline for the other two films saying that he meant for it to always be a trilogy, like George Lucas with "Star Wars" but with a killer. If you don't know what a spec script is, it's a script you write without having someone telling you to write it or writing on contract. Sort of like when you bored, you'd feel like writing something (if that makes it any clearer.) Rumor has it that according to Kevin Williamson's outline for "Scream 3" it was supposed to go back to Woodsboro, but the majority of people wanted it in Hollywood so it takes place there. It's a better place anyway because if you saw "Scream 2" Sydney tries out acting. But lets clear up something, Sydney doesn't try out for any films in "Scream 3" but she does go to Hollywood. None of the cast members for "Stab" return for "Stab 3," and Cotton Weary appears again, and so does Jamie Kennedy (the ever so famous Randy Meeks). I know what you're thinking-he's dead. Will it was an idea Wes Craven and Jamie Kennedy had to put him in the film. In the film they show Randy Meeks on a video casette telling the rules of a trilogy in case he didn't survive in the sequel because he lost his virginity, and he mentions to who in the "final act." If you do pay close attention to the "Scream" movies you will notice that Randy gave out rules to abide by for a sucessful horror movie, it's sequel, and the final film. If you haven't seen this film yet I won't give out any information as to who dies in the first scene and also who gets killed or who is the killer. But this tops the other Screams big time. Since this is the last "Scream" movie, it's the best one. If you're a big "Scream" fanatic, go see it. It's definitely worth the seven dollars.
CELEBRATIONS OF THE NEW MILLENIUM At about 6:00 A.M EST, Peter Jennings, along with all of the other ABC NEWS correspondents, started a day long Third Millenium celebration that was broadcast on ABC all day long on December 31, 1999 all around the world. It was a spectacular day all over the world, and here at home. I was watching most of the broadcast, and I just fell in love with the way technology is compared to 100 years ago. 100 years ago, ABC couldn't have done what they have done on December 31. They planted ABC correspondents all over the world with ABC cameras. They had Barbara Walters in France, and even Charles Gibson in England. They also had correspondents in Aukland, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; Japan, China, Greece, Italy, South America, Canada, and other places all over the world. The first place to celebrate the coming of the new millenium was the eastern most island in the world and is an hour away from Aukland, New Zealand. This little island is Kiribas, or Kiribati. They renamed it as the Millenium island because it was the first place to go into the new year. They had no worries of the Y2K bug because they had no computers. The only people that were inhabiting this island was just a little tribe. The way they celebrated was the best way a tribe can celebrate, and that was to celebrate a little 12 year old boy becoming a man. His father lit this torch and they got into a boat to see what the future has set for him. The next place to hit the new millenium, was the first industrial city to switch over to the new millenium, and that was Aukland, New Zealand. ABC news had a Y2K tech correspondent there for this reason. When 12:00 AM on January 1, 2000 hit there (it was 7:00 AM on December 31, 1999 here) they had a wonderful celebration. About 3 minutes later, he went to draw out some money from the ATM machine with no problems at all. The receipt showed "12:03 AM January 1, 2000" on it. The first baby to be born in the new millenium, was also born in New Zealand. Two hours after that, Australia started the switchover. No Y2K bug problems here. In Sydney, they celebrated by a show of acrobats climbing up the world famous Sydney Opera House. Tokyo hit two hours later, and they had no problems with Y2K. They had a wonderful celebration. Now, I am not going to go through all the countries with you, but lets pick up about 9 hours later when the new millenium came to France. No Y2K problems here. The french people dressed up the Eiffel Tower with neat looking glitter light for an awesome show, in which it was. for the last 1000 days, they had a clock on the tower to count down to the new millenium, it stopped working at about 7:00 in Paris, but the show still went on. They found out later that it wasn't a Y2K glitch, but from water that got into it from a rain storm a few days ago. They had Ferris Wheels down a street in Paris that had different themes. One had acrobats on it, one you could ride, one was a constellation, and another was one you can leave messages on for the internet. An hour later the new millenium hit England. They celebrated with a spectacular fireworks show that lasted probably for 30 minutes in London. They had built a wonderful dome titled the "Millenium Dome" for this wonderful occasion, where an english singer sang "God Save The Queen" for the queen there, don't think the queen liked the modern version of it though. The first place to hit the millenium in North America was also the only place in the world with only a half timezone, and that was up in Newfoundland, Canada. They celebrated by counting down with dancers on stage. And then it started going downhill from there because it hit New York City an hour later and they did the traditional Dick Clark Times Square ball drop. And after that it just started sweeping through the US like a wind storm. The celebrations just kept happening all over the world as the new millenium started to pass through from country to country, and you were able to see it all happen live on ABC. When I was watching it, it looked to me that each country was competing against each other for best new year's celebration, in which Aukland started. Talk about a global community. |