Articles by Aaron

Here are two classic Godfather of Soul clips found on YouTube

James Brown aka “The Godfather of Soul” died early this morning in an Atlanta Hospital at the age of 73 due to complications from pneumonia. Brown an R&B legend came to fame in the 1960′s with such hits as “I Feel Good” and “Sex Machine” and continued to perform throughout the 1970s, 80s & 90s. He was a legend and he will be missed.

Here’s the story from CNN.com

Here’s another good blog on The Godfather by Marc Fisher on WashingtonPost.com

Finally here is the AllMusic.com biography & discography for James Brown

This afternoon I had a chance to see the new movie “We Are Marshall” starring Matthew McConaughey and in a word its PHENOMENAL!

The movie documents the rebirth of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team after the tragic 1970 plane crash that killed 75 players, coaches, staff and boosters returning from a football game in North Carolina. But its not just a football movie, the movie also addresses the city of Huntington’s grief over losing so many of it’s citizens.

I’ll be honest however I was a little skeptical going into the movie. I was very familiar with the whole story long before the movie came out and wasn’t so sure how the story could be told “successfully” on film. I guess I was a little afraid it would be “Disney-ized” as was the real story behind “Remember the Titans” (but a movie I loved nonetheless). But my skepticism was quickly washed away mere minute into the film. The film documents the moments leading up to the crash and quickly switches to the town and school’s reaction to the crash as well as the subsequent grief.

McConaughey’s turn as head coach Jack Lengyel was very good as was David Strathairn’s role as University President Dr. Donald Dedmon. Ian McShane does a good job at grieving father/ university booster Paul Griffen, though I think I’m so used to McShane as Al Swearangen in HBO’s Deadwood that I forget he’s such a versatile actor.

But the real stars in this film (for my money) are Matthew Fox as Red Dawson, the only surviving member of the coaching staff and Anthony Mackie as Nate Ruffin a upperclassman player who was injured and didn’t travel to the game in North Carolina and was integral as the team captain of the rebuilt 1971 team. Both actors had hard emotional roles to portray and did tremendous jobs getting that across in screen.

All in all I felt that the movie was well shot, well written, well acted and has a great soundtrack. The movie also makes use of a great deal of music and television footage from the time period as a means to bring the story even more realism. But overall it’s the emotional aspects of the movie that drive it home. You feel the pain and anguish of the city and the surviving players and you want to cheer at the moments of triumph and joy. But most of all you understand why sports is such an important part of our culture, and even more, why loyalties to our alma mater’s or hometown college teams are so visceral and emotional.

For me this movie is easily in my Top 5 “Serious Sports Movies” list and is certainly “DVD-worthy”

For those not familiar with the story I highly recommend the great website put together by the Huntington Herald-Dispatch newspaper. Also Marshall University has a great site dedicated to the tragedy.

Are you a fan of Taco Bell? Did you ever wonder where the Chili Cheese Burrito disappeared to? Well look no further than chilicheese.org a website devoted totally to the general disappearance of the Chili Cheese burrito from the Taco Bell Menu. In fact this website even goes so far as to chart which Taco Bells in the country still carry the product.

I will admit that while I’ve stopped eating fast food (and NO it has nothing to do with “Fast Food Nation“), I will still occasionally go to Taco Bell, and have sometimes wondered what happened to the Chili Cheese Burrito. As a teenager it was probably my favorite item there.

Also in the interest of full disclosure I have stopped at the Taco Bell in Fayetteville, NC when traveling in the area for the simple fact that they still serve the Chili Cheese Burrito.

As I said “This Place Has Everything”….. The internet that is.

They’ve always said everything is bigger and better in Texas and for once they’re right. The Dallas Cowboys unveiled the design of their new stadium in Irving, TX last week with great fanfare and a pretty awesome website. Designed by HSK Architects the new stadium in Arlington, Texas when completed will be the largest domed structure in the world, will hold +80,000 fans in it’s normal “football” configuration with a capacity of over +100,000 people for other events, and will also have over 200 luxury suites. The dome will also be retractable and when in the open configuration will mimic the roof opening at Texas Stadium, the current home of the Cowboys.

However the biggest “new” feature is a High Definition Video Board which will be the largest in the world. Coming in at 50 feet tall, 60 yards long (from the 20 to the 20) and weighing over 600 tons it will be the largest suspended video display system ever installed. As Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones said in Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column:

“Almost no matter where you sit in the stadium you’ll be able to see the color of the players’ eyes. Your brain won’t know what to watch — the action on the field, or the game on the scoreboard.”

I only have two questions:

1) Where can I plug in the Xbox 360? Can you imagine Madden NFL 07 (Xbox 360)‘ or “Call of Duty 3 X360” projected at that size?!?!? Imagine the sound system too!
2) When will Washington Redskins Owner Dan Snyder start getting a case of the “I wants”… as in “I want a new stadium, bigger than Jerrry’s.”

So I’ve been spending a lot of time at Mashuptown.com an excellent site dedicated to mash-ups of just about any artist you can think of. Well I came across this masterpeice video mashup of the Lawrence Welk Show and The Velvet Underground. Andy Warhol, the patron of the Velvet Underground and founder of the PopArt Movement would have loved this. The fusion of the avant garde/ acid rock of The Velvet Underground & Nico and the saccharine tones of Welk’s Champagne Orchestra. It’s a peice of PopArt in and of itself! Then again Lawrence Welk is probably reeling in his grave…….

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Is it just me or are Mike Tirico and Bryant Gumbel living case studies for what makes a good play-by-play commentator and a horrible play-by-play commentator? In my opinion Tirico is the best pro-football announcer on TV at the moment. He calls a good fluid game, doesn’t bog you down with stats or crap no one cares about (that’s what Joe Theismann is for!). He was an excellent play-by-play guy for college football but actually calls a better game with the NFL. He also has a great voice for football.

And then there’s Bryant Gumbel… I’m still wondering why the NFL Network chose someone with little to no play-by-play calling experience to head their both. To say that Gumbel and calling a football game go together about as well as oil & water might be an understatement, but the plain simple fact is he’s just lost there in the booth. Thank god he has Chris Collinsworth (one of the best analysts out there) in the booth with him, I could only imagine the train wreck that would occur if someone like Bill Maas (FOX) or John Madden (yes I know, I’m waiting for the lighting bolts) were calling a game with him. But even more than that I think the thing that bugs me the most about Gumbel in the booth is his voice, it’s just not a good voice for calling sports, then again it wasn’t very good in doing the faux news on the Today Show with Jane Pauley back in the day. I’d rather listen to Fran Drescher call a game and she might just have the most annoying whiny, high-pitched voice on the planet…..

But I think the thing that drove it home for me in respects to Gumbel was his performance last Thursday night during the Seahawks-49ers game. I counted at least 4 times where he referred to RB Frank Gore as “Al”. And that was only in the 2nd quarter! Yes I know announcers make mistakes all the time, but still c’mon at least friggin try to get it right! If it were up to me I’d sack Gumbel and let Collinsworth call the games Vin Scully style (solo)….. He could do it.

If asked I will pretty much contend that there hasn’t been a decent new Christmas / Holiday song written in the last 20 years. (Though Sufjan Steven’s latest Christmas themed opus “Songs For Christmas” is making me reconsider this position.) Sure there have been great covers of the “standards” but lets be honest here, the heyday of original Pop Xmas songs coincides with the birth of rock & roll in the late 1950′s. That being said here are the 5 greatest “orginial” (as far as I know) Christmas Songs of the 1950′s/1960′s

5. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms

I always thought this song was done by Bill Haley and the Comets since it sounded so much like “Rock Around the Clock”. In fact it even uses the line “Rock around the clock” in the song. Anyhow to me this is just a classic early Rock Holiday song, with the little lead guitar fills and a great “update” of a holiday classic.

4. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee Jingle Bell Rock

Another one of those iconic holiday songs from the era. It’s got all the classic elements, the electric guitar fills with the treble way up, the gospel-ish backing singers (ala Elvis), and the killer sax solo towards the middle. (What is it with sax solos in late 1950′s rock n roll songs by the way?).

3. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector

Only five words are needed to describe why this song is great…. “Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound”.

2. “Little Saint Nick” – The Beach Boys Christmas With the Beach Boys

I’m sure this selection will spark various reactions depending on where you fall on the Beach Boys debate (classic american band or annoying as hell). I myself tend to view them as a great American Rock band w/ flashes of annoyance. But you can’t discredit the brilliance of Brian Wilson and his ability to arrange a song. While “Little Saint Nick” is a classic Beach Boys song in that it’s pretty much about a souped up car err… sled, and it’s got that classic Southern California “sound” it’s got great harmonies and a catchy beat. The only internal arguement I can come up with against the song is that it’s been used in those Coke commericals with polar bears and penguins.

1. “Blue Christmas ” – Elvis Presley Elvis Christmas

My favorite holiday song of all time. It’s classic Elvis, with his distinct phrasing, the gospel-ish backing singers and the great little guitar riff used through out. Besides it’s not a song about happiness, peace and love. It’s about a guy who’s blue cuz’ he’s alone on Christmas. It’s almost like an e-mail or voice-mail someone might send to an ex to make them feel miserable just for spite. It’s the ultimate Christmas “spite” song….. Genius.