Jon Favreau interviews Harrison Ford

I was on one of my favorite websites today, slashfilm.com. It’s a great website that covers the latest movie news. Today they posted a great series of short videos of Cowboys & Aliens director Jon Favreau interviewing screen legend and star of Cowboys & Aliens Harrison Ford.

If you are a fan of the film making process, you owe it to yourself to check out the series of interviews. One of the subjects Favreau and Ford discuss is the over use of 3D and CGI in today’s movies.

I for one could not agree more with this belief, and I wish that the rest of Hollywood would listen to their short discussion. CGI is not the be all and end all of movie making. (Is that Michael Bay crying in the background?) The most important aspect of filmmaking has always been and always will be the creation of a good story.

Even the best CGI will eventually become dated, and look out of place. But a good story will always remain timeless. The video is below:

Not shooting 3D

Review of Field Songs. The new William Elliott Whitmore LP

*Disclaimer*
Before I begin this blog post on the new William Elliott Whitmore album “Field Songs”, I feel that I need to put forth a disclaimer. I am a huge William Elliott Whitmore fan, and have been for the past five years. I may have a slightly bias opinion towards him, but you need to trust me on this, the new album is outstanding. You owe it to yourself to listen to it. And now onto our featured blog.

On July 12th, Anti-Records artist and folk rock hero William Elliott Whitmore will release his fifth studio album “Field Songs”. One of the great perks working at a radio station is that I got to hear the album early. This album is a return to his earlier musical styles of bear bones; rough recordings that were featured on his three Southern Records albums, and less like his 2008 debut album with Anti-Records “Animals in the Dark”.

Though the album is relatively short in length, only eight tracks, it is rich in themes and imaging. The album discusses the joys of simple living, country life, tough economic times, and finally taking the world and adversity head on.

The imaging of this album is best exemplified by its opening track “Bury your Burden in the Ground”. This song is a true masterpiece and should be featured heavily at Whitmore concerts from now on. With lyrics of: “Bury your burdens, don’t carry them, just bury them in the ground. If your hurting, don’t worry I’ll try to be around”, Whitmore is encouraging his listener not to run away from their problems, but face them head on. No matter how difficult it may be, because only by confronting them can you find inner peace.

Whitmore continues this introspective theme with the albums first released single “Everything Gets Gone”. What has been a common theme for Whitmore throughout his career is struggling with mortality. Here Whitmore focuses on the fact that even though we humans are here for a short time, the land changes very little. This may be one of his strongest songs on the subject matter.

However the entire album is not introspective like Bury Your Burden or Everything Gets Gone. Field Songs is a heavily paced acoustic guitar love song about the land, farming, and those who first tamed the wild soil. “Let’s do Something Impossible” is probably the weakest song on the album, with kind of a cheesy theme of you can do anything. Never the less it is still a solid song.

As has been stated in his promotional video for the album, Field Songs truly is a love letter to country life, simple living, and blue-collar values. I do not know a better way of summarizing it, other than that. His fans see Whitmore as a voice for those who cannot speak, a modern day storyteller in the vain of Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, or Tom Waits, and he lives up to that reputation on this album.

If you have never listened to William Elliott Whitmore, this is a great introduction to him. For long time fans, it is a return to form. In a year of major releases from Radiohead to Lady Gaga to the Foo Fighters, a folk singer from Lee County, Iowa has crafted one of the best albums of 2011.

The New Moby Album

Earlier this week, I was at the station, going through through the mail when I noticed that we had just received the new Moby album: Destroyed. Whenever you get a well known artist's new album or a band you really like, you get this sensation like it is Christmas morning all over again. Now I am a newbie when it comes to Moby but nevertheless I was really excited to find this new album in the mail. (His 2009 release Wait for Me is the album that got me into Moby. It is utterly brilliant. Check it out now!)

This album thus far has not disappointed me. Written while Moby was on the road for his last world tour, it is very heavy on the electronic instrumental tracks. But what surprised me was the vocal tracks are kept to a minimum. There are only about 4 or 5 vocal tracks on an 15 track album. I thought this feature would cause me to get bored with the album, but that never happened. This album took me on a music journey that was quite refreshing to listen too.

If I had to pick one problem with the album, it is that it's appeal will be very limited. (What can I say, once a radio guy, always a radio guy.) There are no "single" tracks on this album. And since it is so heavy on the electronic sound, it will not have a mass appeal to people. I find it that if you don't like electronic music, you do not like it at all.

But if you are looking for album to take a risk on, try Destroyed. I recommend listening to it on headphones for your first listen. When I did that I had a totally different listening experience than when I listened to it on my and cd player.

Here is a link to one of his new tracks called: "The Day"

Superman: A U.S. Citizen No More?

Recently the Internet has been buzzing about Action Comics #900, in which Superman, the first American superhero may renounce his American citizenship. Read more here In the storyline Superman does this in a response to other countries always thinking of him as an agent of the American government, causing them to be suspicious of his actions. Many commentators have voiced their displeasure over this move by the current writers of Superman, and feel that an essential feature of the character is being taken away.

Personally I feel that as long as a good story is being told, it’s ok to mess with a fictional character’s mythology. Superman has been in constant publication since 1939, and in order to keep the character interesting and fresh, the writers need to shake things up from time to time. There has been some tremendous success in the past in taking such risks, such as The Death of Superman storyline. And there have been some tremendous failures, like when Superman becomes an energy being. Both times garnering mainstream media coverage.

I have been a fan of comics for many years, and in that time I have learned one thing. What is done one week, can easily be undone the next week. If Superman does renounce his citizen, I believe that it will not be for long before we hear of Superman announcing his pride in being an American citizen again. Until then, let’s not over analysis things and sit back and enjoy the story that the writers are creating for its readership.

This looks like a fun movie

When was the last time you saw a movie trailer, and just thought, Wow! That looks really fun. As the writer of the article mentions, it is totally reminiscent of great 1980s movies. I cannot wait to see this film. Super 8 Trailer

My Dream Interviews

I was thinking the other day, who would be my dream interview? Very egotistical of me I know, but I have been fortunate during my tenure at my college radio station, both as a student broadcaster and General Manager, to interview some amazing individuals. Ziggy Marley, Ken Casey from the Dropkick Murphys, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, and Ralph Nader just to name a few; so you cannot blame me for letting my mind wander from time to time. After some thought I came up with three individuals who would be my dream interview, John Lennon, Audrey Hepburn, and Johnny Cash. For those of you who know me these names are pretty obvious, nevertheless allow me to explain.

John Lennon. Lennon has been my hero since grade school. I think because he was the rebel I could never be. The way he carried himself, his sense of humor, or the way he sneered at authority. These characteristics are the complete opposite of my personal characteristics. He did what he pleased.

However what I admired most about him was his tireless efforts for peace. He would discuss peace whenever he could. Even deportations from the United States because of his anti-war views in the early 1970s were not enough to silence him. After winning his immigration battles, he retired from the spot light for five years to raise his son and live an ordinary life. I think that best sums up John Lennon. He was a regular guy.

There are countless stories in the countless Lennon biographies of people meeting John during this period of time, and striking up conversations with him. Lennon himself said, “The best part of New York is that I can go anywhere and no one hassles me.” The tragedy is that on December 8th, 1980 a crazed fan murdered him as he was entering his apartment building. Nevertheless to interview John Lennon would have been amazing. Besides all the reasons mentioned above, he was John Lennon after all, the made who started the greatest rock band of all time and wrote Across the Universe.

Audrey Hepburn. Director Billy Wilder described Hepburn as: “God kissed her on the cheek and there she was.” I have never heard of an individual being described like this. A special description for a special person. Always polite she would discuss her career in interviews, but her true passion was her work for UNICEF.

For the final years of her life, she made it her mission to help the under privileged children of the world. Using her celebrity, she made Americans aware of the travesties happening in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Vietnam. While being interviewed you got the sense that her work with UNICEF was far more important to her than her movie career. She was the female movie star of the 1950s and 1960s, but that did not matter. The only thing that mattered was the children and the help they needed.

Although taken away too soon, her work continues on through the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Foundation. This foundation founded by her two children and her companion, works with UNICEF on the All Children in School Program. The goal, to educate 150 million children in third world countries, 2/3 of which are female. The best way to end poverty is through education, and the whole aim of this program is that.

Johnny Cash. There are bad asses, and then there is Johnny Cash. All the bad asses want to be Cash, but will never come close. Cash never cared what others thought of him, he did what he liked. If others liked it great, if not so what. Whether he was speaking about the plight of Native Americans, the needs of the poor or under privileged or his faith, he spoke with conviction. He gave voice to those who were voiceless. Every society needs someone to do this, and for fifty plus years, Cash did just that. There will never be another like him.

Musically no other sounds close. Cash had the perfect blend of country, rockabilly, Gospel, and folk. Along with lyrics that told you a story, Johnny had a career that spanned from the dawn of television to the rise of the Internet. Songs like Ring of Fire, Man in Black, A Boy Named Sue, and Walk The Line are apart of American culture. It is hard to imagine a world without these songs.

The final point I would like to make about Johnny Cash is this, he was such a badass that his life could not be contained by a single autobiography, he need two to tell his life story. Epic.

These three individuals all have something in common. And that is they used their celebrity to help advance a cause that was near and dear to them. Compared to the cause, the successes in their respective fields were secondary. They wanted to help and found a way to do so. They did this with a great humility. Even though they were reach and famous, they all seemed very approachable. There you have it, my dream interviews. I hope you enjoyed the videos I have included with this blog. You have to love digital technology, so interactive.

The Classical Style of Education

For the past six to eight months, I have been mentioning in my blog that I am currently in Graduate School. I have been working towards a master’s degree in Education, focusing on Curriculum and Instruction. So far the classes that I have been taking have been fairly typical Education courses. Read this book, write this paper, be prepared to discuss this in class, etc.

Thankfully the class that I am currently taking does not fit this mold at all. To say this course has been earth shatter is an understatement. It is one of those classes that you look back on fondly and talk about it to your children. It has been challenging and has completely changed my philosophy of Education, and the teaching technique that I would use in the classroom. The class focuses on the educational trends of the 20th century in the United States.

Though the topic is not that earth shatter, the way it has been discussed is. In this class I have studied John Dewey, who single handedly had the biggest impact on the American Educational system. Dewey theorized that the best way to teach students was to allow them to experiment and interact with the subject matter. They would also take a proactive role in their learning. This is the foundation of the modern philosophy of education and the main goal of this philosophy of education is to help students get a good job. Though I did not realize it till now, I have always felt that this is wrong. Students are growing and developing, and they need more mentoring by an adult than taking the leadership role themselves. Because how would a student know that what they completed is correct unless someone who has already done it tells them?

After discussing this, my professor introduced and described the classical style of education and its main proponent, Mortimer Adler. Alder argues that we need to revise our educational system and return to the teaching style of Plato and Aristotle were the main goal of education was to create virtuous citizens. Virtuous citizens? What a complete 180-degree turn from the modern philosophy of John Dewey. The belief is that if you teach your citizenry how to be virtuous, that will by definition help improve society.

The main teaching style Adler would use in his teaching methodology was the study of the classics. For example if a student were to study economics, Adler would have that student read The Wealth of Nations and The Communist Manifesto and be prepared to discuss the two works critically. The goal with this teaching philosophy would be teaching students critical thinking, something that they will need to use for the rest of their life. Now not to be completely basis, the modern philosophy of education developed by John Dewey can teach this crucial skill, however it is not being used in this way currently.

The public education system of the United States is in a critical state. According to The New York Times: 1.2 million students drop out of high school each year. The United States is ranked 9th in Mathematics and 11th in Science according to The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. If the United States wishes to remain on the cutting edge of technology, and a superpower, we need to get these rankings up. Unfortunately our schools are not preparing students to improve. Rather schools are under incredible pressure to increase their standardized test scores, because these scores are crucial for their funding. A major flaw with these tests is they only measure how well a student does on that test. They do not measure anything else. What happens if you have a student who is brilliant, but does not take tests well? Is that student then stupid?

The classical style of education would help remedy this problem. By getting students to think critically about a subject, to challenge their belief system, and by having them discussing it with their peers, we giving them all the tools they will need to succeed later in life. How many times in our lives have we been faced with a problem, which forces us to change strategies on the fly? I for one have never experienced a problem in real life that makes me choose between letter A,B,C, or D. If we do not look in the mirror right now and realize that America’s public schools are in need of fundamental change, then America is in serious trouble.

Change and results will not happen over night. It may take decades, but I promise that over time we will produce more well rounded students, and students who are ready to discover new theories and take this country into the next century. But the change needs to come from the people, if we do not demand it, it will not happen. So I guess what I am saying is the ball is in our court now, what are we going to do?