"Night Train": A-. It is not often that I will listen to the latest record release by a music artist and subsequently decide to purchase all of that artist's previous records. After enjoying Jason Aldean's latest effort, Night Train, which was released in mid-October, I have decided to take the plunge. Right before the Quentin Chronicle was created in November 2011, I saw Aldean on a country music awards show and was impressed enough to buy his fourth album, My Kinda Party. There are a few songs on that record that have stuck with me over time, and I predict that at least a handful of tunes from Night Train will as well.
Common themes that one can find in Aldean's songs are: his love of small towns, including those he's left behind; riding in a truck or an old Ford through the countryside and headed for a favorite spot, usually with his girl snuggled next to him in the front seat; rivers and fields; putting in a hard day's work; and memories of his escapades as a teen. The lyrics evoke pictures in the listeners' minds. Who needs music video?
Aldean grew up in Macon, Georgia and moved to Nashville at the age of twenty-one to pursue his music career. He was not exactly an overnight sensation, but stuck with his dreams through the ups and downs. Three years later he married his high school sweetheart, Jessica, and four years after that released his debut self-titled album.
Some folks dislike country music because they view it as having too narrow a range of subjects, usually drinking, fighting or lost love. While you can find songs in the Aldean catalogue that fall into those categories, his repertoire is much broader than that, and so is the perspective from which he sings. For example, Wheels Rollin' is one of the better songs I've heard describing what it's like to live the road-weary life of a touring band. In Black Tears he laments the sad degrading situation facing a dancer at a strip club. In Water Tower, he personifies his home town's water tower, which has seen the town's major events unfold before it and has served "like a lighthouse in a storm" to guide the singer back home. Drink One For Me appears to be sung from the perspective of a soldier stationed overseas who is thinking about his friends back in his old stomping grounds.
My favorite song on the disc is the lead-off, This Nothin' Town. I always think it's wise to start an album with a song which would make a good live concert opener. Excellent choice by Aldean here, as this number has a rock n' roll feel but with country lyrics:
It might look a little laid back to ya
But it ain't all just porches and plows
But don't let that one red light fool ya
There's always something going down in this nothin' town.
The title track, Night Train, is memorable. He and his girl drive out to the country, then hop out and start running toward the hillside where they can camp and watch the freight train go by.
Hurry up girl I hear it comin'
Got a moon and a billion stars
Sound of steel and old boxcars...
Let's go listen to the night train.
Of course, as alluded to above, what would a country album be without a few love songs? These are the songs which best suit Aldean's sincere southern voice. Two of the best are Talk and Walking Away. In the first of the pair the singer tells his girl that he's tired of talking, now "I don't want to waste that moon." It's time to move on to something else. I wonder what he has in mind? The second song is a warning to a girl who's attracted to him. He tells her that if she's smart she will walk away as fast as she can. She can't "be the angel that could make me change." She is too good for him; he knows it but she doesn't.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Refusing To Sleep With The Enemy
In the world of sports, what if it would behoove your team to have your bitter rival win its next game against another opponent which poses a bigger threat to your team than does your rival? That is the exact situation faced by fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this coming weekend.
Under the current rules of the BCS (which stands for "Bowl Championship Series"), only the top two rated teams have an opportunity to play in the National Championship Game on January 7, 2013. There is no tournament like the NCAA has for basketball. The BCS ratings are calculated weekly using a somewhat complicated formula involving two polls (the Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today Coaches' Poll) and six computer rankings. Each of the six computer rankings takes into account not only a team's won-loss record but also its strength of schedule (SOS). Thus, beating a team ranked, say, number 9 is worth more in the computer rankings than beating a team ranked number 19. (Incidentally, the BCS system for determining the national champion is going to be replaced by a four-team playoff, starting with the 2014 season.)
According to the BCS ratings which were released two days ago, the top four teams, in order, are Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon. All four of those teams are undefeated, and since they are not scheduled to play each other, there is a decent chance - - I would put it at about 80% for each team - - that their records will remain unblemished throughout the remainder of the regular season. Thus, the fans of each team will not only be cheering for that team; they will also be pulling for the other three top-rated teams to lose, thereby enhancing their own team's chances of getting into the National Championship Game. Right?
As former Indiana head coach and ABC analyst Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"
Consider this coming weekend's slate of games. Number 1 Alabama plays LSU. The Crimson Tide is a 9.5 point pick, even though the game is in Baton Rouge. ND fans will automatically hope the Tigers can pull the upset (even though the LSU head coach is a Michigan alum, the wacky Les Miles). Similarly, Irish fans won't hesitate to cheer against number 2 Kansas State, which is an 8 point pick this weekend over visiting Oklahoma State. However, it is the third battle, number 4 Oregon against Notre Dame's arch rival, Southern Cal, which is causing a division in the ranks of Irish boosters. For which team should we cheer?
At first blush this should be a no-brainer, at least for the casual observer. A win by Southern Cal, which is a seven point home dog, would deliver two immediate benefits to Notre Dame. First and most obviously, it would knock Oregon from the ranks of the unbeaten and give ND some BCS breathing room. (I am going out on a limb by predicting Notre Dame covers the seventeen point spread against Pitt in The Bend.) Secondly, a win by SC on Saturday would benefit Notre Dame's SOS if the Irish manage to beat the Trojans over Thankgiving weekend.
There is, however, one tiny problem in asking this Domer, and many other Domers, to cheer for a Southern Cal victory on Saturday over the Ducks. To wit, I would be cheering for Southern Cal! You can call me a fool or you can call me short-sighted. You can even call me Al. I am sorry, I just cannot bring myself to cheer for the Trojans.
When I think of Southern Cal I think of cheaters like former running back Reggie Bush, whose family accepted at least $200,000 in illegal benefits from SC boosters. I think of former head coach Pete Carroll, who got out of Dodge and fled to the Seattle Seahawks right before the NCAA lowered the boom with very tough sanctions, including drastic scholarship reductions and a two year bowl ban, against his program. I think of phantom penalties in the LA Coliseum, including the invisible holding penalty which cost ND a national championship in 1964, not to mention mysterious holding and clipping penalties throughout the years which never show up during a replay review. I think of athletic directors like Mike Garrett, who finally got fired for "looking the other way" when NCAA rules were being broken right under his nose. I think of their football practices being open to visits from Hollywood stars and rappers who have no connection to the school. I think of former quarterback Matt Leinart, who was enrolled in a single class, ballroom dancing, to keep his eligibility alive for his final season. I think of Southern Cal's current coach, Lane Kiffin, a Minnesota native who is such a horse's patootie he makes Jay Cutler look like Billy Graham. And of course, who can think of USC without recalling their most famous football player, stone cold killer OJ Simpson? Only a jury of his starstruck peers believed The Juice was innocent.
My theory is this: If Notre Dame keeps winning, things will work themselves out. If I'm wrong and it turns out that a perfect season by the Irish does not result in a chance to play in the National Championship Game, so be it. I will still be able to look in the mirror knowing that I didn't prostitute myself by rooting for an SC victory over the Ducks. As we used to cry out during SC Week back in the day, "Puncture the Trojans!"
Under the current rules of the BCS (which stands for "Bowl Championship Series"), only the top two rated teams have an opportunity to play in the National Championship Game on January 7, 2013. There is no tournament like the NCAA has for basketball. The BCS ratings are calculated weekly using a somewhat complicated formula involving two polls (the Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today Coaches' Poll) and six computer rankings. Each of the six computer rankings takes into account not only a team's won-loss record but also its strength of schedule (SOS). Thus, beating a team ranked, say, number 9 is worth more in the computer rankings than beating a team ranked number 19. (Incidentally, the BCS system for determining the national champion is going to be replaced by a four-team playoff, starting with the 2014 season.)
According to the BCS ratings which were released two days ago, the top four teams, in order, are Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon. All four of those teams are undefeated, and since they are not scheduled to play each other, there is a decent chance - - I would put it at about 80% for each team - - that their records will remain unblemished throughout the remainder of the regular season. Thus, the fans of each team will not only be cheering for that team; they will also be pulling for the other three top-rated teams to lose, thereby enhancing their own team's chances of getting into the National Championship Game. Right?
As former Indiana head coach and ABC analyst Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"
Consider this coming weekend's slate of games. Number 1 Alabama plays LSU. The Crimson Tide is a 9.5 point pick, even though the game is in Baton Rouge. ND fans will automatically hope the Tigers can pull the upset (even though the LSU head coach is a Michigan alum, the wacky Les Miles). Similarly, Irish fans won't hesitate to cheer against number 2 Kansas State, which is an 8 point pick this weekend over visiting Oklahoma State. However, it is the third battle, number 4 Oregon against Notre Dame's arch rival, Southern Cal, which is causing a division in the ranks of Irish boosters. For which team should we cheer?
At first blush this should be a no-brainer, at least for the casual observer. A win by Southern Cal, which is a seven point home dog, would deliver two immediate benefits to Notre Dame. First and most obviously, it would knock Oregon from the ranks of the unbeaten and give ND some BCS breathing room. (I am going out on a limb by predicting Notre Dame covers the seventeen point spread against Pitt in The Bend.) Secondly, a win by SC on Saturday would benefit Notre Dame's SOS if the Irish manage to beat the Trojans over Thankgiving weekend.
There is, however, one tiny problem in asking this Domer, and many other Domers, to cheer for a Southern Cal victory on Saturday over the Ducks. To wit, I would be cheering for Southern Cal! You can call me a fool or you can call me short-sighted. You can even call me Al. I am sorry, I just cannot bring myself to cheer for the Trojans.
When I think of Southern Cal I think of cheaters like former running back Reggie Bush, whose family accepted at least $200,000 in illegal benefits from SC boosters. I think of former head coach Pete Carroll, who got out of Dodge and fled to the Seattle Seahawks right before the NCAA lowered the boom with very tough sanctions, including drastic scholarship reductions and a two year bowl ban, against his program. I think of phantom penalties in the LA Coliseum, including the invisible holding penalty which cost ND a national championship in 1964, not to mention mysterious holding and clipping penalties throughout the years which never show up during a replay review. I think of athletic directors like Mike Garrett, who finally got fired for "looking the other way" when NCAA rules were being broken right under his nose. I think of their football practices being open to visits from Hollywood stars and rappers who have no connection to the school. I think of former quarterback Matt Leinart, who was enrolled in a single class, ballroom dancing, to keep his eligibility alive for his final season. I think of Southern Cal's current coach, Lane Kiffin, a Minnesota native who is such a horse's patootie he makes Jay Cutler look like Billy Graham. And of course, who can think of USC without recalling their most famous football player, stone cold killer OJ Simpson? Only a jury of his starstruck peers believed The Juice was innocent.
My theory is this: If Notre Dame keeps winning, things will work themselves out. If I'm wrong and it turns out that a perfect season by the Irish does not result in a chance to play in the National Championship Game, so be it. I will still be able to look in the mirror knowing that I didn't prostitute myself by rooting for an SC victory over the Ducks. As we used to cry out during SC Week back in the day, "Puncture the Trojans!"
Friday, October 26, 2012
Movie Review: "Argo"
"Argo": B+. By 1979, the Shah of Iran had been ruling his country for over twenty-five years. He had come into power with the assistance of the United States, but the people hated his cruel style of leadership, which included Gestapo-style secret police and harsh punishment for his political foes. Finally, a student-led rebellion ousted the Shah and he fled, dying of cancer, to the US, where he was welcomed by our federal government. Back in Iran, anti-American sentiment fueled by the country's new revolutionary leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, resulted in the storming of the walled and barricaded American embassy in Tehran, where fifty-two US citizens were imprisoned and held captive. Moments before the siege, six Americans somehow managed to get out to the street, and covertly gained refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador a few miles away. This movie is the story of how the CIA attempted to rescue The Six before the Iranians realized that they were still in Tehran.
Ben Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA troubleshooter who is picked by his boss, Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston), to devise a plan to get The Six out. They are working against the clock, because they correctly predict that the revolutionaries will be able to piece back together the shredded documents in the embassy office and determine that they are six prisoners short. Meanwhile, the Canadian ambassador and his wife are risking their own lives by hiding The Six in their home. If found out, they will be labeled as spies by the revolutionaries and probably summarily and publicly executed along with The Six.
The US Department Of State does not think much of Mendez' seemingly goofy plan to use a phony film project as a subterfuge to get The Six out. His idea is to create fake IDs for The Six, and then pass them off as part of a Canadian film crew which is scouting Tehran for locations for a futuristic sci-fi movie called Argo. (For reasons of clarity, I will call the sci-fi movie Fake Argo.) After discussing alternatives such as using bicycles (rejected due to too much snow and too great a distance from Tehran to the border) or having The Six pose as teachers (rejected because the English school in Tehran had been closed for eight months), one State Department honcho concedes to Mendez, "All of the rescue ideas are bad, but yours is the least bad."
In order to convince the Iranians that the film project is legit, Mendez enlists the support of Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman), who in turn talks director Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) into signing on. As is usually the case with those two actors, they bring the story up a notch by supplying humor (among other things) to counterbalance the otherwise dramatic unfolding of the plot. Chambers and Siegel use their Hollywood connections to get story boards, posters, press releases and other film production paraphernalia created for Mendez to take with him to Tehran to give Fake Argo indices of authenticity and legitimacy.
The bulk of Argo shows how Mendez' steady hand and fearlessness gives The Six their chance to escape. None of The Six knows the first thing about filmmaking, and they aren't too sure that Mendez' plan won't be suicidal. Mendez convinces them that his plan is their only chance to get out of Iran alive, so they must learn their roles, not to mention their new fake identities and background bios as they appear on their phony Canadian passports. Affleck, who also directed this movie, does a credible job as Mister Cool, Calm & Collected, which was probably Mendez' demeanor in real life. The scenes shift from revolutionary headquarters to Washington, DC, to the hostages held captive in the US embassy, to the Canadian ambassador's home which is functioning as the hideout of The Six. The tension mounts and the clock is ticking, because the revolutionaries start to piece things together.
The denouement, unfortunately, is a little beyond the scope of reason and believability, but I chose not to let that interfere with my overall enjoyment of the movie. (It is the first movie I attended in almost a month!) Another minor irritation is that I enjoyed most of the songs, including tracks by Dire Straits and Van Halen, but too many of them did not relate to what was happening on the screen. It's almost as if the film's music director picked a few of his favorite classic rock gems at random. Finally, the sound bite spin by former President Jimmy Carter during the closing credits regarding the fifty-two hostages (who were held for 444 days and were not released until Carter's term as President expired) is both laughable and inaccurate. I guess the man could not face the truth.
Ironically, even though Fake Argo was a fictitious film, the concept of which was created soley as a ruse to rescue The Six, their story is based on fact. The taking of the US embassy occurred in 1979, but the details surrounding the story of The Six never came to light until they were de-classified by President Clinton in 1994. I have always admired the Canadian people. Now having watched Argo, I like them even more.
Ben Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA troubleshooter who is picked by his boss, Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston), to devise a plan to get The Six out. They are working against the clock, because they correctly predict that the revolutionaries will be able to piece back together the shredded documents in the embassy office and determine that they are six prisoners short. Meanwhile, the Canadian ambassador and his wife are risking their own lives by hiding The Six in their home. If found out, they will be labeled as spies by the revolutionaries and probably summarily and publicly executed along with The Six.
The US Department Of State does not think much of Mendez' seemingly goofy plan to use a phony film project as a subterfuge to get The Six out. His idea is to create fake IDs for The Six, and then pass them off as part of a Canadian film crew which is scouting Tehran for locations for a futuristic sci-fi movie called Argo. (For reasons of clarity, I will call the sci-fi movie Fake Argo.) After discussing alternatives such as using bicycles (rejected due to too much snow and too great a distance from Tehran to the border) or having The Six pose as teachers (rejected because the English school in Tehran had been closed for eight months), one State Department honcho concedes to Mendez, "All of the rescue ideas are bad, but yours is the least bad."
In order to convince the Iranians that the film project is legit, Mendez enlists the support of Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman), who in turn talks director Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) into signing on. As is usually the case with those two actors, they bring the story up a notch by supplying humor (among other things) to counterbalance the otherwise dramatic unfolding of the plot. Chambers and Siegel use their Hollywood connections to get story boards, posters, press releases and other film production paraphernalia created for Mendez to take with him to Tehran to give Fake Argo indices of authenticity and legitimacy.
The bulk of Argo shows how Mendez' steady hand and fearlessness gives The Six their chance to escape. None of The Six knows the first thing about filmmaking, and they aren't too sure that Mendez' plan won't be suicidal. Mendez convinces them that his plan is their only chance to get out of Iran alive, so they must learn their roles, not to mention their new fake identities and background bios as they appear on their phony Canadian passports. Affleck, who also directed this movie, does a credible job as Mister Cool, Calm & Collected, which was probably Mendez' demeanor in real life. The scenes shift from revolutionary headquarters to Washington, DC, to the hostages held captive in the US embassy, to the Canadian ambassador's home which is functioning as the hideout of The Six. The tension mounts and the clock is ticking, because the revolutionaries start to piece things together.
The denouement, unfortunately, is a little beyond the scope of reason and believability, but I chose not to let that interfere with my overall enjoyment of the movie. (It is the first movie I attended in almost a month!) Another minor irritation is that I enjoyed most of the songs, including tracks by Dire Straits and Van Halen, but too many of them did not relate to what was happening on the screen. It's almost as if the film's music director picked a few of his favorite classic rock gems at random. Finally, the sound bite spin by former President Jimmy Carter during the closing credits regarding the fifty-two hostages (who were held for 444 days and were not released until Carter's term as President expired) is both laughable and inaccurate. I guess the man could not face the truth.
Ironically, even though Fake Argo was a fictitious film, the concept of which was created soley as a ruse to rescue The Six, their story is based on fact. The taking of the US embassy occurred in 1979, but the details surrounding the story of The Six never came to light until they were de-classified by President Clinton in 1994. I have always admired the Canadian people. Now having watched Argo, I like them even more.
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