Monthly Archives: October 2013

Oct 01 2013
1 Comment
DVDs, Music, Pop Culture

Stamp of Approval

Coming soon to a mailbox near you: Ray Charles!

Ray_Charles_Forever_Cover2Ray Charles Forever

CD/DVD ($18.98, Concord Records)

Why does this new Ray Charles CD/DVD combo look like a postage stamp? Because it’s part of the celebration around the recent release of the U.S. Postal Service Icons Forever Stamp honoring the enduring rhythm and blues singer. With 12 re-mastered studio tracks (including “Song For You,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Till There Was You,” “Imagine” and “America The Beautiful”), a DVD of live performances and interview segments, it’s a multimedia reminder of a performer whose decade-spanning career has generated more than 100 albums, made him one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, spawned an Academy Award-winning movie—and now put him in the mailbox! (It’s on sale at major Post Office locations, an online at usps.com.)

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Tagged , , ,
Oct 01 2013
Leave a comment
DVDs, Pop Culture

Brad Vs. The Zombies

It’s the end of the world, but Mr. Pitt’s on the job

WorldWarZ_BWorld War Z

Blu-ray $39.99, DVD $29.99 (Paramount Home Media)

It’s a global zombie apocalypse, but don’t worry: Brad Pitt’s on the job! The world’s hunkiest United Nations crisis-control specialist gets called into action for the assignment of his life when a sweeping pandemic begins turning entire countries into rampaging armies of the undead. Can he save his own family, let alone the whole world? Bonus features include documentaries on how the bestselling novel on which the film was based made the transition from page to screen; the scientific realities of “zombie” behavior in nature; and several behind-the-scenes looks at the international massive production on location in Philadelphia, South Korea and Jerusalem.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Tagged , , ,
Oct 01 2013
Leave a comment
Books, Pop Culture

Born To Be Wild

Centennial celebration of Harleys a Garden of Eden for gearheads

UltimateHarleyDavidsonBUltimate Harley Davidson

By Hugo Wilson

Hardcover, 216 pages ($25, DK Publishing)

Originally published in 2003, this new edition includes an updated, decade-by-decade rundown of the venerable motorbike company, hundreds of photos, and full-color spreads of 70 of the most beautiful, collectible and legendary Harleys of all time. Full of facts, specs and other info on a century of bikes, it’s a gearhead’s Garden of Eden, and the turn of each page leaves behind fumes of nostalgia, history, horsepower, the freedom of the open road and American-made pride.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Tagged , ,
Oct 01 2013
Leave a comment
Music, Pop Culture

Last Stand in Memphis

SONY DSCRe-released recordings show Elvis at final creative peak

Elvis At Stax

CD $24.89 (RCA/Legacy)

In a 12-day burst of creative steam, Presley hit the Stax studios in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., for two sessions in 1973, yielding his final string of Top 40 singles (including “Promised Land,” “I’ve Got a Thing About You Baby” and “If You Talk In Your Sleep”) and more than two dozen other tunes that let him stretch his style across the a spectrum of rock, country and gospel. This affordably priced, 40th anniversary 3-CD commemorative set includes them all, and also 27 outtake tracks, plus and a photo-packed booklet with extensive notes about the songs and the sessions.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Tagged , , , ,
Oct 01 2013
Leave a comment
Books

Up, Up and Away

Mission_to_Mars2 Moon man is ready for the next milestone

Mission to Mars

By Buzz Aldrin

Hardcover, 258 pages ($26, National Geographic)

Aldrin, 83, walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969. Now he advocates continued exploration of our solar system, laying out a detailed plan for getting Americans to the next milestone, Mars. He also discusses the history of space flight and the space program with riveting first-person detail and insight, and candidly addresses the politics, commerce and private enterprise on which he contends future space exploration will depend. For a subject so far-out, this former space pioneer makes it all sound so downright do-able and down to earth.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Tagged , , , , ,
Newer posts →