“When you’re really good, they call you a ‘crackerjack‘ . . . when you’re doing your best, giving your all,” sings Marty Brown in his new single, “CrackerJack.” With the new song, the 1990s country singing star continues on this new stage of his career after his appearances on America’s Got Talent.
For those who are most familiar with Cracker Jack as candied popcorn bought at baseball games, the term “crackerjack,” means “of excellent quality,” just as Brown defines it in his song. The word probably comes from the combination of “crack,” meaning “first-class,” with “jack,” meaning a “man.” The baseball confection allegedly earned its name when someone tasted it and said, “That’s a crackerjack!” Marty Brown’s song, though, is about the term “crackerjack,” not the popcorn snack, but his song does begin with a baseball reference.
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Marty Brown’s “CrackerJack” follows the release of the video for his previous single, “Whatever Makes You Smile.” With the new singles, more people are learning what we already knew: Marty Brown is a crackerjack.
The new song, which was originally designated for a 2002 comeback album that was never officially released, is available to buy online on iTunes and through Amazon. For more on Marty Brown’s early career, check out this post. For tour and other information, check out Marty Brown’s website and Facebook page.
What do you think of the new Marty Brown song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Now that there are eleven American Idol contestants standing and this week will determine the top ten, one might start wondering who will win season 13. One readers’ poll has Caleb Johnson at the top, followed by Sam Woolf and Jessica Meuse. Las Vegas oddsmakers currently have Sam Woolf as a 3/1 favorite, followed by Alex Preston (7/2), Majesty Rose (4/1), and Dexter Roberts (6/1).
A lot can happen week to week, and there is no way to tell who is going to develop into the American Idol. Some seasons, like in the first season, there is a very strong frontrunner who is solid through all of the performances. In other years, someone begins to shine more and more each week, rising to the top. At this point in the season, I would put my money on Majesty Rose, who has been my favorite since the auditions when she sang “Violet Hill” by Coldplay.
Rose, whose real name is Rochelle York, is a young preschool teacher from Goldsboro, North Carolina. So far, she has shown great potential with her voice and the ability to bring her personality into her performances. Last week, the judges criticized her song which started out great but did not finish so well. If Rose can use the criticism to grow as a performer, she could make it to the end. Her best performance so far has been when she showed her high-energy entertainment chops with Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” during the show with the top ten women.
Caleb Johnson may have the most powerful voice since Adam Lambert was on the show’s eighth season, so Johnson has potential to do well too. But his rock performances have not yet shown the versatility that Lambert displayed during his run on the show. Below is one of his highlights on the show so far, covering “Stay with Me” by the Faces.
Alex Preston may be the contestant who is most ready to make a hit record that would play on the radio today. He could end up being the person from this season who has the most successful career, whether or not he wins. Here, Preston sings Jason Mraz’s “A Beautiful Mess” during Top 13 week.
Sam Woolf, who has a good voice with great potential and the teen vote, understandably has the best betting odds. I was impressed this Top 12 week when he chose a more obscure song, Blind Pilot‘s “Just One,” showing he may have some surprises in store for us.
Dexter Roberts gave a solid country performance of Montgomery Gentry’s “Lucky Man” this week, and Jena Irene Ascuitto has the potential to rise from the bottom three. So those two would round out my top six . . . for now.
[March 14, 2014 Update: Two days after I wrote this post, Majesty Rose ended up in the bottom two, barely missing elimination. Voters have been disappointed by her performances the last two weeks. Her mistake may be going for big high notes that she cannot quite hit consistently. If I were her coach, I would tell her to stop trying to be Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston and to find the songs that fit the sweet spot of her talents. Not every American Idol has to hit those big high notes to win, and many of the contestants who did better than her this week did not even try to hit huge notes. She has the potential for a comeback.]
[March 28, 2014 Update: On the March 27 episode of American Idol, Majesty Rose was sent home after she ended up at the bottom of the voting and by a “narrow, narrow margin” the judges opted not to use their save. Rose is considering whether to pursue music, acting, or continue her teaching. But because she made the Top 10, she will be touring with other American Idol finalists. Now, who are the front-runners to win? From the last few weeks, I would put Jena Irene Ascuitto and Caleb Johnson as the favorites, with an edge to Jena.]
Who is your favorite contestant this season? Leave your two cents in the comments and do not forget to vote.
Actor Zach Galifiankis has been using his comedy of awkwardness to interview various guests on his fake cable access show, “Between Two Ferns,” on the Funny or Die comedy website. The “show,” which runs only a few minutes, has featured such superstars as Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, and Sean Penn. This week, he scored what might be his most powerful guest, President Barack Obama (“Community Organizer”).
The show approached the president about appearing as a way to promote the Affordable Care Act. And the president went along with the idea, partaking in Galifiankis’s offbeat humor while encouraging folks to sign up at healthcare.gov. And the president gives back too. When Galifiankis asks, “What is it like to be the last black president?,” Pres. Obama responds, “What is it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?” Check it out.
On March 11, 1818, The Modern Prometheus was published, although the book is better known by the first part of its full title: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the 21-year-old author, is credited with creating a whole new type of novel, blending gothic horror with science fiction.
The Book
Shelley began writing the book in June 1816 while staying in Geneva with her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Their friend Lord Byron suggested they each compose a gothic ghost story. And Mary Shelley produced the classic we know today. Well, what we sort of know today.
I remember reading the book in high school and being surprised to discover that the book differed somewhat from the movies. In the book, the Monster’s creator Victor Frankenstein is tracking the Monster. But “the Monster” can speak intelligently instead of merely deliver grunts as the character does in the classic films.
There are many elements from the novel that do appear in the movies. For example, there is the Monster’s desire for a mate, and the story raises interesting ethical questions about the creation of life.
Few characters in a novel have inspired so many creations, from movies to TV characters to a cereal character, although many mistakenly call the monster “Frankenstein,” which is actually the last name of the scientist who created the creature.
1931’s “Frankenstein” Film
Actor Boris Karloff is most famous as the Monster, beginning with his portrayal in 1931’s Frankenstein, directed by James Whale. Karloff creates a sympathetic creature that is both scary and sympathetic in the way he is misunderstood.
The Frankenstein film had a dark sense of humor, but it also was a product of a director who lived through World War I. Different viewers find different parts more disturbing than others.
But part of the scene below was originally cut by censorship boards in some states. They found the Monster throwing the little girl in the water (and accidentally drowning her) as too disturbing.
1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein”
Many consider the 1935 sequel Bride of Frankenstein to be even better than the original. Again Whale directed the movie, which again starred Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as the Doctor.
Elsa Lanchester defined the role of the bride in a brief scene. But many forget that she also played the role of Mary Shelley in the movie.
Universal Studios played on the popularity of Frankenstein and its other monsters by putting them together in different movies in the 1940s. For example, there was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, and various other films followed with mixed results. Some movies expanded on the subtle humor in the original films.
Funny Frankenstein
One of the most famous funny versions of the monster appeared in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Glenn Strange played the monster. The clip below from A Million Movies recounts “10 Things You Don’t Need to Know About Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.”
One of my favorite versions of the Frankenstein story remains the Mel Brooks’ interpretation, Young Frankenstein (1974). The Mel Brooks movie is a wonderful funny tribute to the original film and its sequel while still being a great comedy in its own right.
In Young Frankenstein, Peter Boyle played the monster while Gene Wilder played the young doctor. Below is this movie’s take on the blind man and cigar scene from Bride of Frankenstein above.
The Frankenstein humor was taken to a surreal extreme in The Munsters. In that TV series, the monster character was imagined as a father in a sitcom setting.
The Munsters originally ran on CBS on Thursday evenings from 1964 to 1966. In the clip below, Herman Munster tries out for the Dodgers.
Modern Frankenstein
In 1994, Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. That film tried to be true to novel’s plot while modernizing the scariness. The movie also starred Robert De Niro (as the monster) and Helena Bonham Carter.
Branagh’s movie, however, was a disappointment at the box office. I saw Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the theater and enjoyed it for what it was. But it did not come close to the classic original films. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 40% critics score and a 50% audience score.
Another 1990’s take on the story with mixed reviews was Frankenstein Unbound. The 1990 film that combined science fiction and horror elements was directed by Roger Corman. The movie features a scientist from the future, played by John Hurt, going back to the 1800s and encountering Mary Shelly and the characters from her most famous novel. (Thanks to Tony Fontane for reminding me about Frankenstein Unbound.)
Even though it is almost two centuries since the story was written, there will continue to be new versions of the Gothic tale. Many more folks today know the story of Frankenstein than know the Greek myth of Prometheus, who supplied the subtitle to Mary Shelley’s monster book (and a poem by her friend Lord Byron).
The Titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Because of this rebellious act, Zeus punished Prometheus by binding him to a rock, where every day an eagle would return to eat his liver, which would then grow back for the next day’s torture. Like Prometheus, Dr. Frankenstein stole something from the gods — the ability to create life — and because of that, he was a tortured soul.
Most recently, Paul McGuigan directed a new version of Frankenstein called Victor Frankenstein (2015). The movie considers the story from the viewpoint of the assistant Igor, played by Daniel Radcliffe. The film also stars James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein. The movie received poor reviews, but I am certain it will not be the last retelling of the story that Mary Shelley published in 1818.
What is your favorite version of Frankenstein? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Photo of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein in Bride of Frankensteinvia public domain.
Sean Lennon recently joined The Flaming Lips on The Late Show with David Letterman to sing the Beatles classic, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” The visuals are almost as good as the music, with Lennon sporting a beard like his late father as well as the hat that John Lennon wore on the cover of Hey Jude.
The performance was part of Beatles week on Letterman’s show, a week that led up to the network’s celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Fab Four’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan’s Show. Check it out.
Sean Lennon’s father is not his only family member connected to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which first appeared on the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The title came from his half-brother Julian, who came home from school one day with a drawing, telling his father that the picture was of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Many still question whether the initials of the song indicate that instead the song is about L.S.D. Either way, it is a great Beatles song.
What do you think “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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