Blogcritics Author: La Shawn Barber

Book Review: Finding Purpose in Narnia - A Journey with Prince Caspian by Gina Burkart

La Shawn Barber — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:13:55 EDT

This book will help parents, church leaders, and educators explain why C. S. Lewis's books are edifying to Christians of any age.
If good literature communicates truth about the human condition, The Chronicles of Narnia qualifies. In his seven-book collection of children's stories, the late C. S. Lewis found the right tone mixing mythology with Christian themes and symbols to create an engaging fantasy that children (and Hollywood) are enjoying over 50 years later.A...

Concert Review: Rissi Palmer, Stagecoach Festival, Indio CA, 5/2/08

La Shawn Barber — Tue, 6 May 2008 21:45:28 EDT

Rissi Palmer's voice is priceless. After the show, this reviewer's tag-along sister understated the obvious. "She can really sing."
Hustling across dusty parking lots, a campsite filled with beer-drinking folks lounging in tents, and an expansive field to watch Rissi Palmer sing, this reviewer saw enough cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and women of various levels of physical fitness in bikini tops and micro-shorts to last a long lifetime.The venue was the Empire Polo Field in Indio,...

Book Review: Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them by David Anderegg

La Shawn Barber — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:59:56 EST

Rigid and negative stereotyping has us overlooking the broad range of characteristics that make each of us wonderfully unique.
One of the funniest characters in the 1984 movie, Revenge of the Nerds, was the uncoordinated and absent-minded Arnold Poindexter. He wore thick glasses, but still couldn't see well. We've had plenty of laughs at the expense of the Poindexters of the world, studious fellows with Coke-bottle glasses, wearing pants that are too tight and too...

Music Review: Lenny Kravitz: It Is Time For A Love Revolution

La Shawn Barber — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:49:43 EST

The sexually abstinent Lenny Kravitz is more self-reflective than usual.
At 43, Lenny Kravitz is more self-reflective than usual.He recently spoke to Maxim magazine about his newly declared sexual abstinence, "a promise I made until I get married." Sex-free for the past three years, Kravitz wants more than just a physical connection. "I'm looking at the big picture."Relishing the satisfaction...

Music Review: Rissi Palmer - Rissi Palmer

La Shawn Barber — Mon, 4 Feb 2008 09:41:02 EST

Black country singer Rissi Palmer is the real thing, twang and all.
Blacks in country music are rare. America's most well-known black country singer is Charley Pride, whose crossover hit, "Kiss an Angel Good Morning," garnered him a Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award in 1971 and Male Vocalist of the Year in 1971 and 1972. In 1967, he was the first black performer to appear at the...

Interview with Day Zero Actor Jon Bernthal

La Shawn Barber — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:56:35 EST

"I'm kind of a slob. I just could not believe the way [Elijah Wood] took care of his costume."
Raised in Washington, D.C., country music-loving actor Jon Bernthal went to Russia to study acting and ended up playing professional baseball. He's no longer playing ball, but his acting career is on the upswing. In the independent film Day Zero (read the review), Bernthal plays a street-wise cab driver named James Dixon who, along with two...

Movie Review: Day Zero

La Shawn Barber — Tue, 8 Jan 2008 07:14:22 EST

NYC. Near future. Fourteen hundred people killed in LA terrorist attack. Draft reinstated. You receive notice. What do you do?
The setting is New York City. The time is the near future. Fourteen hundred people have been killed in a terrorist attack in Los Angeles, similar to the one in New York on September 11, 2001. The war on terror intensifies, and the U.S. reinstates the draft. Three friends receive letters ordering them to report for duty in 30 days. Day Zero (opening...

Book Review: Net, Blogs and Rock 'n' Roll by David Jennings

La Shawn Barber — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:23:22 EST

This book will help you understand the challenges of music discovery in the digital age and inspire you to become part of the solution.
"For existing and emerging artists...this is actually a great time, full of options and possibilities," former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne recently wrote in Wired magazine. "The future of music as a career is wide open."The veteran musician's optimistic outlook is warranted. Although CD sales are down, illegal file...

Book Review: This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin

La Shawn Barber — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:41:18 EST

Hits the right notes as he connects unfamiliar and occasionally arcane theories with familiar pop culture references.
I enjoy a wide variety of music. A song's sound is more influential than its genre. Whether a song is labeled country, R&B, punk, or reggae, if it sounds good, I like it. This sounds good judgment is the result of my brain processing sound waves and interpreting elements like pitch, tempo, timbre and rhythm, coupled with my anticipation of...

Concert Review/Interview: Hanson At The 9:30 Club, Washington DC, 9/16/07

La Shawn Barber — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:43:58 EDT

Ten years after hearing the ubiquitous "MMMBop" here, there, and everywhere, I never imagined I'd attend a Hanson concert.
Ten years after hearing the ubiquitous "MMMBop" here, there, and everywhere, I never imagined I'd attend a Hanson concert, let alone write articles about the band. Unlike many "MMMBop" fans (and Hanson), I was an adult in 1997. After the song's radio play petered out, so did my interest.For the last 10 years, however,...