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Johnny Cash's powerful voice narrates his life in YouTube's 'The Gift'
"I was a bag of bones. I looked like walking death, and I knew it." By now the trials, and redemption, of Johnny Cash are well documented. Whether it's 2005's Walk The Line or, most recently, Ken Burns' Country Music, it's not hard to find a detailed account of the career of the Man in Black. What many of them don't offer though is Cash's own perspective on his life -- both the highs and the lows. With Emmy-winning director Thom Zimny's The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash, we get just that. And the impact is more haunting and inspiring than any other time these stories have been told.
What we've been watching: Ken Burns' Country Music
This week, Senior News Editor Billy Steele explains why everyone should check out the latest documentary series from Ken Burns. Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar has an unexpected affinity for the latest CBS procedural and Senior News Editor Richard Lawler has found one thing worth watching on Netflix.
Recommended Reading: Uber wants to be the 'operating system' for city life
Inside Uber's plan to take over city life with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge This week, ride-sharing giant Uber announced a test that puts both its car and food services in the same app. It's part of a larger plan CEO Dara Khosrowshahi describes as becoming the "operating system for your everyday life in a city." The Verge details the challenges to doing so in an interview with the chief executive.
Recommended Reading: The redesigned WWE Network
WWE Network 2.0: How WWE rebuilt its streaming service after a split with Disney Chris Welch, The Verge After a flashy reveal at CES a few years ago, the WWE Network is by all accounts a success, amassing well over a million subscribers by early 2019. Disney threw a wrench in the plans when it bought BAMTech, the company that had successfully constructed streaming services for the likes of Major League Baseball and HBO Now. It was also what WWE relied on for its 24/7 buffet of choke slams and live events. WWE saw the writing on the wall, and rebuilt its streaming library from the ground up.
CMT Artists is an iPhone app designed specially for country music lovers
Viacom knows it has to spread the love equally amongst its properties, as any great parent company would do. In this particular scenario, it means releasing a new music discovery app for Country Music Television, just like it did for MTV back in October of last year. With CMT Artists, it's clear that Viacom took a complete cue from MTV's version, offering easy access to in-depth artist pages, exclusive interviews, news and music videos. There are also a number of other useful tidbits, including the ability to easily identify unfamiliar songs, either by typing in lyrics or via the Sound ID feature. Naturally, CMT Artists focuses on country tunes and the musicians behind them, as opposed to the broader approach taken by MTV. And even though the application was designed with the iPhone's screen in mind, there won't be an issue installing it on larger iOS devices if you choose to do so.
Rocking the Objective-C[ountry]
What happens when you tweet a silly off-the-cuff remark about wanting a Country/Objective-C song called "Retain My Heart (Or you might point to an invalid memory reference)"? Magic. That's what happens. Absolute weekend-ready magic! Italian Mac aficionado and brilliant songsmith Andrea "Camillo Miller" Nepori jumped into my e-mail in-box and delivered exactly what I had asked for: a heartfelt country rendition of what has got to be one of the lamest geekiest puns I've ever made. Nepori tells me that he recorded the music on his iPhone, adding a little reverb and compression in GarageBand before sending it on over to TUAW. A big round of public acclaim for the next biggest geek hit! Bravo! Download your own copy here (mp3) or listen to the embedded version in the continuation of this post. The little Objective-Country pun? Thanks to Neil Twist.
Report: Yee-haw! Country Rock Band DLC on December 16
Well, we reckon it's almost official now. According to Country Music Television's (CMT) blog, the previously mentioned Rock Back country music pack is coming on December 16th to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The report claims five songs will be part of the pack, and names Bentley, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert and the Dixie Chicks as the artists. If Rock Band sticks to tradition, we'll get an official press release Dec. 11th or 12th.We're going to take the moment to re-demand "Jolene" (let's compromise and ask for the White Stripes version), "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" and "The Gambler" for some point in the future.
Rock Band open to country music, various other genres
Harmonix staffer "HMXHenry" has informed the official Rock Band forum that the developer "hasn't shut the door" on including different genres of music in the franchise, and has suggested that country music, hardcore punk, goth, and ska could all play a part in Rock Band's future. "We'll have Country in RB sooner or later," stated HMXHenry, to a predictable bout of whining in the thread.While nothing official has been announced by Harmonix, we'll be welcoming country music with open arms. "But it's Rock Band," we imagine some of you will tiresomely protest. Well, yeah, it is, but do you want to be the goon who passes on the chance to bang out "Ring of Fire" on plastic instruments? Exactly. Nor do we. Now hush up and nobody tell Charlie Daniels.%Gallery-19119%[Via Joystiq]
WoW Moviewatch: As Good As I Once Was
Many WoW based Machinina films employ either dance/trance or death metal for their soundtrack. Not this one. This one is a music video based on a song by Country star Toby Keith, "As Good As I Once Was." It's a story of a Gnome Mage who has an interesting proposition made to him. I'll let your imagination take over from there.Keep an eye out for the 50 gnome and the half-naked twin gnome ladies. I can't believe I just said that.Previously on Moviewatch...
