Saturday, May 8, 2004

Voice Actor Website of the Day

Announcing a new feature that I'm going to have on this site until I start forgetting about it! Each day, I will point you to the website of a fine voice actor. Today, say hello to Rob Paulsen, a fine talent I've had the pleasure of working with a few times. Rob is heard in many a cartoon and you can't watch TV without hearing one of his commercials. If you're interested in the business, give a listen to what a good demo tape sounds like.

• Posted at 10:17 PM · LINK

A Long Overdue Website

Matt Hinrichs has long brought us scrubbles.net, a very classy pop culture weblog. Now, he's gone one better and erected The Joyce Compton Shrine, a tribute to one of the more dazzling comediennes of the movies. Ms. Compton appeared in an awful lot of films, most of which were less memorable than her on-screen presence. But if you look over the filmography on Matt's nicely-designed site, you'll remember some films and maybe recall the moments in them when she lit up the proceedings. There are some stars who have that quality of "insistence," meaning you can't take your eyes off them. Joyce Compton was such a star.

• Posted at 11:38 AM · LINK

Today's Political Rant

Among the many depressing things about the current Iraq prison scandal is the way folks on all sides are treating it as just another campaign issue to be spun for votes. A lot of those defending Rumsfeld and Bush strike me as precisely the kind of folks who, if we currently had Democrats in those positions, would be citing this as the moral failings of men who have to be impeached. A lot of those expressing outrage strike me as being outraged wholly because they think it will hurt Bush and help Kerry. Senator Kerry's own statements sound fuzzy, as if he hasn't yet figured how to exploit it for maximum advantage. (A friend of mine made an interesting comment the other day. He said, "I used to hear John Kerry give these long, eloquent speeches on C-Span and I thought, 'What a smart man. He should be president.' Now that he actually has a good shot at the job, his speeches are sounding more and more like every other clown who ever ran for office." I think that may be true, especially in the kind of short sound-bytes required in current coverage.)

The scariest thing about Rumsfeld's testimony was when he said that there will be worse photos...and videos, even. So we're in for a lot more horrifying imagery, and a lot more spinning. Maybe someplace in there, we'll find a few politicos who'll react based on what it means for America and not what it means for their candidate in November.

• Posted at 11:34 AM · LINK

Rob and Laura Redux

This coming Tuesday, CBS is offering up a reunion special for my all-time favorite TV series, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Early reviews are not great but I don't care. I'll be watching. As I've written many times (like here), I really loved the show and got into my main line of work at least in part because of the inspiration it provided. Like most of you, I wish they'd done this special years ago when more of the cast members were with us and Mr. Van Dyke was still spry enough to trip over the ottoman a few more times. Apparently, such a special was talked about and talked about, and something always prevented it from happening, so we only had our memories and (of course) the comic books. I'm glad they're finally doing it and I'm unsurprised that Rob and Laura are still together.

One of the things I liked about the show was that their union seemed not only solid but filled with genuine affection. My least favorite episodes were the ones where one was jealous of some flirtation involving the others. It's not that I didn't want to see that but I didn't believe those little spats...didn't believe their marriage was so fragile that it could be an issue if a chorus girl kissed Rob or if Laura encountered an old boy friend. I also didn't believe the twin beds. Anyway, I'll be watching the show Tuesday and if you'd like a preview, there are some clips and interviews over on this page.

• Posted at 1:35 AM · LINK

May 9, 2004 • Current • May 7, 2004