Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Currently on C-Span...

Watching the roll call of the states casting their votes. Wonder who will win.

• Posted at 8:09 PM · LINK

Currently on C-Span...

Al Sharpton used to be a publicity-seeking scam artist of questionable integrity and zero experience in government, and there are a hundred self-proclaimed candidates I'd vote for before I put an "X" next to his name. A hundred and one if you count Alfred E. Neuman.

That said, he's also a helluva speaker. I hope someday we see some of that from someone who belongs in elected office.

• Posted at 5:43 PM · LINK

Jackson Beck, R.I.P

One of the "most-heard" voices in the world, Jackson Beck, passed away this morning, five days after his 92nd birthday. Beck's list of credits was staggering. In the Golden Age of Radio, he was heard on dozens of shows including Easy Aces, The March of Time, Mark Trail, Grand Central Station and dozens more, but he was most identified in the title roles on The Cisco Kid and Philo Vance and as the narrator on The Adventures of Superman. In the world of animation, he was not the first voice of Popeye's arch-nemesis Bluto but he voiced more cartoons in that role than anyone else, continuing on through the years when Bluto morphed into Brutus (as explained here).

He was also the voice of Buzzy the Crow and of King Leonardo and his arch-nemesis, Biggy Rat among many other animation jobs and he appeared in many non-animated films. Woody Allen, for instance, used him as the narrator of his first feature, Take the Money and Run, and in key roles in other films. (In Radio Days, he dubbed the voice of the radio newsman reporting on the little girl who'd fallen down a well.) Mostly though, he did commercials — thousands of them, including long associations with Brawny paper towels, Thompson's Water Seal and Little Caesar's Pizza — in one of the longest, most prolific careers any announcer has ever had. Many who met him at Old Time Radio conventions (where he often participated in re-creations of classic shows) knew him as a friendly, affable gentleman. Many more just knew the sound of him. Want to hear that sound? Here's an MP3 audio sample of Mr. Beck doing the opening for a 1966 Saturday morning series. It's a voice we'll all miss.

• Posted at 5:10 PM · LINK

Today's Political Rant

They're saying that as soon as the Democratic Convention is over, the White House will announce that this year's federal deficit will top $420 billion...a new record. The buzz is that (a) they're waiting to announce this so that Kerry cannot use that statistic in his speech and (b) that this will be spun as encouraging news since they had once forecast a hundred billion more.

The first point puzzles me a bit. How difficult would it be for Kerry to say, "The White House has so mismanaged this economy that they will soon have to announce the highest deficit in the history of this country"? Does he need a precise number to hammer them on this point?

I don't think the "not as bad as we feared" defense will get very far, except with folks who are already determined to support Bush no matter what and need something to say. I think it was Barry Goldwater who once said that you can't leave your supporters without a way to defend you. If the news is bad, you have to give them the "spin" (he didn't use that word) so they don't look too foolish for standing with you. One of the main things that eroded Nixon's support during the Watergate mess was that people who yearned to believe and promote "his side" of it often did not know what it was and were left speechless when his critics attacked. I sure get the feeling that a lot of Bush defenders aren't happy with the excuses they've been given to make for the deficit, the sloppy pre-war intelligence, the claims of torture, etc...

• Posted at 12:13 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

If you want to know why Teresa Heinz Kerry told that reporter to "shove it," you'll want to read Joe Conason.

• Posted at 9:58 AM · LINK