Thursday, July 3, 2008

What I'm Doing in Minnesota

I'm a Guest of Honor at CONvergence, which describes itself as "The place where Science Fiction and Reality meet." It's a friendly convention run by friendly people who create a friendly atmosphere...and that's the most important thing I've observed so far.

One of the other Guest of Honor people is a talented gent named Wally Wingert, who lends his voice to countless animated cartoons, videogames, commercials and other endeavors that employ voiceover actors. When you see me mention that I've been directing the voices for a new series of Garfield cartoons, one of the people I'm directing is Wally. He's the current portrayer of the cat's long-suffering, lasagna-serving owner, Jon.

Anyway, I left my room this morn for a walk and promptly ran into Wally, who was about to speak to a group of fifth and sixth grade students, explaining to them about the bizarre/fun way he makes his living. He let me tag along and it was fascinating. I'm not sure all the kids "got" that this strange man in the front of the hall actually supplied the voices he demonstrated for Family Guy and Invader Zim and other shows they watched religiously. I think a few of them thought he was just a guy who could sound a lot like characters on TV...but the ones who understood were mesmerized.

After that, Wally, his parents, a few other folks and I hiked over to a DQ Grill & Chill — or maybe it's a Chill & Grill. Whatever it is, it's the kind of Dairy Queen fast food outlet that one does not find often in Southern California. They have little counters in mall food courts but free-standing, full-menu Dairy Queens are few 'n' far between in my homeland. If I still ate ice cream and similar confections, I'd regret that more than I do. Seemed like a place the old me would have enjoyed a lot...and the burger I did have was a step or two up from most fast food places.

CONvergence officially kicked off in the evening with the Opening Ceremonies, a cleverly-produced show with a video that I hope gets posted online so you can all see it. Guests of Honor were introduced (there are 23 of us) and announcements were made. Unlike a lot of conventions, this one runs on volunteerism and there's a lot of it, which leads to a pretty happy, congenial atmosphere.

I was on a panel after that called The Cereal Mascot Smackdown. Basically, a group of "experts" were asked to argue whether one cereal box superstar could annihilate another in a steel cage, to-the-death match. Could the Trix Rabbit take on Count Chocula? Could Captain Crunch beat up the rooster on the Kellogg's Corn Flakes box? How about Fred Flintstone (on the Fruity Pebbles box) versus the Lucky Charms Leprechaun? When it was my turn to defend the honor of Sonny the Cocoa Puffs Bird, I called for help. I whipped out my cell phone and called Chuck McCann, who did the voice of that bird for a quarter of a century and held it up to the microphone so the whole audience could hear him. Pleading his own case, Sonny won his round...but the ultimate winner of the whole competition was, as you might imagine, Tony the Tiger.

During the discussions, we were served an endless stream of every cereal under discussion. Having given up any food with much sugar content, I took but a small sample of each...which was enough to convince me that Boo Berry is the crummiest cereal I've ever had and that Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Crunch — which I'd never had before and may never have again — was my favorite. I did at one point mix Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Loops and Trix in a bowl and went momentarily blind.

As may be apparent, it was a lot of fun. Everything here so far has been a lot of fun. I'll let you know if things change as the weekend progresses but somehow, I don't think they will.

• Posted at 11:51 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Over on Slate, David Greenberg has a couple of interesting essays (here and here) about "patriotism" as a campaign weapon...one that's being deployed in the current match-up and which we're likely to see, ad nauseam, in the months ahead.

My particular problem with that is that this kind of debate always revolves around a particularly shallow kind of patriotism — waving the flag, reciting the pledge, standing for the anthem, etc. After 9/11, patriots of that depth all bought those $3.95 plastic flags (Made in Taiwan), put them on their cars and were satisfied that they had done their part as Americans fighting The War on Terror. Bill Maher described that as "pretty much the dictionary definition of 'the least you could do,'" and I think he was right. There's nothing wrong with singing of the rocket's red glare...and you can certainly be a Patriot without spilling blood or making some serious sacrifice. I just don't think you're a better American because you say so in a louder voice.

• Posted at 8:42 AM · LINK

Lydia News

From "Chelsea Girl" (a reader of this site) comes a worried e-mail: "Please assure me that though you're in Minnesota, Lydia is being properly fed." Lydia, you may recall, is the cat who hangs out in my back yard — the one I had to trap and take in for spaying and a kitty abortion a few months back.

Correction: "...one of the cats who hangs out in my back yard." We're up to five now. Five feral felines — try saying that fast — feed at the dishes I leave out on the rear porch. Usually in the evening, it's Lydia plus one guest. Years ago, I fed a cat we named Jackie out there...and Jackie was quite territorial, claiming my yard as her own. If another pussycat even entered, let alone approached The Dish, Jackie would leap to defend her turf, chasing off the intruder like one of Sinatra's bodyguards protecting The Chairman of the Board. Lydia is unthreatened by others and even acts as hostess. She's awfully generous with the food I pay for. As long as she gets her fill, all are welcome.

In the last week or so, the clientele out there has included a silvery/spotted cat of enormous size and appetite. Both of those qualities have been enhanced because this one looks ready to deliver a litter any day now...and may have, by the time I return. I made the layman's diagnosis that she was too far along to be trapped and hauled out to the vet, especially when I was about to leave town. She may even be too big to fit in that trap I bought. So I have the feeling Lydia will have plenty of new customers for the little Free Buffet she's operating on my stoop.

Fear not, Chelsea Girl. It's operational in my absence. I left plenty of food in the bins and a housesitter to dole it out. We've come too far with Lydia to abandon her now.

• Posted at 7:57 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

I'm staying on the topic of the magic trick, "Metamorphosis" for one more day. A couple of folks who wrote me think that I was unaware that many others had done this illusion before the Pendragons. I never thought that and I don't think I could have made that clearer than when I described it as — and I quote myself — "a classic illusion but one that they perform better than anyone."

Others pointed out that when Doug Henning did the trick, he also did a costume change. Okay, fine. Others have, as well. But look at what Henning's wearing before and after and then look at what Charlotte Pendragon does. He could have easily been wearing one outfit over the other and just discarded the outer one. She deliberately wears outfits that couldn't have worked like that.

Which is not to take anything away from the late Mr. Henning. Here's his version of the same trick, as performed on some special with actress Didi Conn. One should note that since Ms. Conn was a transient partner, she and Henning probably practiced 'n' rehearsed for a week or two, whereas Jonathan and Charlotte Pendragon have been perfecting their timing for a decade or two. Given that, Henning's version is pretty good.

• Posted at 12:10 AM · LINK