Sorry it is a little late, but Zach had a wonderful day. In fact he specifically said that his B-day is the best day ever. Here are a couple pics. Zach wanted cookies instead of a cake this year.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Valentines Day
This is a late post, but Tyler wanted to show you his pictures...
We went to the Salsbury Zoo. The peacock was sitting down and showing off his colors. He is probably trying to get a valentine. But I might be wrong. All it did was sit down, it didn't move, or try to get a valentine.
Is this prairie dog looking for a valentine? I think it is because its scrambling through its wholes. Or is it trying to find a way out to the prairie.
There's nothing like a great swim with the otters. Are they trying to catch up with their valentines?
What a bad Valentines Day for the bear. He is all alone. I wish they could give him another bear, he is not using all of the space.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Top Ten Voice Performances
While I was studying for the bar and waiting to join the Air Force, I was programming Computer based training for University of South Dakota. This required me to do a lot of narrating. After speaking into a microphone for months, and then having to listen to myself, I have found a new appreciation for voice overs. So I have been thinking recently about some of the great voiceperformances, and come up with my top ten:
10. Janeane Garofalo, Ratatouille (2007). Most people don’t realize that this is even Janeane Garofalo. I do admit I have been a huge fan of Ms. Garofalo’s work (not politics) for a long time (since her brief stint on SNL). She adds emotion, an incredibly great accent, and make a supporting part wonderful.
Best Line: “What is this? Keep... your... station clear! If meal orders come in, what will happen? Messy stations slow things down, food doesn't go, orders pile up, disaster! I will make this easier to remember: keep you station clean... or I WILL KILL YOU!”
9. Liam Neeson, Chronicles of Narnia (both 2005&2008). CS Lewis has been quoted saying that Aslan would never be animated like a Disney character. Of course with what Aslan symbolizes, Mr. Lewis always wanted to ensure that he was always taken majestically, reverently, and in no way a silly talking animal. Liam Neeson’s voice by itself captures this, adding the wonderful animation, Mr. Lewis’s words, and powerful performance makes it work.
Best Line: “If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards.”
8. Mel Blanc, Speedy Gonzales. Academy Award winning animated short was probably the best the man did. Not that all of his voices weren’t brilliant, but his passion and excitement made this character one of the best.
Best Line: “Apology accepted, Captain Needa”
3. Lucille La Verne, Snow White (1937). Of course it is easy to go out there more when you are playing a villain. But this performance as both the queen before and after transformation made her scary, realistic, and I believe set the standard for voice actors in animated movies. Funny story: While recording her part as the old woman, Walt Disney kept telling her she didn’t quite get it right. After several retakes La Verne asked if she could go to the bathroom. When she returned and tried again to do the voice, she performed it perfectly. Amazed, Disney asked how she had achieved it. La Verne replied that she had removed her false teeth.
Best Line: “Now, a formula to transform my beauty into ugliness. Change my queenly rainment to a peddler's cloak. Mummy dust, to make me old. To shroud my clothes, the black of night. To age my voice, and old hag's cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind to fan my hate. A thunderbolt to mix it well. Now, begin thy magic spell.”
2. Brad Bird, The Incredibles (2004). #1 and 2 were a difficult decision, tomorrow I will probably change my mind and want to switch them. But for now…With only like 3 scenes, Edna Mode makes everyone count. Voiced by the director Brad Bird, the rumor is that they offered the part to Lily Tomlin, who after hearing Bird’s directions, said it sounded like he could do it better. She was right. Not that Tomlin is talented. But everything he says is full of life, humor, and the perfect presentation.
Best Line: “Your suit can stretch as far as you can without injuring yourself, and still retain its shape. Virtually indestructible, yet it breathes like Egyptian cotton.”
1. Daveigh Chase, Lilo and Stitch (2002). At age twelve, young Ms Chase took on an extremely complicated role. She had to pull off humor, sadness, kindness, excitement, love, and deep sorrow. Only using her voice (added by the animators of course). She was the story, remember stitch didn’t really say anything, she had to carry the story. Which she did, and up to this point the last great hand-animated film.
Best Line: “And today we were out of peanut butter. So I asked my sister what to give him, and she said "a tuna sandwich". I can't give Pudge tuna…Do you know what tuna is... It's fish! If I give Pudge tuna, I'd be an abomination! I'm late because I had to go to the store and get peanut butter 'cause all we have is... is... stinkin' tuna!”
10. Janeane Garofalo, Ratatouille (2007). Most people don’t realize that this is even Janeane Garofalo. I do admit I have been a huge fan of Ms. Garofalo’s work (not politics) for a long time (since her brief stint on SNL). She adds emotion, an incredibly great accent, and make a supporting part wonderful.Best Line: “What is this? Keep... your... station clear! If meal orders come in, what will happen? Messy stations slow things down, food doesn't go, orders pile up, disaster! I will make this easier to remember: keep you station clean... or I WILL KILL YOU!”
9. Liam Neeson, Chronicles of Narnia (both 2005&2008). CS Lewis has been quoted saying that Aslan would never be animated like a Disney character. Of course with what Aslan symbolizes, Mr. Lewis always wanted to ensure that he was always taken majestically, reverently, and in no way a silly talking animal. Liam Neeson’s voice by itself captures this, adding the wonderful animation, Mr. Lewis’s words, and powerful performance makes it work.Best Line: “If the Witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself would turn backwards.”
8. Mel Blanc, Speedy Gonzales. Academy Award winning animated short was probably the best the man did. Not that all of his voices weren’t brilliant, but his passion and excitement made this character one of the best.Best Line: “El Greengo Pussygato”
7. Eddie Murphy, Shrek (1-2001 & 2-2004, the third was a waste of time and talent). Eddie Murphy ironically said that he feels that despite everything he has done, he will be remembered most for his portrayal of Donkey. At the end of the day, Donkey makes the first movie, he and puss makes the second (Antonio Banderas basically played himself or may have made it on the list). Everyline Murphy gives it his all to make is special, memorable, and funny.
7. Eddie Murphy, Shrek (1-2001 & 2-2004, the third was a waste of time and talent). Eddie Murphy ironically said that he feels that despite everything he has done, he will be remembered most for his portrayal of Donkey. At the end of the day, Donkey makes the first movie, he and puss makes the second (Antonio Banderas basically played himself or may have made it on the list). Everyline Murphy gives it his all to make is special, memorable, and funny. Best Line: “Then you gotta gotta show a little tenderness, chicks love that romantic crap.”
6. Robin Williams, Aladdin (1992). Nathan Lane said working with Williams was like being in a telethon for hyperactive children that never ended. This role was quintessential Williams, funny, hyper, politically incorrect, without all of the vulgarity and profanity. His prior voice experience was Fern Gully, where his talents were wasted on trying to make him more of a plot line. This role paved the way for other comics to let loose in an animated film (see Murphy above). Animation works perfect for his kind of humor, because in animation you are free to go from one thing to another. Hence, he can jump from Genie to Nicholson to Dangerfield freely and not attempt to craft a reason why.
6. Robin Williams, Aladdin (1992). Nathan Lane said working with Williams was like being in a telethon for hyperactive children that never ended. This role was quintessential Williams, funny, hyper, politically incorrect, without all of the vulgarity and profanity. His prior voice experience was Fern Gully, where his talents were wasted on trying to make him more of a plot line. This role paved the way for other comics to let loose in an animated film (see Murphy above). Animation works perfect for his kind of humor, because in animation you are free to go from one thing to another. Hence, he can jump from Genie to Nicholson to Dangerfield freely and not attempt to craft a reason why. Best Line: “First, that fez-and-vest combo is much too third-century. These patches. What are we trying to say? Beggar? No. Let's work with me here.”
5. Tom Hanks, Toy Story 1 & 2. Watching the DaVinci Code, Tom Hanks looks bored. After reading the book, I understood, its boring. But he seemed lethargic through the whole movie. Hard to believe, that he was the same one who seemed to make a cowboy doll come to life. Hanks gave this plastic object laughs, feelings, anger, and a lot of emotion. Despite his four Oscar nods and two wins, I think this was one of his bests. He seemed to bring more energy to this part more than any other.
Best Line: “You are a toy! You aren't the real Buzz Lightyear! You're - you're just an action figure! You are a child's play-thing!"
4. James Earl Jones, Star Wars Series. A voice that conveyed so much, with such ridiculous dialogue. Sorry but George Lucas is really not that talented in writing dialogue, nor getting good performances out of great actors (Samuel L Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, all great actors, but under Lucas they are cheesy). But James Earl Jones voice over with his voice, his anger and infliction for each of the lines puts a soul into a plastic mask.
5. Tom Hanks, Toy Story 1 & 2. Watching the DaVinci Code, Tom Hanks looks bored. After reading the book, I understood, its boring. But he seemed lethargic through the whole movie. Hard to believe, that he was the same one who seemed to make a cowboy doll come to life. Hanks gave this plastic object laughs, feelings, anger, and a lot of emotion. Despite his four Oscar nods and two wins, I think this was one of his bests. He seemed to bring more energy to this part more than any other.Best Line: “You are a toy! You aren't the real Buzz Lightyear! You're - you're just an action figure! You are a child's play-thing!"
4. James Earl Jones, Star Wars Series. A voice that conveyed so much, with such ridiculous dialogue. Sorry but George Lucas is really not that talented in writing dialogue, nor getting good performances out of great actors (Samuel L Jackson, Natalie Portman, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, all great actors, but under Lucas they are cheesy). But James Earl Jones voice over with his voice, his anger and infliction for each of the lines puts a soul into a plastic mask. Best Line: “Apology accepted, Captain Needa”
3. Lucille La Verne, Snow White (1937). Of course it is easy to go out there more when you are playing a villain. But this performance as both the queen before and after transformation made her scary, realistic, and I believe set the standard for voice actors in animated movies. Funny story: While recording her part as the old woman, Walt Disney kept telling her she didn’t quite get it right. After several retakes La Verne asked if she could go to the bathroom. When she returned and tried again to do the voice, she performed it perfectly. Amazed, Disney asked how she had achieved it. La Verne replied that she had removed her false teeth.Best Line: “Now, a formula to transform my beauty into ugliness. Change my queenly rainment to a peddler's cloak. Mummy dust, to make me old. To shroud my clothes, the black of night. To age my voice, and old hag's cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind to fan my hate. A thunderbolt to mix it well. Now, begin thy magic spell.”
2. Brad Bird, The Incredibles (2004). #1 and 2 were a difficult decision, tomorrow I will probably change my mind and want to switch them. But for now…With only like 3 scenes, Edna Mode makes everyone count. Voiced by the director Brad Bird, the rumor is that they offered the part to Lily Tomlin, who after hearing Bird’s directions, said it sounded like he could do it better. She was right. Not that Tomlin is talented. But everything he says is full of life, humor, and the perfect presentation.Best Line: “Your suit can stretch as far as you can without injuring yourself, and still retain its shape. Virtually indestructible, yet it breathes like Egyptian cotton.”
1. Daveigh Chase, Lilo and Stitch (2002). At age twelve, young Ms Chase took on an extremely complicated role. She had to pull off humor, sadness, kindness, excitement, love, and deep sorrow. Only using her voice (added by the animators of course). She was the story, remember stitch didn’t really say anything, she had to carry the story. Which she did, and up to this point the last great hand-animated film.Best Line: “And today we were out of peanut butter. So I asked my sister what to give him, and she said "a tuna sandwich". I can't give Pudge tuna…Do you know what tuna is... It's fish! If I give Pudge tuna, I'd be an abomination! I'm late because I had to go to the store and get peanut butter 'cause all we have is... is... stinkin' tuna!”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Zach's post about Dart Attack
The game is going to take a while to make, but there will be hundreds of worlds to play in a really cool guns. People will use darts and it will be really fun.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Our Passports came in the mail!
They actually got here a lot quicker then we thought. Needless to say we are very excited.
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