The Man of a Thousand Voices - May 30, 2007

If Hollywood ever had an indispensable talent, it was Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices.  Blanc, whose 99th birthday we celebrate today, was a unique voice actor. He worked for most of the major studios, appeared regularly on radio and television (especially with Jack Benny, providing the "voices" of Benny's automobile and pet polar bear), and received credit for "voice characterizations" on all Warner Bros. cartoons -- even those in which he didn't do any voices at all!  His career began by imitating a drunken bull, but the short list of his other characters would include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble, Woody Woodpecker, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety and Sylvester, Marvin the Martian, the Tasmanian Devil, and Twiki the Robot.  About the only voice he didn't do was Elmer Fudd (that was Arthur Q. Bryan). When Mel Blanc died, it took literally dozens of actors to replicate the voices he'd created, all of whom would have otherwise been speechless. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: Mel Blanc - biography of the voice behind innumerable characters. Mel Blanc's Vocal Cords - exactly what it sounds like: someone stuck a camera down Mel's throat while he did Looney Tunes voices. Don Markstein's Toonopedia - a vast repository of toonological knowledge IMDb: Mel Blanc - filmography of Blanc's nearly 1000 cartoons and TV shows. Looney Tunes.com - online home of Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of gang from Termite Terrace.

Beauty and the Bumpkin - May 30, 2008

We've talked before about the odd juxtapositions that fate sometimes brings, but in researching topics for today's post, we came across one that struck us as so odd that we were compelled to note it: On June 1, 1926, both Marilyn Monroe and Andy Griffith were born. The two would seem to have little in common, but both were born into poverty (Monroe was a ward of the state, and Griffith slept in dresser drawers until his parents were able to afford a bed for him). And after a period of struggle, each achieved show business immortality -- she as a sex symbol and he as a down-home sheriff/philosopher. Obviously, Monroe had the tougher time. She battled personal demons while juggling three marriages (and who knows how many affairs) with an acting career that pigeonholed her as an empty-headed blonde bombshell.  Griffith's career had its own bumps. Despite his dramatic performance in A Face in the Crowd, he was typecast as the folksy Andy Taylor, and his film career never really took off. He failed in four other television series before hitting big in Matlock -- as, yes, a folksy lawyer. While there's no indication that the two ever met, there are enough intersections in their lives -- two examples: composer Earle Hagen wrote the whistling theme to The Andy Griffith Show and was also nominated for an Oscar on one of Monroe's last films, and Monroe had an affair with Elia Kazan, who directed Griffith in Crowd -- to make the idea of a meeting of these two icons of the 1950s just plausible enough.  One can only speculate what their conversation might have consisted of, but we'd bet it wouldn't have been about football. Suggested Sites... Monroe Monroe.com - official site with photos and information about Marilyn. Wikipedia: Andy Griffith - overview of the actor's life and career. "What It Was, Was Football" - the comedy routine that made Andy Griffith a star. Wikipedia: Marilyn Monroe - biography and facts, from Norma Jeane to the Kennedys. Taylor Home Inn - fans in Wisconsin who have recreated Andy Taylor's home as a B&B. Andy Griffith Museum - located in the actor's home town of Mt. Airy, NC.

Open Up That Golden Gate - May 28, 2007

 

It's one of the most photographed things on Earth and instantly identifies San Francisco, so as we note its 70th anniversary, here are nine things you might not know about the Golden Gate Bridge.

It isn't gold at all; it's International Orange. (Pantone number c0362c.) Naval engineers originally wanted it painted in yellow and black stripes to make it more visible in the fog. It was opened to automobiles when President Franklin Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House. On its 50th anniversary, so many people crowded onto it that the span actually flattened. It is estimated that someone jumps off of the Bridge every 15 days, almost always facing the city. The Bridge's main cables each contain 25,572 separate wires and weigh 11,000 tons. The concrete used in the construction could build two 10-foot-wide sidewalks from Chicago to Omaha. High winds have closed the Bridge three times. Each day, tidal flows send 390 billion gallons of water in motion under the Bridge. Suggested Sites... Golden Gate Bridge - live webcams, traffic reports, and news and history about California's most famous bridge. American Experience: Golden Gate Bridge- PBS documentary about the building of the Bridge. Wikipedia: Golden Gate Bridge - info and fun facts. The New Yorker: "Jumpers" - the fatal grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco Chronicle: "Lethal Beauty" - examines the darker side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Guns, Gals, and Gold -- or, The Mysterious Life of Dashiell Hammett - May 27, 2009

 

By Helene Spade and Dave Archer

If you don’t know anything about Dashiell Hammett, just dive into The Maltese Falcon or any of his numerous pulp magazine stories, and you'll get a glimpse of his real life. Everything you read, though. will be either partially true or flat-out wrong, depending on where you stand. Born on a Maryland farm on May 27, 1894, Samuel Dashiell (pronounced "dah-SHEEL, if you please) Hammett soon dropped out of school and into a series of low-paying jobs. In 1915, he was hired as an operative -- a "private eye" -- by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. While driving an ambulance during World War I, he contracted tuberculosis, forcing him to choose a post-war career that was less strenuous than tailing deadbeat husbands: writing. His inspiration wasn't hard to find: using his experience as a Pinkerton, he started writing short detective stories for the pulp magazine Black Mask, becoming one of the fathers of "hard-boiled" fiction: a genre that revels in stories of violence, sex, and money that take place in the meanest streets and shabbiest alleys of urban America. (Raymond Chandler -- no mean writer himself -- said that not only did Hammett create a new American language for fiction, but also "gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse.") Hammett's first major creation was the otherwise-unnamed "Continental Op." In 1934, he wrote the blockbuster novel The Thin Man, which introduced retired detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora (based on his real-life longtime partner Lillian Hellman). Later that year, a blockbuster film was made of the novel, catapulting actors William Powell and Myrna Loy into stardom and sparking a series of six films featuring the Charleses.  Hammett's most enduring creation was detective Samuel Spade, who roamed the mean streets of pre-war San Francisco, where Hammett himself had lived. John Huston's 1941 film adaptation of the Falcon made a superstar of Humphrey Bogart and turned San Francisco into the epitome of the noir city, with its rolling fog adding to the mystery to the plot. Hammett’s writing career was short but lucrative. Although he wrote only between 1922 and 1934, he turned out numerous short stories, and all of his five novels (Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and The Thin Man) were turned into successful films -- some more than once. After years of drinking and womanizing in Hollywood, Hammett embraced left-wing activism and joined the Communist Party in 1937. During World War II, he pulled strings to enlist as a private in the U.S. Army at the age of 48, but his political convictions led him to prison for five months in 1951, when he refused to testify at the trial of four Communists accused of conspiring against the U.S. government. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, chased by the IRS for back taxes, and died of lung cancer in 1961, in alcoholic poverty. Ironically enough, despite being called an enemy of his country for his Communist views, the veteran of two World Wars was awarded a burial plot at Arlington National Cemetery. Suggested Sites... Shadowing Dashiell Hammett - every clue you need to solve Hammett's life mystery The Dashiell Hammett Tour - fans of the author can stride along his footsteps by exploring some of San Francisco noir landmarks. John's Grill Marks Its Centennial - one of Hammett's -- and Samuel Spade's -- favorite restaurants. Dashiell Hammett - Mike Grost examines Hammett's writing style, themes, and plots. NPR: Hammett's Maltese Falcon, 75 Years Later - audio report about the legacy of Hammett's most famous novel.

It's Nothing to Be Ashamed Of! - May 25, 2009

There's a moment in everyone's life when they come out of the closet -- not necessarily that closet -- but rather when they realize that that thing they’ve always been interested in and fascinated by isn't something to be embarrassed about, but is something to be acknowledged and celebrated. In my own case, it was (and is) comic books. Even though I've been reading them for half a century, when I was in high school, it was worst sort of social embarrassment to admit that not only did you read and enjoy them, but you also collected them. When I got to college, I met men and women who were smart, funny, and who actually read comics -- and admitted it. Since then, I've been more than proud of my fanboy status -- even if some of my fellows are still stereotypically geeky. May 25th is Geek Pride Day, a holiday that started (in Spain, of all places) in 2006, and is dedicated to allowing all of us the freedom to be geeks or nerds about anything we like -- no, not just like, but are really into. With that in mind, I polled my fellow Sparkster to find out what floats their particular boats. Robert: As far as nerdy and geeky interests, there's too much to choose from, so I’ll just go with role-playing games -- Dungeons and Dragons in particular; a game that even nerds call nerdy. I used to play Dungeons and Dragons back in the '90s when TSR was still around and supported the Ravenloft (gothic horror) and Dark Sun (kind of like Mad Max) campaign settings. These days my D&D lust is satisfied by war games like Warhammer and board games (especially horror games) like Arkham Horror, which is a perfect meld of board games and another nerdy interest of mine: H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos. But, still loyal to my old passion, I keep a bad-ass Dragons of Krynn painting I got way back in high school hanging in my room. Sarah: I am a total history junkie. I will read, watch, or listen to anything involving history (as you can probably tell from my Sparks). I'm partial to European history, especially anything weird, corrupt, or scandalous -- and it’s even better if it involves the monarchy. But surprisingly, I've never been to a Renaissance Faire. Suzi: This Memorial Day, I hope to be sitting by the pool, soaking up the sun, enjoying a bevy of tunes from my iPod Classic, whilst reading some lovely literary selection on my Kindle. I'm sure I'll be in contact with loved ones, as my BlackBerry Pearl never leaves my side. Yes, folks, I am an unabashed gadget girl. I wear my Nerd Pride badge, well, proudly. Richard: I became painfully aware of my status as a gay nerd while creating a spreadsheet of Golden Girls episodes that I wanted to rip to my iPhone, organized by season, disc, and featured musical number (where applicable.) Jessica: I am nerdy about snowboard construction. My own snowboard has a Kevlar core for strength and flexibility (and in case bad guys are after me on the slopes, a la James Bond). It's pretty new, but the latest in board tech is bamboo veneer, which, in addition to being sustainable and looking very board-like indeed, reduces vibrations on icy snow and at high speeds. So cool. Adrienne: I collect Japanese toys. Okay, I'm not a master collector, but I still spend too much money of ugly vinyl monsters and fanciful plastic windup toys. Source of neurotic nerdiness: Crying over Gamera's apparent demise ("Don't die, Gamera! Don’t die!") in a fellow 3-year-old’s Gaithersburg, Maryland basement. It's one of my earliest memories. Do manicured lawns spawn escapist fantasies? Chris: I am an unapologetic sci-fi nerd. A good sci-fi novel/movie inspires you to think deeply, often forcing you to consider possibilities that never occurred to you. The prescription for all closed-minded individuals who just can't show any empathy or sympathize with any unknown point of view is an assigned list of the best sci-fi. Mike: I am a Disneyland nerd and proud of it! Since I was 10 years old, I’ve been going there at least once a year. After my first son was born, I have shared my poison, I mean passion, for it with my family -- my eight-year-old son has been there 15 times. I know ... it's nuts. And that’s why it's the nerdiest thing about me. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: Geek Pride Day - we call them nerds, they call them geeks -- and there's probably a subculture dedicated to determining the differences. What Are the Differences Between "Nerds," "Geeks," and "Dorks?" - well, we're waiting ... Wikipedia: Trekkies - for some, these are the ultimate of geekdom. If you're a "trekker," it's too late ... 501st Legion - for me, it doesn't get any lower than this. Okay, you think Boba Fett is cool; we get it, already! Kelly's World of Airsickness Bags - see, there's nothing that doesn't have aficionados.