This is not your practice blog

Gotta Go

Having trouble breaking off that loooong phone conversation? Get help at SorryGottaGo.com, where you can play any of a selection of sounds, including "Someone's at the door", "Deposit 25 cents", and the classic "The baby is crying".

We got a puppy

Her name is Sophie.

Richest Americans

The Forbes list of richest Americans is out, if you're into that sort of thing. Half of the top ten this year are named Walton.

Paul Frees

Who is the greatest voice actor of all time? Most who have an opinion would probably choose the amazing Mel Blanc, who performed so many classic Warner Brothers Cartoons almost single-handed as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, and dozens of others.

But consider the lesser known Paul Frees. As I young nerd I knew Frees's sharp-edged tones (if not his name) as the dramatic, scary voice from dozens of science fiction movies, most memorably the talking rings of the Eloi in The Time Machine. And I recognized that same voice as the narrator of my favorite ride at Disneyland, Adventure through Inner Space (better known as Monsanto's Mighty Microscope), and I was pretty sure I heard the voice pop up in various parts of The Bullwinkle Show.

Frees was everywhere: Raid commercials. Super Chicken cartoons. Dubbing dialog for Toshiro Mifune in English-speaking movie roles. The original animated Return of the King. Narrating the original Manchurian Candidate. The Thing in the Fantastic Four cartoon. George and John in The Beatles cartoon. Various guys saying "I'm Spartacus" in that movie.

And would you believe: the Pillsbury Doughboy! Little Sprout in the Jolly Green Giant commercials! Boris Badenov! Toucan Sam! And all the other work listed here.

To get an idea of Frees's incredible range and output, check out this amazing demo tape. Be sure to listen all the way through.

Bizarre baseball play

In yesterday's Red Sox - Blue Jays game, Boston's Gabe Kapler was on first base when teammate Tony Graffanino hit a long fly ball. Kapler started running hard, and as he rounded second base, he fell to the ground: he had ruptured his left Achilles' tendon. Meanwhile, Graffanino's hit went over the fence for a home run.

Sports rules always have a hard time dealing with injuries during a play. Baseball has a special provision in this case:

Rule 5.10 (c) (1) If an accident to a runner is such as to prevent him from proceeding to a base to which he is entitled, as on a home run hit out of the playing field, or an award of one or more bases, a substitute runner shall be permitted to complete the play.

So, the game stopped as trainers helped the injured Kapler off the field, while Graffanino waited on first base. Then Boston was allowed to send in pinch runner Alejandro Machado, who started at second base, then ran to third and home, while Graffanino followed him to complete the home run.

Of course, if the ball hadn't gone over the fence for a homer, poor Kapler would likely have been stuck on the ground helpless while the Blue Jays got the ball and tagged him out.

(Thanks to Marshall Clow for telling me about this play.)

Google ships blog search

Check it out here.

Superdome cursed?

Apparently the Louisiana Superdome has long been considered cursed by some.

Bonds is back

Open up the gates to McCovey Cove: Barry Bonds is back.

Flight 93 memorial

In 2003 I was in Pennsylvania and visited the temporary, ad hoc Flight 93 memorial -- an incredibly moving place. Now a beautiful and sensitive design has been chosen for a permanent memorial. And it's astonishingly ironic that the memorial features trees in the shape of a crescent, a symbol of Islam.

More about Flight 93: a unique TV show that reconstructs and dramatizes what happened on that flight will be shown on Sunday, which is the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Living well in New Orleans

If you didn't think you could get any madder or sadder about what's happening in New Orleans, read this story. (If you can't get past the zip code page, click the button that says you don't live in the U.S.)

Here's an excerpt:

At the Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter, dinner the last few nights has consisted of grilled tilapia, bow-tie noodles with tomato basil sauce, a T-bone steak and a nice red wine to wash it down. It's being prepared by two of the Bourbon Street hotel's chefs, who are using propane grills to prepare meals for the 31 staff members who have stayed behind to protect the 500-room hotel in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"We're eating like kings," said Gary Davis, the hotel's electronic technician. "We've got to eat it all before it goes bad."
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The lobby looks as if it could receive guests at any moment. Generators keep some of their appliances in operation, including a refrigerator, a television, and several large air circulating fans. They even have ice for cold drinks.

The director of security, Joel Smith, spends his nights with a gun in his hand on guard against looters, but his days taking quick dips in the hotel pool. "Yeah, we have it pretty rough," he said. "All we need is the pool bar opening up and we'll be great."

I've never been in a war zone like New Orleans. I understand about personal survival and protecting property. But this is beyond the pale. I think it would be great if the Sonesta Hotels Corporation made a big fat donation to hurricane relief, don't you?