Dick Beals dies at 85; voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer

Richard “Dick” Beals was an American voice actor who performed many voices in his career,  spanning the period from the early 1950s into the 21st century. He specialized primarily in doing the voices of young boys. He was well known as Davey in the Davey and Goliath animations.

Perhaps his most recognizable characterization was the voice of the stop-motion animation figure called “Speedy Alka-Seltzer“, featured in TV ads for more than 50 years….

Half a year to go and I can’t wait to see the film of Les Mis…

They have released a “teaser” and that’s just what it is. I am teased. I’m really looking forward to the December release of the Les Miserables movie… not the kind of thing I usually get so fired up about.

Here’s the teaser:

That’s Anne Hathaway performing as Fantine. And I can’t wait to see Hugh Jackman do Jean Valjean.

(geez, I sound like a teenage girl!)

So, it looks like we’ve sold our Town House…

Three months after moving over here to rural Harper’s Ferry, we have just signed the agreement to sell our Shepherdstown town house…not for as much as we wanted, but for enough to move forward in our plans to eventually build a totally sustainable house in the lot next to ours. In Elly’s mind, we are moving again next year, but I’ll just wait and see.

Life is never easy.

 

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Birthers should be evaluating Mexican Mitt…

This was clipped from AmericaBlog:

“The second Birther claim is by far the most hilarious: namely, that the Constitution states that both parents must be natural-born citizens of the United States in order to be president. The Philadelphia Convention must have written that clause in invisible ink, because nowhere in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution does it state that. The Constitution states that the candidate must only be born here (check), must be at least 35-years-old (check), and be a US resident for at least 14 years (check).

“What makes the second thinking so hilarious is that under Birthers‘ very own logic, the GOP‘s 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney is also ineligible to be president – his papi was born in Mexico.”

 

You don’t hear Birthers going after Mitt on this, oh, because he’s the white guy? What about the fact that his grandfather living in Mexico was there so he could have multiple wives?

This election is getting insane…

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• Prove Mitt’s not a unicorn, group says in satirizing ‘birthers’ (cnn.com)
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• “Bringing The Sideshow Into The Circus”: Why The Media Is Giving Romney A Pass On Trump’s Birtherism (mykeystrokes.com)
• 17,000 People Sign Petition Asking Birther-Curious Arizona Official To Investigate Whether Romney Is A Unicorn (thinkprogress.org)
• Bill Maher satirizes Birthers… this is FUNNY! (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Romney Mentions US Birth Requirement Amid Fresh Birther Controversy, Wants To Require Presidents To “Work In Business” (alan.com)
• Romney Explains Why He Accepts Birther Trump: “I Need To Get 50.1% Or More” (alan.com)

Starting the day with a quote about Trump…

The Donald is becoming the leading entertainer of the Republican campaign… Romney‘s comic sidekick. But how do you define him?

Frank Rich has the answer:

“There is no more naked celebrity in America than Donald Trump. He doesn’t do subtlety. He doesn’t do ‘thought.’ To say he has a political calculus is a wild overstatement. His strategy amounts to no more than junior high school algebra. The equation is: Trump + infantile public statement x infinite repetitions on TV and Twitter = maximum publicity for flailing Trump products and insatiable Trump ego.”

Rich also has a warning for Romney concerning the Trump fundraiser:

If you will fly to Vegas for a one-night-stand with a bleach-bottle bimbo, you look as if you will do anything for money.

And that is apparently true.

David Swerdlick sums their pairing up in the  New York Daily News:

…there’s a reason why they can’t ditch each other — and why Romney won’t create his own “Sister Souljah moment,” dumping Trump to win over the swing voters who’ve lost faith in President Obama but don’t buy into Trump’s ongoing birther crusade.

It’s simple, actually. Romney’s earnest demeanor might not mesh with Trump’s headline-grabbing persona, but they’re more alike than you might think — and in different ways, they need each other’s help to take on Obama.

For one thing, they both got their start the old-fashioned way: from their dads. Trump’s left him a growing real estate empire, and Romney’s father-governor of Michigan and secretary of housing and urban development was the CEO of American Motors. They both spend a lot of time bragging about their business chops, but neither one gives Obama credit for making millions on his own.

They’re also both brand-new “conservatives.” These days, they rail against the perils of Obamacare, but Romney is the godfather of the individual mandate, and in his 12-year-old manifesto, “The America We Deserve,” Trump argued for universal health care — positions that both hope the public will forget.

Maybe The Donald SHOULD be considered as Romney’s VP choice… it’s as least as good a move as John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin.

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