The Exploding Mickey Mouse

David Gerstein in his Ramapaith blog reports on an interesting main title variant that was actually used on a number of United Artists Mickey Mouse releases. The big sunbeam-backed head of Mickey Mouse explodes!

Warner Bros. fans should weigh this statement of Gerstein's regarding this title variant. "Somewhere, 'Exploding Mickey' sits on a therapist's couch alongside the 'Lumber-Jack Rabbit' [sic] Warner Bros shield, asking their mutual shrink how they can apologize to the many kids they've scared." EDIT: Reason for sic:

And Now The Waiting Begins

Today I auditioned for "Jeopardy!" The auditions take place in several cities throughout the country, and it was New York's turn. Two teams of contestant staff scour the country looking for good players with awesome knowledge. Today's auditions were run by Senior Contestant Coordinator Glenn Kagan, who's been working on game shows for over 35 years, the last 25 with the current version of "Jeopardy!", which will enter its 29th season this fall. We were one of the first audition groups for the new season, which begins taping July 24 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA.

Kagan and his associates Corinne and Kenny were all friendly types in spite of jet lag from flying in the day before. There were nineteen of us in the audition room; sixteen men, three women. We started with a fifty-question written quiz. As the same quiz is used in future auditions I cannot spoil any of the material, sorry. I think I got about 42 of the fifty correct including some lucky guesses and in spite of a few brain farts.

After scoring the quizzes, we each played a mock game of "Jeopardy!" using the familiar handheld buzzers and a truncated board showing only three questions in each category. As each category is used up a new one replaces it. If I could figure out a way to reprogram the pages on J! Archive (www.j-archive.com) to do that, it would be just so sweet as a training aid. I was in the sixth and final trio of contestants. Afterwards I gave Glenn and Corinne the story of my life, then made way for the 19th and final contestant.

My morning was over with a quick 20-block walk back to Penn Station to catch the train into Metropark (with a stop at Ray's Famous Original Pizza - good slices), and the drive home from there. (The commute to and fro was routine and uneventful, unlike my drive into NYC for "Millionaire.")

So now begins 18 months of waiting for a phone call telling me to pack my bags for LA, which I haven't visited since 1989. Looking forward to finally getting a chance to be on a show that I watched as a wee child with Art Fleming on NBC, and one I first auditioned for sometime in the early 1990's with a 50-question test at what was then known as Merv Griffin's Resorts. (Needless to say I didn't do well on that one.)

Will update you if I get a tape date. After that, I must remain mum until the show (hopefully, shows) air.

What A Night For Pitchers

Three incredible pitching performances last night, one in Miami with a potential Boston no-hitter by Felix Doubront broken up by no less than Jose Reyes, R.A. Dickey's one-hitter against Tampa Bay, and Matt Cain totally shutting down the Houston Astros late last night at AT&T Park.

This morning word comes that the Mets are going to try to appeal what they believe should have been a fielding error on David Wright on B.J. Upton's first-inning dribbler "single". Jon Heyman of CBS doesn't believe the Mets have a chance to have the call overturned. I would think that then we'd go back to the tapes and films of all one-hitters and try to make them retroactively into no-nos. The decision of the official scorer should be final. Imagine if the Cards were to appeal that blown third base foul line call in Santana's no hitter of almost two weeks ago....

That said, let's roll out the revised roster, as we continue to count down the Padres' continued futility in their quest for a no-hitter at right. (Anyone else doing this?)

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted, including the one the Seattle Mariners threw on June 8, 2012
06/13/12 San Francisco Giants (Matt Cain - perfect game)
06/01/12 New York Mets (Johan Santana - team's first)
05/02/12 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Jered Weaver)
04/21/12 Chicago White Sox (Philip Humber - perfect game)
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)

EL GOCHO BELIEVE IT!

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
06/01/12 New York Mets (Johan Santana - team's first)
05/02/12 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Jered Weaver)
04/21/12 Chicago White Sox (Philip Humber - perfect game)
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)



Yada Yada Yada

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
05/02/12 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Jered Weaver)
04/21/12 Chicago White Sox (Philip Humber - perfect game)
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

Here we go again....

Mets fans still wait as ChiSox fans enjoy their second perfect game in four seasons.

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
04/21/12 Chicago White Sox (Philip Humber - perfect game)
07/27/11 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Ervin Santana)
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

AI Twitter Scoreboard

Since this year the geniuses of "American Idol" have decided to give each of their contestants their own official Twitter account, it was interesting to see how many followers each of the remaining contestants have. The numbers are not surprising.

Jessica Sanchez - 213,660 (@jsanchezai11)
Phillip Phillips - 207,202 (@pphillipsai11)
Skylar Laine - 90,196 (@slaineai11)
Hollie Cavanagh - 69,196 (@cavanaghai11)
Joshua Ledet - 62,499 (@jledetai11)
Elise Testone - 62,024 (@etestoneai11)

See if this holds through the end of the competition but I see a Jessica-Phillip final, in spite of my rooting interest in Elise, who spent her teen years in New Jersey.

Memories of Dick Clark

Ah, Dick Clark. He and I sort of grew up together, in spite of the fact that there was some 30 years age difference between us. Now, granted I'm not old enough to remember when Dick first hit the national airwaves in 1957, taking a five-year-old local dance show originating from, of all places, Philadelphia, to the nascent ABC Television Network, where the double-punch of that show and "The Mickey Mouse Club" were the two biggest hits in daytime TV, eventually leading to the cancellation of NBC's "Howdy Doody".

By the time I started watching "American Bandstand" it was probably 1967. The show had already been on the West Coast for about four years and had just moved to early Saturday afternoons at 12:30 Eastern. Dick had darn near everyone come on his show and lip sync to their hit records; even as technology made live performances possible, Dick still did it the old fashioned way. Many tributes have noted that Dick championed black performers early on, which did get him in trouble with ABC affiliates in the deep South. But eventually the talent of performers like Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke left audiences even there wanting for more. I will always remember the weekly countdown of the biggest hits, Rate-A-Record, and all those ads for products like Clearasil and Stridex and Dr Pepper (which Dick at one point advocated drinking hot).

A clip from the 1982 30th anniversary special follows. There is also a segment with Dick's longtime announcer on the show, Charlie O'Donnell. Clark brought O'Donnell with him to LA, kickstarting his own career as a disk jockey, news anchor, and television announcer. (I've heard, but have never been able to confirm, that Jay Stewart was also an announcer on "Bandstand".)



Dick parlayed his success as music entrepreneur into several other formats, including a prime-time show for Beech-Nut Gum, "Where The Action Is", and "The American Music Awards". Dick was involved in the payola scandal of the late 1950's but divested himself of music publishing and record label interests thereafter. He also kept "Bandstand" going into the late 1980's, eventually turning the reins over to David Hirsch.

The dance show wasn't enough for Clark. In 1965 he hosted his first game show for ABC, "The Object Is". Beginning on March 26, 1973, Clark began hosting "The $10,000 Pyramid" and by the end of the decade, Clark had two shows for which he will forever be identified (although it took a doubling of the prize money and a reprieve by ABC after CBS cancelled the original show). Clark continued to host the show until 1988; he was replaced by John Davidson in 1991. Clark's final episode is presented in its entirety below.



On occasion, he also played the game. You think he was good at it? Check out this clip from a mid-70's nighttime episode hosted by Bill Cullen.



Clark also hosted "The Challengers" and "Winning Lines" and his company, dick clark productions, produced the Chuck Woolery-hosted "Greed". Here is a clip from "Winning Lines"; note Dick's blooper when he said you could win one billion dollars.



At the request of ABC, Dick Clark began hosting a New Year's Eve show to compete with Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians in the early 70s, and soon Lombardo's slurping saxophones gave way to the sounds of rock and roll to ring in each new year. Dick Clark counts down to 1990 in this clip.



Dick Clark continued hosting the show even after suffering a massive stroke that permanently disabled him. Dick missed the 2004 countdown with Regis Philbin filling in, but in 2005 he was back. Many found it hard to watch the post-stroke Dick Clark, with slurred speech and other impairments, but I never had a problem with it. Who was going to tell him not to do it? But by the time he reached 80, he decided he needed to plan for the passing of the torch, naming Ryan Seacrest as his eventual successor. This clip from Clark's final NYRE shows Seacrest, Clark and co-host Jenny McCarthy ringing in 2012. The one thing that never changed: the midnight kiss from his third and most enduring wife, and now widow, Kari Wigton Clark.



There will never be another. RIP, Dick Clark.

Seventh Annual DaveMackey.Com Big Game Ad Review - Recap

The full live blog appears in the previous post, and as usual we had a blast. This year didn't raise the bar for Super Bowl spots, by no means.

Disclaimer-happy spots ruled the day. A record 7 spots featured at least one "Do Not Attempt" disclaimer, which results in an automatic disqualification. This included both spots for Hyundai. Best turnaround advertiser was Bridgestone, who brought forth two very funny spots with not a disclaimer in sight, unlike in previous years. One of the Bridgestone spots, the H&M with David Beckham wearing briefs, and a 2:00 Chrysler spot that technically should not have counted were the best spots of the night from this corner. Worst spots of the night went to General Electric, trying to make turbine production exciting.

Here then is our recap of eacn break and the spot grade.

Break 1
C Bud Light Platinum
DQ Audi Vampires :60
Break 2
B Pepsi (Elton John)
DQ Hyundai
Break 3
C Bud Light Platinum
A- M&M's
C Best Buy
Break 4
B- Coca Cola (bears 1)
B Chevrolet Trucks :60
Break 5
B Bridgestone Football
C- Go Daddy
C Lexus GS
-- Battleship
Break 6
B Budweiser Prohibition
B Doritos
B+ Chevrolet Happy Grad
Break 7
C- GE Turbine / Budweiser
-- John Carter
B Tax Act
Break 8
-- The Lorax
B+ Volkswagen Beetle
Break 9
A H&M (rated by the women in my house)
B- Coke (bears 2)
Break 10
DQ Chevy Sonic
-- Star Wars Episode 1
Break 11
-- The avengers
C Teleflora
A- Skechers
B- Cars.com
Break 12
DQ Doritos (NOTE: This was the USA Today "Ad Meter" winner)
A- E*Trade
-- G.I. Joe
Break 13
A Chrysler 2:00 (some spot listings are counting this an in-game spot...)
Break 14
C Fiat Abarth
B- Pepsi Max
Break 15
A- Toyota Camry
C Coca-Cola (Bears #3)
C Dannon Oikos
C Century 21
Break 16
B Acura NSX Seinfeld
C- GE
Break 17
B Budweiser through the years
A Bridgestone Basketball
Break 18
DQ Honda CR-V
-- Navy SEALS Movie
B Met Live "Everybody"
Break 19
DQ Hyundai
B- Bud Light "Here, Weego"
Break 20
DQ Kia Optime Limited
B Careers.com
Break 21
C Samsung Galaxy Note
Break 22
C Cadillac CTS
C History Channel Swamp People
C Go Daddy Cloud

Seventh Annual DaveMackey.Com Big Game Ad Review

BIG GAME LIVE BLOG

What you looking down here for? Look up.

That Time Of Year Again!

For the past six years, we at davemackey.com (okay, it's just me...) have been dutifully covering the advertising offerings in the biggest football game of the year. We're going to do it again on Sunday, February 5, in the blissfully (well, as blissful as you can be when you have the league goons watching your every move) retitled "Seventh Annual davemackey.com 'Big Game' Ad Review".

For the seventh year in a row we will provide instant analysis and grading on the ads that occur during the Giants-Patriots game. Last time we did a Giants-Patriots game, the Giants won. The best ad that year was a Coca-Cola spot featuring Macy's parade balloons of Underdog and Stewie Griffin (the latter being a fictitious balloon - damn you, vile ad agency!) battling it out for a Coke.

Since the NBC Traffic Department is still scheduling the airtime I'm not going to venture what the exact schedule is going to be in years past. I'm just goinna let them run and see what happens.

The ground rules are the same as in years past. We rate all spots with the exception of movie trailers, which we believe to be a breed apart, and the NFL house ad. Only in-game spots are considered. No pre game or halftime stuff. No local avails are considered. Any ad with a DO NOT ATTEMPT disclaimer is automatically disqualified. That should kill any and all car ads right there as more and more of these spots, even showing a tame little sedan going down Main Street USA at 20 mph still will red-flag the lawyers into insisting on a DO NOT ATTEMPT super. And yes, we must acknowledge the presence of the League Goon who hands out the obligatory hats you can buy at the NFL Shop (URL not provided, search for it yourself you bastards) the minute the game ends. Game prediction: Giants 27, Pats 13. Go Giants. See you next Sunday.

Polly Wanna Blog?

Go to the sidebar and click on "Polly's Piece of Peace" and you'll find the wonderful Polly Esther has some new stuff on her blog. I only see Polly once a year, at the ACPT, but she is one of the most fun people I know, Canadian or otherwise.

A Blog About Seymour Kneitel

Ginny Kneitel Mahoney has created a new blog titled Seymour Kneitel 1908-1964, a tribute to her father, who was an animator for the Fleischer Studios and later one of the partners and director for its successor company, Famous Studios, a/k/a Paramount Cartoon Studios. Kneitel survived the deaths of the other two partners, Sam Buchwald (in 1951) and Isidore Sparber (1958), but himself passed in 1964 after years of heart problems. Check it out!

BESS MESS '11

No love for Bess Myerson - or, for that matter, Gretchen Carlson - in the reconfigured Rose Walk in Atlantic City. Our annual visit to the gambling mecca coinciding with the NJEA Convention reveals no new plaques (the Walk stops at 1999), and still no return of the missing plaques for Myerson, who was Miss America 1945, and Carlson, Miss America 1989.

Notice that a garbage can is no longer covering up the blank space where Myerson's plaque had been. There is now a jump from 1944 to 1946. The only other place where there's a skip year is 1949-1951, because there was no Miss America 1950 - beginning in that year, the winner's title reflected the year in which they performed most of their Miss America-type service. Hence, the year AFTER they were crowned. Oddly, the 1950 and 1989 positions on the walk are represented by a blank spacer. Perhaps when the walk was put back together, there was meant to be a blank in the 1945 position rather than the non-existent 1950 position.

Wouldn't it be easy to take one of the existing plaques, make a cast of it, then make new text for both Myerson and Carlson and all the other winners who were crowned in AC? Then the whole story of the pageant as it existed in its Atlantic City era would then be represented.

Welcome Back, Irv Spector

Paul Spector is planning on resurrecting his tribute blog to his father, noted animator and cartoonist Irv Spector (1914-1978). Spector was noted for a series of highly stylized cartoons at the Paramount Pictures Cartoon Studio in the early 1960's, which he wrote, storyboarded, and in many cases animated.

Paul Spector's blog has been dormant for the last two years until three days ago when he posted about his late cat Ollie. As such, we have moved the Spectorphile back into the stack of active blogs.

Crunching The Batting Title Numbers

Going into today's final game of the season, one of the only things motivating Mets fans is the fact that Jose Reyes is in contention for the batting title, and would be the first Met to ever win the crown. His opponent is Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Going into today's play, Reyes has 180 hits in 536 at bats for a batting average to five places of .33582. Braun has 187/559, or .33452. Here are tables showing possible outcomes based on up to 6 at bats for each player. Columns represent hits, rows represent at bats.

UPDATE: After a first-inning bunt single, Reyes took himself out of the game, in what was a much-criticized decision. Reyes finished at .337. Braun had to go 3-4 or better to win the batting title, however, he went 0-4, finishing at .332.

SNL Band Site Updated

New pictures and information on SNL's new musical director, Eli Brueggemann as well as keyboardist Tuffus Zimbabwe. And we bumped everyone else's numbers up, as we always do. 32 years for Pendarvis now, which might be a record.

Earl Kress 1951-2011

This is a sad day for animation fans. Earl Kress died early this morning at the age of 60, from a combination of cancers.

Over the years we had featured Earl's blog on our sidebar, a blog that we now know because of health he had to lay aside from time to time. (We'll be putting it back in our Hall of Fame soon. Earl's blog is no longer available)

Kress had a diverse career. One of his first media jobs was as a puppeteer for a kids' show that aired on the four-station network that is now known as NJTV, which is now under the operational guidance of WNET. The puppets' human co-star was the former Miss New Jersey, Hela Young, who later became the hostess for the New Jersey Lottery and who herself lost a similar battle with cancer years earlier.

Cartoons came calling next. Friz Freleng gave Kress his first job in cartoons as a writer for the 1975 ABC series "The Oddball Couple", which was a Neil Simon-sanctioned takeoff on "The Odd Couple" featuring a neat cat and a slovenly dog who were roommates and best friends, with Frank Nelson and Paul Winchell. At 24, Kress found himself working alongside writers and animators who were at least 25 years his senior, if not more. Over the years Kress added several other animated series to his résumé, including "Transformers", "Pound Puppies", "Taz-Mania" and most recently "Baby Looney Tunes".

Kress was perhaps best known for his love of animation and his willingness to ply his considerable expertise to enhance several video and audio releases of animation. Kress wrote the liner notes for "The Hanna-Barbera Pic-A-Nic Basket", a 4 CD box set compilation of the best theme songs and sound effects from the studio's productions. He was a popular talking head on many DVD commentaries and with his friend Mark Evanier (here is his tribute to Kress) hosted panels of voice actors and actresses at San Diego Comic-Con International and other similar forums.

In Evanier's essay, he sums up the man that was Earl Kress quite nicely: "In an industry where jealousy and resentment sometimes seem as prevalent as nitrogen, Earl was utterly undespised. I don't know anyone who didn't like the guy. He was smart. He was funny. He had good, honorable motives for every single thing he did."

Rose Walk Renovation?

On a recent trip to Atlantic City, I noticed some renovations taking place on the Miss America Rose Walk. Now, as you know, Miss America now calls that other gambling mecca home, and Atlantic City has been quietly erasing all vestiges of it being the home of a bathing beauty contest that blossomed into a scholarship program for deserving young women. A number of the plaques have been removed, revealing the 2x4 frameworks beneath, and it appears the stonework around them is being redone. Are the plaques coming back? And if they do, will it be all of them, including the two that have been stolen? (We didn't even bother to look in November 2010. The plaque of Bess Myerson was still gone when I looked a few weeks ago, along with those that surrounded it.)