Monday, January 11, 2010

20 Years of the Simpsons

FOX Television started broadcasting in 1986.

In 1989, they launched a controversial television show which looked like a kids cartoon show but was aimed at adults.

Who woulda thunk that The Simpsons would still be on the air 20 years later!

According to ABC News, The Simpsons is now the longest-running scripted nighttime series on TV!

The Simpsons and thei charaters from the show have become household names all over the world.

The voice over actors who star as the main characters on the show, Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns), and Hank Azaria (Chief Wiggum), are probably the luckiest people in the history of voice acting!

Actually, this is probably one of the most talented and versatile group of voice actors ever assembled. Most of the cast do the voices for multiple characters on the show. Dan Castellaneta alone has done over 100 Simpsons character voices!

Being part of an animated tv show has been a dream of mine since I began exploring voice acting. My very first VO class was an animation class.

I've had the opportunity to do the occasional cartoon voice here and there, but to be on a show like the Simpsons is the ultimte dream for any voice over talent.

I mean, these guys make around 400k each, per episode! Is that a dream gig or what?!!

Envy aside, I give my congratulations to the cast of The Simpsons. You've awed and inspired me for 20 years now and I wish you 20 more years of success!

By the way, if you guys ever need a replacement or somebody to speak a little Spanish in an episode or two, give me a call will ya!

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Time for New Years Resolutions

I've been reading on other blogs about the kinds of resolutions people are making for 2010.

The thing about resolutions is that they have gotten a bad rap. We all know that most people make resolutions, then forget them about as quickly as they made them. It's a bad cliche at this point.

This year, I resolve to make NO RESOLUTIONS! Instead, I am going to make some GOALS for my year.

My goals are designed to make 2010 my BEST YEAR EVER.

I expect there will be modifications to those goals throughout the year and that there will be obstacles to achieving those goals throughout the year but that is all to be expected and will be dealt with as the year progresses.

One of the first things I learned about goals is that you have to keep track of them. If you don't track them, you won't achieve them. You don't need an advanced degree in astrophysics to know that's the truth.

So how does one track goals?

I found some neat tips on the Lifehacker website for some tools that may be helpful in tracking goals. You might find some of them useful. Check out the Five Best Goal-Tracking Tools on their site for some ideas.

Besides tracking goals, I also plan to use whatever tricks I can find or develop, to help make my goals a reality. I found another nice article on Lifehacker titled "Top 10 Mind Hacks for Making Your Resolutions Stick".

Some of these ideas are great. I plan to use at least some of them.

As for the rest of my goals for this year, I'll keep the specifics to myself for now but I'm sure mine are similar to yours since we pretty much all want the same things in the areas of prosperity, health and happiness.

So good luck with your resolu . . . goals for this year, and let me know how you progress along your path.

Oh, one of my other goals is to blog more regularly. Not daily, but definitely, more regularly. I think this post is a good start.

Don't you?

P.S. Just came across this great list of 10 things to do instead of making New Years resolutions.