Right Next to the Dog-Faced Boy

Of late, it is hard to turn on a TV, go to a store, amble about online or even visit some old folks in a nursing home without being accosted by the marketing campaign that is the media blitz underway for the new Star Trek film. OK, I didn't visit a nursing home, but even SNL trotted out Leonard Nimoy on Saturday for a nice little payday.

So, what with all the hype for what seems to be a pretty decent movie, I had to dig this up to show you what real acting is all about. It is a classic. It belongs next to Brando's Streetcar Named Desire scenes. Actually, it is far superior to that hack's posturing. Maybe it is akin to what's his name's stuff, the chubby dude who played Capote. Yeah, Phillip Morris-Hoffman. On second thought, it would be sacrilege to offer up that amateur's work against that of Canada's Greatest Export, William the Conqueror.

Ah, if only Shakespeare could've lived to see the the genius that is William Shatner; master thespian, interpreter of words, scene-stealing powerhouse!

(And Shakespeare wishes he wrote this scene.)

NPR Doesn't Do Commercials

Sort of.

I was over at NPR's site, listening to a Robert Smigel interview (creator of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) that TAN pointed out, and noticed how their player carries a nice big banner throughout the interview. The actual interview was naturally prefaced with that very affected, almost dead exclusively NPR type voice that announces, "NPR is supported by Mastercard / Toyota / VisitBritain /etc." - and then the announcer tries not to sound like an announcer as he /she reads the company slogan / copy / come on.

When you hear these on the radio, they're fairly innocuous, and you actually believe that NPR is pretty much a non-commercial operation. But when they're doing audio preroll on their website and keeping a giant reminder of their "supporter" (read: sponsor) in front of you for over half an hour, then I think they've gone beyond "listener supported" and become a full-fledged commercial network. But really, I'm not saying anything new.

And besides, as they say in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare got to get paid, son.