Category Archives: Musings

Things I’ve Never Seen

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Things I’ve Never Seen

With all the hubbub about Game of Thrones, I thought I’d come clean: There’s a lot of things I’ve never seen.

Sure, I meant to see a lot of them, just never got around to it.

Here’s my list:

  • Game of Thrones
  • Any full episode of Seinfeld
  • The last episode of Mash
  • Any full movie from The Godfather series
  • Breaking Bad
  • The last season of True Blood
  • All of Doctor Zhivago
  • Most of the Harry Potter movies
  • The Hobbit movies (except for the bad animation one)
  • Raging Bull
  • Fight Club
  • All of Metropolis

Now it’s your turn! What haven’t you seen?

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Do Your F-ing Job!

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Do Your F-ing Job!

*** Warning: This is an official rant. If you were looking for something non-ranty, please click elsewhere… You have been warned! ***

Maybe it’s too much time on hold with customer service.

Maybe it’s too much time in traffic with incompetent drivers.

Maybe it’s unqualified people in public office.

Whatever it is, I really just want people to Do Your F-ing Job!

Seriously, how hard is it?

If you’re sitting in the front of a line of cars at a red light, your job is to go when the light turns green. If you’re anywhere else in the line, your job is to go when the car in front of you moves. Do Your F-ing Job!

If you’re working in government, your job is to represent the needs and wants of your constituents, and to keep the country as your top priority. Do Your F-ing Job!

If you’re a customer service person, your job is have a deep understanding of the subject your’re supposed to be helping with, and to answer promptly and courteously. Do Your F-ing Job!

If you’re an actor, your job is to know your character, script and to show up on time and be professional. Do Your F-ing Job!

Writers… Write! Plumbers… Plumb! Painters… Paint! Creatives… Create!

I’m convinced the world would be a much better place and we’d all be happier if only You and I would…

Do Your F-ing Job!

(steps off soapbox. decompresses from rant.)

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Sillyam Fakespeare

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Sillyam Fakespeare quote

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Sillyam Fakespeare Yea, verily! Tis time for some newly minted sayings by the immortal bard’s third cousin, thrice removed… Odds bodkins! Milady most assuredly has a plethora of junk in thine trunk! Seldom is a man so forlorn than when … Continue reading →

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George Washington Carver: 8 Rules To Live By

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George Washington Carver


8 Rules To Live By

I’ll be honest: before doing a bit of research, the only thing I knew about George Washington Carver was that he found lots of uses for peanuts.
George Washington Carver
Turns out he was an amazing man. Not only a brilliant, inquisitive, scientific mind, but a strong will and sense of purpose to match.

One of the unexpected treasures I discovered were from a thank you letter he’d written to his students. Usually presented as an excerpt of “8 Cardinal Virtues” as follows:

  • Be clean both inside and out.
  • Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
  • Lose, if need be, without squealing.
  • Win without bragging.
  • Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
  • Be too brave to lie.
  • Be too generous to cheat.
  • Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Good rules to live by, and it will serve me well to remember them.

If you’d like to discover more, the National Parks Service has an excellent PDF about George Washington Carver, including the full original text of the letter (on page 24) – available here:
Discovering George Washington Carver — A Man of Character

… and of course there’s a pretty good Wikipedia entry here:
Wikipedia: George Washington Carver

One more parting quote that speaks to me as an artist:

When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
— George Washington Carver

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Spock’s Pen

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Spock’s Pen

Leonard Nimoy - Spock - Autograph - Ticket

April 2nd, 1975. I was 11 years old, and my Mom got us tickets to see Leonard Nimoy speak at a nearby community college. I was a fan of Star Trek, and of Mr. Nimoy’s work, so… Whoa! How cool is that!

After his talk, he took questions, and I stood in line.

When my turn came, I had a simple one: “Can I have your autograph?”

After a short chuckle he motioned for me to come over to the podium.
He signed, and I walked back to my seat.

With a pen. Oh, it was my Mom’s pen, but a bit of confusion happened and things moved on.

… but it did get written up in the article below: (click for full size)

Leonard Nimoy - Spock - Article

Fast forward to 2013. Although I never did get to see Mr. Nimoy in person again, I did get the chance to work with him. It turns out we’re both in the “Star Trek Online” game. He is Mr. Spock, of course, and I am a Klingon named Ch’Gren.

Pretty cool…

Almost as good as when I took his pen 😉
LLAP,

Joe

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Music Monday!

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Music Monday!

Here at Joe’s Dump, we’ve got a lot of music going on…

So, to help keep it all organized and handy, we’ve added a new Music Menu Item (at the top of every page)

A few of the articles you’ll find there include:

… Plus: Personal Profiles, Politics, Parodies, and plenty more!!!

Music Trivia Two-fer

This week, I’ve also got two trivia stories about some surprising back-stories to popular songs.

First up: You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (duet by Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand)

Did you know that this famous duet came from a radio program director’s divorce?

Neil Diamond recorded the song first in 1977 as a solo, followed by Barbra Streisand’s solo version in 1978. This is where WAKY-AM/Louisville KY program director, Gary Guthrie, comes in. He spliced together a duet version as a parting present to his wife after their divorce. His version became so popular that the record label got Diamond and Streisand to record an official version that was released in the fall of 1978!

(Click here to read the full story on Wikipedia)

… and here’s Gary Guthrie’s mixed version on American Top 40:

And second: Mike Sammes – the backup singer for Olivia Newton John’s “Let Me Be There”

The bass part in “Let Me Be There” by Olivia Newton John is so prominent, I’d almost classify the song as a duet. Out of curiosity, I checked into who the bass singer was. His name was Mike Sammes, and his credits are amazing. He also sang backup on The Beatles “I Am The Walrus”, and for the TV show “Supercar”.

(Click here to read Mike Sammes full bio on Wikipedia)

… and here’s “Let Me Be There” for your listening pleasure:

Enjoy!
Joe

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Stapler in the High Castle?

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Stephen Root: Character Actor

Stephen Root - Milton + Abendsen

While watching season 2 of “The Man in the High Castle” on Amazon, we finally got to see the man himself. Abendson is his name, but I immediately recognized him as the same actor who played Milton in “Office Space”… Whoa! Mind blown!

So, I looked him up on IMDB. This guy has an admirable career. He’s voiced Bill and Buck on “King of the Hill”, was Chode in “Tripping the Rift”, and Killer Croc and Penguin on “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”. And that’s just his VO work.

He was also in “O Brother, Where Art Thou” as the Radio Station Man. Plus many many more roles…

Amazing work, and worth a look. If you don’t know Stephen Root, take a look at his IMDB page here:
IMDB: Stephen Root

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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Pebble and Palm

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Pebble and Palm

What happens when companies disappear?
Pebble and Palm
On Dec 7, Pebble (trailblazer in smartwatches) made the announcement that they were closing shop and had been bought out by Fitbit (maker of fitness bands).

It seems they were leaving their loyal KickStarter supporters and customers out in the cold. No more Pebble watches would be sold, and all support and warranties were null and void.

Quite a slap in the face.

Don’t get me wrong – I own a Pebble Time and a Fitbit Charge. Wearing one on each wrist has always been kind of a pain. I was secretly hoping that the technologies would merge, but really didn’t expect it to happen like this. At this point it’s completely up in the air as to what Fitbit will do with the intellectual property they’ve purchased.

Although I hope for the best, it’s also good to learn from experience.

Palm was another company that I had been a loyal customer to since nearly their start. I owned their innovative PDA products, and even bought the phones when they seemed to be evolving. The last phone they made was truly an elegant thing of beauty. Small, stylish, functional.

Then Palm was bought out by HP. HP proceeded to fumble the ball for a few months before scrapping everything that was Palm. Hardware, Software – Everything. Another disappointing end to a very promising start-up.

I’m not really sure what the lesson is here, if any. But it is interesting to note that innovation by itself is not always rewarded with success. For that matter, hard work isn’t any guarantee either.

Perhaps the key is in The Round Table Club‘s motto: “Adapt, Adopt, Improve”

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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New Greek Gods

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New Greek Gods

The ancient Greeks were pretty with it for their time. They had a god for everything! And their gods were relatable, with human flaws.

But, over time, they’ve fallen out of the lime light.

SO! It’s time to update the old pantheon of Greek gods. Make them more relevant to today’s mortal world. Here are my suggestions for some New Greek Gods!

guyseidon
Guyseidon: God of pickup lines

“If I said thee hadst a good body, wouldst thou hold it against me?”

argumenon
Argumenon: God of bickering

“What’s THAT supposed to mean? (… and so it begins)”

borborygmus
Borborygmus: God of flatulence

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Somebody crack a window… Oops, I already did!”

sporticus
Sporticus: God of exercise

“C’mon! Those glutes ain’t gonna squat themselves! Twenty more!”

noteus
Noteus: God of to-do lists

“Hmmm… Where’s that post-it with the list of other lists of things I have to do?!?!?”

googlio
Googlio: God of internet searches

“Done! Finally finished that wiki for Etruscan Shrews.”

whackus
Whackus: God of porn (son of Googlio)

“Uh, dad? Can you give me the keys to the internet?”

sneuss
Sneuss: God of naps and children’s stories

“Are you sleepy in your head? Are you napping in a bed? If you’re snoozing on the floor, be sure to close that kitchen door!”

haties
Haties: God of social media outrage (brother of Argumenon)

“WHAT!?!?!? YOU CAN’T HAVE AN OPINION ON MY POST!?!?! HOW DARE YOU!!! [block] [unfriend] [unfollow]”

fibrosia
Fibrosia: God of colon health

“I’m all set. Just gotta eat a bushel of oats, three times a day.”

appyolo
AppYolo: God of Phone Entertainment and Whatever

“So, while you’re playing Apptastic’s Bird Smasher 2, just use two fingers and make an upside-down V gesture, and your tablet will order your favorite pizza.”

parentheus
Parentheus: God of helicopter parents and unnecessary worrying

“Ok, little Tinder. We’re at your school. Make sure the Door Guard has your hand before you unbuckle your safety belt. I’ll be right outside in the car in case you feel insecure about anything. Have fun at college, dear!”

medius
Medius: God of cable news and conspiracy theories

“Polls show that most people think polls are unreliable.”

 

All content written and voiced by Joe J Thomas online at: JoeActor.com

 

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