Joe > Average

Yeah, that was after Heath Ledger's death.

I just checked her imdb page and besides "The Great Gatsby" she doesn't have any new films coming up

I had a pet rat, her name was Prudence and she's spinning in her grave around about now!

Joe, I stumbled upon this photographer who has been travelling around the world taking photos of opera houses. I thought you might be interested to see where I used to work in Sweden, and my own beloved Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires? They are rather grand:

All th photos are good though, should you be interested further - the guy's name is David Leventi. (Y)

I come with only one picture for now :morning:

Hopefully some independant films will come along although I suppose they would likely have listed those too .

I've had mice and hamsters myself, but my animal good will doesn't extend to rats unfortunately . I am definitely interrested . That's quite the setup and I would love to have seen the work that went into making it as well. That is at least one of those sped up film kindof packages, but I would have like to have seen it nonetheless. I'll definitely have to look up more from this gentleman as he seems to have an eye for capturing its finest points .

LOL @ that pic .

Actors (Who aren't primarily known as voice actors, comedians or singers) Who's Voices Have Helped Their Career

Disclaimer: Sure there is a disparity of talent between some and others and the degree to which one's career was helped vs. another may be difficult to determine as well. All in all, I just kindof went for it, so input is appreciated. Also, the longer a list is, the easier it is to nit pick at 'snubs' and rightfully so I suppose as a longer list by nature implies that you might know said person. That said, I'm not as familiar with old Hollywood, but I'm sure there are many others from that time that I may not be able to put face and name together who are worthy of inclusion. Also, an honorable mention to pretty much any baritone Japanese actor . I can't say how much it helped their careers though.

25. Samuel L. Jackson - I'd say his enthusiasm and fire are probably more distinctive than the sound of his voice, but still distinctive enough for a mention.

24. David Wenham - if you could ignore the historical innacuracies (that didn't enhance the story) and sprayed on abs, you may have noticed three cool things about 300. It was nicely shot, had great action scenes and had a great narrator. The last part is thanks to this guy.

23. Yul Brynner - would definitely be top five on the list in coolness (somewhat like a manlier Clooney) but was worth a mention for this category as well.

22. Sam Elliot - one of the premier rancher guy voices in film.

21. Patrick Stewart - seems like he was just made for the science fiction genre.

20. Michael Clarke Duncan - he not only sports one of the deepest voices in the business, but his laugh and range as an actor probably makes it stand out more.

19. Harvey Feirstein - the 90s token gay guy's rasp is hard to mistake for another.

18. Vin Diesel - one of the younger guys on the list. Unfortunately, it somehow doesn't seem to work as a villain the way most deep voices can, but he seems to enjoy the reluctant hero niche anyway.

17. Michael Douglas

16. George Clooney

15. Christopher Lloyd

14. Michael Jai White - not only the one whose voice I would probably choose for myself if forced to pick one, but probably the youngest person on the list by far. Maybe its a dieing breed, who knows. Either way, this guy may be the future. While not yet to the acting skill level of some such as say Freeman, still much more than others such as Diesel. With a couple high profile roles, this real life martial artist could very well be the next big thing.

13. Keith David - he's definitely benefited from both his voice and face. His voice is hard and gravelly whereas his face and naturally evil grin work as well as anyone doing everything fron sinister maniac to general no nonsense authority figure.

12. Morgan Freeman

11. Dennis Haysbert

10. Sylvester Stalone

9. Peter Cullen

8. Liam Neilson

7. Sean Connery - I imagine no one can say 'game of chess' like him.

6. Christopher Lee - one of the premier baritones of the science fiction film genre.

5. Arnald Swartzeneger

4. Clint Eastwood - for decades his voice helped him to be equally believable as the hard cowboy guy, tough cop, coach and anything else along those lines.

3. Jack Nicholson - somewhat like the description of Keith David, how it goes with his face works well in his favor.

2. Assorted deserving Old Hollywood guys who may have been or were snubbed.

1. James Earl Jones - no need to elaborate much on this one. He's actually so well known for his voice, its almost easy to forget or overlook his great talents as an actor. As to his voice, being both Darth Vader and Mufasa would make his inclusion manditory, but he has lended his trademark voice to a wide range of roles.

I had a pet rat, her name was Prudence and she's spinning in her grave around about now!

Joe, I stumbled upon this photographer who has been travelling around the world taking photos of opera houses. I thought you might be interested to see where I used to work in Sweden, and my own beloved Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires? They are rather grand:

All th photos are good though, should you be interested further - the guy's name is David Leventi. (Y)

btw Joe, Vin Diesel and his voice are two guys that could just come, take me and do whatever they want with me. I would even agree to grill with them.

MUERICA!!!!

Ohio has oil & gas reserves to rival Saudi Arabia, energy executive says

The United States is on track to become the world's biggest oil producer by the end of the decade, a stunning turn of fortune that threatens to stifle the growth prospects of Canada's oil exporters.

America's rising oil output is "nothing short of spectacular" and will exceed that of Saudi Arabia or Russia by 2020, the International Energy Agency said in a report that starkly illustrates why the Canadian industry - and the federal and Alberta governments - are determined to build pipelines that would serve Asian markets.

The U.S. currently imports about 10 million barrels per day of crude, and Canada accounts for nearly 30 per cent of that total. But oil companies are using new technologies to extract vast amounts of crude from the U.S. Midwest. The IEA forecasts the Americans will be producing 11.1 million barrels per day by 2020, up from 8.1 million last year.

At the same time, the IEA expects American demand for petroleum products to decline significantly. The double-edged forecast has the potential to cause upheaval in the oil patch in Western Canada, which drew $40-billion in investment last year and is a major driver of economic growth and jobs in the country.

Nearly all Canadian oil is exported to the U.S., and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the IEA report "dramatically emphasizes" the need for Canada to find new markets.

"They're simply not going to need to buy as much from us and so we can't rely as much on the U.S. market," Mr. Oliver said in telephone interview.

"If we don't find new markets, the resources will be left in the ground and the legacy will be lost. So it is crucial."

Todd Hirsch, a senior economist at ATB Financial in Alberta, sees the rise of U.S. output as among the chief threats to the Canadian oil business - partly because it may push down oil prices to the point where many projects no longer make sense economically.

"It is distinctly one of the biggest risks - supply coming out of the U.S. pushing price down to the point where they don't need Canadian oil, or the price is too low" for Alberta producers to press ahead. With oil sands projects, "almost none of them work at $50 [u.S. per barrel] oil. And if all that Bakken oil does come on stream, that's the scenario we could be looking at."

The Bakken is a prolific oil formation underneath North Dakota and Saskatchewan.

Still, the Paris-based IEA remains bullish on Canada's oil sands. But it offers two critical caveats: growth in the oil sands depends on the industry's ability to address the environment impacts as well as its success diversifying sales to Asia.

It expects Canadian oil sands production to nearly double between 2011 and 2025 to 3.4 million barrels per day, and grow to 4.3 million by 2035. While that growth rate is substantial, it is also well below industry forecasts. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers sees oil sands production growing to 5 million barrels per day by 2030.

Whether the forecast comes from the IEA or the CAPP, it's clear Canada can no longer rely on the United States as its sole export market for oil or natural gas, given the boom in production from previously uneconomic reserves brought about by new drilling methods and the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, which uses chemically laced water under high pressure to extract oil and gas.

While industry critics would welcome slower growth in the oil sands, Bank of Nova Scotia economist Patricia Mohr said the Canadian economy is increasingly dependent on the resource development to sustain economic activity among Alberta producers and their suppliers across the country.

"If we don't expand our export capability to growing markets that are growing in Asia-Pacific area, we're going to stunt the development of our oil industry in Western Canada," Ms. Mohr said. "And it is very risky for the country to be assuming that if you stunt the growth of our biggest non-service industry in Canada, that you'll find an offset to that. The Canadian economy is very oil-dominant now."

A number of proposals have been made to build new or expanded pipelines to ship oil and gas to the B.C. coast, including Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway project. But the projects face considerable political hurdles.

Crude oil is Canada's largest export, but producers have been losing millions of dollars a day in revenue as a result of price discounts they must accept in order to sell their oil in an increasingly saturated U.S. market. Sveinung Svarte, the chief executive of Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., said the Canadian economy is experiencing staggering losses because Canadian crude sells for a discount of as much as $20 (U.S.) a barrel compared to international sources of oil. Over the course of a year, the differential can cost as much as $25-billion.

"That's a direct subsidy to the U.S. by Canada," he said in an earlier interview.

The IEA report suggests that Canada faces a rapidly changing global energy landscape that will roil the global marketplace.

"North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world," IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven said Monday. However, she added that the world may well experience an equally dramatic improvement in energy efficiency that would be "just as important" to crude markets as the supply changes.

The United States is in the vanguard of both trends, as rising oil production and falling consumption threatens to squeeze producers who are dependent to that market. By 2030, the U.S. will have reduced its need for imported crude by 5.5 million barrels per day. Canadian producers hope to gain an increasing share of the smaller import market, but they face competition from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria and Mexico, and what was once a seller's market will clearly shift in favour of the buyer.

Per Si.com's caption:

Mike London

Even Virginia's head coach was shocked by his team's stunning 41-40 come-from-behind win over Miami.

LOL, thanks .

btw Joe' date=' Vin Diesel and his voice are two guys that could just come, take me and do whatever they want with me. I would even agree to grill with them[/quote']

Ain't it the truth girlfriend ? I don't recall seeing one of his movies that I didn't like although I do still hold him partially responsible for one of the hardest slaps I was ever on the receiving end of . That being the one I got as a result of the butt pick up thing. He should make more movies anyway.

MUERICA!!!!

Ohio has oil & gas reserves to rival Saudi Arabia' date=' energy executive says[/quote']

Yeah that was an interresting one . Even though you didn't reveal who was in the previous non-VS set, this current one's even better . Maybe I didn't notice her before because I only came to her thread to moderate. How do you make gifs anyway ? With my unlimited imagination and slightly disturbed mind there's no telling what strangeness I've yet to tap into .

Your list is moot without Orson Welles (unless you count him under "Assorted deserving Old Hollywood guys who may have been or were snubbed" which, frankly, would be an insult! <_< ) - that this was his last ever professional line though is somewhat ignominious:

Ain't it the truth girlfriend ? I don't recall seeing one of his movies that I didn't like although I do still hold him partially responsible for one of the hardest slaps I was ever on the receiving end of . That being the one I got as a result of the butt pick up thing. He should make more movies anyway.

btw, look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMykLW4AXs

Joe, where are you?

I applaud the sentiments currently posted in your sig, Joe!

I'm not particularly familiar with Old Hollywood or too much pre 90s Hollywood in general. I put the disclaimer up in case someone would find someone from that time that had to be there, but the same could go for 'international' actors, theatre actors ect. Good speaking voices are much more common than say good singing voices. As to the Old Hollywood movies, I am familiar with them technically, just not enough to put as many names with faces as I'd like. For most of the older movies I do watch, I don't even really know who's in most of them or do any research because having celebrities I can enjoy without knowing anything about them is ironically part of my enjoyment. All in all though, without familiarity with their careers, the average career of the time, the general media buzz and public reaction to them and such, its difficult to estimate what percentage of their success can be attributed to their voice. Even though I feel that some of them are talented, I did have to factor in talent to a degree. For example, Arnold may very well need to be higher since his lack of talent makes his voice a larger percentage of his success technically and he was indeed very successful. On the other end, Clooney's success is more attributed to his looks than his voice, but his perceived coolness is a part of his success too and I assumed some of that was due to his voice, plus it seems unique enough. I should also add that its not a favorites list as I don't even particularly care for Arnald or Stallone's and am indifferent to Nicholson's. That said, I find the number two spot to be generous rather than insulting. Even if I did update it (in a world where lists about such things as 'estimated success due to this' with 20 or more names in reverse order weren't a bugger), I don't see the number one changing anyway. As to the video though, I've heard a lot of jokes about it and always hoped that it wasn't true .

The butt pick up is that movie where he picks up the woman by her butt . I think Michelle Rodriguez might be the one . LOL @ that video I need to learn to make gifs soon .

I've been here, but didn't really have any members to talk to on a regularly for a stretch, so I just faded to working behind the scenes but thanks for asking .

Glad you like it as I can't stress it enough .

How do you mean this "I've been here, but didn't really have any members to talk to on a regularly for a stretch" ? HM?

Glad you like it as I can't stress it enough .

Whenever I give in too early, I find that I'm utterly sick of it by the time it actually rolls around. We're into December now though, so being in the Christmas spirit is acceptable.

It probably boils down to timing. The members I generally interract with at least those that interract back likely just happened to not be there at the same time I was on for a stretch, whereas staff work it always there . Hope all is good with you though .

Yeah, they can really cheapen it with capitalism and commercialism. Maybe Charlie Brown was prophetic because surely he had no idea what the future held . I'm also ready to accept it now though .

Well, I have hundreds of these (as several come to mind daily), so I might as well throw it out there .

Overall, one could say that Disney is a man's, man's world, but it would be nothing without a woman or a girl. Well, woman, girl or female that is. This is somewhat subject to change due to the fact that I'm primarily familiar with the ones of the early 90s to present variety and getting more aquainted with the others could change some things. Ironically, its also worth mentioning that some of the best villains ever and to me certainly the best female villains are all well before that time, but that's a different list. Anyway, here we go off the top of my head...

10. Dory - despite being really forgetful, she always kept a positive attitude and tried her best. I think I'll let her, Lady and Maid Marian tie in this spot for now though.

9. Captain Amelia - with brilliant dialogue and dazzling wordplay, Captain Amelia should be one of the most memorable characters of recent years right? Well, probably not seeing as how the movie wasn't quite as memorable. As a result, she would likely be higher if she were in a better movie or one I liked more. Though I didn't rank based on the movie, the movie you're in inevitably allows you to reach your full potential.

I have Nala tied in this spot as though, as I think Jennks mentioned before, she wasn't as essential as some others, but a great one anyway. Actually, I only deducted points because of the strange change in characterization and voice type as she reached adulthood . She was still a good character though. Also, Sally the creepy doll from TNBC. I find her to be a fascinating creature for some reason .

8. Megara - interresting, mysterious and with inner conflicts as well.

7. Fa Mulan - couragous, determined and not afraid to get her hands dirty. Its worth mentioning that Mushu was much needed to balance out what was slightly lacking in the charisma department, not that she was totally devoid of it.

6. Tinkerbelle - spunk and attitude without even having to say a word.

5. Minnie - it seems that the core characters are pretty much timeless. Most of the film characters seemed very awkward when placed in different situations, whereas these core characters have shown great versatility over the years. In her case, though she may seem like everything is sunny, she can get pretty mad in a very funny way.

4. Merryweather - everything that Aurora may have lacked in personality, the fairies made up for. This one was the funniest and had the most attitude and was my favorite of the group though.

3. Miss Bianca - though others would later be credited as Disney's first 'modern' woman, I'd submit that Miss Bianca may deserve the title. Truth be told, she isn't a woman, but a female character nonetheless. As such, she did what is generally expected of the modern Disney woman. She was the one doing the rescuing opposed to being rescued and on top of that had a great sense of style. I gave her the nod though because she's driven to helping people, stylish and gives chubby, blue collar mice everywhere reason to dream.

2. Princess Jasmine - though she had a bit of the old school grace in that she could befriend the birds, she's also one of the first of what's called the 'modern' Disney woman. Although she wasn't the star and thus her efforts weren't the most essential, it could still be said that they would have all been screwed without said efforts anyway. That said, she's here for her merits as a character at face value. She's smart, charismatic and has a pet tiger to boot.

1. Belle - if I had to pick one Disney woman to be a role model, it would likely be Belle. She's smart, loves to read and was willing to give her live away to save her family. Truth be told, there are quite a few others with more charm and charisma, but she still had enough to balance out. Also, as to all the lame beastiality jokes, she saved it for marriage when he turned back into Bad Pitt on HGH and you can't tell me otherwise.