Brian Bentley

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(Editor’s note: I didn’t publish this when I got home like I originally thought. Sorry it’s late.)

We’re starting early for this one as I spent Friday night in Ft. Worth at Funimation doing voiceovers for “Hell Girl” and “Suzuka”. I was in a sound booth with 3 other guys to do “walla”, or background dialogue, and some one liners for HG and then read some lines for Suzuka in a separate studio right after that since I was booked for a 2 hour session. It’s a really odd process because these are Japanese cartoons that have been licensed for US broadcast on Cartoon Network, so the cartoon is set to sync with Japanese, not English. So when you get a script and you have to read your lines, they want you to “match the flaps”, or sync your lines with the character’s flapping mouth. When your line isn’t long enough, no matter how incredibly slow you read it, they will adjust the line with additional words to fill in the missing flaps. These new lines are called “flap spackle.” I had a great time working with those guys and I hope to be in there more often because it really is a very cool experience.

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For the last week of Level 3 I decided to go stand-by on an early afternoon flight so I could run some errands and catch up with some friends. A few days before I took off, my friend Jason Dilks emailed me to let me know he would be in LA on a lengthy layover on his way back to DC from Australia and wanted to meet up for lunch, if possible. I landed at 1:35 and had a voicemail from Jason telling me he was waiting for his 2:30 flight. As soon as I deplaned, I headed to the monitors to check departures to DC. Sure enough, the DC flight was leaving out of 48A the very same gate I just arrived at. As I headed back towards the gate, I noticed a practically comatose Jason sitting with his eyes glazed, staring right through me with no idea I was there. Once he finally snapped out of it and recognized me, we spent 20 minutes catching up and he presented me with a New South Wales Waratahs rugby jersey from his trip to Australia. Thank you, JD.

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Review: “Blades of Glory”
Run time: 1:33

What happens when you put Ron Burgandy and Napoleon Dynamite on ice? “Blades of Glory”. I wish I was kidding, but I can’t watch Jon Heder without hearing his delivery and waiting for him to start reciting lines from “Napoleon Dynamite”. I can imagine that is a tough nut to crack since it was such a huge breakout role for him. Will Ferrell, on the other hand, has no excuse. His Chazz Michael Michaels is oddly reminiscent of “Anchorman’s” Ron Burgandy. I guess when something works you stick with it, but come on.

The movie is absurd in a good way. The idea that 2 male skaters would be banned for life after fighting on the medal stand during the Winter Sports Games only to discover that they can compete as a pair. It’s a simple story from there with the standard characters – the stalker who finds the loophole, the villianous brother and sister skating pair, they cantakerous old skating coach, and the naive love interest who just happens to be the rivals little sister.

It’s silly, the skating scenes are hilarious, and you’ll laugh through the movie.

The German Judge gives it a 4 out of 5

What better way to follow up the biggest choke in NBA Finals history than with the biggest choke in sports history. Avery Johnson has said all year long “the regular season doesn’t count” and the Mavericks have definitely proved it in this series. The Warriors outplayed them all year and Nellie has outcoached him. I quit watching the game tonight about 2/3 of the way through the 3rd and the Mavs down 20. A 67 win season and the soon-to-be MVP both disappeared in 6 games.

They’re a joke.

They’re an embarrassment.

And It’s going to take a lot to win me back next season.

Go Spurs Go.