For some reason, this is really turning into a Disney-centric week on the Beach. I was sad to hear this morning that Wayne Allwine has died from complications related to diabetes at the age of 62. That name will not be familiar to most of you, but for the past 32 years, Wayne had been the voice of Mickey Mouse - only the third man in history to voice the role, after Jimmy McDonald and Mickey's creator, Walt Disney.
Wayne was also a sound editor and foley artist at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, as well as the voice of several other animated characters, but you can bet his obits will barely mention any of that.
I had the good fortune of meeting Wayne probably a half-dozen times, at various Disney media events. He and his wife, Russi Taylor, would stop by the WMAL broadcast table and spend a few minutes in character being interviewed by our hosts. Russi is the voice of Minnie Mouse, and she and Wayne were married after years of working together in the recording booth. It was a great love story for them both!
The Allwines were special because they were always friendly, always flexible in terms of working around our broadcast clock, and they would always remember us as well. Wayne would carry his ukelele with him and serenade us on the air as Mickey and off the air as himself. When the mic was open, though, he was always careful to be Mickey - there was no betrayal of the toon universe, and we were always strictly interviewing Mickey and Minnie Mouse!
Can you imagine having a better job - or a bigger responsibility - than being the voice of an American icon? Thanks, Wayne!
My wife and I went to the World Premiere of "The Lion King" at the Uptown theater in Washington back in 1994. I was a reporter at WMAL at the time, and a friend of mine at Disney got us the invitation. It was quite the affair... Vice President Al Gore was there, and so was Disney Chairman Michael Eisner and Walt Disney Pictures President Jeffrey Katzenberg, among others. After the movie, there was a gala reception at the National Zoo. Disney rented out the place, and served up a feast right next to the Lion's Den at the Zoo.
It's too bad I'm going to forget it all in short order. It seems Disney is putting the film - and all memories of it - back in the vault!
Many people who read this blog know that I have a historical affinity for the Walt Disney Company. As a longtime fan, I have spent a good portion of my income supporting a Disney habit... a habit that, by financial necessity, has waned a bit in the past year or so.
Still, I have generally followed the business of the company. I am a stockholder after all, and I also have an ownership stake in the Disney Vacation Club. No one knows better than I how much Disney likes to part a Disney fan from his money.
So it was with this in mind that I read this morning about Disney's latest venture - D23. D23 is the "Official Community for Disney Fans" - a website that one can log into for free, but which requires you to fork over 75 bucks for the "good stuff".
I took a visit over to D23, and noticed immediately that it is affiliated with disneyshopping.com. Good thing, too, because Disney knows that its most loyal fans are also its biggest spenders!
What does a membership in D23 get you? A magazine four times a year. A membership certificate ("Suitable for framing!"). A membership card. Discounts to a four-day D23 Fan Expo in Anaheim in September. A "surprise" membership gift. AND - the "opportunity" to purchase exclusive D23 merchandise...
Who could afford to pass that all up???
I can. There was perhaps a time when I would have probably swallowed hard and pulled out the credit card. But I know from personal experience that when it comes to Disney, the "official" experience is never as good as the "unofficial" one. Disney is trying to cash in on something that everyone already gets for free. There are more Disney fan websites that carry more useful and more honest information than Disney does than I can count.
Disney is typically terrible at selling its own message because every word on its websites is designed to either avoid litigation or to induce you to buy something. If you want to book a Disney Cruise, for example, you can certainly do that at Disneycruise.com. But if you want decent information ABOUT a Disney cruise, you need to go some place else, like the DIS or allears.net, where you can get an honest opinion and hear helpful dos and don'ts.
It's interesting to note that even as Disney describes D23 as a "community", there are no bulletin boards on the site. No place for people to rant - or say something that can be construed as uncomplimentary towards the Mouse.
I am not alone in my assessment of this new venture. Just take a look at this blog and its responses from REAL Disney fans - people who make me look like a Disney lightweight! This day does not bode well for the company.
I don't begrudge Disney's effort to make a buck. That's why the company exists. But to ask its biggest fans to pay for something that REAL fans can already get elsewhere for free - and in THIS economy...
One thing I've definitely missed about my old job is that I used to get perks. Some pretty good perks, actually. When I worked for Disney, there were free theme park tickets and huge discounts for everything else, making it easy to feed my Disney addiction.
But being a news director had its own benefits all by itself. I would routinely receive gifts in the mail - things like T-Shirts, or tote bags, or Girl Scout cookies, from outfits looking for some free publicity. I could routinely schmooze myself into sporting events or local shows without paying. If I wanted to go to Sea World or the San Diego Zoo, I could arrange to get into those places for free as well.
So imagine how quickly I crashed to Earth knowing I could no longer just fire off an email or pick up the phone to arrange freebies. Well, at least in a small way, I'm back to getting a pretty cool perk.
When I started freelance work at ABC News, I was required to join the Writer's Guild of America. And I did not discover until just this week that it came with a pretty nifty side benefit.
It turns out the Writer's Guild hands out awards each year for writing in tv shows and movies... It's part of the same awards season that includes the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Well, as a member of the guild, I am eligible to vote. And I have started receiving review copies of Hollywood movies!
Two of the movies I've received have just arrived in theaters - In fact, one of them, "Slumdog Millionaire", arrived at my home the day before it opened in theaters. In the packaging, Fox Searchlight pictures has basically threatened my life if I try to pirate the dvd they sent me, and they've asked me to destroy the dvd as soon as I've watched the movie. I'll take that request under advisement.
I don't know if I'll ever watch any of these movies, let alone vote in the Writers Guild awards. But it's still pretty cool to own films that are still showing in theaters!
Of course, I'd trade them all to get my Disney Silver pass back... But that's another story!
The Dow climbed nearly 900 points today - and Disney, one of the 30 Dow Industrials and my former employer, saw its stock climb $2.54 a share! Citadel Broadcasting - my other former employer - finished at 28 cents. Down a penny. On a day when the Dow climbed 900 points. Hmm.
Well, I can say this much... If the February bloodshed that cost me my job was designed to turn the stock around, um..... I'm not sayin... I'm just sayin'!
I have developed over the years a certain reputation as a Disney nut. Yes, I have been to Disney World 54 times. Yes, I have been to Disneyland at least 20 times. Yes, my entire house is an homage to Disneydom, and at Christmastime, I do have a half dozen sets of Mickey Ears illuminating my house. My Disney devotion has even landed my on TV. BUT - I have never built a Disney attraction in my own backyard, like this guy in Minnesota did... And let me tell you - he did a damn good job! Color me jealous!
If you haven't seen Soarin', make sure you do the next time you're at Epcot or at Disney's California Adventure... The real thing is the best ride Disney has built in at least a decade! Have a Disney day!
I have a couple of things to share - and a piece of news to follow! Read on...
My son, Spencer, must be a great actor... Just ask Michael Savage! Anyway - As mentioned last week, Spencer made his acting debut on the stage at Camp Airy - and the folks there were kind enough to record the show and send home a DVD. Here's Spence's big scene on the lean, mean streets of New York City:
Did you hear his fellow campers cheering Spence on at the end? Way to go, Spencer!
Next we move from the stage to the screen... With the boys home from camp, the Matthews family took in WALL-E yesterday afternoon. Being Disney (and Pixar) fans, we had long been looking forward to seeing this film, which drew universal praise from critics, and has even been mentioned in some circles as a Best Picture nominee at next year's Oscars.
Oddly enough, WALL-E left me flat. I found its "green" message to be preachy and somewhat condescending, and I thought the basic story could have been told in half the time. It's almost enough (ok - it is enough) to make you believe there really IS a liberal media conspiracy out there sometimes - at least among movie critics. It also doesn't help when the Disney publicity machine kicks into overdrive... that sometimes makes it impossible to not be underwhelmed by some of its films. I felt the same way about "Finding Nemo"... Just as many say it was the best of the Pixar films, for me, Nemo lingers near the bottom... just above "A Bug's Life" and WALL-E.
Next topic - the coffee business... I find it hilarious that there are several grass-roots efforts underway to keep some of those 600 shuttered Starbucks shops open. These stores are being closed because they don't get enough business, and now, faithful customers are signing petitions and whatnot to keep the shops open... But Starbucks doesn't need to be preached to by the choir... it needs new converts... And at upwards of four bucks a cup, those converts ain't comin'... The Missus and I do not see eye to eye on this... She's a Starbucks queen... Give me a buck-39, and I'll get a 24-oz. vat o'joe at the 7-Eleven!
And speaking of the 7-Eleven... I will resume my once-daily early morning trips to the land of "Oh Thank Heaven" beginning tomorrow morning. My friends at WBAL Radio have graciously asked me to do some fill-in work for the next month - writing newscasts for my good friend, Bill Vanko, just as I once wrote them for Bryan Nehman at WMAL. I will also be anchoring the odd newscast outside of morning drive, so be sure to tune in to 1090 WBAL to hear yours truly!
I am half excited and half terrified to be going back to work. I do want a fulltime job, of course, and I had hoped it would have come long before this. I know in my heart that I will get back on the bicycle and be just fine, but there's just a pinch of irrational fear that I somehow lost 25 years of news skills in a few short months! We'll find out soon, won't we?
This blog has been a Godsend for me - giving me a voice to vent with, as well as a reason to get up and be productive every day. With my early morning work schedule (I HAVE A WORK SCHEDULE!!!), you will not find a fresh edition of "Life On The Beach" to read every morning, but please continue to check in most afternoons... I will continue to try to give you some daily nonsense to "enjoy"... Thanks to all of you for reading!
Today marks the one-year anniversary of Disney's sale of WMAL to the corporation that shall go nameless. My wife insists on replacing the first letter of that company's name with "Sh" - but let's not go there.
Disney was a fun company to work for.... at least it was for me. It provided both my vocation and my avocation... and a lot of vacations, too!
I do miss the perks - the park passes and the discounts... But most of all, I miss the access. There is nothing cooler than being able to drive up to the front gate of the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, show an ID badge, and be able to walk around the campus where Walt Disney's animators created their magic. There's nothing more fun than driving "backstage" behind the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and going shopping at a cast-member-only store!
Looking back, it certainly seems now like Disney made the right move by selling off its radio stations. The stations had already become a drag on Disney's corporate earnings, and since the sale, the radio business in general has spiraled into freefall. I'm pretty sure if Disney had held onto WMAL, many of the employees who were cut would still have been cut - and frankly, it would have been much tougher personally for me to be canned by Disney instead of its' successor.
If you don't have a pre-teenage daughter, you might find it a bit difficult to connect to this story, but please read on:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Miley Cyrus said she's embarrassed by an apparently racy photo spread appearing in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair..
"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about," Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist
The photos, by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, were taken to accompany an interview with the 15-year-old pop star and her father, singer Billy Ray Cyrus. They include shots of the teen reportedly topless and wrapped in a blanket.
The Disney Channel, which airs Cyrus' TV show "Hannah Montana," was also critical of Vanity Fair.
"Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," a network statement said.
It's quite apparent that the Pop Tart and her family are racing to conduct damage control here. They probably got in over their heads with Annie Leibovitz, who is perhaps the most gifted portrait photographer in Earth and who herself also has ties to Disney.
I have seen the photo in question, and, by description, all of the hubbub seems to be more smoke than fire. The 15-year-old appears to be naked, but she is seen with a blanket wrapped around her, and really, none of her naughty bits can be seen. So, of course, I'm sure you're wondering by now where the photo is... Well, you won't find it here. You can easily find it by getting your Google on.
I am by no means a prude, but the fact is that Miley Cyrus is 15 years old. Why is the world in such a hurry to sexualize her? The photo of Miley would, to me, be just fine a couple of years from now. But there's no need to turn her into a sex object before she's old enough to drive!
Think I'm overreacting? Not so long ago, Lindsey Lohan was a 15-year-old budding Disney star, prettier and probably more gifted artistically than Miley Cyrus will ever be. But no one tried to put the brakes on Lindsey... she grew up way too fast. Now, at 21, she has been through rehab three times, spent time in jail, damaged her career and aged herself terribly... And don't even get me started with Britany Spears!
Miley - do yourself a favor and spend more time worrying about prom than promoting yourself!
To paraphrase my good friend Bill Shakespeare - "What's in a date? That which we call a birthday by any other name would smell as sweet." Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but today, April 22nd, has different meanings to different people.
To the Prius-driving, granola-crunching, tree-hugging, birkenstock-wearing, carbon-footprint-reducing, Al Gore-loving crowd, today is Earth Day, founded more or less on this day in 1970(thanks, Wikipedia!). I really appreciate all the environmentalists who observe this day so I don't have to. I've never looked good in earth tones myself.
To my teenage son, whose brain may be filled with more useless trivia than mine, today is Vladimir Lenin's birthday. I would be worried about Brad becoming a dirty red commie, except that I know he doesn't share stuff very easily, and I just don't see socialism working out very well for him!
For me, today marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom. I remember it well, because it was the first Disney park opening I had ever covered as a reporter, and I would not have missed it for the world. Robin was a little nervous to see me go, because our youngest son, Spencer, was just two months old, but she also knew that was not going to stop me. I remember they held the opening ceremonies in the Animal Kingdom parking lot... there was a lot of African-themed dancing, and the big highlight of the event came when a bald eagle came swooping in and landed on the arm of his trainer right on cue with the musical crescendo at the end of "Circle of Life".
I have covered literally dozens of Disney media events as a reporter, from the openings of the Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Institute to Walt's 100th birthday and the Year of a Million Dreams. I used to take them for granted, but now that my access to those kind of events has been dashed in my current state of unemployment, I have a real appreciation for those days! For a Disney fan, getting to see Roy Disney rededicate Walt Disney World on its 25th birthday in person, or to ride "Expedition:Everest" on its official opening day - those really were "dreams come true".
When I lost my job at WMAL, it wasn't the loss of income - it was the loss of this kind of access that bothered my son, Spencer, the most. He said, "But Dad - you'll no longer be 'John Matthews'" - an allusion to a family joke about my former "superpower" ability to gain backstage access to Disney events. Don't worry Spence - hopefully Dad will be "John Matthews" again someday soon... Until then, Clark Kent wants you to clean up the basement!
Hello from sunny Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where Life On The Beach reports this week from an actual BEACH! Yes, the Beach Bum is three weeks removed from getting the ax, but here I am with my family, staying at a timeshare that I bought way back when I was a Disney cast member and all was right with the world. I must admit... being here when no job is beckoning upon my return does seem a little extravagant, and every vacation tchotchke that Mrs. Beach Bum looks at now seems like even more of a waste of money than it did when I was working... However, these reservations were made seven months ago, and thanks to cell phones and wifi for my laptop, I can just as easily be surfing for work here as I can at home. Plus - it's nice to spend this time with the wife and kids... When we get back, it's back to rushing them off to school and work while I stay home!
I saw that Georgetown lost in the second round of the NCAA's... I ALMOST wish I was home so I could listen to John Thompson cry like a baby that his kid's team was somehow screwed out of making the Sweet 16... Sorry - I hate the Hoyas. That's what going to Syracuse will do to ya!
If anyone has a job for me, I'm all ears... Even down here in Low Country!
It all started at a 5,000 watt AM station in the nation's capital, where I filed away Steve and Eydie albums for Bill Trumbull. 25 years later, after making the transition to news - first as a street reporter and later as News Director - my position was eliminated. The dance card has plenty of vacancies now... Anyone wanna tango?
