The Information One-Lane Highway

What makes a good network go neutral?

Whether you have been aware of it or not there has been a lot of talk lately about net neutrality. Its a term that's getting thrown around more than pies at a clown convention, but what does it really mean? The long and short of it, is that Net Neutrality refers to the idea that the flow of information on the internet should be treated fairly and equally. It means that no company has the right to restrict or slow down your access to certain sites, or prioritize certain internet services over others. After all, we pay for our Internet bill, therefore we should be allowed to decide what and when we see something... At least that's the way it is supposed to work in theory. (For more FAQs, check out the Save the Internet site.)

And that is how most people think the Internet works. You pay your bill and then you can go on whatever website you want, and (if you live alone like me) you assume that since you are the only one using the Internet and you have the browser clicked over to Amazon.com that all your bandwidth power is being directed to that one site. (After all, why wouldn't it?) But that's not how it works. Internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon have been artificiality slowing down certain sites, most notably Netflix, to homes. They are basically trying to extort money from large Internet companies (like Amazon, YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix). If the company doesn't pay them they will slow their access down to a crawl, which means that when you're streaming Die Hard 5 (or a good movie) on your Netflix you will keep losing video quality and may even have to wait as parts of the movie buffer. (You know like the porn videos you used to watch back in 1999.) Worst of all, who does the customer blame? Not Comcast. No they blame Netflix, even though its not their fault.

Netflix has already paid Comcast their blood money to ensure that their service will not have their speeds restricted. The article I linked tries to spin the agreement like its a good thing, but the truth is that Netflix paid Comcast for the right to not be restricted. They didn't pay for priority access. They didn't pay for their service to be faster than others. They only paid so as to not be restricted. That would be like me paying extra for food, not because it was better or served faster than other food, but just to ensure that the cook doesn't decide to drop cyanide in it... And do not mistake my meaning. this type of behavior is cyanide to the freedom of the Internet.

"Would you like that with or without rat poison?
The 'without' option is only an additional $2.99."

This is made even worse because large ISPs like Comcast and Verizon basically form an oligopoly. It's like a monopoly except there is no singular man with a top hat and monocle. Instead, it would be like if the battleship and race car decided to split the board in half equally and charge the same prices to everyone to use their services. They are no longer competing, because once a year they would get together and decide to raise their prices or change their services equally, and what can most homes (or hotels) do about it? Comcast and Verizon own and lay the fiberoptic cables that carry the Internet. Most places in the country literally don't have a choice in who their Internet service provider is. It's similar to the electric and gas companies (as most homes don't have a choice which utility company they can use,) except that those services are regulated by the government. ISP's are 100% private, and now they are pushing for even more freedom. (Freedom to them but what could amount ot tyranny for the Internet.)

Up to this point companies like Comcast and Verizon have been classified by the Federal Communications Commission as Common Carriers. Its a legal definition that applies mostly to phone companies, (which Verizon and Comcast also are,) and both companies as well as lesser known ISPs have basically been happy to be classified as such for the past few decades. After all, being a common carrier comes with certain protections, but it also comes with certain restrictions, most notably the rule that common carriers cannot prioritize one communication over another. (So a phone company can't charge an automated calling company more to prioritize their phone calls over your Aunt Phyllis' phone call.) In January a federal court of appeals struck down the idea that ISPs were common carriers because they claimed they were carrying information and not communication.

This ruling has now opened up a new fear in many people. ISPs could start charging content providers or even customers directly for services that were otherwise free. "You want access to YouTube? That will be $4.99 additional. Do you want access to Facebook or Twitter? Get the social media package for an additional $8.99 a month. It will appear automatically on your bill." Regardless whether ISPs charge the customer directly or the content providers the cost will eventually get passed along to the consumer. That means higher costs, longer download times, and if it gets bad enough you will start to see a lot of the Internet's more innovative and free sites (Like YouTube and Wikipedia) fall by the wayside. It would also hinder growth, because what would be the point of growing your website if you risked getting so big that ISPs decided to slap you with an additional fee just so people could continue viewing it? (At least that is something I will never have to worry about.)

This kind of thinking runs parallel to everything the Internet has accomplished up until now. County's like South Korea are paying half the amount for Internet service that is ten times faster than what we receive. Our freedom and our future is being strangled by the greed of corporations. Even worse Comcast is trying to buy Time Warner Cable, (which if you are paying attention would make Comcast a legitimate monopoly, top hat and all.) Even crazier the FCC is considering allowing it, (because f*ck anti-trust laws.) Most people who should be outraged by all of this (you and me) barely even know its going on. America's future prosperity is inescapably linked with the freedom of the world wide web. If we let that freedom slip away I don't even want to consider what our future will be. Netflix is leading the charge against these new threats to the Internet, but maybe that's because they stand to lose the most.

Pick up Hasbro's newest version, "ISP Monopoly."
(When purchasing there is an optional $1.99 charge which
ensures that the game comes with all advertised pieces.)

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube provide services which directly compete with services already provided by the ISPs (or cable companies as they used to be called.) If enough customers stop using Netflix than that is a win for the cable companies who for an additional cost will provide a customer with hundreds of channels of TV to watch instead, and premium movie channels for an additional cost, and DVR functions for an additional cost on top of that. Have you ever looked at your cable bill and wondered why your Internet cost was the most expensive item on it? It's because Verizon and Comcast want you to use their cable services, and all the little extras you can buy. The Internet is a flat fee for them, which means the only revenue they get from it is from that monthly charge. There are no extras or add-ons, at least not yet, and they can charge whatever they want for it, because there is no competition. It's ironic we have started calling them Internet Service Providers, because from where I stand they are still just Cable Companies trying the same old tricks they always have. Yet, whatever you want to call them, make sure you call them Common Carriers.

In short, ISPs are trying to turn the information superhighway into a one-lane game board where they control all the spaces. (Do not pass Go, pay us $200.) If you want to help (and you should) contact the FCC and let them know your thoughts. These ISPs have the money, the lobbyists, and the time to make their voices heard. We need to make our voices heard, and let the people in Washington know why this is a terrible terrible terrible terrible idea. Use the links below to contact the FCC and your local representatives to voice your opinions.

Contact the FCC Leadership
Comment form for proceeding 14-28 "Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet":
Comment form for proceeding 14057, "Application for Comcast/Time Warner Merger"
Contact your Representatives

And if you are still not convinced, Here are some people (who I respect and admire) that can explain it a lot better than I can.

Vi Hart's Explanation

Hank Green's Argument

CCP Grey's Explanation

Colombia (The One with an "O")

I find myself sitting here on the plane as the world falls away below me. I watch as we rise through the cloud cover to sore above the mountains and valleys of white cotton, as if entering a dream world, or is this the real world and the place I left far below me, the dream? Sometimes it feels like that, even now as I reflect back, my past few whirlwind days feel surreal, my days in Colombia.

Colombia is a like painting full of beautiful vistas.

I have always had a small penchant for travel as anyone who has read my other blog might attest, but there was something different about the days I spent in my first South American country. I was invited there for a wedding, between my friends Tony and Lina, the Aussie and Colombian who took me in while I floundered to find my feet in Australia. It had been a few years since I had seen them and the wedding seemed like a great excuse to do so again and visit an area of the world I had yet to tread. My arrival was smooth as I took a morning flight out of LaGuardia and made a connection through Fort Lauderdale and finally onto Bogota, Colombia. Tony met me at the airport with Lina’s mom, Carmen, a wonderful woman who even though we did not speak the same language was still able to convey her natural warmth and caring nature. That night it was dinner at her house, where I was reunited with Tony’ parents and met Lina’s bothers, sister, and grandmother, (all wonderful people.) I also met two other wayward travelers such as myself, friends of Lina’s, and fellow North Americans, a Canadian and a Mexican national. Dinner was soup, which was particularly good. It was a mix of potato and chicken soup, and just the thing I needed after a long flight.

My adventure truly began the next day as I volunteered to drive one of the three cars that would transport us about four hours north to Villa de Leyva, the small historic and picturesque village where the wedding would take place. I learned many things in those long four hours of driving. First off, I will never complain about New York traffic again. I also learned that Colombian traffic laws are really more or less suggestions to be followed or ignored as one saw fit. Thankfully, I was following Lina’s mother who was an excellent driver, so we stayed pretty safe as I transported myself and my fellow North Americans through the jam packed streets of Bogota and the winding mountainous roads of Colombia. We made it with little incident, other than the rain, (but it seems to rain frequently in Colombia.)

Also, my hotel had a painting of Mary Jane's *ahem* full vistas.

The views, however, were beyond compare. The entire country seemed like it was composed of mountains and valleys that seem more like paintings than actual physical vistas. Even the rain clouds often broke apart to send shafts of light to glitter among the beautiful terrain. The stunning sights did not end at the village either. Villa de Leyva is a town that seems unchanged from its founding in the 1800’s. Cobble stone roads, small shops, simple lives, and a Spanish-inspired town square crowned with an amazing church were all situated on the low slope of a mountain, giving the town's residents and visitors spectacular views of the countryside. The peaceful beauty of the place hit me as we sat for dinner to eat my slice of pizza (It wasn’t a New York slice, but what really is?) Yet, pizza was not the highlight of the my food experience in Colombia.

In fact even now, I am still so full that it is hard to think of ever eating again. Food in Colombia seems to consist mostly of mounds of meat and potatoes, (two personal favorites.) There were sausages, lamb ribs, beef, chicken, and even more than I have a name for. My favorite food was the arepa. Each place makes it a little different, but essentially it is like a piece of cornbread stuffed with cheese. I practically swallowed them whole whenever they were served, and they were served quite often. There was an almost constant stream of food, especially at the wedding. Seven different small courses ranging from empanadas to vegetables and fruits (most of which I had never heard of before,) and of course meat. Juice drinks in Colombia are basically fruit smoothies with milk or water. I consumed them liberally.

However, what would an adventure be without a little harrowing danger and I found plenty of that as well. On the day of the wedding the girls went to get their hair done, (at a steal of roughly 15 US dollars apiece.) Lina’s family and Tony’s family were the first to arrive and loaded up in their cars to make the five-minute journey back to the highway to go to the wedding location, a beautiful ranch situated in a green idealc valley. My two passengers were the last to arrive. I was already dressed and we loaded up our car before heading out to follow the others. The wedding was located down a dirt path, marked with nothing but a small wooden sign, easy to miss, and we did. So I had to turn us around. An upcoming driveway gave me the perfect opportunity. I made a brief check to see if anyone was coming ahead of me and I signaled to make the left before doing so.

The next sound I heard was a scream and then the screeching of tires. A car had come up behind us and as I signaled to turn, the driver thought it a good time to try and pass me on the left, the same direction I was turning. We collided. Thankfully, everyone was okay, but I had a new problem. Two damaged cars and no way to communicate with the other driver. My new Mexican friend was able to explain to the other man what happened. He wanted to call the police, but the obvious problem was that I was not driving a car registered under my name. So my two passengers took off at a run toward the wedding (which was over 2 kilometers away) to bring help, leaving me alone with a portly Colombian who kept looking at me as one would look at a fish in a fishbowl, an oddity. In that moment I wished more than anything that I had studied my DuoLingo program harder. My Spanish and frantic hand gesturing were hardly up to the task. To make matters worse in the confusion and stress of the situation I went to sit down and split the back of my only suit pants, almost from belt to crotch.

Tragic results of my inability to drive in South America.

Next the police arrived and I was faced with another man who I could only barely communicate with, except this one was in a uniform and wearing a visible weapon. However, I cannot speak to ill of him, for he saw how stressed I was and did his best to help clam me down. We spent the next fifteen agonizing minutes trying to communicate. I gave me him my US license and the insurance information for the car I found in the glove compartment. Of course he picked out almost immediately how my name did not match the name of the owner of the car. I did my best to try and explain that I had not stolen it, but I could not shake the image of me locked away in a foreign country. (My only hope was that they served arepas in Colombian prison.) Finally, a small black car crested the hill and pulled up alongside me. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. My two passengers exited along with two of Lina’s uncles, one of which, Daniel, was a lawyer. They quickly straightened out the one-sided story that the other man had told the police officer. He claimed that I never signaled, but with myself and my two passengers emphatically saying that I did he seemed out of luck. It was also noted that there was a very prominent and clear “no passing” sign posted not ten feet from where we crashed. So after an exchanging of words, (and an exchanging of a couple hundred thousand pesos,) the man went on his way, and I got in the car with Uncle Daniel. The mess seemed sorted out.

However, my dear reader, if you know me, you know my own personal guilt was not so easy to assuage. I offered probably two dozen times to pay for the damage and the bribe that so neatly fixed the situation. Uncle Daniel and everyone else refused, simply saying that Colombian Insurance was the best and it was for reasons like this that it existed. Apparently such minor accidents are fairly common place, but I still felt responsible. However, there was one small bright spot, the wedding had been delayed, not for our sakes but due to other matters. So we made it on time, which was good because it turned out we also had the flowers and the main candle for the ceremony in the car.

Releasing balloons after the ceremony.

The ceremony was beautiful with Tony and Lina uniting together in words and through a ceremony of light which involved the aforementioned candle. We even released balloons, and as I watched the pink, red, and white symbols float away I think I finally started to relax. The story of my adventure spread quickly through the wedding with most people coming over to laugh with me about it, and tell me how it was “no real problem.” Uncle Daniel was especially kind and as the formal wedding wound down the night turned into one of drinking and dancing. Daniel, was especially keen to share a bottle of whiskey with me, making sure my glass never stayed empty for long. He did not speak a word of English and my Spanish was only passable at best, yet through the haze of alcohol and mistranslation we managed to have quite an in-depth and lively conversation. I enjoyed his company, and we talked about the differences between Colombia and America, how beautiful his country was, and even our occupations. We were the last ones to go sleep, and as he stumbled toward his bunkhouse, I tried to do the same. Unfortunately, I got a little lost in the darkness, and my suitcase was still in the damaged car, which I no longer had keys to open. Also, I had never seen the cabin I was staying in before, so instead of risking barging in on someone else, I just found the common couch and laid down. That was where Lina found me in the morning, sleeping by the fireplace, still dressed in my full suit, ripped pants and all.

All and all it was an eventful day, but not as so eventful as the next. Colombia is a place where once in never enough. You can’t have just one drink of whiskey with Uncle Daniel, one piece of meat from the platter, and one death-defying event in a car. After sobering up the next morning with a spicy soup meant to cure hangovers we returned to Villa de Leyva for some shopping and sightseeing. From there it was onto another small village several kilometers away for lunch and more shopping. On our return trip home to Bogota, we found ourselves caught in massive traffic jam, mostly due to the conditions of the road, the presence of slow-moving trucks, and more than a few accidents. (It seemed like such things really were an everyday occurrence.)

The only tricky thing was the money. That equals about 10 US Dollars.
Why don't they just drop three zeroes off all their currency?

However, the hour was getting late and the day was growing dark. I was not at control of the car. After my experience I had relinquished that responsibility to a more seasoned driver, a young man who was boyfriends with one of Lina’s cousins. He seemed a nice enough person, even if I couldn’t understand most of what he was saying. The three hour journey back to Bogota took nearly five hours, with even the road signs seemingly confused as to the actual distance of the journey. (100k to Bogota... 70k to Bogota... 76k to Bogota… "Wait, why did it go back up?") It was on this latter stretch that our driver got it into his head to pass a large tanker truck over double lines on a curve. He had been passing people on the left quite frequently, but so was everyone else. I was anxious, but who was I to talk? I had already proved my inability to drive in Colombia. On this particular pass, our driver misjudged the distance to the oncoming headlights in the opposite lane. Miraculously we managed to edge out the truck and beat the oncoming car, but it was only just barely. It's hard to communicate how scary this moment was. My own accident was merely a fender bender, this near-miss had the potential to be so much more, and I am very thankful that I am still here to write these words. Afterwards, we were all very silent, and I personally felt more relieved than angry. After that our driver didn’t pass anyone again, and my Mexican friend made him keenly aware how close we came to a very fatal car accident. He was visibly repentant.

Ironically, as scared as I was, I was also somewhat placated. My thoughts in the moment followed this order: (1) We’re going to hit. (2) I am going to die. (3) At least this one isn’t my fault. In that instant of near-death I found a new understanding, and it was the same as what everyone had been telling me, "These things happen all the time." I realized that my crash was not so much a crash of cars, but a crash of cultures. My accident was a result of driving like an American in Colombia. However, that was nothing to be ashamed of. To the people of Colombia car accidents are just part of life, and in comparison to our near-miss my own worries seemed more laughable than anything. Maybe it just helped me realize that life is full of problems, challenges, and the occasional speed bump, but that's natural. My own accident was just another occurrence on a long road. Much like the people of Colombia, I needed to learn to take certain things in stride and just do my best whatever the circumstances. After all there are more important hings in life than materiel possessions, and I think that is what I really took away from this most recent trip. 

As much as I spent a portion of my trip feeling guilty or even somewhat terrified, I cannot find many bad things to say about Colombia. Yes, the drivers are crazy and the roads are basically a game of bumper cars, but my true experience in this South American country is best summed up by that peaceful night I spent eating foreign pizza in a Spanish plaza under the stars. As I listened to the sound of a local guitarist strum out native and international songs I realized how far away from home I was and yet how familiar the people seemed. They were not speaking my language, but they were still just fellow humans going about their lives and loves, and even listening to the occasional acoustic Beatles' song. Their life was not simpler than mine or even less stressful, but they found the joy in the good parts and did their best to let the rest go. Colombia for me is not so much about the beauty of the landscape or even the amazing food, but about those people, like Nina’s mother, Carmen, or her uncle Daniel, or even the police officer that calmed me down after my accident. It is a land filled with kindhearted and caring people, who I am glad I got a chance to meet, and whom I won't soon forget.

The Story's Voice

I have very few superpowers. For instance, my core temperature is slightly above normal, allowing me to walk around in winter in T-shirts, and throw fireballs from my hands like Johnny Storm, (but I don't really like to talk about it.) However, one of those limited powers involves a strange sort of ability to recognize celebrities in all instances. I have watched TV shows and have been able to pick people out under layers of make-up and prosthetics just by the way they move their mouth or shake their head. This talent also extends to celebrity voices, which may be one of the reasons why I still enjoy watching the occasional cartoon.

I am fascinated by voice acting, and if I ever were to try my hand at celebritiness, voice acting would definitely be the way to go for me. ("Come to work in my pajamas and talk into a microphone, sure.") So for anyone who doesn't share my practiced ear, let me share with you some mind blowing facts about celebrities who are the voices behind some of your most beloved childhood cartoons.

Let's start off by talking Disney. Now first off, we all know that Dory was voices by Ellen DeGeneres, or that Tom Hanks was Woody, etc. In my mind those don't count because those are instances when celebrities were picked to be the voices of cartoons because they were celebrities. It is ironic that there are a treasure trove of talented voice actors out there, but when it comes to the big budget cartoon movies they are almost always replaced by recognizable actors, because Hollywood... However, Disney has used lesser known actors and actresses in the past, my two favorite examples are Aladdin and Mulan. Yes Robin Williams was the voice of Aladdin's Genie and Eddie Murphy was the voice of the Mulan's Dragon, we all know that. But Did you know:

Steve from Full House voiced Aladdin, and Ming Na Wen from Agents of SHIELD voiced Mulan. (Also, an interesting fact, Ming Na Wen is freaking 50 years old, and looks younger than me,) but maybe you already knew these two. Maybe you, my hypothetically generic reader, are smarter than the average beast, but I bet you would never have guessed that:

That's right, the late Jerry Orbach, best know as the smart alec, veteran, no nonsense New York detective on the original Law and Order voiced the French candlestick, Lumiere, in Beauty and the Beast and unlike the two actors I mentioned above, he also did the singing voice for the character. Now picture Detective Lenny Briscoe singing Be Our Guest at a crime scene and your day will be complete.

Nickelodeon  has more than few surprises as well to offer up from the voice community. Some people may know that Bruce Willis played the voice of Spike for a Rugrats/Wild Thornberries movie, or that Repatar was voice by Busta Rhymes in the Rugrats movie, but meet the voice of Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life:

Carlos Alazraqui from Reno 911 voiced Rocko all the way through the run of the show. Yet this is actually not that surprising. Alazraqui is primarily a voice actor, with Reno 911 being one of his only live action roles. He also plays Mr. Crokcer on Fairly Odd Parents.

My favorite celebrity/voice actors all come from the classic 80's cartoons that my generation watched on Saturday mornings, back when Saturday Morning Cartoons were a thing, (I guess nowadays its Saturday Morning... I can't even make a joke here. What do kids do on Saturday mornings now? Xbox?) The Transformers had their share of more than a few famous voice actors:

That's right Casey Kasem, the voice behind American Top 40, and other radio and TV music shows was the American voice of the Autobot Cliff Jumper, and Leonard Nimoy himself voiced the Decepticon, Galvatron, who took over as the show's main baddy after the death of Megatron. (Transformers was kind of like a Japanese soap opera for kids.) Yet, the most surprising voice belongs to this fellow:

Freakin' Citizen Kane himself, Orson Welles, voiced Unicron, the giant planet-sized transformer. Urban legend states that Welles had fallen on some hard times during the 80's and was left with very few options but to lend his voice to a transforming Japanese robot in order to continue paying his cigar and hooker bills. It was also said that he hated the part, but tragically and ironically (tragonically?) the part of Unicorn was the last part the titan of film and radio ever played. He died shortly after reading the part for Transformers the Movie. At least that is how the modern myth of transforming fighting robots reads. Still my favorite stories comes from the Real Ghostbusters the cartoon show based on the classic movie series.

Thus further proving that the 80's were a good time for Arsenio Hall and Dave Coulier. An ironic caveat is that Dave Coulier, best know as Uncle Joey on Full House, was not the original voice for cartoon Peter Venkman. The job originally belonged to Lorenzo Music, whose biggest credit is that he co-created the Bob Newhart Show. Mr. Music (that's a fun name) was the original voice of Garfield the cat, a job that was taken over in the movie by none other than Bill Murry or the real-life Peter Venkman.

Speaking of 80's voice cartoons, the next two you might have heard about:

That's right, James Avery, the lovable Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince found himself being fustrated by more than the just antics of Will Smith. It turns out he had four green menaces haunting his dreams as he played Shredder on the 80's incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the uncool Urkel, Jaleel White, from Family Matters, was in fact the ultra-cool voice of Sonic the Hedgehog. In fact, Jaleel voiced Sonic across three different cartoon versions.

However no show in the good old Regan era even holds a candle to Captain Planet and the Planeteers. That show was packed with celebrity voices, and not just relative unknowns or B-list TV actors. I am talking actors in the prime of their careers, or at least on the rise in Hollywood. My only theory is that Captain Planet was a cartoon show with a heavy hand toward pushing environmentalism, so for liberal Hollywood it probably seemed like the place to be. For example:

Kwame the African planeteer was played by LeVar Burton, and Gaia was played by fellow Star trek alum Whoopi Goldberg, during the height of both their careers. The rest played villains, which meant they only had to show up for like five episodes in a year, and most celebrities wound up dropping off their parts after only a season or two. For instance when Sting left the role of Zarm it was taken over a year later by Malcolm "freaking" McDowell. Probably the least known of any of the people on this list is Dean Stockwell who played Duke Nukem, (not the one you're thinking of,) but I including him because Quantum Leap rules, and he voiced the character at the height of its popularity, same goes for Cliff from Cheers, but John Ratzenberger would go on to do other voice work as a talking piggy bank, which people nowadays may be more familiar with.

Tim Curry also played the voice of an evil Computer, MAL, but much like Ed Asner they are both prolific voice actors in their own rights. Tim's naturally malevolently deep voice lends itself to so many evil characters... as well as Nigel Thornberry, for some reason.

There are of course other shows that feature just as many hidden celebrity voices. Mark Hamil, (Mr. Luke Skywalker himself,) is actually a huge figure in the voice acting community. Hamil got into a bad car accident some years after filming Return of the Jedi and his face was badly scarred, and that put an end to his onscreen career. So he picked up the pieces by using his voice talents to fill the gaps. His most notable and memorable character is the Joker on the old Batman The Animated Series. He has continued that voice into modern times, as he continues to voice the Joker for the Arkham games along with veteran Batman voice actor, Kevin Conroy. In fact, the DC Animated Universe, (which was spawned form Batman TAS,) has utilized almost every voice actor or B-list celebrity they can get there hands on over the years. I could literally write another blog on the voice talent in that show alone.

Similarly, Disney's Gargoyles a somewhat cult classic cartoon show from the 90's, features pretty much every actor who was ever on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, (and Ed Asner.) That probably has more to do with the fact that Jonathon Frakes, who played William Riker on TNG, was one of the principal cast and started pulling in other cast members from the shows which were also running concurrently with the cartoon at the time. I really only mention it because it so apparent that many fans have loving referred to the show as Star Trek: Gargoyles.

But we're not done yet. I have saved the best ones for last. I have no real stories for any of these. I think think they are kind of surprising. So I'll just go ahead and show you:

So take that for what it's worth. JK Simmons, best know for his roles on Law and Order, and as the best damn J. Jonah Jameson anyone has ever saw, from Sam Rami's Spider-Man Duology (I refuse to acknowledge Spider-Man 3,) plays the voice of the Yellow M&M on commercials. Jessica Walter, from Arrested Development, used to be the voice of Fran the Dinosaur on ABC's old sitcom, Dinosaurs. Of course she is no stranger to voice work, as anyone who has watched Archer knows. Similarly, Fergie makes a life by using her voice (and other *ahem* assets,) but it was only her voice she started with, which is maybe why she played the voice of Sally Brown for a few of the old Charlie Brown movies. Yet the most shocking has to be the fact that Michael Cera was the voice of Brother Bear on the Berenstein Bears. Just when you thought he couldn't get more awkward.

So I hope I have opened your eyes up to a few of the faces behind the animation. Voice acting has always held a strange fascination for me. There is a story behind every word and person being every voice. So maybe keep your ears open the next time you are watching a cartoon, a movie, or even a commercial. You may just be surprised with who you hear.