Schrodinger's Cat, The Measurement Problem and Al Held

Al Held was an Abstract Expressionist who died in 2005. This is his painting "The Space Between the Two."
Schrodinger's Cat and the Measurement Problem are components of the endlessly fascinating world of the Very Small and the Very Fast(otherwise known as Quantum Physics)
Later,
Paul Parducci

Memorial Day

Soldier, rest, thy warfare o'er,
Dream of fighting fields no more.
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Morn of toil, nor night of waking.
Sir Walter Scott

As I barbecue with my family this weekend, I remember and I thank you all for the wonderful free life I enjoy.

Thank you,

Paul Parducci

Toronto, Da Vinci and a Copy

I just finished recording a couple of radio spots for the Toronto Board of Tourism.
(If you catch one I'll be playing "Tom.") And it got me thinking about the fifth largest city in North America.
It has quite an interesting history.

Speaking of History The Folks at How Stuff Works take on the Art and History of the Da Vinci Code.

The picture is a copy of a Da Vinci painting that never dried made by one of his apprentices.
Later,
Paul Parducci







PS: I am currently reading "Fields of Battle-The Wars of North America" by John Keegan--highly recommended

Ghosts for sale? Disneyland Past and Very Good News

If you are interested in owning a purported haunted house here's your chance:
Haunted House For Sale

If you are a Disney Fanatic or simply wax nostalgic once in awhile for the Disneyland of your youth here is a great site.

And there is very good news regarding one of my favorites at Disneyland
Have a Great Day!
Later,
Paul Parducci

Saved by Angels

I am an Oprah fan, she is an outstanding host and a woman who is obviously focused on positive service to the world.
My wife told me about Fridays show and how it had simply amazed her.
I checked it out and it amazed me too; a little boy describes an unimaginably evil attack and how he was:
Saved by Angels.
Makes you think doesn't it?
Later,
Paul Parducci

Happy Birthday Chewbacca! An American Original and Brainage.

Today is the birthday of actor Peter Mayhew who plays Chewbacca in the Star Wars series.

And on this day in 2001 we lost Joey Ramone.

My son and I are battling each other over a new game I mistakenly picked up called Brainage, I can see our competition developing into a blood match. As I write this my son has informed me that he is one point ahead in his Brain Age. So I have to go now and improve the processing speed of my Prefrontal Cortex.
Later,
Paul Parducci

Tom Cruise: The Absolute Truth

I don't know why I am posting this today.

I am usually very successful at avoiding all the Hollywood chit-chat, schadenfreude and outright bleating hatred.
But I am hearing about Tom Cruise far too often these days.

So from where I sit firmly ensconced in Lunch Box Hollywood here is the Absolute Truth as I see it:
Tom Cruise is a Scientologist (This is undisputed) Last time I checked we live in America where we enjoy freedom of Religion. Tom doesn't care for Psychiatry, well I don't care for Lima Beans. So What?
He jumped on a couch on the Oprah Show. I saw this,(on an evening News program) he seemed happy. (Under certain circumstances I might do the same thing although my Mom has implanted the no shoes on the sofa concept pretty deeply.)
He and Katie Holmes are having a baby. (God Bless!)
Many consider(and I count myself among them) Tom Cruise to be a great actor, look at Born on the 4th of July or Collateral sometime.
Mr. Cruise has made a lot of money for this town. (And as of today MI3 is still number one.)
I've never worked with him, but people who have invariable describe him as polite, hardworking and ethical.
OK I'm done.
Have a Great Day Everybody!
Later,
Paul

Happy Mothers Day! Plus:Live Theater in Los Angeles: Take the Kids

I hope all the Mom's out there had a wonderful Mothers Day!

This weekend I had the privilege of seeing the latest offering from Limecat Family Theater:
"The Goldfish Twins Swim the Big Blue Sea."
It was terrific. All the kids in the audience including my son absolutely loved it. (The cast, direction, art design and music was on the money.)
Limecat is brought to you by my great friend Zombie Joe who is the founder of Zombie Joe's Underground.
Do yourself a favor and check this innovative Theater out.
Later,
Paul Parducci

Chris Daughtry, The Office, American Masters

This is a hodgepodge post:

My wife ( a singer) watches American Idol:
...Apparently Chris's "goofy vibrato" bothered her. She feels the last three standing are the best singers and that Katherine will win.

The Office:
continues to astound me, another great episode last night.

Particularly great American Masters this week:
Pappy and the Duke
Later,
Paul Parducci
PS: The photo is purported to be Jesus in the clouds taken in 1972.

Could this be "The Greatest Joke in the World?!"

My son reminded me of this joke today.
I don't know who the author is, but it is an excellent piece of comedy.There are several versions, but this is essentially how I heard it:

A ship was out at sea when the Captain noticed a pirate ship on the horizon. He turned to his First Mate and said: "Quick get me my red shirt." the First Mate said, "Why sir?" The Captain answered, "Well I'm sure the pirates will board us and swordplay will ensue, there will no doubt be blood and I don't want it to show as it may demoralize the crew." They fought the pirates and carried the day.
A few months later, the ship was traveling through the same waters, this time the First Mate reported to his Captain, "Captain I see a fleet of ten pirate ships approaching us from the east. The Captain turned to his First Mate and said, "Quick get me my brown pants."

There you have it!
Later,
Paul Parducci

Frederic Edwin Church and "The Heart of the Andes"

I saw this painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art years ago and it had a great impact on me. I keep a postcard of it near my desk.
Later,
Paul Parducci

Info: Frederic Church

Drake and Josh: The Coach is in!

This week I had the great fortune to work on the hit Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh. I am playing Coach Remmers.
The cast is particularly excellent: Drake Bell and Josh Peck are terrific as are Miranda Cosgrove, Nancy Sullivan and Jonathan Goldstein. And everyone made me feel right at home, from Skip in props to John on Camera Four.
The Show was Created by and is Executive Produced by the almost glowingly talented Dan Schneider who leads with a very gentle and effective touch. This is a happy show-an easily laughing Swiss clock, (and after years of experience working on all kinds of sets I can tell you all without reservation that if the Executive Producer/Show Runner is Bad then the machine of the show is a clanking creaking mess.) Steve Hoefer directed and I have to say that I was very impressed, he showed great facility with both the actors and the crew.(Not easy to do)The script written by George Doty IV was crisp and funny. (The writing staff is obviously very strong, although I didn't meet them individually the fixes they produced after run-through showed them to be first class.)Bottom line: It's shows like this that make me really happy to be an Actor.
Everybody have a Great day!
Later,
Paul Parducci
PS: Here's a picture of me with Steve Hoefer on my right and Dan Schneider on my left standing in the Kitchen set.

The Gingerbread Castle: A Day That's Lasting a Lifetime

When I was around seven and my brother was around three, my older brother and his wife to be took us to the Gingerbread Castle. I was only there one time but it is one of the most potent memories of my childhood. Especially the Wishing Well.
Instead of droning on and on, the following should bring you up to date on this Attraction from a by-gone era:

Here is a restoration site.
Another great place to learn about the Castle.
An amazing page of Postcards.


And last but certainly not least click on the picture for a Gingerbread Castle Look and Listen: Have a Great Day!
Later,
Paul Parducci