Whose Voice is That?

Over the last few years I've recognized that I have, what seems to me and others, a completely random talent: the astute ability to identify voices in commercials, cartoons, voice overs, etc.

Some are born with natural gifts like a photographic memory, musical ability, or excel in athletics. Others have brilliant minds in english, science, mathematics or all of the above. I was average in most of these "usable" areas but I know voices. Sure, I'd love to try and make a living using this exceptional talent but I've gradually come to grips with the fact that voice, let's call them "recognizers," aren't really in demand these days (if they ever were). Regardless, I've decided to attempt to do something with my talent -- and maybe, just maybe, make the world a better place in the end.

So from now on, instead of just shouting to my friends, "hey, that's Stanley Tucci explaining the value of rollover minutes!" or "yep, that's James Spader in the Acura commercial" and "Jack Bauer is the voice of Bank of America!" (wow, I sound annoying), I will try to write about these moments. How this will translate to a blog, I have no idea but maybe I can share my talents with the entire interweb and stop annoying my friends.

I'm also aware that I might be overrating my "talent" and in reality just suck when it comes to the big-time voice recognition biz. But to my knowledge there aren't any websites that provide voiceover info in a way that's easy to find. Sure, you can search Nancy Giles' IMDB profile and learn that in addition to being the voice for Boniva commercials she's an award-winning correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, but would you? That's what we're here for.

Finally, as the American entrepreneur Bill Gates once said: “If you give people tools, [and they use] their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected.” Squarespace is the tool, let's see where this goes.