Wayne Allwine (1947-2009)

A very familiar voice has been silenced. You may not recognize the name Wayne Allwine, but for over 30 years he’s been the voice and heart behind Walt Disney’s most famous creation, Mickey Mouse. On May 18th, he passed away at the age of 62 with his wife, who is coincidentally the current voice of Minnie Mouse, by his side. His voice can be heard in such beloved films as "Mickey's Christmas Carol" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and has recently reached out to the next generation of Mickey fans through the Disney Channel preschool show "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and the "Kingdom Hearts" video games, not to mention his presence in the various Disney theme parks and traveling shows. For more information about his life, click here.

My initial reaction to hearing the news was shock. It's hard to imagine the prospect of a new Mickey Mouse cartoon or theme park show without his cheerful, ever-youthful voice. I never got to meet him and really only knew him through his work and the occasional interview. However, as a life-long fan of Mickey Mouse and Disney in general, his voice has been a consistent and welcome present in my life. There is some comfort knowing that Mickey will live on both through the re-watching of the many wonderful projects Allwine and his predecessors took part in over the years and eventually through the selection of their inevitable successor, a process that, according to rumor, has been going on for some time and that Allwine had fortunately been very involved until the time of his passing. But the genial, funny, and modest man behind the familiar falsetto I grew up with has sadly been silenced and he will be missed.

The Arrival of Summer

Summer has arrived and, after a fairly full couple of weeks (at least by summer standards), I'm beginning to settle into it. First came moving out of the dorm and turning around and  heading up to the mountains of North Georgia the next morning for Intervarsity Chapter Camp. It was great to be able to spend a week away from it all focusing on how awesome Jesus is as well as hang out with some of my friends in such a beautiful setting (such as the mountain stream pictured above). The day after I got back, the house I just moved into had a slight plumbing problem that flooded the whole house. For all the hassle it caused all of us living here, it could have been a lot worse and I'm thankful for all of my neighbors, friends, and family members who helped us clean up afterwards. Then Yesterday I finally got my own bed, and now it's starting to feels like I'm actually moving in and not just crashing on my friends' couch. So, things are starting to settle down a little, but after such as busy couple of weeks I could use some time to chill.

Photo Album: Moving Right Along

Well, today is the day that my brother and I (and Chuck) will finally be moving off-campus for good. While I'm going to miss the convenience of being so close to all of the facilities here at USF in the upcoming Summer ad Fall semesters, I think it's time to move on. I'm a little nervous about this new experience (as both Chuck and I tend to be about all new experiences), but I know it will be good for me in the long run to take this next step after all these years. Now, if you excuse me, I have some last minute packing to do.