Giving THanks

Spoiler alert: Tom Hanks did it for free.

public domain photo

The Pain Squealer (aka Plain Dealer) did a story about the Tom Hanks video for the Cleveland Indians' name change to the Guardians. 

Unless you've lived under a rock all your life, as soon as you heard the voiceover on the video, you knew it was Tom. 

It was Woody. Josh. Forrest Gump. Mr. Rogers. Capt. Miller. Sam Baldwin. Chuck Noland. Jimmy Dugan. Ben Bradlee. Paul Edgecomb. Andrew Beckett. Jim Lovell. Carl Hanratty. Charlie Wilson. Robert Langdon. And yes, well, Kip/Buffy Wilson on Bosom Buddies. (Which I never watched, but want to include in case it brings back fond memories for anyone.)

I've always been a big Tom Hanks fan. You have to try really hard not to like the guy. Plus, he collects typewriters. And he wrote a book about them. Two thumbs up in my book.

Tom (I hope he doesn't mind if I call him "Tom") just strikes me as being one of the good guys. Like George Clooney. Keanu Reeves. Jimmy Stewart. 

I've read my share of biographies about famous folks. So many times I'm disappointed because some very talented people are a-holes in real life. You might try to justify their behavior by pointing out the amazing music or entertainment they've provided excuses them. 
I don't know about that. 

On the other hand, if someone put my life under a microscope, how would I fare? Thinking back on some of the things I've done that I'm not proud of, I'm kind of happy to be a nobody to the general populace of the world. If someone wanted to pick out certain aspects of my life and blow them up, they could make a case for me being a jerk.

Ah, the price of fame.

But I digress (as I often do). Back to Tom and the Guardians.
Tom was traveling in Greece with his family when he was asked to do the voiceover for the video. He said he'd try reading the script on his phone. He also offered to go into the studio to record it. Turns out, he did such a nice job on his phone, he didn't need to.  

As a writer, I can only imagine the kick the writer got out of Tom reading her copy. Also, as I writer, I feel compelled to give credit here to Tara Hewit, the Indians Asst. Director for Content and Entertainment Strategy. Nice job, Tara!*

Suddenly, I'm getting a hankering to watch Sleepless in Seattle. 
"Hankering." See what I did there?

Hope I don't piss off Tom. He seems to have a pretty good sense of humor. Also, I've said a bunch of nice things about him. 

Are we cool, Tom?

*Not to slight anyone, the video portion was produced by Steve Asbury. Nick Gambone, Asst. Director of Creative Production, arranged the visuals.