STEVE BALDWIN: All jokes aside, beans are a unique food

Yes, they are the "special fruit," the more you eat the more you well, toot but that shouldn't prevent you from eating them.

They are inexpensive, easy to prepare and very nutritious. A mere half-cup serving provides about 3 grams of fiber, and several vitamins and minerals. They're an excellent source of folate and a good source of iron, potassium and phosphorus.

And yes, for some they can cause embarrassing um noises. But I have a trick that can help, so read on.

What makes beans a truly unique plant-based food is that in addition to fiber, vitamins and minerals, they are an excellent source of protein. That same half-cup serving provides 7grams of plant proteins, which play an important role in keeping us healthy.

Proteins are found in bones, muscle, hair and most tissues and organs. They form enzymes and hormones that help regulate body functions. Some proteins form antibodies that keep us healthy by fighting disease and infection. Others build the connective tissue that holds our muscles and joints in place.

Proteins are formed from amino acids, which are like building blocks for body tissues. Some of the proteins we eat contain the nine essential amino acids needed to build new proteins. These are called "complete proteins." Animal sources of protein tend to be complete.

With rare exception (including soybeans and a grain called quinoa), foods with plant proteins lack significant amounts of one or more Advertisement of the essential amino acids - that is, amino acids that the body can't make from scratch or create by modifying another amino acid.

Called incomplete proteins, these usually come from legumes, nuts, seeds, grains, vegetables, fruits and beans. But we can get the amino acids that beans don't provide (or to be more exact, don't provide enough of) from grains, such as whole wheat bread or brown rice.

Loose dry beans, canned beans and frozen beans are all nutritious.

If you buy canned or frozen beans, select low-sodium varieties or rinse them before using. Store loose dry beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place.

The wide variety of beans available makes them easy to use. Add lima or kidney beans to salads, or mix lentils into a casserole. Toss navy or pinto beans into soups, or sprinkle black beans on pizza or tacos for added protein, fiber and flavor.

If you're feeling adventurous, make this delicious chickpea dip for your next family gathering:

Open a 15-ounce can of chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), drain and rinse them, and pour them into a food processor (or mash them with a fork).

Then add 3 cloves of garlic (mince the garlic if you don't have a food processor), 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon paprika and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper.

Blend the ingredients until smooth and serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks and snap peas for dipping.

If beans cause you discomfort of the gaseous kind, try soaking your beans overnight, then dump the water and replace it prior to cooking. This helps remove some of the oligosaccharides (naturally occurring long-chain sugars that humans can't digest) and should therefore reduce gas production.

That way, you'll pass the time enjoying great food with your family instead of passing well, you know.

Steve Baldwin, M.S., R.D., is a nutrition network project director with the Hawthorne School District's Nutrition Network Center. He can be reached at stbaldwin@hawthorne.k12.ca.us.

Time to count birds

File Photo. Enlarge photo.

Volunteers will again be counting the number and species of birds in and around Baldwin City on Dec. 27.

December 17, 2009

Roger Boyd, president of the Baldwin Bird Club, among many other titles, answers questions on the upcoming Christmas Bird Count.

Q. Isn’t it time for the Baldwin Bird Club’s Christmas Bird Count and hasn’t it been around forever?

A. Yes, the 79th annual Christmas Bird Count will be all day long on Dec. 27 and the local area covers a 7.5-mile radius with the center at the junction of U.S. Highways 56 and 59.

Q. How did the local count get started?

A. The Baldwin Bird Club has the record of the oldest ongoing CBC in the state. The first one conducted in Baldwin City was 1942 by Ivan and Margaret Boyd and Ray Miller. Most of the birding was in short supply and they tallied 284 individuals of 30 species.

Q. This is an international count, isn’t it? How many people are involved?

A. More than 50,000 volunteers from all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies and Pacific Islands count and record every individual bird and bird species seen during a 24-hour calendar day. Last year a new high of 2,124 individual counts was made. More than 65 million individual birds were counted. A total of 2,126 species of birds was tallied, with a total of 661 in North America alone.

Q. What about the numbers from here?

A. The Baldwin CBC last year had 13 participants in six groups and one party that watched feeders. As a group they tallied 15,414 individuals and 81 species. This was higher than in recent years. In the past 10 years, the average number of species seen has been 78, with a high of 89.

Q. How can people get involved with the count?

A. Call Boyd at (785)594-3172 or e-mail him at roger.boyd@bakeru.edu. The sightings will be tallied at the Boyds’ home that night. The area covered includes Baldwin City, Centropolis, Worden, Lone Star Lake, Douglas County State Fishing Lake and several large watershed lakes.

CityCenter CEO cites poker prowess in getting project done

That background � he was the 1978 World Series of Poker champion � came in handy when getting the $8.5 billion project completed.

Baldwin spoke as crowds gathered Wednesday on the Las Vegas Strip in anticipation of the late-night opening of the ARIA Resort & Casino, the biggest building and only casino property on the 67-acre development.

�I could not have run any of this without the skills of poker,� Baldwin said. �People think poker is about the cards. It�s not. It is about the people. The cards don�t know who is sitting in the chair. It is about the interaction with people. We had thousands of people who were involved in the construction and design of CityCenter. And we had to get all of those people on the same sheet of music. That�s kind of what you learn from a poker game.�

Earlier this year, Baldwin worried the project would never be finished. In March, Dubai World, MGM Mirage�s partner in the project, sued MGM Mirage over financing when CityCenter was less than $2 billion from completion. Dubai World maintained it was forced to fork over more money than expected for CityCenter.

�The scariest moments for CityCenter were in March and April of 2009,� Baldwin said of the now-settled suit. �CityCenter almost came to a grinding halt.�

If the lawsuit had proceeded, construction could have been stopped. �If you look around the country and other projects in Las Vegas, once they stop, they never restart because you lose momentum and costs go higher,� Baldwin said. The differences, however, are long now resolved: �Now, it�s like it never happened,� Baldwin said.

But the partners have a long way to go to recoup their investments. Baldwin joked the break-even date would be 2070. �When CityCenter is fully lit, it takes about $3 million a day to operate,� Baldwin said. �So, if you are going to make $500 million initially in cash flow a year, then you are going to have to do $4.5 million in income (a day).�

-->(2 of 2)

Hotels underpricedThe hotels at CityCenter are underpriced now, MGM Mirage officials said. Rooms at the ARIA and Vdara are priced as low as $150 a night now. Those prices could more than double once CityCenter hits high gear, Baldwin said.

�We don�t have the pricing power that we would expect at the beginning of the development,� Baldwin said. �But once we get to full power, we�ll also have the pricing power, which will make the business more profitable.� Baldwin said he was not concerned about opening in a recession.

�About the opening time, you light the fuse about five years ahead of time, and you don�t know when the bomb will go off,� Baldwin said. �I don�t mind opening up in the middle of a recession. I don�t have any control over it anyway. But it gives us time to really understand what we are doing.� Besides, CityCenter is in the game for the long run.

�We know that CityCenter will outlast our kids and their kids,� Baldwin said. �The economy is cyclical in nature, and CityCenter is designed to withstand any changes in the economy.�

Baldwin grad flying high as chief pilot of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

The history books will forever show that the first man to fly a plastic jetliner was a Baldwin City boy.

Mike Carriker — who grew up in Baldwin City and was a star student and high school athlete there in the early 1970s — was the chief pilot for the inaugural flight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner on Tuesday.

Baldwin residents who know Carriker — now 53 and living in the Seattle area — said they weren’t the least bit surprised.

“He has more guts than a burglar,” said Merle Venable, a former Baldwin High football coach who coached Carriker. “I don’t know what he would be doing if he wasn’t doing this. That is all he has ever wanted to be.”

On Tuesday Carriker squarely was seated at the center of the aviation world. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner project has been billed as a revolutionary new aircraft because it is the first commercial jetliner to be built primarily out of lightweight composite material, such as high-tech plastics and carbon fibers.

That fact was on Carriker’s mind prior to Tuesday’s take-off. The Seattle Times reported that Carriker and his co-pilot each wore two parachutes, and the plane was rigged with a pair of special switches. One was rigged to blow out eight windows to depressurize the airplane. The other switch would detonate a charge to blow off an exit door so the crew could jump.

“We have a plastic airplane. … It’s the first time anybody in the industry has taken a large composite wing with a composite spar and gone whipping it out,” Carriker told the Seattle Times in an interview. “Obviously, we think we’re OK. Otherwise we wouldn’t go fly.

“But the proof is still in the pudding.”

The pudding was just fine. The flight, although cut short by weather in the Seattle area, went well. For Boeing, the day was monumental because the 787 project had fallen two years behind schedule because of parts and labor problems. Boeing was determined the plane would fly before the end of the year to prove the program was back on track.

“It is just absolutely a dramatic thing that he did (Tuesday),” Venable said. “I had talked to him before, and he said they were having some trouble, but he has a lot of courage. He is more than just the boy next door.”

Growing up in Baldwin, Carriker was known as a good student and an excellent athlete who received a football scholarship at Wichita State University.

“He was a sweetheart,” said Ruth Ann Nutt, a Baldwin resident who was friends with Carriker’s parents — Elmer “Mike” and Janet Carriker, who are both deceased. “His dad loved flying and his dad also was a ham radio operator. I can still see them standing next to his ham radio pole out in the backyard.”

Carriker, who graduated from Baldwin High in 1973, went on to receive a degree in aeronautical engineering at Wichita State and then became a fighter pilot and a test pilot for the Navy.

He told The Times that in the years since, he’s done much in an airplane. That includes turning a fighter jet upside down and spinning it like a top as it descended. That was fun. Ditching an antique Boeing 307 Stratoliner into Elliot Bay near Seattle after it ran out of fuel, was not.

Baldwin friends say they’ve heard such stories before from Carriker, who always takes everything in stride.

“To him this is just the love of his life, so to him I don’t think it is really a risk,” said Rick Webb, who is a friend and former classmate of Carriker at Baldwin High. “Plus, he’s just so knowledgeable about it all that it reduces the risk.”

Carriker’s former track coach and math teacher at Baldwin High, said Carriker always has been well-served by a good combination of self-confidence and humility.

“Everybody knew he was talented,” said C.R. Herpich. “He wasn’t afraid to try anything. There is no question that he believed in himself. And if he thought he could do it, he probably was going to do it.”

But, maybe, there also was something in the area’s water that helped land Carriker in the 787’s prime seat. The new aircraft has an amazingly strong Douglas County connection. In addition to Carriker, former Lawrence High and Kansas University graduate Alan Mulally largely is considered to be one of the driving forces that launched the creation of the plane. As president of Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes division in 2003, Mulally presented the project to Boeing’s board. Mulally now is the president and CEO of Ford Motor Company.

Webb said Carriker has told him that he thinks his small-town upbringing has helped him handle the rigors of a big-time project.

“He told me once that you can take the boy out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the boy,” Webb said. “He still very much considers Baldwin to be his hometown.”

The Seattle Times and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

WPT -- Doyle Brunson Classic Championship Day 2

contenders left in the tournament stand in chips at the end of day 2:

Cornel Cimpan: 216,500
Soheil Shamseddin: 188,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko: 103,700

Day 2 Big Hands:

Cornel Cimpan Quads Up to Double Up

Cornel Cimpan raised to 3,500 and Michael Watson reraised to 9,000 in the cutoff behind him. Cimpan thought it over before making the call, leaving himself with just 15,100.

The flop came down 10 4 4 and Cimpan checked to Watson, who put him all in. Cimpan instantly called with 4 4 for quads and Watson showed A Q, drawing dead.

The inconsequential turn and river were the K 7 and Cimpan doubled up to about 50,000 in chips. Watson is now on the short stack with about 22,000.

Juanda Doubles Up, Marco Johnson Out, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko Takes a Hit

Marco Johnson moved all in for 10,600 under the gun and John Juanda (pictured right) made the call from the cutoff. Yevgeniy Timoshenko reraised to 13,600 and Juanda reraised to 26,000. Timoshenko reraised all in and Juanda made the all-in call. Their cards:

Timoshenko: J J
Juanda: K K
Johnson: 6 5

Board: A A 6 4 K

Juanda made a full house and he doubled up on the hand to 150,000. Johnson was eliminated and Timoshenko watched his chips fall to 45,000 on the hand.

Eric Baldwin Eliminated

On a flop of J 4 2 Tom Dwan bet 15,800 and Eric Baldwin (pictured left) raised to 37,000. Dwan made the call and the turn fell 4. Dwan checked and Baldwin moved all in for 60,000. Dwan made the call. Their cards:

Dwan: 7 4
Badlwin: A A

River: 6

Baldwin was eliminated on the hand and Dwan grew his stack to 300,000.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko Doubles Up

Yevgeniy Timoshenko was all in preflop for 48.6 million and John Juanda called him down. Their cards:

Timoshenko: A A
Juanda: A Q

Board: 10 9 2 J 9

Timoshenko doubled up on the hand to survive in the tournament.

Eric Hershler Takes the Chip Lead

On a flop of K J 4 Eric Hershler (pictured right) bet 10,000 from the big blind and Darryll Fish raised an additional 16,200 from the hi-jack. Hershler called and the 9 fell on the turn. Hershler checked and Fish went into the tank before betting 38,800. Hershler made the call and the 6 fell on the river.

Hershler checked, Fish bet 50,200, and Herhsler made the call. Fish turned over 2 2 and Hershler revealed K 10. Hershler won the hand and he grew his stack to 350,000 to take the chip lead.

Tags: world poker tour,   doyle brunson five diamond world poker classic,   eric baldwin,   cornel cimpan,   yevgeniy timoshenko,   soheil shamseddin,   jason mercier,   mike leah,   eric hershler,   darryll fish,   john juanda,   tom dwan,   marco johnson,   mike watson

Rain and flash floods cause havoc across south Alabama (with photo galleries)

Water rose too quickly in parts of Brewton for a motorist to move a truck to safety or for a business to turn off its neon sign. She said, "I hate this for the store owners, right here at Christmas when things were looking up." Several merchants were critical of local officials for not alerting them late yesterday to the potential for flooding; officials said that there was little possibility of issuing warnings when rainfall became so persistent and intense. Escambia County Emergency Management Director David Adams rubbed his eyes after a sleepless night saying that Burnt Corn Creek was falling, as well as Big Escambia by noon Tuesday. Parts of Mobile County have seen more than 10 inches of rain in the past five days, according to Garmon. Six to 8 inches fell near the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, with greater amounts from Bay Minette northeastward. Atmore got from 12 to 13.5 inches from Monday to early Tuesday, Garmon said, in areas already saturated from previous days of rain. The month is already Mobile's second-wettest December on record, at 12.39 inches of rain recorded through mid-morning Tuesday at the Mobile Regional Airport. The record is December 1853 at 13.09 inches. Parts of Atmore and Flomaton remained flooded Tuesday, but with few homes damaged. Officials identified Mike Allen as the man responsible for rescuing four people late Monday who were clinging to trees along Brushy Creek. Allen used his personal watercraft to pluck all four to safety. Adams said forecasters expect Murder Creek to top 29 feet by midnight, two feet above the noon mark Tuesday. Flood stage for Murder Creek is 22 feet. The Conecuh River should crest at 30.8 feet early today with flood stage at 27 feet. Water might not drop below the 30-foot mark before noon Friday, Adams said. In Baldwin County, 21-year-old Brandi Foster said she and her extended family had to swim through rising floodwaters in Perdido late Monday when Dyas Creek left its banks. "We swam across the yard," she said. "We had quite a current going on. It was about 5:30 p.m. Monday when we got home, and we got the children together and headed out by 6:30 and the water was coming in the house." Foster said four children, ages 15, 9, 5 and 1, were helped to safety by four adults. All were back home about 11:30 p.m., she said. Foster blamed part of the problem on a faulty culvert near their home. Baldwin County spokesman Paula Tillman said Baldwin Road 47 remained closed, as well as several roads in Rabun and Perdido. She said county crews remained on the job throughout the evening Monday. Volunteer firefighters did answer calls to save some residents from their homes, she said. The county shelter Bay Minette remained open Tuesday, Tillman said. Police and fire department dispatchers and others in south Mobile County said rain was heavy, but reported no flooding or roads significantly damaged. Mobile County Public Works Department Superintendent Ted Lawson said roads in the northern end of the county -- like Mason Ferry Road, Earlville Road and Lott Road -- could stay closed for days due to flooding. Adam Buck, a spokesman for the city of Mobile, reported few problems beyond local street flooding. Halls Mill Road between Demetropolis and Range Line roads was closed by high water for several hours Monday night, he said. (Reporters Gary McElroy, Kim Lanier and Mark Kent contributed to this report.)

DIRTY SEXY MONEY Star William Baldwin Assumes Role of Batman for JUSTICE ...

Dirty Sexy Money star William Baldwin slides easily into the famed cowl as the voice of Batman in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, an all-new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie from Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation.

A fan of the super hero genre since his youth when the Baldwin brothers would role play in their backyard, William Baldwin has proudly, enthusiastically undertaken the deep, gravelly vocal tones of the Dark Knight. While Baldwin has crafted a fine career in live-action film and television, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths represents only his second foray into voiceover for animation, having recorded a few episodes on the Nickelodeon series Danny Phantom.

Beyond ABC's Dirty Sexy Money television series, Baldwin has offered memorable turns in the feature films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Flatliners, Backdraft and The Squid and the Whale, the latter of which earned (ironically) a Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League). Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer, and the film is co-directed by Lauren Montgomery (Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies). The full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on February 23, 2010 as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-RayTM Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and Download.

Baldwin took time after his recording session to chat about visualization techniques in the sound booth, his children's influence on his choice of roles, the super hero roughhouse role play by the Baldwin brothers (particularly Alec Baldwin) in their youth, and his very nearly being cast in the live-action role of Batman. Now let the man speak ...


QUESTION:
What are your thoughts about joining the list of actors from Adam West and Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer and George Clooney to Kevin Conroy and Christina Bale - that have played Batman?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
I almost did join that group - I was one of Joel Schumacher's top choices when Val Kilmer wound up playing Batman. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton had left, so Joel had the luxury of replacing Michael Keaton and he told me that his four choices - which was an eclectic, diverse array - were Daniel Day Lewis, Ralph Feinnes, Val Kilmer and me. I didn't even know it at the time - he told me when I had a meeting with him later. The next time, when George Clooney did it, (Schumacher) said, "You were on my original short list with those other three actors, but the studio went with Val and this time I'd like to go with you." And that Friday afternoon, I thought I was playing Batman - and then Monday morning, the headlines in the trades said that George Clooney had gotten the part. So apparently, I did actually come very close.

I was very excited to do this. I wasn't really thinking about any past Batmans, but more of letting the material sort of dictate the choices that I make as an actor. What's happening physically, what's happening emotionally, what's happening in the writing. That's what really drives your performance.


QUESTION:
How did you choose to interpret the character? And was there anything you wanted to do differently than what had preceded you.

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
I was mostly influenced by whom I perceive Batman to be, with the possible exception that I think sometimes I allow a certain sensitivity or an emotional dynamic to give (the character) maybe a likeability or an accessibility. That's almost an insecurity of mine as an actor - to want to breathe a little bit of those types of emotions into characters. I think I find them more appealing and more likeable and more human. What I didn't choose to do is to go towards the darkness of the way the original Batman series was intended. Because Batman, in the original comic series, was a lot darker than the character that was brought to life in television.


QUESTION:
Are there any personal attachments to Batman that make voicing this role special for you?



WILLIAM BALDWIN:
It's a number of things - certainly the history of the character. The people that have been lucky enough to portray Batman on screen, or provide his voice, is a short list and it's pretty cool. I'm in good company. I enjoyed it as a child, and the character still resonates for me. And I'm a father of an 8-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 4-year-old - my boy is sandwiched between his sisters, and he just loves the super heroes. We watch Justice League together. I try not to let him overdo it too much with television, but there's great, wholesome messages that come out of that series. When I told him that I was playing Batman, his jaw dropped. I almost took him out of school today to have him come down here (for the recording session).


QUESTION:
How many times have you said "I'm Batman" in the past week?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
Probably about a half a dozen, usually just joking with my kids and my wife. I was in the studio about a 9-iron from here, where my wife (Chynna Phillips) was recording, and all the band members were giving me different lines to say as Batman. Or having me improvise some lines. And we were having some wicked, twisted fun with it (he laughs).


QUESTION:
It seemed you were quite focused in the booth, conveying all the physical and emotional traits as Batman. How immersed in the role did you feel?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
I take it seriously. And I enjoy it, especially recreating the sound effects of the fight sequences and stuff like that. One thing that was interesting to me was how clean they need the lines and, thus, how specific I had to keep my relationship to the microphone, and making sure there weren't any other sort of ancillary sounds. When I'm doing looping for a film, I guess it's sort of a method approach. I'll put things inside my mouth and try to recreate the circumstances or the emotions that existed while I was performing. There's nothing better than when you're grunting from lifting something to try and create that sensation. I do a lot of visualization, too. So when you're having the confrontation with Lex Luthor or Superwoman, sometimes I'll look through the mike into the booth to somebody in the room. I'll look at them and just sort of imagine it in my mind, to just pick somebody and lock into that, giving off this energy to them. It's very helpful for me to have that specificity to lock into.


QUESTION:
Did the Baldwin brothers play super hero games growing up?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
You'll have to get my brother Alec in here sometime - he's got the scars to prove it. Back in the early '60s, he tied a bathroom towel around his neck as a cape and was doing his Superman (impression), and he went through a plate glass sliding door. He ran right through it. He has these big V-shaped scars under his bicep and his forearm from all the stitches that he took when he was five or six years old.

So yeah, we did play super hero games. And my family was pretty rough. I mean, when we were playing super heroes, if there was a cartoon where somebody got thrown off the roof and they landed on the ground with a thud, then Stephen or I got thrown off the roof - into a pile of leaves, or into somebody's swimming pool.


QUESTION:
You rode along with the Chicago Fire Department to prepare for Backdraft. What kind of research went into this performance?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
First of all, some parts lend them self to that type of research and preparation more than others. Secondly, I had a fairly deep understanding of this character because I've been watching the shows and films and the character for 40 years. So if I felt like I didn't have enough of an understanding, I probably would have postponed (the recording session). But when I was looking at the script on a plane a few days ago, I felt it was kind of a piece of cake based on my understanding of the character, and really fueled my attraction to the character and the piece. There's a lot of two- and three-line exchanges rather than two- and three-paragraph exchanges. There weren't a lot of monologues that required a lot of line memorization, or anything incredibly challenging emotionally. I just had to get into the rhythm of how the character speaks.
Batman's spectrum of emotion is fairly narrow - for a number of reasons. He's always in command, he's always in control, he's always holding it together, and he's pretty tough relative to the rest of us in this room.


QUESTION:
Does the Gotham City/New York connection hold anything special for a lifelong New Yorker?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
There's always been something cool about (Gotham City) being based on New York - it's where I'm from, where I grew up, and I've spent my whole career there. I remember referring to it as Gotham - not Gotham City, either - more often than I called it Manhattan or New York. I'd be on the West Coast finishing a meeting, and somebody would ask, "Where you going?" And I'd always say "Back to Gotham."


QUESTION:
Did having children that enjoy the genre influence your desire to give voice to an animated character at this point in your career?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:


That definitely motivates a lot of the choices that I make as an actor now. I'm looking to be involved with projects that are family oriented. Not exclusively, but I'd like to do some things that my children can see. My brother Alec has done a series of films over the last couple years - Madagascar and Thomas (the Train) and things like that - and the kids got really, really excited about that. And we're good friends with Chazz Palminteri, and Chazz does a lot of animated voiceover work. When they hear his voice, they really get excited.

I was doing a television series for two seasons, so we would watch that together as a family. Sometimes I would let the kids stay up, and they really got a kick out of it. I did a film last year with Henry Winkler called A Plumm Summer that won a couple of family film festival audience awards. So yes, I'm definitely looking for some choices. Because the films in my past, like Flatliners and Internal Affairs, Three Of Hearts and Backdraft and Sliver, Fair Game and The Squid And The Whale and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, these are all films that my kids aren't quite ready to see.


QUESTION:
You've tackled this legendary comic character. What other roles would you like to fill?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
I'd like to surprise some people maybe and do the voice of something that's much more charactery. It could be much more ethnic. Jewish or Irish or a New Yorker. I have a lot of fun with that stuff. I'd even like to sing. I wouldn't want to sing in the way that you would need Mariah Carey to sing, but just have a character sing and have fun with that, too.


QUESTION::
What were your impressions of this animation experience versus some of your previous experiences?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
I'm getting better at it. I'm very tough on myself, so I'm never quick to say that I felt like it was great when it wasn't. I usually have my own sort of standards that I set for myself. It felt like I was able to achieve my objectives more quickly. I think that comes with maturity as a performer and, uh, it's nice to know. Because there's been times where I've done voiceover work where they would normally allot two hours for someone who can bang it out, and they would have to allot three or three and a half or four hours. It's not that I couldn't do it quickly, it's just that I'm such a perfectionist. I tend to be saying "Let me try that again. Let's do one more ... one more  ... one more." I think I said, "Let me do one more" about 10 times today, which wasn't a lot. Sometimes I say it 100 times. I think everybody thought that it felt right, it felt good, it sounded great. It's always fun, but I want to get it right.


QUESTION:
Is it difficult acting alone in the booth?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:
It forces you to hone in and focus on the performance aspects and the emotional aspects of what you're trying, and visual them in your head. Acting is not acting, it's reacting. You're reacting to what somebody's saying and how they're saying it. That was great about the television show that I just did (Dirty Sexy Money) because the props department would tie me in when we would do something like a telephone conversation. When I had one with Donald Sutherland, I didn't have to come into the studio to do it. They would just have me call on my cell phone from my home in Santa Barbara, and I would call in when the camera was rolling and I would literally have the conversation with him. In the old days, sometimes you would have the other actor come in on his off day just to read that telephone conversation off camera. Then that changed and you would wind up reading this telephone conversation with the script supervisor who (A) is not an actor, and (B) does not know what the choices of the actor are going to be when they shoot his side of the telephone conversation in two weeks. That can be very difficult and very stilted when they cut that telephone conversation together - sometimes you can tell by the way someone's reacting to a line that they weren't hearing the actor do it on that day. They just interpreted what they thought the actor was going to do on that day, and they were wrong. I'm talking about stuff that's very subtle, like someone raising their voice a little bit in the reaction to the other person. Little things. But that's acting. You're not just reacting to the words, you're reacting to the way the words were said. Was it threatening? Was it menacing? Was it intimidating? Was it submissive? It's all based on little layers and subtleties.


QUESTION:
Can you compare acting on camera to acting in the booth, and how Andrea Romano was able to guide you through those differences?

WILLIAM BALDWIN:


It's sort of a mixed bag. On camera, you're usually acting to another actor who you're looking at,  who's in the room with you. Today, I was in the sound room and Andrea was behind the glass. And she's not an actor. But for a director, from a performance standpoint, she was giving me more than enough. What really helped was the specificity of her notes. When something wasn't right, she would give me a note that would 180 it, or she would give me a little subtle note. That was great. "You're forgetting to add in this layer" or "Give me a little bit more urgency." At one point, I throw a punch and Superwoman catches my fist and starts to squeeze my fist. And I said, "Do you want me to wince and scream in pain when she's crushing my fist? And am I supposed to fight the temptation of revealing to a woman - because wouldn't Batman wouldn't want to give away that power that a woman is causing the pain." I mean, it would be different if Lex Luthor or Superman were doing this, right? So we sort of hashed that out and found those sort of things as we were going along.

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