Were you in The Shawshank Redemption? Did you work on set? Were you otherwise involved in the production? If so, you're invited to a 15-year reunion this August in Ohio. Someone having something to do with the 1994 Oscar-nominated film has put together a weekend-long event and a really snazzy website providing details. Oh, and if you're merely a fan of the movie but had nothing at all to do with its making, you can attend as well. A few of the things on the itinerary do cost an admission fee, but only because there are prison and museum tours involved, plus a concert featuring a southern rock band.

Many people consider The Shawshank Redemption one of the best films of the '90s, maybe even of all time, so there are likely plenty of people who'd be interested in a little trip to see the film's shooting locations and meet with extras and crew members who helped create the film. Apparently there aren't many people on board just yet, but if the word gets out to enough people, there's a chance of making this a huge deal. Maybe principal talent like Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Stephen King and/or Frank Darabont could even make room in their schedules to make an appearance. And then, perhaps this can be a yearly thing, like Star Wars conventions and Lebowski Fest.

[via Pop Candy]

Before he was God, he was a telephone lineman. Ever since The Shawshank Redemption in 1994, Morgan Freeman has become the 'go to' guy for voice over narration, his calm, deliberate tones lending an air of authenticity to the proceedings. When he's not narrating, he's mentoring, fathering, or advising, usually playing some kind of wise authority figure, which helps explain why it was so easy to accept him as God in Bruce Almighty.

Freeman didn't start as an authority figure, though. He appeared in numerous stage productions in the 1960s before moving into television as a versatile performer on the children's show The Electric Company. Somewhere along 1971 he took a job as a telephone lineman in a commercial for a mouthwash company. What struck me as fascinating is that the cadence of his speech is very familiar: brief pauses, then melting words together. What's different is that the tone of his voice is higher. He was in his early 30s at the time; over the decades, his voice has deepened and mellowed into the voice that followed a thousand marching penguins. Watch the clip and see God just hanging around as a blue collar worker.