I think I've made it painfully obvious that I've spent some time in New England in general and Down East in particular. I'm pretty sure the State I know least well is Vermont because I've never lived there.
Now when I speak what little accent I have is 'Network Standard' because I've been exposed to New York Television for a long time, but 'Network Standard' is not a New York accent. Hardly anyone in the City (well, real people, not brokers or banksters or celebrities, media personallities, and ex-pats) talks like that and it's completely different from Up State.
No, 'Network Standard' is really a Midwestern (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan) accent stripped of it's regional identifiers like 'davenport' (sofa or couch) and 'pop' (soda or Coke), so it's really easy for me given that I'm only half-Troll.
Anyway I can do a passable Up State if I listen to it for a while and likewise Neh Hamsha and Bahstn (I can do a Rhode Island too, but it's very subtle and most people don't recognize it) and of course Connecticut (of which the chief feature is we talk really, really fast).
But of course if you want to shout New England there's nothing like the Down East. Your first tip is only guys go 'Ayup'. Women go 'Heh' with a particular plegmatic sigh that bespeaks the bleakness of the rocky shores. Your drink of choice is Allen's Coffee Flavored Brandy and 'Ya cain't get theya from hea' is a cruel joke played on outlanders, almost immediately followed by 'Fust ya gotta gotah...'.
Oh, and you're not from Maine until the third generation.
Anyway one of my favorite commercials was the one for 'Big Paul's in Bangr and Jed's in Seahspaht' (that's where Jack Ryan brought the Red October) because nothing laid on the accent quite so thick. It really got you in the mood and while a native could spot you a mile away, it was useful for impressing the folks at home.
So what does this motherfucking have to do with motherfucking anything?
Well, Dan Harris went to Colby and started out as an Anchor at WLBZ (mostly as a repeater channel for Bahstn's WBZ) and they ran that ad quite frequently. Other than that I have very little positive to say, he does news reports for the 700 Club and he's on to talk about 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Really Works — a True Story.
Unfortunately the last time I was in Seahspaht Jed's was throughly shuttered, not a great loss from a culinary standpoint but I will miss the ads.
What I like most about Samuel L. Jackson's appearance on The Daily Show is it's allowed me to say 'motherfucker' all week long.
I like warping young minds.
Alas, we will probably not be talking about Snakes on a Plane but instead the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier which marks his 6th appearance as Nick Fury out of a 9 film commitment. He's really a remarkable actor and has been in well over 100 films since 1972 including RoboCop, one of 8 this year. I expect Jon will keep on topic even though I suspect he likes saying 'motherfucker' just as much as I do.
Tomorrow Jon will host Football great (what we play here is more properly termed Throwball) Edson Arantes do Nascimento and Stephen will have NYT journalist Mark Mazzetti.