Top 10 Joachim Kaps roles

Whenever I love a performance, I look into the actor's other work. And what an array of roles I've found from Joachim Kaps! From his voice acting roles, you wouldn't know that he was the German Patrick Swayze.

10. Algonquin C. Lumpus (German dub of Camp Lazlo)- The German dub of 'Camp Lazlo' is fairly decent, but it's got a good interpretation of Lumpus from Kaps.

9. Gus (German dub of Cinderella 3) Kaps is charming in the role, and although his voice is pitched up, you can tell it's him.

8. J. Thaddeus Toad (German dub of Disney's The Wind in the Willows) Kaps brings his melodic voice and lots of energy to the role. He hits every emotional moment perfectly, and is heartbreaking in the prison scene.

7. Tigger (German dub of Disney's Winnie the Pooh animations) What can I say? Kaps made Tigger his own, while copying Jim Cummings' lisp. He's a delight to listen to. He shows off his singing skills in the dub of 'The Tigger Movie' and excels in the film's comedic and dramatic moments.

6. Dummling (Sherlock Holmes und die Sieben Zwergen) Kaps hams it up like mad in this series, sometimes to annoying levels. However, at times he is adorable, especially in that shiny blond wig. He's sort of a Papageno figure in this fairytale journey.

5. Jacob Scribble (German dub of Wunschpunsch) Kaps gave a beautiful performance to Jacob, and a different interpretation to Harry Hill's. While Hill hammed it up, Kaps' performance was a little warmer and more personable, while still dignified. He's also a little more emotional.

4. Squidward Tentacles (German dub of SpongeBob, Season 9 onwards). After the incredible performance Eberhard Prüter gave, this was a tough act to follow, but Kaps gave an interpretation I grew to love just as much. While Prüter always had an air of dignity, Kaps was wacky and fun. Sometimes, like Prüter, Kaps would interpret an emotion the way it's supposed to be felt, instead of what was on screen. For instance, in 'Snooze, You Lose', he has Squidward's inner monologue sound tired instead of being suddenly angry and alert. His delivery was powerful by being subtle and natural. It's different, but far from wrong. Furthermore, without Squidward, I would neither have learned about Jacob, nor about the three I am about to discuss.

3. Hein Kruse (Familie Intakt). Hein is based on Peter Kruse from the 1973 teleplay 'Reizende Ferien', and although he's just as sexy, he's not as well dressed, which means he fits into the comfortable, homey environment of the series. He's a nice, easygoing guy, but somehow more exciting than the rest of the cast, who act like broad caricatures.

2. Hans-Günther Koch (Ferienheim Bergkristall). Hans-Günther also fits into his comfortable, homey environment, but he's a bolder dresser. I might even say he's a fashion icon. What makes Hans-Günther stand out is that he's an unsympathetic womaniser, and although he loves Susanne, he still cheats on her a lot. And yet he's not completely unlikeable, thanks to Kaps' charismatic performance. 'Ferienheim Bergkristall' is a very funny series, despite the fact that everyone in it hams it up to the max. Hans-Günther is only a little bit of a ham, which is refreshing, when placed alongside the likes of Alois and Mr. Oberpichler, for instance.

1. Achim (Brummkreisel). Unless you really did some research, you wouldn't realize that Kaps was a kids' TV host for a while. It's hard to describe 'Brummkreisel', but it's really just a series of random but harmless events, bookended by a spinning top (hence the name).
Achim is the perfect kids' TV host. He's colourful but not overbearing, and gentle but not boring. He's kind and patient, but far from a pushover, especially concerning his bossy buddy Kunibert. He's mischievous, but not mean. And he's a leader but knows how to compromise.

Why was 2020 called a racial reckoning?

 I'm tired of the phrase "racial reckoning" used to describe 2020. Same with terms such as "the biggest protest since the 1960s". The racial reckoning happened ten years ago, with the founding of Black Lives Matter in June 2013.

Their language indicates that this movement hadn't done enough to stop the police killings of black people in 2020, when in fact so many battles had been fought over that time. So many peaceful protests had happened during those seven years. In 2014 they sought justice for at least ten murders in that year alone. In 2015, at least 23 murders happened, fourteen by police. They marched, they rallied, they held "die-ins". They have displayed determination and diligence in the face of systemic murder and brutality by police and by overgrown manchildren with guns, and that was even before this "racial reckoning" happened. Even as the bodies count got larger every year. Yes, the protests in 2020 mattered, but it's not wrong to say "all protests matter", especially where civil rights are concerned. I'm not dismissing the ones in 2020, I just wish these protesters had been listened to. This is in case you misinterpret my words.

It seems like society, the media and corporations systemically ignored them, as though they waited for a pandemic happen before realizing Black Lives Matter existed. 

When people say "before Black Lives Matter" I assume they're thinking of 2012.

I have been to anti-racism rallies, because I can't believe this is the 21st Century. I somewhat belatedly realized, by 2014, that there was such a frequent pattern of police killing black people you'd think it was a systemic massacre, and you'd be right in thinking it.

(I have Frank Conniff to thank for that. I followed him on Facebook once and he is one of the wokest white people I know of, and helps keep us aware of injustice while the media were looking the other way)

I know I have no right to appropriate words like "woke", but white people also don't get to decide what is a "racial reckoning" and what isn't. They're as good at stealing language as they are at stealing time.

Paidionocracy

 Paidionocracy is a word I just made up, compiled of the words paidion and kratos.

It incrementally started in the late 2000s or early 2010s, when there was a collective backlash against everything from the election of President Obama to the Green Hornet movie, starting from the fringe and making its way into leadership itself. It seems to be a societal pattern. It has empowered people to hate everything that isn't white, male and cisgender on "social" media posts they have no business commenting on; on Facebook, comments only beat the algorithm. Now it has manifested in book bans, abortion bans and drag show bans across the US, Republicans in America heckling President Biden while dressed like Batman antagonists, outrage over people having to learn the truth about the British Empire, repression of both migrants and environmental protestors in Britain, and far-right Austrian lawmakers walking out of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's speech to the country's parliament.

Here I was thinking we were in the 21st Century, not the 15th. How am I living in a world where people feel entitled to screech about everything that isn't malicious to them, just unfamiliar?

Sometimes it seems the meek have inherited the Earth, other times it has been inherited by people throwing their proverbial toys out of the stroller.