UCSB STUDENTS FLOCK TO SEE… VOICE ACTORS? WHAT HAPPENED TO ROCK AND ROLL?

We here at The Whipping Post often wonder what our illustrious institutions of higher learning are actually teaching the next generation. If the recent "Gaucho Gaming Convention" at UCSB, dutifully reported by the UCSB Daily Nexus, is any indication, it's how to enthusiastically applaud people who read lines into a microphone for digital characters. Apparently, the glory days of actual skill, talent, or even recognizable faces gracing a stage are long past. Now, it's just disembodied voices from pixelated worlds.

One can almost picture the scene: hundreds of future leaders, innovators, and captains of industry, all clamoring to hear someone articulate the inner angst of a CGI elf. Is this what passes for cultural enrichment these days? Are we so deeply entrenched in the metaverse that the actual, physical presence of a performer is less desirable than the person who merely *voices* a digital one? Perhaps the next big campus event will be a convention for people who digitally sculpt the virtual trees in video games. The mind, truly, boggles.

Remember when college meant protesting the establishment, sneaking out for illicit adventures, or, dare we say, actually reading books that weren't part of a quest line? Now, it's about celebrating the folks who narrate digital battles. We're not saying don't have fun, but perhaps aim a *little* higher than a glorified fan club for those who animate fictional screaming. The whippersnappers today are certainly a different breed.