Not one to shy away from blatant, crass commercialism (what commercial voice talent would?), I have been Simpsonized for your viewing pleasure.
The home of the Whopper® has sponsored this little device that supposedly takes a picture you submit and reproduces it in the style of a Simpson cartoon.
The movie employees voice actors so I suppose their is some connection to this blog.
Well, they got the hair right.
I received a completely unexpected and stunning honor/thank you gift in Tuesday’s mail. With no disrespect intended to those who’ve been so kind throughout my career to bestow honors on me (deserving of none and grateful for all), Tuesday’s recognition may have topped them all.
From the Armed Forces Network, based in Baghdad, Iraq (you may have read about some of the goings on there in your local paper) TSgt. Chris Eder (Kasbah to his listeners on Freedom Radio) sent a thank you note, a certificate of appreciation signed by all the Freedom Radio personalities and an AFN medallion (pictured above) for my efforts to support their station with voice imaging and production.
To me, I was so stunned (not nearly a powerful enough description) because these folks are in the middle of fighting a war (the radio station’s base incurred a direct hit not so long ago). They are living under very difficult conditions yet in the midst of all that crap (much of which most of us cannot fathom I am sure) they took time to say thank you to ME!
My initial thought was: are you kidding?!
Regardless of your position on the war and its consequences, the men and women in America’s Armed Forces all answered the call of their country and are executing the orders they are given on a daily basis. They sacrifice their families, their futures and yes their lives. So if they call me and say hey, could you help out our stations so that the troops can listen to more professional sounding radio…not yes but HELL YES I’m going to gladly help out (as did the score of professional voice talent who joined me in these voice imaging productions free of charge). I do not have their courage; I am not as selfless as they are. But I have a voice.
Darkness has come to my neighborhood as I write this blog during the 2007 edition of July 4th and with that darkness has come the familiar popping and cracking of fireworks from citizens celebrating the independence of the United States of America 231 years ago. Not only in Iraq tonight (or tomorrow) but in locales around the world, United States military personnel may hear those same popping and cracking sounds…but it is live ammunition, not a Roman candle firework. I’ve not the talent of Francis Scott Key but he is on my mind this evening:
“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
No branch of the United States Armed Forces anywhere in the world needs to thank me for my meager efforts…but we all need to thank them for defending us everyday, everywhere. Thank you!
While on business for the past week in Boston, I had the opportunity to visit with my voice over colleagues Deirdre Cooper and Mary McKitrick who live in the area. “Area” is a vague term because both were at least 90 minutes away from my location near Boston Harbor.
But bless them both, they took the time to travel and have dinner with me in the city and boy did we have a grand time. I’ve known them both “virtually” for some time on the VO-BB and through some voice projects that we’ve collaborated on.
It is said you can’t really know someone until you’ve spent some time with them and these two voice actors are great ladies in addition to being amazing voice talents. While one might imagine conversation coming easily to people who talk for a living, our conversations were the very definition of effortless, full of both professional insight and shared challenges. Social networking at its finest.
There is no 12-step program for voice over talents because we can call our shared addiction a profession, but it’s nice to be able to discuss similar trials and tribulations with people with whom you can both commiserate with and learn from. And I’m not sure who was the first to pull out the pictures of the family first (usually I’m guilty on that count) it was very funny to learn again how parenting challenges are universal.
My sincere thanks to them for taking the time to become my friends in addition to my colleagues and making Boston an even more hospitable place.
I will grant you that Dansville, New York is no Miami but sometimes you go places, not so much for the city as for the people (and I’m not sure Dansville is big enough to be a city anyway).
But such was my reason for visiting Dansville today as it was sort of a half way point between my studio and where voice talent and fellow blogger Bob Souer was visiting while he was handling some impressive audio production duties for a project in Binghamton, NY.
We had lunch at the world renowned Sunrise Restaurant (its where all the beautiful people in Dansville meet. Their rinforzi il tortino et broodje was to die for! Simply heavenly!)
For any of you who have had the chance to speak with or meet Bob, I have the same boring story to report about him: charming guy, smart guy, wonderful voice over career insights and selfless to a fault. In short (and I am much shorter than he) Bob is the exact opposite of me.
A great treat for me to connect with a great talent and even better man.
Masochistic.
Gluttons for punishment.
Sadistic wackos.
If you’re one of the folks who requested a link to my Podcamp Toronto 2007 presentation “Pod Presence – aka awesome sounding podcasts”, you have to choose from one of the above descriptors.
If you decide to watch it, you’ll also have to pick one.
In either case, you’ll quickly understand why I remain firmly planted behind a microphone and NOT in front of a camera.
Watch the presentation here. (@ 35 minutes via Quick Time)
MIAMI BEACH – Sometimes work can take you to places you never thought you’d go. Miami Beach is one such place and it is the location from where I am writing this evening. While I am on a sales and marketing assignment, I didn’t bring any recording equipment because the schedule I was given for these business meetings showed I wouldn’t have the time to devote to voice over production. However, I am a bit of a planner.
Everytime I travel to a city, I check and see if there are any of my fellow voice over pro’s nearby in case I were to find myself in need of some studio help for a pressing audition or recording. I also find it’s a great way to meet my fellow pros; heck, we can always grab a drink and share some war stories too if there aren’t any projects that need attention.
I’m sure glad I found Doug Turkel and his Miami based voice over business He could not have been nicer and more welcoming. Doug is not only a talented VO in his own right; he also works on air and in production for the South Florida cluster of Clear Channel radio stations. VO is full of terrific people and I can now add Doug to that list!
