The Pitiful Pair

 Its been an interesting week to say the least.

My wife, Red (her nickname), has been feeling terrible the last couple weeks.

When I returned home Monday from a trip, I noticed her eyes were very yellow. From watching House (how sad, and funny at the same time) we knew something was not right.

 Off to the Dr…and the Dr. Says… “no more monkeys jumpin on the bed” (not really)

 Possible Hepatitis, or Pancreatic Cancer.

 

Wow.

 

So we had to wrap our heads around that for a couple days. 

Then the test results come back negative for Hepatitis.

She goes for a CT scan.

No Cancer. Thank God.

Gall Stones.

Big ole honkin’ ones that have caused Jaundice. (yellow eyes - and orange tint skin - think “spray on tan” - but really, you wouldnt’ notice if you didn’t know her)

There are now 2 procedures in the near future:

One for the removal of the first stone from a duct (on Monday)

One for the removal of the gall bladder (soon - not sure the date yet)

*on a personal note - I am dealing with the pain of a tooth that has to have a root canal (Tuesday - Of Course)

I call us the “Pitiful Pair”!!

A thought or a prayer for the Redhead would be appreciated!

 

Bettye Zoller Coming to Nashville

I am looking forward to Bettye Zoller coming to Nashville June 30th. What a great opportunity to take a class from Bettye!

The session is called - “The Biz of VO- Earning $$ in Today’s Talking World”

You can check out Bettye’s Site - www.voicesvoices.com for the lowdown on Bettye.

Plus, you can check out Bettye’s Voices.com Podcasts.

More details as I learn them!!!

5 Ways to Spice Up Your Creative Voice Over Juices

If your feeling drab, and just blah with VO as of late, Here are 5 quick, Low Maintenance, Low cost things you can do to get the Creative VO juices flowing:

1- Read some Old Copy… Pull out some old scripts you have and Read it with different inflections. Mess around with your speed and intonation. Mimic your favorite VO talent. Mimic your least favorite VO Talent. Mimic that guy or gal you just heard on the TV or radio. 

2- Read some New Copy… Audition as much as possible. http://www.voice123.com/ and http://www.voices.com/ are great services simply for the fact that you get auditions daily that allow you ‘on the job’ training. Hone your craft (VO) and your selling skillz (typing up your proposal selling yourself to potential clients) Voices.com has a great e-book of scripts that you can get as well. (this one DOES cost, if you aren’t a member of these services)…(other thoughts - magazine copy - books - record an hour of ‘Idol’ and write down all the VO in commercials - then read those)

3- Make Contact with another VO talent…  recently I had a great conversation with Austin Keyes. What a great guy! I sent a quick email to Brian Lee, and he sent me back a great email with encouragement and insight. Reach out to some VO peeps. Everyone that I have had contact with are just great people! 

4- A Change of Scene… Can you move your studio around at all? Face the other direction, face a different wall. Go outside and read your copy. Then come back to your studio. Maybe you can’t move your setup very easily. Who knows. Just a thought.

5- Listen to some other VO talent…  go to www.voicebank.net and listen to people. Listen to radio. Listen to VO on TV. What can you technique can you borrow to make your own? What can you do to improve what YOU do?

 And One to Grow On:

- Listen to a VO podcast and put the advice to work immediately. There are great podcasts available that you can listen to from voices.com, Pat Fraley has some lessons online, and Tracy Pattin has a great podcast with VO talent as well. Take a pointer from the teachings. Do it right now! Try it out in an audition, or grab some copy and record yourself and make the technique your own!

(A big thanks to all those who have mentioned things like these in previous posts!)

What do you do to get your Creative VO juices flowing?