I'm a little happier with the voicing of my latest column, but still not immensely so. Especially at the end I lose my ability to sound as if I am saying things naturally rather than reading them. Of course, it doesn't help that I actually am ill at the moment, suffering asthma like when I was a teenager and not really able to speak in full sentences. Also, I had grown sick of reading the column by the time I finally got a completed version. In my first take I had a coughing fit, second take I got distracted by my neighbour's speaking baby talk to his grandchild, third take the phone rang, fourth take the doorbell rang. It ended up taking 45 minutes to record this. I need to get some software that would allow me to edit voice tracks rather than having to get them right in one take.One...
My latest column is out and as has become the custom I've decided to read it to you. In listening back to it, though, I sound a bit odd. I sound angry. I am trying to annunciate, but it's not working. The traces of my Texas accent cause me to mumble and slur words (listen to me slaughter the word "generally" at the end of the recording), so I was trying to make everything clear. In so doing, I've made everything slightly bitter, as well.Obviously, my career as a professional voice artist won't be getting under way any time soon.One benefit to the audio version, though, is that I chose to read it as I wrote it. The published version is missing a sentence because my editor was concerned it would offend. That sentence is: "(I am) enjoying the fact that they show naked breasts on primetime...
Once again I give you the audio version of my latest column. this idea of reading the column aloud would be far better if I weren't doing it. In a perfect world, I would resurrect Orson Welles and he would provide the voice. I had also thought about having my dad read it. He and I have slightly similar voices but he has better annunciation. It would be amusing to give him a column and provide no direction, allowing him to decide what words should be emphasized and what pauses belong where. One of the weird things about writing is that the voice is not all that clear. I've been to book readings in which I sat there listening to the author voice his own work, thinking: "Dude, you are getting it all wrong."Although, I don't suppose there's a great deal of variation in the interpretation of a...
In a fit of whimsy (a) this week I decided to record myself reading my latest column. I realise that this is a sort of poncey thing to do, so I have come up with a few lame attempts at justifying myself:1) I always wanted to be one of those "snarky commentary" guys you hear on NPR. But since I am not from New York or Jewish, the odds of my getting that gig are minimal.2) Due to Congressional incompetence blind people aren't getting a chance to listen to as many audiobooks. It breaks my heart that there would be a blind person out there who might miss out on my column, so I've taken the initiative to provide the service on my own. I have no idea how blind people are supposed to navigate themselves to my blog, though...3) There is no #3.Anyway, here it is: (a) Fit of Whimsy is a good name...
Lead singer of Metallica James Hetfield wants to sing you a song....
This is Paul Simon and Steve Martin performing a sort of Christmas monologue. Reportedly the track comes from a "Saturday Night Live" rehearsal, but never made it to air for some reason. For our friends in the Home Nations, "Saturday Night Live" (or simply "SNL") is a long-running television programme that has served as the starting point for most of America's comedy catchphrases. Americans always struggle with the fact that SNL doesn't exist in Britain. We'll say something like, "It was better than 'Cats,'" and you will just sit there and stare at us in that way you always do.One thing I find interesting is that I can hear my own comedic timing in this. That's not surprising, I guess -- when I was a boy, I listened to Steve Martin records over and over and over (perhaps a questionable...
And suddenly Hilary Duff is my favourite manufactured pop songstress ever.I know there are one or two gay guys who read my blog, so I won't have to tell them, but it's possible that some of you will not have heard of Hilary Duff, erstwhile star of the Disney-manufactured "Lizzie McGuire."Like previous Disney spawn, our gal Hilary has broken free of her clean-cut image, developed an eating disorder and is now churning out simple pop songs designed to make it sound like she's not churning out simple pop songs.None of that matters to me, though, thanks to her latest track, "Danger." Well, I assume it's her latest -- how the hell would I know? It is, at least, the most recent (and only) Hilary Duff track that I've heard.I've gone to the trouble to upload the track*. Take a quick listen to it...
I walked today from Barry to East Aberthaw and decided to turn the experience into an audio/visual blogging extravaganza. Well, perhaps "extravaganza" is a bit much. It's really no more than a slideshow with commentary.I apologise for the quality of the audio in some of these clips. It's blustery on the coast. Adding to the poor quality is the fact that in most of the clips I was walking. My goal was to do things quickly and give it a sort of "instant" feel, but arguably this still could have been achieved while standing still and out of the wind.The audio has the added factor of displaying my present hodgepodge accent. It's generally the old Minnesota-with-Texas-twang sound, but occasionally you pick up South Wales phrasing. It's most notable, I think, when I'm talking about mini-golf in...
