I was recovering from a cold right after FKO but luckily, I have wonderful music partners who are SO much better at con reports than I am.  Allison really picked up the slack and Debbie made heroic efforts even though she too, was sick.  (Thanks, guys!!)  I'll just say it was an awesome convention, FKO is like coming home, and I love you guys. :-D  I had a fantastic time and I (of course!) am really looking forward to next year's FKO which is probably the next time I'll see some of you.  (Though I will be at GAFilk, as per usual.)

The second part of my post is this:

Any of you have netbooks or are doing research into it?  I'd love to hear your opinions.  As some of you know already, I went and got myself a little 8.9" Acer Aspire One netbook recently when my Fujitsu Lifebook kicked the bucket (or had the bucket kicked FOR it ;-) ).  I'm loving it.  I really am.  About the only thing I wish it had was a larger screen (so I could edit audio on the actual unit.  It's really too small for that now) - and possibly an optical drive, though that really isn't all that necessary.  The keyboard is a little small for extended periods of typing too, though it's workable.  I don't have overly large hands so it's not a HUGE problem.

Still - I'm looking to find a netbook that is as *silent* as possible.  When I record in my little home studio, I have the netbook right next to me.  And I'm using a condenser mic.  That condenser mic (a Rode NT1-A - which I *love*, by the way) could pick up a neighbour coughing from down the street.  A computer with a noisy fan or lots of moving parts that makes the unit vibrate (yes, that sort of underlying hum can be heard on recordings), will definitely be a problem.

Netbooks are getting better by the *minute* though.  And there are now a number of 10" models coming out that are looking especially appealing - especially if I can get them with an SSD (a solid state drive - or a flash drive - not a spinning disk drive as the units have previously come with).  And SSDs are getting larger in storage size and cheaper in price all the time.

As I've mentioned before, I have $1300 in credit with Best Buy and they've told me they'll get in anything I want, even if they don't normally carry it.  So ... I've been thinking - and I'm wondering if any of you folks have any experience with any of the following (or their predecessors) and have any thoughts on whether or not you think they'd be as silent as possible and would suit my purposes otherwise:

Lenovo S10
Acer Aspire One D250
Asus PC S101
Samsung N110

All of these are fairly new units (some of them not even yet available to buy in stores) - but I'm curious about whether or not any of you have heard any news about them (yes, I've looked on the Internet and have read some of the review sites - which is how I even know their model names) or have had experience with the units before them.  If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it!

Hi folks.  I've been pondering this question for a while now, and I'm driving myself insane looking at all the plans and options and ... bleh.  So I thought I'd ask my friends what THEY thought.  (That's you guys.  Yeah.  You.  Really.  No, don't look around.  Well, I guess you could run for the hills if you want to, but I kinda hope you won't. ;-) )

Here's my dilemma.  My husband and I are currently with Rogers for our cell phones (we're in Canada - and there are relatively few well-known cell phone carries here.  I swear - Canada is a third world country when it comes to cell phones.  It's SO not funny!).  We're paying about $66 per month for both our phones on a plan that's about as low as we can get with them, but *still* is way more than we need.  100 minutes a month?  Yeah.  We don't even come CLOSE.  Neither of us use our cell phones for more than 50 minutes a month - if that.  (I used mine for *12* minutes last month, just to give you an idea - and James didn't use his for much longer).  Our 3 year contract (yes, Rogers makes you sign a *three year contract* with the inclusion of a phone - and ours are WAY old at this point) is up in May.  We're looking for a new option - probably not with Rogers.

We've been thinking of a pay as you go carrier.  But after doing quite a bit of research, ( here are the problems I've encountered. )

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

This is cool.  One of the stations I'm doing radio imaging for (kind of "drops" with another fellow - and he gets most of it but <shrug> - what can ya do?) - has streaming on the web now!  If you're interested, have a listen to 105.9 The Wave in Oregon.  (Just click on the little speaker icon there in the left hand top corner just below the header graphic). 

The fun thing about this is that the fellow who asked me to do this is a DJ on the station (his name is Dave DeAndrea), and is also a very talented voice over artist himself.  I met him through a message board for voice over folk - voice-overs.com - and he has a lot of the people from that message board on his station doing various commercials.  I can recognize most of them. :-D

I'm REALLY grateful to Dave for giving me a shot at this.  I'd LOVE to do more of it - but I'm told by several sources that female radio imaging is rare - that most stations have a guy doing the main stuff and a woman just doing a few "drops" here and there.  And that these days, with the economy in the toilet and radio stations in general hurting pretty bad, radio imaging is a REALLY tough nut to crack for a woman looking to get into it. Well, I'm far from giving up on it.  Trying to find a bunch of guys to do co-demos with so that I can promote an entire package ... We'll see what happens with that.  I'm just going to have to get creative with my promotions, that's all.

Anyway, the station is smooth jazz in format, so if you like that sort of thing and want to hear my radio  imaging, feel free to check it out. :)

I'm really happy with the way it turned out:

Piece of Cake Voice Overs & Vocals

I thought I'd share.  Let me know what you think when you get a chance to check it out.

(The cakes make me hungry every time I look at them. :-D)

I immediately thought of Seanan when I first saw this ... :-)    Enjoy!  (keep moving through the panels ... Alina Pete ROCKS.  And I *so* recognize members of my own "geek squad" in this web comic ... ;-) )

http://www.weregeek.com/2008/10/24/

Whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year, I hope you have a wonderful one!  James and I are spending a quiet day at home.  My family doesn't celebrate Christmas (I'm seeing them Sunday for lunch anyway...) and James' family is far away in northern Alberta (we've talked to them on the phone and sent and received gifts).  So it's really just us.  And that's fine.  I'm thankful for the wonderful relationship I have with my chosen love every day - but made even more aware of how lucky I am at this particular time of the year.  Yes, James is cooking us a Christmas dinner.  ;-)  It's tradition at his home and he does a wonderful job of it.  Since I can barely boil water, I'm *very* appreciative. :-D  We've been up for hours and haven't even opened our presents to one another yet.  A few little things each.  Nothing huge.  We discussed it beforehand and we both have a pretty good idea of what we're getting the other.  It works for us and it's FAR less pressure.  We've been working really hard to lower our debt this year too (and we're doing really well with that!).

Part of what made that a lot easier, was the selling of one of my websites.  ( Cut because I care... )

Enjoy this wonderful time of year, folks.  I wish you all the very best that this season can bring to you.  And have a very Happy New Year too!

Well, it's kind of none of my business - it's not my country, after all.  But congratulations to the US for their choice of President.  It remains to be seen whether or not he'll be better than the President McCain would have made.  I can't make any predictions about that.  But it certainly sounds like Obama will *try* to do everything he's said he will do - including listening to and considering those positions that are different from his own.  Considering he's still a politician (the hazards of voting - you always have to vote for a politician :-D) that's actually saying a lot. It makes me hopeful for the future - not just for the US, but for the rest of the world. 

Of course, Proposition 8 still passed ... which makes me go, WTF??  I'm not sure how it happened but I really hope it gets thrown out before it's put on the books for good.  That's just ... *facepalm*.  Wow. 

Enough about politics though.  Generally, I don't talk about it much.  It interests me, but I think I'm conditioned by the general yawn-fest that is Canadian politics.  That's why I find myself sticking my nose into US politics.  It's so much more interesting. ;-)

ANYway, I also wanted to post an update about the Best Buy situation ... My Fujitsu laptop is no more.  It's been well and truly broken and the only way to repair it would be to purchase another motherboard for it.  That motherboard is going to cost WAY more than the unit is worth at this point so ... Best Buy has come up with an alternative.  They've offered me $1300 in what amounts to store credit - but they've also told me that if I want a computer they don't carry, they'll get it in for me.  I did some research on what the Fujitsu was worth at this point in time, and that seems like a fair and reasonable amount to me.  I spoke with Pablo, the manager over at the Best Buy in Newmarket this morning, and he confirmed this arrangement. 

So pretty much, this issue is resolved.  I'm impressed with how Best Buy handled it - their BC HQ and their managers here in Newmarket -  even if I'm still *not* impressed with their hiring practices for Geek Squad staff.  I will never take anything of mine in to their Geek Squad again.  I don't even want to see the FACES of those guys, frankly.  But I will continue to shop at Best Buy.  I'm thinking that's a pretty decent outcome for all concerned.

Wow.  OVFF was awesome.   Enjoyed having the chance to chat with folks I get to spend far too little time with.  I loved doing the new songs Urban Tapestry had worked up, even though we only played a few songs in the open filks.  I loved getting the chance to do some jazz on Sunday night in the hallway.  Was definitely in the teehee zone by then.  Though Mary, you got me beat on that score by a LONG shot. ;-)

Congratulations to all those very deserving winners of Pegasus awards.  Way ta go, guys!   You all ROCK. :-D

I will shortly have some news about the Best Buy situation, incidentally ... I'll post about that separately when things have been finalized.  But it's looking good.

And lastly, a quick request ... If anyone was recording Sunday night, Amy did a *gorgeous* version of The Lady on her fiddle ... I'd *love* a recording of that.  If you happen to have one, I'd be hugely appreciative if you would consider passing it along to me.  Thanks so much! :-)

Supernatural last night?  Rocked.  Hard. :-D  I'm really loving that show.

Had a fun practice with Allison and Debbie last night.   Just doing some last minute practicing for OVFF as we have a few new songs we're hoping to try out there.  We also exchanged birthday gifts since we hadn't had the chance to do that before... Allison made me a cross-stitch!  It's wonderful.  All sorts of "J's" all over it with a big "Jazz" cross stitch in the middle.  It's fantastic.  And it *totally* matches my office.  I just have to decide where to put it up.  She also gave me a really lovely coppery-colored journal book with music note motifs all over it.  It's gorgeous.  Debbie gave me a gift certificate for Snarkface!  Woohoo! :D  And some of her Blush cards, which I think are totally adorable.  Also, some little chocolate Godiva beads (I *can* be strong and have only one or two a day.  Yes.  I can.  I'll keep telling myself that. :-D), a journal with the theme of "women reading", and a huge block of brightly colored notepad paper. 

I'm always so amazed at how taleneted Debbie and Allison are with their various crafts.  I'd love to be able to draw, or even doodle.  But my doodles are pretty pathetic.  And my prowess with a needle?  Legendary.  In the "it's legendary how *bad* she is at it" kinda way. ;-)  My mother once tried to teach me embroidery and needlepoint.  It was a wasted effort.  The poor woman. :-)  Oh well.  I do benefit from the crafts that Debbie and Allison do though - and I'm enormously grateful for that.

Some good news, voice over wise ... Big enough that I've had to sign an exclusivity contract to not work in a certain industry ...  But I can't talk about it just yet. :)  I'll let you know when I can and will direct you to samples when that happens.

( More Best Buy Updates.. )

And in other news, really looking forward to seeing folks at OVFF!  YAY! :-D

Just a quick request, if someone would be willing ... I've grown really fond of the Splenda flavor packets for coffee (though I use them for a lot more than coffee. :-) ).  I believe they come in three flavors at the moment - Caramel, Mocca and French Vanilla (and apparently, easily found at just about any grocery store?). 

Would someone be willing to pick up a couple of boxes of each and pass them on to me at OVFF?  If you let me know how much they turn out to be, I can either reimburse you at OVFF, or pay for them now through my Paypal account (which is in US dollars).

Unfortunately, these Splenda flavors are not found in Canada - and after having asked the Canadian Splenda folks through their website, I've discovered there don't seem to be any plans to, either. :-/  WHY, I have no idea.  It seems kind of a no-brainer to me.  But <shrug>.

Anyway, feel free to email me directly, or respond here if you'd consider this.

Thanks!

Ok.  For those of you that really don't care to hear about weight issues, feel free to just pass this on by. 

( If you *are* interested, feel free to take a peek. )

Wow. 

Just .... Wow.

(Thank you, Teresa! :-D)

Wishing you all the very best the year can bring.  It would be nice to get a lot of it today, but I think it's safer to spread out all that good stuff over a longer period ...

You deserve lots of good stuff though. :)  Have a great day!

Well, I appear to be getting somewhere.  When I spoke to Best Buy's Canadian HQ in British Columbia, they gave me a case # and said they would contact the Newmarket store manager to get him to contact me and see what he would do for me.

( And herein lies more of the sordid tale ...  )

I'll keep you posted.

Well, I spoke to the Canadian head office in BC this afternoon (because they're three hours behind me...) and reached a very helpful fellow by the name of Ziad who took all my information patiently, respectfully, and actually a bit sympathetically.  It took a while, but he was typing down all the details I was giving him so I was certainly willing to give him whatever time he needed.

When he had what he needed, he gave me a case # and said that he'd spoken to the Best Buy manager at the store where I'd had the problem (the manager of the entire *store* this time - not just the Geek Squad manager, who had lied to me about the juice being the problem) - and that the Manager would be calling me back within 24 hours to discuss compensation of some kind. 

I have no idea what this really means ... or what they'll be willing to do for me ... but I'm further ahead than I ever thought I would be in regards to this, so I have to hand it to Best Buy.  They have so far - outside of this one store - handled my complaint well.

Now I wait and see how this ends up resolving itself ...  I'll let you know when I've had a discussion with the manager.

Thank you for the encouragement and sympathy, by the way (I'm speaking of the post before this one).  It is very much appreciated.

Ok folks.  This is going to be long, but I'm pretty upset.  ( And herein lies the sordid tale. :( )

*sigh*.  What a week this has been. :(

The very last demo I wanted to take care of, was updating my commercial demo.  With the help of Debbie Monro, (a fellow Canadian!  And HUGELY talented voice coach and voice actor herself) it was updated to the following:

http://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/sounds/JodiKrangle-CommercialDemo4.mp3

I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out - and this wasn't actually the first version, but a version that was modified slightly after I put it up for grueling critique on the voice over message boards and at Voiceover Universe (where I have a profile).

I know it's not perfect.  And I can't please everyone.  But hopefully, this newest demo will at least demonstrate that I'm willing to take chances, and that I have a wide variety of styles I can offer to a potential client. :)  That's really what I'm after anyway - demonstrating potential.  In the end, that's what someone LOOKING for a voice, wants to hear.  Or at least, that's been my experience so far. ;)

So thought I'd share it with you, my friends. :)  Thanks for following the journey.  More to come!  I've started doing radio imaging ... Did a bunch of work on that for a fellow based out of New Jersey yesterday ... Should be really interesting work if it turns into more than this one gig (which hopefully, it will...)  I'm keeping my fingers crossed but trying not to count on it before I'm told it's actually coming. ;)

In the meantime, I continue to market myself, audition and plug away...

And here it is - the finished TV Promo Demo.  Lee Kanne did a fantastic job encouraging me to do these reads and then putting it all together into a seamless whole.  I'm really happy with how it turned out:

http://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/sounds/JodiKrangle-TVPromoDemo.mp3

As always, comments are welcome.

I'm working on a slight update to my commercial demo, but beyond that, I'm pretty done in demoland for the time being ... These should be more than enough to get me started, anyway. :)

For those of you who haven't been following the game :D , you can hear all the demos currently available at
http://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/demos.html

And here it is... http://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/sounds/Jodi%20Krangle-JingleDemo.mp3

Jason LeBlanc (at http://www.audioartcafe.com/, if you're interested) put this together for me.  I supplied the voice (obviously). :)

Interesting thing about jingles ... They don't do this all the time, but generally, when you hear that really "full" sound?  It's because each track was sung *twice* - not just once.  They double up to make it more lush.

Any comments would be welcome.  It probably won't change for a little bit, but I'll definitely be keeping all the suggestions (if there are any) in mind. :)

The filk last night at Jane & Phil's was really nice. :)  It was great to see folks and to hear a lot of fantastic music (Phil, I'll say it again - please please PLEASE record Frozen April! :D)  And so wonderful to see Thesilée (thank you for sharing your wonderful songs with us!) though it was unfortunate her other two partners couldn't make it.  Still, a fun time was had by all.  I don't manage to get out to a lot of the local house filks, mostly because they usually take place on Saturdays and I have a regular thing going on those days ... (That "regular thing" involves the rolling of lots of 20 sided dice. ;)) so a filk at a time when I could actually make it, was great.  My apologies to those I missed when heading out (Jane & Sue, I think you were both elsewhere at the time.  Sorry about that!) but thank you SO much for arranging it (and Jane, THANK YOU for having fresh greens and veggies.  HUGELY appreciated. :)).

I also have a new demo online for those who want to hear the genesis as it happens. :)  There is "genesis" because this isn't going to be the final version of the demo.  You see, I'm trying to join a service that will help me find voice over work in the broadcast industry - and this service is much more "hands-on" than the directories I'm listed with that just list you, and send you audition requests when they come through. They also cost a lot more to be listed with ... but ... they do give you your money's worth.  And one radio imaging client will likely pay for the membership a couple of times over.   So ... I'm putting together a TV promo demo.  This is the first version:
http://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/sounds/JodiKrangle-TVPromoDemo.mp3

It will be changing - because the woman in charge of this service I'm joining, has given me some suggestions to make it more in keeping with the other TV promo demos out there.  The long and the short of it, is that it needs to be a little more well-rounded.  There will be a spot or two added, and the first spot will disappear, as, likely, will the ABC 2020 spot ... She really liked the TLC spot so that will be moving more towards the front ... I'll probably add a children's programming spot and a drama or comedy (sitcom) spot ... We'll see how things work out.  I'll post again when there's another incarnation for folks to listen to.  This demo making is a NEVER ENDING process.  It's fun ... but at some point, I'd just like to be done please? :)  At least for a little while? :)

I'm also waiting for a jingle demo to be mixed... I'll post a link for that too when I have it. :)

Opinions on the TV promo demo (keeping in mind that the first spot and the 2020 spot are likely already going to be gone) would be much appreciated if you feel you'd like to share them.