CourvoBlogArchive

[11.22.07] Workin' on a Holiday

Yes, I have three newscasts to anchor today (it's still ratings), but I do work with great people who will make it fun.  I also know that Thanksgiving is one of the high viewership days of the year, so it won't go unnoticed.

Earlier in the day, I'll be dining with friends, and later in the day, I'll feel bloated.  I don't care.

Thank you for reading this far.  I DO have many things to be thankful for....  too numerous to mention here, but the short list includes:  good health, 3 beautiful and smart daughters, a great job, continued blessings, wonderful friends, and an extremely fulfilling and challenging new venture in my life:  Voice-Acting.

May the blessings be many for you and yours today!

courVO

[10.31.07] VoiceOverExtra

'Not sure if it's a sad comment, or a coincidence, but today -- on Halloween -- an article on me showed up on VoiceOverExtra.com.

Click here for the direct link.

The man behind VoiceOverExtra has given me more than my share of cred by doing this article.  His name is John Florian, and full disclaimer: he used to live in Las Vegas, and knows of my reputation here.  That's a reputation in the broadcast TV News business though, and doesn't brook all that much respect in the world of Voice-Acting.

Still, John prompted me to write an article about my attempt at an eventual full transition to the career of Voice Overs.  The more I thought about it, and began writing, the more I realized there might be some lessons, some actual wisdom I may be able to openly share that might be of help to voice-actors too.

At least that's the spirit in which the article was written.  I hope it brings something to the table for you.

VoiceOverExtra.com, BTW, is turning into a big online success for John.  I visit everyday, and find something of value each time.  I know for a fact, that John is working his tail off to bring together resources we as voice-actors can all use....and you'll find an amazing collection of varied and helpful articles, interviews, links and even classified ads.  Visit now, visit often.  You'll be glad you did.

Courvo

[10.30.07] Knowing Your Niche

Victor Harris is a guy who has figured out where his heart lies.

An Iraqi war veteran, Victor is a successful Voice-Actor in his own right.  But he's turning a corner, and doing something else he loves even more.

Victor is starting his own talent agency:  AirWave Talent, in Cleveland.

I hope Victor won't mind my revealing here a few of the thoughts he shared with me over the phone.

Harris says he liked voice-over work well enough, but found the shine had tarnished a little, and that he came to realize his real love was on the production end of things.  He went on to say he really found renewed energy and challenge in the arena of talent representation. 

It takes a self-assured man to realize not only his dreams but his limitations.  And it would've been easy for Victor to rest on his laurels, or stay complacent in the circumstances he was handed.  Harris came home from the field of war with a broken body.  I won't go into the details, but many months later,  now, he is still rehabilitating.

Instead of accepting status-quo, Victor took a hard look at where he was and where he wanted to be.  Then he took off in a new direction and it's lifted his spirits, and given him a new gusto for life.  I think we could all take a lesson from that.

Thanks, Victor, for defending my freedoms, and for letting a little of your inspiration into my life.

Courvo

[10.29.07] Simple Soap

You hear these wives' tales about amazing remedies.  I pay about as much attention to them as e-mails from Nigeria.

But my 87-yr-old Mother-in-Law has been raving about one of those remedies for years now.  It goes something like this:

If you get foot cramps at night while sleeping, place a bar of soap under the fitted sheet at the end of the bed.  The cramps disappear!

I just couldn't do it.... wouldn't do it!....even though with size 13 EEEE shoes, and no arch, I have he flattest, most crampy feet in the world.

Finally my wife did what I refused to do. 

I hafta admit, for the last month, I've slept with cramp-free-feet.

'Can't explain it.... this is strictly anecdotal... but... from now on, I'm sleepin' with a bar of soap under my sheet.  Hey!  With Irish Spring, it even keeps things smelling nicer!

Courvo

[10.28.07] Free Stuff

Gotta love the free stuff on the internet.  Trouble is, it's almost never free.

When there ARE strings attached, they can be a big hassle, or a mere inconvenience, depending.

We all use word-processing programs constantly, and I just wanted to pass along a tip from Dave Houston on the VO-BB that has turned out to be the real deal. 

The Open Office suite of programs is full-featured, easily downloaded, free, and has a very nice function well worth your time for the install.  You can find it here.  Included in the suite are a spreadsheet, database, document, draw, math, and presentation programs.

Now...under the document program (Writer) you can save in a bunch of different formats, including MS Word.  But the special talent this program has is that you can export your document in a .pdf format.  Cool!

Sun Microsystems produces Open Office in a open-source collaborative effort.  It also sells what I presume to be a more fully-featured version for a pittance, considering what you're getting.  Click here.  Then they also sell another office suite call Star Office. It used to be free, and I'm not sure how it differs from Open Office (either version), but it's also a steal considering what it does, and how it compares to the cost of MS Office.

Finally, if you subscribe to the notion that the network IS the computer,  then you can use Google's free document-writing program, and I gotta admit, it's not bad.  Click here.

Courvo