Marilyn

August 5/12.

It was 50 years ago today we all lost Marilyn Monroe. This poster has graced my wall at home for decades.

Her Chanel ad is one of my favourite portraits. She is still one of the great beauties of the world.

Keeping up

June 15/12.

Days racing by faster than a speeding bullet again lately. Bought a Lotto Max ticket for tonight's draw at Luke's, my favourite neighbourhood convenience store on Logan Avenue. (Winning a fortune sure would be fun). I'm wearing a new top I bought a few weeks ago at H & M.

Didn't realize it at the time, but now I'm convinced I fell for the shirt because it reminded me

of this Marilyn Monroe polka dot dress! (only wish I knew how to model the way SHE did!)

When I got home,

discovered my son, Max was practicing a scene from The Odd Couple with his girlfriend, Robyn in the kitchen! (part of a culminating project for school during this last week of grade 11). Max was playing the role of slobby Oscar Madison and Robyn was helping him out by taking on the part of the fastidious Felix Unger.

Since Jack Lemmon has always been my fave actor, I've seen the 1968 movie SOOOOOOOOOOO many times. I knew every word Max and and Robyn were reciting and I even got a chance to take a shot at the scene with Max. - "Let it be on YOUR head!" (the next day, Max's teacher said their performance was "Very strong!" Yay)!

This week, I've bounced back and forth from running the track or walking the trails at Riverdale Park every day,

sometimes doing exercises in the shade of all the trees,

to shopping in the hot summer sun at Gerrard Square for groceries, Father's Day gifts

and a new Jabra bluetooth earpiece for my iPhone, bought for me by Sam. I've run through 5 of these babies (all different makes) over the last 5 or 6 years and every single one of them has given me trouble. They always seem to cut out altogether at the most inconvenient times. Thought this one would operate well, but seems it's actually an iPhone problem, so they have to exchange my phone to allow this thingamajig to work! Getting the new phone tomorrow.

Every week, I also spend some fabulous quality time, compacting garbage or recycling in the massive bins. There's never enough room, so I have to jump on it. Neighbours must think I'm outta my mind, (and they'd be partially right I think).

After all that jumping, was ready to head back to the park to run again.

Still haven't been able to get back up to five laps since my ankle injury. Can only do two (800 metres), but I'll get there one of these days.

Then, it was off to Azure Production on the Danforth,

to pick up my long awaited voice-over demo discs and pics. It's been almost four months since I recorded the demo at the TA2 Studio. Took weeks before I received a finished product and now, they're ready to be sent out. Used a couple of shots taken at the sound board and in the recording booth.

 Who knows? Maybe I can actually get some voice work!

Later, dropped in on my sister, Carrie, to give her a present. A new Prickles the Porcupine puppet!

Of course she's going to keep the original, (but the poor little guy has been through the mill during the Stella the Squirrel escapades). Carrie says the "new guy" can be Prickle's bro! Alrighty then!

 
In case anyone missed out on the Prickles and Stella events, here's one of the many episodes Carrie shot and edited featuring the creatures. In this one, Prickles becomes a babysitter!

 

And if you never saw the "Stella gives birth" episode, here it is. You can hear Carrie's gorgeous singing voice in the background during her original song "Mother Son". The song also features Carrie's nephew, Lief Mosbaugh. GREAT, heartfelt lyrics and beautiful melodies. I am so proud of my sis for everything she does. (Hey PNo! - you sure know what I mean, right)??

Cayr was just back from a long trip to New York State with her son Lee (soon to turn 17). They were off to a weekend baseball tournament. It was a ton 'o driving for her, but she got there safely and Lee's team wrapped up the two days with three WINS and one loss.

They celebrated by taking over a restaurant for dinner. That's Lee, second kid on the left side, in grey. Congrats gang on the well-played games!

And congratulations also to the parents and family members who got the kids there and cheered them on. GREAT job. Carrie is on the right, holding up her celebratory glass of wine! Cheers!

Find Your Voice!!

February 9/12.

Tuesday's Find Your Voice class with Jason Deline turned out to be great! We had two weeks to come up with five different character voices, complete with moods and situations attached. Everyone agreed it was a tough assignment, but I was pretty astounded to hear what this talented gang came up with! Jason tossed us plenty of curve balls to shake up the studio experience!

(left to right) Suli Ahmed, Brittney Scott, me (teacher's pet - ha ha!) teacher/voice actor Jason Deline, Diana Galligan, Meryle Trouble, Chris Truax - Photo by audio engineer Dave Clark - (thanks Dave! It was terrific working with you!)

Brave Chris was first up! He surprised me with the range of his character voices and the way he took direction from Jason. We were asked to name each character. Not sure of all the spellings, but Chris did
a deep-voiced guy named "Yugie-ish", then a deeper and older character, "Caibaish", next - Brooklyn, (sort of a NY- flavoured character but with an urban and country twang!), "Dr. Japanese" (Japanese accent) and "Screech" - a screechy, crazy, psychotic guy! Jason got Chris to "mix the characters" - asking him to make this guy sound dumber, or another one, rougher and to "Work it through out loud." We all watched him behind the studio glass and marvelled at the way he rolled with all the suggestions. Really good job and he set the bar for the rest of us to follow.

Meryle was next. She wasn't feeling well. Had quite a cold, but didn't let that stop her from showing off her voices. Jason spoke to us all about how tough it is to sustain a character voice over a long period of time and said we need to explore the range of emotions we can hit with each one.

As usual, Meryle made us laugh. She began with "Old Iya",  Jewish old lady. Jason then said he liked her, but, "Now I want to hear her 20 years younger, before the emphysema!" (she did it perfectly). She went on to do "Flat Moustache" - British sound with an arc of anger. Jason wanted her to add more of a Liverpool tough edge/factory worker sound. Damned if she didn't do it immediately! Character 3? "Broad Columbia". Jason asked to hear that one "a little smarter, more low key, then a little more film noir and in control/in charge," then "drop the Betty Boop and add more Katherine Hepburn!" Again, she did it.
#4 - "Countryish" - a country waitress. (Jason named her "Polly"), and then asked her to change it up and make her sound really MEAN.
Don't think Meryle did a 5th character, but the four she did - just terrific!

Third up? Diana. She did a voice called "Red" and another, "Zip". Jason wanted her to meld them into one. I think it was, "angry and fearful, in control, but I don't really know what I'm doing". How she managed that, I'll never know. She also performed "Tada", "Kara" and "Sal". Jason tossed her ideas - "Make that guy bigger, dumber, more sure of himself, the voice of authority, make it more like - 'Friends, Romans and Countrymen! Lend me your ear'!, try a whispered aside, use more diction, add some strong pauses". Diana took it all in stride and showed us lots of range. (by this point, I was really getting nervous!)

Suli was fourth. When he first came into class, he told me this assignment was tough and he was afraid, "Every voice is just ME." He tried to change it up by giving each character a different emotion or feeling. He did "Youseff", a happy type of dude who got more delusional as he went along. Jason wanted him to build the character's voice up till he got "crazy excited, " then encouraged  him to "Lose your mind!" Fun to watch Suli accomplish this feat! Then, he did "Riaz". I instantly wrote in my notes, "Depressed." Then Suli explained the guy was depressed, because he's in the hospital. I thought it was cool that he got the emotion of depression across to us instantly. Jason wanted him to blend happy dude and depressed guy! (because, he says, NO character has just ONE emotion). Character 3 - "Glon", a man who was drained and out of breath after a very long run, then, #4 - "Seeoire", a scared guy. Jason requested Suli make him sound a little higher and more like an innocent teenager. Finally "Linard" - aggravated man. Jason asked that he make the character sound gruffer. I really enjoyed hearing Suli run the gamut of emotions!

Brittney (who as far as I know, has had very little voice experience) knocked it out of the park in my opinion. The script she'd been given included a couple of rather lame jokes. I forget the name of her first character, but Jason asked her to play it as "This is the funniest joke in the world, and laugh like crazy." She did it! She performed characters named "Switzy" and "Rasix" - sort of a scary person, then "Mappy", a countryish character with lots of laughter and finally "Stama" who was scared to death! (She was VERY funny in this role!) Jason asked her to keep that level of fear but "go OVER THE TOP" with it. She launched into that and I was laughing so hard. Brilliant stuff. Jason threw her lots more ideas - Make Mappy more Southern, or try that younger, and do that southern character more evil, or make that person old, add a nervous laugh, and make it sound like that character doesn't get the joke! I predict big things for Brittney. She's really very good.

Guess who was last up? You got it. Yikes! Gak! Egad! I went in without contact lenses or prescription glasses or reading glasses. Thought it might help just to have the copy up close so I could read it more clearly, and it did. Character #1 - my GP, "Bernice" (mixed in with a bit of Father Mulcahy from M*A*S*H*!), a pure, sing-songy voice, laced with concern and thoughtfulness. Character #2 - Snuggle (the dryer sheet TV commercial bear with the tiny little high-pitched voice), next, The Nutty Professor (ala Jerry Lewis), goofy, nerdy, gravelly, tight, pinched voice, then Marilyn Monroe, all breathy, sweet, innocent and earnest, (my script contained the word garbage. Jason told me the consensus from behind the glass was that I even made the word GARBAGE sound sexy!! - LOVE that!), next character - Gladys Kravitz, (from the old TV series Bewitched). Grating voice, all flustered and confused. Then finally, William Shatner! (I wanted to drop him, since I couldn't quite get it, but went for it anyway). Tried to make him confident, overly-dramatic, speaking haltingly in all the wrong places, over-emphasizing the wrong words.
Since I was so concentrated on doing these voices, I can't recall now a single thing Jason asked me to do!
Whew, glad that's over! But it was really fun.

As for Jason, he seemed quite pleased with the calibre of the work. He spoke to us afterwards about how to get work, the ways to get into ACTRA (not easy), how to go about marketing ourselves, methods of putting together a portfolio and lots of other great information about the voice-over biz. He also scheduled all of the dates and times to record our demos. I'm first up at 6 p.m. on February 21st.

Everyone thanked Jason for a fantastic course. We all agreed we'd like to get together and hear each other's demos at some point, when they're all done. Three of us record on the 21st and the other three on the 28th.

Jason encouraged us all by saying, "There's no time like the present. Talk to people who can help make this happen for you."

The VOICES in my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February 7/12.

Tonight's the big night at Jason Deline's Find Your Voice class - 7 p.m. All six students have to come up with five different character voices and show them off in the recording studio! I'm freaking! This is not what I do best, (even though I SO WANT to)!

All I hear is voices in my head! STOPPPPPP! GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!! You think I was crazed BEFORE this class, what with cancer, Intensity Entity, etc.? You should see me NOW! Ai Carumba! (STOP that Bart!)

Hope Jason doesn't yell at us tonight! (just kidding Jason. We know you NEVER do that!!!)

All I can hear right now is Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot! ("Good night Honey!")

Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor! ("I have to admit, it WAS a toe-tapper!")

Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched! ("Abner! Come quick! She's doing it again!")

Among other voices I'm working on. Oh to be a fabulous mimic. What a skill that would be.

Hey Meryle, Diana, Suli, Brittney, Chris (and Jason)....see you tonight! (gulp)
Break a leg everybody!

Meanwhile, half way around the world, heard from my husband, Sam, during his whirlwind, two-day business trip to Panama! (Lucky for him, he's been missing-in-action during all the ridiculous voices and me speaking-in-tongues - or whatever it is, all over the place and "acting"? more out there than ever!) A lot going on around here and plenty to occupy my time in Toronto, while he did-it-up-big-time in Panama. (see you tonight after the voice session!)

Here's Sam visiting the Panama Canal! (wonder if he'll come home with a tropical tan, (not a chance), -  or any traditional Panamanian products? - Woodcarvings? a ceremonial mask? pottery? - Hmmmmmmm.  Doubtful. More likely, a bottle of duty-free vodka! (Fine with ME!) Not that I drink it at home. (prefer sparkling Henkell). But if I did, - shaken, not stirred please, (and ICE COLD).

A look at his very pretty hotel. He wouldn't tell me much about his "secret mission", only that it was a success! (I think he's leading a double life I don't know about!?) - "Just call me Bond. - Sam Bond".

Photography and GPS

December 15/11.

There are thousands of things I don't know how to do.

Top of the list right now?

Photography, and using the GPS.

Trying to get a grip on both. Not much success on the photog front, (although this one in the Beaches turned out kinda interesting, I guess). GPS, coming along. Will keep workin'!

Ever since starting the blog back in February, have been attempting to master the art of using a digi-cam. LOVE posting pix and writing about them, but taking them? Not so much.

Despite countless calm, cool, collected construction workers at Princess Margaret Hospital, who attempted to show me how to use the camera, (during my 16 radiation days back in the summer - this was treatment #7), -plus "mini-lessons" from so many (frustrated) others,

my shots almost always, inevitably turn out blurry -

and bad. (Have been trying to shoot these particularly gorgeous blue Christmas lights on the Danforth for weeks, but can't capture them the way I want them to look!) Will keep trying.
Meanwhile,

a fabulous Facebook friend of mine, Matthew McMahon, (is he not adorable?) - gave me an unexpected gift about a week ago, leaving me in tears, in the process. (Granted, NOT tough to do these days, but this particular generous gesture got me, BIGtime).

I first met Matthew, (who uses the above, insanely crazy caricature portrait, as his FB status pic), on the Danforth, back in mid-September. Unbeknownst to me, while driving around on his motorized scooter, Matthew quietly witnessed (in hysterical laughter), my futile attempt to catch an auto-pic shot with my high school pal, Dean, in front of a church at Danforth & Hampton.

Once Matthew stopped laughing, he offered his professional services as a photog, to take this pic of Dean & me. (which is pretty much my fave of the two of us, EVER!) At the time, I thought, "What the hell?" - Handed Matthew my camera, he snapped the shot from his scooter, and the rest is history!

Flash forward, weeks later, and Matthew, (who works at the Second Cup building,

just blocks from my house), offered to GIVE me a tripod, because he'd read of my interest in photography on FB. I tried to stop by to pick it up, but couldn't FIND him! Then one day, Matthew proclaimed he was driving over on his scooter, (in freezing cold weather), to drop off the tripod -

at my house! I answered the door, makeupless, in a mess, and promptly broke into tears when I saw he had managed to leave his scooter on the sidewalk, somehow made his way up the front steps to my doorway, and handed me the heavy tripod in person. Some people are really TOO much. Matthew is one of them. He doesn't KNOW me. There's no REASON he needed to put himself through this, but he did it anyway. (I thanked him and will try to pay his kindness forward in the future!) And I hope to use the tripod soon!!!

Continuing on the the photog front, my cousin, Kev, told me about this weird contraption called a Gorillapod. You can use it to wrap your digi-cam around a tree, a branch, a pole, whatever, (to take an auto-pic), instead of always attempting to stick the camera on the hood of a car.

Since I was in the area of Queen & Church this week to visit St. Mike's Hospital, (in memory of the death of my beloved Uncle Ev there one year ago), decided to stop by a couple of camera stores. The first one had the mini Gorillapod selling for just under $27. WHAT? Then,

went to Henry's, where the Gorillapod was on sale for 17 bucks. Dealo!

My radio hero,

Howard Stern, recently got into photography. He loves taking pics of his stunning wife, Beth O, and all the money he raises goes to charity.

Beth's worthy cause - The North Shore Animal League America, receives the proceeds from the one-of-a kind 2012 calendar showcasing her with cute, cuddly, healthy canines and felines

found in local shelters.

Howard talks a LOT about his passion for photography, his fancy Nikon, expensive lighting equipment, etc., on SIRIUS. (I've been taking notes).

Howard says the true key to everything is lighting. I KNOW! Without great lighting, you might as well just jump off a bridge. - So, for fun, looked at fancy lights! (camera! action!)...

with really pretty pricetags! - Yikes!

Umbrella lights. (reminded me of my old master Global TV cameraman, known far & wide as Yhoram "every frame a Rembrandt" Pirotsky)!

(Without Yhoram's supreme lighting skills, I would NEVER have had a job at Global for 18 years!) - This pic was taken at his retirement from Global in 2009.

I tried to take some auto shots at Henry's, behind their fab, floor model lights,

(but of course, only I COULD manage to make them look blurry, in a pro-camera store)!

Left Henry's, took off, walked across the street and spotted a trio of wildly mismatched dogs in front of the Metropolitan United Church!

The owners were kind enough to allow me to photograph their beloved pets. (left to right) - Owner, Dexter, with tiny 12-year-old, pomeranian- chihuahua, "Duke" and teeny 6-year-old, chihuahua, "Bijou",

plus owner, Gary with his 18-month-old Great Dane, "Billy the Kid!" (These owners and dogs had NEVER met before)!

Hiked up to 133 Church Street to check out the over 70-year-old Ontario Specialty Company toy store.

WOW! Sure brought back a lot of wacky memories!

And sunglasses-r-us. Sadly, the store is closing its doors next year.

Also looked in many pawn shop windows. This one featured old Canuck dollar bills and a shiny sax. Thought my bro-in-law, Garth Mosbaugh, of The Nylons, (who plays a mean sax), might like to see this one! - OK, so photography 101 is over for the moment.

ONWARDS now to the dreaded GPS mission!

Decided to throw caution to the wind. My new-found photog interest draws my eye to things I NEVER would have noticed before!

Set myself a goal to drive to a random airport hotel. Typed the Airport Road address into the GPS and actually DROVE there,

& arrived safely, without incident! Miracle!

However, after taking an auto-pic, a guy drove up beside me

and seemed to be offering to shoot a photo for me. A surprise, but then, found out, he really just wanted to take a shot of me on his phone! WTF? Well, OK buddy. Whatever. Aiga Hessein took this wild & hair-raising pic,

and drove off before I could even ask him which direction was west or east! Got lost on the way home. Bossy GPS broad ordered me to make an immediate u-turn ASAP, which I did, in rather dangerous circumstances, and managed to make it back to the city, unscathed. (Maybe there's hope for me yet)!

Ended up back at the Eaton Centre,

watching Marilyn Monroe in the new Charlize Theron J'Adore Dior commercial!
(what MORE could I ASK for?)