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ROWELL GORMON

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Archives for September 2011

Not All Voices Use Words

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It’s been disturbingly more frequent in my voiceover universe of late:  news of yet another friend who has lost a dear companion of many years.

While I don’t for one moment mean to trivialize the heartbreak of other friends who are dealing with death of a wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, or family friend…this is different…sort of.

If you have ever loved, or been loved by, a small (or not so small) furry animal, you know they are so much more than “dumb beasts”.

“Dodger” – photo by Marilyn Gormon

They know our voices…they teach us to understand every nuance of every sound they make, like a second language.  And of course, they are also experts in non-verbal communication.   And the very best of them will listen to us and comfort us when no human has the time.

Just recently…Ron Levine, Zak Miller, my dear Kara Edwards, and others…have been hit by the loss of a daily source of unconditional love.  Their sorrow and emptiness is quite, quite natural.  The bigger the Heart, the bigger the heartbreak.

With each new notice, I have to go and lavish some more attention on my 17+ year old cat, Dodger, while i have the opportunity.

Not strange that we feel such loss.

How many human friends have been so devoted to us for so many years as these wonderous creatures other people so easily dismiss as “pets”?

—  over and out —

How’re You Doing? On Second Thought…Don’t Tell Me.

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At the recent Faffcon gathering (thank you again, Amy), several of us ‘fessed up to getting deep in depression the more we read online about the “great sessions” and “slammed schedules” and “most recent national payday” of our friends and colleagues in the biz.

We all recognized that a lot of those posts from genuine friends were written with only joy in mind….well, there are a few who are obviously rubbing it in, but we won’t go there.

Anyway, those of us who admitted to those moments might find encouragement in a recent post by the always-insightful Seth Godin.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/09/run-your-own-race.html

Read the whole post.  But the upshot is:  why burden yourself by running someone else’s race?

Why indeed.

— over and out —

The Shadow Knows. And I know The Shadow!

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The Wake County Public Library has a few items from my “Shadow” sanctum on display this month.

Even more than the guilty-pleasure of the vintage Radio series it spawned, the Shadow Magazine was a thrilling discovery for me in my college days…both in reprints and surviving pulp magazines collected from the 30s and 40s.  Pure fantasy, of course:  the Good Guys were Good and the Bad Guys were Bad and meant to be blown away by the twin 45s of the Cloaked Crimefighter, who pre-dated Batman by almost a decade.

Re-reading some of these old stories again, it does a great deal toward getting the memory of that wretched Alec Baldwin movie out of my head!

The display runs through the end of September at the Cameron Village Branch.  Maybe we’ll do an “Old Radio” display using some other stuff from my Archives in the near future.  “The Shadow Knows”.

— over and out —

Sometimes Doing It Because You Want To Is Reward Enough

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Wow.

This guy (and his friends) went to a whole lot of trouble for something they’ll likely never see a penny return on.

So why do I envy them so much?

Jonny Quest_Stop Motion Still

Take a look at this very well-made stop-motion recreation of one of my favorite childhood adventure series (and still one of the grown-up guilty pleasures I refuse to feel guilty about)!   There are no voices, but the work itself speaks volumes.

http://www.jonnyquest.tv/

Then follow the links on Roger Evans’ website (assuming his server hasn’t crashed from all the interest), and marvel at how much work he put into creating something so great, knowing his only “payment” was seeing it completed.

How many times have I held back from creating something I’d probably really enjoy…just because it wasn’t practical or had no profit value?  That little voice in the back of the head sneers, “Yeah, but what’s in it for you?  Why put all that time and work into someting that’ll never turn a dime?”

Watching Roger’s video makes me want to go produce some kind of radio version of this unapologetically old-fashioned adventure.  Lord knows I have all the sound effects, I know enough voice talent, and I’m an acknowledged production “suuuuuuper genius”.  I’d just have to find a music library with something approaching that fabulous Hoyt Curtin sound.

Hmm.   Why don’t I?

…more later.

— over and out —