St. Patrick’s Day churns up memories of five years ago, when a gaggle of opportunistic young people attached like leeches to student-led parties, took over a neighbourhood, rioted, and made the kind of international news for London that no city wants to attract. Cue The Who and Won’t Get Fooled Again! …
Apologies to Kermit: It IS Easy Being Green Read More »
The other night before I went to bed, I quickly flipped through my news apps to see what was in the headlines. Show prep never stops, and what’s news tonight from these legitimate news sources will form the backbone of my show in the morning. …
Keep it Classy, Journalists Read More »
The City of London is considering adopting a different method of voting for the municipal election next year. Instead of first-past-the-post, they’re looking at ranked choice ballots. You rank your first, second and third choices instead of choosing just one and the ones with the fewest votes are eliminated, until a clear winner emerges. …
Voting for Voice-Work Read More »
Reaction to our first CJBK Mean Texts video was terrific, so we are back with a second instalment. …
On Sunday, I received a forwarded email from the head of a racist/white supremacist political party who shall go unnamed. (I don’t want any link to their name on this site.) The President of this awful group was advising members about how to deal with radio talk show hosts. He basically said that talk show hosts are puppets for corporate masters who want to ruin the white race by promoting race-mixing. It was incredibly insulting to broadcasters. It advised the faithful (racists) to see through us and keep calling, using fake names, to get on the air and spew. …
Perhaps you’re familiar with the bad lip-reading video series? Someone takes the Donald Trump speeches and painstakingly (and poorly) reads his lips and adds corresponding voice-overs. Well, Ken and I did the same with this week’s Canadian political viral video. Â …
Bad Leitch-Reading Read More »
My former work husband, Paul Cook, marks twenty years on the 680 News morning show this week. That’s quite a feat! Some people don’t survive in broadcasting for twenty years, let alone on one of the top-rated morning shows in the country. …
Throwback Thursday – Twenty Years of This-Just-In!Read More »
Throwback Thursday – Twenty Years of This-Just-In! Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, The Toronto Star’s Public Editor nailed it in an editorial on an issue that’s been bugging me but I didn’t quite click the Lego pieces together as well as she did. The gist is this: there’s a misunderstanding about what fake news is. …
The Reality of Fake News Read More »
It’s been some time since I last shared some of my favourite spam. Spammers are getting craftier about trying to slip past the gates of my website comments and onto the live pages. They’re easily identified by their names and fake email addresses, terrible grammar and awkward phrasing. But the fake praise they pile in a heap is worth sharing! …
It seems like everyone we know is retiring! That’s an exaggeration. But we know a lot of people who are finished with their daily-grind working lives. And I’m not too proud to say that I’m envious. …
Retirement Matters Read More »
A massive report on Canada’s media was released a couple of weeks ago. It aimed to study the country’s corporate media landscape – newspapers, radio, television, Internet – and report to the federal government on what can be done to make sure that 1. journalism survives and 2. democracy also survives because without journalists, no one keeps politicians in check. This is why Donald Trump is attempting to repeatedly discredit major media. But I digress. Â …
Imagine if someone was let into your workplace specifically to tell you what a bad job they thought you were doing. They responded to your every move in a negative way and repeated, often using foul language, how unqualified or unfit you were do be in your position. They made blanket statements and assumptions and battered you with their verbal assaults. Imagine also that you had no idea who they were. Their identity was hidden. That’s what it’s like to be a host in talk radio. …
Tables Turned on Meanies Read More »
Four framed sketches of well-known places in London, rescued from a junk pile when CFPL moved from the Free Press building to City Centre many years ago, recently came off my studio/office wall and had no place else to go. They’re not signed, which is unfortunate, because they’re beautifully drawn. …
Sketchy Giveaways Read More »
My first book was published in 2003. I really have no ties to Celebrity Tantrums anymore, and if you want to read it, I have a few dozen copies in my basement that I’d be happy to give away! I’m proud of the writing but my experience with this publisher wasn’t great. However, the book launch party was fantastic. …
Throwback Thursday – Book Launch Party Read More »
For much of the latter half of 2016, I’ve been trying to write a novel. No, that’s not true. I started a novel, and then didn’t get back to it until the year was almost over. After writing four books, I know the secret to writing a book: there is no secret. You have to actually write it and sometimes it’s difficult! …
Writing Group 2017 Read More »
More than a couple of decades ago, before Toronto’s Virgin radio was a thing, there was MIX 99.9, that came after CKFM. Are you still with me? …
Throwback Thursday – Nutcrackers Read More »
Update April 2022: This post still brings me regular email! And I think it’s only fair to point out that it’s SIX years old, and things have changed at Voices.com. They’re transparent about their fees, and there are other things that have improved. My experience is historical now and out of date.
As I write this, I’ve been a full-time voice actor for nearly 4 years. I still maintain that carefully selected Pay-2-Play voice-over casting websites can be a worthwhile supplement to a full-time voice-over career, but they shouldn’t be relied on. Thanks, Lisa
Since joining Voices.com a few years ago, I’ve been its champion. I have the greatest respect for homegrown founders, Stephanie and David Ciccarelli and the company has grown dramatically. But I’m not going to renew with them as a voice actor when my membership expires in January. Since I’ve been so public about my support for them in the past, I feel I should be just as open about why I’ve changed my mind. I’m directly responsible for no fewer than a half-dozen people joining the site. I need to update my stance. …
Why I’m Quitting Voices.com Read More »
…just open it again. That’s how doors work! …
When One Door Closes…. Read More »