Throwback Thursday – Nutcrackers
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? …
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Working
Why I’m Quitting Voices.com
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 My experience is historical now and out of date.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. …
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When One Door Closes….
…just open it again. That’s how doors work! …
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Site Rules
For me, last week’s celebration and goodbye for Erin Davis was also a mini-reunion with many of my former colleagues. For more than three years – although it feels like the blink of an eye – I was the newscaster on the CHFI morning show and, for a time, filled in for Erin as cohost when she was on vacation. After I moved down the hall to 680 News, I still saw those great folks all the time. …
Erin Davis’ Last CHFI Show
Honestly, I’m lost for words. But I do need to humble-brag for a moment and say that I predicted this day, aloud, to Erin and Rob some time ago, when they were in no frame of mind to hear it, really. …
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Everyone’s A Critic
Broadcasters are a different breed of people. You could say that about any profession, I suppose, like lion tamers or accountants. But living in a local fishbowl has some challenges that we don’t tend to talk about in mixed company. …
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Uniformity
I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten what I wore to work earlier in the week. Or the day before. Or earlier that same day. Sometimes I have to check the laundry basket to confirm it. It’s partly because of chronic fatigue. I could organize my closet in such a way that my outfits would rotate evenly, but I don’t. …
Throwback Thursday – Lights Alight
Ken and I were invited to join the official Lighting of the Lights at Victoria Park this year, as co-emcees with our colleague, CTV’s Nick Paparella. Nick has done it for so many years that we pretty much rode his coat tails through the program of live music and a couple of short speeches. …
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It’s Not About Me
The next time I’m asked to speak about my career to a university or college class, I’m going to say no. It’s not that I don’t want to help them, it’s that I don’t think that I can. Â …
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Ken’s Gift Can Be Yours, Too
Whenever I’m asked about my cohost Ken Eastwood, “good guy” will come up in my answer. …
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Throwback Thursday – Righting Some Wrongs
In 1989 I put a 45 on a dusty turntable in the FM102 music library and listened to a song called Soldier of Love. It was shipped without a label, purposely, so Music Directors wouldn’t be biased before they got a chance to hear it. I declared what I heard would be a hit song, It turned out that the artist was Donny Osmond. And that’s the one and only time I predicted a song would be a hit and was right! …
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News is News
One of the things I try to teach my news-writing students at Fanshawe is to avoid presenting a story as good or bad. It just is. It’s up to your listener/viewer to decide whether something is positive or negative. A prime example of this is the state of the Canadian dollar. When it goes up or down it can be good or bad depending on what you want to do with it. If you want to spend money in the U.S., it’s not so good when the value of our dollar falls. If your business relies on selling goods to the States, it’s not so bad. …
Brandt’s Randt – Topping up my Cup
Yup, I’m going to rant about a first world problem today. But it matters to me – not more than anything else, or even as much as some things. But in the very moment when it happens, it’s everything. It’s my morning coffee. …
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Pay Equity Protestation
Pay equity is still a thing. Decades after provincial rules came in that governed equal pay for work of equal value, the federal government is about to do the same for organizations that are federally regulated. Like broadcasting. …
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Throwback Thursday – I (Don’t) Remember When
An old friend from the Wingham/CKNX days posted an old photo of me on Facebook last weekend. Usually, I can tell by the hairstyle – or my hair’s lack of style – what year it was. I’m pretty sure this was taken early on in my four-year stint at ‘NX. But I’m not certain. …
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When it Comes to News, You Can’t Win
When our Mayor revealed his affair with his then-Deputy Mayor, we – as a news organization – were called names and overwhelmed with texts and social media postings about how awful we were to report it. Keep in mind that Matt Brown had gone from news organization to news organization on what I now refer to as his “apology tour”, and there were many questions about whether this affair affected city hall business. …
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A Work Buddy I’ve Always Wanted
No, not Ken. Ken’s awesome and a terrific cohost and collaborator. But I’m talking about a woman who works in a completely different division and has made the most incredible offer to me. …
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Did You Adult Today?
Adulting is now a word. And adulting is hard. How does one adult? You did it today. You got up and faced Monday despite not really wanting to. That’s adulting. …
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