Grantis...

Y'all!  So I mentioned Dalos in yesterdays entry, so I thought it only fitting that todays be on Grant - my other favourite brother.


But first things first... Let me introduce you to my spunky brothers... This is me, on my wedding day (I know what you're thinking.... get yourself a bra girlfriend!)  Dale is the one in the blue shirt and Grant is in the vest.  We make a good looking sibling group, eh? 

Grant isn't much younger than I.  There is one point each year, for about 3 months, where we are only 1 year apart.  In terms of personality, we are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  He is quiet, shy and reserved... I, on the other hand, am definitely not.  When we do get together, we always have a great time and some good laughs (so we do share the same sense of humour - I think it must be 'bred' into us).

As a youngster, I was always super jealous of young Grant.  You see, my little bro (actually both of them) was born with a 'gift'.  Well, having said that, I'm not so sure he was born with it...  Grant was relatively accident prone as a kid.  At kindy, he was whacked over the head by another kid with a shovel.  He didn't even realise he was hurt... just waltzed in, with blood pissing down his face, and said to the rather shocked and distressed teacher 'There's a fly on my head that won't leave me alone'.  A trip to the Doc and some xrays later, Grant's head was stitched up good as new.  And we had a permanent reminder - an Xray of Grant's skull with him noticeably grinning from ear to ear!  Then, there was his first day of school.  He was pushed over in the tan bark and a nice big was lodged into his knee... Off to hospital he went again!  

The last 'accident' was the one that proved quite worthwhile.  Grant was playing in a mates backyard on the monkey bars.  He fell, broke his right arm (he was right handed at this time)... Then a couple of week later, bang, there goes the left one.  As luck would have it, his left healed first and he became left handed.  This... is when the serious talent started to appear.

Grant is an artist... no doubt about it!  As a kid he'd do these rad cartoon character of his favourite Richmond players... the old 80s style with the super big head and little body.  He was amazing... you'd not believe he was under 10 when doing this stuff - I'll try to find some examples next time I'm in Melbourne. 

So... Here are some examples of his recent work.. I'm sure you'll agree, the Grantis is one talented little freak!

What can I say... I'm just one member of a truly remarkable and talented family!  Go bro's!

Takin' it eeee-asy

Today I'm having a 'take it easy' day... It's not too often I have one of these as it's not too often I get sick these days. I attribute it to partly being because I'm self employed and don't have a lot of contact with people and air conditioning, not to mention the stress of working for some bastard who doesn't give a shit about you. But also to the fact that I'm pretty fit. Since I've been exercising very regularly I don't pick up things as easily. I hate being sick, almost as much as I hate racism.
Being that I make my living from using my voice, a cold or anything that affects the sound of my voice, is devastating! Often my work is ongoing, so I need to be able to pick up where I left off. Or the client might want to change a paragraph in one of the segments, so I need to be able to match that sound perfectly - or at least match it so that it doesn't sound at all out of place. When you have a snotty nose or a sore throat that is almost impossible to do!
I have a series of 'treatments' I use to ward off the nasty lurgee's that surround me!
One: at the very first sign - a tickle in the throat, a blocked ear or a few sneezes that don't bear the hallmarks of hayfever - I buckle down, start taking some serious vitamins and drink shitloads of water. I also go for a work out and eat lots of vegies and fruit.
Two: if this feels as though it's developing I start drinking the concoction - an infuser tea pot, a chopped up chilli, a smashed clove of garlic, a peeled stick of ginger, the juice of a lemon and some honey (cause without it, this would taste shitter than it already does). I also start on anything the health shop recommends - echinacea and crap like that.
Three: If all else fails, I start taking Cold & Flu tablets and whatever lozenges I can get my hands on... plus I rest and rest.
Usually, if I follow these steps I can either avoid a cold or fluey type thing... or at the very least it comes and goes within a couple of days and I remain relatively unscathed. Right now, I'm in the last phase.
Over the last couple of weekends we've had visitors with kids. I've loved having them around for the most part. Only problem is... when there are kids around I don't get enough sleep - mainly cause I've been drinking heavily during the arvo/nights and the little ones are up at the crack of the sparrows arse generally making a shitload of noise!
Note to self: next time hide the Hungry Hippos game and enforce a no shoes inside on floorboards policy. This problem is so obviously not caused by my drinking!
Fingers crossed this one passes quickly and I'm back into the swing of things tomorrow. But if no, I guess it gives me an excuse not to do any housework and read a good book in bed!

Bob Blog III

Blogging, eh? What a novel idea! Figured I type enough crap on facebook, what the heck, start a blog! I can tell you now... this will not be an exciting or thrilling read but you might get a laugh or two at my expense every now and then.

Where to start??? How about right now! I've come downstairs and outside to my office to do some 'work' and right at this second I'm procrastinating a little, waiting for a couple more scripts to come through before I jump in the booth.

I guess this presents the question - what is it I do?

Well, I'm a voice over artist.

What the fuck is that? - I hear you ask.

In a nutshell (help I'm in a nutshell) scripts are emailed to me and I jump in a sound proof booth with a lovely Rode microphone that's hooked up to my computer and I read and record the scripts, edit them and then, through the wonders of the internet, I send them back to whoever needs the recordings.

What kind of a job is that?

A fucking great one! The best in fact! The kind of job that I absolutely love doing! Most people know that I'm quite an accomplished talker! Practice makes perfect... and hell, I've had a lot of practice (mostly to the annoyance of those around me - especially after the first couple of beers). There a certain element of creativity to it and it's very flexible! Means I can head down to the gym to work off my spare tyres and chins at least once a day... I can also take a drive up to Coffs and do a spot of shopping whenever I want. If I've got mates staying with me, I can work my work around whatever is we are doing - beach, lunch whatever! Awesome!

Having said that... It's also a job that requires determination, persistence and dedication. You have to grow a tough skin and keep knock, knock, knocking on doors until they open. Luckily, I love a challenge... plus my Dad is a workaholic so I was passed on some of the necessary skills through the gene pool.

How did you get into that?

Well... It all started with a job in radio. But that will have to wait for a future blog as it was one of the best and worst times of my life!