To-BLOG-ganing at Christmas

Here I am a few years ago on the set as a mannequin for "Living Nativity" - our church's popular annual gift to the community.

I used to be in radio - but NOT that long ago...

Following up on my previous post, here is the before and after footage of Buffalo's own Patrick Kane leaving a memorable mark in his hometown.

Sabre Claws - We have won 6 straight and go for 7 in a row on Boxing Day versus our best rivals: Ottawa. Santa Claus does not want to miss this one! When we played Ottawa last month for the first time this season, my opening on MSG-TV had a dramatic movie trailer feel.

• My voiceover friends recently collaborated on 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Have a listen here. It all started here. It ended with Kara Edwards' voice and she lists all the wonderful performers here.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I know that is what is in store for me. I feel every Christmas gets better because you have more memories to cherish.

4444 Sure!

My Sabres opener started off like this last night on MSG-TV:
THE SABRES MADE THEIR POINT WEDNESDAY...
SCORING SEVERAL FROM THE POINT...TO NET TWO POINTS IN THE STANDINGS.
NOW...CAN THEY GET TWO IN A ROW?
(For sure! We won Friday night 5-3 against Washington - one of just 4 games on a Friday night).

Tonight will be extra special in Buffalo as homegrown talent Patrick Kane comes to visit with the Chicago Blackhawks. He grew up
about 6 miles from the Sabres' HSBC Arena and is now producing at a point-a-game pace after being selected Number 1 in the NHL draft in June.

Can you say Rookie Of The Year? For sure!

Here is the list of rookie winners over the years. Chicago hasn't had a Rookie Of The Year since goalie Ed Bel4444 in 1990/91. It has been even longer for the Sabres: goalie Tom Barrasso won in '83/84 - a year after Chicago's Steve Larmer and a year before the legendary Mario Lemieux. This week Barrasso was promoted to goalie coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. They lost 4-3 to Calgary last night - their third straight loss...so sorry HurriCANES - NOT:)

Good luck tonight Patrick KANE!

Hey, with Christmas coming don't forget to share a candy cane...

4444ever?

My Sabres opener last night on MSG-TV went like this:
It seems like forever ago...and the Sabres would like to forget it even happened. The Islanders return to Buffalo for the first time since the season opener. (They won that one 6- 4; we won last night 5-3!)

Two recent corporate videos I voiced are here:

• Forever Post & Board - I kick into gear 43 seconds in :)


• Quic-Key Painter family of products

Don't be fooled by the above! I am not a home handyman...

Plenty of great advice for homeowners at this site though: Hometips. Guy Kawasaki's blog had a cool story on the company and their success with Google Adsense. Guy's post ended with these words of advice that can be applied to those of us in voiceover: Do what you love, focus on a niche, find a viable business model, and work for yourself.

Yesterday's post from Guy has a marketing lesson to share as well:

Create something great, sow fields (not window boxes), “let a hundred flowers blossom,” and pray that “regular folks” will spread the word.

4444get about it!

The Sabres lost 4-1 last night to the Ducks and the two guys I slammed in my last blog post were the first (Todd Bertuzzi) and third (Chris Pronger) stars of the game. Ooops...

The first shutout in Sabres history happened on this very date in 1970. Thank you Roger Crozier! It was a 1-0 win against the Minnesota North Stars. One of his partners in the net that year was Dave Dryden. His brother, Ken Dryden, was a future Hall of Fame goalie with the Montreal Canadiens. I have a nephew named Dryden turning three this month. His Dad played a lot of goal "back in the day" so that's how he got his name.

My youngest son is Jordan Michael - and yes, he loves basketball right now. Had a grade seven b-ball practice this morning at 7 am. I'll be on the hardwood in the men's league at 9:15 tonight.

My three stars of the day...ladies first:)

• Liz de Nesnera - sending a lovely Christmas greeting to all her voiceover colleagues. Liz has inspired us all this year!
• Tom Dheere - of Rognog Productions. Founder of the Good Karma Network. He graciously shares marketing tips and links and encourages us with his weekly newsletter, which goes on his blog too. Rognog eggnog? Sounds like a great idea Tom!
• Glen Dufresne - National Sales Coordinator, Shaw Advertising

Un4444gettable!

My Saturday Sabres opener on MSG-TV went like this:
THE SABRES HIT A SPEED BUMP WEDNESDAY NIGHT
AS ST LOUIS HIT A HIGH NOTE IN BUFFALO.
(They won 4-3 getting the winner with 58 seconds left)
WITH NOVEMBER NOW IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR...
BUFFALO LOOKS TO GET BACK ABOVE .500 BEFORE HEADING WEST.
TONIGHT...CAROLINA COMES CALLING.
CANES...SABRES...NEXT IN MSG!

Well, the script to Saturday's game couldn't have gone any better as Buffalo had a gre8888t night winning 8-1! It was a balanced attack (our strength) but it was disappointing to see Ryan Miller lose his shutout with 2 minutes remaining. The Sabres will hopefully conquer California this week. Thursday, they play LA and Saturday they find their way to San Jose. Tomorrow night Ryan faces his brother, Drew Miller, and the Anaheim Ducks. #44 is assistant captain Rob Niedermayer. A former #44 with the Vancouver Canucks is now #4 there: Todd Bertuzzi. Another former #44 on Anaheim is their captain, Chris Pronger. He now wears #25. Hockey fans in my neck of the woods like to boo both Bertuzzi and Pronger for acting like butchers on the ice!

The most famous #4 of all-time in the NHL is defenseman Bobby Orr. The Sabres have a recent addition on the blueline who wears #4 too. Nolan Pratt was the Hartford Whalers 4th pick (115th overall) in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. That same year the Whalers drafted Chris Pronger 2nd overall. The General Manager of Hartford then, Brian Burke, is now his boss again in Anaheim. The #1 overall pick in 1993 was Alexandre Daigle of Ottawa. Anaheim grabbed Paul Kariya 4th overall while Florida got Rob Niedermayer 5th overall. Quebec took current Sabre backup goalie, Jocelyn Thibault, 10th overall while the NY Islanders took Todd Bertuzzi in the first round at #23. Boo!

The Hartford Whalers were known for "going green" before it was environmentally friendly. Check out their uniforms here. Finally, two football teams that are lean, mean green machines this year - and both have quarterbacks wearing #4. The 10-2 Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre and the Grey Cup champions here in Canada: the Saskatchewan Roughriders with MVP Kerry Joseph. He actually played a few games on defense as a safety over 4 years for the Seattle Seahawks between
1998-2001. And yes, he was born on the 4th - in October 1973. I know July 4th would have been so cool but...it does get VERY cool in the winter in Saskatchewan. Here is the current forecast. Boo again...or bbbbbrrrrrr....

November Number$$

I guess you could call me a "numbers man" as my previous three posts all had numbers in their title. November also saw me publish six blog posts - topping the record set just a month earlier in October with five.

But the number I am most excited about is the total income received in November! It is my highest total since going full-time with my voiceover career in January, 2006. I also secured my first agent in November and look forward to what he will "put on my plate."


If you love hockey and numbers like I do, get the book here.

It will be a nice fixture on the coffee table as you can just pick it up and relive some great memories.

As for me, I am going to work now on an e-learning project for one of my great clients on the east coast.

I want to beat November's totals! And I hope YOU do too:)

SABRES: GIMME FIVE!!

Buffalo is on a roll! They won their fifth straight - tonight against Washington, 3-1. Number 55, Jochen Hecht, had 2 goals and an assist. His first goal came at 10:55 in the first period. The Sabres looked sharp in sweeping Montreal Friday and Saturday night. We won at home first, 4-2, then backup goalie Jocelyn Thibault shutout Montreal in his hometown,
3-0. He played for the Habs from 1995 - 1999.

Next up for the Sabres is St. Louis, a team I have supported as a fan over the years. In fact, I wore my Blues jersey proudly over the weekend as they beat Vancouver 3-1. Jochen Hecht actually played for St. Louis between 1998 - 2001. The Blues will be tough; they have won five in a row at home - BUT unfortunately for them they will be playing in Buffalo Wednesday night. There is a number 55 on St. Louis too: Christian Backman. Buffalo fans will remember another blueliner who is there now: Jay McKee. After ten years as a Sabre he signed in St. Louis last year. Until the Canuck game he was a scratch in five straight though.

The National Hockey League was founded on this date in 1917 in Montreal after a series of disputes within the (Canadian) National Hockey Association (NHA), which would see the NHA suspend operations and the new NHL start play. Montreal fans will also remember this date in 1984 when Guy Lafleur retired after 14 years and 518 goals with the Canadiens. Relive the memories with this YouTube footage!

Another classic Habs moment happened on November 26, 1958 when Maurice "Rocket" Richard scored his 600th career goal at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The current roster of Montreal does not have a number 55 - but there is a # 54: Mikhail Grabovski. Like the Sabres' Jochan Hecht, he was born in Germany. Here in Kelowna we cheer local boy Josh Gorges on!

Voice 123 and 23andme

The 16th annual "Living Nativity" is coming to my church December 7-9. This video with my voiceover is "hot off the press" and will be shown during weekend services tomorrow and Sunday.

Voice 123 launched the SmartCast system 4 1/2 months ago and I haven't been too pleased with how it has worked for me. In fact, I made fun of it here. But, SmartCast did land me this TV commercial for a bank in Kansas and I am looking forward to being the voice of a car dealer in Guelph, Ontario after an advertising agency apparently found me through Voice 123 this month.

Kansas is known as the Sunflower State. Now, spitting sunflower seeds is a popular thing when we go to baseball games. The big sunflower seed company out there is called Spitz. My friend, Guy Kawasaki, just wrote about a "spit party" on his blog. It doesn't involve sunflower seeds per se but unlocking the secrets of your own DNA. The company involved is 23andMe. Interesting pictures Guy - but I preferred your hockey references:)

Sweet 16?

The 16th was sweet for the Sabres! A 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens! We play them in a home-and-home series next Friday
and Saturday so hopefully we will "french fry" them again...

"The French Connection" for Buffalo had their jerseys retired together on November 15, 1995. There were no number 16's playing
in the game last night as both have been retired:
Pat LaFontaine for Buffalo early last year and Henri Richard for the Habs in 1975. 16 could be considered bittersweet for Lafontaine as he suffered a career-ending head injury in a game vs. Ottawa on March 16, 1998.

The Vancouver Canucks had an easy 6-2 win last night against Minnesota and their popular #16 had his first goal of the season!
Trevor Linden is in his 16th season with the Canucks (19th overall).

Two not-so-sweet 16's went at it before their game last Saturday.
Here is the footage as we Ralph 'N' Roll WITh the Punches!

Concrete Evidence

As I said yesterday - and Arnold Schwarzenegger first said in 1984's "The Terminator" - "I'll be back." Arnold was a six-time Mr. Olympia. That title currently belongs to
34-year-old Jay Cutler for a second time. That Jay Cutler is not to be confused with the current starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Jay Cutler. You can see him in next week's "Monday Night Football" game as Tennessee visits the Mile High City. Remember, I warned you about the "Colorado Conspiracy." I should also warn you about the duds showing up on "Monday Night Football" lately. This week Seattle beat San Francisco 24-0. First downs favored Seattle 27-6. The Monday before, November 5, saw Baltimore get a measly five first downs in getting pummeled by Pittsburgh 38-7.

Concrete Evidence

Did you know Bronco Jay worked at his dad's Cutler & Son Concrete starting at age six; was pouring concrete by age 10. Meanwhile, Olympia Jay worked at his brothers' Cutler Bros. Concrete starting at age 11. He credits it with developing his physique.

Last week I had the opportunity to be a customer voice in a corporate video for one of the world's largest suppliers of quality cement products. My thanks to Robert Jadah for throwing this "slab of cement" voiceover my way.

On October 4, 2007 in Kelowna, a new, continuous-concrete-pour record took place at the Verve 8 condominium building. It took the entire day for 125 truckloads of concrete to be poured into place to make the 36, 000 square foot suspended slab that acts as the ceiling of an underground parking lot and the foundation of the four-storey 68-unit building.

Finally, let's wrap this up with another sports tie-in featuring Charlie Brown. This article appeared in The Sporting News seven years ago. Paragraph 3 has Lucy's not-so encouraging words of "Throw it in there, Cementhead!" Lucy's philosophy of life is also shared: "If you can't be right, be wrong at the top of your voice!" In closing, I would like to encourage all of my voiceover colleagues by quoting Robert Jadah: "Voice On!"

Feather In My Cap

Just like two posts back, I will start this blog with a little movie talk. "Ocean's Thirteen" is out on DVD today - the 13th. Like "Ocean's Eleven" and "Ocean's Twelve", the three amigos of Brad Pitt (pictured in my previous blog post), George Clooney and Matt Damon return and team up with an enemy. "Shrek the Third" is not the enemy but the King - and that one is out on DVD today as well.

I don't know if I could be a King...crowns are uncomfortable and I prefer wearing sports caps.


My son Justin snapped this one of me yesterday at one of his favorite stores: West 49. Here is the link for the New Era Cap TV commercial I voiced. It also starts off my updated Commercial Demo reel, which also includes a commercial I did with the Governor of Missouri...Bring on Schwarzenegger in California next!
We could talk about movies as well... "I'll be back" tomorrow...

CBS and seeing BS!

From movie talk last time to TV talk this time. CBS had a couple of great programs boost its ratings today:

• the battle of undefeated NFL teams saw New England come back to beat Indianapolis


• the launch of season 12 of "The Amazing Race"

Were you as surprised as me seeing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as contestants on "The Amazing Race?" Don't be fooled by their contestant "names" of Rachel and TK:) We all know Rachel was Brad's ex-wife's character's name on "Friends." The Hollywood makeup can only hide so much here!

Seeing BS is just short for seeing Buffalo Sabres.

Here are 3 recent Sabres openings on MSG-TV featuring yours truly:

October 24 - Seeing red against the Carolina Hurricanes

October 26 - A TEST against Florida

October 27 - Tampa Bay Lightning strike

RED my mind?

"Spider-Man 3" is out on DVD today. He is a lot more athletic than Santa Claus going down a chimney!

How about those Boston Red Sox sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the World Series? Three years ago they swept the Redbirds of St. Louis as well. World Series History is here. One of the classics was 1975 when the Red Sox beat out Pete Rose and the Reds 4 games to 3.

There is nothing better for Red Sox fans than to see the Yankees in a bit of disarray. Manager Joe Torre was not wanted back and now A-Rod (how about A-Red?) will be going green$$ elsewhere. Red Sox Nation can smell blood! "The Hunt for Red October" sequel is officially underway!!

Colorado Conspiracy?

Just two NHL games today: Vancouver beat Columbus 4-1 and Minnesota edged Colorado 3-2. I am glad Columbus lost to my second favorite NHL team because my favorite team, the Buffalo Sabres, were shutout by Columbus on Friday 3-0.

My prediction of Buffalo beating Montreal yesterday 3-1 was way off! Montreal won 4-2. I was reminded of that fact after the game when my voiceover friend, Robert Jadah, emailed me with the headline:
The Habs and the Hab-Nots.



The link for this blog is: http://www.habsinsideout.com

Robert's favorite sport is baseball and tonight Colorado finally got an opponent for the World Series. Boston clobbered Cleveland tonight

11-2 and will host game one at Fenway Park Wednesday. The Red Sox won the last three games by a combined total of 30-5 against the Indians but Colorado is even hotter (unless you are talking about the weather) - winning 21 of their last 22 games.

The Sunday night NFL game saw Colorado conquer Pennsylvania as Denver got by Pittsburgh 31-28 on a last second 49-yard field goal by Jason Elam. The coach of the Broncos is Mike Shanahan while Mike Tomlin is the Steelers' coach. There seems to be a lot of coaches named Mike in the NFL: Others include Holmgren in Seattle, Nolan in San Francisco and McCarthy in Green Bay.

3 strikes and you're out - of town!

Buffalo lost tonight to Columbus 3-0. We have now won 3 and lost 3 games this year. The opening to last Saturday's game against Washington is featured above with 3 Sabres making cameos: Ryan Miller, Tim Connolly and Brian Campbell. Tim was plugged in my last blog entry as one of the good guys sporting number 19. I also mentioned Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman and you can see both of them scoring their 500th career goals by clicking on the video links at this page.

It was 50 years ago today that Maurice "The Rocket" Richard became the first NHL'er to score 500 career goals. He did it on home ice for the Montreal Canadiens against the Chicago Black Hawks. Final score for the Habs then: 3-1. Tomorrow night the Sabres roll into Montreal and for old time's sake I will predict a 3-1 final - for Buffalo. Here is the MSG-TV opener I am about to record:
AFTER A FEROCIOUS DISPLAY OF OFFENSE FOR THE MAJORITY OF THEIR HOMESTAND...
THE SABRES LEAVE HOME ICE LIKE A LAMB....SILENCED BY COLUMBUS.

AND NOW...THE START OF AN EXTENDED ROAD TRIP.
FIRST STOP...QUEBEC.
THE START OF THE SEASON SERIES WITH THE CANADIENS IS NEXT...ON MSG!

Merci et Bonsoir...

Lucky Number 19!

My niece in Prince George, Nicole Johnson, turned 19 yesterday. Way to go Nic! On Wednesday my Dad turned 80. The birthday lunch featured the best chinese food I have ever had! Just don't try to get me using chopsticks:)

Here are some great players who wear number 19 and make their living with hockey sticks:
Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks. Number two in league scoring last season behind Sydney Crosby - and the number two overall pick by me in this year's annual London Drugs hockey pool, right after Sid the Kid. Joe plays his old team, the Boston Bruins, tonight.

Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche. Number seven in the scoring race last season with an even 100. 1, 591 career points and counting entering action tonight.

Markus Naslund of the Vancouver Canucks. His best days are behind him but the Captain scored last night as the Canucks crushed Edmonton 5-2.

Tim Connolly of the Buffalo Sabres. Three points and first star in his last game. Sabres shut out Atlanta 6-0 two days ago.

One of the most famous number 19's is the retired Steve Yzerman. This is a tribute site for him. This link also shares some other famous 19's from the sports world.

With all this talk about 19's, I will have to blog again on Friday the 19th.
Aren't you glad yesterday was not a Friday the 13th? But for me, 13 and 14
are my lucky numbers.

Ho Ho Ho!!

HOme sweet HOme for the HOlidays! And I'm not talking about Santa...it is the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada. South of the border it is Columbus Day on Monday. Americans might not have a Columbus Day if Christopher Columbus had not been born in Italy. Out of pride for their native son, the Italian population of New York City organized the first celebration of the discovery of America on October 12, 1866. In 1905, Colorado became the first state to observe a Columbus Day. Over the next few decades other states followed. In 1937, then- President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as Columbus Day. Since 1971, it has been celebrated on the second Monday in October.

HOme sweet HOme for the Colorado Rockies. Thanks to HOme runs in each of the first two games against Philadelphia by possible season MVP Matt HOlliday and a super pitching performance by Canadian Jeff Francis in game one, the Rockies can roll into round two of the baseball playoffs with a win tomorrow at HOme against Ryan HOward (105 HOme runs the last 2 seasons!) and the Phillies.

HOckey sweet HOckey returns to Buffalo tonight! The new HDef video screens are in place at HSBC Arena as the New York Islanders pay a visit tonight. I will post my opening on MSG-TV soon I hope. Last Saturday I had the privilege of being the PA announcer for one of the area's junior hockey teams, the Westside Warriors. What a finish to the game against Powell River with the winning goal scored by Westside with just 5 seconds left! One of their radio announcers, Brett Mix, is a big Buffalo Sabres fan.
Have a great season boys!

HOops sweet HOops! My basketball league resumed last night.
Great exercise! Even better than the competitive tennis league I am a part of. HOpe YOU have a great season - whichever one life is throwing your way right now:) Keep your chin up!

Greg is THE Man!

As I mark my 1-year blogiversary I notice I have never blogged on a Saturday before. There must be something to the saying "Lazy Saturday."

My very first blog post mentioned one of my on hold employers: Greg Krantz. I've been very pleased with the volume of work Greg has thrown my way lately so I took the time this week to update my on hold messaging demo. It shows more of the conversational style that is important in this area.

I also put the pieces in place for an animation and character voices demo. That is an area that Greg Littlefield does a good job in. In fact, he was a Finalist in The Simpsons Sound Alike Contest through Voices.com. Greg started his blogging adventure this month and like me he will give you a mix of voiceover, sports and music. EARLY this morning, Gregg Zaun of the Toronto Blue Jays helped out Greg and his team, the Boston Red Sox, by homering in the 14th inning against the New York Yankees. 5-4 final for Canada's team! But this afternoon Toronto lost to the Yanks 12-11 in 10 innings. Gregg Zaun nailed one in the 10th inning but unfortunately it was foul! With a week left in the baseball season, the Red Sox are 2 1/2 games up on the Yankees for first place. Both will make the playoffs.

Hockey IS Canada's sport. Televised tonight was a Vancouver Canucks exhibition game against the San Jose Sharks. Vancouver lost 3-1. And I'm sorry for Greg Littlefield as his Boston Bruins lost by a 4-3 final to Toronto Maple Leafs. Again, only pre-season. The best junior hockey league around is the Western Hockey League. It has returned to Edmonton for the '07/08 season - the WHL's 42nd season...Littlefield and I are in our
43rd seasons:)
Edmonton beat the Kootenay Ice 4-3 on September 20 as the regular season was launched. Here is the movie trailer opening I did for the TV broadcast. This is my favorite WHL team.

I am really looking forward to doing the Buffalo Sabres' openings on
MSG-TV again this season. The first real games take place October 5th and 6th against the New York Islanders.

Duet with Dylan?

Deirdre from the voiceover bulletin board put up a cool link this afternoon to a site that allows you to send a message with Bob Dylan - sort of. So I got into the hockey mood here. I don't think Bob would mind as he was actually born in Minnesota, a state that is well known for it's support of high school, college and NHL hockey.

$$$Penguin Power + Horsepower

It has been a long time since I blogged. A couple of long projects have kept me busy lately. I recorded 15 stories totalling about 180 minutes for ProWEBRadio.com - including a 39-minute story on 2007 Senior Market Advisor of The Year: Craig Randall. I also did my first project for
a company that creates e-Learning programs for the financial services industry. I created over 110 audio files and the final length of my tutorial timed out at about 45-minutes. Both of my invoices ended up going to Pennsylvania. That's a long way from here - but not by email:)

Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh Penguins figure to be one of the NHL's best hockey teams in 2007/08. They will be playing outdoors in Buffalo on New Year's Day.

Club Penguin is one of the most popular kids' websites around. Their offices are here in Kelowna, BC and just over a month ago, the Walt Disney Company made the founders of Club Penguin multi-millionaires! INCREDIBLE! Many of my earliest corporate videos were done a long time ago with Dave Krysko of Club Penguin and his company New Horizon Productions. We used to record out of his home and he also had office space at one time with a local dentist.

This morning I did a couple of lines for an animated horse named Reason for a company in Ireland, who's client is in the US. The project is aimed at 6th grade students with learning difficulties to help them understand mathematical concepts in a fun environment. Lesson One today and four more to follow. It seems a long time ago that I was first approached about this project: July 18 - the last time I blogged here. But I will be back sooner this time as my 1-year blogiversary takes place September 22. You are all invited!

Bob Souer had his second blogiversary this past May. He will be spending a long, long time in the studio on a project he talks about here. I look forward to reading about your progress Bob!

Rock 'n' Roll Celebrity sighting!

Last time out I mentioned my daughter, Ashley (below, top right), was in Reno for a huge volleyball tournament. One of those days, Coach Leslie spotted Gene Simmons at the volleyball festival. She had a keen eye because he wasn't wearing sunglasses or the extreme makeup associated with his famous group, KISS. Gene was there supporting his daughter, Sophie, an avid volleyball player. OUR girls got Gene's attention BUT he wasn't interested in posing for a photo - until they yelled out they were from Canada! Well, that sealed the deal as Gene's life partner of close to 25 years, Shannon Tweed, was born in Canada.
The volleyball angle was even featured on this week's episode of the popular reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels:
Gene is hurt to learn that Sophie never informed him of a Father/Daughter Volleyball game, not realizing that she just didn't want to bother him and his busy schedule.

Gene Simmons was born in Haifa, Israel (last week I completed the English version voiceover for the AWACS 2.0 system for this Israeli Production company) in 1949 and is the only child of his mother, a German Nazi Concentration Camp survivor. He is a shrewd businessman. KISS continues to be the juggernaut of licensing/merchandising, with over 2,500 licenses. Unfortunately, much of that involves behavior that is:

rude, crude, lewd and screwed

Sorry Mr. Simmons. I cannot allow you to spend any more time with my daughter!

FREEdom!

Happy July 4th!

On this date in 1776, the USA claimed its independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream.

My 16-year-old daughter, Ashley, flew into Reno last Saturday morning with her volleyball team to begin a week-long adventure across the border that will leave her with memories for a lifetime. You can view many photos here.

July 1st is Canada Day
It used to be known as Dominion Day, the First of July, Confederation Day and July the First. Canada wasn't born on July 1st, but the holiday celebrates the events that took place on this day. On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act created the Canadian federal government. This Act stated that Canada would become an independent dominion (territory) of England, which is why Canada Day was originally called Dominion Day until 1982.

July 1st FREE Agent FREnzy in the NHL

• The Sabres lose Daniel Briere (r) to the Philadelphia Flyers. Briere signed an eight-year deal with the Flyers worth $52 million dollars. That is a serious talent fee!
  
• The Sabres lose Chris Drury (l) to the New York Rangers. Sabres management stated that they were willing to match any offer to Drury, but were not given the opportunity. "Drury the DOOFUS" takes the DOLLARS totaling $35.25 million over 5 years.

On July 3rd, Dainius Zubrus got rich with a six year, $20.4-million contract in New Jersey. He only played 19 games with Buffalo last year after coming over from Washington.

The Sabres WILL survive! Keep the faith!

We've got some good guys steering the ship!======================================================

By the way, here is what Briere, Drury and Zubrus will look like after their new contracts finish:

Ought to Whine about Ottawa?

The answer is NO. They beat us fair and square in five games winning the series on our hectic moving day of May 19. Four games in the series were decided by a single goal.

But Ottawa could not handle the Anaheim Ducks in the Stanley Cup Final, falling in five. Things wrapped up two nights ago and Anaheim has some Buffalo tie-ins worth mentioning:

• Todd Marchant was born in Buffalo and got to hoist the Cup for the first time at age 33.
• Brad May was a 7-year Sabre and got to lift the Cup for the first time at age 35.
• Andrew Miller, brother of Sabres' super goalie Ryan, gets his name on Lord Stanley's hardware because he played two games in the finals. The 23-year-old was at Michigan State for the entirety of the regular season. Talk about being in the right place at the right time:)

I feel I have aged a lot in the last 3 weeks:) We moved after 15 years to a
more teenager-friendly home in Kelowna. There were problems with the movers and they did not get paid for almost two weeks. There are also contract items that were not looked after by the previous homeowner and I had to meet with our real estate agent and her boss two days ago to see how to resolve the issue.

How Old Do You Think I Am? Visit The Age Project and do a guess. I found this fun site tonight thanks to my friend, Dave Carrol. Be nice in your guess...I like to think I am aging well like a fine wine...now that sounds like a fine whine!

Ought to Win versus Ottawa!

We are coming up to game time in Buffalo as the Sabres are in the semifinals against Ottawa.
I am predicting it will take 6 games to move onto the finals and I
posted this at Peter's blog in Buffalo.

Have you seen and heard the Sabres' theme song for the playoff run?
Feature producer Matt Gould spent a couple weeks putting that together. Well worth the wait:)

15 years ago a Vancouver band named 54•40 put out a great album named "Dear Dear" and it included a catchy song named "Nice To Luv You." The chorus goes like this:
Nice to luv you baby
With all my heart and soul
Nice to luv you baby
No matter where I go

I would like to see them remix it for Sabre fans:
Nice to luv you SABRES
With all my heart and soul
Nice to luv you SABRES
No matter where I go

I am going to drop 54•40 an email about this. They are big hockey fans and are taking part in the Memorial Cup Celebrations in Vancouver May 18. That is where the top 4 teams in Canadian Junior hockey battle it out for number one!

“Go to” guys! No eGos here

Here are some clutch “Go To” guys I’d want on my Team:

Roberto LuonGo: He ain't NO GOat! He's great and the only reason the Vancouver Canucks survived the NHL playoffs until last night. Thanks for coming to Buffalo in January. Click here to see my MSG-TV intro for that game. Go golfing now Mr. LuonGo!

Travis Moen: Got an assist on the first goal last night against Vancouver and scored the overtime winner in the game before that! Played junior hockey here in Kelowna. How could ChicaGo let this guy get away to the Ducks?

Bob Souer: The best voiceover blog around celebrated it's two-year blogiversary this week. You can see some of the many folks like myself who thanked Bob on this special occasion.

Ross Huguet – GO 2 Productions is the result of a merger between
One Stop Voice Shop and Gener8 Creations. I worked with Ross in radio
and he and his right-hand man, Jim Ptycia, helped me get off on the right foot a couple of years ago when I ventured into voiceover. Online video is in the mainstream now so best of luck to Go 2 Productions as they help all kinds of companies with their branding.

“May Day! May Day!”...Moving day

Welcome to May!

Rick Jeanneret's famous “May Day! May Day!” call from 1993 can be listened to here.

It's actually my fault the Sabres lost Sunday in double overtime:)
I was emceeing the local kickoff to the minor baseball league season in town and did not have a chance to watch one second of the game. Sabres still lead the Rangers 2 games to 1 with Game 4 tonight in the Big Apple. I will be glued to the tube...

The first pitch was thrown out by Brent Gilchrist, who had a long NHL career and won the Cup with Detroit in '98. The current coach in Detroit, Mike Babcock, played junior hockey in Kelowna just like Brent. The Red Wings are the #1 seed in the West but currently trail San Jose 2 games to 1. One of the coaches for a young baseball team I introduced was another former NHL'er, Dixon Ward, who had his best years in Buffalo.

Our family has enjoyed 15 great years in our current home but last month we sold it and found a new one that has a better set up for my home studio. Other positives include the kids' rooms all being downstairs, a more central location, Grandma close by and we are not too far from my brother-in-law Darren and his family. Darren is turning 40 in a few days. Happy Birthday Darren!
You'll be pleased to know I'm renewing my Sports Illustrated subscription and you can borrow them any time...

Playoff Predictions...take a shot!

My voiceover friend in Buffalo, Peter O'Connell, has picked the Sabres to move on to the Final Four. I am hoping for the same results and Peter and I have said the New York Rangers will not survive past six games. You can see our bold predictions here along with Peter's story about "political interference."

Have some fun and let me know how you think the playoff road will turn out...
by the way, if the Sabres fall short, it's all Peter's fault...
Spoken like a true politician, eh?

Hockey ain't hokey!

Howdy partner!

Round 2 of the NHL playoffs starts Wednesday night as the Buffalo Sabres host the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks visit Anaheim. The Sabres got by the Islanders in round one 4 games to 1 and the Canucks survived a seven game series versus Dallas with a 4-1 win Monday night. Dallas' only goal came from Joel Lundqvist - brother of the Rangers' great goalie, Henrik Lundqvist.

Country music is popular in Dallas, Nashville and Calgary. But the pro hockey teams in those cities all got eliminated in the first round. Ouch!

The basketball team in Dallas - the Mavericks - were the top ranked NBA team this year with 67 wins, 6 more than the Phoenix Suns and former Dallas star, Steve Nash. Stevie "Wonder" and the Suns currently lead Kobe and the LA Lakers 2-0 in their opening round series while Dallas needs to bounce back against Golden State Wednesday to even their series at one apiece.

Can you believe the Dallas Mavericks Ownership Group landed its 767 luxury jet at the airport here in Kelowna last Tuesday for a major overhaul?

Here you can see the overhaul the basketball logo took after 20 years in 2001:

"Wheel Of Fortune"

The Sabres clinched the 2007 Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the league with their 2-0 shutout victory over the Washington Capitals two days ago. The Presidents' Trophy guarantees the Sabres home-ice advantage throughout the entirety of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That is good fortune I hope:)

The Buffalo jumble of letters offers some unique words, like FLUB, which I hope is not going to happen against their first round opponent, the New York Islanders. I am hoping those guys will play more like Gilligan's Islanders...FLOB is British slang for spitting, FLAB is not FAB if you are dieting...LOAF means to loiter or lounge around in an idle way. Our cat (camouflaged on the bed covers) is a perfect illustration of that, wouldn't you agree?

If we get another cat, I would want to call her Sabre Cat. But the one we have is named Bunzo. She makes us LAFF a lot...

Congrats to my sister-in-law, Sandra, and hubby Lewis Johnson. They recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. This Easter weekend they got a new car: a Toyota FJ Cruiser.

By the way, I am now listed at: CarDealerSpots.com. Last month I finished second in the running to become the branding voice of this trucking firm in Texas.

You can't win 'em all but it is fun to be in the game...I think I'll start my own car company: HASSER

Happy Birthday Son!

Our youngest, Jordan, turned 12 yesterday! We'll start preparing for the teen years now:)
13...along with 14, those are my 2 favorite numbers. Jordan's 13-year-old brother, Justin, was born on a 13 - in June. Darlene and I were married on August 13th.

I was born on March 14 and I appreciate the well wishes from my voiceover colleagues two weeks ago. Stephanie of Voices.com, Bob Souer and Liz de Nesnera are all having a great time at a voiceover conference in Las Vegas right now. To quote Liz: "This has truly been a life & career altering experience for me. Yeah, I know, sounds a bit dramatic, but you know sometimes you participate in something that you just KNOW is going to have a lasting effect on you...THIS is one of those times for me." Read more of Liz's comments here.

Happy birthday today to Nathan Paetsch of the Buffalo Sabres! He is 24 today and has 24 points in 60 games played this year. His best birthday present will have to wait for a while: the Stanley Cup! Just 6 games left in the regular season and then the NHL playoffs begin. GO Sabres! Go ALL the way! Just over an hour until game time versus the New York Islanders and here is how my opening (thanks to the pen of Matt Gould) on MSG-TV reads for tonight:
The end of the season is just over a week away...
But playoff excitement is already here to stay!
Wednesday was a major leap towards top spot in the East for Buffalo....
And tonight...the Sabres could be there for good!
The Islanders limp to town grasping for rare playoff air...
But are without their guy in goal.
The Island visits Western New York...NEXT on MSG!

TV interview

Well, it is time to take "our" blogging relationship to the next level. The last 2 blog entries have featured photos of yours truly BUT now you can see and hear me in this TV interview aired locally on Shaw Cable 11 and the show "Okanagan Today." It was produced by Tim Morton - a true Sabres fan...he has a tattoo to prove it:) My thanks also go out to the producer of "On The Adventure Trail", Kelly Veltri, who's technical expertise compressed this footage for the worldwide web. Kelly is a longtime Pittsburgh Penguins fan and they could be battling Buffalo for the title of best team in the Eastern conference. Beginning play tonight, Buffalo is on top while Pittsburgh is in fifth. Kudos of course to Feature Producer Matt Gould of the Sabres for writing those excellent opening scripts and mixing the video footage and graphics for MSG-TV.
I mailed Matt a CD with the interview but I'll email him the YouTube link tomorrow morning when I email him the mp3 voice file opening for the Saturday night game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Business associates I communicated with today on other projects got the YouTube link already. They include Edmonton's Chris Wait (a BIG Chicago Blackhawks fan), Chicago's Darren Callahan and Texas' Jason Gutierrez. As I leave you, it's 2-0 Buffalo against Montreal seven minutes in, 2-2 Pittsburgh and Carolina and Chicago losing 2-0 after one period to Detroit...some things NEVER change Chris!

Me and the Amazing Musicians!

In stores today is "Barenaked Ladies Are Men." They did a great show here in Kelowna, BC last night and I got free tickets thanks to Tour Manager extraordinary, Fin.

"Barenaked Ladies Are Me" was their last album in September '06. "Maybe You Should Drive" came out in 1994 and that's when the photo above (me in the middle) was taken on the tour bus.

ME-smerizing M-EN-tertainers! is what I said in an email moments ago to Fin. If you are fortunate enough to see them on tour in the next little while, you'll understand why M-E is played up in my review.

Barenaked Ladies and I (Me) worked for the same record company (Warner Music Canada). I was there for five years (1991-1996) and I always enjoyed my time with the group at concerts and setting up promotions like in-store autograph sessions. I had a chance to catch up with drummer Tyler Stewart in the afternoon yesterday and even gave him a copy of the TV interview I did 2 weeks ago on Shaw-TV with all that Buffalo Sabres footage. Tyler is a big sports fan like yours truly and is a regular guest on this sports show in Toronto.

Thumbs Up!

Congratulations to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts for winning Sunday's Super Bowl against Chicago 29-17! His thumb was just fine after getting banged up late in the AFC Championship game against New England, which they won 38-34.

Next to Peyton is ME and both of my thumbs in the Gary Nylander photo that accompanied this November 19, 2006 newspaper article on yours truly.

Brewin' up a storm!

Daniel Briere just had his second ever career hat trick as the Sabres stopped the Boston Bruins cold in their tracks 7-1! The opening on
MSG-TV had me read:
Two straight third period letdowns...
A losing record for the month of January...
It’s been a rough stretch...that has Lindy looking for answers.

Tonight...
Buffalo gets a top blue-liner back...
While another will get a few looks up front.

The Sabres try to snap a slump..
Part one of two against Boston....NEXT on MSG!!!

When I sent my voice file back to Feature Producer/Writer Matt Gould I included this note:
Hi Matt,
Enjoyed your footage from the All-Star game!
Hope Briere leads like an All-Star tonight…maybe Miller needs a haircut:)

Well, Ryan Miller had the night off in net...don't know if he got a haircut during the game or not..
Daniel Briere's first career hat trick was only last month (December 5) in Tampa Bay. He was the MVP last week at the All-Star game in Dallas and you can see Matt's footage and hear his narration when you go to Multimedia at http://www.sabres.com. You become an Insider simply by registering your email address.

Last week I was interviewed for a TV show called "Okanagan Today" with Shaw TV host Tim Morton. The 3:40 second segment began running last Thursday night after 6 PM in a rotation right through the weekend. It was only on January 12 that I received a copy of my MSG-TV openings through 2006 from Matt in the mail. Like Matt, Tim did an excellent job of editing game footage and great graphics with a story on me and our favorite hockey team of all-time:
the Buffalo Sabres!
I will try to get a link up shortly to the story so the Sabres become your favorite team too .

Super Bowl!

You are thinking football after seeing my headline, right? Yesterday the 2 finalists were determined: Indy and Windy. Will be a great game in 2 Sundays!

It was VERY windy at our place December 13. Can you believe the skylight was ripped off our roof after a powerful wind gust? The restoration crew will finally be here tomorrow morning to replace it. Last Thursday and Friday were out because it was snowing too much. A lovely green room, isn't it?

LOOK UP! WAY UP! THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

"Ralph On The Roof" will not be happening anymore:) I've climbed out my bathroom window about four times to clear snow off our green tarp and reposition bricks to keep the tarp in place.

Saturday I had a super bowl when I rolled a 292 5-pin bowling - including 5 straight strikes! Beat my 13-year old by only 5 in the first game of the day before gettin' on a roll in the second game. We'll be going at it again next weekend and hopefully include some other family members.

Soup in the slow cooker is pretty awesome too so that equalled another
super bowl for dinner yesterday. Thanks dear!