Football and the "Lost" conspiracy?

Football is a rough sport. There are a lot of head injuries.

I had a headphone injury this week in the studio but got them taped up for more action - which includes my third season for the Buffalo Bills starting next week.

I am predicting that 40-year-old Brett Favre will see his ironman streak end this season with the Minnesota Vikings. He has started 253 consecutive games at the quarterback position (275 including playoffs). Got that info off the Official Brett Favre website but notice his last two seasons with Minnesota and the New York Jets aren't included on his bio page. It would have been nice too if Brett mentioned he shared the same birthday (October 10) as my dad...

My wife had her birthday this past Tuesday - the same day "Lost: The Complete Collection" and "Lost: The Complete Sixth and Final Season" were released. Darlene stuck with me through the first two seasons before abandoning ship. My daughter stayed for one more. There is a 12-minute epilogue on both DVDs featuring Hurley called "The New Man in Charge." He would have been a great football offensive lineman!
Meanwhile, Weezer named its 8th album after the one and only Hurley.

"Lost" cast members who have done football movies include:

• Matthew Fox in "We Are Marshall" (2006)
• Terry O'Quinn in "Hometown Legend" (2002) 

Both are on this extensive alphabetical list:
Best Football Movies of All Time – Gridiron Action.
I hope I am not the only one who remembers Disney's "Gus" from 1976...

The CATS are in charge!

My voiceover friend, Liz de Nesnera, has a feline who feeds on...

My niece, Jessica, is visiting from Prince George. She came with Russell. He is not a cat. But this is Russell's motorcyle with Little Miss Vis in charge.

This is Ms. Stache with my friend from Edmonton, Michael Kryton.

Michael and I worked on a lot of Harley Davidson motorcyle ads in the past. He wrote them and I voiced them. The ad below may have brought tears to some people's eyes... 

Michael is the author of "The Father's Guide To Surviving With Kids", the third book in the national best selling The Bachelor's Guide series. He is currently writing a new book called "A Brilliant Idea Every 60 Seconds." Michael is now looking for quotable statements from writers and artists, maybe even someone like you? The question: how do you come up with or find creative ideas? If you want to know more about the book, please visit Michael's website. You can email him at michaelkryton@shaw.ca or find him on Twitter @Michaelkryton

No, I am not on Twitter yet. Once my cat, Bunzo, is on there, I will consider it:)

The Chiefs are in charge!

The Rogers Cup tennis tournament is taking place in Montreal right now and many of these ladies' names would be a bit of a challenge to pronounce. Just today, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska:)

I am not doing hockey voiceovers this season for the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) in Russia BUT the KIJHL's Kelowna Chiefs.

Hear my heart and voice get excited about the upcoming season here!

The first home game is on September 17 and I am looking forward to handling the public address duties for the Chiefs.

Lights! Camera! Action!...SOON...

The Spokane Chiefs will be hosting the Western Hockey League's first outdoor Hockey Classic on Saturday, January 15th, 2011 at Avista Stadium against the Kootenay Ice. Five weeks after that, the Calgary Hitmen will host the Regina Pats on February 21st at McMahon Stadium.
A day earlier, the big boys (Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens) will take part in the 2011 Heritage Classic. It will be playoff time then for the Kelowna Chiefs - or maybe there is a hockey road trip in my future?

A catch-22 situation on Friday the 13th!

The situation I am talking about is my wedding anniversary! 22 years ago today, Darlene Joan Bennett became DJ Hass. Actually, I was the radio DJ (I never liked that term) for many years - "retiring" more or less in 1991. As my profile info says on Facebook, I am BLESSED to have a marriage that has thrived (wife's word) for 22 years and father to three AMAZING teenagers!

Darlene is my soulmate and best friend! She is also a great mom and kindhearted support care worker. Darlene has been a big supporter and booster of my voiceover career the last five years.

We would both like to thank Herb Merriweather and his character friends for this unforgettable anniversary greeting.

A voiceover friend who will be celebrating his anniversary in two days is Shawn Maroney. His Facebook profile info says: I am a character with many voices, and a recording studio. Most importantly...I have a wife that understands...all of my voices. Shawn is the main organizer of a voice acting event in Toronto next month.

Voices of Vision takes place September 23-25, 2010 and includes:

• 
  
  Keynote speaker Pat Fraley
• 
  
  “Creating Kick Ass Characters” with MJ Lallo
• 
  
  “Thinking Outside The Box” workshop with Deb Munro

‎13-year-old girl dominates on baseball diamond!

Wow! Chelsea Baker will be the youngest baseball player ever honored by the Hall of Fame when the jersey from her second perfect game is sent to Cooperstown. The only girl in her league, Chelsea is a knuckleballer who went 12-0 last season and has never lost a game as a pitcher in four years. She wears number 12. Close but no cigar for lucky number 13 again...

Here is the great story on Chelsea Baker from Fanhouse.com.
Below, seeing is believing!


The voiceover on that promo came from Geena Davis. Remember her baseball movie with Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell?  That was 1992's "A League of Their Own." Here is Geena in a classic scene with Tom Hanks:

Friday the 13th: Then and Now!

Road warriors won 10 of 15 major league baseball games Tuesday finished off by BC's Ryan Dempster winning his 10th for the Chicago Cubs over San Francisco, 8-6! Fourteen runs in that game as we get ready for Friday the 13th this week! Some other scores:

• 15 for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Philadelphia, who fell short with 9.
• 14 by Baltimore over Cleveland's 8.
• 12 by the Minnesota Twins versus the Chicago White Sox and their 6.

No winning team scored 13 on Tuesday. No game even had two teams combine for 13 runs. Close but no cigar as Boston beat Toronto, 7-5, and St. Louis beat Cincinnati, 8-4. None of the nine baseball games Monday saw 13 runs scored but this past Sunday Detroit and the LA Angels put up 13 runs. In fact, Detroit had 13 hits in their 9-4 win. None of the 15 games on Saturday had one or two teams rack up 13 runs in a game but last Friday Cleveland beat Minnesota, 7-6.

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• Here is a fun Friday the 13th flashback with a hockey flavor from this blog on March 13, 2009. 

• Here is voice talent John McLain flashing back to his hockey roots on Know your role. 

Fry Day! Fluff and FaffCon too!

This is my friend Curt Harding. My fried egg on the head friend:)  Isn't he a ringer for Paul Shaffer? Should we book him for "Stupid Human Tricks" on Letterman? He is a talented guy who has written a new children's book called "A Tail of Two Kitties" so Letterman should have him on to talk about it! Endorsements and reviews can be found here - including one by Denise Jackson, #1 New York Times bestselling author and wife of country music legend Alan Jackson.

I fried up a storm tonight in the kitchen: eight scrambled eggs and nine strips of bacon! This was enjoyed by my two sons and I.

I am brewing something different than Tim Hortons for a change to start my Friday - Van Houtte coffee. This is also guaranteed to get your Friday off to a flying start: Van Halen


This week I loaded on-hold messages into a folder called Fluff for
Pro Voice Greetings. Lately our weekly folders have had the same
letter start and end the name (e.g. Deed, Cognac, Barb and Ammonia). I suggested next week we go with Greg, who is the main man signing my paycheck$$

There will be NO fluff at FaffCon. This is a voiceover gathering for pros in Portland, Oregon on September 11th and 12th. It is an Unconference - all about being just the good stuff. You can think of it as a whole weekend filled with hanging around with your brightest and most creative friends; learning, sharing, and figuring out how to get better at what we do. That’s FaffCon. The website has all the information for you!

Sabres, A-Rod, Favre, Chesterfield, MO and Dog River, SK

Today on NHL.com, the Buffalo Sabres are previewed for the upcoming season: Sabres seek repeat performance atop Northeast.

Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 600th home run yesterday! He hadn't hit one since July 22. I think A-Rod was very distracted wondering if Brett Favre would be playing for Minnesota or joining him in New York again:)
I think Brett (and his questionable ankle) will be back again with the Vikings even though the 40-year-old quarterback should step aside for the young guys.

As you know, I like Tim Tebow but he is not the main man in Denver. Meanwhile, the number one overall pick, Sam Bradford, has signed his six-year, $78 million contract with $50 million in guarantees, most ever in the NFL! There is just TOO much money being thrown at these QB's who have never played a down in the NFL! Bradford is in St. Louis, Missouri - the state which has the most "armchair quarterbacks." Yes, there is actually a Chesterfield, Missouri...

There is NOT a Dog River, Saskatchewan...just on TV's "Corner Gas." Enjoy this classic hockey footage:

Today's post sponsored by: Air Hockey Tables.

Too many Daves?

In the voiceover world, there are Daves like:

• David Brower
• Dave Courvoisier
• Dave DeAndrea
• David Houston

I have linked to each of their blogs above (alphabetically, so you don't think I'm playing favorites) and received a note from Dave DeAndrea today that he redesigned his blog (now called DeVOtion) to now serve as a source of eternal perspective and encouragement to his friends in the voiceover community (and whoever else wants to ride along).

Speaking of riding, did you know that David Brower and CourVO are avid motorcyclists? David B. (aka Big Poppa) hit 50, 000 miles on his Harley over the weekend while CourVO has driven over 250,000 miles on motorcycles. These two Daves and I also place a strong value on our faith and families.

I am not holier than thou – BUT I am “hockier” than thou.
I shared that thought on a friend's blog (sex and the single dad) last night as I told a bit of my story in the comments section. Bottom line, God is the “real deal” in my life too.

I am off to a high school reunion tonight here in Kelowna!
CourVO has his coming up later this month in Greenville, Illinois.

Let's end with a celebration! Dave Stala is a receiver for the Hamilton
Tiger Cats in the Canadian Football League.
Check out his Hacky Sack touchdown dance by clicking here.