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.

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!

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!

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.

In The Buff?

The Buffalo Sabres have been picked by a lot of folks to win the Stanley Cup. The NHL season starts tonight and they take on the defending champions: the Carolina Hurricanes. I could still be the voice opening Sabres' TV broadcasts this year. My read for their last exhibition game was used last Saturday night and tomorrow the Feature Producer (Matt G.) I know with the team said: "I’m going to try to write a touch less copy so that you can be a bit more “movie trailer...deep throatish”...which is what I believe the boss is looking for. I think I gave you too much copy to read in too little time in the last one." So, hope Buffalo beats the Montreal Canadiens Friday night at their home opener:) That should put the boss in a good mood!

Speaking of "In The Buff", Barenaked Ladies' new album "Are Me" is out now. I had the chance to work closely with the band from 1991-'96 when I worked with Warner Music Canada. I connected with their road manager last time they were in town (December '05) and we'll try and hook up again when they are in Kelowna again in 4 months.

It is the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I will be starting a large project for the Richard Ivey School of Business/The University of Western Ontario today. It is a 4-page article which should run about 15 minutes as a podcast. It is titled: Japanese expansion in China: A cautionary tale. The target audience is practicing managers.