Out with the old, in with the cheaper??

When the news was broken to me that FOX were recasting the characters in Futurama, I reacted very differently to how I would have a while ago. Back in my youth, in the earlier days of Futurama impressions and giddy voiceover aspirations, I would have cheered and been excited at the possibility of having a shot (however ridiculous) at auditioning for one of my most favourite shows ever.

However, it's a different case now.

I was infuriated (and still am, although some explanations have allowed me to simmer) that FOX would disregard actors like Billy West, Maurice LaMarche, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal (and the rest) who are giants of the industry.

Quite obviously, they have played a big part in making the show what it is. When Futurama comes back, us fans don't want a new Futurama - we want the old Futurama, with new exciting episodes!

Bob Bergen and J.S. Gilbert have informed me that this is indeed a move by the studios to avoid paying the actors more money. You can read a bit about what Bob thinks here on the VO-BB.

As I said, in earlier years, I probably would have jumped at the chance to audition for Futurama. Now though, I am not so lame to believe that I could bring the individual spark that each actor on Futurama provides. We can all bring our own thing, but that is why they were on the show before it stopped - they brought their own, personal magic. Plus, now that I have characters on an animated series myself, I know how I would feel if the studio tried to hire other people to get a penny pinching deal.

So, out with with the old, in with the cheaper? I think many of us are united in saying, "I bloody hope not".

Beckett meets a cast of superhumans

I went to see Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, on Tuesday night.

Let me say that I have been a fan of this production since I heard about it last year.

I ended up getting a pretty damn good ticket - front row upper circle. It's not as high as some of the upper circles out there, but from what I could see, I would definitely not recommend the 'gallery'. It's too far back.

The performance itself was just pure, uncut brilliance. It was a playful and witty interpretation of the play and each character shone in their own special way. I wouldn't call myself a 'Godot' expert, but I know the play from studying it in high school, and reading it every now and then over the years. However, from talking with some fellow theatre goers afterwards, I would say that at least some knowledge and understanding of the play was necessary. The comment was that the cast was 'great' but that they didn't enjoy the play so much. It really is one of those 'hit or miss' works, I think.

I don't really want to give away too much of the show itself (even though I know most people may not see it), but let me ambiguously reveal a couple of highlights. Patrick Stewart + dancing and singing, Simon Callow and some great slapstick, Ronald Pickup and the Lucky 'monologue' and just Ian McKellen in general.

Let me say that I am not the type to get starstruck (this is owing to the fact that I myself am hugely famous in The Maldives), but I was pretty damn stoked to meet Mr. Stewart and Sir Ian (or as I now call them - 'Paddy' and 'McIan') after the show.

I had them sign my gorgeous Theatre Royal Haymarket W.F.G programme (which I shall treasure for years) and did the same with the other two masters in the cast - Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup. I had a brief chat with Simon Callow about a performance that he gave not too long ago, at the Royal Festival Hall (which I was lucky enough to attend). He played the part of Tchaikovsky, reading diary entries and monologuing in between the orchestra playing Tchaik's music. It was very cool to talk with him. 

I'm so glad I went to see this show. It was not so much of a 'meaty' production of Godot - it had the more air of two old friends screwing about, waiting for Godot. However, towards the end, Vladimir questions the reality of life through his anger at Godot, for his not being there.

It was sweeeeeeeet. Props to Sean Mathias.

Non-essential things I can't live without

Australian Rainforests and mountains
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony
My family
Sweet chilli tuna sandwiches
Hot crossed buns during the Easter period
Pens and paper
A Passport
Guinness
Symphony Fantastique
Friends who can make me fall to the ground and cry with laughter
A flute or a piano
A collection of my favourite cartoon shows and movies
Anything by Mozart

Post Script

I went to a concert a couple of Thursdays ago, with my mate from back home, Megan (who recently deserted me to go back to Australia). It was the London Philharmonic (surprise, surprise) performing the Second Piano Concerto by Brahms, and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. Some of you may know that this is a favourite of mine, so I've been anticipating the concert for quite a while.

Right after the concert, I tried to compile my thoughts of the performance in way that would do it justice in the form of an internet blog. Well, that fell flat on it's face! The concert was so amazing that I found it bloody difficult to write a paragraph or two, that adequately described it.

So instead, I came up with a list of things that I don't necessarily need to survive, but could just not do without.

What are yours? If you feel comfortable sharing, I'd love to hear them.

Scalpers and chocolate...Fantastique times.

Again, another blog from quite a while ago. I still try to get them out though. Enjoy!!

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You know that concert or show that you’ve been waiting months to see since the program was released?

Oo, oo! This one.

So, tonight I went to see the London Philharmonic perform Messiaen’s Les offrandes oubliées, Tchaikovsky’s Piano concerto No.1 in Bb minor and Symphonie Fantastique by my hero, Hector Berlioz. Let me start by putting out there that the concert was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it (except the usual ridiculous coughing fits in between movents).Yeah, I know – I complain about it every time.

I had been checking the website for the South Bank Centre over the last months, and in the last couple of days, there seemed to be quite a few seats available. Due to this, I decided to buy my tickets on the night. When I arrived, I lined up to purchase my seat for the night, and encountered a few dear old ladies (Imogen, Peggy and May), who were trying to scalp off a ticket because their friend, Ethel, had a cold and couldn’t make it (Ok, I made up that name because I can’t remember what it really is). The ticket was a great seat and because it was a charity purchase (I think), they had scored it for only 15 quid. So I happily agreed to take it off their hands and then went to chill before the show.

LPO started with Les offrandes oubliées, which was a colourful and evocative introduction. It represents the Cross, the descent of Man into sin and the salvation offered through Eucharist. I guess they were gearing up for Easter.

Then we had the monumental Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto. Favourite of old ladies and classical enthusiasts world-wide. I gotta say, I was always quite 'meh' about the concerto in comparison to Tchaik's other works. However, as soon as I heard those majestic opening chords on the piano, I had chills and a whole new appreciation of the piece. The second movement is just sublime, and of course ya gotta love the flute feature in it.

Despite this, the pinnacle of the performance was the Berlioz. Before that, though, I have to tell a story about interval. I had of course, had some lovely short conversations with my elderly scalping friends, and then I let them know that I was just going to stretch my legs at interval. After a pleasant ten minutes out on the balcony looking out onto the Thames, I arrived back at my seat to find that they had saved me some pieces from their Cadbury chocolate bar. Now, I know you shouldn't take candy from strangers, but who am I to turn down caramel squares?

Anyway, I thought that was just the most brilliant thing ever. I gotta hang about the elderly more often at these classical concerts.

Onto Berlioz. I was a tad excited and could barely contain myself when Reveries commenced. Tell you what, when I first heard that idée fixe, my night was made. Just stunning.

Despite LPO being their usual dynamic and glorious selves, there were a couple of moments, particularly in Un Bal that were slightly sloppy. However, other than select instances they were generally very tight.

I probably listen to Symphonie Fantastique once a week (a movement, at least), so to have this spectular, passionate, rich and resonating work performed by a powerhouse group like LPO was a massive treat.

Stay tuned for the next one.

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Present day: I'm really looking forward to the next concert - Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony (amazing) and the Brahms Piano Concerto! Come and join me if you're a Londoner - Wednesday night at the South Bank Centre (Tube: Embankment). Even if you're not a classical fan, I'm almost positive you'll get a kick out of this performance. We'll have a pint or vino and then catch the concert! Take it easy!

Krang kreative process

If you're a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pat Fraley goes through his process of how he came up with the voice. Pure cool. Hear/view it here

I love stuff like this, because it shows you that everyone has their own individual way of creating.

Annie Awards podcasted...SCORE.

Thanks to Erik Sheppard for passing this on. At long last, there is a way for those of us who can't get to the Annie Awards to see snippets (and hopefully the whole thing).

You can download a video of Tom Kenny's introduction and the award for Best Video Game here.

Would you like some Awesome with your Salzburger?

Let me start by saying that I don't think I've ever been so irritated by such a small thing as a foreign keyboard before.

So I touched down in Salzburg after sleeping through most of the plane trip and playing Metal Slug when I wasn't. I saw snow and was like WOW. It was great to have such an amazing initial view from above of this incredible city.

Once again, I did the traditional walk around without looking at the map, and then i tried to find 

my way back to the hostel. Oh, before that, I 

bought a ticket to the 'Mozart Dinner Concert' and had some time to kill beforehand- This mainly involved taking pictures of the brilliant snow and beautiful architecture. Well worth the cold. Maybe it's me gradually aclimatising to this cold weather, but -8, -9 degrees doesnt seem that cold anymore. Perhaps it's also my Drizabone.

Anyway, better write something quickly about the concert I went to. When I booked the ticket and looked at the program, my heart sank a little, because i saw that they were going to be playing 'Mozart favourites'...so I was expecting to hear 12 different variations of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Symphony No. 40 played upside down. BUT - it was totally not that kind of concert. It was reeeeally good, and the food was amazing. The string ensemble and the two

 vocalists performed excerpts from 3 of Mozart's operas - Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and the Magic Flute. They were very good and I found the singers extremely enjoyable to watch. I realised that I still can't sit through Madamina, Il Catalogo without giggling at the 'Spain' bit. I'm sure anyone who was in the Classical Studies class at the Con may share some fond memories...

The food, as I said, was delicious... The entree was lemon cream soup with cinnamon...

OH 

YEAH.

 

Then the main course was Capon with an unreal sauce and potatoes cooked incredibly 

well with

 other tasty vegies. The dessert was a semi-frozen honey parfait which was scrumptious, but not so much my kind of meal.

I headed back to my hostel afterwards and caught up with a couple of Aussies who were watching the '24/7' screening of The Sound of Music at the hostel. That's right, the TV only plays the one movie. I didn't watch it with them, I viewed it in full another night.

Full photos can be found on my Flickr page and in the next post I'll talk a bit about my snowboarding adventures.

Direction of the Asterix revival

Any Asterix fans?

I just found out here that Albert Udzero has sold a 60% share of the book's orginal company to the publishing giants Hachette Livre. I guess we'll wait and see what happens, but it would be such a shame to see the timeless brand of Asterix, mauled by modern popular design and merchandising.

The thing I always loved about Asterix is that you didn't have change any aspect of the novel to make it enjoyable for people of all ages, despite the first book having been written in the 60's. One of the great qualities of Asterix is the jokes they made about 'modern' events or topics. In the recent books though, they branched out into REALLY modern stuff, like extra terrestrials and all that, which was rubbish, to be honest. I actually stopped enjoying/reading the series after Asterix and Obelix: All At Sea. I also played some of the Asterix videogames, most recently 'Asterix at the Olympic Games'...which was horrendous.

As I said, I'll give Hachette Livre a chance to see what they come up with...but once I see Asterix Happy Meals at Dirty Donalds, then I know they've stuffed it. I don't like the idea of it becoming popularised (in the sense of marketing and products).

I love my Obelix Pez dispenser, but who eats Pez anyway?

Let me know what you think...(about Asterix, not Pez)

Photo from www.telegraph.co.uk

A London Evening...

The other night, I went to see London Philharmonic perform a pretty amazing lineup of repertoire and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

However, allow me to briefly paint a picture of my short time out on the town beforehand. I went to the concert by myself, so my wandering allowed me to be somewhat more observational than usual. Saying that, it would have been particularly difficult for me to miss the things I saw.

In a true overview of London I noticed the following three things:

1. A giant crowd of tourists standing outside of a Subway restaurant arguing about whether they should eat at Subway, or Ha Ha Bar and Grill (big difference).

2. A street preacher, and

3. A man relieving himself against a railing.

Big props to the bloke for trying to do it inconspicuously, but unfortunately he clearly was not aware that the fence/railing was on the edge of the road and he was facing the traffic. Luckily for me, I was on the same side as his back. The people over the other side of street were not so lucky...

Anyway, on to the concert.

The performance was of excellent quality, overall. The LPO played Richard Strauss' Til Eulenspiegel, Piano Concerto no. 22 by Mozart, K. 482, Suite from 'Daphnis and Chloe' by Maurice Ravel and Firebird Suite - Igor Stravinsky.

Great Grizzly Pandas, what a line up (especially for flutes).

The conductor was a very talented lady by the name of Marin Alsop.

She seemed to inspire the orchestra with a lot of energy and intensity. The shining qualities of each of the pieces were captured extremely well. Til Eulenspiegel was quirky and crazy, Daphnis was just pure magic - floating, soaring, swelling magic and Firebird was just bloody fantastic, mate. Yep, that's the best I can come up with today.

The only thing that didn't work as much, in my opinion, was the Mozart piano concerto. Jonathon Bliss is an exceptional pianist, I can tell that - but he just didn't have the flow and elegance that was presented in the concert with Mitsuko Uchida. I much prefer that in performances of Mozart. He certainly has vibrance, which is also essential. The other thing that didn't work as well (which I couldn't put my finger on at first) was Alsop's conducting of the piece. I much prefer to have the ensemble directed by the soloist, when playing works by a composer like Mozart. Alsop's direction of the orchestra in the concerto was a little clunky, and I believe this transfered into the soloist's playing.

On the whole, as I said - the concert was fantastic. Special mention needs to be given to Adam Walker - the flautist who played principal for the evening. Absolutely top flute player and a good bloke as well - I caught up with him after the concert and went out for a drink with his crew of musos.

Well, that's a good time out in London, and I really do recommend going to see the LPO. If you're keen to catch them, let me know and we'll catch up at or after the concert.

Potayto or Potarto?

Erik Sheppard has raised an issue that I've thought about on and off - here

Is it 'voiceover', 'voice over' or voice-over?

Personally, I have always gone with 'voiceover'. I never really looked at which made the most sense grammatically, just which looked better.

It's interesting, because as a flute player, there is a similar debate with the name of that profession. There is flautist - pronounced either 'flawt-ist' or 'flout-ist', or flutist. James Galway raised a valid point that he does not play the flawt or the flout, but the flute. I like to avoid any conflict whatsoever, by just saying I'm a flute player.

What do you think? If you don't care about voiceovers or flutes, do you have a similar situation with your vocation?

Tryin' to Get Rid of the Hurdles

A new blog that I've been reading recently is 'Inspired Startup' by this guy Andy. It's a great read, and he has just done up this article about removing 'blockades' in your life that might stop you from achieving your goals. It's a really good one for the New Year, and I know it made me think about which hurdles I need to pull out from the track, ASAP.

For me, personally, I tend to work hard at improving something, but end up putting the ole' blinkers on and don't see the elements that really need to be removed to make everything change. It's so much easier to press forwards once you do realise what's in the way.

Enjoy, and I hope it helps you in some way.

Check out Andy's original post

2009....GO-TIME!

Friends, family and Romans...a very Happy New Year to you, and all the best for 2009 (I know some of you back home have already seen the first sunset, but give the rest of us some time to catch up).

A lot of my friends who blog have written some lovely summaries of the year, and some extremely informative and insightful business thoughts, but all I can say is that it has been an AMAZING time for me in the past 365 days.. To those of you who I met, worked with or even just talked to in 2008, you have changed this year for me and some, been a HUGE influence. So for this I say thanks, and see you in 2009!

Take care and prosper,
Matto

P.S. Expect MANY more blogs in 2009!

New York, New….something…I forget the rest.

Day 1 in New York was pretty quiet. I arrived later in the evening but got to have a good walk around Times Square. Ca-razy place. Seriously. All the movies I watch with New York are mostly set before the 60’s, so I was pretty shocked to see so many people. You hear about all the cars and buses, but there’s really nothing like standing in the middle of it (the hustle and bustle, that is, not the road – you don’t wanna do that). I called it a night pretty early as I was buggered from the flying and lugging luggage.

I hit the road pretty early the next day and did some more walking. Then I made my way to the TKTS (discount ticket booth) to check it out and see what the deal was with getting passes to shows. Then I saw that Avenue Q was available, so I lined up to grab tickets. I had no idea what the time was, and then the guy said the show started at 2 p.m. and told me how to get to the theatre. I moseyed over and realised that everyone was lining up, so I asked when the show started – “Now”, was the grouchy and urgent answer. Pretty good timing I guess.

The show absolutely rocked my world. Avenue Q is one of my favourite musicals, although I had never seen it performed live. I know the soundtrack and score inside out and obviously know what goes on in between. I am very used to the Original Broadway Cast performance, and for that reason I had to do a quick adjustment and accept that the show I was seeing was NOT the show I knew so well. Some of the characters were performed in a similar way to the original recording, but mostly the actors had a great new slant on the voice and style. This I liked, once I got into the swing of the show.

Now, after spending some time in New York City, it becomes kind of weird to see pigeons actually flying in the air. It’s that breed of town. There is so much trash (I hope it’s just trash) on the ground in Times Square, and of course the flying rats just flock to that area.

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The next day in Noo Yawk was a whole heap of fun. I started the day by walking around Central Park and visiting the United Nations headquarters. I caught up with 3 friends from New York - all fellow voice actors. First I met Lucien, who I know through the internets. We chatted for a bit and then Rachel joined us. I had met Rachel at the VOICE conference in Los Angeles, but she lives and works in NY. We all had a great meal at a restaurant with all organic meals and then cruised out back to Bryant Park. We caught up with Crystal, who is a roomie of Lucien (and of course, a VA).

We had planned to watch the original Superman movie in Bryant Park (they do free screenings there in summer). Unfortunately, although we arrived about 4 hours before the movie started, the whole park was absolutely packed. We stood for a while, but after a little while, our legs grew weary and Rachel and I decided to head off to Downtown Manhattan. We checked out a busy little comic book store and then moseyed over to a restaurant called Max Bremmers. Ok, so this restaurant’s gig is chocolate. Big time. And they do it with style. When there is an abundance of food, and you can’t decide between all the tasty dishes, the best thing to get is a platter. So we did.

Oh man, the decadence, the flavour and the pure, chocolatey goodness was just too much. Rachel and I ploughed our way through a banana split, Italian hot chocolate, chocolate slice and marshmallows, banana and strawberries with a fondue. It was brilliant and I’d recommend this place to any chocolate lovers or closet chocolate lovers.

Having eaten enough sugar to power a plasma TV for 3 hours, we called it a night.

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The next day, Rachel and I hung out again. We first met at the NY Natural History Museum. It was really fun. I met Rachel’s buddy Armistead, and he showed us around some of the exhibits. We saw this very impressive movie about the universe and all the cosmic changes that have been happening and will happen. It was narrated by Robert Redford and the movie screen was the roof of this dome building! We also saw this sea monsters film, which was really cool. We also checked out the lizards exhibit and it was fun to see some reptiles from back home (frill necked and blue tongue lizard). It never matches up to the seeing them in your own backyard, but it was a nice bit of nostalgia!

After a classic New York pizza and some more looking around the museum, we headed back to Times Square to try to get tickets to Wicked. We spent some time enjoying the interior decorating in the Gershwin Theatre (waiting in line) to try to score us some reserve tickets. After about 2 (?) hours, Rachel and I managed to get superb seats. Orchestra, to the left. Elated, we left to get a meal at the ‘Musical’ restaurant nearby. Oh, the place was great fun. Waiting staff dancing on tables and root beer and ice cream – you can’t get much better than that.

Then we made our way back to the theatre during which time I was goin’ supernova. Like Avenue Q, I’ve wanted to see this musical for about 4 years. I could have actually seen it in Melbourne before I came to the USA (Wicked just started an Australian tour), but I thought that as I’ve waited this long, I can wait a few more months. Plus the cast looked a bit unimpressive (except for a few cast members, namely the late Rob Guest – I wish I had seen him in his last show)

Anyway, back to the action. I felt like I’d taken a trip back to childhood, walking up the steps to the theatre doors. When we finally got inside, I found myself lookin’ up at an amazing set – I had never seen anything so impressive in all the shows I’d been to. Obviously it’s Broadway, baby, so they have a huuuuuge budget, but it was still mind boggling.

The musical was pretty much all I hoped it to be and more. I was slightly let down by the acting of the gal who played Elpheba. She actually performed in the West End debut and was clearly British, trying to do an American accent. Unfortunately that was a barrier for her and resulted in a lot of ‘forced acting’. Her vocal performance was outstanding though. I also liked the performance of the actress who played Glinda – she had a fun slant on the character. A little more serious and subdued…

I am so glad I went to see the show. I sat through the whole thing, thinking ‘hell yeah’….it was a bloody beudy!

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Last day. I caught a train to Astoria, which is Rachel’s neighbourhood. We hung out for a while, I did some laundry, and we went to a brilliant little Greek restaurant. Seeing as I had eaten so much meat so far on my trip, I thought it would be the responsible thing to do, to get a salad. It was freakin’ massive! We had some dip and bread before that, so the salad destroyed me. Some of you may shake your head in disbelief, considering my usual appetite, but this thing could have catered for a couple of big Greek weddings. After that it was just about time to dash off to La Guardia. Having been lucky enough to spend a whole heap of time with my mate, Rachel, it was a bit sad to say bye! New York won’t keep me away for long, though….

The city was amazing, and as I said, I know I’ll be back there again soon. Next up, I’ll be writing about my very first European adventure ever. Watch this broken jpeg!

My Animated Series Debut!

Some of you may know about it, some of you haven't stopped hearing about it, but it's finally here - The Beach Crew hits Fox 8 on Foxtel and Austar on the 6th of December!

I am super-excited as this is a step forward toward my dream, and I had an unreal time recording the first season. 

Visit the website www.thebeachcrew.com for some videos and more info.

I am the voice of Billy and Sammy, and the majority of the other male 'crew'. Some characters include Cash Coin, Slimy Seaweed, Uncle Umbrella and Screechy Seagull.

Please check it out and don't forget to watch (if you have it) on December 6.

Review: Mitsuko and Mozart

Last night I went to see the world acclaimed interpreter of Mozart, Mitsuko Uchida perform with the London Philharmonia. The program consisted of two Mozart piano concertos, No. 22 in A major and No. 24 in C minor, preceded by Igor Stravinsky's Apollon Musagète. What a pleasure it was to hear the dark and quirky yet less bold work of Stravinsky against the sublime and transcending musical perfection of Mozart!

Well, let's start with Apollon. I really enjoyed this performance. Originally a ballet in two scenes, the production is accompanied by strings only. It’s about the Greek god Apollo and 3 muses. Stravinsky achieves a great range of texture, though and this colour was accentuated masterfully by the ensemble's synergy. I reckon' the best way I would describe the effect of the music, was that it was transfixing. Sometimes I didn't quite know what was really happening, but I listened intently anyway! I think the violins needed to have some more guts when approaching dissonance. Sounds a bit harsh, but it wasn't that bad.

My only major complaint has nothing to do with the orchestra. At the beginning of the performance, we had the usual announcement say "please turn off phones, blah blah" (I think it was Ian McKellen) and then at the end was added, "and please, keep coughing to a minimum". Everyone had a giggle, but after the first break between movements, I could see why it was announced. The orchestra could not make a louder sound than the fortissimo coughing fit that erupted in the Royal Festival Hall. I mean, it was ridiculous. I understand that it's London, the weather is crappy, and everyone rides the Tube (which is like a cylinder of germs), but I CANNOT grasp how that many people with tickly throats, flu or the pneumonic plague can forget to bring a bottle of water or a cough drop!!!!! You might say, "Hang on Matt, at least they weren't coughing during the pieces"...

To me, in most works, the silence or space in between movements is part of the work. I use that space to absorb what has just happened, or maybe I won't be allowed to, for now, and the orchestra will just charge on. However, it's extremely hard to create that suspenseful or serene effect, when you have a symphony of irritated throats hacking away, or.....I'm going to say it.... a cacoughony.

Anyway, rant over. The piece was excellent and it was a nice choice to start the concert with that.

I'm going to kinda lump the two Mozart concertos together in this next bit, and look at Ms. Uchida's performance overall, because I fear this review is getting too long.

I should start by saying that the Concerto K. 491 in C minor is my favourite piano concerto of all time, and definitely one of my top pieces overall. So I came into this concert with high excitement, high hopes and from Highbury and Islington. I'm pleased to say that I was so very, very satisfied. I love the Concerto in A major (K. 488) also and studied it a couple of times in Uni (studied, not played).

Mitsuko Uchida has been called the 'high priestess of Mozart' by many critics, and I can totally back that up. Uchida brings this wonderful kind of blissful elegance to Mozart. This is not all she brings though - try a bit of passion, fury and majesty on for size.

Uchida played the solo and directed the orchestra, just like old mate Amadeus used to do. I love this, and it is so inspiring to watch. Sometimes I thought there was unnecessary conducting in there, but it never really hindered Mitsuko's performance.

I have to say that Uchida has a gorgeous conducting style that is quite feminine. It's almost like dancing at times. When I say feminine, I mean it is something that a bloke couldn't pull off. Except Jackson (I can say that because I know he probably won't read this far).

Never having seen this work (K. 491) performed live, this was a really special treat for me. To hear things like the clarinet arpeggios, the flute mimicking the piano, the strings swaying and sweeping and an UNBELIEVABLE piano cadenza (please, someone tell me who wrote it) was heightened by the fact that I could see and feel it too. Bloody awesome!!

I'm going to leave it there, because I've rambled on for too long, but honestly, I could talk to you about this concert for houuuuurs.

If you haven't ever heard the 24th Piano Concerto, please listen to it sometime. Even if you don't like classical music, I would like to think that this is a piece that would make you appreciate the genre on a different level.

For recordings, you could listen to oh, I dunno....MITSUKO UCHIDA. Also Geza Anda is wonderful. Check it out.

The Boy Who Cried Nigeria

If I'm in contact with you via email or social networking sites, you may have noticed that I was hacked by a scammer in the last week. If not, you probably have pretty good spam filters, or just usually ignore what I send you.

It was really, REALLY annoying, but you just gotta try and get through these things. Though the situation is naturally stressful (as your business contacts may be receiving highly suspicious emails), you have to keep as cool as possible. 

All I can suggest is to regularly update your passwords (just for your peace of mind) and the most important thing is to have a 'secondary' email. For this, I would say Google (Gmail) are best, in my opinion. They got back to me really quickly and were able to boot the hacker out of my account.

The main reason I like having two (or more) accounts is that it allows you backup if this sort of thing happens. You have your business contacts located predominantly in one email, and then things like Facebook, Myspace, eBay etc. in the other one (Gmail or your choice). It also means you have another email so that staff at Google, social networking sites and your bank (maybe?) can contact you.

As I said, it was extremely stressful and I lost a lot of sleep and work hours. I am grateful though, that nothing worse happened. Saying that, I know what sort of present I would have for the hacker if I ever met him. Here's a photo of me with a sampling drill from when I was doing some farm work.

Ahh, I'm not really a violent, vengeful person. I actually feel sorry for these people, because they are sick. I spoke to the bloke on chat - I know. Desperate and ignorant, is what they are.

PLEASE - look after all your data etc. - I hope this never happens to any of you! If anyone has any further suggestions for security in this regard, please add them here or write to me.

Just if you missed it....

Here is the 'wrap-up' article and interview about my TV appearance on The Richard and Judy Show, kindly organised and written by Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices.com. You'll also find the Youtube video on the page.

Click here

Although I didn't win the 'contest', I had a really great time!

Thanks to all who left me comments and watched the show - I appreciate your support.

Oh, and just for the heck of it, here is the other video of me doing an impression of Gollum, back in March. For those who are faint hearted, you may want to turn your monitors off or avert your eyes.

Now listed on Voice Talent Productions dot com

I'm very pleased to say that I can now be found on www.voicetalentproductions.com

I'm totally stoked to join this team of voice actors, and there are some absolutely stellar individuals there.

Check out the website, and a little post on Mr. Erik Sheppard's very entertaining blog.

Intrepidness.

From the 14th of September

Over the next couple of days, I did some walking around Cairo, but was pretty much still in recovery mode, so generally I took it easy.

 

I had to switch hotels to meet up with my tour group. For our night in Cairo, our lodging was the Hotel Capsis. A nice place in the centre of the city. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.

 

It was there, at the Hotel of the Capsis variety, that I reached the place of destiny. The place where 12 ‘intrepid’ travelers and 1 fearless group leader would first meet before they ventured out to experience the wonders and challenges of Egypt. That night was when our unique and unbreakable bond formed, that would ensure we stuck together ‘till the very end.

 

After a thorough briefing for the journey, it looked like it was time to rest up for the days ahead. But hark! Our empty stomachs cried out for nourishment, so we went to dine on the fine cuisine at Gad. At the food place, you can experience such dishes as liver rolls, stews, rice pudding, delicious seafood and viagra. Think I jest?

 

So after refilling our intrepid bellies, we trekked back to our luxurious resting inn. But not before learning the ancient art of Shisha. 

Tomorrow – a revisiting of Giza, a thrilling trip to the museum and the end of my unnecessarily elaborate writing style.

Let's have a quick Giza.

I woke up the next morning feeling like mild death, but the show had to go on, because today I was visiting the pyramids at Giza and Saqqara and Memphis. It really wasn’t shocking throughout the day, but it certainly wasn’t the most comfortable I’ve been in my life. I started off with a trip with my guide Haitham, and my driver Ahmed (the same guy from the cruise last night) to the archaeological site at Memphis. Generally, it was a little overrun by tourist shops/stalls, but there were wonderful statues of Ramses II (my hero). In particular, this one huge one.

It’s about 26 metres tall.

The next stop was Saqqara and the pyramids there. This site features the first pyramid built in Egypt. Designed by that clever little architect, Imhotep for the Pharaoh Djoser. How fitting, as these were the first pyramids I visited. Boy, was I mesmorised! I could see the step pyramid from outside the enclosure, but the real hit of excitement came when I walked up the corridor of the temple leading through. Then…….pyramid.

 

After learning interesting info from my guide about how the pyramid was constructed (the step pyramids are actually just tombs stacked on top of each other – called mustabas) we left the miraculous site and made our way to Giza.

 

I was almost tempted to buy a carpet at the Cairo carpet school that we stopped at, but then I realised I had no idea what the house that I move into in London will look like. Not that I am capable of any decent sort of interior decorating, mind you.

 

I had that same feeling as earlier (no, it wasn’t gastro), and one similar to what I felt walking up to the Acropolis in Greece, while we drove to the site of the Giza pyramids. I’m sure Haitham was telling me something as we gazed at the 3 ancient giants from the car window, but I don’t reckon’ I retained any of it. That was ok though, as he passed on plenty of valuable material when we got there. The dimensions of the ‘mids are amazing, but they mean nothing on paper.

Seriously, folks – if this sort of thing interests you at all, you gotta go see ‘em. They are more untouched than the ruins at Greece (well, it looks that way) and the mystery of the place is breathtaking.

 

I took in the ‘atmosphere’ for a while and then wandered into the pyramid of Khafre. You walk down a shaft for a while, and then reach a little room that is freakin’ hot.

After escaping the underground sauna, we made our way to the Sphinx. I read somewhere just the other day that this particular monument is smaller than it looks in photos, and I think I can agree with that to a certain degree. I certainly never put it on par (size-wise) with the pyramids, but I did think that it had more grandiosity than it does. This doesn’t mean I didn’t love it – noooo. I was not disappointed in any way, shape of form.

 

There is also a stunning lookout at the Sphinx, where you can see the other pyramids.

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I felt and looked like dog’s breakfast at this point.

The best way to explain the experience of visiting the pyramids is to say that it was like getting closure after wanting to visit Egypt for about 12 years or something (my folks can attest to that length of time). Plus, then you have the natural mystery and majesty of the country and the wonder of these ancient sites.

My food poisoning had well and truly reached its peak by this point, so it was lucky that we were heading back to the hotel. I made a quick stop at one of the papyrus academies, which turned into a mildly lengthy shopping trip.

Even though I was in absolutely shocking shape by the end of it, that day was amazing.

The entirety of my next day was spent sleeping and lying around to recover, which means that I don’t have to blog. Nyah.