ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: A Billion for Bob

Karyn O'Bryant

A couple of weeks ago, the lovely and multi-talented Karyn O'Bryant invited me to a unique voice over industry event at Deyan Audio Studios in Tarzana, CA.

I was pretty excited about meeting the people at Deyan Audio. They're famous for producing over 12,000 audiobooks, and for winning numerous Grammys and Audie Awards. Really, if you want to record audiobooks (and I do), you want to know Deyan.

But this wasn't a hand-out-your-business-card-and-schmooze type of event. There's much more to the story. 

Bob and Debra Deyan founded their business in 1990 in a closet in their home. Many voice artists record from home this way, but Bob and Debra expanded to include two locations, both a good deal larger than closets. Now Deyan Audio employs 150 or more audio engineers and directors and has provided freelance work for as many as 1500 voice actors, all who clearly love and respect Debra and Bob.

In 2013, Bob Deyan was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a neuron-killing disease for which there is no cure. We had gathered at Deyan to make this video for Bob:

The palpable love of all these people made me wish heartily that I'd known Bob Deyan. By the time PJ finished talking my cheeks were wet with tears. But I chickened out of getting doused with actual water. I mean geez, I was wearing a dress. However, I wanted to make a contribution so I made a behind-the-scenes video of the rehearsal:

Bob died one year ago today at the young age of 56, one week after his friends made this for him:

There are many things you can do to help find a cure for ALS:

1.) Accept the Ice Bucket Challenge!

2.) Record a video of yourself dumping a bucket (or a cup) of ice water over your head to increase awareness of ALS. You can use an existing body of water (my friends used pool water the other day), or another drought conscious substance in place of water (dirt!). Challenge at least three people to do the same to support the search for a cure.

3.) Upload your video and challenge/tag at least three others. You can also send it to the ALS Association Golden West Chapter and they'll do it for you!

4.) Give to The ALS Association Golden West Chapter.


Update: Johns Hopkins University has just this week announced a breakthrough in ALS research. All of this is thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge. So join in! It's definitely worth it!

I'm uploading my video and challenging all of you here. You can douse yourself with water if you like, but we're in California and there isn't a lot to spare. So feel free to cut to the chase.

The Map of Lost Memories

It's been a great week here on the blog. I hope you'll vote for your favorite photo in the Camelot Where You Are contest from this week's entries. The ballot is over there at the top left and you can vote until midnight Sunday. Easy to vote and easy to enter! Each week's winner gets a free copy of Camelot & Vine when it comes out this fall!

I haven't been idle this week, oh no, I've been taking pictures and pursuing my bookish ways, sometimes at the same time. Last weekend I attended a book signing at Curve Line Space in Eagle Rock for The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay. It sounds like a wonderful book, literally! That's Kim on the left, and on the right is Karyn O'Bryant, the actor who voiced the audiobook.

I've mentioned Karyn before, a couple of times. She and I have acted in plays together and we're old friends. Kim and I are new friends. She's going to be a guest author here on PDP soon, so we can all look forward to that. I already like her, and I have to say it was especially lovely of her to invite Karyn to her signing and share the spotlight with her on her big day. Surrounded by the works of Edward Flynn, both Kim and Karyn read from The Map of Lost Memories.

I can't wait to read this book! And uh, hear it. Either way. (Although I admit I'm holding out for the audiobook.) The plot sounds exciting: set in early 20th century Cambodia, two mismatched women set out on a dangerous quest. The author has lived in southeast Asia and knows the land of which she writes.

Take a look at praise and description from Kim's website.

Have you read The Map of Lost Memories? Tell us what you think.

The Reveal

Homemade sound studio!

I made it myself.
With help, of course.
As I told you yesterday, my sister made the blanket.
The walls are a three-sided, fold-up sound booth from an old friend.
The chair is a family heirloom (it's small, and I needed small).
I snagged the music stand from an old day-job when the company was getting rid of stuff.
The microphone was a gift from long-time friend and voice artist Teri Clark Linden.
John got the mic stand on eBay. I sandbagged it with the kind of ankle weights one uses for working out. (Apparently I'm not using them for that at the moment.)
The lamp came from the garage. I can't see the laundry and I don't care.
The headphones are from my radio days.
My friend, actor and voice artist Karyn O'Bryant, taught me how to use TwistedWave.com, the recording program. Remember when Adele and I went to see Karyn in the play?
That's a beach towel on the floor, to help muffle sound. All the beach towels in the house belong to Boz, so I have it on loan. As you can see, Boz monitors my use of it.
That's all. There's no room for anything else. There's barely room for me.

John got a shot of me in my booth, wearing my appropriate Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt.

The sound quality is pretty good for a booth I made by myself.

My first project: the Belinda's Birthday audiobook, which will be about 8 or 9 minutes long. I've already recorded it and will edit this week. I'll let you know when it's available because I am THAT excited about it.

As for Camelot & Vine, if I record the audiobook I'll probably do it in a bigger studio. Because Camelot & Vine is longer than 8 or 9 minutes, and Boz gets impatient for his towel.

Seeing Theater in Sierra Madre

I had tickets to see Incident at Vichy at the Sierra Madre Playhouse the other night. John is in pre-production and can't tear himself away from the desk. I knew who I wanted to invite in his stead: Adele of Seeing Sierra Madre: One Photo at a Time.

Sierra Madre is a charming corner of the San Gabriel Valley. Adele is excellent company. My friend Karyn O'Bryant is a fine actor and so is everyone else in the cast of Incident at Vichy (that's one reason why it was a Critic's Choice in the Los Angeles Times). Add them together and it was a great evening.

Across the street from the Playhouse there's this cocktail joint called The Buccaneer. You can see the Playhouse marquee reflected in the window. Adele and I didn't go in because we were both tired, but the place has a reputation for fun. Snotty Scotty and the Hankies play there, so I don't know what more you could ask.

Sierra Madre is Adele's territory (not that any of us are territorial around here), so I'll let Adele give you the pic from the theater (doesn't Karyn look marvelous?). But we had such a good evening. Many, many thanks to Karyn and the cast and crew of Incident at Vichy and the Sierra Madre Playhouse.