ThunderCast "Special" - Larry Kenney interview edition! *UPDATED* Edited Preview!!

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1

Hi guys,

I hope nobody minds me posting this thread up! :slight_smile:

You might remember back in July I spoke to Larry Kenney about the possibility of him taking part in a special interview episode of ThunderCast, to which he readily agreed? Well, even though technically itā€™s not the next episode in line (and Iā€™d actually like to save releasing it for a special occasion, such as TCLā€™s 2nd anniversary in December), Iā€™d really, really like to get this recorded soon! :slight_smile: My reason for saying this is because I feel that, given that Larry still works in the voiceover industry, his schedule could be subject to change and I think we should strike whilst the iron is hot! :smiley:

In terms of the timing for the podcast, this is what Larry himself had to say on the subject:

To this, I have three questions:

  1. Please can someone translate those times into the other timezones applicable to TCL team members, particularly UK time, as Iā€™m rubbish at doing that?! :smiley:

  2. Who here would be available at those times?

  3. Of those available, who would be interested in taking part? Iā€™m going to take a guess at everybody, LOL, but it never hurts to check! :smiley:

I think that we should use this thread to draw up a plan for the episode, which would basically center around what questions weā€™d like to ask Larry and who should ask them? I suspect that to an extent the conversation will just evolve naturally, but contingency plans are always a good idea IMO in case we dry up - I know Iā€™m likely to!! :wink:

Neil & I have talked about this episode, and he suggested that as Iā€™m the one who set this up with Larry I should be the host. Iā€™m more than happy to take this role on, so long as you guys are happy with me doing so. Please can you LMK? :slight_smile:

Lastly, there are a couple of technical issues at play here - those being:

  1. How will we involve Larry in the podcast in technical terms? Iā€™d be surprised if Larry had Skype and a headset, as I remember being told that heā€™s not that good with technology, and so it may require someone to phone him.

  2. If it does require someone to call him, that person will need to have credit on their Skype account for dialling a phone. Something Iā€™m not certain about is whether international rates apply to Skype calls, i.e. whether or not it would be cheaper for someone in the US to phone Larry. If anyone has any info about this, please can you LMK? :slight_smile:

  3. Is there a limit on the number of participants there can be in a Skype conference call? I seem to recall it being five people, in which case I have a horrible feeling thereā€™s going to be some disappointed TCL team members! :frowning: Again, please can somebody LMK?

Letā€™s make this happen, guys - talking to Larry verbally for me is a dream come true, and Iā€™m sure I canā€™t be the only one! So excited at the thought of this! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

2

Further information

Chris hereā€¦

Apologies for the double-post, but I was discussing this with Neil on Skype last night, and he was able to provide me with two crucial bits of info - firstly, what the timings proposed translate to in UK time, which he had actually posted up in a previous thread:

Am I right in thinking that the times Larry has proposed would work out as the following:

Weekdays:

UK: 1am
ET: 5pm
PT: 2pm

Weekends:

UK: 7pm-10pm
ET: 2pm-5pm
PT: 11am-2pm

Please can somebody confirm this, as like I say, this stuff is not my forte? Many thanks! :slight_smile:

Secondly, Neil advised me that a Skype conference call is actually able to take a maximum of 9 people! :slight_smile: So, whilst it may throw up some technical problems having that many on board to record, in theory it should be possible to accommodate the vast majority of the team! :slight_smile:

If someone can confirm those times for me, we can start to think about dates! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

3

You have them a bit wrong! lol In the post you quoted me saying above you already have the US ET time for a weekday! lol (8pm)

The correct times are:

Weekdays:

UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

and those times all work for me except for a friday. Monday-Thursday is fine.

4

Hey guys sorry I have been rather quiet for a little while but Ive been dealing with quite a few things lately. Just to be brief and since i consider evry one of you my friends I really dont mind disclosing whats going on. I have been diagnosed with several things over the last few months. As many of you know I had surgery not too long ago which turned out extremely well however recently I got diagnosed with degenrative joint disease on my left toe which will porbably require surgery and yesterday I had a sleep study performed last night because of my tiredness,depression and other things and so it turns out that as the doctor put it I have a horrible case of sleep apnea basically is very severe right now which explains the way I have been feeling. Sleep apnea basically prevents a person from getting any kind of restful sleep and according to the doctor I kept waking up 2-3 times per minute. Now I have to wear a mask every night that provides me with extra oxygen and prevents my airway from becoming obstructed and to prevent me from stopping breathing. I may or may not make it to the podcast but i will do my best. I hope you guys understand why ive been so quiet lately and in October I will be going back to University to finish my degree so my time will be a little bit limited. Iā€™ll be around plenty though Im just lettng you all know my current status

5

Chris hereā€¦

LOL, thanks for setting me straight Neil - I must admit that these things are a total puzzlement to me, so I knew Iā€™d need your assistance! :smiley:

Hey MannyC, thanks for letting us know - Iā€™m really sorry to hear about the problems youā€™ve been having, thatā€™s terrible! :frowning: I had actually been going to send you a PM as thought it had been a while since weā€™d heard from you, really sad to hear that youā€™re going through the wars (no pun intended!). :frowning:

Obviously I for one will always love to have you on board for the podcasts, but if you arenā€™t able to take part for any reason then please donā€™t worry, itā€™s completely cool with me and Iā€™m certain with everyone else - look after yourself my friend! :slight_smile:

On the subject at hand - Iā€™m too tired to do it tonight, but tomorrow Iā€™ll come up with some suggested dates for recording the podcast - when I know whoā€™s available for what Iā€™ll suggest this to Larry. I hope everyoneā€™s cool with all that Iā€™m doing here, if anyone has any comments, suggestions, etc., obviously just LMK! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

6

I hope you feel better Manny. Things can only be better, just stay positive. :slight_smile:

7

Manny - I do hope you feel better soon. Hereā€™s hoping the doctors can help you! Take care of yourself, hon. hugs

On the subject of the podcastā€¦I think Chris already is aware, but since we moved and a landline in this area proved horribly expensive by comparison by the month, I had bought both skype in and skype out credit for the year recently. Itā€™s way cheaper and with a usb adapter I bought, can use my regular cordless phone with it, too - people were having trouble hearing me on the headset plus it sucked being tethered to the comp during calls. btw, if anyone wants my skype number, skype me sometime at purrsiakat. Yeah, it always says Iā€™m ā€˜not availableā€™ but I keep that up so I donā€™t have to remember to change things during and after calls. Being our only phone, I have to keep skype running whether Iā€™m physically at the keyboard or not, during the day. Just know if I donā€™t answer Iā€™m either actually afk or in a call and Iā€™ll answer you as soon as I see your message :slight_smile:

That said, I have not offered to be the one to call Larry for a few reasons. One is I just got hired somewhere and Iā€™m interviewing for a second job on Monday, so I have no idea when or if I can commit to this anyway - Iā€™m going to be very busy in the upcoming months regardless between work and the usual wife/mother/housekeeping stuff I otherwise do. I gotta work for us to be able to afford this new house, and we just closed the deal last night finding out it costs even more than we anticipated >.< My husband doesnā€™t get any overtime in the winter so yeah, I gotta start busting ass soon.

Second, IRL Iā€™m on the shy side (I make up for that in text, donā€™t I?). I had the joy of meeting Larry in person a few years ago and found I could barely say two words to him. Iā€™m such a DORK :lol: This, unfortunately, carries over to the phone so I have a feeling that I would be the least ideal candidate for the job here. Uncomfortable silences do not a good podcast make, eh?

I hope you guys understand.

:: Purrsia dodges rotten tomatoes ::

8

Chris hereā€¦

Hey Angie, thatā€™s all cool - would of course love to have you on board for the podcast, but like with MannyC would understand if you couldnā€™t make it. And, I know what itā€™s like to be shy - I am a very shy person, but try and hide it by being very outgoing and even slightly on the zany side. So, even though what you may hear on the podcasts is very outgoing and confident-sounding, thatā€™s not my natural personality! :wink:

OK guys and gal, based on Neilā€™s excellent help with the timings (which I am something of a doofus with!), if everyoneā€™s cool with this I thought Iā€™d throw out some dates for possibly recording this. Bear in mind that all of these need to be checked out with Larry, and also that the technical issue of calling Larry still needs to be addressed - but, I thought this would get the ball rolling! :slight_smile:

These are all dates that I can do:

Saturday 22nd September
UK: 7pm-10pm
ET: 2pm-5pm
PT: 11am-2pm

Sunday 23rd September
UK: 7pm-10pm
ET: 2pm-5pm
PT: 11am-2pm

Monday 24th September
UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

Thursday 27th September
UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

Friday 28th September
UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

For those of you who are interested in or able to take part, please can you guys LMK whether any of those dates would work for you, and we can take it from there? Many thanks! :slight_smile:

One final point, on a technical note - for this one, I hope Neil wonā€™t be offended by me saying that I think it would possibly be best if we were able to use recording software that didnā€™t automatically stop recording every 15 minutes. Even though for the Toys podcast that system actually worked really well because it kept things focussed, for Larryā€™s interview I feel that thatā€™s likely to be more ā€œlinearā€ and less ā€œtopic hoppingā€ than an episode like the Toys one, so I kind-of feel weā€™d benefit from having continuous recording. Again, Neil my friend, I really hope you arenā€™t offended by me mentioning this - please can you guys LMK what you think? :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

9

Chris: No problem! :slight_smile:
MannyC: Iā€™m so sorry to hear about this and hereā€™s hoping you can get things sorted as soon as you can. Ignore the pm I sent you as I donā€™t need those images doing anymore. I also wish you luck with the uni course :slight_smile:

I think I speak for everyone here when I say we definately understand. I can also be a shy person, but once I get talking to someone I become at ease. Honestly we felt the exact same as you when we first spoke on Skype to each other (I was very nervous when I hosted Thundercast episode 1) and Iā€™m told this was evident in the episode. I think I sounded a lot more comfortable in episodes 2 and 3, so Iā€™m getting better.

So nothing to be shy about, just be yourself and it will be good. I might call you sometime actually. Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll put you at ease as Iā€™m very easy going and laidback. Iā€™m sure the more you talk to us over Skype, the more easier it will get. Trust me :wink:

Either of those above is fine for me.

No offence taken at all. I will say though that unlimited recording software costs money. I donā€™t think there is any software around that is free. I guess Kyle could record it, but donā€™t forget we had echoeing on that.

Iā€™m sure if you explained it to Larry, he would understand. He knows we are only fans here and not a company with disposable money behind it. Remember we will already be paying for the call to Larry as it is!

10

If I can make it, I can record it without the 15 minute intervals. But I can only make it on a Saturday as Iā€™m at work during the times listed for a weekday.

11

Thanks, Neil. It probably doesnā€™t help that Iā€™m still really getting to know all of you, too.

Anyone know what Matt Blank used for his interviews with Larry? Iā€™m sure youā€™ve run across those recordings heā€™d posted around the net. Maybe someone can contact him for some tips and suggestions in that direction. Seems like a nice fellow.

12

Chris hereā€¦

Yeah, actually Angie I agree with Neil - in fact, if you were both cool with it, when you guys chat I might join you. Like Neil, I imagine Iā€™d probably be able to help put you at your ease, as I could make you laugh by mercilessly insulting Neil! (j/k!) :wink: Seriously though, itā€™s all cool! :slight_smile:

Coolio, duly noted! :slight_smile: Would any of those two be of any use to any of you others? :slight_smile:

Oh donā€™t get me wrong, Iā€™m not remotely worried about Larry would think about us needing to stop and start during the interview recording, like you say Iā€™m sure heā€™d completely understand and Iā€™m certainly not embarrassed about anything to do with the set-up - especially if you listen to the horrendous technical issues that plagued the latest episode of MastersCast, LOL! :wink: And to think, we were thinking of re-recording episode 1 of our podcast because of the technical difficulties! :smiley:

No, what Iā€™m thinking of regarding the ā€œstop-startā€ recording method is that Larryā€™s interview is less likely to be segment- or topic-based like the Toys podcast was, and is instead likely to be more like a back-and-forth conversation. My fear with the 15 mins recording thing is that Larry might be in the middle of telling us a great story or something, and then the time will run out and heā€™ll have to go back to the beginning, which is both annoying and also (IMO most importantly) causes a loss of spontaniety, etc. :slight_smile:

Is what Iā€™m saying here making sense? Itā€™s kind-of a hard thing to explain but I know what I mean, LOL! :smiley: Anyways, itā€™s just food for thought, Iā€™m sure whatever we end up doing weā€™ll find a means of making it work! :slight_smile:

Thanks for letting us know, Manny, and for the offer of recording - much appreciated! I can certainly do Saturday 22nd September, in fact Iā€™d go so far as to say that that would possibly be the best day for me - but, I believe itā€™s not such a good time for Neil because of his computer being in the family living room and his family being about at that time, hence why 1:00am is good for him! :wink:

Neil, out of curiosity, is there a way youā€™d be able to make that weekend time work for a one-off, if you explained to your family what was happening and that you were trying to make the time tie-up with Larry in America? Obviously if not then itā€™s all completely cool (and just hope you donā€™t mind me asking), weā€™ll find a way round things! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

13

Is what Iā€™m saying here making sense? Itā€™s kind-of a hard thing to explain but I know what I mean, LOL!

Chris, thatā€™s exactly what I thought you were driving at when you first mentioned it. Different sort of thing when youā€™re interviewing a guest - would be nice to keep a flow going. Iā€™m sure you guys will work it out :slight_smile:

14

For this to happen im good anytime.. these things usually happen midnight and beyond when I never have anything onā€¦ so count me in :slight_smile:

15

Chris hereā€¦

Awesome! So, by my reckoning, thatā€™s myself, you Kyle, and Neil (provided itā€™s a weekday) all confirmed for this, with MannyF able to attend if itā€™s a Saturday but (sadly) not otherwise? Itā€™s definitely a good start, Iā€™m starting to get excited! :slight_smile:

How do things look for the rest of you guys, are you able to make any of the dates & times listed in my earlier post? :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

16

Not really as saturday night is when my dad relaxes from working week and he wouldnā€™t be impressed if I kept telling him to shush every 2 minutes :frowning: They also would get annoyed at me talking for over an hour while they are watching TV over the other side of the room.

How much does it cost to call a landline using Skype? If it reasonable I could do the podcast on the phone and then reimburse the person who makes the call. Is that even possible to do anyway? Because obviously youā€™d be calling Larry as wellā€¦

Other than that Iā€™ll just have to sit this one out. Itā€™s cool as Iā€™d sooner you get this nailed down rather than let me stall it.

17

Chris hereā€¦

Which is fair enough, I can completely understand that - like I say, just hope you donā€™t mind me asking! :slight_smile:

I donā€™t know for certain, but to be honest Iā€™d be surprised if it was possible for Skype to dial out to two people at once during a conference call - although then again it might work if two different people dialled two different numbers! :slight_smile:

Whoa, hold your horses there my friend! :slight_smile: As yet we still donā€™t know what days would be best for the others, so far we know that MannyF can only do a weekend date but we need info on when would be best for anyone else interested in taking part before making decisions. So, you may not be shot of having to listen to my dreadful hosting just yet! (j/k!) :wink:

In terms of the recording - if push came to shove, if Kyle was cool with it we could always try a test recording with his software again, it seems that MastersCast in their most recent episode was subject to some echo despite the fact that they were just using much the same setup as previous episodes, so perhaps these things just happen randomly? If we end up doing this at a time that doesnā€™t work for MannyF we could always try it! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

18

Plus, Iā€™m like Angie in that Iā€™m really shy when it comes to strangersā€¦especially celebrities! LOL. I probably wouldnā€™t bring much to the table when it comes to conversationā€¦Neil would be a better fit for this episode. Iā€™ll just give questions for Chris to ask! :wink:

19

Chris hereā€¦

LOL, itā€™s all cool Manny - Iā€™m sure youā€™d do better than you think, but if you prefer to sit it out thatā€™s cool too. In a way it would be good if there werenā€™t more than, say, 5 or 6 of us taking part in the podcast anyway, otherwise we either might ā€œtrip overā€ each other with talking at once, or also Larry might find us slightly overwhelming! :smiley:

So, if youā€™re sure that this is cool with you Manny, I propose that we shoot for one of the weekday times (which is what both Neil and Kyle have expressed as being good for them), and if we have to utilise the ā€œ15 mins at a timeā€ recording method then we just work round that the best we can. :slight_smile:

Obviously because of Larryā€™s busy schedule Iā€™ll need to start setting this up pretty soon - so, if anyone else is interested in taking part, please can you LMK ASAP? :slight_smile: Iā€™m going to whittle the dates down and say that the two dates on the table are:

Monday 24th September
UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

Thursday 27th September
UK: 1am
ET: 8pm
PT: 5pm

Looking forward to making this happen! :slight_smile:

Take careā€¦ :slight_smile:

20

If we go for the weekday thing, perhaps it would be a good idea if both Kyle and I recorded the podcast? That way we will have a back up and letā€™s face it, if we lose anything from the one recording we canā€™t go back and do a retake :frowning:

So I definately think 2 people recording it is a good idea.

As for being shy, Iā€™m very nervous! However Iā€™m just gonna have to try and see Larry as one of you guys, as I think thatā€™s the only way Iā€™ll get through this podcast recording :frowning:

Major thanks to Chris for being the anchor for this!

As for who is taking part Chris, looks like it me, you and Kyle. If anyone else on the team wanted to they would have already replied by now.