This is a mix tape.  I *think* that means that the beats are someone else’s.  You can show your friends but you cannot attempt to make any money off the song cuz, in actuality, it’s just not yours.

But it was still fun.  It’s weird, I woulda wrote completely different stuff than what these guys wrote but I’ve learned that’s not up to me.  In these little creative expressions no one can interfere with what you do and vice versa.  Just the hook was up to me so I made one and ran with it;)

Click Here To Play Glory Days

Check out these photos. Esthero stole my guitar!

Just kidding, it’s Trey’s guitar and she twitted that she needed a guitar for a session to write a song for Brandy. Trey happened to be over and almost left his guitar at home but he brought it at the last minute. She has the guitar right now and is using it to record over at MTV for the weekend. So rad. And very scrappy and spontaneous on her part which I think makes for some of the best music=)

My systems for recording and editing audio and video are in need of a giant upgrade.  I can come up with a fine finished product but the amount of jerry-rigs I had to do to make it happen is making me all around inefficient and slow at cranking out work.

My little sound booth sounds great for voice over work, but then when I plug my Mini-Me into my PC, the old fart of a machine doesn’t recognize the microphone.  So I have a PowerBook G4 for recording, but I still prefer to edit in ACID.  After I record them on my laptop, I save them to a flash drive and pull it up in ACID on my PC.  It’s a GIANT pain to not be able to record directly into my PC and I think it’s cuz my PC is just flat out old.

Then there’s the fact that I love to travel and do voice over on my trips (then I can pay for the traveling!).  My desktop machine is about as portable as a dresser and my PowerBook seems freakishly heavy when you add it to my mic and the Mini-Me.

And then there’s my world of video.  Whether it’s a GadgetGossip episode, Travel episodes or any other bit of video, I’ve got a little Panasonic SD camera from several years ago.  I’ve got to keep track of mini DV tapes, carry that stupid camera bag around and keep the battery charged all the time.  Between, my desktop machine, my old lap top and my old camera, I have a faily wide load of aging electronics.  But I think I’ve figured out the answers to streamline all the work I do.

A Netbook and a Flip Mino HD.

I’m pretty sure a Netbook can run ACID and VEGAS smoothly and it weighs next to nothing.  I could travel with it and be able to voice over work from just about anywhere.  I can go to conferences and not feel like my back is slowly breaking from the lap top in my bag.  I could edit video right after I shot it , while it’s still fresh, when I’m traveling.  This is so appealing because I often have to wait three weeks before I can get home and even capture the footage.

And the Flip Mino HD is as small as a cell phone.  I can and should have it with me at all times.  No mini DV tapes, no battery charging all the time, no more “I wish I had my camera on me”.

They are such simple, reasonably priced solutions, but I think they might do the trick for all my current project needs.  And it’s easier to stay motivated when your workflow is smooth and you don’t feel like everything is heavy and annoying to haul around.

Does anyone else have any of these devices?  How do they work for you?

Most GDC parties are BAD.  So so bad.

These parties are usually open bar but the line is crazy and the drinks are never good. And I’m pretty sure the original idea was for networking but they crank the music so loud you can’t hear yourself talk, let alone someone you’re talking to.  The worst part is when there is no where to sit down.

The Game Developer’s Party was the best party I’ve ever been to during any kind of conference.  It was this year’s  Fairmount Hotel.  People were actually comfortable and having a good time.  After years of going to dog meat GDC parties, Dave Taylor thought about who goes to them and what they would want to do at a party, and designed his own around that.

The drinks were UNBELIEVABLE.   Seriously, I’ve worked in my share of bars.  Nice ones.  These drinks, sponsored by Bacardi rocked.  They were fruity and tasty but somehow sophisticated at the same time. Now I’m no light-weight that has to have Appletinis. I can drink whiskey with the best of them but these drinks tasted sooo much better!  The kumquats, fresh mint and essence of jalepeno weren’t there to mask the rum, they were there enhance it.  There was even a drink with lightly whipped egg white on top!  That might sound crazy but, trust me, it was good. The Mojitos were simple and perfect and the rest of the drinks on the menu were so unique and truly delicious. Not sure who’s idea that all was but it was genius. They were tasty, fun to try and a great ice-breaker for conversation. People were clearly impressed.

And then there was the food. Small fresh baguettes with carmelized onions and goat cheese. Yummy quiches, arugula and beet salad. Creme Brulee, fresh fruit and wicked good chocolate chip cookies.  I think the company that did that was Crepe de Chocolate and I think they have a restaurant in the Bay Area somewhere.  Or at least they really really should.

The last element for the perfect party was this, sort of, photo booth set up. Hal Bergman had a photography area with his strobes, camera and a back drop and people went nuts over it!  If Hal ever thought the momentum was slowing down, he’d grab me and tell me to wrangle people.  By then I’d tossed back so many cocktails, this was quite a fun assignment=)

I did manage to get a little bit of video from the night.  It was at the Academy of Art which was right next to Moscone. I had this brilliant drunken idea to take some footage by the front door for some reason. This was followed by another great idea to video tape my cab ride home. Enjoy!

Game Developer’s Party from Naomi Mercer on Vimeo.

The dust is finally settling after a long run of parties that ended with the GDP (Game Developer’s Party) up in San Francisco following the GDC (Game Develper’s Conference).

The first party was down in Playa Del Rey and full of westsiders that didn’t suck. It was the sound engineer for the Korean company I do voice over work for’s birthday. I think it was a double birthday actually. Him and one of his buddies. People were damn cool too. One guy was a comedian up in San Francisco and runs the comedy section on Vimeo - which I wish the world would exclusively use instead of YouTube. And there were a bunch of cools gals there - which are usually so hard to find. It’s not easy to meet solid females around here. And for shits, giggles and nostalgia, there were jello shots! Man, they tasted like college. It was really fun.

Also, totally worth mentioning, is the Breakfast at Tiffany’s style champagne tasting party. A prize went out to whoever dressed the most like they stepped off the set of the movie (guess who won?!). Mike Murphy threw a great party and made some delicious food. The crepes after 9pm were an especially nice touch. Dave grabbed my phone and took a couple of pics while I was talking to people.

And here’s some funny pics with an old fashioned iron=) That was a fun. And the first reason I’ve had to bust those gloves out since prom.

Then, on Wednesday, I left for the GDC.  I felt like I did exactly what I came to do.  I didn’t stay too long, I attended useful lectures, and I marketed and schmoozed my ass off.  The lectures, How to Talk to An Actor and something Sony did about having a seamless audio session with your actors, were chock-full of people that hire voice over actors.  I plopped my butt down in them and talked to tons of people in the audience.  Rather than handing out business cards or demos, I got people’s info and sent them an email with all my info and demos right there from my phone….this is boring.  Sorry.  Okay, so at the end of the day of the conference I met up with Justin, who was just finishing up an interview with Intel or something, and then we went to the GDP.  That one’s fit for it’s own post=)

I’m at the airport getting ready to fly up to the GDC in San Francisco.  I’ve gone in the past to work with or for Dave Taylor but this is only my second time going to market myself as a voice over actor.  I don’t know of anyone else who does this but I feel like it’s such a no-brainer.  I mean, that’s where the people that make games go.  And my agent gets me a lot of video game auditions but I figure it would be even better for them to connect a face to the voice.

I’m especially excited to go this time for a few reasons:

1. I’m staying with Hal Bergman at his new place which is so much better than a hotel

2. The last time I went people asked me if I’d been in anything they’d recognize lately, if I was SAG, and if I had a demo.  I answered no to all three yet, this year I was the Barroness in GI Joe, I’m SAG and I just finished my animation demo last week.

3. Dave’s (succulently juicy story to tell about him later) producing a wicked party tomorrow night that has every indication of being epic and I, being his roommate, am on the guest list.

4. Justin Lassen is going to be there and I haven’t seen him in AGES.  I’m going to try to convince him to hang out when we get back cuz my studio is all set up and we can jam.  He’s so fun to do that with and we both use ACID Pro for recording and editing which is convenient.  I’m sure he knows how to use most editing software.  Anyway, jamming with him is like better than crack!  Er, I imagine.

Oops, plane is boarding, must post.  If you’re up there, DM me on Twitter

My dear friend took me out for a lovely meal at the new restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, Drago Centro.  Before I went I had time to peak at a review and so I knew I needed to swank it up a bit.  I pieced together a simple black dress and black heels with a flower belt I made and a rather bold necklace of my grandmother’s.

The food was crazy good. I’d go into details but the review already does that better than I ever could. Anyway I do recommend it if you ever go and have the extra money to spend.

Shame on me.  This happened on Tuesday and, here I am not getting it down until Friday.  I don’t really know if anyone cares about when and how I write stuff but this topic felt worthy anyway.

The day before I was to report to the studio, I was told I needed to have my crap in good standing with SAG.  I’ve taken a few SAG jobs in the past but never joined for many reasons, the biggest of which was that the initiation fee was up to nearly $2400.  Screw that - the job only pays $1600!  But after you take two SAG jobs you become classified as a “must-join” and cannot accept another job until you’ve paid your initiation and dues.

I was told that if they are contacted by the production company saying that they want to hire me, I would be “station 12′d” and qualify for a payment plan.  So I called SAG but they had no record of anyone Station 12ing me.  And yet, my agent called saying the casting people tried to Station 12 me but it came up that I’m not in good standing with the union so I need to have it taken care of!!  What the hell?!

So, the evening before the job my agent calls the producer at Electronic Arts and finds out it’s an AFTRA job.  Sweet.  I’ve done tons of AFTRA jobs and just needed to pay my dues that were like $50 bucks.  So the night before I went from thinking that I had to pay $2400 to finding out that I only had to pay around $50=)

The session time was at 9am and I wanted to have plenty of time to wake up so I was out the door by 8am.  I walked through my new hood down to the Panini Garden for a cup of coffee.  Four dollars for that small mocha and I could not choke down one sip.  It was nasty.  I took the lid off and it actually looked a lot like mud.  Water, coffee grinds and scalded milk - gross.  And it must’ve been over 180 degrees….blech.  I was so irritated about the idea of wasting that money and throwing it away a minute later.  I tried to feel out the vibe of the guy behind the counter and well, he felt reeeeal crabby.  I could tell right away he wasn’t about to make me another.  Without taking one more sip I threw it in the garbage.

Not ten minutes later I walked in the door of POP Sound.  Two gorgeous, 15 pound female receptionists whisked around the counter and came to my side.

“Can I get you anything?  Coffee, water, fresh squeezed juice or any espresso drink?”

and then the other one chimed in,

“Would you like some breakfast?  Help yourself to anything in the kitchen here.”  I peeked in the kitchen and was all of a sudden so happy I didn’t have anything before I came.  The first girl went to work on my mocha while I made myself a toasted bagel with lox and cream cheese and fresh tomato.  Then I saw the fruit bowl.  Is that not magnificent?!

Man oh man was I happy, especially once I had a yummy mocha in my hand to boot. I finished my breakfast while they got ready for me and then was shown to the studio where I’d be recording.

The session was great and my character, the Baroness, is a super fun and deliciously sexy, yet evil character. The best news of all was when they said they’d scheduled too much work to do for the session and that we’d need to schedule another. Holla!

I have had a lot of chocolate.  I’ve tasted it in just about every form.  Whenever I travel to a city known for it’s chocolate - Brussels, Belgium, for example - I make a special effort to enjoy it as much as I can.  The older I get the darker I go, with my palette developing into a very harsh critic for anything mediocre or boring.  Now I go for chocolate that is a minimum of 60% Cacao and is paired up with anything from ginger to bacon.

I’d go as far to say it is one of my preferred ways to self-medicate.  Some people take Zoloft, some prefer a nice cold beer after a hard days work and some like a nice warm bubble bath.  If I’m feeling a little low, chocolate has proven time and time again to make me feel better.  A good party in my mouth is the best way to end the day.  And I will always gladly forfeit the last ten bites of my meal to leave room for some good quality, not too sweet, decadent chocolate.

As many of you know, I am spending a month in a cabin outside of Seattle to work, get out of LA for a while, and spend some time with my best friend, Tara.  On the way up to the cabin, we stopped to pick up some groceries.  Our list consisted of healthy, fresh, organic foods and, of course some chocolate.  She grabbed a bar I’d never seen before off the shelf and said, “Have you ever had this stuff?  It’s such a crazy combo of flavors and I’m in love with it.”

“Lemme see that.” I said.  Certain I couldn’t be impressed.  The package read “Bread & Chocolate”

“Uhhh…ya.  Sounds pretty boring.  Can’t we get some more exciting flavors?  Like, what about this dark chocolate with orange peel and salty toffee?”

We bought one of each and hopped back on the road.

Later that night, Tara didn’t wait long before she busted out the chocolate she chose.  I asked her to toss me a square and threw it in my mouth thinking it would probably suck but could at least help me get my fix.

I stopped.

This was not a party in my mouth.

This was a scandalous love affair.  Two flavors matched up that seemed so wrong but - oh my God - felt so right.  The texture was crunchy, like a ground up crouton that was somehow perfectly mixed in.  And the flavor of the bread was sort of a basic sour dough.  This shit’s no joke.  I was totally high.  With each square I placed on my tongue, I felt sensations in places I probably shouldn’t name.

I aggressively grabbed at the package.  “Where the hell is this from?” I was sure it must be from some exotic corner of the globe.  Somewhere I needed to plan my next trip to.

“They make it in Seattle - right up on Phinney Ridge.  Ya my friend in Boston who’s a buyer for Whole Foods came out to the factory, took one bite and was like, ‘Oh yes. We WILL sell your chocolate’”

They’re called the Theo Chocolate Company and they are the only organic, fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US.  So damn cool.  So damn good.

They have a ton of different flavors and kinds of chocolate (bars, confections, etc.).

If you come across one of these bars in your local Whole Foods or Wild Oats or whatever, don’t waste your time being skeptical like I was.  My only caution is that you might not want to be in a public setting for your first taste.  The moaning it triggered in me was definitely NC-17.

There’s a LOT of them but this is from the photoshoot I did with Hal day before yesterday.  Hal wanted to experiment with smoke so I choked down some cloves that I’m still coughing from and he also played around with his stobes which he took some pictures of for reference (the ones where Jonah, who hasn’t slept for days looks all sleazy behind me).

http://www.halbergman.com/shoots/naomi-200810/