July is over, but life goes on!

So, we are quickly approaching the end of the middle of the year. Or... is it the beginning of the end of the middle of the year? I can never keep up with these things.

Anyway, some news:

- My official OFFICIAL demo reel is currently under construction, but is coming along quite nicely. I hope to have it up and running so I can send it to companies in the area before the end of August. The sooner, the better. :)

- I have recently been approached to work with a prestigious blog known as Voice Actors in the News! I'll be providing some news, info, and stories about Anime voice actors and their involvement with the industry and fans. So keep an eye out for more information there. :)

- Took the Adventures in Voice Acting Intermediate Voice Acting Workshop for the second time this past weekend. It'd been 8 months since the people had last seen me, and I think I brought the heat in this long-overdue session. Made some new contacts, and hopefully I'll have some big news for you guys in the near future.

And that's my news! Still looking for auditions in the LA/Burbank area, so if you guys hear about anything and want to pass along the information, I will love you forever and promise to buy you a plushie or stuffed animal when I'm rich and famous!

Enjoy the new Animation Voice-Over Reel to the right! I know I did. ^_^

P.S.: Those waiting for plushies and/or stuffed animals may end up disappointed because the likelihood of my being rich and famous is less than the likelihood of a penguin being struck by a bolt of lightning while driving a Honda Civic through the Gobi Dessert. Just saying. XD

Well, hello there, Blog. ^_^;

Okay. Okay okay okay. Sorry. Been busier than a kid in a candy store.

First things first: Haven't heard back from the WoW folks. Waiting is the hardest part of this job. But I'm sure that if they find a use for me, they'll call. Just have to be patient. :)

Second: Went to AX. Participated in AX Idol again (for the last time). Didn't make finals, but my good friend Eric won the whole shebang! I was so proud of him, and I can't wait for him to move down here where all the work is. :D I also helped out my friends by doing the live voiceover intro for their show The Indecent Otaku Comedy Show. That was a cool experience, but a little hectic.

If you want to see my AX Idol Monologue audition, you can! They're up on my Youtube in my Fandubs and Voice Work playlist. Here's a direct link, just for the lazy people: Mark AX Idol Monologue You can also see my work at one of the Adventures in Voice Acting panels live-dubbing a scene as Kyon from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. :) --> Mark as Kyon LIVE

Third: Workshops galore! Two with Crispin Freeman this past weekend and 1 at the Adventures in Voice Acting this Sunday. Going to be interesting.

Fourth: Working on a new demo. Great Awesome McPerson Person Julie Rei is going to help me write it, and she'll even direct me too! She's so awesome! :D And my buddy Geoff is going to mix it for me! Who would've ever guessed that the smarty-pants teacher's pet from Downey would have such insanely nice and awesome friends?

Fifth: New stuff galore! The best way to check what I'm up to is to check my Playlist on Youtube, like I said. A new chapter of the ongoing original Machinima Obscurity came out. I play Simon the cop in this one as well as two other special characters. See if you can spot my voice! :D

Another episode of Star Wars: Blue Harvest is out, featuring your's truly as the voice of Captain Bulo. Check it! -->Star Wars: Blue Harvest Episode XXX

Also, two new dub clips came out. One from the anime Angel Beats! where I play Hinata (the blue-haired idiot). See that one in my playlist. It's a quick couple of lines, but not a character I get to play very often. :)

The second clip is the one to the right, and it'ss something I'm proud of. It's a shame that Youtube killed the quality of the upload, but let me know what you guys think. I play the main character/guy. His glasses are cool. :D

So here I am...

Well. Hello there, everyone. I'm new to this blogging thing, so please, everyone be kind.

Let me just introduce myself here. My name is Mark, and every where on the internet I can be found under the moniker "Akumaryu." I'm a music fan, and anime fan, and a fan of a lot of other things, too. Probably my biggest love in life, though, is Voice Acting.

Now, if you've been on the internet for a while, you'll probably think "Oh jeez, here comes another one of THOSE people." But I hope you'll stick around and give me a chance.

See, I eat, sleep, drink, and breathe voice acting right now. Seriously. I wake up in the morning and think about it. I go to bed thinking about it. And it even invades my thoughts at some of the most inopportune moments.

I've been doing amateur voice work through the Voice Acting Alliance (awesome sight, check it out if you're at all interested in voice acting [recently suggested in a workshop by Tony Oliver!]). I've done a lot of fandubs (SHH!!), a few radioplays, and a couple of other things here and there. Chances are if you just run over to Google and/or Youtube and type in Akumaryu, you'll find stuff featuring my terrible voice and shoddy acting, so I won't do any plugs (just yet).

Lately, I've been taking some serious steps into getting involved with voice acting on a professional level. This, as I'm sure some of you know, is a terrible idea. But hey, I can't do anything else. I mean, I can do other things, but none of them speak to me like this. Plus, I'm mediocre at everything I do. This is probably the only thing I can honestly feel I do well with

But enough about me. Let's talk about me. ^_^

I've attended a couple of workshops now, and plan to attend quite a few more. I've set a goal for myself to at least have worked on one professional project by this time next year. And to help chronicle my journey, I've decided to start up this little blog. So I'll be coming here pretty frequently to let everyone who's interested in how that journey is going. In the words of several great minds, "The journey is often more amazing than the goal." Or something like that.

Anyways, I hope not to bore everyone too much. This probably won't be one of those blogs where I start off all serious and after a couple of entries talking about what I had for lunch and how mad I am at Jamie or Bill. I'm not that kind of person. Though I won't promise there will be no randomness. I AM THAT kind of person. So be warned.

And that's pretty much all I have left to say. Next post will be a re-post of sorts. I'll be typing up something that was a pre-workshop thought blurb from just before my last workshop, the Adventures in Voice Acting Beginning workshop. Then, my post-workshop thoughts.

Yeah, like I said, kind of boring. ^_^