Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone 609-750-1830
Fax 609-750-9653
Reader’s Note
March/April, 2007
Tony Gruenewald, Editor
Record-A-Thon 2007 – April 16-21
Meet our celebrity readers
Pulitzer Prize winner James M. McPherson reading from his latest book, This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War –
Monday, April 16 @ 4 p.m.
Children’s Author Janet S. Wong reading her books, The Dumpster Diverand Twist: Yoga
Poems – Tuesday, April 17 @ 12:30 p.m.
Institute for Advanced Study professor emeritus Freeman Dyson reading from his latest book The Scientist as Rebel –
Wednesday, April 18 @ 2 p.m.
The Star Ledger’s “Munchmobile” and “Eat with Pete” gourmand Pete Genovese –
to be announced.
More R-A-T fun!
Internet Auction with proceeds to benefit the unit (see page 3)!
ART for R-A-T volunteer invitational art show with proceeds to benefit the unit (see page 4)!
Pre-R-A-T Bookmark-a-Thon (B-A-T) &
Post-R-A-T Check-a-Thon (C-A-T) (see page 4)!
Adopt-A-Text Challenge
There will be an Adopt-A-Text challenge to try to raise $10,000 to adopt ten New Jersey curriculumn texts to be recorded “through the generosity of the New Jersey Unit’s 2007 Record-A-Thon volunteers.”
9,500 hours for 2007?
Of course we can!
75% (7,125 hours)
50% (4,750 hours)
25% (2,375 hours)
100% (9,500 hours)
Meter graphic shows the black line at about 63%.
Push the hour-o-meter over the top! Our goal for the 2007 fiscal year (July 2006-June 2007) is 9,500 hours of recording. Despite the snow, ice and wicked winter winds, after eight months of the fiscal year, we’ve recorded 6,024 hours, which puts us on target. We can make up a lot of ground during Record-A-Thon With our bellies full of Clif Giddings 7-layer dip and a few throat lozenges, 9,500 will be no problem.
Fond farewell
As most of you have heard, Margaret Breidenthal’s husband Tom was recently elected bishop of the Episcopalian Diocese of Southern Ohio. We wish Tom and Margaret congratulations and best of luck on their move to Cincinnati and new endeavors. The down side of this wonderful news is that Margaret will be leaving her position as Assistant Production Director on April 19th. I would like to thank Margaret for everything she has contributed to the studio over the two and a half years she has been on the staff. (Margaret was previously a volunteer.) Her approachability, calm demeanor, and aptitude for handling tasks that require great attention to detail will be greatly missed by coworkers and volunteers alike. Unfortunately there isn’t an RFB&D unit in the Buckeye State, but wherever Margaret’s path leads her, I hope her gifts will be as appreciated as they have been at the New Jersey studio. – Jessie Falcone
Dear Aunt Bea...
Aunt Bea thinks people asking WWABD (What would Aunt Bea do?) when they have an RFB&D related question is
sweet, but perhaps a bit overboard.
Dear Aunt Bea,
I’ve just realized I missed a mark about five pages ago. Someone told me I should hit the mark button again so the screen catches up to the page where I am really recording. Is Somebody right?
A. Mark Behind
Dear Mark,
Thanks to an angel at headquarters named Wheeler Berlus (we’ve got the paperwork in at the Vatican to have him dubbed Saint Wheeler) we have the ability to add missing marks or take out extraneous marks. If you realize you’ve missed a mark and it’s too far back to go back and re-record from the place it was missed, STOPand flag down a staff memberand most likely they will tell you to continue on and just hit the mark button when you are supposed to hit it. You will end the file a page behind, but have no fear, staff can find the time where the mark should be and add it. DO NOT HIT THE MARK BUTTON AN EXTRATIME TO “CATCH UP.”It only makes it much more difficult to fix. The marks have to be at specific places in the text (wherever you see the //). The staff will have to find and take out those stray “catch up” marks to make the pages sync correctly.
Dear Aunt Bea,
There’s this annoyingly orange piece of paper with lots of words on it in my book. Does it have anything to do
with me?
I.M. Curious Orange
Dear I.M.,
To quote my favorite old television show Laugh In, “You bet your sweet bippy” it does. That orange tip sheet/navigation guide contains information on what you as reader should be doing with terms in bold, icons and other unique things in the book. (Every book is unique.) As a director you should be aware of it to make sure the reader is following directions so the book is read consistently. As a checker, and the recordings final set of ears, you should be using it as a guide to figure out whether or not the reader is presenting the material as instructed.
Volunteer happenings
Congratulations to Adina Langer who is engaged and will be married in October. Congratulations also to Caroline Wylie who is recently engaged to be married. Ron Leichliter is in the process of marrying off all three of his children in 364 days. Martin Romevacationed in Palm Springs. Julia Bernheimspent a few weeks in Turks and Caicos. Charles St. John was skiing in the Dolomites (that’s in Italy for those don’t know). Glen Bartle was in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Jon Gittlemanalso spent time in the Sunshine State. Bob Hermanescaped the cold weather in Jeckyl Island, Georgia. Anne Burnswill be trekking to the Galapagos Islands. Both Harvey Rothbergand Gwen Southgatewere off to England (no, not together).
Marjorie Heyman retired from the East Windsor School District and Felice Weinstein recently retired after a long career as a nurse in the Philadelphia School System. Victor Beargisn’t setting his alarm clock anymore since he retired from Princeton University.
If there’s any news you’d like to share with your fellow volunteers, please tell Tony Gruenewald or send him an e-mail at tgruenewald@rfbd.org.
Ewwwwww!!!
Dear volunteer using the booth I am about to enter,
Used tissues...cups full of cold coffee with curdled half and half...hearing aid batteries...unmarked bottles half full of unidentifiable liquids...
No, these are not a few of our favorite things. They are the things left in booths after almost every session. We don’t have a team of movie theater ushers to clean up the remains of the day between sessions, so if you brought it into the booth with you, please take it out and if necessary, dispose of it properly.
Thank you,
From the person using the booth after you
The key to map keys
There are some things you can do when you begin to describe a map that can make it easier on both yourself
and the listener.
OK, so this is not a map with an extensive key describing every battle in The Civil War, but it will give you an idea of how to set up the description and why we want to do it in that manner.
Graphic of map of the United States with caption: Figure 12.7. One of 16 views provided by a graphic script generating five-year rate-of-change maps from annual data for the perios 1970 through 1990. The map is title "5-Year difference in unemployement rate."
First things first; read the caption, then tell the listener the map shows the five-year difference in unemployment rate from 1980-1985. From there, describe the key. For example: “Black represents an increase of more that two. White represents a difference of less than plus or minus two. Grey represents a difference of greater than two. That should be the last time you need to mention the colors. We give the colors in the key so the sighted student has a chance to decipher the map without a lengthy description. After describing the key, the colors don’t need to be mentioned again. if the listener can decipher the map without the description, he/she can skip to the next page.
From there you can simply list the states that have an increase of more than two, a difference of less than plus or minus two or a difference of greater than two.
All about the Record-A-Thon Internet auction
The New Jersey Unit has partnered with MB Charity Fundraising, LLC for an Internet auction with proceed benefiting the unit. The auction will start at noon Record-A-Thon Monday, April 16 and run through April 25.
MB Charity Fundraising, LLC has raised money for other organizations including Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, Project Children and Love Our Children USA.
There will be a computer station set up at the unit for bidding, but all you need is access to a computer and an ebay account to bid from your home or office. You may create an account at www.ebay.com and select “Register”.
Beginning at noon April 16 you can access the website www.ebay.com/mbcharity. That page will give information about MB Charity Fundraising and will list the RFB&D auctions under “Signed Items for Charity”. Select the item number of the auction of interest. It will bring you to the auction listing. If you have an ebay account, you may bid by selecting “Place Bid” and entering the amount of your bid. There will also be a computer kiosk at the studio for access to the auction.
There are more items to come, but currently the items include tickets to Dancing With The Stars, Last Call With Carson Daly, The Ellen Degeneres Showand The Showbiz Show with David Spade, as well as memorabilia autographed by Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Cyndi Lauper, Sarah McLachlan, Alyssa Milano, Rod Stewart and Ben Stiller and the casts of Medium, Hannah Montana, The Odd Couple, Spamalot, The Suite Life of Zach and Codyand Wicked.
We see
No, it has nothing to do with political correctness. Our blind and visually impaired members are not in an uproar about our descriptions being heavy in “we see.”
Why say, “We see the Laffer curve entering Pisces while we see the supply curve intersect the demand curve in Aries with Jupiter rising,” when the two “we sees” can be dropped? It could be, “The Laffer curve enters Pisces and the supply curve intersects the demand curve in Aries with Jupiter rising.”
We are transcribing the material. Descriptions shouldn’t teach...just report what’s there. Descriptions shouldn’t be conversational...we should leave ourselves out of the description.
ART for R-A-T Volunteer Invitational
Art you a painter, photographer, sculptor, quilter, weaver or other artist?
Would you be willing to sell your original work in an Art Show to benefit the New Jersey Unit?
If so, please speak with Jessica Wilson.
The show will take place April 9-27.
If you are interested in participating in this event or have any questions about it, please speak with Jessica Wilson in the Development office. This is not an auction. Space is limited. The New Jersey Unit reserves the right not to display items which it feels might not be appropriate.
Pre-R-A-T
BOOKMARK-A-Thon (B-A-T)
Sign up for some extra time before R-A-T to prepare books to be read for R-A-T.
Post-R-A-T
CHECK-A-Thon (C-A-T)
Sign up for some extra time after R-A-T to help us check the litter of files read during R-A-T, so our members benefit ASAP.
Mug shots
Volunteer Karen Frezza is spearheading an exciting new project that will kick off during the Record-A-Thon: the volunteer face book (AKAMug Shots). Volunteers are encouraged to bring in photographs of themselves that will be paired with a short bio and compiled into a book. The photos can be professional, funny, or show off one of your hobbies outside of the studio. Look for the Mug Shots station in the studio during the week of RAT where you can drop off your photo and fill out a bio form. We are hopeful that Mug Shots will help volunteers recognize new faces and learn something new about old friends.
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-750-1830
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