"Raptors, Run!"

There's a fitness app called "Zombies, Run!"  
But my phone is decrepit and refuses to support it,
so I made my own version
with dinosaurs.


MP3 DOWNLOAD

You are journeying as a private volunteer for D.I.E.T.I.D.E.
Department of Investigative Exploration of Time and Inter-Dimensional Eras
when your Rover has a little bit of a hiccup in the Cretaceous Period.
But don't worry, if you follow the voice of your Guide,
you'll make it to a spare jeep without getting toothed by a T-Rex.
...Or any other dino.

Warm-Up (2:40)
"Time" by Antaeus
"Clear Blue Water" by Oceanlab

Running (29:50)
"The Signal" by Bear McCreary
"This Dark and Twisty Road" by Abney Park
"Roslin Escapes" by Bear McCreary
"Just Scarecrows to War" by BBC National Orchestra of Wales
"Evolution of the Daleks" by BBC National Orchestra of Wales
"The End of Days" by Abney Park
"Bushido" by Brand X Music
"Forgotten World" by Brand X Music
"The Doctor's Theme" by Murray Gold
"Exotica" by Brand X Music
"Flight Through Jerusalem" by Jesper Kyd
"503" by Hans Zimmer
"Gaeta's Lament (Instrumental)" by Bear McCreary
"Dethroned" by X-Ray Dog
"Titan Dune" by Two Steps From Hell
"Dragon's Breath" by Brand X Music

Cool-Down (1:38)
"A Future for the Krogan" by Clint Mansell
"Grand Old Lady" by Bear McCreary

Total (34:08)



This was an incredibly engaging project,
from music selection to scripting to voicing to improvising.
And, most importantly,
this will help keep my interest in running.
Give it a download and try the adventure for yourself! 

{music credited above and © respective owners}

{"A Bad Day" © Pygar}

{Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus Rex © Steven Spielberg}

"Radio Drama: My Old Man (うちの親爺)"

A radio drama my classmates and I recorded 

for our JAPAN 322 (short fiction) class.

My Old Man (うちの親爺) by ashleysmusic

Taylor: Narrator/Son
Noel: Father/Uncle
Me: Daughter

We translated the original Japanese story 

into (somewhat) coherent English.

I was editing this until 3am. @__@ #webettergetagoodgrade

"Belles Amies, 素敵な友達〜"

Just as the title says, "Lovely Friends".
Me gustan mis amigas.
How many other ways can I say it?

We all slept at Erin's house 

and whipped out GarageBand 

to do some goofy, impromptu recordings.

This one is a conversation between 

a girl named "Kanna" 

and her very-Korean mother.

Oh, how kindred our spirits are.
Oh, how I love these ladies.

{♪ "Comme des Enfants" © Coeur de Pirate}

{♪ "Capoeira (Paranaue)" © Only The Strong}

"Rudolph the Tonakai"

Rudolph the Tonakai by ashleyserena

Recorded this for my ninth graders.

We're having a whole lesson

just singing Christmas songs.

Actually, I'm starting to turn into Rudolph myself.

Achoo!

But dancing in the rain was so worth it.

{MP3 Download Here}

{Instrumental © Joey Miskulin}
{Images via WeHeartIt & FotoSearch}

"Husbands"

We all love our husbands, right?

Just kidding. I don't have one.

forever alone

This was a

language practice

voice acting exercise

and character development activity.

Three birds with one stone.

Blazin' baby.

White Day is the day

when boys give girls Valentines.

Japan does things right.

All it took was a simple question from Cho

and a sassy response from Shampoo

to spark the fire

and begin the heated husband battle.

Atleast we know these girls love their spouses... Maybe too much.

In order of appearance:

Cho

Husband: Riku ("Ri-kun")

Aiata

Husband: Yuugi

Ukyou

Husband: Sora ("Socchan")

Kairi

Husband: Ranma

Shampoo

Husband: Ryou ("Airen")

Anzu

Husband: Katsuya ("Jounouchi-kun")

Shizuka

Husband: Hiroto ("Hi-chan")

{Cho, Aiata © Ashley S. Harmon}

{Kairi © Tetsuya Nomura}

{Shampoo, Ukyou © Rumiko Takahashi}

{Anzu, Shizuka © Kazuki Takahashi}

{Music via Britney Spears & Alex Goot}

{Image via WeHeartIt}

"Love and War: Jusenkyo Melee"

"Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting.

...But never hit soft." -Theodore Roosevelt

{This is voiced in both English AND Japanese, for no reason other than I wanted it that way. Uh huh.}

Everyone loves a little romantic drama
and a good smash n' bash, right? RIGHT?

So, Ranma loves Kairi, yeah?
But Kairi has passionate feelings for Bakura.
But Bakura is just a spirit,
inhabiting the body of a boy named Ryou.
Shampoo loves Ryou,
but can't tell when he's being possessed by Bakura.
Ukyou is an old fiancee of Ranma's.
Ryoga is an old rival of Ranma's.
Mousse loves Shampoo,
and will chuck bombs at anyone who touches her.
Ranma turns into a woman
whenever cold water splashes him.
And Riku & Cho are married.
THE END.

{Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyou, Ryoga, Mousse © Rumiko Takahashi}

{Bakura © Kazuki Takahashi}

{Riku & Kairi © Tetsuya Nomura}

{Cho © Ashley S. Harmon}

{Fight image via Under the Sun}

{Music © Brand X Music & Ranma 1/2}

{All voices by Ashley S. Harmon, except Bakura's... because Little Kuriboh just does him so well.}

"Voice Acting: Dog Park"

Two friends walk to the dog park,

only to find their rivals in love already there.

How tacky.

{The boy Letaki wants Tanimeko to call is Rai,

a jerk who dumped her so he could chase Kairi.}

Letaki Kikuchi

Best friends with Tanimeko.

Infatuated with Riku.

Dislikes Cho.

Tanimeko Tamada

Best friends with Letaki.

Interested in Ranma.
Dislikes Kairi & Cho.

Marbold
Tanimeko's papillon.

Cho Marugama

Best friends with Kairi.

Engaged to Riku.

Dislikes Letaki & Tanimeko.

Kairi Akimatsu

Best friends with Cho.

Interested in Ranma.

Shiroi

Cho's Spirit Contract.

Regularly seen as a black & white dog.

Ranma Saotome

Friends with Riku.

Loves Kairi.

Riku Nakamura

Friends with Ranma.

Engaged to Cho.

{There are lots of little background conversations happening.}

...Those were my favorite to make.}

Am I a geek for writing scripts
and doing voice overs for my characters?
The verdict is 'yes'.

{Jajauma ni Sasenaide © Ranma 1/2}
{Riku & Kairi © Tetsuya Nomura}
{Ranma © Rumiko Takahashi}
{Letaki, Tanimeko, Cho, Shiroi © Ashley S. Harmon}
{Images via WeHeartIt}

"Japanese Voice Acting: Karaoke Box"

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning." -Maya Angelou




Karaoke boxes are hugely popular in Japan.

Especially when they have all-you-can-eat ice cream.
{...Okay, that's what draws me inside.}
If you ever find yourself in Japan,
grab some pals and pyon! over to a karaoke box.
Trust me, you'll find one easily.
They're as common as Starbucks in NYC.
Or as churches in Utah.
Or as ice cream wrappers in my garbage bin.

What's going on in this recording?
A double date, that's what.
YES.
Ranma took Kairi, Riku called Cho,
and they all went karaoke-ing together.
Daww.

Who are these characters, anyways?
Riku and Kairi hail from Kingdom Hearts,
a beautiful Square Enix video game.
We stole Ranma from Ranma 1/2,
a 1980s comic that will leave you in stitches.
And Cho comes from my brain. She's all mine, baby.


Why is Ranma singing a girly song?
A running gag in the Ranma 1/2 comic is,
despite Ranma's ability to turn into a woman
{he fell in a cursed Chinese hot spring, go figure}
he is completely heterosexual, 100% male.
And he wouldn't ever touch a Disney song. Or sing it so passionately.
But the lyrics fit him perfectly,
since he's both male and female,
constantly struggling to only be male,
and to be the manliest male in the history of manliness.
Chuck Norris, here comes Ran-chan.


Boys and girls speak differently...
...in Japanese as well. Jumping jellyfish, do they really?
To illustrate a character more fully,
you must fuse their speech style with their word choice.
And you must evaluate the scene.
Since these four are all close friends and lovers

they speak casually to one another.
The only character who retains any politeness
is Kairi
though she slips into colloquial speech near the end,
from shock and humiliation at Ranma's performance.
*hee hee*

Are you at home?
In a cafe?
On your Blackberry?
Listen to the people around you.
You can probably guess a lot about them
their mood, their relationship to the person they're speaking to, their deception/sincerity
just by listening to what they say, and how they say it.

{Image via WeHeartIt}

{"Come Back to Me" © Utada Hikaru}

{"Reflection" © Matthew Wilder & David Zippel}

{"Jajauma ni Sasenaide" © Ranma 1/2}
{Riku & Kairi © Tetsuya Nomura}
{Ranma © Rumiko Takahashi}
{Cho © Ashley S. Harmon}

"Japanese Voice Acting"

My father can do these

amazing voices,

in pretty much any accent you can think of.

This could be why

I'm so in like-like with voice acting.

My friend, Erin,

has the ability to take

just about any fictional character

and deepen their story,

bringing them to life.

This could be why

I'm so in love with character development.

Triple Date:


Haunted:

I've found creating these voice clips

to be a really entertaining way

to retain all the little Japanese tidbits

I pick up from my friends

and people I hear on the streets of Japan.

I added my own characters to the stories...
hope you enjoy!

{If there are any grammatical/pronunciation errors, they're there because I'm still learning.}

{Cho, Aiata, Shiroi, Rai © Ashley S. Harmon}

{Music & other characters © their respective owners}

{Image via here}

"Happy Birthday, Beau!"

"Age is something that doesn't matter... unless you are a cheese." -Anonymous

Today, we celebrated a 20th birthday without the celebrated person.

And we made CAKE...

it's bakin' time.

the naked cake.

glazing is so uberly fun!

striking the match...

lighting the flame... (just like my heart, bah-bump.)

representin'.

carvin' the goods.

eatin' the yums.

I also made a video. :) It's the preface of a surprise party... in Japanese, of course.

And happy birthday to my very best friend! We've walked together, fought together, grown together, and loved together. You are my most favorite comrade and companion. I love you!