(Note: Aliy has been beating her self up lately about not writing more posts for this website and not answering more of the questions you have been asking via the comments and email. She really likes all the videos we have been doing, but she is concerned both that we can't "do it all" in video and that some of you have dial-up internet connections that are too slow to be able to watch them. The problem, of course, is that it takes a really long time to write things up and, frankly, she just doesn't have the time to spare in the frantic pace of the Kennel, training dogs and preparing for the racing season.
So, when I was in Fairbanks the other day, I picked up a slick little digital recorder and gave it to her, suggesting that she start using it as a way to communicate with you. I've pointed out how good she is at describing things "real-time" in the videos and proposed that if she just "talks into the machine" in the same way, she can cover much more -- and better -- in a tiny fraction of the time it would take her to "write it up." I have also promised that I can post the audio in a format that everybody can listen to, no matter what kind of internet connection they have.
Well, she gave it a try today, and the result is this little audio piece in which Aliy talks about lead dogs. I think she did a great job, and I hope you like it too. As you can probably tell by the title of this post, I'm already thinking that this should be an ongoing series called "Aliy Talks About..." If you think so too, please leave a comment and let her know. I think that with just a little encouragement we may be able to get her to do it often. Also, if we really push her, we might be able to convince her to make recordings while she is on the sled, in a race, etc. Now that would be fun and exciting to have, don't you think?
Anyway, for my part I have done the best I can to fulfill my promise to make this audio work for everybody. I have compressed the audio all the way down to a 24kbps mp3 format, so it should stream well even over dial-up. The audio quality suffers a little, but I think universal access is worth the trade off. Also, I have embedded it in a Google player so any web browser on any machine should be able to play it. Please let me know in the comments if you have any problems.
Now, with no further verbiage or delay, I offer you "Episode One" of "Aliy Talks About...")
If you are having trouble with the embeded player, you can click here to access the mp3 file directly.
Labels: About the Kennel, Aliy Talks About..., Audio, Dogs, Macgellan