RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
While darting around on the internet looking for specific cartoon images for some artwork I’m thinking of doing, I ran across this sublime cacophony of cartoon legends that I simply adore! Apparently it came from an old TV Guide story about how cartoons were taking over TV in the early 60’s. But most of my favorite characters from the day are present and accounted for.
I love it so much I’m having an artist recreate the piece with a few modifications. It’ll look great in Planet Wallywood!
A while back I told you that my friend Elliot Lurie from the 70’s group Looking Glass, had written a new song about how he met his new wife through me. Well, the song and the video are done and posted on YouTube. And I can’t get the song out of my head!
Monday the 1st – RING MY DELL! – When I got up at 1 I had a sinus headache. I walked Roxy and then headed back to bed in hopes it would soon go away. Later that evening my assistant Sara and I went to Little Toni’s to get some dinner, but the headache was still hanging on. I napped a bit on the couch and then got up to do a ton of auditions. All day long I had been getting texts that my Dell “glam rocker” commercial had started running again. They gave it a rest in June and July, but as of today it started running again! I was feeling a lot better, so I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched another episode of “Barnaby Jones” on DVD before bed.
Tuesday the 2nd – MOUNT UP! – The day began with a quick trip to my mailbox to get a few packages, the post office to mail some things, and a trip to Kinko’s Fed Ex to drop off a huge poster for mounting. When I had my old wooden garage door, I had a giant “Scooby Doo 2” movie poster tacked to the inside. But when they took that door off and replaced it with a new metal door, I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with my poster. The back of the wooden garage door was smooth and I could tack things easily to it. But the back of this metal door as metal beams running crosswise for support. The poster would fit nicely in between two of the beams, but I had to find a way to attach it so it would look nice. I got the idea of having it mounted on to foam core board, and then mounting the board on to the metal door. But the poster is about 48” wide and 68” high, which is about 8 inches bigger than most of the foam board I was finding. Luckily, Kinko’s Fed Ex had 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of foam board with an adhesive backing. So I just dropped off the poster to Kinko’s and they would handle the rest. I got a few groceries and then headed home to relax for a bit. My pal Brittney Powell came over so we could go to dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli. After dinner I came back home to grab a nap, and then I got up to do my nightly auditions. I warmed up the spaghetti and pizza leftovers from my Monday night dinner at Little Toni’s, and watched “Barnaby Jones” before bed. I sure do love that show!
Wednesday the 3rd – A WELL HUNG POSTER! – Around 3 I went to Voice Trax West to work on a few personal music projects with one of the engineers there. On the way home I stopped at Kinko’s Fed Ex and picked up my mounted Scooby Doo poster. It was enormous, so I had to put down the top in my Mustang and drive home very slowly. But as I drove down the street it was fun watching the smiles on people’s faces. I stopped off at the hardware store to get some extra strong mounting tape that holds up to 30 pounds. I got a sandwich at Subway and then headed home. My pal Jasmine stopped by to say his for a bit and check out a few new things in my collection. Then I headed to the garage for the ceremonial hanging of the Scooby Doo poster. I attached pieces of the mounting tape to sections of the door that would be making contact with the poster. I measured carefully to make sure I was doing it right. Then I peeled off the backing to expose the adhesive side. I carefully lined up the poster between the metal beams, and pressed hard. Voila! It worked out beautifully! I also had a 3 foot cardboard cutout of the Titan Insurance bobblehead that had been given to me. So I even found room to mount him on the door as well! I got a call about another on-camera audition for a metal rocker, so I went into the Chaney Room, opened up the closet door and pulled out a leather vest, a Sturgis tank top, some leather pants, a studded leather belt and gauntlet, fingerless leather gloves, and green snakeskin boots. This character would look different than the Dell rocker, because it was more of a Pantera rocker, and less of a Poison rocker. So I wouldn’t need to spray up my hair with all sorts of mousse and product. I took a quick nap, and then spent the night doing my Voice Over auditions. I made some beef stew and watched “Barnaby Jones” again before bed.
Thursday the 4th – METAL…DAD?! – When I got up I had a call from the U.S. Customs guy at Fed Ex with a few questions. My replica Animal Muppet was in transit from Canada and he needed to know a few things before he could send it on through. I had to fill out a special piece of paperwork in order to get it moving, so I did it quickly, scanned it and sent it over. It sounds as if Animal will arrive on Friday! I threw my costume on and headed to Santa Monica for the audition. It’s always interesting wearing super tight leather pants on a road trip. I got a great parking spot right in front of the casting office, put on my accessories, checked my look in the rearview mirror and went on in. There were other metal rockers there to audition as well, but I soon started realizing that I was about 25 years older than they were. They had us paired up, and the scenario involved two metal rocker dudes sitting and watching TV after a concert. But the guy they had me paired with was young enough to be my son, so right away I knew this wasn’t going to work so well. I looked like the band’s road manager! But maybe, just maybe, I could use my passing resemblance to Dimebag Darrell to my advantage. There weren’t any lines for these characters; mostly it was improvised dialogue while we were watching a fight break out. These metal dudes were merely a sight gag. But on the drive home I made a mental note to, in the future, ask my agent for the precise age of the character they’re casting. That way I don’t go in looking like somebody’s metal-head dad. I got home and changed into my usual cargo shorts, Vans and hoodie, and hit my mailbox to get my packages. I sent something to my sister Bonnie I think she’ll really like, and then I hit McDonald’s for lunch. I got home and fed the pets, did a little work on the computer, and then my friend Emily came over to chat before she left for Las Vegas for the weekend. I grabbed a short nap, did my evening auditions, made some lasagna and watched…you guessed it…”Barnaby Jones.”
Friday the 5th – AN-I-MAL! – It felt good to sleep in until 1:30! When I got up I got gas at Mobil because I was near the “E” mark. While the pump filled my tank, I noticed a hawk flying directly over my head. He was a big sucker! I hate when they hang out in my complex because they like to eat the Mourning Doves in the area. And I really love the sound of Mourning Doves in the morning. The hawk was so directly overhead, that I could see all the markings on the underside of his wings. Amazing! But the funniest thing happened. He flew across the street and perched atop a telephone pole. Soon, a small bird (about the size of the hawk’s head and neck) started swooping around the hawk busily. I thought, “Wow! That’s a brave little bird!” The hawk flew off of his perch with the little bird in hot pursuit. Then the hawk took up residence on a power pole. Another little bird started dive-bombing him. The hawk got tired of it and flew off. It must’ve been a Mom and Dad bird who were protecting a nest. It sure was fun to watch. I guess the bravery of a parent knows no bounds! I stopped off at my mailbox to pick up my Animal Muppet, but I didn’t open him. Then I sped off to Klasky-Csupo studios in Hollywood to do some ADR on an animated feature film I recorded the main voice tracks for last year. There were some extra screams, snores, efforts, etc. that were needed now that the animation was completed. The film looked great and I can’t wait to tell you more about it as we get closer to the release date! But while I waited for the actor before me to finish up, I got anxious and opened the box with my Animal Muppet inside. It was stunningly gorgeous! I showed it to the Voice Director, Producer and Engineer and they were amazed. The session only took about an hour and a half, and by 6pm I was on the road back home to fully unwrap Animal and see how he worked. I stopped by Carl’s Jr. for some quick food. When I got home I fed and walked Roxy, and then unwrapped Animal. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was beautiful! I did a little work and then walked over to Floyd’s Barbershop to get a touch-up on my color. While I was there waiting for the dye to set, my adopted grandma “Shirley” walked over to say hello. When I was done I walked her back home, and then took a dip in the Jacuzzi. I got a quick nap in, and when I got up later I busied myself around Planet Wallywood, changing out my movie posters and lobby cards in their frames. I did a little more work with Animal, and then made a Tombstone pizza and got ready for bed to watch “Barnaby Jones.” I’m sure glad this entire series just got released on DVD. What a super cool day!
Saturday the 6th – CENTERFOLD FRIENDS! – Shirley and I went grocery shopping in the mid-afternoon. I needed to get some items for movie night, and since Shirley doesn’t drive, I give her a ride so she can pick up a few items too. As I waited for her to finish her shopping, I picked up the Newsweek tribute to “Star Trek” magazine and paged through it. I had already bought the Life Magazine “Star Trek” issue, as well as a few others. But this I hadn’t seen yet. And right there in the middle of the magazine was a huge 2-page spread of my friends Scott and Vickie Sebring, Bob Mitsch and Teri Samuels, and others in their “Star Trek” landing party gear at San Diego Comic Con in 2009! WOW! I immediately threw several more copies into my cart and checked out. I couldn’t wait to show them at movie night that night. Plus, Animal was going to make his debut so I was really excited! I took Shirley to her house and helped her unload her groceries, and then I went home to unload my own. Sara came over to help set up for movie night, and we had a fun time watching “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” on Blu Ray! What a fun, goofy old movie. I took Shirley home and then I came back to get a short nap. I spent the rest of the night doing work around the house, putting chairs away, cleaning up the house, etc. When I walked Roxy on our nightly late-night stroll through the neighborhood, I noticed that the sky was completely cloudy. That meant that, come 5:40am, I was in for another beautiful “blue” morning. As the sun started to rise, I sat in my window seat and stared out toward the east. The thick cloud cover casts the dawn in an ever-changing shade of blue. It starts out as a grey, then a blue-grey, then blue, and then bright blue. It’s quiet, cool and peaceful to experience. I usually put on some nice meditative music, and allow myself to get lost in thought as the day comes alive. I made my traditional Saturday night giant salad, and watched the final episode of the old BBC show “The Avengers.” It was sad to see it go, because I had really become attached to it. But the series ends with Steed and his female counterpart blasting off into space in a homemade rocket. Then their boss looks into the camera and says, “Don’t worry. They’ll be back.” It was a very odd way to end the series.
Sunday the 7th – SERENE SUNDAY! – Both Roxy and Spook have an annoying habit of waking me up precisely at 2pm every day. First, Spook gets up on the bed and finds my right hand. Then he starts rubbing his head on my hand so I’ll pet him. Then Roxy gets jealous and gets up on the bed and lays as close to me as possible. So with my left hand I sleepily pet her, while petting Spook with my right. Eventually I wake up and get up to give them a treat. I walked Roxy over to evening church, and when I was walking Shirley home we came across a nice gal named Christa with a cute little Beagle named Jack. We had fun chatting and petting Jack. I told her to give me a call if she ever wanted to take the dogs out for a walk through the neighborhood. I hope she’ll call. She was VERY attractive, and Jack was just too cute for words! I walked Shirley home and then came into the house to do a little work. After a short nap on the couch I got up and did my auditions. It was a nice cool night and it felt good to have a cool summer breeze blowing in. I made some sloppy joes and watched “Barnaby Jones,” after enjoying the dawning of another blue morning from the comfort of my window seat! GORGEOUS!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Better pictures and a video are coming soon, but this will give you a bit of an idea what Animal looks like.
Here I am dressed in my best metal rock gear for the audition.
My friend Edi’s dog Bunny is sitting in her husband Elliot’s guitar case. What a cute shot!
During movie night, Roxy takes up residence at the top of the stairs to get a good view of the activity.
