RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

SUCCESS! My dad opened my gift on Christmas Eve thoroughly enjoyed the commemorative cap I created for him to celebrate his years of service in the U.S. Army!

After coming home from a post-Christmas dinner with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, this song came on Elvis Radio on Sirius XM in my Gran Torino. It perfectly summed up the dinner I had just experienced and I got a bit emotional on the drive home. Emotional like only Elvis can make me. It was almost like it was playing on the soundtrack in a movie that was happening right that very moment. Very strange! But very appropriate. There are no accidents in life I guess. Of course it’s Elvis, with “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

Monday the 22nd – HAT’S IN THE CRADLE! – In the morning I did a last minute audition for my New York agent.  My L.A. agent is officially closed for the next two weeks.  I headed over to McDonald’s to get some lunch then went to my seamstress Karyn’s shop to work on a few projects.  One was making a new hat for my Pinocchio marionette.  It’s about 3 feet tall so the hat would almost fit a full size human; at the very least a big kid.  We finished two hats and I drove home to give Roxy and Spook a snack.  I did a few auditions for my San Francisco and New York agents, and then worked on the Pinocchio hats.  They would definitely need some of that special stiffener for hats, so I planned on visiting my friends at Baron’s Hats in Burbank the next morning to have some applied.  I glued on the hat bands and got them ready for the next day.  I typed out Wally’s Week and then watched “Mike and Molly” on CBS.  It was the Christmas episode where I did the voice of the “Outhouse Santa” Christmas tree ornament.  I went over to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet my friend Kathylynne for a late dinner. Then I came home and did some work, and hit the hay!

Tuesday the 23rd – HAT’S ALL FOLKS! – It was important to get up bright and early and be at Baron Hats in Burbank by the time they opened up at 10am so I could get my two Pinocchio hats stiffened.  I dropped them off and then drove the gun store around the corner to complete the paperwork for the new handgun I purchased. But they weren’t open yet.  So I went over to It’s a Wrap to see what they had available.  Not sure if it’s the suppliers or it’s just me…but the last few times I’ve visited It’s a Wrap I’ve found virtually nothing interesting.  Hard to believe I used to spend a couple of hundred dollars there every week a while back.  I went back to Baron’s to get my hats, but on one of the hats the glue on the felt interacted badly with the stiffener and caused a dark stain.  Good thing I had a back-up!  I hit the freeway and headed over to Bob Baker Marionette Theatre in downtown L.A.  I met up with their main guy in the workshop named Victor.  He had to untie a couple of the strings form the controller, then thread the strings through holes in the brim of the hat, and then retie the strings on the controller.  Not an easy job!  They didn’t have the same staple gun to attach the hat to Pinocchio’s head, so he told me to use some double-stick tape when I got home.  I popped Pinocchio in the car and drove to KFC to get some food.  Then I headed over to Karyn’s shop again to drop off my Robin cape so she could construct a new cape for my Hot Toys 12” Robin figure.  The one that came with the figure was woefully short.  Then I hit the freeway and went over to Gun World to complete my paperwork for my Taurus PT 92 AFS handgun.   Then I headed over to my mailbox to get my packages.  After that I stopped at Prints Charm’n to pick up some new prints of some characters I voice.  I get 8X10s made to sign and send out to fans who request signed photos.  I got new pics printed of Jon Arbuckle, Ant Man, Wild Tiger, Renji, Cubot and Tallest Red.  Whew! What a day!  I traversed the town from one end to the next!  I got home and met up with Sara who was there to do some work.  Electric Bob came by to look at a few issues in my house, while I started working on Pinocchio.  I took two microphone stands and stood them up straight, and put an aluminum rod in between them. Then I hung Pinocchio from the aluminum rod so I could work on him upright.  I tried attaching the hat with double-stick tape, but it didn’t work.  Luckily, the old staples were still in the head from the old hat.  I had asked them not to remove them so I could use them as placeholders for when we applied the new staples.  I got a great idea.  I took a needle and some fish line and I tied off a knot on the top of the hat brim, then threaded the line through the hat, looped it through the staple, and brought it back up through the hat’s brim and tied it off. It worked wonderfully!  It kept the hat on nice and tight!  I stuffed the hat with some tissue paper to fill it out (just like they had done with the original) and I was good to go!  When it was all done I put a brand new red feather in his hatband and stitched that in as well.  I did some other repairs too, like moving the hole on his hat a little closer to his head, and restringing one of the main support strings.  Victor had put the hole too far out and it was making the hat wrinkle strangely.  But that did the trick.  Luckily Electric Bob was there to help hold his head up while I detached and reattached the string.  I’m SO glad I replaced the hat.  I was exhausted so I took some Christmas Nappies on the couch.  When I got up I fed Roxy and Spook, and then went to get a few groceries.  I got back home and put laundry away and did some work around the house.  Christmas was coming up fast!  Where did 2014 go??!  I made some Buffalo Mac and delved into “Magnum; p.i.” season six.  But I didn’t get to bed until 11am Wednesday morning!!

Wednesday the 24th – CHRISTMAS EVE! – I got up around 3 and went to get a package I was expecting.  I tracked it on-line and it said it was delivered on Monday the 22nd.  But so far nothing.  It stated the time of delivery as 7:16pm, but the UPS store where I have my box closes at 7 so that’s impossible. Stupid Post Office.  This isn’t the first thing they’ve lost of mine, and it isn’t the first time their delivery times on-line have been inaccurate.  It’s why I try to avoid sending things through the post office as much as possible.  Around 5pm I walked Roxy over to our church so she could see the “Living Nativity.”  They had real goats, chickens, sheep, mules and rabbits there for the kids.  Roxy was keenly interested in them and put her nose through the pens to give them each a kiss.  But after a few minutes her instincts kicked in and she got very nervous and started pacing around the pens.  She wanted to go to work!  She wanted to herd them!  It was fascinating to watch.  The goats and sheep all stared at her with a look in their eyes of “What do we do now?”  They were waiting for her to give direction and herd them.  She walked around whining and darting her nose in the pen.  But we took off for home.  I met up with Sara at DuPar’s for lunch around 7pm, and then I got back home around 8 and took a quick nap before the midnight candle light service at church.  It was a good service, and it was packed, but I really missed singing “Silent Night” to a super quiet neighborhood from the steps of the church at midnight.  We did that last year and it was very moving and memorable.  Not sure why they didn’t do it this year.  I came home and turned on a local station that plays a 12 hour radio special every year called “Christmas Across the Lands.”  I loved hearing it last year, so I made a point to listen to it again this year.  I relaxed and did a little work around the house, and sent out my movie night invites.  The radio show (played on a local AM station) played “Step Into Christmas” by Elton John, my second favorite Christmas song of all-time.  And since it was played on the AM band, it was just like hearing it when I was a kid back in the Midwest.  I have a real vivid memory of hearing that song on the radio as my family and I drove down a blizzardy highway on the way to Grandma’s house back in 1977.  I also heard my absolute favorite Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams, which I used to hear on the radio all the time when I was a small child.  Both sounded really great coming out of the AM radio speakers!  The wind kicked up really hard around 2am and it was blowing like crazy.  I promised myself I would make myself a Chef Boy Ar Dee pizza as a Christmas Eve gift to myself, but the wind kept knocking the power off and one.  Very annoying!  And to top things off, I couldn’t get the lid off the new jar of sauerkraut for my pizza!  Rats!  But the pizza was awesome nonetheless.  I settled in and watched another “Magnum, p.i.” episode and hit the hay.

Thursday the 25th – I’M DREAMING OF A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS! – The windy night had blown all the clouds out of the sky, so it was clear and sunny all day.  Hard to believe other areas of the country were rainy and/or snowy.  I got up at 2 and got my Gran Torino out of the auxiliary garage.  My friends Scott and Vickie Sebring came over so we could go to Christmas dinner.  They helped me decorate up my Torino’s radio antennae with tinsel and four red Christmas balls at the top.  It looked pretty sweet!  Just as we finished my friend Kathylynne came over and we all hopped in the Torino-ho-ho and went to the Smokehouse restaurant for Christmas dinner.  Amazingly enough, I was listening to a repeat of “Christmas Across the Lands” on the Torino’s AM radio, and “Step Into Christmas” played again!  It was even more magical hearing it come out of the speakers of a 1974 Ford Gran Torino!  It was a really cool moment!  My assistant Sara and her roommates met us for dinner as well and we had a great time.  It was lots of fun and the food was great, but because they were packed the service was very slow.  After dinner I took everyone by the Christmas House on Catalina Street in Burbank one more time before the season was over.  Then we came back to my house and watched a “Batman” TV series episode on Blu Ray.  I grabbed some Christmas Nappies for the final time of 2014, and when I awoke I did some work around the house.  I’m getting anxious to hang my Pinocchio in my living room now that he’s finished.  I watched another “Magnum” episode and went to bed.

Friday the 26th – SO MUCH FOR HOLIDAY VACATION! – Around 1pm I woke up and took a phone call with a Minneapolis radio station to do an audition.  Then my maids arrived to clean Planet Wallywood.  I was looking forward to having the entire next week to relax and do a bunch of stuff around the house.  Especially cleaning my garage out!  I met my friend Edi for lunch at Panera and we got caught up.  While I was out, one of my L.A. agents called with some great news.  I had been recommended to an ad agency for five car commercials, performing the voice of an animated character they were featuring in the spots!  GREAT!  However, when I got home, I realized with horror that the spots were shooting for the next four days…starting TOMORROW MORNING!  YIKES!  They wanted me on the set every day to read lines with the on-camera actors, so the timing would be right when they animated the character.  So basically, for the next four days I would be putting in 10 hour days on a film set.  That blew my plans for Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!  That meant I had to contact all my movie night friends and cancel movie night.  Since I didn’t know how long I’d be on the set Saturday I didn’t want to take the chance of being held over on the shoot and not being here to let my friends in.  Plus my call-time for Sunday was going to be VERY early in the morning!  I went over to my neighbor Caroline’s to have some dinner with her and her niece Emma, who’s a big fan of the Voice-Over world.  I came back home and relaxed in the Jacuzzi, but I had to contact Sara to come sit with the animals all day Saturday and Sunday.  The whole thing was very last-minute and super chaotic (which is how these things work in Hollywood, sometimes) but I eventually wrapped my head around it.  It looked like my garage was going to have to stay cluttered a while longer.  My call-time for Saturday was 9am in Hollywood, so I hit the hay and set the alarm for a VERY early morning.

Saturday the 27th – CAR COMMERCIAL – DAY ONE! – The alarm rang at 7:45. Sara came over at 8 and I headed off to the set.  We would be filming at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood near the Hollywood Bowl.  That time of the morning it’s pretty cold, so I was glad I was layered up.  I was introduced to the ad agency guys, the writers, the guys from the car company, and the director.  The five spots are being directed by half of the world famous Farrelly Brothers…Peter Farrelly!  He’s a great guy!  We had a short meeting and found the voice they wanted for the animated character.  Obviously I can’t tell you much about the product, or the content of the spot for professional reasons.  But when I’m able to release the info you’ll be the first to know!  The human counterpart to my animated character is a famous TV host who is a car expert.  We worked all afternoon and finished up by 5.  I drove home and had dinner with Sara at Jerry’s Famous Deli.  I got back home and prepped for the next day.  I printed the crew list and map, and turned in early. But not before setting my alarm for another VERY early morning!

Sunday the 28th – CAR COMMERCIAL – DAY TWO! – Again it was up at 7 and out by 7:45.  Our filming location was the famous 6th street bridge in downtown L.A.  Luckily, at that time of the morning, the traffic was pretty scant.  So I flew on the freeway and made it 15 minutes before my call-time at 8:30.  Today I had my own dressing room in a trailer of dressing rooms.  On the other side of my room was the main bathroom.  I didn’t get called to do any work for three hours, so I just sat in my warm dressing room and napped.  But occasionally an odd smell would waft over to my room from the other side of the wall, or I would be awakened by a rude sound or two from next door.  That’s Hollywood, I guess.  You must realize that as a voice actor, being on the set with a film crew is VERY rare.  It’s really only happened one other time, and that’s when I did the voice of the Titan Insurance super-hero bobble head.  They wanted me on-set to run lines with the on-camera actors, even though I dubbed my lines in after the spot was edited and finished.  So these long days on a film set are rather foreign to people of my ilk.  At 11:30 they came and got me from my trailer and transported me to the location on the bridge.  It’s a beautiful old bridge, but apparently it’s going to be torn down soon because it’s no longer safe.  This commercial may very well be the last thing ever filmed on the old bridge.  But the bridge was really gross to stand on.  You had to be careful where you sat because there were pigeon droppings everywhere.  And where there wasn’t pigeon droppings, there were PEOPLE droppings. Um…yeah.  There’s a huge homeless population in that area.  So when you stepped around all of that, you also had to be careful not to sit in piles of cut wire, or broken glass.  But the view of the Los Angeles area from the bridge is spectacular.  They had the bridge closed off to traffic, so you could walk all along the bridge, down the middle even, and admire the full 360 degree view of the city…the Hollywood sign, the downtown area’s skyscrapers, and the snowcapped mountains.  It was a bright, clear day and you could literally see FOREVER!  The L.A. River runs under the bridge, as well as several train lines. So in a quiet moment I would just stare down at the railroad tracks below and admire their simple beauty.  But they still didn’t use me, so we all went back to home base for lunch.  I got to meet one of the stunt drivers in the commercial named Hubie Kearns.  His dad was Adam West’s stuntman in the old “Batman” TV series.  So we had a great time talking about the show and I was elated at getting to hear Hubie’s stories about his dad!  We were transported back to the bridge location and we started in with our dialogue shots.  But it started to get cold again as the sun started to set.  It was another fun day, but not quite as exhausting as the previous day’s work.  I drove back home and made it back in time for evening church.  I got home, wrangled Roxy and we walked over for the evening service.  I checked my e-mail to get my call-time for Monday’s shoot.  I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and headed out to get a pizza.  Since we’d be filming on the Universal lot Monday and Tuesday, I decided to bring the Torino over for one of the days to show off.  First I couldn’t find my Torino keys at all!  I searched and searched, but I finally found them in the jacket I had one when I parked it after Christmas dinner.  I went to my auxiliary garage and started pulling the Torino out of its parking space.  But I got distracted somehow and took a right turn out of the space too sharply.  I hit the support column in the garage, and scraped and dented my right rear fender. OUCH!  I was SO mad at myself!  I had pulled out of that spot hundreds of times with no incident. But for some reason tonight I cut it too sharply!  RATS!  In addition to a few small dents and scratched paint, my feelings was even MORE injured.  Well, this is a perfectly crappy ending to a crappy year.  I was really ready to see 2014 die a quick death.  Bring on 2015!

And how was YOUR Christmas week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK


Pinocchio is looking snappy in his brand new hat!


Ugh…just looking at this makes me feel sick to my stomach!