January 15 – January 21 (2018)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

This pic of Spook lounging on the top floor of his condo was taken by my pal Mark Fullerton. VERY Hollywood!

Every once in a while one of the great Motown songs will pop into my head. “This Ol’ Heart of Mine” by the Isley Brothers. LOVE this song!

Monday the 15th – MLK DAY! – Since I didn’t end up getting to bed until 1:30 in the afternoon (after staying up all night working around the house) I didn’t wake up until 5 in the afternoon. Both Roxy and Spooky were on my bed trying to wake me up in their own, cute way. I got up to feed the pets and then did some more work around the house. I did a few auditions that were due first thing Tuesday morning, I did some organizing, wrote Wally’s Week, and then grabbed another short nap. Since I’m coming off this mini-flu I want to get as much rest as possible to avoid a relapse. (Been there done THAT!) When I got up later I continued with more work around the house, and then I turned in early so I could be up for an late morning dentist appointment!

Tuesday the 16th – BULLY CYST! – My semi-annual dental exam and cleaning went pretty well. I explained to my dentist what the oral surgeon had told me about the cyst that’s sitting above the root of my #14 molar. I told him the tooth may need to come out, the cyst will have to be removed, and a bone graft will have to be performed. He looked at the tooth (which has a crown on it from a “botched” root canal – the cause of all these problems) and noticed that it’s sitting about 1/32 of an inch below the other teeth surrounding it. It appears as if the cyst is literally crowding the tooth out of my mouth. Ugh! So the sooner I get this resolved the better, I think. After the cleaning I went to the dry cleaners to drop off a comforter and my Gran Torino car cover (read Wally’s Week from a few weeks back to see what an issue I had trying to clean it at home!), and then had lunch at Paty’s. I got my mail at my mailbox, and opened up a late Christmas gift from my pal Jeremy in Las Vegas. Several years back, Jeremy used to work with Tony Clifton on his concert circuit. Inside the box was a hand-carved, hand-assembled, wooden Tony Clifton marionette! It was awesome! I took a photo of it to text to Jeremy to let him know “Little Tony” arrived safely. But as I drove home I started thinking of ways that I could customize him with a few upgrades. I think I had all of the necessary components in my collection at home. The first thing I did was dig out some fabric from my storage in the garage. Several years ago I scanned the fabric of one of the old Lord West Prince Edward tuxedos I had in my collection (similar to the one Andy Kaufman used when he was Tony Clifton) and sent it to a fabric printer. They printed some amazing fabric that I used to make a few tuxedo jackets and bowling shirts for friends. But I also had the pattern shrunk to the scale of a 12” action figure, and turned a 1970’s-era “Mod Hair Ken” doll into a Tony Clifton action figure! I had some of that fabric left, and though the scale of the print was a little too small for an 18” marionette, it would suffice nicely. The first thing I did was to figure out how he was assembled. The arms and legs had little metal “eyes” screwed into them, with wire wrapped around and through the eyes, and then threaded through the body of the marionette. I gently unwound the wire and disassembled the puppet. So I had two arms, a head, a body, and two legs all separated. I started by sizing, cutting and gluing on the jacket sleeve of his left arm. Then I set that aside to let it dry. Though I glued it to the upper and lower arm sections, I didn’t glue it down around the elbow so his arms could move freely. Then I started sizing, cutting and gluing a jacket pattern on his body. The contours of the jacket were already carved into the wood, so it gave me a good idea of how to dress it. Once I did that, I set it aside and let it dry. Then I started on the right arm and replicated what I did for the left arm. Then I set that aside and let it dry. I got out some fresh black satin-finish paint and brushed it on the legs and feet. I hung those up to dry in the kitchen. Then I laid down on the couch to grab a short nap. When I got up I set about doing my auditions. After those were completed I got to work on the puppet again. I went downstairs and found some black faux suede, some miniature lace, and some blue dye. I put a little blue dye in a jar in hot water and put the lace inside and swished it around. I let it sit in the jar for about a half hour to soak and get nice and blue while I fed and walked Roxy. When I came back inside I cut pieces of the black faux suede for Little Tony’s collar and lapel trim. I also found some black rhinestones that I used for buttons. Then I got the lace out of the jar, squeezed out all the excess water and dried it real good with a paper towel. I took a toothpick and put a thin line of glue down the front of his shirt, and laid on the lace for his tuxedo shirt. It was really looking awesome! Once all the glue was totally dried, I rewired the puppet back together. Then I set about re-stringing him to his controller paddle. By the time I looked up at the clock it was 6am!! Boy, the time just flew! I made a Tombstone pizza and started watching the “Twin Peaks” season 3 bonus materials on the Blu Ray. I got to bed around 10am.

Wednesday the 17th – TUBS, STUBS & TAXES! – At 3 I drove the Torino over to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet with Roger Neal and his wife Lynn. Roger came up with the idea to do the Batman ’66 exhibit at the Hollywood Museum and brought me on board as Guest Curator. We had a few other things we needed to discuss so it was good sitting down in a quiet environment and discussing issues without the hectic pace we had been subject to during the setup of the exhibit. After the meeting I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some plastic tubs for my bathroom’s medicine cabinet project, and I also got a big plastic tub to store all of my 2017 tax-related paperwork. This week I was aiming to get all of my 2017 tax receipts and pay stubs filed away in their categorized envelopes and stored downstairs, so I can clear out my file folders for the 2018 tax receipts and pay stubs. When I got home it was time to feed Spook his dinner and feed Roxy her late afternoon snack. I grabbed a nap before tackling the labor-intensive work with tax stuff. By the time I got up later I found an e-mail from my agent with a call-back audition for 10am the next morning! So after doing a little work, I hit the hay so I could be up early the next morning. 2017 can wait a few more days!

Thursday the 18th – SERENDIPPITY-DOO! – I always say ‘there are no accidents in life.’ Today was one of those days. I drove the Gran Torino over to Kalmenson and Kalmenson casting in Burbank at 10 to do a callback audition for a voice-over for a couple of TV commercials. Then I drove through McDonald’s to get some early lunch. Since I had slept all night, and the day was young, I decided to stop by It’s a Wrap to pick up a few items. I pulled the Torino in front of the store and parked. Just then, my friend Chris’ wife Daniela came storming out of the salon next door to say hi. I hadn’t seen her or Chris in quite a while, so we had a good laugh. I told her to take a picture of the Torino and text it over to Chris. She did just that. Within minutes my cell phone rang, and my readout said it was Chris calling. He’s a very talented photographer, and he was just wrapping up a shoot in Johnny Carson Park by the old NBC building (where I worked on “The Tonight Show” for 4.5 years). He said, “I was just thinking about you!” I told him to come by the store so we could chat. He did and we talked for about an hour. He came up with a great idea for a shoot with my Gran Torino and a celebrity client of his. I told him I was all for it and we’ll be making arrangements for that shoot in the coming weeks! I drove home and was feeling energetic. I started sorting through some boxes in my garage and tossing out stuff I no longer need. One of the “elephants in the room” of my life is my messy garage. When my water heater sprung a leak a few years ago it soaked a lot of the cardboard boxes of stuff which were stored away on the floor on the sides of my garage. So I had to pull all the stuff out and throw the soaked boxes away. Well, the garage never got put back together again. With a horrible bout with the flu and bronchitis last Halloween, and the resulting sinus infection and surgery, I just wasn’t in the mood to clean it up. But the day is fast approaching that I need to do something about it! My goal is to downsize the items that are already in boxes on my shelf. When I pick out certain items to give to Goodwill, it will create space in the boxes. Then I can take some of the “orphaned” items on the garage floor and place those in the half-empty boxes. I bought full sheet labels so I could stick them on the face of the boxes and write a complete listing of the contents of each box. Being a collector is fun, but this is definitely the DOWNSIDE of collecting! But the major purge is coming up, and it’s long overdue! I went as deep into the garage as I could without having to rub against my Gran Torino, I filled three bags and three boxes of stuff for Goodwill, and I went inside to feed the pets. Then I wanted to start on my 2017 stuff. My pal Bill in New York sent me a few pictures of my Mahna Mahna puppet he’s making for me, and it looks terrific. I’m just having him make a few minor changes, and then he should be in (and ON) my hands in the next few weeks! I recorded a few auditions, did some other work, and then sped off for dinner with my assistant Sara at Ernie’s Taco House. It sure hit the spot! I came back home and took a short nap. When I got up later I hit the 2017 file box hard; I filed away all my tax receipts and put them in individual envelopes in case I’m ever (shudder) audited. I extracted all of my pay stubs and put those away in envelopes, and then I went through all of the bank statements that had stacked up over the holidays. I still had some work to do, as tedious as it is, but it’s highly necessary when you own your own company and are incorporated. I fed Roxy and then walked her on our late night stroll through the neighborhood. It was a nice cool (but not cold) night, and I enjoyed a nice cigar while we walked. I hadn’t had one in quite a while so it was nice. It was even a bit foggy out which really added nicely to the ambience of the night. Very relaxing! I went inside to finish up laundry. It was a VERY busy night, but I got a LOT done! I hope to have a lot of the “busy work” around the house done before it starts getting busy in the Voice-Over industry again. It usually takes a few weeks in the new year for the industry to “wake up.” I made some food and settled into bed to watch the bonus disc on the “Twin Peaks” season three boxed set. I was looking forward to seeing how they filmed a lot of the scenes in the 18 part special series event. But the way the bonus materials were presented is so pretentious and “artsy fartsy,” it was laughable. I ended up fast forwarding through the annoying narration by the guy with the pithy German accent, and getting right to the behind-the-scenes footage. But was very fascinating to watch David Lynch at work and see his process. I got to bed around noon on Friday.

Friday the 19th – BURGERS WITH BOB! – When I got up at 4 I noticed it was still very overcast outside. I did a little work around the house, and then went to my mailbox to mail some stuff off. I stopped by the cleaners to pick up my comforter and Gran Torino car cover, and then I headed over to Bob’s Big Boy to get the burger I had been craving. My assistant Sara joined me! Normally, Friday nights at Bob’s are impossible to enjoy. They have “hot rod” night and the place is usually packed with wait times around an hour! But because it was overcast, I knew that a lot of the hot rod owners would shy away thinking it might rain. The wait time was only 10 minutes, and we enjoyed a delicious meal! After dinner I stopped off at the grocery store to get some supplies and then went home. First, I put the Torino away in my auxiliary garage, and then I put the groceries away in my house. I grabbed a nap on the couch for a while, and then got up to feed Roxy. But the couch was calling my name again. So I laid back down to nap for another hour. I got up to take Roxy out for a walk, and then came right back inside and laid down on “The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe.” I woke up Saturday morning around 7:30am, which really screwed up my usual routine. But it felt so darn good to nap!

Saturday the 20th – THANK GOD FOR DVD PLAYERS! – After my long night on the couch, I was up and rarin’ to go. I took the plastic tubs I bought earlier in the week at Bed, Bath and Beyond and started organizing my medicine cabinet. I separated all of my medicines into categories. When you get sick, the last thing you want to do is wade through a big box of medicines looking for the ones you need. So to mitigate that problem, I divided up my medicines into these plastic tubs. The categories were COUGH, SINUS, SORE THROAT, ZICAM, STOMACH, THERAFLU/NYQUIL, etc. etc. etc. From now on, finding the medicine I need at a moment’s notice will be MUCH easier! I did a few more things around the house, and then got cleaned up and went to bed to watch more “Twin Peaks” bonus materials. I finally got to “sleep” around 4pm, and woke up at 7pm for movie night. As much as I love spending the night napping away on the couch, it sure screws up my routine! We watched “Wonder Woman” and had a great time. I had never seen it. I’ve also started showing the first season of “Taxi,” which is absolutely brilliant. Toward the end of the evening my pal Brittney Powell came over to assist in continuing to file and organize my tax receipts and pay stubs for 2017. We finished up and it was good to have it done and over with! When she left I fed and walked Roxy. Then, the couch was calling my name again (what is this strange hold it has over me??!!) so I grabbed a short nap. It was another “couch night” as I just couldn’t pry myself off of it! I woke up around 6am Sunday morning. I did a little work, but I wanted to hit the shower and make my traditional Saturday night Super Salad and watch another episode of “SNL” from the first season. The guest host was Desi Arnaz, and it was one of the best episodes I had seen so far. Desi was truly a legend. Even though he was a lot older than he was on “I Love Lucy,” he sang “Cuban Pete” and “Baba Loo” with the band and totally rocked the house! Amazing to watch! I got to bed around 2pm.

Sunday the 21st – SERENE SUNDAY! – Automatically I awoke at 4:45, just in time to feed the pets, clean up and head to evening church. Roxy and I walked over and enjoyed the service. A particular scriptural admonition stuck with me from the evening, and it was particularly poignant for me at this time in my life. It basically says (and I’m paraphrasing) not to get weary of doing the right thing, because the harvest is coming where we’ll reap good things if we don’t give up. I needed to hear that. After church my “adopted grandma” Shirley and I walked to my house, and then we drove over to Jerry’s Famous Deli so she could get some hot soup. I hadn’t seen her in quite a while because she had been sick, I had been sick, and there were a few weeks where we didn’t have evening church because Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fell on Sunday nights. It was good to catch up with her. She told me I didn’t need to feel obligated to take her to dinner after church each week, but I told her I didn’t feel obligated at all. I told her I enjoyed her company and I thanked her for being my friend. She’s a great gal, and in a little over a month she’ll turn 91! I came home and napped on my amazing couch, but I had to be disciplined! I vowed not to spend all night on the couch sleeping! I got up later to do my auditions, fed and walked Roxy, and then did some work in the bedrooms upstairs. I drove to Denny’s to get some food to go, and then came home and ate it while watching more “Twin Peaks” bonus materials in bed. Just before I went to sleep at 8am, I got an e-mail from one of my agents telling me that I was booked for a session for a few radio commercials at Voice Trax West at 12:30 that afternoon. I guess the industry is starting to finally wake up!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK