RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I recently got this pic of Johnny Green and I at October’s “Comikaze” in L.A. What fun! Thanks Mark Starks!
While driving on the freeway in pouring rain last Tuesday, this song came up on my Rainy Day playlist on my iPad. (Yes, I have a “rainy day” playlist!) You might remember J.D. Souther’s hit “You’re Only Lonely” back in the early 80’s. Well shortly after that he released this song which charted, but was far from a hit the caliber of “You’re Only Lonely.” But I LOVE this song! “Go Ahead and Rain” sounded SO good on a wet, blustery afternoon this past week!
Monday the 1st – HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN! – I worked at home all afternoon, did a few auditions, and then took off to do some errands. I hit the cleaners to pick up some laundry, got mail at my box, and then headed back home to finish a few last-minute auditions. I had reserved a room at the DoubleTree hotel in Marina Del Rey for the night. The weather reports said it was going to pour rain starting early Tuesday morning, and I needed to be in Marina Del Rey no later than 11am for a voice-over session for American Airlines. Not wanting to drive for two hours in wall-to-wall traffic in the rain, I figured it would be much easier to get a room close to the gig, relax and enjoy the evening with no stress. Unfortunately my on-camera commercial agent got me an audition as a biker for Comcast at 11:30 in North Hollywood. But I had to pass because I was going to be in session all morning for American. I tried to reschedule it to later but the auditions were only going until noon, so I definitely wouldn’t make it. Oh well, until they get that cloning thing figured out I can’t be in two places at once. And you know what they say about “bird in the hand?” A paid gig was much more important than an audition. About 7 I packed a few things in a bag and drove down to Marina Del Rey about 9 to check into my room. I got some food at Panda Express and went back to my room to turn in for the night.
Tuesday the 2nd- IT’S RAINING IT’S POURING! – Finally, L.A. got some much needed rain! I woke up around 10 in my room at the DoubleTree in Marina Del Rey, happily acknowledging my foresight to get a room by the American Airlines gig at 11am. This was MUCH better than getting up at 8am and spending 3 hours in morning rush-hour traffic while it’s pouring rain. People aren’t used to driving in rain and they’re not always too good at navigating wet streets. So I was VERY happy I chose to get a room. I drove about four blocks and was at my gig 15 minutes early! When I went in the rain was coming down lightly, but by the time I finished the gig an hour and a half later it was coming down pretty good. I stopped off at Campo’s in Culver City for lunch. When I lived on the westside of L.A. it was always one of my favorite Mexican places to eat. Those burritos sure tasted good on a rainy day! I had a nice leisurely drive back home while listening to my Rainy Day Rhapsody playlist on my iPad. I got home safely, did some auditions, reorganized some stuff, and then headed off to Voicecasters for a late-afternoon audition. After the audition I went over to my neighborhood craft store to get some more silver border tapes for the signage I post all around Planet Wallywood. On the sidewalk I passed a restaurant that was playing Christmas music on their patio and THERE I HEARD IT! “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams! It’s the one song that, when I hear it, makes me conscious of the fact that Christmas is officially here. So I guess it’s really here. It’s my favorite Christmas song of all time. I came home and relaxed for the rest of the rainy evening. I wrote Wally’s Week, made some signage for the new displays in Planet Wallywood. I did some auditions and then grabbed a nap on the couch by the fire while the rain fell outside. NICE! When I got up later in the evening I did a few more auditions and then made some dinner and headed to bed to watch and episode of “Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray from the season four set. This is the first season they went to the hour-long format. The previous three seasons had been half hour episodes, and I can really tell the writers were struggling to pad out the full hour. But I think they’ll get the hang of it by the end of the season.
Wednesday the 3rd – IT’S STILL RAINING IT’S STILL POURING! – Though the rain had tapered off somewhat it was still coming down pretty well. I got up at 11 and did a few auditions, and then I took off at 11:45 for a trip to the westside of L.A. to hit Margarita Mix for an Old Navy radio commercial session. I got cast to play the part of an airline pilot making an announcement to the passengers in the cabin. It had a ring of familiarity to it since I had done several TV spots for Old Navy a few years back as an airline pilot with Julie Hagerty from the “Airplane” movies. I got to the studio at 12:40, in plenty of time! When the session was finished I went next door to JoAnn’s fabrics and got some black stretch velvet for my Mannix display in Planet Wallywood. A few months ago, I bought six custom-made sport jackets from Mike Connors that he wore in the “Mannix” TV series. The mannequin I’m putting them on is white, but I think it’ll look better with some black velvet stretched over it. It’ll bring out the colors in the jacket much better. I plan to only display one jacket at a time, but I’ll rotate them out over time. I got some lunch to go at Wendy’s, got the Mustang gassed up, and then I drove back home enjoying the rainy day. I got home and did a little work, but I was getting sleepy. I blame the weather. I grabbed a nap on the couch, and then got up for auditions later in the evening. By the time I went out to Denny’s to get some food to go, the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared. I enjoyed another “Twilight Zone” episode as I ate my food.
Thursday the 4th – REDUX DELUXE! – Roxy woke me up at 11:30 to go out, so off we went! It was then I found out about a crisis with the Old Navy spot I had recorded. A line of the legal disclaimer hadn’t been recorded. They wanted me to drive back down to the westside to record it, but it wasn’t possible for me to get away. So I recorded it at home and sent it over to them via e-mail. It was back and forth with my agent and the producers for quite a while, but apparently the track I sent them was usable. It would have been quite an ordeal for me to make it back to Santa Monica in that short amount of time so I’m glad it worked. I also had a few lines to redo on a bit I did for Troy at the “Ellen” show. I recorded the new lines and sent them over to Troy. I hopped in the Gran Torino and ran a few errands. I stopped at my printer’s to see about getting some new signage printed, and then I went over to CVS to pick up a prescription and some supplies. Troy texted me that he needed one more line pick-up for his bit, so I stopped home and recorded it. Sent it his way, and then hopped back in the Torino to continue my errands. When I got home my assistant Sara came over to grab some bags of clothes I was donating to Goodwill. I’ve been clearing out my closets of late, purging them of all of the stuff I no longer wear that’s just taking up much-needed space in my closets. Some of the more unique stuff I’ll have Sara put on eBay, but some of the more mundane stuff goes to Goodwill. Then I engaged in a wonderful annual tradition in Planet Wallywood…Christmas Nappies! It started many years ago when my dog Sassie was alive. I would turn on the fireplace, put some Christmas music on the satellite to play softly, and we’d nap in the living room. Well I still love doing that, even though the Christmas channel on the satellite isn’t quite as good as the one that used to be on DirecTV. The other channel used to play a wide variety of music, but this channel repeats a lot of stuff. But I must’ve needed the sleep, because I slept a full 4.5 hours on the couch! I got up to do auditions and prep for a VERY busy Friday! I made a Tombstone pizza and watched another “Twilight Zone” episode!
Friday the 5th – IS IT FRIDAY YET?! – At 9am my alarm went off and the day got started. I checked e-mails, walked Roxy, and then headed to Voice Trax West to do a voice session for a videogame trailer at 10:30. When the trailer gets posted on-line, I’ll provide a link. It’s going to be a GOOD one! When we finished we took a quick break while the engineer changed over the studio for the US Airways session. We worked about an hour finishing up some tracks from the previous week, and then we took another brief break while I went next door to the bank, and then went to CVS to return some Vitamin C I had bought the day before. When I got the bottle home the previous night, I opened it up only to realize that it had already been opened by someone else. It’s a creepy feeling! Of course I didn’t take any. I just put the lid back on, grabbed my receipt and made a note to return it the next day. They gladly took them back, and I suspect somebody was feeling sick but couldn’t afford the whole bottle. So in the store, they surreptitiously opened the bottle, took some of the caplets and returned the bottle to the shelf. People sure are pigs! I got back to Voice Trax West and grabbed some spaghetti at the Italian restaurant downstairs from the studio. We worked for a few hours on US Airways stuff, and then I headed back to my printer’s to see how he was doing with the signage. Because he had changed color copiers recently, he was having trouble getting the same shade of blue that I had previously used on all my signs. And since it was important that all the signage match color, he was going to need to do some more work on finding the right balance. I got home and rested a bit, and then headed to Voicecasters in Burbank for an audition. When we finished up there I stopped by the grocery store to get some supplies, and then head back home. But on the way I stopped by The Christmas House in Burbank and sure enough, it was in full swing! It’s always comforting to see the beautiful house with the synchronized dancing lights. I turned on my FM radio to 109.7 and listened to the music the house was broadcasting so I could watch the lights blink and cascade to the music. It was great to see it again, as I look forward to it every year. It’s become another new Christmas tradition for me! But directly behind the house a beautiful full moon was attempting to peek out from behind a thick bank of overcast. It was gorgeous, and a stunning sight to see directly behind The Christmas House! I drove home to meet up with Laura Summer, one of the voice cast from “The Garfield Show.” She needed help pulling audio clips from DVDs of her work to use in her new voice-over demo. I was happy to help. While we worked, my effects guy Jim Ojala came by to tweak Dorothy from my new “Wizard of Oz” bust collection. He added a few freckles, brightened the color on her lips and fixed her eyelashes. When we finished my pal Brittney Powell came by to say hi and catch up. And when the house was clear Roxy, Spook and I lit a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed some more Christmas Nappies. Whew! What a week! I got up later in the evening and fed and walked Roxy, and then worked on making some makeshift blackout blinds for my bedroom. The blackout blinds that I normally have in my window are out for repair, and they won’t be back for two weeks. Since I like it super dark in my room (a necessary thing when you sleep days like I do) I had to put something together to block the light until the blinds came back from the repair shop. I got some black plastic sheets, a needle, some fishline, staple gun, Velcro, hammer and nails, and a long wooden transition strip. And by golly…I came up with a very suitable alternative! I was rather proud of myself! When I took Roxy out on our final walk of the evening I noticed some beautiful rainbow rings around the full moon. I think they call them “moondoggies,” but I’m not sure. I tried to take photos of them but my camera wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do. But it was beautiful to look at! I made some dinner and watched another “Twilight Zone” before bed.
Saturday the 6th – PARTY PARTY! – When Roxy and I got up at 2 she took great pleasure in laying in the lawn and getting some sunshine time. A guy named Craig came over to consult with me about some new plants for the flower bed outside my house. One of the plants had died during one of the cold nights last winter, and I wanted to replace it with something that…well…wasn’t dead. He made some suggestions and then we arranged for him to return on Monday to do the planting. I had asked about plating sassafras in honor of my late dog Sassie, for whom I planted a memorial sign in my flower bed. But apparently sassafras doesn’t grow well in this climate, and can sometimes grow 30 feet high! I guess it’s not for me. I went inside to relax before picking up my friend Kathylynne for the “Family Guy/American Dad” holiday party at the Ebell on Wilshire. I hadn’t been to one of their parties in about four years, so it was nice to stop in and see some people. But the show has been going so long now, and I’ve been with it since the beginning, so it was difficult finding people I actually knew. There’s a TON of new people on the show! But it was great seeing a few of the old gang from the early days of the show. I chatted with Seth MacFarlane for a bit and introduced him to Kathylynne. Other than Seth and a few others, I really didn’t know many people. We waited for the chocolate fountain to fire up and we had some chocolate dipped marshmallows and bananas. Then we got some hot made-to-order mini-donuts just before we left. And there was a great big full moon overhead! I dropped Kathylynne off at her house, I dropped the top on the Mustang and enjoyed a nice drive home on a beautifully clear Saturday night. When I got home I started working on archiving my gun collection. For insurance and archiving purposes, I’m printing a sheet of pertinent info about each gun, and photographing them along with the info sheet. After about a half dozen guns, I moved on to another project. One of the songs played in the computer program of The Christmas House is Glenn Miller’s swing version of “Sleigh Ride.” I really love it, so I dug around and found it in iTunes. I made a huge salad and hit the hay to watch an episode of the old “Avengers” TV series from the 60’s on Blu Ray. I LOVE that show! I didn’t get to bed until 9am on Sunday morning! Good thing I have my new makeshift blackout shade!
Sunday the 7th – SUNDAY SLOWDOWN! – Once again Roxy woke me up at 10:30 to go out, but as soon as she did what she needed to do, we headed back to bed and slept until 4pm. Then we got up to get ready for evening church. We walked over and enjoyed the evening service and then came back home to rest. I met up with Kathylynne for dinner at DuPar’s a bit later. But the hot turkey sandwich I had was very tasteless and bland. It was very unlike DuPar’s! I’m wondering if there was a new chef working who missed putting in a key ingredient or two. Then it was back home for Christmas nappies. I got up later that evening and did a ton of paperwork. I went through my checkbooks reconciling receipts from recent purchases, and started in on my end-of-year corporate paperwork for Planet Wallywood, Inc. When my eyes couldn’t take any more, I made some Buffalo Mac and watched another “Twilight Zone” episode. Hard to believe Christmas will be here in just a few weeks!
And how was YOUR week??!!
