September 4 – September 9 (2012)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

During a recent trip to Panera, the order number I was given was quite magical. I had my assistant Sara snap a photo!

Last week at my friend Mary’s karaoke party, I sang Roy Orbison’s “Crying.” I remember meeting Roy after the “LaBamba” premiere party in Hollywood in 1987. He was a tall, quiet and affable guy. I had him sign an autograph for my dad. About a year later he passed away from heart disease. At the time I was working at Westwood One Radio Network and was heavily into Roy’s music. I cued “Crying” up to a special place on my cassette player (Yes! Cassette!), dialed up the network’s public address system on my telephone and played the song into the phone for all to hear. As news spread of Roy’s passing the Westwood One employees heard over the PA system…”Yes, now you’re gone. And from this moment on. I’ll be crying. Crying. Crying. Cryyyying.” Nobody could sing it like Roy. Elvis called him the greatest vocalist ever. Here’s Roy singing “Crying” from 1965!

Tuesday the 4th – SUPER TUESDAY! I got to sleep late, and when I woke up I got to cuddle Roxy on the bed for a while. That dog LOVES to cuddle and snuggle! I recorded a bit for “The Tonight Show” in my home studio and e-mailed it in, walked Roxy and then headed over to get the Gran Torino. I pulled it into the NBC car wash and then went to the studio to tape the show. It was a great show too! Ron Paul was there, and Robert Cray provided music. I’ve loved Robert Cray’s music ever since his 1986 album “Strong Persuader!” I saw him in the hallway and said, “Robert Cray…you’re the greatest! You rock!” He gave me a very humble “Thank you!” What a talent! During the taping I worked on Wally’s Week for the previous week, and just as I got finished and hit send, I lost my internet connection! All that work…POOF! GONE! What a hassle! From now on, I compose it on Word and then cut and paste to e-mail. So I hurried home to REDO the entire thing and send it off to my webmaster. On the way out of the studio, Ron Paul supporters were lining the streets. I picked up the microphone of my Torino’s PA system and said, “Ron Paul for President, 2016!” They all started cheering wildly. It was great! On the way home I got two chili cheese dogs with sauerkraut at Weinerschnitzel, and stopped at the post office to drop off some mail. I got home, redid Wally’s Week (what a pain in the neck!) and my pal Jim Ojala came by with my freshly painted Michael Myers mask. Michael Myers was the character in the “Halloween” movies, and a new mask has just been released. The sculpture was good, but the paint job they did in the factory was horrible. So I had my effects guy Jim do a repaint. And it looked awesome! I walked Roxy and then my assistant Sara came by to pick up some work. I took a nap on the couch…VERY carefully! I didn’t want those nerves in my spine to get squished again and cause that burning pain in my right thigh. But when I woke up I felt great! The chiropractor visits were working out well! I did about 7 auditions, walked and fed Roxy, then made myself a pizza and watched another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” from the season 10 DVD set.

Wednesday the 5th – WEIRD WEDNESDAY! – I had to be up early today to record another voice-over session for my pal Jim Hulihan and Multimedia Assemblies at Voice Trax West in Studio City. This is an organization I’ve been working with for about 13 years. They do presentations at school assemblies all over the country. They mostly focus on driving safety, positive thinking, drug use, bullying, etc. It’s a good cause and I enjoy doing the work. Then Jim and I went downstairs to have lunch at Café Aldente. We placed our order, then I had to run back upstairs to the studio to do about 5 bits for “TTS” in the Voice Trax West studios. When we got them e-mailed into NBC, I came back down to eat. As we sat on the patio, a lady was pulling out of a parking spot and got clipped by an oncoming car. They weren’t going very fast, but the lady tore out of her car and started yelling at the guy. He was clearly at fault, but he didn’t deserve that sort of verbal abuse. Most everyone on the patio was feeling sorry for the guy once they heard how mean the lady was being. After all, accidents happen right? I started to get very nervous about driving my Torino back home. I did so VEEEEERY carefully! I got home and walked Roxy and prepared for “TTS.” I got to NBC and recorded yet another bit, then we taped the show. After that, I recorded another bit. On the way home I stopped by Radio Shack to get another digital recorder. I make recordings of personal stories, thoughts, feelings, recollections, etc for my descendants. I had already filled up 4 of those recording devices, and now I’m on to my fifth one. I want to leave lots of stories and material when I leave this mortal coil. I got home and realized…I HAD FORGOTTEN MY CHIROPRACTOR APPPOINTMENT! Oh no! With all the hubbub of the day, and staying late at “TTS” to record that bit, it totally slipped my mind! My pal Edi stopped over to see how Roxy was doing. She was doing much better than the previous week and was feeling her old self again. On the sidewalk during a walk, we met Wizard the greyhound. A beautiful dog, and Roxy was quite fond of him! She kept kissing his face and standing next to him. He was mellow and gorgeous! He was a rescue from the world of greyhound racing. After a nap I got up for several auditions. I also studied some music that I’d be singing the following day for the Garfield cartoon. I studied the songs all through the late evening, then headed off to bed for the night!

Thursday the 6th – TUNES, TUNES, TUNES! – I got up early and headed into Hollywood to a studio called Sound Chef. That’s where we’d be recording four songs for the Garfield cartoon. I had a great time singing under the direction of Mark Evanier, and Laurent the composer. Fred Tatasciore joined the group, as did Phil LaMarr. We had such a great time we wanted to take the act on the road! But we’re all much too busy for that. Nice to dream though! When the session was over I got drive-thru lunch at Arby’s in Hollywood. Then I got home and walked Roxy. I had a few minutes to catch my breath, then it was off to NBC to tape “TTS.” While I was on the lot, I went up to NBC photo and met a guy named David, who showed me several photos in their database of Andy Kaufman in his Elvis costume (the one I now own) on “Saturday Night Live” back in 1977. BINGO! Now to get copies of those photos for my new Andy/Elvis display! We wrapped the show and I got home to walk Roxy and grab a quick nap. I got up later in the evening and did a bunch of auditions. Then I readied some bank deposits, fed and walked Roxy, and hit the hay. I had to be up early the next morning for the first day of It’s a Wrap’s annual Halloween sale!

Friday the 7th – HALLOWEEN, WHERE ARE YOU?! – Not only am I WAY over the hot summer weather, which just doesn’t seem to want to go away, but I’m longing for those cool fall breezes. And Halloween! I know it has to be close, because It’s a Wrap, a store I frequent that sells movie and TV wardrobe to the public, launched their annual Halloween sale. I was there 15 minutes before the store opened and saw my pal and webmaster Scott Sebring there too. I didn’t find anything of interest in the Halloween section, but I found this awesome suede jacket downstairs amongst their regular selection. I got home and got my mail, and found several checks. Since I had already prepared a deposit for the bank, I hurriedly scanned the checks and added them to the mix. I was going to hit the bank later to make the deposit. But time was tight! I just barely got everything taken care of, when I had to speed over to my Chiropractor’s office for my make-up appointment. I got crunched and stretched, and then I headed back to Sound Chef in Hollywood to do some more singing on the Garfield songs. My pal Mark Hamill was there to sing some songs as the character he recently did on the show. They had pizza delivered in, so I grabbed a quick slice of pizza then headed out the door. I made it to my bank, but as I was depositing the checks, the teller reminded me that I had forgotten to stamp my bank account number on the back of the new checks. She said I could do it by hand but time was tight, and I’m a slow writer. It was totally my fault, so I took the deposit back and went over to NBC to start the taping of “TTS.” I called Sara and had her grab my stamp and bring it to the studio. That way I could stamp them at NBC and get back to the bank after the show wrapped. We were taping early anyway because it’s the last show before a week-long hiatus. I had time to grab a salad at the commissary, open the show, then run out to Sara and get my stamp. But when the show was finished I wasn’t feeling all that good. Maybe it was the salad? I headed directly home to lie down for a bit. Later Brittney and Sara came by and we went to dinner at Miceli’s with my friend Hope and her friend Sedonna. What a fun evening! A one hour dinner turned into THREE hours! But I was getting VERY tired. So when I got home I laid down on the couch and slept for THREE hours! When I got up I fed and walked Roxy, did some work and then watched another “Hawaii Five-O” episode. What a busy day! But vacation week was here at last!

Saturday the 8th – OF ALL THE WEIRD COINCIDENCES! – I woke up in the morning and did a little “THPP” (two handed pet petting) on the bed. THPP is like TLC, but with Roxy and Spooky on the bed, they each wanted a hand to pet them. So I was happy to oblige with THPP. I got up for lunch with Laura and Carolyn, two ladies who are planning a huge Starsky & Hutch event next March. I took the Torino by to Jerry’s Famous to meet them. After we discussed scheduling possibilities at the convention, I took them for a quick ride. They were thrilled! And I love sharing the thrill of that iconic car with others! When I got back home, my computer guy Sean was there ready to install my new external hard-drive for backing up my computer. We discovered last week that the other back-up system I had hadn’t been working since JANUARY OF 2012! Nothing had been backed up since then! The external hard-drive crapped out, as did the program that was supervising the back-ups. But today it would be rectified! Sergio my hair guy was also there to put hair on the new Andy/Elvis mannequin. It was quite the busy afternoon. Shortly after they got started, Jim Ojala came back with another Michael Myers mask he had painted for me. I told him I wanted a few subtle changes on the other mask he painted, so he took that to his studio with the promise that he’d be right back later that afternoon. While Sergio and Sean worked I got busy around the house preparing for movie night. But just then my neighbor Caroline knocked on my door. Several years ago she mentioned that her dad had produced the “Halloween” movies. I told her I’d like to meet him the next time he’s in the area. Today was the day, of all days! She said, “My dad’s here!” Irwin Yablans, Executive Producer of “Halloween 1-3” had just published a book of his memoirs, and I went over to her place quick to have him sign it for me. What a nice guy. And Caroline’s mom is a hoot too! Caroline urged her folks to come over to see Planet Wallywood, so they headed over to my place. Upon seeing my collectibles Mr. Yablans recalled a movie he had produced called “Fade To Black,” about an obsessed movie fan who methodically killed his bullies utilizing the death techniques from his favorite movies. I told him I was just a movie fan, but didn’t have any bullies that I wanted to “off.” He actually loved Planet Wallywood and took pictures and video of the collection. Mrs. Yablans loved Robo-Elvis and recounted the time when she was 18, when she was a guest at Elvis’ Bel-Air mansion. A fascinating story! But then the coincidental nature of the day started to hit me. Normally I only have one Michael Myers bust on display, but today I had another MM mask on my file cabinet…the one Jim just brought over from being freshly painted. Mr. Yablans said, “How many Michael Myers masks do you have?” I told him I had four, but they all had subtle differences. Normally they’re not all on display simultaneously, but my effects guy had just been here dropping one off that he had repainted. Luckily, as we chatted, I was able to find my Halloween1 & 2 movie posters and have him sign them. I also had Mr. Yablans sign my Michael Myers bust. We talked at length about how he got involved in “Halloween,” and how he was always a fan of old time radio shows that had a scary theme. He said he told director John Carpenter that he wanted “Halloween” to be ‘theatre of the mind,’ and to not show a lot of blood or gore. He wanted the audience’s imagination to fill in the rest. Clever! All the while he was telling stories, I was praying that Jim would get back with the mask soon so he could meet him too! Sure enough, I glanced out the screen door and Jim was walking up my sidewalk holding the freshly painted Myers mask! I announced, “Look what’s being delivered!” Good timing! It had to be a one-in-a-million chance! Jim came in and met the group and we all had fun chatting about the movies Mr. Yablans has produced, many of which Jim knew well! But Mr. and Mrs. Yablans had to go to a dinner party, so they excused themselves with the promise to keep in touch. We exchanged contact information and when they left I just shook my head in disbelief. What are the chances??!! I’ve been talking to Caroline for YEARS about meeting her dad, and TODAY was the day he stopped by? The day Jim brought TWO Michael Myers masks over! Weird! Sara went to get some grocery supplies for movie night, while I cleaned house and stayed with Sergio as he finished for the day. He said he’d have to come back Sunday at 2 to finish up. I hastily cleaned up Planet Wallywood, and guests began to arrive at 7:30. We watched “Shaft” on Blu Ray. Then we followed it up with the original “The Hills Have Eyes” on Blu Ray, which was REALLY funny! Many of those old 70’s horror films just don’t hold up well over time. (“Halloween” being one of the exceptions!) I decided that the next 8 weeks, we’d run a goofy horror movie as the second feature to count down to Halloween. When everyone took off I worked on the computer for awhile learning a movie editing program, then I made some chili for dinner and retired to bed to watch another episode of “Hawaii Five-O.” What a day!

Sunday the 9th – SERGIO SUNDAY! – Sergio my hair guy returned at 2pm to continue working on Andy/Elvis. As he worked I went back to sleep, but on the couch. I woke up and it was 5:30, the time I’d normally be going to evening church. But Sergio wasn’t finished yet so I decided to skip church to hang with Sergio while he worked. It was so hot out anyway, that I didn’t want to walk Roxy over to church for fear that she’d get overheated. He still hadn’t finished up, but by 7 he was exhausted. So I took him and my assistant Sara over to The Counter for a delicious dinner. With a happy, full tummy, I came back and did my auditions. Then I called it an early night because Monday I had a VERY early morning with THREE back-to-back sessions!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PICS FROM THE WEEK

Edi gets “mauled” by Roxy the love junkie