Monday the 1st – BACK TO BIZ! – After the Thanksgiving weekend (which was great!) was over, it was time to get back to real life. In the afternoon I went to my chiropractor Dr. Dave and got an adjustment. The numbness in my left hand has completely disappeared since I’ve been going to him. Later that night I met up with a couple of guys from the complex who want to start a technology committee here at the condo complex. It’s something I’ve been involved with for awhile, but now it’s finally starting to get some momentum. We want to look at getting rid of the cable system here and replace it with satellite for TV. For internet we’re looking at getting a Wi-Fi system that the entire complex could use. Gotta take this complex into the next century!

Tuesday the 2nd – THANK GOD FOR CHEAP GAS! – I really put the miles on my car today! First, I went to Voicecasters in the morning to read for two commercials. Then I stopped by my accountant’s office to pay him some money for some work he had done helping my form my new LLC called ‘Plate Spinner Productions.’ (Named after the plate spinners at the circus who manage to keep several plates spinning at the same time – focus that I admire) Then I drove down to the Westside of LA to meet up with the gang from Voice Group at 48 Windows. I was doing some more voice work on the videogame “Dynasty Warriors 6”. It’s always great to see Jurgen and Stacey again. After that I went to Laser Blazer to get some DVDs, and then to It’s a Wrap to buy a few new clothing items. (It’s a Wrap sells movie and TV wardrobe to the general public). Then I drove to Cedars Sinai and the office of Regenix. It was time for my periodic check-up on how the Regenix products are helping my hair. I also met up with my buddy Eric there. He had bought some of the products on-line, but I wanted him to see how his scalp looked under the microscopic unit they have there. I headed home, took a quick nap, and then went over to Bob’s Big Boy to meet up with my buddy Chuck McCann and company. Then I went home, paid some bills and did my auditions in my home studio. I sent them off to my agents via the internet.

Wednesday the 3rd – AUDITIONS, ERRANDS AND GUN-FUN! – I went to Elaine Craig Casting in Hollywood to do an audition for a Nestle’s Quick commercial. Then I stopped by my pet’s groomer to pick up some more cat litter for my cat Spooky. I got home, grabbed my Walther PPK, and headed to the shooting range. I hadn’t been shooting for awhile and was looking forward to it. I met a few cool people at the range…Orin and Miriam. They’re both actors and we talked about guns and the entertainment industry. Orin’s a great guy who just worked on the Terminator series, and Miriam (probably one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in this town!) wanted to get into voice-over. We all exchanged contact info and I went on my way with my used target in hand. After studying it, I realize that I’m still pulling left for some reason. I need to figure out why I’m doing that and correct it. But that’s what a hobby is all about. Later that night I went to evening church.

Thursday the 4th – MORE ANT MAN! – Well, I’ve been hesitant to mention it until now (because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t all a dream) but I think it’s safe to tell you. I was recently cast as Dr. Hank Pym aka Ant Man in the new animated series “Avengers; Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!” It’s a dream come true to play a super hero in an animated series and I’m totally digging it! The series won’t air until 2010, but it’s going to be awesome! It follows the storyline of the comic book super-hero group The Avengers. Stay tooned for more information on this awesome cartoon. The writing is slick and moves along well, and I can’t wait to see the animation on this! That evening I met up with one of the guys from our complex’s technology committee and we compared my satellite signal against the quality of the cable service that comes with our complex. Needless to say, satellite dominated!

Friday the 5th – RIP FORREST J. ACKERMAN 1916-2008 – We lost “Uncle Forry” today. Though he had been sick for awhile, he finally succumbed to heart failure today. Forry was the editor of the magazine “Famous Monsters of Filmland” that I read religiously as a kid. It was primarily responsible for getting me (and many other industry folks) interested in the movie biz; make-up, film, photography, etc. He was kind enough to allow people to come into his home and view his amazing collection of film memorabilia. I had met him on several occasions and had most recently seen him during the interview we did for our “Groovie Goolies” DVD boxed set. It was through his inspiration that I open my own house from time to time to visitors so they may view my collection, though my collection of stuff PALES in comparison to what Forry had! The original Dracula ring, Lon Chaney’s make-up kit, a cape Bela Lugosi used in a stage production of Dracula, etc. He inspired folks like John Landis, Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg to become what they are today. We’ll miss him. In the morning I went to Kalmenson and Kalmenson to audition for a commercial. But I was starting to feel ill again. My teeth had been hurting on and off for the past week, and today they were starting to hurt again. Not just ONE tooth, but the entire right side of my upper and lower jaw on the right side! I found out from my doctor that this was most likely due to either a sinus infection or an ear infection. So I made an appointment to see him on Saturday at noon and get treated. The rest of the day I just slept. I did meet up with Scott and Vickie Sebring, and my friend Sara for an enjoyable Italian dinner. But then I took some more meds and went back to bed. As I laid down to sleep something ironic struck me. On the same day we saw the passing of a man who made his living from presenting various fictional monsters, a real monster was sentenced to up to 33 years in jail in Las Vegas. Strange how that works eh?

Saturday the 6th – ROCK AND ROLL DOC! – I visited my pal Dr. Stephen Patt in Santa Monica and he looked at my ear and said there was definitely some fluid there that didn’t belong. In addition to being the main doc for the entertainment industry, he’s also a wicked guitarist! And an all around great guy. I know that for a fact because he has two great dogs…Sally and Socrates. After waiting around in the pharmacy downstairs for my prescription, I made my way to Best Buy. Now that I have a Blu Ray player I’ve been on the lookout for the Blu Ray discs of my favorite films. Today I found “Superman” and “Purple Rain.” Awesome! I went home and then my pal Sara came over. We were going to do a photo shoot at my house of her in my Batgirl costume. She bares a strong resemblance to the original Batgirl Yvonne Craig, and Scott Sebring and I were dying to get her into costume and getting her on film. Scott’s wife Vickie brought her costume over and it fit Sara like a glove! We got her all dressed up and we were amazed at how much she had Yvonne’s facial features, as well as her physical stature. It was great and we got some terrific shots! I must say that she looks the most like Batgirl of anyone I’ve ever seen! Fantastic! After she was done, I put on my Scarecrow of Romney Marsh costume and we got some shots. We went outside and saw that there was a neat, hazy moon shining through the trees in back of my house. Scott laid on the ground and got some terrific shots of me as the Scarecrow with the tree and hazy moon looming in the background. I can’t wait to post them here! By the time we were done, we were all exhausted and hungry. But we had enough energy to make it to DuPar’s for dinner. And our pal Chuck McCann dropped by as well! We showed him the shots we took on Scott’s laptop and he was amazed!

Sunday the 7th – I LOST TWO UNCLES THIS WEEK! – My folks called early on to tell me that my great Uncle Ernie died overnight. He had been declining for about a week so it wasn’t a big surprise. But with the passing of Forry, that made my two uncles lighter now. Luckily, I was off to a happy event. My pal Malachi Throne, genius character actor from 60’s, 70’s and 80’s TV shows I love, was having his 80th birthday party at his home! I got over there and noticed a LOT of character actors that I had seen throughout my childhood. It was great! I believe I saw Michael Forest, who played Apollo in the Star Trek episode “Who Mourns for Adonis.” I also saw Barbara Luna who played roles in Star Trek and Wild Wild West. But I had a great conversation with Shelley Berman, legendary comic. He told me that he had never intended to go into comedy, that he primarily started out as an actor. He got into comedy through his improvisation work as an actor. He also told me stories about the great Jewish comics of the past, and the last time he saw Richard Pryor. Fantastic! What a day! I headed home mid-afternoon to get ready for evening church. After church I took a nap by the fire and turned on the satellite to listen to Christmas music. I gotta tell ya…there’s no simpler pleasure than laying on a couple of beanbags with a soft, cuddly blanket in front of the fire, while continuous Christmas music lightly plays in the background. My dog Sassie asleep on the couch, and my cat Spook alternating between laying on his favorite chair, or me. When I got up I did my auditions, heated up some delicious turkey soup that my neighbor made for me, and finished up some stuff around the house.

And how was YOUR week??!!