Monday the 16th – HAPPY PRESIDENT’S DAY! – Since most of the town was shut down, I decided to sleep really late and enjoyed it. It was a nice rainy day so I had definite relaxation plans for the day. First, I dropped off some tax documents to my accountant in the afternoon, then drove by Denny’s and picked up my usual chicken salad and buffalo chicken strips to go. I got home, put on my pajamas and enjoyed my lunch as it rained outside. I put on an episode of “Mannix” on DVD and ate. When “Mannix” was over, I dialed around on DirecTV for awhile. I happened upon channel 101, which plays a lot of concerts in HD. I saw the Tom Jones Live at Cardiff Castle concert, and was amazed! I had always wanted to see him live, and I decided that THIS was the year I would do it. So I got on-line and discovered that he would be in Vegas in March and in May. I called my pal in South Dakota and we talked about going to meet me there at a show. He said March would be too soon, but May would be workable. So we agreed to go see a show right around my birthday in May. Sounds like a plan! I can’t wait!
Tuesday the 17th – LOOOOOONG DAY! – Whew! Good thing I got my rest on Monday, because Tuesday was busy busy busy! In the morning I went to Santa Monica and did a session for a videogame I had done voices for before. They needed to record some additional voice tracks for the game. It didn’t take very long, so I set about doing some errands on the Westside of L.A. I picked up a prescription at a local pharmacy down there, then drove through the Arby’s drive through and got some food. I stopped by Laser Blazer and looked at the new DVDs…nothing I needed. So then I went to It’s a Wrap in Beverly Hills and picked up a few new items. Then I stopped by a dry cleaners who called a few days earlier and reminded me that a comforter had been cleaned there back in June and I still hadn’t picked it up yet! Damn lousy memory! So I drove by and picked it up. I got home just in time to be stood up by the DirecTV guy. We had been talking about getting DirecTV in our condo complex, and I had an appointment with a technician to talk about the logistics. The appointed time came and went and no DirecTV guy. I finally called him about a half hour later and he said he was still down by the coast. Strange he didn’t even call me to tell me he was going to be late. I insisted that he come by since I had cleared my day to meet with him. By the time he came by it was about three hours after our original appointment time. Apparently, he had lost his assistant recently for family reasons, and he was swamped. I told him, “I thought there was a recession going on!?” He said he doesn’t see it, since they’ve never been busier! Plus, he hired a new assistant and she hasn’t even managed to show up to work yet! Nope…no recession. Apparently nobody needs a job. Weird. That night my pals Sara and Fred and I stopped by Bob’s Big Boy to meet up with Chuck McCann and the gang.
Wednesday the 18th – FOLLOW YOUR NOSE! – In the afternoon I went by DG Productions in Hollywood to lay down voice tracks for a new Kellogg’s Froot Loops TV commercial. I’ll be playing an octopus. When I walked in I saw my pal Maurice LaMarche who does the voice of Toucan Sam. Then I ran into other animation greats Jim Cummings and Frank Welker. It really amazed me that these guys treat me as peers and are extremely nice and welcoming whenever I meet them! I told my friend it feels like I’m walking with giants. See, dreams CAN come true! It was a fun session and should be a GREAT commercial! After the session, I went to Long’s Drugs to get some photos printed. Once they were finished, I drove by my mailbox and picked up some packages. I also dropped off some photos for my friend Sara who works there. I got home late in the afternoon but was getting a headache. So I didn’t go to evening church, but instead I took a nap. Later that evening my friend Michelle came by to pick up some documents for a re-fi. I figured with these low interest rates I was going to jump on it!
Thursday the 19th – AVENGERS ASSEMBLE…AGAIN! – In the morning I called the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and reserved my seats for the Tom Jones concert in May. Woo Hoo! I’m all set! Then I went over to Studiopolis Burbank to do another episode of “Avengers.” Those sessions are always a ton of fun! I’m so thankful to be involved in that show. After the session I went to the bank to put some money in, then stopped at It’s a Wrap in Burbank, and then headed home to clean up. Then I met my friends Kristy and Chuck McCann for dinner at The Smokehouse. But I was getting tired, so I headed home and did about six auditions in my home studio to e-mail to my agent.
Friday the 20th – THE 20 HOUR DAY! – I got up early in the morning to be at Studiopolis Burbank to do another session for the animated show “Gormiti.” So I got up around 7:15am to be ready for that. After the session was finished, I went to grab some lunch and check into Best Buy to pick up Tom Jones’ Greatest Hits! (I was getting psyched about seeing him in concert in three months!) After that, I went over to Firing Line in Burbank to do some target shooting. I moved the target a little further back than I usually have it to try and improve my aim. My grouping was pretty good. I also found out how I need to alter my aiming in the sights to hit different areas of the target. Then I stopped at the grocery store and bought a ton of groceries. I figured I’d go home and relax, but I had another think coming! I got home and met up with my electrician…a guy from the U.K. I call “Electric Bob.” He’s wired a lot of the stuff in Planet Wallywood and he’s terrific. It’s always fun to hear him speak, as he talks in a delightful British accent. My pal and webmaster Scott Sebring was in the area so he stopped by as well. Bob was trying to rewire some of the lighting elements in my house, so as he worked I spoke with Scott. Then I got a call from my agent. She asked if I could do Regis Philbin. I said I could so she had me call the casting person for “The Jimmy Kimmel Show.” They wanted to hear my do some Regis over the phone, which I did, so she sent me the script. I downloaded the script, and then called the director. I read the script over the phone to him. He said he liked it and have the casting director get back to me. Meanwhile it was approaching 4:00. That was the appointed time I needed to be home to do a phone audition for a Christian radio show called “Lamplighter.” They called a few minutes early, so I took the call. The role was that of a British guy named Sir Malcom. Now, bear in mind, “Electric Bob” was working on the switch panel about 3 feet from where I was doing the audition. I did one pass through the script for the producers on the phone. They said they liked it but would like to amp up the British accent. I smiled, thinking that if Electric Bob hated my British accent he must be gritting his teeth. Just then I heard my call waiting go off. BEEP! I couldn’t take the call because I still had to go through the script once more for the producers with more British accent! So I let it beep. But I knew it would beep again during my audition, so I tried to predict when the next beep would occur, and I tried to talk around it so the producers on the other end wouldn’t hear me cutting in and out. It worked! I did the second pass and they seemed pleased. Just as they hung up, my cell phone rang. It was the Jimmy Kimmel casting director booking me for the voice of Regis. So now I needed to record the Regis script in my studio and e-mail it to the editor. I figured this couldn’t have happened at a better time! My electrician was there at hand, as was my webmaster! If anything went technically awry, I knew I’d be covered. So I did the script several times and uploaded it to a server that the Kimmel people could access. They wanted me to be on stand-by until 7pm to make sure there weren’t any changes or updates. The writer called about an hour later asking me to add a few lines. I recorded those and sent them over. Then I relaxed as I waited for the phone to ring to release me from the hold. Shortly after 7 they called and said all was good. I called my pal Sara and we went to Chin Chin to eat dinner. But she was as tired as I was. So I dropped her off at home and went to my house to unwind. What a day! By the time I got to bed (my mind was spinning!) it was about 2. By the time I actually got to sleep it was 3. Which made it a full 20 hour day of non-stop action!
Saturday the 21st – FRIENDS, FILMS & FUN! – Electric Bob came back over to work on my switch panel, and soon my maids came to clean Planet Wallywood. My friend GloZell also came over to check in. She and I walked Sassie over to the groomer’s for a bath and nail cutting. After the maids were done, I drove over to KFC, got some lunch and went to my friend Fred’s house to hang by his pool. Scott and his wife Vickie came over as well and we shot the breeze with Fred for awhile. Then we went to my place and waited for some other folks to show up for movie night. But first I ran over to the groomer’s to pick up Sassie. My friend Ginny showed up, as did my friends Shawn and Gina, Sara, and GloZell. We ordered pizzas, watched an episode of “Get Smart” and then watched the James Bond movie “Live and Let Die” on Blu Ray. After that we watched an old Thor cartoon from the 60’s. But it was getting late and everybody was getting tired. What fun!
Sunday the 22nd – TOM JONES-MANIA! – I got up in the afternoon and watched the Tom Jones concert on DirecTV again. Then I napped a little more, but got up for evening church. After church I met up with my friend Ginny again. We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and my pal Fred came by to join us. I brought my “Tom Jones Greatest Hits” into the restaurant and asked if they would play it. Since it was Oscar night, they had only a few other people there, so they said they would. It was great eating spaghetti, salad and soup while listening to Tom Jones. Fred’s a big fan too so it was especially fun. Fred was having an allergy attack so he went home, but Ginny and I went over to DuPar’s to enjoy some pie for dessert. Then I got home and recorded some auditions, uploaded them, and then typed Wally’s Week. But I had to prepare for another early session the next morning, so I tried to get to bed early.
And how was YOUR week??!!
