Monday the 9th – TOUGH DAY! – I was up early to head to the Westside of L.A., but I still wasn’t feeling 100%. I had caught a monster cold the previous week and was still reeling. I had gone without a voice for a couple days the previous week, and my voice still wasn’t completely back. I got to POP Studios and met with the great crew for the new G.I. Joe videogame. I’ll be playing the character called Dataframe, and it was a fun session. Unfortunately, without having all of my voice (and battling a cough and tickle) it was a tough session. Luckily it was short. The first script I received had really small print. It looked like it was half the size of print in a phone book. With all the medication I was on, my eyes were not having a good time focusing. So I asked for a script with bigger type. They brought me one in, but this one had lettering the size of phone book print. But I made do. When I was done I headed over to Patches in Hollywood to do a spot for McDonald’s talking about “Morning Wallet.” Again, I was having trouble with my voice. Maintaining a character voice was tough, and my low register was not very strong. I was battling a lot of phlegm too. But I made it through and went on my way to Kalmenson and Kalmenson to do an audition for another McDonald’s spot. But when I got there they said because I had booked the other McDonald’s spot, I wouldn’t need to audition for this one. I assured them that even though I was sick, I could still change my voice enough so as to not be discernable as the same guy. They told me to go ahead and audition. So I did. I headed home and got ready for a cool meeting that night. My friend Mystery Mike was playing host to a Sgt. in the National Guard during his honeymoon in L.A. He said Sgt. Chuck Lombardo would be heading to Iraq in July, so he was trying to show him a good time while he was here. He said Chuck was a huge “Family Guy” fan, so we met for dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Studio City. After dinner, we went to Planet Wallywood to do the tour. Then we went over to DuPar’s to meet with Chuck McCann. It was great meeting Sgt. Lombardo and his new wife Ashley (and he does a DARN fine Peter Griffin impression too!) and we wish him the best for his tour of duty in Iraq. While we were at DuPar’s, (Sgt. Lombardo was in his dress green uniform) a guy came up to him and shook his hand, wished him the best in Iraq and told him he appreciated his service. Our entire table applauded the guy and Sgt. Chuck said it was great to hear. What a fun night!
Tuesday the 10th – A LITTLE RESPITE! – My dad has taken out some insurance on me, and part of the deal was that I had to take a brief physical. So a representative came by to take a blood and urine test. I also had an appraiser come by and appraise my place for my re-fi. The interest rates are at all-time lows and I wasn’t going to let THAT go by! I’ll be saving $200 a month! Plus, my car is paid off at the end of this month, so that’s ANOTHER $700 I’ll be saving a month. The timing couldn’t be better! So the tests went alright, the appraisal went alright, and when they were finished I got showered up and headed to Voicecasters for an audition. After that I went to Best Buy to get “Pinocchio” on Blu Ray and enjoyed some food at Wendy’s. After that I went to It’s a Wrap, but I didn’t find anything I liked. I went home to do auditions to send to my agent, and one of my agents came by my house to deliver my (very late) Christmas gift from “The Simpsons.” Every year they do something pretty amazing for their cast and crew, and this year they gave us Eureka upright vacuum cleaners in yellow. With special instructions on how to turn the vacuum cleaner into MARGE SIMPSON! Complete with wig and stick-on Marge eyes. FANTASTIC! What a great gift! That night my friend Bruce Kulick and my pal Sara and I went to the Studio Cafe for dinner.
Wednesday the 11th – LAMPLIGHTER MAGIC! – The guys who used to work on the Christian radio show “Adventures in Odyssey” are now working on a new show called “Lamplighter.” I was cast in three parts of a four part adventure they were recording. I was supposed to record voice tracks for two episodes today, and one on Thursday. But my responsibilities for “The Avengers” moved earlier, so “Lamplighter” decided to get all three of my episodes on one day. Which I appreciated. While at Salami studios, I ran into my pals Cam Clarke, Rob Paulsen, Phil Morris, Diedrich Bader & other voice-over greats! I also got to (FINALLY!) work with my old pal Jess Harnell. We’ve worked together before, but usually singing pirate songs or something like that. This time, we actually got to ACT together…in the same room! The producers said it was magical, and I felt the same. What fun! I can’t wait to hear the final product. I played a character named Sir Malcom, Thomas, and the royal tailor. Great scripts! Great writing! Great fun! I hope to do more in the future. I also got to work with Adam Wylie, a very talented actor who I’ve seen countless times on TV. He’s very adept at magic and wowed me with a bunch of card tricks! I loved ’em! When I finished at Salami, I went next door to McCoy productions to audition for a Hot Wheels commercial. Then I drove to my mailbox and picked up the mail. That night I enjoyed dinner with my friend Kristy at Marie Callendar’s.
Thursday the 12th – AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! – The episode of “The Avengers” we recorded was very heavy on the Ant Man and Wasp angle, so we had a lot to do. What a great episode it was! Afterwards I headed over to Voicecasters and auditioned for a radio spot for KOA campgrounds. After that I went home to clean up, take a quick nap, and go to a meeting at our homeowner’s association. Whew! What a day!
Friday the 13th – LUCKY DAY!! – Not at all the unlucky day it’s been associated with, this Friday the 13th was nothing short of amazing. We recorded another episode of “Gormiti” in the morning at Studiopolis Burbank, then I went to my mailbox and pick up some mail. Then I went to Voice Trax West and did some pick-up lines for the Windows Live voice-over session I did a few weeks back. There some script changes we needed to record. After that I went to Voicecasters to audition for a Kawasaki commercial, then I met with my friend Ginny at Studiopolis Burbank. Ginny wants to act in anime cartoons, so when I do “Bleach” I have her come along to watch and learn. But first I needed to audition for my pal Jeff Nimoy and the “Blue Dragon” cartoon. As I was in the waiting room, Jeff came out and saw Ginny and they started talking. Come to find out Jeff knew her voice coach and asked her to come audition! Unbelievable! It really IS being in the right place at the right time. And Jeff’s a terrific guy to do that. Ginny was flying high! Then we went in to do my “Bleach” session. After that, she went to her voice-over class at Voice Trax West, while I went home to get ready for dinner. I met up with my pal Sara, Fred Westbrook and Chuck McCann at Little Toni’s in North Hollywood. My pal Reed Kaplan was in town working on a shoot, so he joined us as well. We had a great time dining and chatting. But then we all went home. Just then I realized that I had to get my car into Ford to get the oil changed! I didn’t have a ride home. I remembered that Ginny was going to be done with class at 10, so I quick called her and asked for a ride home. She came over after class, followed me to the Ford dealer, I dropped off my car and then she took me home. Whew! Lucky!
Saturday the 14th – LOOOONG SATURDAY! – I had to get up early for a church Elder’s meeting. After that my friend and fellow Elder GloZell took me to Fred Westbrook’s house so we could hang out. We were joined by Sara and Chuck McCann. We talked all afternoon, and then Chuck gave me a ride to go get my car. I picked up my car and headed home. I grabbed a quick nap, then got up and showered. Sara and I would be going to my friend Christopher Ameruso’s birthday party in Toluca Lake. I picked Sara up and we headed over. Chris is a wonderful photographer, but is also a terrific musician! So he sang some songs at the party with help from Sara.
Mad TV’s Debra Wilson was there and she sang with them as well! As I sat there listening, they did the song “California Dreaming.” I used to play that song on the radio in South Dakota all the time and think about the words, and being in California. Well now, here I was! IN CALIFORNIA! Surrounded by really talented people and loving life! The poignancy of the song really struck a deep chord in me, almost moving me to tears as I recalled how far I had come from those old South Dakota radio days. What a moment! Speaking of radio, Debra came up to me later and said my name sounded familiar. Come to find out, she remembered me from my old days on the air at 94.7 THE WAVE! Over 10 years ago!! Wild. She’s a really wonderful person and I enjoyed meeting her. Later Sara and I hung out on the patio sucking helium from Chris’ birthday balloons. Chuck McCann stopped by for a bit to hang out. What fun! I came home, fed Sassie, and went to bed to eat popcorn and watch the “Planet of the Apes” TV episodes.
Sunday the 15th- SLEEP IN DAY! –It was the first day I had gotten to sleep in for a long time. And it felt WONDERFUL! I went to evening church to do elder duties and met up with my friends Lindsey, Tracy, and Ginny. After church we all were on our way to Ernie’s Taco House to eat, when I spied a beautiful bird on the arm of a guy who was talking to someone in an SUV in a parking lot. I told Tracy to spin a U-turn and take us to the bird. Boy am I glad we did! Not one but TWO beautiful Macaws were on the arms of their owner. One red and one blue. They were fascinating creatures and I’m glad Ginny had her camera along to capture them.
By the time we got to Ernie’s in North Hollywood my friend Sara had been waiting for us for awhile. We had a great meal and literally closed down the place as we sat talking! What a wonderful evening. Tracy drove me back home and she came inside to watch a TV show. As we did, we sat talking. I haven’t seen Tracy in a long time so it was good catching up. After she left I did my auditions, uploaded them to the website for my agents, and popped more popcorn to watch more “Planet of the Apes” episodes.
And how was YOUR week??!!
