As I start planning my vacation to my home town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota over the 4th of July weekend, this song came to mind. However, if you listen to the words it’s actually quite a sad song. All of the reminiscences of the singer actually turns out to be a dream. A dream he has while sleeping on the eve of his execution. Listen closely to the words and you’ll see what I mean. It’s Tom Jones singing ‘The Green Green Grass of Home.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSajFnkUxQY
This week’s random pic was one Wally received in his e-mail. And on the week of the country’s birthday, it’s highly appropriate to see all these beautiful American eagles all gathered in one place. STUNNING!
Monday the 21st – BUSY WEEK IS OFF AND RUNNING! – I was at Studiopolis Burbank in the morning to do a two hour session for “Bleach.” When I was finished I headed home to call Insignia…the company who made my Blu Ray player. If you remember the previous week’s Wally’s Week, I was having trouble with my new Blu Ray player. It kept showing a little movie camera icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen during our Blu Ray Trek night…our viewing of the original “Star Trek” on Blu Ray. It appeared to tell us that another angle was available. It was more distracting than usable, however. I was able to defeat the icon in my original player, but I had to retire the original player because it wasn’t liking Universal Studios’ movies. So now this new machine played Universal movies fine, but I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of that stupid icon. According to the company, there IS no way to disable the icon. So…guess what?! The machine is going back to the store for a full refund. What a dumb design! It won’t let you disable stupid icons? Absurd! Later that day I went to do my usual “Tonight Show” gig, and afterwards I went to the Smokehouse for a big dinner meeting of a lot of famous announcers and radio folks. It was being hosted by Steve Kamer, the voice of Inside Edition. He was in town from New York, so he put a big dinner together. Also there was Rich Fields, the announcer for “The Price is Right.” As well as Beau Weaver, the voice of Extra, and many others. We took a big group photo.
Here it is! What a fun night! But by the time I got home I was exhausted. It was a VERY long day, and the week was just beginning!
Tuesday the 22nd – TORNADO TUESDAY! – What a whirlwind! I got to Buzzy’s in Hollywood to record the second to the last “Garfield” session for the second season of cartoons. I won’t be present for the final recording, because I’ll be in South Dakota visiting my grandma for her 98th birthday! So they’ll pick my lines up when I get back. I bid everyone a fond farewell, with hearty wishes for a third season pick-up! Then I stopped by my box and picked up some videos I had bought on eBay. My grandma was always loved “The Lawrence Welk Show,” and I acquired about 13 VHS tapes of the show. Now I’ve gotta hook her VCR up and teach her how to use it. In addition, I got the Lawrence Welk autobiography “Wunnerful Wunnerful” which was SIGNED by Lawrence Welk! But the best part was still to come. I had feelers out all over the place to find Bobby Burgess, an original Mousketeer and featured dancer on the Welk show. I had seen him at autograph shows in the past, and even had him talk to my grandma on my cell phone at one show. I wanted to buy some signed stuff for her as well as arrange a phone call to her during her big birthday party. But I was coming up empty-handed. He’s gotta be out there somewhere! In addition to making all those phone calls, I also found an e-mail address for him on-line, so I gave that a try. The letter I had sent to him was sent back to me as “No Such Number.” I got home and put on my biking gear, and bicycled my way to “The Tonight Show.” It felt good to bike in again, and I made it in a little over 20 minutes. I quickly biked home after the show in time to meet up with Sassie’s groomer. She got her bath in the mobile unit in my driveway. But it was early-to-bed for another session the next day. Plus, my friend Andrea would be flying in to visit me!
Wednesday the 23rd – WILD WILD WEDNESDAY! – I drove to Mai Tai studios in the morning to do another session for Baskin-Robbins TV commercials. This was my third session for them and I’m really enjoying working for these guys. My friend Andrea got into the Burbank airport around noon, but I was still in session. So she caught a ride to the studio and we met up there. Come to find out she had endured a night of weather hell in Omaha. She out drove several thunderstorms, her car was hydroplaning all over the place, and the electricity went out at her hotel. But despite all that her plane still landed! She was happy to be in sunny L.A.! I took some dry cleaning in, then took my Blu Ray player back for a refund. Then I took Andrea to the taping of “The Tonight Show” and she saw Jeremy Piven and comedian Louis C.K. Then we sped home, cleaned up and went to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet up with Steve Kamer, Sara, Georgette, agent Fred Westbrook and Andrea. Chuck McCann even dropped by! What fun!
Thursday the 24th – MY HEAD’S SPINNING! – I got over to North Hollywood Sound in Studio City to record some pick-up lines for a videogame I’ve been working on for a year or so. This game promises to be quite extravagant, as they’re really taking their time developing it. I’m under contract not to speak about it until it’s released, but it’s gonna be a good one! I finished up the session and went to my box to get more Lawrence Welk VHS tapes. My friend Andrea had friends in from South Dakota who came in to attend the “Twilight” premiere in downtown L.A. They didn’t have tickets, but wanted to hang outside to watch the stars arrive. Well, fans had started camping out last Saturday, so there was very little chance they’d get anywhere near the theatre. So they came to “TTS” instead, since Bryce Dallas Howard was going to be a guest that day. Why fight a crowd in downtown L.A. when you can sit 20 feet from an actual “Twilight” star? Tom Cruise was also on the show that day. I delivered them to Guest Relations and went to the studio to record some voice tracks for a comedy bit. When the show was over I went out into the audience to get Heath, Stacey and Andrea. But the audience was still in the studio! Come to find out, Tom Cruise was out shaking hands with the audience members! FANTASTIC! Stacey was disappointed she didn’t make the “Twilight” premiere, but here she was shaking hands with Tom Cruise! Only in L.A.! They were elated. Then we had dinner at Ernie’s Taco House so they could sample some REAL Mexican food! By the way, still no message back from Bobby Burgess. EEK!
Friday the 25th – AHHHHHH! REST! – I got to sleep in a bit today, as the week was so exhaustingly busy. I really appreciated it. We were taping “TTS” early that day, since it was the Friday before a hiatus week. They do that so those who are going out of town have a little extra time to make their evening flights. Stacey, Heath and Andrea would be going to the taping again today. We stopped by my mailbox and got the final shipment of Welk tapes. I packed them all up in a box and Fed Ex’d them to my hotel in Sioux Falls. I didn’t want to have to pack them or carry them on. Then we stopped and got some pet food. I wanted to be stocked up for my housesitter while I was away. Then we got to NBC just in time. I dropped them off at Guest Relations, and saw a gal named Jennie who was asking about standby tickets. They told her to walk to the other side of the NBC lot to get in line. I was heading that direction anyway, so I offered her a ride. Her boyfriend Drew was there as well, so we all went over to the main driveway and they got in line. I parked my car and went in. I met up with them just outside the studio as they were waiting in line. It looked as if they were going to be able to get into the taping. They were nice kids from Detroit. Cameron Diaz was on the show that day, and again Heath, Stacey and Andrea enjoyed themselves. After the show I took them backstage for the tour. When Stacey saw “American Idol” winner Lee DeWyze in the hallway she started shaking. She said she watched “AI” all the time and thought he was great. So we went over where he was standing and he walked by and we all told him he did great. What a great trip it was turning out for them! And come to find out, when they got back to their hotel Thursday night, they actually saw the “Twilight” stars LEAVING the premiere party! Up close and personal. So mission accomplished, though it wasn’t quite how they planned it. Then we went to Jerry’s Famous Deli for dinner. They had to split quickly to get to their hotel by the beach. They wanted to see the sunset over the water. Their plane would be leaving the next morning early. That night Mark Ackerman, my A/V pal, came by to reinstall my old Blu Ray player and program the remote. That insured that we would be all set for the final night of Blu Ray Trek at my house Saturday night! We were now officially on hiatus until July 6th, it was a busy week, and I was ready to relax!! And as luck would have it, Bobby Burgess DID get my e-mail, and called my phone. We would be meeting Saturday afternoon to get all of the stuff signed for my grandma’s 98th birthday!
Saturday the 26th – RELAX? DID I SAY RELAX?? I got up early to let the maids in. Plus, Sara came by to wash her clothes to get ready for our trip to South Dakota and CONvergence. Sara stayed there with the maids while Andrea and I went on errands. We went to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet with Bobby Burgess. I gave him the letter that I had sent originally, which had been returned. He said the address was incomplete. The box number was correct, but the street address was missing. He gave me the address and I thought it sounded familiar. WAIT! That’s the same mailbox place where I have MY box! He was only a few boxes away from my box! What a small world. I had searched the town trying to find him, only to find out that we go to the same mail place! I just laughed out loud. But, he was there signing all the stuff for my grandma, and all was right with the world. What a nice guy. We actually spent about 2 hours talking and comparing stories. When we were done, Andrea and I headed to my stylist to get my hair looking right for the upcoming trip. When we returned to my house everyone started showing up for the final night of Blu Ray Trek. That’s right. We, as a group, have made it through all 79 episodes of the original “Star Trek” on Blu Ray. Quite a feat! After everyone left I started working on Sara’s “Slave Leia” costume for the convention. Several things needed to be sewn on it, so I got out my trusty needle and thread and did the work myself. It turned out alright, if I do say so myself. Scott Sebring’s wife Vickie did some of the sewing earlier in the evening during BRT, but I finished everything up. By the time I got to bed it was about 6am!
Sunday the 27th – SLEEP! PRECIOUS SLEEP! – I slept in until 1pm, then got up to get ready for a photo shoot. Photographer Elizabeth Sloan had met me at a recent autograph show and asked if she could shoot me. After finding a time that both of our busy schedules allowed for, we set up the time. She loved Planet Wallywood, and we got a lot of great shots around my house. Then we went outside and took some out there as well. It was a great day, and I hope the pictures turn out exactly the way she envisioned. Andrea and I got cleaned up for evening church. Tonight was an earlier start time, because it was an all-music service. They were recording a live CD of all the music, that will be used as a “calling card” to get people interested in coming to the service. What a fun time! Afterwards a huge group of us went to Barone’s to eat dinner. But no sooner did Andrea and I get to my house, than Chuck McCann called to say he was back in town from a weekend trip to Seattle. So we met at DuPar’s for some pie and got prepped for the upcoming CONvergence appearance in Minneapolis. I told Chuck he was going to have a stellar time! At the end of the evening, I washed some clothes, prepped some stuff to be packed the next day for the trip, and tried my best to stay organized!
And how was YOUR week??!!
