A week ago last Sunday evening I was grocery shopping, and there were TONS of beautiful women shopping the same evening. Needless to say it was a VERY pleasant shopping experience. On the store’s music system, I heard “If You Leave” by Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (aka – OMD). While I never really cared for this song when it was out in the 80’s, it sure sounded good on this shopping excursion. I still don’t really care for the song, but I just can’t get it out of my head. And as I hum it, I remember all the beautiful L.A. girls filling their baskets with yogurt, rice cakes and wheat bread.
Monday the 16th – ELVIS DAY! – It was 33 years ago today that Elvis died. I still remember where I was when I heard the news. I was home and my cousin Mark Langston called me to tell me. He knew I would want to know since in 1977 I had been imitating Elvis for about 6 months in anticipation of a big talent show act at school the following February. It was a very sad day, but I had just seen him in concert a few months earlier in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Here’s a shot I took of Elvis on stage that magical night!
I turned on the TV and saw Geraldo Rivera doing a report from Memphis about the vigil of fans that was beginning to form. Since I had a radio show then, I started compiling all my Elvis albums and headed down to the radio station to start writing an Elvis memorial show. I got all of the newswire reports together and compiled a one hour show, playing Elvis music and interspersing it with news reports, and a review of his life and career. I beat all the other radio stations in town to the punch! The other stations hadn’t done their Elvis retrospectives until the next day. On my show that night, I took donations to send flowers to Graceland. I wired the flowers the next day, and about a month or so later I got a really great Thank You card from the Presley family.
Anyway, this coupled with the recent screening of the “Elvis On Tour” blu ray, I was getting the fever to FINALLY go to Graceland. So I made plans to make my trip during the next “Tonight Show” hiatus in October! This week, we’re on hiatus from ‘The Tonight Show”…so I’ve been using the spare time to get some errands and other things done. Now, back to my day…it was starting to get really hot. It’s late August, so it’s due. And we’ve been spoiled with really mild temps lately. I drove over to Oracle studios in Burbank to record some more voice tracks for a new X-Men videogame. Then I popped by Goodwill and dropped off some clothes and some old office equipment I didn’t need any longer. I went home and grabbed Sassie and put her in the car. I took her to the vet’s office to start her on her steroid therapy. The doctor thinks that she will improve somewhat and be able to walk a little better if she goes on a steroid program. So they gave her a shot and we went home. That night my pal Brittney Powell came by to record a quick voice-over audition.
Tuesday the 17th – HOT!I got up around noon and headed over to Carroll Casting to audition for a radio commercial. When I was done, I went back home and slept some more. During this week of hiatus, I’ve been staying up late at night and sleeping most of the day away. I’m a nightowl…I have been since the teen years, and I really got into the night thing when I was an overnight DJ in Sioux Falls and at the Wave in L.A. Old habits die hard I guess. It was nice to have some time off to just crank up the AC and relax. In addition to being on hiatus from “TTS,” the summer months are traditionally slow in the entertainment industry anyway.
Wednesday the 18th – SUMMER IS HERE! – I went to Voice Trax West after noon to do another commercial for HH Gregg electronics stores. Then I went to the craft store to buy some more little plastic hemispheres for a project I’m doing in Planet Wallywood. I hit the post office to mail some stuff, then stopped by my box to pick up some packages. I got home and got settled, then went over to Floyd’s Barber Shop to get a trim and a color job. It’s always nice to see my stylist Andie, but particularly nice today. She asked if I would sign their celeb wall, which I was happy to do. Also, she said that my hair was looking really good. It was her opinion that the Regenix program is working for certain. She said the bottom half of the hairs that are growing out of my scalp are thick, and they get thin toward the end. Which proves that as the hair grows in, it’s getting thicker and thicker. It’s an amazing program! That night I put on my swim trunks and swam in the pool and took a dip in the jacuzzi. But the most amazing thing happened…one of things I like to consider one of life’s special little moments. My pastor Louise calls it an experience in those “thin places.” Meaning, that the veil between life on Earth and the Heavenly existence gets thinner in certain places, and at certain times. Those “thin places” give you a tiny glimpse into what the Heavenly realm might be like. I was swimming on my back in the pool and caught sight of the most amazing thing. The moon was half full and rising in the sky. As I looked up at the trees in our complex, I noticed that two branches sprouting off from the side of a tree formed an almost perfect “C” shape. As I was swimming, I moved to a certain place so it looked like the half moon was PERFECTLY FRAMED IN THE C SHAPED BRANCHES! It looked like it was something a framer would put together. And you could only see that from my position in the pool. I don’t think anyone else on the planet was seeing what I was seeing. It just worked out perfectly! I wanted to get out of the pool and get my camera to take a photo of it, but I didn’t want to move from the pool. The warm water, the nice summer night, and the beautiful vision before me made me hesitant to leave that moment for any reason. What a night!!
Thursday the 19th – STILL HOT! – Yes, it’s summer in L.A. I always knew our mild weather would come to an end, and sure enough it did. I just hope that it comes back soon as I’m not a big summer person. I relaxed most of the day in the cool house. That night, Sara and I did a quick voice-over session for my friend Dick Grunert’s internet radio murder mystery show. It was a great time, and when the session was over we ate at Panera and relaxed. Sara was a bit nervous about her first voice-over session, but she did very well. I know Dick was very pleased.
Friday the 20th – END OF HIATUS WEEK 1 – I woke up just before 1pm to do a session at my house for Clear Channel broadcasting. When the session was over I got ready to head out. Today was an errand day, so I grabbed my friend Sara and we went out and about. I bought some Liquid Nails from the hardware store for my Planet Wallywood project. Then I took a Super 8 film editor back, as I had been renting it to work on my uncle and aunt’s old movies. I’m editing them all on to one reel so I can have them digitally transferred. However, I ran out of reel space and need to order more reels. So until they come in I wanted to return the editing system. I also stopped by the craft store and bought a few more things for my Planet Wallywood project. My friends Randy Carver and Shelley Herman came over later in the day to hang out and check out the latest stuff in Planet Wallywood. Randy worked with Andy Kaufman on the first season of “Taxi,” and has fond recollections of Andy showing up on the set as Tony Clifton. I had been wanting to show Randy my new Tony Clifton exhibit for awhile. Shelley used to work with Andy in the comedy clubs and told some great stories. That night my friend Sara drove me to the local Ford dealer to take my car in for maintenance. I was going on a trip to San Diego the following week so I wanted to make sure it was road ready!
Saturday the 21st – SUNNY SUMMER SATURDAY! – I got up around 11 to let my maids in to clean Planet Wallywood, then I had Sara take me to Ford to pick up my car. The tech there said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my car and it’s in great shape! I also talked to him about my goal to buy a 1976 Gran Torino “Starsky” car. He said there are two techs there who are familiar with classic cars, and that it would be in good hands! Sara and I went to Burbank to check out It’s a Wrap, and found that a good portion of Magnolia Boulevard was shut down for a street car show. We parked and walked through the aisles of beautifully restored classic cars! I got back home, grabbed a little nap and then hosted our Saturday night group for movie night. We watched two more episodes of the original “Prisoner” TV series on blu ray, and we followed it up with “Revenge of the Nerds.” What a great movie!
Sunday the 22nd – SWELTERING! SUNNY! SUMMER! SUNDAY! – I just laid around all day doing nothing, fully enjoying my hiatus and looking forward to my trip to San Diego. I got up in time for evening church, then Sara and I went to dinner. After that we met up with my friend Edi and her sister Kelli for frozen yogurt. Chuck McCann even met up with us too. Then I took Edi, her daughter Emily Grace, her sister Kelli and her daughter Caroline over to Planet Wallywood for a tour. I also met up with my friend Rob Klein, an archivist at Disney, who wanted a tour as well. After everyone left, I got busy. It was time to work on my new project. It was installing metallic panels behind my Darth Vader and Iron Man display to give it a more sci-fi look. I had tried several styles of panels and nothing looked right. The one I really liked had these black circles in the pattern. But it still lacked that sci-fi look I was after. I bought these clear acrylic hemispheres that I glued into the little black areas. It looked like an electric eye, or a camera lens. It gave it just the look I was going for. I literally spent the entire night about 7 feet in the air gluing these panels to the wall. It was hard work, but it really paid off. What do you think?
And how was YOUR week??!!!
