This past week, the weather in L.A. became wonderfully fall-like. No more heatwave, but instead nice, pleasant, warm days with a cool breeze. When I rode my bike to work last Thursday the weather was particularly nice. As I was biking along, “Daydream” by the Lovin’ Spoonful hit my head, but I changed the words to “what a day for a bike ride.” Silly, I know. But that’s how my head works sometimes…
Monday the 6th – HAPPY LABOR DAY! – After the movie party went late the previous night, I was ready to sleep in. But at 2:00 I went to my buddy Stu’s house to dub over some old Super 8mm movies my aunt and uncle shot back in the 70’s. I had digitized a few of them a year or so ago, and the movies had great footage of my grandparents (now deceased) and my great grandparents (also deceased). A lot of the other films in my aunt’s collection were of vacation and horse race stuff, but I thought they would be valuable to them, so I digitized them as well. I did Stu’s internet radio show a few months back, so to return the favor he dubbed these movies over for me. Boy is my aunt going to be surprised when she sees these! We didn’t have a Tonight Show taping today because of the holiday, so late afternoon I made my way back home to grab a bite to eat. That night I went through my bank statements, paid some bills and did some auditions in my home studio to e-mail to my agent. It was a GREAT holiday weekend!
Tuesday the 7th – GUNS GONE! – I stopped by Gun World in Burbank. The bad news is, they’re going out of business. The restrictive laws the state of California is setting forth has made their owner so frustrated that he decided to go out of business, rather than fight the system. The good news is, Gun World will be re-opening under new ownership in late October. The bad news is Smith & Wesson has decided not to renew the Walther PPK (the James Bond gun) as an accepted saleable firearm in California. So now, you can no longer buy a Walther PPK in the People’s Republic of…I mean…the state of California. Sheessh. This is getting crazy! I spoke with a police officer friend of mine who confirmed that there’s a law in the state called the “Open Carry” law, which allows anyone to carry an UNLOADED handgun on their hip! Can you believe it!? You can have the bullets in your pocket, but the gun on your hip has to be unloaded. There are certain restrictions about carrying it near schools, etc; – but the law is…you can carry an unloaded firearm on your person OPENLY. As soon as you conceal it, you’re in trouble. As soon as you load it, you’re in trouble. My policeman friend said that cops aren’t too crazy about people running around with guns on their hips, and if they’re spotted the police will most likely stop them, ask to see the gun, run the serial number to make sure it wasn’t stolen, and just generally harass the individual. But they’re fully within the law. The unfortunate part is, most of the general public is unaware this law exists (intentionally so). So when they see a guy walking down the street with a gun openly displayed on his waistband, they’ll most likely call the cops…thus pulling the cops away from some more important event. After the taping of “TTS” I met up with my friend JoNelle at the Elephant Bar in Burbank. As I was in the car waiting to go in, my old pal Jim Hulihan walked by my car. Jim produces those videos in schools through his Multi-Media Assemblies company. I’ve been narrating them for about 10 years. In fact, he wanted to talk to me about doing another one next week. How fortuitous of him to catch me in the parking lot of Elephant Bar! I met JoNelle through Patrick the audio guy at “TTS”, and she wanted to talk about getting more work in Voice Over. She does a fair amount of on-camera work now, but wants to make the transition to full-time VO. I gave her some advice, then we went to see my friend Dan Roebuck at his museum. She was amazed at all the stuff, and Dan was more amazed that she knew all of the famous monster characters! That night I did some more auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agent.
Wednesday the 8th – WILD WEDNESDAY! – I got up early to be at P.O.P studios in Santa Monica to do a demo for Old Navy. It was a lot of fun. When we finished I hopped over to Laser Blazer and picked up some DVDs…the Charlie Brown Halloween special on Blu Ray, and Tommy on Blu Ray. Then I hit It’s a Wrap to see if there were any cool clothes, and they were already starting to load in their stuff for Halloween. I hit the post office to mail some things, then went to my mailbox to pick up my mail. I dropped by Voicecasters in Burbank to audition for a commercial, then went to “TTS” to tape the show. Then I picked up my pal Edi to go grab dinner. It was an ideal night, since I had no auditions to do at home, and I didn’t have to be up early the next day. So I stayed up all night goofing off around the house and doing some things around Planet Wallywood!
Thursday the 9th – MAGICAL DAY! – I slept really late, as I felt I needed it. When I woke up I took Sassie outside and the weather was absolutely perfect! Sunny with a nice cool breeze. I knew it would be an awesome day for a bike ride to NBC. I got my gear on, pumped my tires up and headed out. I hit all the lights perfectly and made the trip in 16 minutes, tying my old record. In fact, the weather was so ideal for riding, I started humming “Daydream” by Lovin’ Spoonful in my head. Except I changed the lyrics to…”What a day for a bike ride!” It was a great ride, and a great time at “TTS.” I rode home with a nice, cool breeze on my face. I got home and took some calls. Then my friend Brittney came over for awhile to say hi, since she was in the area. After she left, I put on my swimsuit and hit the pool again. The water was warm and perfect. In fact, I took great pleasure in just sitting in the pool and meditating…totally alone…closing my eyes and listening to all the sounds around me. I could hear a leaf fall and hit the ground, a dog bark, someone in their house coughing, a helicopter flying over, planes taking off…it was magical. I sat in the pool right where the jets of warm water were coming in and literally shut everything out. When I opened my eyes next, more stars had come out. It was getting darker and darker. I was literally sitting in the pool watching nightfall approach. I want to do this every night! Or at least until the temperature in the pool stays the same. Afterwards I got into the jacuzzi for awhile, but didn’t turn on the jets. The hot water felt great on my leg muscles after my intense bike ride. I could feel my leg muscles melting into submission. Then I got hungry and decided to grill some hot dogs. Ain’t life grand?!
Friday the 10th – HALLOWEEN IS NEAR! – It’s a Wrap stated their big Halloween sale today, so I met my pal Scott Sebring at the Burbank location and we found some gems. I got two knock-off vinyl Michael Jackson “Beat It” jackets for 20 bucks each, and a knock-off “Thriller” jacket for 20 bucks as well. I also got about 7 captain’s hats, that I’ll turn into Captain Action hats, as soon as I get the patches to apply to them. I got a cool, metallic brocade print vest, and the find of the day…a pair of black leather boots that go high up over my knees! They look like pirate boots in fact. They’re tough to get on (getting my big foot through the ankle portion of the boot) but once they’re on they fit perfectly! What a great day! I plan on stopping back there at least once a week until Halloween to see what else they bring in. We had an early taping for “TTS” and my friend Chris and two of his friends wanted to go to the taping to see Hugh Laurie who was a guest on the show. They had a great time and sat right down in front! After the taping I went to the bank to make a deposit, then met the guys at Paty’s for a quick bite. I stopped home and took a nice dip in the pool, then went to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet up with a guy who had been e-mailing me for awhile. He was finally in town so we decided to meet for dinner. His name is Russell Wilson and he’s interested in getting into voice-over. He lives in Austin, Texas now, but plans to move to LA soon. When I got back from dinner I took another dip in the pool, and the water was still deliciously warm. I was so relaxed I fell asleep on the sofa for awhile. When I got up later that night, I opened a box of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza mix and was horrified! BUGS had infested my pizza mix! They chewed through the plastic bags of flour and the bags of parmesan cheese. Of course they were all dead from suffocation, but I had to throw the whole thing out. Luckily I was able to save the can of pizza sauce. I opened another box…SAME THING! And another, and another and another. Out of 7 boxes of pizza mix, only two were alright. The bugs had entered the box but died before they had a chance to eat through the plastic wrappers. Stinkin’ bugs! UGH! Luckily I had enough pizza mix to make a pizza, so I did. It was absolutely delicious. I’ve loved Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizzas since I was a kid, and they’re difficult to find. In fact, I have to have my folks ship them in from South Dakota. That night I finished up watching “Hawaii Five-O” Season 5 on DVD. Hmmm…what to watch next???
Saturday the 11th – SLEEPY SATURDAY! – I slept really late, and got up l ate afternoon. I met Sara for a late lunch at Panera, then got some groceries. That night we all screened two more episodes of “The Prisoner” and the rock opera “Tommy” by The Who on Blu Ray. My pal Chris Malmin, whom I’ve known for about 25 years, is a huge Who fan so she stopped over to watch it as well. I hadn’t seen it in about 20 years, so it was good to revisit it, especially in Blu Ray. And WOW! Ann-Margret! I’ll say no more! Just before I went to sleep I decided to start in on the second season of “The Man from UNCLE.” I wasn’t impressed much with the first season in black and white, but I was told that the second season (in color) was much lighter, faster-paced and more entertaining. It was! I enjoyed the first episode so much that I went on to watch the second part of the two-parter. It starred Rip Torn as a villain named Alexander, and featured not only the batcave (also known as the Bronson Caves), but Madge Blake, who later would go on to play Aunt Harriett in the “Batman” TV series. VERY enjoyable evening!
Sunday the 12th – SUMMER WANES – Summer is definitely winding down. The weather was very pleasant, and the reports are that it should continue through the week. I’m looking forward to riding my bike to NBC more and more. I got up in time for evening church, and then my my friends from church Lauren, Chris and Colleen at The Counter for hamburgers. Sara joined us as well. Then we went Chill for frozen yogurt. I got home and started in on about 15 auditions that I had to upload to my agent’s website. I had an early day the following Monday, (more about that next week!) so I got to bed as soon as I could.
And how was YOUR week??!!
