Never heard of Sophie Ellis-Bextor? She’s darn good. She’s a Brit with a great voice and a knack for songs with great hooks. Like this one called “Only One.” Like it? Google her and find out more about her and her terrific music!

Monday the 24th – OUCH!! – I laid low during the day but went to the taping of “The Tonight Show” at the usual time. I must’ve slept wrong on my injured ribs, because on the way home it was VERY painful. Luckily I drove the Gran Torino that day so I had a little more room to stretch out while I drove home. It was so bad that I couldn’t take a deep breath without feeling a sharp pain under my left set of ribs. I went home, took some Excedrin and laid down for a nap. When I woke up I felt better. But a friend said something that rang in my head. “When it comes to rib injuries you have to be careful. Just when you think you’re better you do something to reinjure it.” I think that’s exactly what happened. I was feeling better and probably got cocky. I won’t be doing that again. Earlier in the evening though, I called a little 3 year old guy named Jamison who’s the grandson of my friends Joe and Zandra in Lompoc. He got a surprise phone call from Batman on his birthday, and apparently the call was a big hit! Pretty cool!

Tuesday the 25th – TAKIN’ IT EASY! – I got up around noon for an audition at Voicecasters, but I was taking it VERY easy. I was feeling a lot better so I wasn’t doing anything that would reinjure my ribs. It was such a nice day I felt like a bike ride, but until my ribs are better I’d better not risk it. I went back home, walked Sassie and then headed to “TTS” for the taping. That night I laid low again and napped.

Wednesday the 26th – OFF KILTER! –Did you ever have one of those days that things just don’t go as planned? I got up on time and got to a videogame session, but when I got there I found out they were running a half hour, even an HOUR behind! Luckily I didn’t have anywhere to go right away, but still it would be strange. I was booked at noon, and at 12:30 a gal came in who found out they were running an hour behind and she said she had an 8 month old breastfeeding baby at home and she didn’t know how that would affect her since the sessions were running late. Another gal who was waiting to go after me said she had an audition that she was going to miss because of the snafu. But I asked her what time her audition was and I found out that it was soon, and it was in the area. So I let the nursing mom go before me so she could get home, and that bought the other gal some time to go to her audition and make it back in time. It was a quick session for me and it went well, and when I came out the auditioning gal was just walking in! Talk about perfect timing! “TTS” was taping early that day, so I had to hightail it over to NBC right away as the time was getting close. I made it there only a few minutes late, did a VO session for a comedy bit and then we did the show. I had intended to go to my chiropractor’s office to have him wrap my ribs, but I was feeling much better so I didn’t. I just went home to relax.

Thursday the 27th – A MOVING MOMENT! – The word came down that NBC Universal had just been bought by Comcast, so we went to a place on the NBC lot to get our new IDs. After the taping of “TTS” I headed over to Rehearsal Hall 1 to get my new ID. Well, at NBC, Rehearsal Hall 1 is right across the hall from Stage 1, the old Tonight Show stage. Johnny Carson was there, and then Jay Leno was there too when he took over for Johnny in the early 90’s. But as I walked down that hallway and saw those familiar paintings on the wall of Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Chico and The Man, and other classic NBC stars, I remembered back to June of 1976 when I first walked down that hallway. I was on vacation with my family and we were touring NBC as part of a Universal/NBC tour. I remembered thinking how cool those paintings on the wall were as we walked toward Carson’s stage. We went into the soundstage and saw the set of the old “Tonight Show.” I remember noticing how steep the audience section was, and how far away from the stage it was. So, after I got my ID I figured I’d poke my nose in and see what’s up. “Access Hollywood” films there now, and there was nobody on the stage. I had my dad on the phone recollecting our NBC tour back in 1976. He told me not to get into trouble, and I laughed. We said goodbye and I just stood there on the old Carson stage looking around. If those walls could talk! There was the old, steep audience section just as I had remembered it! I started humming the old “Tonight Show” theme and started to visualize where everything was back in “the day.” Then I got a little choked up, remembering how awestruck I was as a 16 year old kid in 1976, with all sorts of dreams in my head. And now here today in 2011, as I just picked up my new employee ID that said NBC Universal on it, and I had just announced “THE TONIGHT SHOW” an hour ago! Wow! Dreams CAN come true! My eyes were misty and my heart was full of thankfulness. I left Stage 1 and drove home. On the way home I stopped at my box to get my mail. Apparently I’ve been nominated for the Hall of Fame in the Fine Arts category at my High School Aberdeen Central in Aberdeen, South Dakota! What an honor and what a perfect topper to a wonderful day! And it’s made even more poignant, because as I write this Elvis’ “Memories” just came on the radio! What a moment! (Don’t forget, that song was recorded for his 1968 comeback special which he shot at NBC in BURBANK! Weird!)

Friday the 28th – A TWO TORINO DAY! – I got my Torino out and sped off to Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. My pal James works there and I wanted to see his face when I drove on the lot. But a guy he works with came out waving his arms. He was a Starsky and Hutch fan as well! It was fun showing off the car. But it was time for me to get in to the studio to do my videogame session. But they were running behind too. Unlike the other day, today I DID have to scoot. Luckily the director understood and apologized for running behind, but we got everything we needed in a short amount of time. James and I grabbed some quick food at Taco Bell across from Warner, then I sped off to my next session. It was for “Kekkaishi” at Studiopolis Burbank. I only had a few lines to do, but I spent most of the time showing the car off to the Studiopolis gang. When I finished there, I went over to NBC for the taping of “TTS.” It was Justin Bieber day, as he was the main guest on the show. During the commercial breaks he went into the audience and hugged the audience members. I thought that was very cool of him! As I was leaving the studios, I got a call from the transportation company that my NEW Gran Torino would be delivered THAT NIGHT! So I made arrangements for my friend James to come over and drive my first Torino to his house to store it in an available parking spot he had there. He was there, along with my friend Sara and Edi and we all watched it roll off the truck!

It was magical! I drove the new Torino to my parking area and James and his wife followed me in their car. She took over driving their car when we got there, and James pulled the first Torino out of the space and sped off home with a big smile on his face! I took Sara and Edi to dinner at Barone’s to celebrate. We had a great time, but it was getting late. It had been a BIG day and I was exhausted. I pulled the new Torino into the parking space, but I noticed how dirty it was having braved all sorts of Connecticut blizzards and weather! She was getting a wash first thing in the morning! It was cool having two Torinos, as they are both VASTLY different, even though they’re the same car. The first one is like driving a vintage car, with all of its idiosyncrasies…both good and bad. It’s bare bones, but runs well now. I like the color of red and the stripe on it. I like the older car smell too. This new one is tricked out! It’s got all sorts of gizmos and it runs VERY well. It was driven all the time so it purrs like a kitten. It’s got muscle. And while I like it, I’m not so much a fan of the paint job. The shade of red is a little too bright, and the strip isn’t quite right. But I can always have it repainted I guess. I like both of them, but for different reasons. But I’m sure someday I’ll have to sell one of them and keep the other. But I’m in no hurry.

Saturday the 29th – BATH TIME! – I went over to Voice Trax West to do a little side project I was interested in. And I finished that up in about an hour and got back home to get the Torino. I took it to the car wash and spent about an hour there as it got washed up nicely! I ran into one of the camera guys from “TTS” and we talked for awhile. His Hummer was getting washed too so we had lots of time to chat. The Torino was finally clean and I sped off. I still wasn’t used to all the power that car has, plus the tires were still wet, so when I pulled out into the street I gassed it a little too hard and did a genuine “Starsky & Hutch” peel out! WOW! It was unintentional, but it was COOL! I went to get some groceries and marveled at how many groceries I could fit in the Torino’s trunk. WITH ROOM TO SPARE! In my Mustang I can hardly fit anything in my small trunk. I headed home and cleaned up Planet Wallywood and got ready for movie night with friends!

Sunday the 30th – SLEEPY SUNDAY! – Though I was going to meet James in my church’s parking lot at 2 to do a dual Torino photo shoot, the plan got cancelled because it rained! I was just heading back to bed when I heard a familiar sound in our pool area. THE DUCKS WERE BACK! Not only the usual ducks that visit every year (and come to my call) but there was another set as well. In fact, there were two hens and four mallards. They were enjoying the rain and splashing around the pool like crazy. I wanted to see if they were the same ones that always visit, so I did my duck sound. Sure enough, one of the females started swimming over to where I was. It was good to see her, and the rest of the ducks again. I walked Sassie and then went to evening church. After church I went to dinner with my friend Chris and Colleen, and we took the new Torino out for a spin. It had stopped raining so it was OK to take it out without fear of getting it all spotty again. I got home and did some paperwork around the house, and then my assistant Sara came over to collect some items to mail. My pal Brittney Powell had just come back from her appearance at the Xena convention so we talked about how that went and caught up, since I hadn’t seen her in awhile. Then later I recorded some auditions and enjoyed a two part “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” episode in bed with Sassie and Spooky.

And how was YOUR week??!!