On my “Rainy Day” playlist this song had Sara and I jamming on the way to Disneyland. It’s by Shiny Toy Guns and it…“A Rainy Monday.”
Monday the 14th – MARVELOUS MONDAY! – I got to sleep in today, and when I got up I was overwhelmed by how beautiful the day was. I pumped up my bicycle tires and headed to “The Tonight Show.” We had been on hiatus for a week, and it was feeling pretty good to be back. Everyone seemed rested and in good spirits. The bike ride home was equally amazing. Since we were now in daylight savings time the sun was still fairly warm when I got out on the street after the show. I met Sara for dinner at DuPar’s, then I took a nap. When I got up later in the evening I decided I was going to do some work on my autograph books. I had collected a bunch of autographs over the course of two autograph shows, so I had a considerable amount. It was a lot of work laying out the pages and mounting the photos, but it was worth it. I feel my autograph books are beautifully laid out and categorized! (I’m such a nerd!)
Tuesday the 15th – !#@$$!!**&&!! SINUS INFECTION! –Though the day started out fine, I started to feel another sinus headache coming on. The IVR job I have been doing was now in its fourth week. It went pretty well today. We work pretty fast and we’ve gotten a lot accomplished. I think the producers are very happy with where we are and I think we’re actually pretty far ahead of where they thought we’d be. (IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, like what you get when calling a phone line.) But we still have tens of thousands of lines to record, since the phone line is interactive it has to have every conceivable response programmed into the hard drive! I was craving KFC, so I drove by and got some lunch afterwards. I went to the taping of “TTS,” which was awesome (as always), and then I met up with my pal Edi for awhile. She was going to go out of town soon for a family emergency, so I wanted to chat with her and have a bite of dinner before she left. I went home and grabbed a nap, since I was feeling that headache pretty good now. When I got up I recorded my voice-over auditions at home in my studio, then I worked on my bank statements, and I prepared some checks for deposit the next day.
Wednesday the 16th – LOOK MA, NO CAVITIES! I headed over to see my dentist for my semi-annual check-up and cleaning. Everything looked really good and I had NO CAVITIES! After having two root canals in one year a few years back, I’ve sworn to stay true to my twice-yearly dental visits. I stopped by Office Depot to pick up some more bank boxes to continue cleaning and organizing my garage. And I dropped by the bank to deposit some checks. I got home and recorded a bit for “TTS” in my home studio, and sent it on over via e-mail. I finished up some more things around the house and headed over to tape the show. That evening my effects guy Jim Ojala stopped by to show me the progress he had been making with my latest mannequin, which will be the third and final addition to my new mannequin display in the Chaney Room. It looked fantastic. I couldn’t wait to see how it looked painted! I grabbed a quick nap, and that night I drove my pal Edi to the airport. She took an overnight flight because of a family emergency and cabs are expensive to LAX!
Thursday the 17th – AND THEN THERE WAS THREE, AND THEN FOUR AGAIN… – WOW! Today was a nutty day, but I was totally expecting it and braced myself for it. I was booked for four sessions, so we had to start early. My first stop was at a studio called Elm Silverlake to do another spot for my old friends at Underwear Affair. The Underwear Affair is an annual event in Canada that raises funds for cancers below-the-waist in a 5k and 10k run. But the participants run the course in their underwear! I’ve been doing their campaigns for quite a few years and it’s always fun. We finished in about 15 minutes, so I was happy to go to my next session a little early. One down…three to go! But on the way to the gig I got a call from one of my agents telling me that the gig had been postponed to another day. Oh well, easy come, easy go. I told him my only other availabilities would be the following Monday, as I was booked the rest of the day, and Friday my family was coming in from South Dakota and I’d be spending time with them. So, since I had an hour to kill until my next gig for the IVR project, I went to the pharmacy to have a prescription from my dentist filled. As I was pulling out with my prescription a half hour later, my agent called back and said that the session was back ON again! So I hightailed it over to Voice Trax West and did the voice of a dad in a spot of Captain D’s, a restaurant in the east part of the country. When we were finished with that we started the IVR session. Two down…two to go! Of all the sessions we had done, this was probably my least favorite. It involved recording the times. So for three hours it was saying, “3:36am. 3:37am. 3:38am. 3:39am 3:40am, “etc. etc. etc. And to make matters worse, my sinus infection had started to drain, and all that fluid that had been stored up in my sinuses was now running over my vocal cords. I had to keep clearing my throat, and drinking hot water, and it was getting very frustrating. Trust me when I say that I was certainly glad when the session was over for THAT day! The best thing that happened was that “TTS” called and had me take a break during the IVR session to do two comedy bits. So that helped break it up somewhat! Three down…one to go! I dashed home and walked Sassie, and then when I got to NBC they had me do another bit. I love the dynamic of this job. I love that it started out simply as the voice-over announcer, but then turned into also being the go-to voice guy. They call it in the industry, a utility player. Someone the writers can go to for just about anything. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day, “TTS” set a Guinness World Record by having the most Leprechauns in one place for at least 10 minutes. The Guinness gal was there to document it officially, and the final total was 224 Leprechauns! My old pal Gil was supposed to be there as he had volunteered to take part as a Leprechaun. I looked for him but couldn’t find him. A gal from the office where my Gran Torino cars were being serviced came to pick me up to take me to Bodie Stroud’s shop so I could pick up Torino #2. Now that Torino 2 had been finished, Bodie was going to start working on #1, which was a bit more problematic. When I got to Bodie’s though, Gil called me asking where I was. I told him I tried to find him but was unable. So I paid for the Torino and headed back to meet Gil by NBC. I drove up in the Torino, found Gil, and we spent about a half hour talking. I’ve known Gil probably the longest of anybody in L.A. He was one of the first people I met when I moved here in 1987. That night I went home, did my voice-over auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agent, then got ready to meet my family the next day. My mom, dad, sister Bonnie, brother-in-law Roger and two nieces were flying in for a 10 day trip to celebrate the nieces’ birthdays! We had a lot of fun stuff planned. But my Mustang was still at NBC. Since I couldn’t get a ride from anyone to “TTS” earlier, I had to drive there with the Mustang. Leave it to go get Torino 2. Drive Torino 2 home and put it in my main garage. And then go back and get my Mustang and drive it home and park it in my secondary garage. My friend Brittney was just getting done from a fashion show, so she picked me up and took me over to get my car. Neat!
Friday the 18th – FANTASTIC FRIDAY! – I got up early and checked the airline website to make sure my family’s flight was going to get in on time. Sure enough! With only ten minutes delay, the flight was on time. It was VERY important that their flight be on time today, because I had a plan! My sister has been a fan of actor Mitch Pileggi for a long, LONG time! She would always ask me if I’ve ever run into him on the street, or worked with him, etc. But since he’s an on-camera actor mostly, and I’m almost strictly a voice actor, we run in different circles. But a few years back I heard that Mitch was doing an appearance for charity. Mitch was one of the regular guys on X-Files, and I think that’s where my sister first became a fan. There was a huge X-Files convention that featured charity meet-n-greets with the stars to be auctioned on eBay. I made sure I was on eBay that day so I could put in a winning bid. Sure enough, I won the Mitch Pileggi Meet-N-Greet for my sister Bonnie. Then I bought her an airplane ticket and she was on her way to meet her favorite actor! Unfortunately, Mitch’s sister lost her struggle with cancer only a few weeks before the event, and Mitch understandably had to cancel the appearance. It was disappointing sure, but mostly we felt bad for Mitch having lost his sister. I wouldn’t want to think of what life would be like without one of MY sisters. So now that I knew that my sister Bonnie would be coming out for a visit to L.A., I called Mitch’s agent and told them the whole story. Mitch had agreed to COME SURPRISE MY SISTER AT LUNCH AT NOON AT JERRY’S FAMOUS DELI! But the best day for him was her first day in town. And I was praying that her flight wouldn’t be delayed! But luckily, now all that was taken care of. 10:00am! They were on the ground and waiting for luggage. I fired up Torino 2 and went to the airport. I pulled around in my gleaming Starsky car and found them waiting on the sidewalk. I took the microphone (the car has a P.A. system in it) and said that I was there to get the Wingert family. I took my brother-in-law and dad over to the van rental place so they could finalize the paperwork for their transportation. 10:30am! Another guy at the rental place told me that he had a Gran Torino many years back and loved it. But he told me I should replace the steering wheel to the original one, and get rid of the big tires and put the smaller ones back on. I told him if I did that it wouldn’t look very much like the Starsky car, but I don’t think he understood what I was talking about. Had he never seen the show in the 70’s?? They got the van and went back to pick everyone up at the airport who had been waiting. I took my mom in the Torino with me, and the rest followed in the van to their hotel to check in. 11:00am! Luckily, one of the two rooms was available, so they would have a place to stash their luggage while the other room was being finished. 11:15am! It was a little early, but I suggested we go to lunch at Jerry’s Famous Deli for some soup and sandwiches. They followed me in the van to Jerry’s and we parked and went in. 11:30am! Just think, in half an hour my sister will have realized a dream come true! As we were sitting at the table, the very FIRST booth at Jerry’s, a guy who bore a passing (though not great) resemblance to Mitch was pacing around talking on a cell phone. I said jokingly, “Hey Bonnie. Look! Isn’t that Mitch Pileggi.” She noted that he wasn’t as nice looking as Mitch, and Mitch had a much nicer nose. Little did she know that the REAL DEAL was going to walk through the door in a matter of minutes. So we laughed it off and continued with our conversation, and getting our lunch order finalized. 11:45am! Our food arrives and we start in. We were having a great time catching up, and I was amazed how much my nieces had grown! Sure enough! Right at 12:00 sharp, in walks Mitch! He looked a little different than the photos I had seen of him. He head was now totally shaved and he had a slight growth of beard. I jumped up to go shake his hand and thank him and he immediately smiled and shook my hand. This was gonna to ROCK! But my sister Bonnie’s keen eye spotted Mitch before I even got him to the table! By the time we walked up to the booth, she had leaned back in the booth with a look of shock and pleasant surprise on her face. If her lower jaw hadn’t been attached to the rest of her face, it would have been on the floor for sure! Mitch walked over and extended his hand to her and she was FLABBERGASTED! My folks were laughing, Mitch was introducing himself to the family and he pulled up a chair and sat right down at the table. It ended up being a VERY pleasant lunch meeting, and my sister was keeping her cool and making good conversation. She knew a lot about his life and career and they had lots to talk about! It was something she will NEVER EVER forget. Mitch is the greatest guy ever for doing this! Bonnie said her vacation was over, because she didn’t need to do anything else now.
Mitch and Bonnie
With big smiles on all our faces, they headed back to their hotel to rest up, and I went home to get ready for “TTS.” It was such a beautiful day I thought for a second that I would ride my bicycle, but I took the Torino in to work. As I passed Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake on my way to NBC, I remembered that it was Friday, and it was “cruise night” at Bob’s. Which meant that a lot of the local hot rod owners brought out their vintage cars and parked them in the parking lot to display them. I called my dad and had them meet me after “TTS” at Bob’s, figuring that I’d drive the Torino over, and we’d have some fun looking at all the vintage cars. On “TTS” that day was Alice Cooper, performing “School’s Out.” It was amazing and Alice always is on his A game! He sounded fantastic, and looked fantastic, having just been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! It was even more amazing that Dweezil Zappa was playing lead guitar for Alice, and the guitar he was using was legendary. This was the exact guitar that Jimi Hendrix set on fire in that famous film clip. Jimi had given it to Frank Zappa, Dweezil’s father, and apparently had it restored to playable condition. It was a very exciting day! I also loved driving the Torino around, getting waves and thumbs up, and the day was absolutely beautiful. Hard to believe that a rainstorm was just around the corner! We ate at Bob’s, looked over the old cars, and had a great time. But I was exhausted (and so was my family) so we all headed home to rest up for the next big day!
Saturday the 19th – A UNIVERSALLY WONDERFUL DAY! – I slept a little late, but got up to let my maids in. Today I was meeting my family at Universal Studios, along with my friend Brittney and her son. Though it had rained all night, the rain had let up for the day and it turned out to be pretty nice after all, albeit cloudy. As I drove on to the grounds and parked in the Frankenstein parking lot, many memories began to flood back into my brain. That’s where the employees parked when I was working there as Beetlejuice back in 1994-1998. I remembered certain parking spaces where I had sat with various female friends and snuck in quick “make-out” sessions after the show. Aaaaah, those were the days! By the time we got out we were hungry, so we ate at the Saddle Ranch on Citywalk. BIG mistake. The food was decent, but the service was really TERRIBLE. The table they sat us at was wet. My brother-in-law sat in something wet and sticky. One would hope that if they’re going to seat you at a table, it would at least be clean. Then I ordered iced tea with Splenda, and the waitress said they didn’t carry Splenda because it was expensive. I looked at the menu and saw that a steak was 40 bucks and I said, “I have to pay 40 bucks for a steak, but you don’t have Splenda because it’s too expensive?” She said, “I don’t make the rules.” I told her I understood that, but the logic of the situation escaped me. Then we were having a hard time finding someone who could clean the table. Then it seemed like it took forever to get our food. I ordered a hamburger but wanted spicy mustard and barbecue sauce. The guy who brought the food said he would get some, but I never saw him again. I had to flag down somebody else’s server and have them bring some, but by then my hamburger was cold. My brother-in-law paid for the meal and made sure to leave the M.I.A. server a VERY bad tip. I headed home and set everything up for movie night. We would be watching “Snow White” in honor of the nieces’ trip to Disneyland the next day. Plus, my pal Ruben Procopio, former Disney artist and sculptor, would be stopping by to draw original sketches for their birthdays! But by the time “Snow White” started, the youngest niece was fast asleep on the bean bag in front of the fire, and by the end the other niece was asleep on her bean bag. It was a fun, but exhausting day!
Sunday the 20th – A FIRST FOR ME! – I got up to the sound of my doorbell ringing. Figuring it was my housesitter who arrived early, I opened the door. It was my friend Sara, who had been standing out there for awhile. AND IT WAS POURING RAIN! She was soaked since she had walked over from her house. When I told her the previous night to meet me I didn’t think it would be pouring rain. Even though it had rained all night. I figured it might be like the previous day…rain at night but clear in the day. No such luck. It was P.O.U.R.I.N.G.!! I got ready to go to Disneyland and got a call from my brother-in-law to inform me that they were heading to their hotel near the park. The timing would work out just about right! We hit the freeway and though it was raining hard, hardly anybody was on the roads. We made it to Disneyland in a half hour! On the way down there I played my “Rainy Day” playlist on my i-pod and it sounded great! We parked, went in to get our tickets and noticed that the rain had pretty much stopped LUCKY US! But about an hour in to the fun, it started to rain again. Luckily we had all adorned ourselves in our best rain gear. I had a weatherproof Disney jacket that I purchased years ago, and it was working GREAT! I was proud of my nieces, they went on Haunted Mansion and did very well! The rain wasn’t consistent though. It would pour down hard, then mist, then quit. So at least we didn’t have to deal with a full day of heavy downpour. I was figuring that the rain would scare a lot of the guests away, but the park was actually pretty busy! Filled with hearty, weather-resistant fun-seekers! I have to tell you. I have been to Disneyland hundreds of times, but never once in the rain. I was having an absolute BLAST enjoying Disneyland in the rain. It’s almost a completely different park in the rain. It’s a lot mellower, and the atmosphere is more relaxed and fun. But the weather was starting to wear on my nieces and my folks. And Sara too who had started the day soaked. We bought some cool hats in the Mad Hatter store, and grabbed a late afternoon snack. Meals are always interesting with my family, because their body clocks are set for Central time. So they usually want to eat two hours ahead of when I would usually eat. Add to that the fact that we just had daylight savings time, and my eating routine is so chaotic anyway. But we’ve been managing alright. The little niece was getting tired and wanted to be carried. I figured while the adults were in the Indiana Jones ride, my mom and I would take her on the Jungle Cruise and into the Tiki Room. She could get a little nap in the cool, dark environment of the Tiki Room. Sure enough, she fell asleep on my mom’s shoulder. When the Tiki Room show was over I got a text from Sara telling me that they had just gotten off the Indiana Jones ride. Perfect timing! I was super-charged by the rain, and I had a spring in my step. Though the rest of the party wasn’t sharing my enthusiasm. So we decided to pack up my mom and dad and drop them at the hotel. My sister’s family would catch up with them later. On the way home, it was raining REALLY heavy now, and starting to get dark. It took us twice as long to get home as it did to get to Disneyland. But the cool thing is, my “Rainy Day” playlist on my i-pod ended about 5 minutes before I got home. How perfect was that?!! I got home and finished up a few things, and then laid down for a really great nap, listening to it rain outside all the while. Later that night I got up and did my auditions in my home studio, got some take-out food from Denny’s, and watched DVDs of “The Six Million Dollar Man” all night. My family has another week in Southern California, and they’ll spend another two days at Disneyland, a day at Sea World, attend a Scooby-Doo recording session, come to “TTS,” and spend a few days hanging out at Planet Wallywood!
And how was YOUR week??!!!
