With all of the losses I’ve experienced this past year, this song by The Plain White T’s hits home. Too many loved ones have left this past year, and this will be my first Christmas in 10 years without my dog Sassie. This is “Christmas Won’t Be the Same Without You.”
Monday the 12th – ALL IS QUIET! – It’s that time of year where most everything in the industry is shut down or in the process of shutting down. Not much gets done here between Thanksgiving and the first few weeks after the new year. I called my computer guy to make an appointment for later in the week. Little by little all my computer troubles are falling by the wayside. Unfortunately, the majority of the time it’s about me having to live without something, as opposed to being able to design the computer’s system to accommodate my needs. So now, apparently, I’m working for technology. Instead of technology working for me. It’s nuts. I went into “The Tonight Show” for the taping, then after I went to Milt & Edie’s Cleaners in Toluca Lake to leave my blue suede blazer so they could put the silver buttons on the cuffs. I got home and took some “Christmas Nappies” (what I call laying on the couch with the fireplace blazing as Christmas music plays quietly on the satellite. It was a tradition I developed with my dog Sassie back in the early 2000s. Now my cat seems to enjoy it. If he’s not curled up under the blanket near my chest, he’s nestled comfortably in his favorite beanbag chair and crocheted afghan. When I woke up later that night I did my voice-over auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agents so they’d be in their inboxes first thing in the morning. Then I stayed up the rest of the night doing work around the house and watching another episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man” on DVD.
Tuesday the 13th – REALLY QUIET! – Normally my hotline rings late morning with a call from my agent telling me to record a comedy bit or two for “TTS.” But I woke up late with no hotline call. I checked the phone to make sure it’s working and sure enough it was. My agent said that there’s an ebb and flow to the system, and this week was a quiet week. I relaxed until it was time to go to NBC for the taping. On my way home I stopped at the local Fast Frame to pick up my “Hawaii Five-O” badge display. It turned out beautifully! Jack Lord had only 5 badges left in his possession when he passed away (he used to keep them on hand to pass out to dignitaries and friends) and the one I have is one of those 5. I also have one of his personal business cards and one of his Steve McGarrett ID cards. Along with the props, I also purchased one of Jack’s custom-made suits and boots. Then I stopped at the bike store to pick up a new tail light for my bicycle. The other one wasn’t working any more and since the sun is going down earlier now, it was important to have a good one on my bike before I started biking home from work again. I got home for more Christmas nappies, and then got up to do my auditions. Afterward I scanned some checks for a deposit.
Wednesday the 14th – THE 4 R’S! – ROBERT – My pal Electric Bob came by to install some new lighting fixtures in the Chaney Room to highlight my new Jack Lord mannequin and my new “Hawaii Five-O” badge display. Then I took off to do some errands before “TTS.” RADIO SHACK – I stopped off to buy a new digital RECORDER. I had filled up 2 of them already with stories, thoughts, feelings, memories and recollections which I hope my descendants will enjoy listening to long after I’m gone. ROUND TABLE – But I was hungry so I went to next door and got a pizza to go. I love Round Table’s pizza and I don’t get to have it that often. Then I stopped by the bank to deposit some checks and head into NBC for “TTS.” Later that night I met my friends Brittney, Edi, Sara and Alex at Bob’s Big Boy for some dinner. Then I went home for more Christmas Nappies.
Thursday the 15th – TENNESSEE FRIENDS! – My friend Reed Kaplan has been working on the bonus materials for an upcoming release of the original “Walking Tall” movies. The movie recounts the real life story of a Tennessee sheriff named Buford Pusser who took on local organized crime by carrying a huge stick. He died in a car crash in the 70’s, but his daughter Dwana participated in the commentaries and bonus materials for the re-release. She told Reed that she and her daughter Madison and friend Shirley were going to visit L.A. just before Christmas to celebrate her birthday, and Reed suggested they contact me for ideas of fun stuff to do. So obviously I asked them to be my guests at “TTS.” I got a text from Madison that their plane had landed and they were on their way to Burbank. Madison said her mom was a Starsky & Hutch fan, so I thought it would be neat to pick them up in the Gran Torino. I got in the car and stopped by Milt and Edie’s to get my blue suede jacket. There were two motorcycle CHP officers there also picking up some dry cleaning, and one of them gushed over the Torino. He said he’s always loved that car. I felt like asking him if he wasn’t more of a “CHiPS” fan than “Starsky & Hutch” but that would be overstating the obvious. The car had just been washed and waxed late last week and it WAS looking spiffy! I got into NBC for a quick bit for “TTS” just as Madison texted me that they were at NBC Guest Relations. I finished the bit, then hopped in the Torino and headed off to meet them. They’re a great group of gals and we had fun talking about all sorts of things, from guns to Graceland. They said if I’m ever back in Tennessee for another Graceland visit I’m supposed to call them. You can bet I will. I met up with them after they were seated in the show, and they were down in front. They got to shake hands with Jay during the opening. After the show I took them backstage and we ran into Jay in the hallway. Jay totally remembered her father Buford Pusser, and that made Dwana’s day. I explained that Jay has a memory like a steel trap. We got outside to find that it had rained for a good half hour, and my freshly washed and waxed Torino was FULL OF WATER! EEK! We drove over to Ernie’s Taco House for some great Mexican food. Soon we were joined by my other Tennessee friends Edi and her son Josh. They had a good time talking about the great state of Tennessee, and Edi gave them all a ride back to their hotel. I went home for more Christmas Nappies, and then it was up later for more auditions and work around the house.
Friday the 16th – TELEVISION HISTORY & POLITICAL HISTORY! – I got up early to meet my pal Mark Evanier (writer and producer of “The Garfield Show”) at NBC for lunch. Mark had worked at NBC off and on for 20 years. So he was showing me where a lot of different shows were taped, where Johnny Carson parked his car, and where Ed McMahon stood when he announced the Tonight Show on Stage 1. (Of course I had to go stand on that spot just for luck!) In fact, Mark said he hadn’t eaten at the NBC Commissary in over 20 years. We saw the stage where “The Midnight Special” was taped, as well as the 1968 Elvis Presley comeback special. What history at this lot! I brought him in to the audio booth so we could watch a rehearsal of “Jay’s 12 Days of Christmas,” which was an amazing bit. I don’t know how they pulled it all off, but the writer of the bit deserves a raise! During the taping, the bit got a standing ovation when it was over! As Mark was leaving we watched Dr. Ron Paul pull up to the studio as he was the guest that day. I hung out until the show started and watched an amazing show. Dr. Paul was so engaging that they extended him to a third segment. The audience was very supportive of him. When the show was over I left the studio and saw a huge group of Ron Paul supporters on the corner waiting for his car to drive by so they could wave. As I was heading to my parking spot, Ron Paul’s black SUV drove by me and he rolled down the window and waved at me. I yelled “We love ya Ron Paul, we love ya!” I just love a rebel, a renegade, a maverick. As he drove down the driveway the crowd went crazy as Dr. Paul waved at his supporters. I’ll never forget that experience as long as I live. It’s really an amazing part of political history. But the traffic was slow going home because of all the security. So it took me a little longer to get home than usual. But I met up with my computer guy and got some issues resolved. Then it was Christmas nappies, but I didn’t get up until 3 in the morning! So I got busy. I got a few of my Christmas lights out and put them up. I also got out my Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer toys and displayed them, because we were watching that on Blu Ray Saturday night. But I realized with horror that my Charlie-In-The-Box was missing. So I went on a serious Charlie-In-The-Box rescue mission, pulling out shelves and boxes in the garage like crazy. A-HA! I found him! I dusted him off and put him on display. I also found my Bumble slippers and put them in the wash. But after a few minutes in the dryer I realized that putting them in there to dry may have been a bad idea. I pulled them out and the glue holding the fur on to the rubber head was melting! So I dashed into the Chaney Room, got out my Barge glue and started the repair process. By Saturday night they should be good as new! But I didn’t get to bed until Saturday morning around 8am!
Saturday the 17th – LAST WEEKEND BEFORE CHRISTMAS! – What a wonderful day! I got up around noon and started my errands. I got a birthday cake for my friend James, so we could all celebrate that evening during movie night. I picked up some groceries, some supplies and vitamins at the pharmacy, and went next door to Bev Mo to buy some candies and specialty sodas. I think I saw SNL alum Garrett Morris at Bev Mo, but I wasn’t sure. It really looked like him, but I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong. I dropped by the post office and mailed a letter, and then went to Rusty’s Discount Pet Supply to get some more cat litter. There on the sidewalk watching his master Terry (owner of Rusty’s) was Rusty the collie himself! I hadn’t seen Rusty in awhile and it’s always fun. He’s a great dog. So even though Sassie won’t be with me this year, I got my Christmas Collie Kisses after all! I went home to unload all my stuff, then went to my friend Kristy’s house to feed her cats Oscar and Evie. Then I got back home and got ready for a birthday dinner I was attending with Sara. My friend Chris’ wife Daniela was having a small dinner party at a local restaurant called Zach’s Italian Cafe. I was flabbergasted. There at the party was…PRISCILLA PRESLEY! OMG! I can’t believe I got to shake hands with the great lady. She was auburn-haired and beautiful! After I sat down at the table with Sara I was still flying high. But I kept it in check so it wasn’t outwardly visible. But inside I was freaking out. Then I realized I was wearing my silver TCB necklace that I had bought at Graceland a year ago last October. Oh no! Did she happen to see it? Does she think I’m an uber-dork? Sara told me just to zip up my jacket and hide it. I wanted to thank her profusely for opening up Graceland to the public, even though at the time she took a lot of heat for doing it. Now she’s helped to create one of the must-see places to visit in the U.S. as well as a terrific marketing empire. I got back home to get ready for movie night and we had a blast watching the animated Grinch on Blu Ray, the Rudolph TV special on Blu Ray, and my favorite Christmas move of all-time…”Love Actually” on Blu Ray. After that we watched parts of the Johnny Cash 1979 Christmas Special with guest Andy Kaufman. In the special he wore the very outfit that I have on display in my showcase! It was fun to see! What a day!
Here we are at the birthday dinner! Left is amazing sculptor Mike Hill and his wife, the Birthday Girl Daniela, and myself and Sara. What fun!
Sunday the 18th – THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE SEASON! – I got up around 11 for a bowl of cereal then went back to bed. I slept until late afternoon and got up in time for evening church. It was a great sermon on the history of Christmas carols. I learned a lot! After church I was joined by Amanda and Loren as we took off for St. Joseph’s hospital to visit a guy from our church. His wife was in a coma and we wanted to go check on him to see how he was doing. He was staying at the hospital all day in case she started to come out of it. It was very heartbreaking. But when we got there he had left for dinner. So we went to get dinner as well. I got a call from Pastor Bob that he was at the hospital with our friend, so we scurried back and met up with them. We entered her room and there she was, hooked up to a lot of machinery. It was very sad but we had to stay strong and faithful. Our friend is holding out for a Christmas miracle for his wife’s recovery. Amanda was fairly upset by the visual of this nice lady, whom Amanda loved a lot, in that condition. But I think it meant a lot to her husband to have us there. I came home and took some Christmas Nappies on the couch (only 1 week of Christmas Nappies left…I’ve gotta take maximum advantage!) and then got up to do a few things around the house. I had another bowl of cereal and prepared for the new week.
And how was YOUR week??!!
