Since I’ve been delving into old home videos and converting them to DVD, I happened upon a few VHS tapes I had shot of the old Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland circa 1990. I loved this parade and I can still see the looks of awe and amazement on the faces of my daughter and son when they were little. Something about hearing this music will put me in a great mood no matter what’s going on. See if it has the same effect on you….

Tuesday the 3rd – AND NOW WE RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED LIFE, ALREADY IN PROGRESS! – It was great to be back at NBC for “The Tonight Show.” Everyone had an enjoyable break and felt it was great to be “back in the saddle.” Everyone seemed rested, relaxed and ready for the new year. After the show I drove by my mailbox and got my packages, then headed home for a nap. During a long break like that I usually fall very easily back into my old “all-night DJ” hours. The amount of work I did around my house during the week between Christmas and New Year’s was considerable. I leaped into the new year with a freshly organized house. But the hours I felt most active were the overnight hours. So getting back into the swing of the daytime world is always tough after a long week like that. I call it a “holiday coma.” So I grabbed a nap to try and slowly acclimate back to regular hours. When I got up my assistant Sara and I had some take-out from Jerry’s Famous Deli. I like to do my auditions at night when it’s quiet around the neighborhood and the house. But Sara started to drift off on the couch as I recorded my auditions. One of the auditions I had to do involved a “Tasmanian Devil-type” monster voice. When I went into the voice I scared Sara out of a dead sleep. It was rather funny.

Wednesday the 4th – WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY! – I got an early hotline call to be at “TTS” early for a bit for John Melendez. Then I left the NBC lot and went to grab lunch and do some shopping at Best Buy. I went back to tape the show , then I had dinner at Miceli’s with my friend Brittney and Edi. I did my auditions and e-mailed them to my agent, and then watched another episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man” on DVD before bed.

Thursday the 5th – BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! – I got another hotline call to cut a bit at home doing the voice of Elmo. Then I went back to bed for a bit, and got another hotline call to record another line for the bit. So since I was up I figured I’d head in to NBC to start the day. My friend Edi and her son Josh came to the taping to see Michelle Williams. Edi’s a big Marilyn Monroe fan and Michelle’s performance in “My Week With Marilyn” is getting rave reviews. Her son Josh enjoyed seeing Chris Cornell as the musical guest. We went to Paty’s in Toluca Lake afterward for dinner. I grabbed a quick nap at home, and then I got energized to do some more organizing around the house. I started organizing my little rack of CDs which contained documents, videos, audio and other things. Then I did my auditions and Sara went out to Denny’s to grab some take-out food. MMM!

Friday the 6th – THAT DARN CAT! – I finally got to sleep in but my cat Spooky was annoying me. So I figured I’d get him! I called Sara to take him into the groomer’s to have his nails trimmed. They had been needing it for awhile and today was the day! I got busy with stuff around the house and noticed the time. Time to go to NBC! I rushed to get to “TTS” and made it just under the wire! After the show I went to It’s a Wrap to see what kind of stuff they had. I bought several really great shirts and another pair of awesome boots. Edi and I grabbed dinner at the Coral Cafe (a delicious pot roast dinner!) and then I headed home to nap. When I got up in the late evening I started another project, which will probably take me a few months to complete. I have about 50 old VHS tapes of home movies which I’m transferring to DVD. I’m doing this for several reasons. 1) It’ll be a space saver, as DVDs will take up about 1/8 the space as all those VHS tapes. 2) Since the tapes are about 20 years old it’s probably good to back them up on another format that will have greater longevity. 3) It’ll be fun to see some of these old tapes, as I haven’t seen most of them in a couple decades. Tapes of my kids when they were young, various trips I took around the country, Disneyland visits, all kinds of great stuff! However the Sassie videos will be tough for me, but I’ll make it through. Hard to believe she’s been gone 7 months now, and since some time has passed it may be a little better. So we’ll see when we get there. But it was a blast to see video of my final day at the Westwood One Radio Network back in 1990. Also amazing was watching video of my old pal Dave Baumeister when we went to Vegas in July of 1990 to see Adam West, Burt Ward and Stan Lee. This will be a fun project!!

Saturday the 7th – SUNNY SATURDAY! – The weather in L.A. has been fantastic! I’m dying to get back on my bicycle! I got up at 11 to let the maids in, but they didn’t end up showing up until 1:30. I worked on my i-Tunes, and I started work on making an Ant Man cap. Awhile back at It’s a Wrap I bought a great red leather cap. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with it, but I knew it would come in handy someday. So I decided to make a custom-made Ant Man cap. I created the design for the cap based on Ant Man’s markings on his costume. I sketched it out, measured it, cut out a prototype in black electrical tape and adhered it to the cap. I thought it looked great, so I started cutting the design out in a piece of buttery smooth black leather. I glued it on to the cap with Barge glue and let it sit. I took my bike outside to pedal around for awhile to blow the cobwebs off it in anticipation of riding it around during the forthcoming week. I grabbed a really quick nap before my friends started showing up for movie night. We’re starting a new campaign in 2012 of watching all of the Laurel and Hardy talkies…shorts and features. I’ve been a fan of them since I was 13, so I’m going to educate my friends about one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. And since “Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection” has just been released on DVD, digitally remastered, the timing was perfect! We watched L&H’s very first talkie called “Unaccustomed As We Are” which was hilarious. We finished up with the Blu Ray of “Three Amigos!” and an old favorite called “Love at First Bite.” When everybody left I started working on organizing my historical audio files, which I’ve been recording for posterity. I also started working on designing DVD covers for my home movie DVDs. Then I hit the hay!

Sunday the 8th – HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS! – Had he lived, Elvis would have been 77 today. I got up early afternoon to go look at houses with my pal Randy Carver. He’s just become a realtor and we’re trying to find a suitable house I might consider buying. But moving for me would be a HUGE undertaking, given the amount of “stuff” I have. The proposition of moving does NOT thrill me. When we finished, I went back home to grab a quick nap before church. I had a great dream about Sassie running around VERY fast and having a great time. It’s interesting. My pastor Louise talks about those “thin places”…places where the veil between this existence and the great beyond are thinner than usual, which gives us an opportunity to glimpse over to that side. I believe the dream realm can be a “thin place.” Shortly after Sassie passed away in late June, I didn’t dream about her for a long time. Then when I started dreaming of her (I’ve recounted some of the dreams here) she seemed happy but still seemed to be affected by the debilitating nerve condition which caused her to lose the ability to stand or walk. In the dreams she would be a bit wobbly, or need to be carried. But now I had a dream of her running around faster than I had seen her run in a long time. And she seemed to be having a great time in the dream playing in the grass. I think that, as she gets more comfortable in her new surroundings, she’s slowly realizing that she’s no longer encumbered by the problems of this world. It sure was fun to see her tearing around the yard like that. I got up for evening church, and when it was finished my friends Loren and Chris went to grab dinner with me at Paty’s. Then we went to St. Joseph’s hospital in Burbank to visit a friend from church who had been in a coma since early December. Last time I saw her, it was December 19th and she was completely comatose. But over the Christmas week a miraculous thing occurred. She opened her eyes and started responding to people! When we saw her in her hospital room, it was like night and day. I told her I was there and she opened her eyes, looked right at me and SMILED! What a wonderful thing that was! It was amazing! I kept cracking jokes and she would keep smiling. It was terrific! Her husband and step-son arrived later and we chatted with them for awhile. They were ecstatic that she had been making such great progress, but she still has a long way to go to a full recovery. So the prayers continue. I got home and did my auditions, and got ready for a brand new week. Hopefully I will continue to come out of my own “holiday week coma” and get back to life as we know it.

And how was YOUR week??!!!