RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Recently my good friend Alex Zsolt visited my hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota with one of my old Aberdeen pals Rob Richards. Alex and Rob perform concerts together all over the world, so when one concert took them close to the old stomping grounds, Rob took the opportunity to show Alex the house in which I spent a good share of my formative years. He snapped a shot of him outside the house, and I got to comparing it to photos of the house when I was growing up. I did a little comparison study and found that, while the house had changed somewhat, it still had a lot of similarities. Maybe the next time I’m in Aberdeen, I’ll stop by and try and get a tour of the inside to see how much has changed.

Lotsa good times in that house!

One of the local radio hosts signs his show off every evening with a song called “Dream Big” by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband.  Not only is the tune catchy, but the lyrics are consistent with the way I’ve lived my life.  Is it consistent with your outlook on life too?

Monday the 13th – FIRST LADY! – I was planning on getting up early for the late morning taping of “The Tonight Show,” but I got a hotline call asking me to be at the show even earlier than expected. They needed me in to voice a comedy bit for the show. Since the First Lady of the United States was our guest on the show, we moved the taping up from our usual 4pm time to 11am. This was to accommodate her schedule. We had been on hiatus for two weeks for the Olympics, so we were back at it today. And a busy day it was! After walking Roxy I got breakfast at 7-11 and took it in with me to NBC. After getting through the metal detectors and seeing all of the Secret Service guys, I got to the audio booth and made myself at home. It was great seeing everyone again after the long break, but the hectic nature of the day made it impossible to do too much catching up. The show went off without a hitch, and it was great to have Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas on the show. She’s so cute and fun that I just wanted to adopt her right then and there! After the show I went to Wendy’s for lunch, and then I went over to Studiopolis Burbank to finish up the final episode of “Tiger and Bunny.” After my back issues from the previous week, I stayed mindful of my posture. After the session I headed over to the bank to make a deposit. I stopped by the gun shop to check out the inventory, then I went to see my chiropractor to get another adjustment. I hadn’t seen him for awhile because of my nutty schedule, but because of my recent back injury I had to get back in and soon. He adjusted me, put me on the “E-stim” machine (electro stimulation that I call the “Frankenstein” machine) and off I went. I got home to rest up for awhile, then went over to Jerry’s Famous Deli for a meet-up with my pal Jeremy, who’s Tony Clifton’s right-hand man. I also met up with one of Tony’s trumpet players and a guy from New York who’s putting together an Andy Kaufman exhibit at an art gallery there. After dinner they came to Planet Wallywood and checked out the collection. (By the way, within the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting video mini-tours of Planet Wallywood on this website and You Tube…details coming soon!) When the guys took off, I walked Roxy, did my auditions and hit the hay. It was a looong day, but I also had to be up early Tuesday for 3 gigs!

Tuesday the 14th – TUESDAY TRIFECTA! – I woke up earlier than expected, cuddled Roxy on the bed for awhile, then took her for a walk. I got cleaned up and headed to Santa Monica for another Old Navy session. It was a great time as always. On the way home I stopped at Jack In the Box and got some lunch. When I got home, there was a bit for “TTS” in my inbox, so I recorded that as well as a last-minute audition for my agent. Then it was back in the Mustang and out on the road. I went to Technicolor in Burbank to record some lines for a new “Ratchet & Clank” videogame. It was great seeing the old gang again. The session was short, so we spent the rest of the time shooting the breeze. I did a last-minute bit for “TTS” at Technicolor and we e-mailed it in. Then I headed to NBC to tape the show. As the show wrapped up I started to feel it. BANG! I was tired! I think I actually stretched out in my chair and snoozed for a bit. When i got home I napped, and boy did it feel good! When I got up I spent some time organizing stuff on the computer, did some work around the house, and then watched another episode of the original “Hawaii Five-O” from the Season 10 DVD set.

Wednesday the 15th – SLY ON THE SHOW! – I got to sleep late and it was wonderful. When I got up I headed back to my chiropractor to get another treatment, then I went off to Voice Trax West to do another session for US Airways. When we wrapped up I went back home to do some work before “TTS.” I headed over to NBC early to meet up with my friend Edi and her mom (who was in town visiting from Tennessee) and my assistant Sara who were there to see the taping of the show. Sylvester Stallone was on the show and he was amazing! I gave them the nickel tour afterwards of the “TS” operation, then I went home to walk Roxy and grab a nap. Later that evening I did a ton of auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agents, and as soon as I finished my internet died! WHAT? I had recently switched to cable from DSL, and while it had been going well, I had been experiencing a lot of outages lately. Odd. I made a call to their office and we got it back up and running eventually. I did some work around the house and Sara came by with late-night dinner to watch an episode of “Hawaii Five-O.”

Thursday the 16th – IT WAS 35 YEARS AGO TODAY! – Everybody remembers where they was the day Elvis Presley died. On this day in 1977 I was hanging out at my house when my friend Bob called and told me the horrible news. Then more and more friends started calling and I turned on the news to watch Geraldo Rivera reporting live from Memphis. Sad day. Luckily, today was better. I got up early to go into NBC for a bit for “TTS.” My contractor Terry came by to start working on a new storage area in my garage. I walked Roxy, cleaned up and headed into “TTS” to record the voice-over. I also recorded some stuff for the upcoming Jaywalking bit that will feature my Gran Torino in a “Starsky & Hutch” parody. When we finished the show I went to Radio Shack to pick up a Caller ID unit. The readout on my hotline was fading with age, and when I was being awakened from a dead sleep, I wanted to make sure the call I was receiving was from an important party and not a wrong number or telemarketer. The one I bought was beautiful. It had big letters I could read with bleary eyes on a backlit screen. I grabbed dinner to go at KFC and headed home. I hooked up the Caller ID unit and it worked perfectly. I grabbed a quick nap and then my pal Brittney came by for dinner. We met my assistant Sara at Little Toni’s for some delicious italian food. With a full tummy, I headed home to do auditions and then watch “Hawaii Five-O” in bed with Roxy and Spooky.

Friday the 17th – BITTERSWEET DAY! – I got a hotline call from “TTS” to record a bit. The new Caller ID box worked great! I did a series of Pee Wee Herman laughs and sounds for the Jaywalking bit that was airing that night. That was one of the TV show openings that they recreated. I also recorded another bit and e-mailed it in. We were taping early today, so I got cleaned up and headed on in. But when I got to work, I got a shock. The parent company of NBC had laid off about 25 employees. Cutbacks. Some of the folks I had come to know and work with over the past almost 3 years, had already left or were working out their last day. It was glum. And I had been so ecstatic earlier in the week when my agent told me my contract had been renewed through March of 2013, and my Gran Torino was going to be in the big “Starsky & Hutch” parody later that night. Bittersweet indeed. But the good news was, the Jaywalk TV show open bit was very well received by the audience! And the Torino looked great screeching down the driveway and plowing into two big boxes. The car did NOT receive any damage from that, by the way. That’s the most often asked question after friends saw the bit air. In case you missed it, check it out here…
https://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/tv-opens-8-17-12/1413819
My old pal Christian Malmin and some pals from Sweden were my guests at the show. When we wrapped I went back to my chiropractor and get some more therapy on my back. I was looking forward to spending a nice quiet weekend at home resting my stressed-out back muscles. I picked up my mail on the way home and got a Rusty Pete action figure. Rusty Pete was my character from a few Ratchet and Clank videogames. I can’t believe they actually made an action figure of that character, but there he was! It’s great! I got home and Terry was still working at the house on the storage area. Sara came to my house to get some outgoing mail for the post office. Then I got cleaned up and met my friend Linda at Jerry’s Famous Deli for dinner. When we finished I got home I met up with Edi and Brittney who came by to watch the Jaywalk bit on “TTS.” It was a long day, so I turned in.

Saturday the 18th – RED, WHITE & BLU! I got up to let the maids in just before noon, did some work around the house and walked Roxy over to her groomer’s for a bath. On the way home I grabbed a tuna sub at Subway and enjoyed a nice nap in cool, air conditioned comfort. I got up around 6 when Sara brought Roxy back from the groomer’s, and then we went to get some supplies at the grocery store for movie night. We watched the newly released “Jaws” on Blu Ray. Hmmm…a great WHITE shark, on BLU ray, and we all know where the RED comes in. But it sure is a classic, and a terrific film. Seeing it on Blu Ray was like seeing it again for the first time. In fact, I think it looked BETTER than it did when I first saw it in a theatre back in 1975. When everyone left I spent the entire night shooting video mini-tours of Planet Wallywood for You Tube. I also worked on formatting new signage for some of the Planet Wallywood exhibits. I’ve been collecting so long, and using so many different sources for signage, I noticed last week that there was a blatant inconsistency in the signage which explains the story behind the piece. In an effort to make it all cohesive and consistent, I’m redesigning all of the signs. Roxy and I enjoyed a nice walk as the sun rose on Sunday morning, and then we turned into watch another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” from the season 10 DVD set.

Sunday the 19th – SUNDAY SNOOZIN’! – Since I went to bed around 9am, I didn’t stir until it was time for evening church around 4:45pm! I slept REALLY well, and I needed it. Normally I don’t sleep well for long periods of time, but I did today. Roxy and I walked to evening church, and then returned home. I met up with Amanda and Sara and we headed over to the Coral Cafe in Burbank to have dinner with Edi and her mom, and my friends Mark and Connie. Then we all went to a theatre in Burbank to see a movie called “2016.” I got home and did some auditions in my home studio, e-mailed them to my agents, and finished doing some work around the house. The weather for the forthcoming week looks like it is going to cool off a bit, which is nice. And my schedule doesn’t look quite as busy as it’s been the past few weeks, which is REALLY nice. Every once in awhile I love those weeks that are mellow and not so nutty. We’ll see if it ends up being that way at the end of next week!

And how was YOUR week??!!