RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Here’s a great shot of my dad in the Army…circa mid to late 1950’s!
Since I had been rehearsing Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately” all week to sing at church on Sunday, that’s the song that’s been taking up the majority of my headspace. Not only is this a great song, but the video is gorgeous as well! Enjoy!
Monday the 11th – I FEEL LIKE A JUNKIE! JONESING HARD! – Just before noon I got up to find a last-minute audition in my inbox. I recorded it and sent it over to my agents. While I’m in Sioux Falls visiting family in a few weeks, I’ll be doing an in-store signing at Rainbow Comics and Cards; a collectible store there. My niece’s boyfriend works there and asked if I could work out a time to go in and sign a few things for people. It’ll be a lot of fun. So I sent over some photos of my animated characters that they could print up for their customers. I went over to my pal Bruce Kulick’s house so he could put a few guitar licks on a new song we’re working on. I won’t tell you anything about it at this point, but it will tie in quite nicely to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. Stay tuned! It was fun watching him work, as he simply sat on his couch with his iPad, his guitar plugged into a small interface, with a small speaker box. What used to take racks and racks of studio gear in a huge studio with expensive hourly rates can now be done in the comfort of one’s home on their coffee table. Unbelievable! He downloaded the finished tracks on to my flash drive and I was on my way. I went home to prep a bank deposit, and got a call from my pal Mike at Studiopolis that a check was waiting for me there. Before I finalized my deposit I biked over on my bicycle to pick up the check, then biked back home and scanned it for deposit. Just in the nick of time! I biked over to Voice Trax West to dump the audio files from my flash drive into their system for mixing. Then I stopped by the bank to make my deposit. I dropped by McDonald’s to get some quick lunch and enjoy the day. It was nice sitting there outside on a gorgeous afternoon; eating and watching the world go by. It truly was a fantastic day! I got back home and packed my cat Spooky into his carrying case. His nails had gotten quite long and he was in need of a manicure. I drove him over to Rusty’s Pets for a trim, than came back home to rest. But I was jones-ing hard for another Palm Springs trip. I was really in the mood! I called the Hyatt to see if my regular room was available for later in the week, and they said it was. Now to get on-line and make my reservation. But egads! The room rates were TWICE what they normally were! I called to inquire as to the reason why and they said it was Coachella week. Coachella is a huge concert/festival in the desert done two weekends in a row in the Palm Springs area. It attracts people from all over, and the hotels can gouge…ahem…I mean…adjust their prices accordingly to capitalize on the frenzy. So, not being one to enjoy throngs of drunken youngsters making for a noisy weekend, I took a pass at going to Palm Springs this week. I probably wouldn’t have gotten much rest anyway. But I’m sure missing my Palm Springs getaway. My sister and brother-in-law will be there for a business conference the second week of May, so we agreed to meet there then. It’s about a month away, and trust me…I’m counting the day! My birthday week in early May will be a mix of blessings. On one hand I’ll get to go to Sioux Falls to see friends and family, see Paul McCartney in concert from a 4th row center seat, and enjoy some tasty food at the local ice cream stand called B&G Milky Way. But then when I return I’ll have to start prepping for my colonoscopy on the 9th. But then on the 11th I’ll be on my way to Palm Springs for four days of paradise! I took a short nap, and then got up later to type out Wally’s Week and do my nightly auditions. I made some dinner and finished watching the “Batman” TV series on Blu Ray. That’s all, folks!
Tuesday the 12th – YOU DON’T KNOW BEANS! – Shortly after noon I got on the phone with my car insurance company who wanted to interview me about the January 16th theft of my Gran Torino from my buddy Bodie Stroud’s shop. When I finished talking to her I called Bodie and told him about it. I loaded up one of my giant beanbag chairs in my Mustang and headed to Foam Mart in Burbank. After several years of many guests enjoying the comfort of my beanbag chairs during our Planet Wallywood movie nights, the beans in them had started to compress. And the beanbag chairs were looking kind of flaccid, and they weren’t offering much support Since I can’t fit them all in my car at the same time I’m going to take them over one at a time. As we opened the beanbag chair I was noticing several tears and rips. One tear I had patched a long time ago was coming off and the rip was getting longer. There were all sorts of little tears that I hadn’t noticed before near the seam lines. So I think it was time to call it a day on that one. But the kind staff helped me extract all of the beans from the chair so we could use those to fill the remaining chairs. (Kind of like the beanbag chair version of being an organ donor I guess!) We filled up one and a half big garbage bags. I also bought a new beanbag chair to replace it, so my car was packed full of stuff! I put the top down so I would be able to see traffic to my right and behind me. I stopped by Taco Bell to get some food and then headed home. I worked around the house for a bit, grabbed a nap, and then got up later to do my nightly auditions. I did a little more work and then had a bowl of cereal before bed.
Wednesday the 13th – RUN, HIDE, FIGHT! – I hopped on my bicycle and rode over to the LAPD North Hollywood Station for a noon seminar that was being held for area churches. The subject dealt with LAPD recommended procedures for dealing with an “Active Shooter” in your church. I learned several good things and asked a lot of questions. Their program is called Run, Hide, Fight. Those are the things you should do IN THAT ORDER if you are confronted with an active shooter in your office or church. RUN – get out of the building at all costs. If you can’t then…HIDE. Find someplace to hole up; preferably someplace that will be out of the visual scope of the shooter. And stay quiet. And if all else fails…FIGHT! 62% of all active shooters are taken down by civilians. Learning how to improvise weapons in an office setting can save your life. Fire extinguishers are great for spraying the chemical in the shooter’s eyes. And they make great blunt instruments once the shooter goes down (if you know what I mean). Scissors, coat racks, chairs, etc. can all be good weapons to use if you’re confronted. I biked back home and then met my assistant Sara for lunch at the Studio Café. I biked back home and was bushed. I napped on the couch for a bit. Later that evening the crew for “Wacky Wally’s Vintage Toys” came by and started setting up for a quick shoot. There was a celebrity guest in town for a short period of time, so before she had to go back to New York we wanted to get an interview shot with her for an upcoming episode. Scott Sebring and Boz Adams got the lights and camera set up, while I rehearsed with the guest. The interview will be pre-taped and inserted into the episode later after we shoot it. Rebecca the make-up artist arrived and did my make-up. We got the interview wrapped up and in the can by 8:40 and my guest was on her way home. Perfect! But we had a few other pick-up shots to do so we continued setting up other shots. We wrapped up around midnight, and we got a lot of great footage! I sat down and did my auditions, fed and walked Roxy, and then settled in with some chili to start “The Munsters” season 2 before bed! I realized with horror that I’m running out of TV shows to watch. I have watched every single episode of every TV show I’ve ever loved. After I finished up with “Lost in Space,” “The Addams Family,” and “The Munsters,” I’m out of stuff. Luckily “The Monkees” will be out in June on Blu Ray, and I still have several more seasons of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” to get through. But either I’m going to have to start watching movies before bed, or I’m going to revisit some TV shows I’ve already seen.
Thursday the 14th – LAZY THURSDAY! – Based on the whirlwind days that started this week, I was in serious need of some z’s! I didn’t get up until 3, when my friend Jasmine came over to check in. After she left I went back to bed for more sleep from 5 to 9. It was very windy out, so it was a good day to stay in and do nothing. (The brisk wind plays havoc with my allergies!) I did a little work, and then plopped right back down on the couch and slept some more. When my body craves sleep like that, I usually like to listen to it. I did some auditions, and then got some food to go at Denny’s and watched “The Munsters.”
Friday the 15th – I SPILLED THE BEANS! – It was much too windy to ride my bike to Voice Trax West for my American Airlines session at 2, so I drove my Mustang. With all the dust and pollen blowing around it would have been a real mess, given my allergies. I took a listen to a sample mix of the new song we’re working on, and it sounded good. But it still needed a few tweaks. I finished the session and headed over to the post office to mail some bills. On my way home I got a call from my “adopted grandma” Shirley asking if I could take her to the post office so she could mail her taxes. So I swung by her house, picked her up, and headed right back to the post office to make sure her taxes were postmarked by April 15th. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that they extended the deadline to April 18th this year. But we got some lunch at McDonald’s and have fun chatting. I got back home to feed the pets, do a little work, and then clean up to meet my old friend Jacki at Barone’s for dinner. But she was running late so I stopped into a furniture store to look around. I found four really great, colorful chairs that I wanted for my kitchen area. The chairs I had in there were starting to literally fall apart, so I figured these would make a great and colorful addition to my kitchen vibe. And somehow the salesman fit them all into my tiny little car. Unbelievable! I met with Jacki and we chatted over dinner for hours. I initially met her when she was visiting her cousin, my high school girlfriend Sherri, back in Aberdeen, South Dakota in 1977. I was 16 and Jackie was 14. Since Sherri and I were about to call it quits, she was nice enough to arrange a date for me with Jacki. But Jacki’s parents were very strict and religious. So when they found out about Jacki’s “date” with a wild-haired 16 year old radio DJ, her mom came to the movie theater where we were enjoying a movie, and took her home! In the middle of the movie! We continued to stay in touch in the 70’s, but in the early 90’s she ended up out here in L.A. as an actress. We got together many times back then, most notably for a music video I did at a local cable station. At the time I was obsessed with “The Phantom of the Opera” starring Michael Crawford. So I did a video of “Music of the Night” with Jacki playing an entranced Christine. You can see it here:
Though some of the comments by the peanut gallery are rather…ahem…rude…I think it’s still a fun video. After she left L.A. in the mid 90’s I lost touch with her until just recently. She’s back in town and she’s teaching. Funny how life works! It’s great to be back in touch again! On the way home I got some groceries (though very few, considering I didn’t have much room left in my car!). I also stopped by to get some VERY expensive Scotch for a special guest we’re having at movie night next week. That was the drink he requested. I got home and unpacked the groceries and the chairs. Then I got ambitious and decided to take those bags of beans and re-bean my flaccid beanbag chairs. The guy at Foam Mart warned me to have somebody help me, but I figured I’d be OK. What does he know anyway, right? I would live to eat those words. And a lot of little Styrofoam beans! He suggested re-beaning the beanbags in the bathroom for easy clean up. Good idea. The first three of the four beanbags went pretty well. I clipped them to a hook in the wall, gingerly filled them with beans from the plastic garbage bags, and when they had been filled to the proper level, I zipped them back up again. Up to this point I incurred very little spillage. But it was that darn fourth one that ruined my night! Somehow the bag had popped out of the beanbag’s opening as I was dumping the beans in, and little Styrofoam beans went flying all over my bathroom floor! And these little buggers are lighter than air, so you can’t really rely on gravity to offer you much help. I figured it was time to feed the pets, so I took a break to figure out how I was going to clean up. I remember the guy at Foam Mart telling me I could just vacuum up any spilled beans. I have a great vacuum cleaner I call “Marge” (because of her resemblance to Marge Simpson…this vacuum cleaner was actually a Christmas gift from the “Simpsons” crew one year!) and she has a removable tank instead of a bag. This would make it super easy. I sucked the beans, and when the tank got full I dumped it back into the bag. It took me about five tanks’ worth to get all the beans cleaned up and rebagged. Then I was very careful to finish off the fourth and final beanbag chair so I wouldn’t need Marge’s assistance again. I got so enthusiastic, that I even took the liberty of refilling two beanbag footstools I had. All the beanbag chairs and footstools were fat and happy again! And THAT’S how a swingin’ L.A. bachelor spends his Friday nights! I reheated my Barone’s pizza and ate it while watching “The Munsters” before bed.
Saturday the 16th – HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAAAAY! – Sara met me for a late lunch at Paty’s in Toluca Lake around 3, and I also go the chance to check the mail at my box. I bought an original “Mighty Mouse” 45 record on ebay and it arrived. I remember having this as a kid! How do I know it was THIS one? Because of the Farmer Alfalfa song on the flipside. I actually remembered a few of the lyrics of the song from when I was 4! I immediately put it on the record player and dubbed it to CD. I felt like I was four years old all over again! Strangely enough, I think this is the same kind of record that Andy Kaufman used for his “Mighty Mouse” act. For movie night we watched one of my all-time favorites…”The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” on Blu Ray. That movie makes me smile. Lots of good memories from back when the movie had just been released. My dad still talks about how much he loved Charles Durning’s musical number “Sidestep.” And seeing it again on Blu Ray, it’s still just as brilliant! After movie night I did some cleaning and Sara came over to relax and have a bite to eat after she got off from her restaurant job. I printed up the lyrics to the song I’d be singing at church the next day, and did some prep. I made my traditional Super Saturday Night salad and watched an episode of the old BBC show “The Avengers” before be.
Sunday the 17th – HOT SUN SUNDAY! – I threw off my covers at 1:30 in the afternoon. It was hot! I got up and turned on the air conditioning. I took Roxy out for a potty break and it was really warm out! Spring has sprung. We’re in for a bit of a warm spell for a few days before it returns to more seasonal temps. I went back to bed until I had to be up for rehearsal at church at 4:45. I’d be singing the Van Morrison song “Have I Told You Lately” with the band at the service. The song went very well, (the church band is absolutely amazing) and everyone seemed to enjoy it. When I got back home I got the first half of the edited music video for the new song we’re doing from my pal Mark Fullerton. So far it was amazing! I can’t wait to release this when it’s all finished. I took a nap and then got up around midnight to organize some computer files and do other work around the house. I didn’t have any auditions to do, so I figured I’d start planning the details of my upcoming South Dakota trip. I composed my travel list and then called it a night. I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched “The Munsters” before bed. I’m loving the second season because they have the new and improved theme song.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Thing go well at first with the re-beaning process…
…then tragedy strikes! A literal “hill of beans!”
But the mighty Marge takes good care of it all.
And the beanbag is looking fat and happy!
