Philip Bailey was one of the singers from Earth, Wind and Fire, and in the 80’s had a solo album out with some great songs. One of them was this one…not a hit, but a great song. It’s called “Walking on the Chinese Wall.” Listen closely to the lyrics. What do you think he’s talking about? It’s puzzling, but wonderful nonetheless!
Monday the 11th – I LOVE MONDAYS! – Unlike Garfield, I happened to really like this Monday. We started out by doing a one hour Garfield special at Buzzy’s Recording in Hollywood. I was running a little behind so I didn’t have time to do my usual breakfast run at the Burger King drive-thru. When I got there I asked Frank Welker if he would sign two Scooby Doo posters for my nieces. They were going to meet him when they were in town recently, but Frank got a flu bug and was out for a few weeks. But they’ll appreciate the signed posters I’m sure! Grey DeLisle and Mindy Cohn had already signed them when my nieces attended a “Scooby Doo” recording session. Stan Freberg was in the house today! It was a lot of fun doing the special, and we had a large cast. I left around 2pm to head home to walk Sassie and get to “The Tonight Show.” My assistant Sara was there doing laundry. I walked Sassie and headed to “TTS.” After the show I came home and grabbed a nap, then got up and did my auditions to e-mail to my agent. Busy day! Whew!
Tuesday the 12th – HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZAK! – My son Zak’s birthday is today so I sent him an e-mail and a text message. I even left a message on his voicemail but he’s so busy these days it’s tough to get him on the phone. I started the day by going to Voice Trax West to continue with my IVR session. It had been going on several weeks and we still had about three weeks to go. IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response, and it will be on a major company’s phone system. When I’m able to release the name of the company I will, but suffice to say it is quite an extensive recording schedule. I have to record every date, every time, every city, etc. It’s wild! We were supposed to go from 11am to 2pm, but I got a call before I left for Voice Trax West from “TTS” saying I needed to be in at 1pm to record a comedy bit at NBC. The IVR producers are very understanding about my “TTS” schedule, so I left the session at 12:30 with a promise that I’d be back around 1:30 to complete the session, and we would make up the lost time on the back end. But when I got to NBC they weren’t quite ready with the script. So by the time I got back to the IVR session it was 2:15, much too late to continue. The IVR producer had meetings scheduled and couldn’t continue. So off I went to my mailbox to get my mail, then back home to walk Sassie and then BACK to “TTS” to tape the show! Wow! What a wild ride! I got home and was pretty exhausted. But I had a great end of the day! Sassie hardly ever notices other animal life. She’s just not interested. But today she actually stopped and looked at a squirrel. I know most dogs bark and carry on about squirrels, but she’s laid back and cool and not bothered by them. I have a really tame female squirrel that hears my door open and comes running. She loves to come right up to me and sit at my feet while I dish out the nuts. She’ll look at Sassie and realize quickly that she’s no threat and move on with her dining. But today Sassie stopped, looked at the squirrel and made eye contact. The squirrel froze, not knowing what Sassie was going to do. They were only about 2 feet apart. Sassie decided that today she would give the squirrel an innocent sniff. She moved her snout toward the squirrel and she moved back just a bit. But still knew that Sassie was no threat. They were almost nose to nose and only separated by about a foot. It was GREAT! As I was walking Sass some of the other dogs in the complex came out and there was a lot of dog play going on. It was a lot of fun to watch, as the dogs would get down in their play position and wag their tails. Just then, the ducks flew in and splashed down in the pool to begin their evening swim. I sure loved all the animal life around! Later that evening Sara and I went to Li’l Toni’s Italian restaurant for dinner, and were joined by our friend Edi and her kids Josh and Emily. Great fun!
Wednesday the 13th – A MELLOWER DAY! – I got to sleep in a little bit today, but was awakened by the hotline in my bedroom. “TTS” needed me at NBC at 2pm for a bit. I got up and met my electrician Electric Bob to show him a few things I wanted to have installed. Then I got ready to head to NBC to record the comedy bit. When I was finished there I went over to Studiopolis Burbank to record some pick-up lines for the “Bleach” movie that will be released soon. I got to see my old pal Carlos Alazraqui and talk to him a bit. While we were chatting the great Peter Cullen, Optimus Prime himself walked in! I finished up my few pick-up lines and went over to “TTS” to tape the show. I got home and grabbed a short nap, then woke up to record my auditions to send to my agents.
Thursday the 14th – TOUGH CITIES PART 1! – I went to Voice Trax West to continue the IVR session. But today was tough! I had to read a ton of city names, in a certain inflection, one after the other. The U.S. city names were easy, but we got into the Chinese city names, the middle east city names and the Russian city names and it got real tough. There was a linguist on the line with us who was trying to help coach us on pronunciations, but some of these names were near impossible! It was one of the longest, most grueling sessions so far! When 2pm rolled around, I was mentally drained. I went over to a bowling alley called Pinz to do a walk through as a possible venue for my upcoming birthday party. I headed home quick to walk Sassie, then hit McDonald’s quick for some food, then headed to NBC to tape “TTS.” After the show I got home and passed out on the couch! That night, again, I recorded my auditions and e-mailed them in!
Friday the 15th – ARE YOU SURE IT’S NOT FRIDAY THE 13TH??!!! – The IVR session continued with more difficult city names. We had a limited amount of time to get them finished and it was going very slowly. Meanwhile, “TTS” was texting me to record a bit. So we put the IVR session on hold for a bit, I recorded the comedy bit for “TTS” and e-mailed it to them, then picked back up with the IVR session. But as TV often goes, there are lots of changes and revisions. Just as we started the IVR session again, I got another text that I had to re-record the comedy bit because the script had changed. So I put the IVR session on hold again to record the update. Meanwhile, time was running out and I wanted to get these difficult city names finished once and for all. In the midst of everything, I was reminded that “TTS” would be taping a half hour earlier than usual because it was the day before we took off for a week-long hiatus. So if I get out of Voice Trax West at 2, and had to be at NBC at 3, I would have to beat feet home to walk Sassie, change clothes and get over to NBC and hope to grab some lunch on the way. But my friend Bruce Kulick, who lives in my neighborhood, texted me to tell me about a murder suspect being sought in our neighborhood. The police had a large perimeter of our neighborhood cordoned off not letting anyone in or out! WHAT? As if I didn’t have enough to worry about! Luckily, Bruce kept me appraised of the news as he was seeing it on TV via text. I had already planned my alternate route out of Voice Trax West to NBC, but it would likely add another 25 minutes to my commute! Luckily they apprehended the murder suspect before I left the studio, and the streets were opened up again. WHEW! I made it to “TTS” in time, and I even brought my “Grease” soundtrack album on vinyl. John Travolta was going to be on the show that day, and the segment producer said she would try to get him to sign it. I had another 7 signatures on the album from other “Grease” actors, but this would be the best! We had a lot of fun doing the taping, and wishing each other a good week off. And best of all, John Travolta signed my album! It was 5:00 and I was now officially on vacation! I took a week off from the IVR sessions as well, so I was free and clear to relax and travel a little bit. I went to It’s a Wrap to investigate their 50% off sale and I found some great items! I found a vintage yellow tuxedo similar to one of the tuxes Andy Kaufman wore as Tony Clifton on “The Fabulous Miss Piggy Show.” I also got a tux shirt, some tux pants and some great jeans for only $3! They fit perfectly! On the way home I stopped to get some groceries and stock up on food. I called my folks in the car on the way home, and then walked into Planet Wallywood and collapsed. I was officially on vacation! I started by taking a dip in the jacuzzi for awhile and relaxing. I had a headache from all the activity, so I laid down for a nap. When I got up I spent all night doing laundry, cleaning up, putting stuff away, restocking Planet Wallywood with supplies and generally being productive. It felt great!
Saturday the 16th – WHILE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY FREEZES, WE SWELTER! – Sassie got up early in the morning and was restless. So I took her out to go potty and then put her down in the living room so I could get back to bed and get some sleep. The morning was already quite warm so I put on the A/C and got back in bed. Later in the morning the maids arrived and began to clean Planet Wallywood. I got in touch with my assistant Sara so she could give me a ride home from an auto electrician. But when I took my charger to my Gran Torino it wouldn’t turn over. I had been having a battery-drain issue with the Torino lately, and today was the day I was supposed to get it over to the electrician guy to get it fixed. Sara even tried to give me a jump from her car but no go! So…no Torino today. I called my pal and contractor Terry who said he would come over on Sunday and look it over. I sent Sara off to AAA to pick up my new customized license plates for the Torino, while I went back to my house to check in with the maids. A termite inspector showed up and was looking around for evidence of termite damage. Luckily there wasn’t anything up high, but below the house there was evidence of termites in the soil. So they’re going to come treat the soil soon and kill them off. The maids finished up, Sara brought back my license plates, and we took off in my Mustang to get it washed. Since it was a nice day, the car wash was packed! So we left the car and walked down the street to have lunch. I got my car, went home, and took a nice nap in air conditioned comfort! Later that night it was another movie night with the gang. We watched “The Incredibles” on Blu Ray, followed by “Falling Down” with Michael Douglas, also on Blu Ray. What fun!
Sunday the 17th – VACATION DAY 2! I got up around noon and sat around leisurely doing things around the house. I paid bills, watched the new Garfield DVD called “Private Eye-Ventures” and enjoyed not having to do anything. Terry showed up to look at the Torino, and my hair guy Sergio arrived to start work on my new Phantom of the Opera mannequin. He’s adding some real human hair to the Phantom so he’ll look extra lifelike! Terry noticed that there was a broken wire coming out of the battery leading to the alternator. This could explain why the battery wasn’t holding a charge! If the alternator isn’t getting the power back to the battery to keep it charged because of this loose wire, that would be a simple explanation for everything. He brought in a new batter and put it in the car and it turned over immediately. Apparently my battery was so drained it wouldn’t even take a jump! He pulled one of the terminals off the battery while it was running which proved that the alternator was working properly. He put my battery on a charger to get it recharged while he set about splicing the loose wire back into the alternator. It worked perfectly! I think Terry figured it out! I’m still going to take it in to the electrician to have things looked over just to be sure, but it was working great! It was fun driving it again. Terry and I cleaned up and then headed to church. When it was over, we drove over to Panera to meet up with friends for dinner. I love parking the Torino in the parking lot close to the Panera patio and sitting there while I eat watching people check it out. After dinner Terry and I went to get some frozen yogurt. The TV in the fro-yo place was playing a show, and during one of the commercial breaks the ad for “Hoodwinked 2” came on. At the end of the commercial Red Ridiing Hood gets in a red and white Gran Torino, slides over the hood and drives it around in circles. The gal at the fro-yo place shouted to me, “Hey! That’s your car!” It was one of those great little moments of serendipity! Terry and I went back to my house to look at a few other things to be fixed. Then Terry went on his way and I laid down for another couch nap. I got up and did about 10 auditions, e-mailed them in to my agent, fed Sassie, wrote Wally’s Week and hit the hay to enjoy my vacation week. Unfortunately I’ve been so busy that several necessary things haven’t been taken care of. So I’ll be spending the first few days of the week running those errands. But at least I’M ON VACATION!!
And how was YOUR week??!!!
