RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Here’s the last pic I took with the late, great Stan Freberg. RIP Stan, I’ll miss your face, your stories and your smile.
Though I wasn’t humming this song in particular, I found myself thinking about a lot of Stan Freberg’s crazy songs after hearing of his passing this week. I always point out this bit as being everything anyone needs to know about how to do Voice-Over. By only using two words, Stan tells an entire story. By simply modulating his vocal inflections he tells an entire tale of two lovers who run the gamut of their relationship in 2 minutes and 32 seconds. When you can tell an entire story using only two words (or names) like Stan did, you’re truly a god in the Voice-Over industry!
Monday the 6th – TRAFFIC IS ‘DODGY’! – Early in the morning I got up to head into Hollywood for an audition at Elaine Craig Casting. When I finished up I grabbed lunch at Arby’s and headed home to walk my neighbor’s greyhound Abby. I was planning on going to my seamstress Karyn’s studio, but I heard on the radio that the traffic on the freeway heading her direction was packed in both directions because of opening day of the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. So I decided to stay home and relax. I just wasn’t in the mood to sit in 2 hours’ worth of traffic. Who ever is? So I grabbed a nap on the couch for a bit. My pal Brittney Powell dropped by to do a little work for me in the studio, and then I got ready to do a podcast interview with Michael Edwards about Voice-Over. When I finished up I watched a little Dog TV on DirecTV. I believe it’s channel 354, and it’s geared toward dogs. But it has nice music and video footage of all kinds of dogs playing and doing fun stuff. I guess I must have the intelligence level of a dog because I thoroughly enjoy it. Normally it’s a channel you have to pay for, but it must be a free weekend or something. My computer guy Brian phoned in to do some work on my computer via remote, and then I took a dip in the Jacuzzi. We’re supposed to be getting a bunch of rain on Tuesday so that’ll be nice. I grabbed a short nap and then got up to do auditions and work on my database. I made a salad and watched an episode of “Magnum, p.i.” from the season 7 DVD set.
Tuesday the 7th – SAD FOR STAN! – When I got up just before noon I walked my neighbor’s greyhound Abby again, and then headed off to my dentist for my semi-annual cleaning and check-up. I came back home and walked Roxy, and then went over to Skylark Sound in Burbank to do a super secret project for my pal Susie Lum, Voice Director. It was a lot of fun. When I left the session it had started raining a bit, but it didn’t last long. By the time I got home it had already started to let up. Disappointing, considering it was supposed to rain through the evening. I had another phone interview scheduled for a podcast, but this time it was for all things Batman. I grabbed a dip in the Jacuzzi and took a quick nap. I got up to work on auditions and my movie night invites. But as I was looking around at the news on-line I found out my pal, the great comic Stan Freberg had passed away late Monday. I knew he hadn’t been well, but it’s always sad to hear someone of his talent and charm has gone away. I worked on creating a packing list for my upcoming trip to Sioux Falls for the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction next weekend. Some of the stuff I’ll be shipping ahead via Fed Ex so I won’t have to pack it in my suitcase. As an inductee I’ll need to make 3 appearances over the weekend, so I’ll need plenty of room in my suitcase for nice clothes for the events. Before bed I made a salad and watched another “Magnum, p.i.” episode. After that was done I happened to turn it on Boomerang to watch a few episodes of “The Garfield Show.” I heard Stan Freberg (as Dr. Whipple) doing a scene with my character Jon Arbuckle. I smiled remembering the day we recorded that together. Good memories. I’ll miss him. He was a fun, funny and clever guy. But before I turned in some copy for Go 96.3 in Minneapolis came in, so I recorded it and sent it in before I went to sleep.
Wednesday the 8th – MIDNIGHT BIKE! – Since I got to bed so late I ended up sleeping until 1:30 in the afternoon. There were a few last-minute auditions waiting for me in my inbox, so when I finished those I hit the road to head to Karyn’s shop to pick up the projects she had sewn for me. I grabbed lunch and then headed to my mailbox to pick up some mail. I sped off to CVS to get a prescription, and then I headed home to meet my buddy Scott Zillner, who would be painting my Arkham Riddler cane. I asked him to give it back to me for a day so I could show it to the Arkham folks the next day at our session. I got busy around the house doing stuff, took a dip in the Jacuzzi, and then got ready to watch the “Hot In Cleveland” episode I did a voice in several months ago. The South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame folks told me if I had any photos I’d like to use in my speech, to send them over! So I hit my old photo albums and started pulling old photos to scan. Ahhhh, those were the days! I was young, thin, had a full head of curly hair and a head full of dreams! But I wouldn’t want to go back there. I’m having too much fun now! I had to drop my Mustang at the Ford dealer so they could do the standard maintenance on it first thing Thursday morning. I like to drop it off late at night for Early Bird service. So I dropped the top, put my bike in the backseat, drove to Ford, dropped the keys in their lock box, got my bike out and biked home. A beautiful half moon in the eastern sky kept a watch over my ride home. What a gorgeous night. I stashed my bike, walked to my auxiliary garage and got my Gran Torino out, and drove to Taco Bell to get some late dinner. I watched some more “Magnum, p.i.” and hit the hay!
Thursday the 9th – ‘CANE’ YOU DIG IT? – Around noon I woke up and headed off to Warner Brothers studios in Burbank to record some more Riddler lines for the upcoming “Arkham Knight” game. It’s always fun to drive the Gran Torino on that lot, because people stare agape with wonder. It looks very much at home on a movie studio lot. I brought the Riddler cane into show the Arkham producers and they LOVED it! They took photos of it to take back to their offices. It was a gorgeous day, and a wonderful day to drive the Torino around. I stopped off at the Ford dealer quickly to pay for my service and get the key. I’ll get a ride there later and drive my Mustang home. I came home and met up with my effects guy Jim Ojala to discuss another project I had been cooking on. My assistant Sara came by to drop me at Ford so I could pick up my Mustang, and then I switched cars and put the Torino back in the auxiliary garage. My pal Jasmine came over for a visit. I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and grabbed a quick nap on the couch. When I got up I started packing the box of stuff to Fed Ex to Sioux Falls for my upcoming trip. I did my auditions, made a pizza and watched another episode of “Magnum, p.i.” before bed.
Friday the 10th – RUNNIN’ OUT THE ROACHES! – It was another early morning for me! Up at 9:30 to win an eBay auction, and then off to Fed Ex to ship my box that will meet me in Sioux Falls next week. I headed to Voice Trax West and spent 2 hours doing another super secret project. It was a second call-back audition so fingers crossed it all works out! I stopped by Chipotle for lunch and then headed off over the hill to Regenix in Beverly Hills for a follow-up exam on my hair. Gregg said my scalp was a thing of beauty; super clean and healthy. After my appointment I headed back over the hill into the Burbank area for an audition at Voicecasters. I stopped by my mailbox to get my mail and then headed home to check my e-mails and relax. Of course that included a dip in the Jacuzzi and a nap on the couch. When I woke up I was fired up to clean my garage some more. It’s so cluttered and filthy it’s going to take several more nights of intense organization, but slow and steady wins the race. I cleaned out an area that was particularly nasty. When I pulled out some of the stuff to clean I notice a family of roaches living in my garage. Well this landlord kicked them out immediately! I threw away a lot of the cardboard and boxes that had been in the surrounding area, and I washed the area down with Windex with ammonia. I wore rubber gloves because I didn’t want to run the risk of touching roach droppings. Luckily the part of the garage they were living in was right next to my garage door, so I doubt they got far enough in to enter my house! I reorganized my poster box, cleaned out the entire area, sorted through other stuff, dug stuff out for Goodwill and finished up for the night. But I have a LOT more to do! I came inside, washed up and fed the pets. Then I made some spaghetti and watched “Magnum, p.i.” again. BRING ON THE WEEKEND!
Saturday the 11th – SATISFYING SATURDAY! – Around 2 Roxy and I walked to a lunch meeting with a guy named Stephen, a young actor originally from Iowa. He wanted to meet and talk about our Midwest roots, and get some advice on the acting world. We enjoyed the day and chatted for a few hours and then Roxy and I walked back home. I got my car and headed over to the store to get groceries for movie night. I came home, put them away and napped for about a half hour. We had a fun movie night watching the “Blacula” double feature on Blu Ray. When it was over I hit the hay to be up early the next day for an important event.
Sunday the 12th – BEST FOONS! – At noon my pal Scott Sebring dropped by so we could head to the Writer’s Guild Theatre to attend the memorial service for the legendary Gary Owens. Scott wore a Space Ghost t-shirt, and I wore my Roger Ramjet t-shirt (both characters Gary voiced in those animated shows). Gary, also originally from South Dakota, had a career with a lot of similarities to mine. But Gary was an absolute legend, and extremely prolific in the entertainment industry. He passed away from diabetes a few months ago. I’ve never heard a bad story from anyone who ever had an interaction with Gary. He was truly a great guy and I’ll miss seeing him around and chatting with him. He had his own language and was a laugh a minute. (Gary often said he was the Grand High Nurgle of Burbank who offered Best Foons to all!) Gary was the one who coined the phrase “Beautiful Downtown Burbank!” The memorial was produced by his family and was beautiful. I kept my emotions in check, until they showed samples of his cartoon work. Seeing Space Ghost and Roger Ramjet on the big screen made me misty, knowing that the genius voice behind those characters I loved as a child was gone. I had a great conversation with several people from South Dakota who flew in for the event. Scott and I headed to Jerry’s Famous Deli for lunch with his wife Vickie. I came home and napped, and then got up to do a ton of auditions. I got prepped for a new week and my upcoming trip to South Dakota this Thursday.
And how was YOUR week!
