After watching “The Big Lebowski” I had this tune on my mind. But the strange thing is, a week before I had added it to my i-Pod. What a great song! Kenny Rogers and the First Edition with “Conditions (Just Dropped In).” Enjoy, dude!

Monday the 15th – ROUGH NIGHT! – I didn’t sleep very well the night before, and now I was getting up for the Garfield session at Buzzy’s in Hollywood. I was VERY tired and dragging ass something fierce. I stopped for some quick breakfast at Burger King hoping that would pick me up, but I didn’t perk up until well after noon. After the session I got home and took a short rest, and woke up feeling a little better. Then I was on my way down to Santa Monica to P.O.P. Studios to record some commercials for Old Navy. We are off from “The Tonight Show” this week and next for a hiatus, so I can pick up some of my other jobs in the afternoon. I worked a few hours for them, and then had the looooong trek home on the 405 in afternoon rush-hour traffic. It took me an hour and a half before I got home. I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up some more pills to help my breathing, which hopefully will clear my head and stop my sinus headaches. I got home, ate some cereal, got a quick nap then went over to my friend Kristy’s house to feed her cat while she’s out of town. I got home and watched some “Mannix” episodes.

Tuesday the 16th – AMAZING DAY! – I was off to another Garfield session at Buzzy’s, and I got a call from my agent that Old Navy would be needing me again in the afternoon. But I had a busy day planned, so I was lucky enough to be able to do the session at Buzzy’s as soon as I was done with Garfield. It would save me having to go all the way out to Santa Monica again and have that horrible drive back home. We finished Garfield and then I went to grab some quick lunch. I made it back to Buzzy’s and we did the Old Navy session. I sure love working for those guys, as they’re all terrific and lotsa fun! Apparently some of the TV commercials I’ve done for them recently have already started playing on the air. We finished up with Old Navy and I headed home to get ready for another recording session at Voice Trax West for Paul Michael Glaser’s audio book. I was able to grab a quick 20 minute nap, then it was off to Voice Trax West. My old pal Bob Bergen was in the other studio teaching a class, so I was able to introduce Paul to Bob and his class. While Paul was recording his audio book, I ran over to the pharmacy to get another bottle of nose spray. It’s prescription stuff that is supposed to keep the inflammation in my sinuses down. Inflammation from allergies = pain in the forehead. I got back to the studio and finished up the session with Paul. Then my pal Sara and I drove over to Paty’s to have a late dinner. We stopped at my friend Kristy’s house to feed her cat, then I headed home to record my voice-over auditions and head to bed to finish watching the final episodes of “Twin Peaks” on DVD! WOW! So far this week, I’ve been just as busy (if not MORE) that if I had been doing “TTS!”

Wednesday the 17th – AREN’T I SUPPOSED TO BE ON VACATION!? –At least I got to sleep till noon today! When I got up I read a text telling me that my lunch meeting had been postponed to another day. Then I got a message from my agent that Old Navy would need me at 3 in the afternoon for more spots. So she booked me at Mai Tai Studios in Burbank. So I went back to bed and slept a few more hours. Then it was off to Mai Tai to do more Old Navy. I went over to Kristy’s to give her back her keys (she just got back from Montana that day) and see her new kitten. One of her two cats passed away while she was in Montana, so she picked up a new kitten there and brought her back. She sure is a cutie! Then she and I went to Chin Chin for dinner and to catch up on her trip. While I was at dinner, I got a message from my agent again telling me that Old Navy needed me back at 7:30 that night! They had a spot that was delivering that night and they needed some changes. So I dropped Kristy back home after dinner and it was back to Mai Tai again. I’m glad I was able to accommodate them and the immediate last-minute changes. By the time I got home my contractor and pal Terry had started working on my house. He brought some sod over and planted my “Sass Grass” out front of my house. Sassie always liked grass, so in memory of my 12 year old collie’s passing 7 weeks ago, I decided to plant some nice grass out front and post a beautiful wooden sign commemorating my great dog. When Terry was done working we took a dip in the jacuzzi, I did my auditions in my home studio and sent them to my agent, then went to bed to continue watching the final episodes of “Twin Peaks.” My Saturday night movie crew and I watched an hour of “Twin Peaks” each week for 16 weeks and got through the discovery of Laura Palmer’s killer. But the show continued on with another 13 episodes after that, and quite frankly they were difficult to get through. But I want to be able to say I saw the entire series!

Thursday the 18th – VACATION?! WHAT VACATION??!! –Again I didn’t get to sleep in very long today. My A/C guys came to survey the house. I’m having a new air conditioning system installed in my house next week and they wanted to do some prep before they started the work. When they left I got back to bed for a few hours. Later that day my pal and webmaster Scott Sebring came over to help me order a new computer system. The one I have is over 4 years old and I’ve been advised that the motherboard is on its way out. So…time to upgrade. I headed over to Voice Trax West to do another session for US Airways, then I went to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet with some friends about some ideas I have for new “robotic” mannequins in Planet Wallywood! After dinner we all went to Voice Trax West to talk while Paul did another session for his audio book. We discussed ideas in the other studio while Paul finished his book. He was planning a vacation so he wanted to finish the main tracks before he left. When he returns we’ll be editing, and then adding music and sound effects, sweetening and mixing. FUN! I got home late in the evening to get a massage from my masseuse, and then Sara brought take-out food from Denny’s and we watched more “Twin Peaks” episodes.

Friday the 19th – THIS FEELS LIKE A VACATION! – I got to sleep late! Then I got my Gran Torino fired up and headed to my ENT doctor to get checked for allergies. I want to find out exactly what it is that’s inflaming my sinuses! When I finished at the doctor’s I went to Voicecasters to do an audition for a radio commercial. It was for the legal announcer, which is that fast-talking guy at the end of car commercials. I did three takes and was on my way. I went over to Studiopolis in Burbank to record some more voice tracks for “Bleach.” I got to work with my old pal Mary Elizabeth McGlynn! She, her husband Daran and I used to work together at the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review show at Universal back in the mid 90’s. It’s fun to work with her and talk about the old days. I stopped by It’s a Wrap and picked up some clothing items, then I got home for a nap. Later that night my friend Amanda came to town and we enjoyed a late night dinner at DuPar’s.

Saturday the 20th – TORINO FACE LIFT! – I got up just before noon to let the maids in to clean Planet Wallywood. When they left Amanda and I went to my friend Mario’s in Glendale to drop off the Torino for a quick re-paint. When I got there Amanda was already there in her car. I’ve never liked how the tip of the stripe is painted on my Gran Torino. It looks bent from certain angles, and doesn’t resemble the one on the old “Starsky & Hutch” show. The back of the stripe is acceptable, but the front tip is wrong. So Mario is going to repaint the front fenders and driver’s side and passenger side doors. He’ll paint it to match the paint on the rest of the car. I took several photos and references to show him how I wanted it done. I even gave him a 1:18 scale model of the Torino to follow. He said he knew exactly what needed to be done. I left the Torino with Mario, and drove off with Amanda in her car. We got some food at Burger King and then went to a car show in Burbank. It was great walking down Magnolia Blvd. and looking at the great old classic cars. I even saw a beautiful golden retriever playing with a 4 month old beagle. It was funny as heck! The beagle thought it was a full size dog and it was wrestling with this big, gentle golden retriever. When I heard the golden’s mistress call her name it rang familiar. Come to find out it was the same golden I had seen a few weeks ago at Chill while getting some frozen yogurt. She sure is a pretty dog! Amanda and I got some stuff at It’s a Wrap, Dark Delicacies and then headed off for home. I grabbed a quick nap then got up for movie night. We watched “The Big Lebowski” (I had never seen it), and “Galaxina.” I had remembered “Galaxina” being much funnier when I saw it back in the 80’s. But we made it through alright. I got to bed later and watched 2 more “Twin Peaks” episodes.

Sunday the 21st – A DOG DAY! – I slept most of the day but got up well in time for evening church. I stepped outside to water my “Sass Grass” and saw a sheltie outside that looked EXACTLY like Sassie looked. I went to talk to her owner and we started talking about dogs. This dog is named Elly and she was very shy and nervous, as some shelties are. But as soon as I brought out the diced chicken she was my buddy. I came back inside to get a photo of Sassie for Elly’s owner and noticed that evening church had already started! So I dashed inside, grabbed a quick shower, and headed to church. I made it in time for communion. Then Amanda and I went to eat dinner with Sara at The Counter in Toluca Lake. As we were sitting on the patio my friend Edi and her friend Dakota drove by. So we added some chairs to our table and we had a fun dinner with them. As we were sitting there, a beautiful collie walked through the intersection with her mistress. I leapt up and ran across the street to see it. The owner’s name is Chris and the dog’s name is Cash. He was four years old and was beautiful. Petting him and holding his face in my hands felt a lot like Sassie’s. It was great! I thanked Chris and went back to eat my dinner. After we ate, Amanda and I went to Firing Line in Burbank and shot some holes through paper targets. I shot my Beretta and found out why it was pulling left last time. I had the trigger locked into my second knuckle on my index finger, so I moved my fingertip on the trigger and fired more accurately. Apparently the pull was too much for it before, but a lighter touch was just the thing it needed. I also fired my Walther PPK-S, but it was having trouble jamming. It’s the second gun I got, so perhaps it needs a major cleaning. My other Walther PPK was sent into the repair shop last week because the slide wouldn’t come off. So perhaps like everything else, guns age too. I got my .357 Magnum loaded up and ran about 50 rounds through it. Amanda had already fired about 100 rounds with the .357 and she was having fun. After we finished shooting we had dessert at Chill and then headed home. I did my auditions and e-mailed them in. Then I wrote Wally’s Week and got the house prepared for the A/C guys who would be tearing out my air conditioning system first thing Monday morning!!

And how was YOUR week??!!