August 17 – August 22 (2021)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

My pal Elliot Lurie, singer/songwriter of the mega-hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine GIrl), celebrated another birthday this week. Happy birthday, Elliot!

As I strolled through the neighborhood with my dog Roxy on one of our late-night walks, for some reason Alice Cooper’s “Clones (We’re All)” rang in my head. Odd. But a great song!

Tuesday the 17th – HARD PASS! – My dog Roxy needed a few food items, so I strapped on my walking shoes and strolled over to the nearest pet store to pick them up. Then I got a sandwich at Subway, and then I headed over to my cat Spooky’s vet’s office to get some cat fud for him. (I spell cat fud that way on purpose, ever since I saw the hilarious “Far Side” cartoon by Gary Larson many years ago) I had brought a shoulder bag along because I knew that my load was going to be considerable. So with dog food, a sandwich, a case of wet cat fud, and a bag of dry cat fud, I stuffed them all in my bag and walked home. The bag was extremely heavy. I was having flashbacks to when I carried newspapers at the age of 13 in Aberdeen, South Dakota. But I made it home alright and got settled. I ate my sandwich, worked around the house, and made plans to get rid of Spooky’s cat house. It’s a custom job, but he no longer uses it. I think he’s too old to climb up into it any more. So since it’s taking up a lot of space, and he no longer uses it, I’m going to give it away to someone. I had two auditions for the night but I decided to pass on them. One was for a demo (very low pay) and the other was for a gambling entity, which I try to avoid. Later I made some lasagna and watched an episode of “Mod Squad” before bed.

Wednesday the 18th – NO ACCIDENTS IN LIFE! – Though it’s pretty heavy and cumbersome, I moved Spook’s cat house down into the garage. I was staging it for its removal from my premises. I was hoping it would find a good home since Spook no longer has any interest in it. Michelle popped over and we drove the Mustang to have lunch at BJ’s, and then we swapped cars at my auxiliary garage. It was fun to be back in the Gran Torino again. It’s like a time machine; especially with the specially selected list of 70’s tunes playing from my iPod. By the time we returned to Planet Wallywood there was luckily enough daylight left so we could clean off the cat house. There were years and years of wadded up, twisted cat fur in every corner and crevice. We used a brush. We used duct tape. We used a vacuum cleaner. Luckily, we got it pretty clean. She took some pictures of it and listed it on Facebook Marketplace. Within an hour a cat sanctuary called Fur and Feathers contacted us to say they wanted it. We had a few other inquiries, but I told Michelle to accept the cat sanctuary’s request. They have about 55 special needs cats at the sanctuary, and this is exactly the good home I was hoping for. The owner said she’d be over in an hour to get it. She arrived, I loaded it up for her (it just barely fit in her SUV) and then we stood outside chatting for about an hour. Come to find out, we had many mutual friends! There really are NO accidents in life. I’m so glad it’s going to a good place where it can be enjoyed by lots and lots of kitties. Later I did my nightly auditions, and did some work around the house.

Thursday the 19th – RIGHT BETWEEN THE BLADES! – After working around the house a bit and making some necessary phone calls, I ordered up a Domino’s pizza for delivery. I worked on some more Christoween stuff, as well as a few other art projects. The muscles between my shoulder blades are very, very sore. Then I remembered lifting the cat house down the stairs, and into the SUV. That’s why! It’ll pass. I did receive some pics of the kitties at the cat sanctuary enjoying their new digs, so that was nice. Later I hopped into the Torino and headed to Denny’s to pick up my usual order. Then I enjoyed my food and watched “Mod Squad” before bed.

Friday the 20th – “FALLREADY?” – Hard to believe, the weather we’ve been having in L.A. in mid-August is more like fall than the dog days of summer! It’s weird! But enjoyable. I made some phone calls and organized some things in the office, and then the maids arrived to clean Planet Wallywood. It’s been a pretty mellow week all in all. I recorded a few last-minute auditions. Later I made some spaghetti and watched “Mod Squad.” The dawning morning was very cool and overcast. I also dubbed an old VHS I had of the Andy Kaufman “E! True Hollywood Story” on to DVD. I put it in my system and edited out the commercial breaks. This was a proud moment in my career and I’ve posted the entire program here on my website in case you’re interested in learning more about Andy and his work. Not only did I narrate the special, but I portrayed Andy and Tony Clifton in the on-camera re-enactments.

Saturday the 21st – AMAZONKED! – A short stroll on a gorgeous summer day took me to my hairdresser Andie’s studio for a touch up on my color and a trim. Then I walked home, fed the kids, and hopped into the Torino to go get some supplies at CVS and some groceries at the store. I came back home to rest for a bit. Whenever I enjoy my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad I always top it with Kraft’s Tangy Bacon Catalina dressing. Since no stores in my area sell it, I have to order it in bulk from Amazon. But I ordered it too late. I’m used to stuff from Amazon showing up in two days so I took my time recently, but my latest order was taking a week or longer. And I was down to my last ¼ bottle of dressing! So the new rule in the Planet Wallywood inventory department is – when I have one full bottle of dressing left, ORDER MORE. Do not wait. So without adequate dressing to put on my salad I looked deeper into my inventory. One bottle of regular Catalina dressing had an expiration date of 2020. A bottle of Catalina Light had an expiration date of 2014! And another bottle of dressing expired in 2013! Good grief! Luckily I had an adequate amount of Wishbone three cheese Italian dressing, which did nicely for the evening. I enjoyed my Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and a fun episode of “The Saint.” The salad with the different dressing was a bit out of my usual routine (and as a creature of habit routine is very important to me) but I survived.

Sunday the 22nd – SUNDAY OUT OF SORTS! – It was hard making a decision to do anything. I was feeling a bit out of sorts. Not just today, but lately. I haven’t had much motivation to do much of anything. The weather is great, so I could take a drive in the Torino and get some food. Naw. So I just stayed inside, hid, and lounged around. I hate days when I feel like this. It’s very unlike me. But hey – Monday’s a new week and there’s lots of potential for fun, new things. Later I had several fun auditions to do for cartoons and videogames. I walked Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood and I enjoyed a nice cigar under a gorgeous full moon. It was so peaceful, cool and quiet. Very meditative. Unseasonably cool. I could do a lot of thinking. I have a few important decisions that I have to make very soon, and this really helps to quiet my mind and focus on how to logically arrive at a final determination. I looked at some great spiders in their webs, patiently hanging out in the center hoping for a stray moth. I came inside and made some stew.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Here are some shots of the special needs kitties enjoying Spook’s cat house in the cat sanctuary.

Though it took some detective work, and many e-mails and phone calls, I figured out what this type of engraved sign was. Many years ago, when I was setting up my The Chaney Room in Planet Wallywood, I had hung a number of celebrity life masks on my wall. I had name plates engraved for each of them by a company called Aahs. Since I just acquired a Paul McCartaney life mask last week, I needed to have a new name plate made up that matched. But nobody seemed to know what kind of plate it was. After much back-and-forth with the company that Aahs has now become, we finally figured it out! It’s engraved into black plastic from the back, and then a silver paint flood fill is added into the lettering. Whew! So now I have matching signage arriving soon!