RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
My cat Spook look so fat, lazy and happy I just couldn’t resist getting a picture of him. I LOVE that cat!
After enjoying “I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story” at movie night, I immediately flashed back to the emotional “I’m So Blue” from the movie “Follow That Bird.” That song proves that Mr. Spinney is a true genius. I dare you not to get a lump in your throat!
Monday the 17th – ANIMATION INFLAMMATION! – My neighbor has been demo-ing the house he just bought recently, and it’s right outside from my bedroom wall. The loud banging and pounding comes right through my walls as I’m trying to sleep during the day. Hey, it’s not his fault I’m a total night owl. But I got up at noon, unable to sleep any more with the noise. It was warm outside, but not hot. Our water was supposed to be off today due to street repairs, but when I woke up it was still on. I guess they were able to make the repair without turning off the water. I had even arranged with my pal Bruce Kulick to go to his house to shower before I started my day. But I texted Bruce and told him it wouldn’t be necessary. God bless him for being ready for me, though. I headed to the Klasky-Csupo studios in Hollywood for a voice-over gig for a new animated feature. I hadn’t been there for over a decade when I did voices on “Rugrats” and “All Grown Up.” I like that studio and it was a fun 3 hour session. But there was a considerable amount of yelling involved in the session, which reinflamed my healing vocal cords. I drove home and fed my pets, and then put Roxy in the Mustang and drove to my mailbox to get my mail. It had cooled down in the early evening and it was a great ride with the top down. Roxy had a blast. I came back home to do some work and record a few auditions. I tried to do some voice tracks for the radio station in my hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota, but my voice wasn’t cooperating. I’ll try again tomorrow, but I fear the reinflammation from the earlier session has set me back a few days. I grabbed a nap and then got up to do a few more auditions, but again the voice wasn’t having any part of it. So I had to let some of them slide. The only way my voice was going to repair was to have uninterrupted voice rest. My problem is I’m so busy right now, that I don’t get the voice rest I need to repair the vocal cords. I’ve got to prioritize my upcoming sessions to see which ones could wait another week, and which ones need to be done ASAP. I walked Roxy and made some sloppy joes before bed. I’m down to the final few “Magnum, p.i.” episodes now. It’ll be interesting to see how the series ends.
Tuesday the 18th – ANOTHER FRIEND LOST! – When Roxy jumped up on the bed to wake me up at 2 and get some pets, I noticed something on her left shoulder under her fur. There were several scabs on her skin and they looked painful. So I called the vet and got an appointment for later that day. Luckily, the session I was expecting for Project X (the super-secret new project I’ve been recording) later that night was postponed until next week because the scripts aren’t ready. I was elated! An evening of uninterrupted voice rest. I sure could use it! The vet said Roxy has a skin infection, possibly brought about by fleas. But I haven’t seen any fleas on Roxy (I check all the time) so I’m not sure. I know Roxy has bad allergies (like me) so maybe she got itchy from the weather and scratched herself too hard. The doctor gave me a prescription for some anti-biotics and a flea treatment. I worked on the computer for a while, and my assistant Sara called to inquire about dinner. So I put Roxy in the car and we drove to Panera for dinner on the patio. I got home and took a dip in the Jacuzzi and relaxed. Later in the evening Sara texted me with sad news. At the time I got her text my pal Scott Sebring phone me on my home phone telling me that our friend Yvonne Craig had passed away the night before from breast cancer. Yvonne was a terrific person and it was always a joy to see her. She was best known as Batgirl in the “Batman” TV series, but she had done 2 Elvis movies, and a whole bunch of appearances in my favorite TV shows…”Wild Wild West,” “Star Trek,” “Starsky & Hutch,” etc. I guess death really does come in 3’s. First it was my pal Terry in late July, and then it was my ex-wife Jamie in early August, and now Yvonne. The summer of 2015 is rapidly turning into “The Summer of Death.” It sucks. Then I realized something. As I was getting ready for bed around 3am on Monday night/Tuesday morning my mind randomly flashed back to a story Yvonne told at a convention I was at several years ago. I don’t know what made me think of that story exactly, but it just popped into my head randomly and it made me laugh out loud. Then I find out that she had passed away just a few hours before I had that remembrance. Coincidence? I don’t believe in them. I did my auditions and then hit the hay for an early “Sonic Boom” session the next morning. I really hope my voice holds up. Last week’s “Sonic Boom” session didn’t go so well because I simply did not have the voice capacity. I watched the second-to-the-last “Magnum, p.i.” episode.
Wednesday the 19th – ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD! – At 8:15 sharp I sprang awake. My alarm was playing some tune on my iPod. Normally my body clock wakes me up before the alarm goes off, but I was in some major REM at the time I was awakened. My voice was doing OK and I was thankful. The “Sonic Boom” was a very fun session and all went well vocally. I went home and relaxed for a bit, and then headed to Van Nuys to do another session for the mouse character I voiced for an amusement park in Abu Dhabi a month ago. But because of my limited vocal capacity, my upper register wasn’t very solid. The producer suggested that I lower my pitch a little bit and do it that way. Since the mouse character is going to be “pitched up” anyway, they said they would just increase the normal pitching an additional 10% to accommodate for the lower register. I felt bad I couldn’t nail it for them. So I asked to hear some of the tracks played back before I left just to make sure. The producer was kind enough to play them on his laptop with the appropriate pitch bending. They sounded terrific. You would never know I was in a diminished vocal capacity. I felt a lot better on the drive home knowing that they had some usable tracks. From pitch to stitch; as my next stop was Mr. Stitch in Sherman Oaks. I recently received a Riddler cap as a gift from a friend. It’s a great cap with a bright green color and the Riddler’s face on the front. But since it just looks like a guy with a mask on, nobody really knows who it is. So I wanted Mr. Stitch to put some question marks all around the head so it’s a little more “Riddler-esque.” I came back home and napped for a bit, and then I walked Roxy over to the Studio Café to have dinner with my pal Jeff from church. My friend Edi and her fiancé Elliot stopped by to drop off her dog Bunny, so I could watch her for a few days while they went to Atlanta for a show that Elliot was doing. Elliot was the lead singer of the band Looking Glass and he goes out occasionally and plays shows in 70’s revival concerts. I wish he’d do one in Los Angeles! While I was talking to Edi and Elliot, my pal Cam Clarke walked in to be seated. After giving him a hug I introduced him to Jeff, Edi and Elliot. When I told Cam who Elliot was he smiled and whipped out his phone to take a selfie. He told Elliot what a big fan of his work he was. Then I told Elliot that Cam was one of the top VO artists in the biz, and I mentioned he was one of the Ninja Turtles. Elliot’s son Jon watched that show all the time in the 90’s, so I suggested that Cam call Jon in New York as Leonardo. He DID! What fun! Elliot was tickled beyond belief, as was Jon. Only in Hollywood, I guess! It was a wonderful moment! Jeff and I had a nice conversation over dinner on the patio with Bunny and Roxy on the floor looking for pieces of grilled chicken I would occasionally throw their way. I walked home, took a dip in the Jacuzzi, worked a little bit on the computer and then took a nap. I got up for auditions, and once they were finished I was looking forward to several days of voice rest. Friday I needed to make up the missed US Airways session from a week ago, as well as the final session for a Marvel project. But after that it was smooth (and quiet) sailing into the weekend! I got some food at Denny’s to eat just before bed, and I watched the final 2-part “Magnum, p.i.” series finale. In a lot of ways it was like a typical series finale…somewhat unfulfilling.
Thursday the 20th – ALL’S QUIET ON THE WESTERN TONSILS! – Today would be one of my “quiet” days, where I needed to not speak as much as possible to let my inflamed vocal cords repair. I had two sessions scheduled for Friday so I wanted to make sure I was good to go. I worked around the house, relaxed, didn’t talk a whole lot, but I had to call an insurance agent at Progressive to ask about when the damages to my Gran Torino may be getting done. The driver who damaged my first Gran Torino when it was being transported to my brother-in-law in South Dakota had an insurance policy with a deductible larger than the damage costs. So it was all going to be out of his pocket Trouble is, the driver has gone M.I.A. and nobody, not even the company I hired to transport the car, can find him. It looks like lawsuit time. (Sigh) I took a nap in the evening, and I got up just in time to get a sandwich at Jersey Mike’s before they closed at 10. I went home and started in on the sandwich while I did some deskwork…again with a minimum of speaking. On the way into my garage I noticed that my garbage hadn’t been picked up on Wednesday as planned. This is the second time in two months that the garbage guys missed our houses! I don’t know if it’s an over-reliance on computers, or if the quality of workers has gone down considerably (or a combination of both!) but I was getting sick of this happening every three weeks. It seems like the quality of service has severely diminished over the past four or five years. I was listening to a radio talk show called “The Mike Gallagher Show” and one of their bumpers featured a lot of random sound bites. One of them was me as Mr. Rogers from “Family Guy” saying, “Hello neighbor!” It’s always weird to be minding my own business with the radio on and suddenly I hear my own voice unexpectedly. But it’s fun. I took Roxy and Buns out for a walk after I finished my auditions. Then I did some work on the computer in my continuation of designing my replica Starsky & Hutch badges and ID cards. It was coming along nicely! On the “Magnum, p.i.” DVD set, they included a bonus “Rockford Files” episode that starred Tom Selleck about 4 years before he became Magnum. I’ve always been curious about “Rockford” but I remember not liking the series very much during its initial run. He was too much of a schlub for my tastes. Never getting any respect, always surly and bossy. Sure enough, the episode was fun to watch because of a young Tom Selleck at his likeable best, but I remembered clearly why I never cared for “Rockford.” James Garner was a great actor, but the “P.I. who never gets any respect” thing wore thin on me after about the first 10 minutes. I like my protagonists a little more dynamic and exciting.
Friday the 20th – FABULOUS FRIDAY! – I was due at Voice Trax West at 2 so I could make up the missed US Airways session from last week. Because of the nature of the job, my voice has to be in perfect health so I can sound exactly like the voice tracks I’ve recorded previously when the computer phone system juxtaposes the phrases together. Since my voice was a little rocky lately the sessions had to be postponed. But even though today was a difficult session, it was still vastly improved from last week. We made it through a 2 hour session fairly well, though there were difficult parts. I stopped off at McDonald’s on my way to Studiopolis to get some quick lunch. I had to do a final session for a Marvel cartoon where I play Dr. Hank Pym and Giant Man. Luckily my voice was good for the regular lines, but the yelling and screaming lines scared me a bit. I was afraid I would have a setback if I screamed at this delicate time. So, for the first time in my career, I had to have a “stunt screamer” do the effort sounds for me. I’m glad the director was considerate of my voice issues and let those slide. We finished the session in about an hour and then I sped off to Staples to get some toner and ink cartridges for my printers. It was an absolutely beautiful day. After dealing with a heat wave last week it was a gorgeous, enjoyable day. I stopped by a second hand store and bought a little boy’s black t-shirt and some boy’s black boots for my Mini Michael Myers mannequin. I stopped off to get some groceries and then headed home to put them away. When I started to install my ink cartridges, I realized I had forgotten the one I needed the most! So I went to my auxiliary garage to start up the old Gran Torino to take a drive to Staples. But it wouldn’t start! I had been noticing some hesitation in my starter recently, and now it wouldn’t start at all. It seemed to have plenty of juice; the lights worked, the alarm worked, etc. – but it wouldn’t start. Maybe it was the starter? Maybe the alternator. I’ll have to deal with it next week when I have some free time. So it was back in the Mustang and off to Staples. I got my ink cartridge and got back home, happy that I didn’t have to utter another word for 3.5 days! I worked around the house; doing laundry, dishes, organization, and more. Now that “Magnum, p.i.” is over, it was time to move on to my next DVD set…”The Munsters!” Eddie Munster was the one who got me interested in being an actor when I was a kid. I thought it would be fun to put on make-up and be on TV. But when somebody told me, “Well, you know he gets PAID to do that, right?” I was hooked! I knew at the age of 5 what I wanted to be. So I’m looking forward to seeing the entire run of “Munsters” episodes once and for all. But since Saturday night is usually my night to watch “The Persuaders,” I didn’t want to start a new series on Friday, then switch to another series on Saturday, and then switch back on Sunday. So I watched a “Persuaders” episode. This was to make up for the episode I missed a few weeks ago when I was in Palm Springs. Boy do I love that show! It’s sharp, funny, witty, quick and quick paced! Bunny, Roxy and Spook were all on the bed watching TV with me getting little pieces of diced chicken as a treat. My goal was to call AAA on Saturday and see if the driver could try to jump the battery to get it going. If it didn’t work, then that ruled out electrical issues; and it must be a starter problem.
Saturday the 21st – SUMMER OF DEATH – After receiving word that my old friend Kristy’s father died in Montana earlier in the morning, I just shook my head. This was clearly the Summer of Death. It seems like I’m hearing of a new death every two weeks. My pal Scott Sebring sent me some artwork for the Starsky & Hutch ID cards, and I printed them out to see how they look. They’re terrific! I’m going to send them to my dad in South Dakota, one of the few people I know who still uses a typewriter, and have him type in the names and serial numbers on the ID to achieve a very authentic 70’s look. My computer has a “typewriter” font, but it still looks too “computer-y.” It needs to be typed out by an actual typewriter. I headed off to my mailbox to get my mail. I got the soundtrack to one of my favorite movies “Carny,” as well as the DVD set for the old TV show “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.” starring Stephanie Powers. I stopped by the hardware store to pick up some supplies, and then I tried the Gran Torino one more time. But like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, it too was still dead. I’ll call AAA next week and get it handled. If it’s a starter issue I’ll have to get it towed to Bodie’s shop to get it fixed. I got back to the house and started cleaning up for movie night. We watched a great new documentary called “I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story.” It was a fantastic film, and we were all held in rapt attention! I wholeheartedly recommend it! My pal Scott brought by a few tributes to Yvonne Craig. Many years ago Yvonne asked me who did my website. She was looking for a webmaster and I suggested Scott. They had been working closely together for years on her website. Her loss hurts us all a little differently. When everyone left I did some more work on the Starsky & Hutch IDs, paid some bills, reconciled my checkbook registers, went through some bank statements, did paperwork, and took Roxy and Buns outside for our walk. I came back in and got ready to make my usual Saturday night salad, but my salad mix had gone mushy! Rats! I just bought it the other day and the expiration days was August 29th…a full WEEK away! Somebody screwed up! So I made some Buffalo Mac instead and watched an episode of “The Persuaders.” What a treat! My old pal Larry Storch was the guest villain! He played a hitman who was a friend of Tony Curtis’ character. In real life, Larry and Tony were good friends. In fact, they were in the Navy together in World War 2. Larry once told me that Bernie Schwartz (Tony Curtis’ name before he entered show biz) was on the deck of the ship sketching. He casually mentioned to Larry that he was going to be a movie star. Larry told him it took years of studying acting and training to be in the movies. Bernie basically told him he couldn’t be bothered with all of that, and was going straight to being a movie star. Boy did he achieve his dream! It was a great episode!
Sunday the 22nd – BYE BYE BUNS! – Around 2pm I woke up to check my phone to see when Edi was coming by to pick up Bunny for their trip back home to Palm Springs. She said she was going to come by around 4:30. I went back to bed and was really enjoying resting and snoozing. Edi came by to get Bunny at 4:30 and they were on their way. Roxy and I hit the sack again and slept some more. It was one of those rare Sundays when I just wanted to stay in bed and get my rest instead of going to church. So I took a pass at church and stayed in bed. I figured my body was telling me to keep resting, so I listened! But later I got up to feed Spooky and Roxy, and figure out what I was going to do with my evening. I sat down with the “Starsky & Hutch” DVD set and scanned through to get some screenshots of their badges for reference. I met with my assistant Sara at Ernie’s Taco House for a late dinner, and then I came back home to grab a nap. I got up and did my auditions, walk Roxy, do some more badge work, and get ready for bed. I watched the unaired “Munsters” pilot on the DVD set (I had never seen that before!) and I watched the first two “Munsters” episodes. What a great show! Then I made some mental notes about the new week to come and hit the hay. The voice was much improved! The rest really did its job!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
My pal Scott Sebring shot this ULTRA CUTE video of Bunny relaxing during movie night.
Here’s the parking spot sign that waited for me this past week at the session for the amusement park ride. It was so cool I just had to take a shot of it!
Here’s a shot of the late Yvonne Craig and I at dinner after a convention around 2002 or so. Good times.
Here’s how the replica badges are shaping up. The coloring of the badges and lettering need to be redone, but you get the general idea with these. I think they’ll look awesome!
