RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

The other day I quietly celebrated the birthday of Larry D. Mann.  Though he passed away a few years ago, I’ll never forget meeting him during our “Wally Jolly Christmas” screening of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” back in 2001 at the Silent Movie Theatre.  He’ll forever be remembered as the voice of Yukon Cornelius in that famous TV special.  This picture makes me smile every time I see it; seeing him sign my Yukon figure.  Great guy.

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Whenever “Winter Weather” comes on the satellite, I like to dance around with Roxy and sing “I love the Christmas Nappies…sleepin’ on the couch makes me happy!”  She has not idea what I’m saying, but she loves the bouncing around the house with Dad.  Here’s the original song by Peggy Lee called “Winter Weather.”  How about YOU?  Do YOU like the winter weather?

Monday the 12th – GO MA-TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN! – After having gotten to bed only a few hours earlier, Roxy woke me up to go out.  It must’ve been something she ate, so it’s a good thing she woke me up.  I went back inside to get 3 more hours of sleep before getting up at 9:30 to speed off to Mattel to record a voice-over for a new TV spot.  It’s always great seeing the gang at Mattel, but at that time of the day the traffic all the way down to their offices can be tricky.  So I just buckled in and made the most of it.  After the session I headed into Westwood to have lunch with the head of my talent agency.  The place we were going to meet ended up being closed on Mondays, so he had me meet at a different place.  But my stupid GPS, for some unknown reason, couldn’t find the address.  And it was on a major street in Westwood! I think it’s time to dump this Tom Tom in favor of something newer.  I called the restaurant and the gal who answered the phone wasn’t really sure how to give me directions. So I asked her real simple questions like, “are you west or east of the freeway?”  Once I figured out the general vicinity, I headed over.  I had a nice meeting with Paul, and we talked a great deal about the recent loss of our good pal Fred Westbrook.  On the way home I stopped at a printer’s to get copies made of a postcard I’d be sending out to advertise for a new auxiliary parking spot for my Gran Torino.  Bodie, who’s been working on it all this time, says it’s almost ready to go.  So I’m trying to anticipate the glorious return of my beloved car with a safe, new parking spot for it.  I isolated all of the units who have spots in the parking structures on my complex’s property and I’m mailing them all postcards to see if they have an available parking space to rent.  I got home and grabbed a nap on the couch. I was beat!  Long day!  Later that night I picked up my assistant Sara to head by the Christmas House in Burbank, and I’m glad we did!  They had added some new lighting effects since last year and we were dazzled!  In case you don’t recall, The Christmas House is a home in Burbank owned by a professional lighting technician who tricks it out every year with the greatest light display.  He broadcasts music on a low power FM station, and the lights are synchronized to the music that you listen to in your car.  It’s become an annual tradition for my friends and I each year.  When I visited shortly after Thanksgiving, the FM station wasn’t up and running yet and the lights were on a neutral cycle.  But I was glad to see the music and sync back in all its wonderful glory.  Sara and I enjoyed a meal at Lancers, and then I dropped her off at home.  I picked up a few grocery items, went home to put them away, and did my nightly auditions.  I printed the address labels for my parking space postcards, dropped them in the local mailbox, and came inside to make some pizza rolls and watch another episode of “Barnaby Jones” before bed.

Tuesday the 13th –EPIC ARNOLD! – It was up at 1:30 and out the door to Salami Studios in North Hollywood.  I met up with fellow Voice-Actors Maurice LaMarche and Anndi McPhee to do some ADR (additional dialogue recording) for the new “Hey Arnold!” movie coming to Nick in November of 2017.  We were joined by the always affable creator of “Hey Arnold!” Mr. Craig Bartlett h imself!  What a blast we had, and though the animation we saw was in its preliminary stages, it’s going to be EPIC!  We finished up around 5 and I got some dinner on the way home. I checked my mailbox to get my packages, and then went home to relax.  I grabbed a few hours’ worth of “Christmas Nappies” (a nap on the couch with the pets while Christmas music plays softly on the satellite and the fireplace glows).  When I got up I sent out my movie night invites for Saturday night, did some work inputting info into my database, and recorded my nightly auditions.  Since we’re heading into the end of the year they’re becoming sparse, but that’s to be expected.  I fed and walked Roxy on our late  night stroll through the neighborhood, and then came inside to make some lasagna and watch “Barnaby Jones” before bed.

Wednesday the 14th – JACK IS BACK! AND SO IS… – After the past couple days, it felt good to sleep in until 3 in the afternoon.  I got up to do some work and my effects guy Jim Ojala brought over the new, improved Jack Lord mannequin for my “Hawaii Five-O” costume display.  This new taller mannequin will fit Jack’s original costume more precisely than the previous one we bought.  I just barely caught Jim before he left for the airport to leave for the holidays!  A real close shave!  I did some work around the house and enjoyed a lazy night.  Rain is coming Thursday and Friday so that’ll be pleasant.  While I worked around the house I watched “The Pentatonix Christmas Special” on NBC, which I had done some voice-over narration for.  The special was gorgeous and they are some very talented kids!  My neighbor texted me to see if I could walk her dog Abby the greyhound, so Roxy and I went over to take her out and play for a bit.  But since it’s chilly out, and Abby has short hair, she didn’t want to stay out for very long.  I came inside and enjoyed some Christmas Nappies, but when I woke up there was trouble.  The tickle in my suprasternal notch (that soft area under your throat right in the middle of your collarbone) was back with a vengeance.  It had been tickling a bit the past few days, but I figured it was an acid reflux issue so I treated it as such.  As I did my nightly auditions it got progressively worse, making me cough more and more intently.  I hate these little tickles as they really ruin my life.  I cleaned out my craft drawer and organized my craft items.  I finally turned in but the tickle wouldn’t let me get to sleep. Very annoying.  Is more than just acid reflux?

Thursday the 15th – DINI AT DENNY’S! – I was feeling a bit better when I got up at 11am.  I took some prescription cough medicine I had lying around from my last bout with bronchitis and headed to Denny’s to meet my pal Paul Dini so we could tour the Jim Henson Creature Shop.  I had been the high bidder for a tour of the facility in a charity auction a while back, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who would enjoy the experience as much as I than Paul.  Like me, he’s been a huge Muppet fan for decades.  The Creature Shop was amazing. It was what I always wanted my room to look like when I was a kid.  At the end of the tour we saw one of the original Oscar the Grouch Muppets on display in their conference room.  They also let us play with a selection of puppets they had on display.  Paul and I were like kids again!  We donned a couple puppets and started improvising some dopey puppet humor together.  My favorite was a mummy puppet and of course, there were a lot of jokes about being wrapped up right now, I want my mummy, and why?  Just be-gauze!  What a great time.  But during the tour I noticed that the tickle was making me cough occasionally, and it wasn’t just an annoying cough. This was sounding deep and threatening.  As we left the Creature Shop, it started to rain a bit.  I sat in my car and dialed my doctor’s office to see if I could come over.  They didn’t have any available appointments until Friday early morning, and in the mid-afternoon.  I had a voice-over gig scheduled for the afternoon, and I didn’t want to get up that early in the morning, so I told them I would see how it went through the weekend and call them on Monday.  I stopped by my mailbox on the way home to get my packages.  Once I got home I decided to rest and try to get rid of whatever was happening in my suprasternal notch.  I got out my steamer and steamed really well. I ended up sleeping from 6pm to 2am!  Something was wrong!  When I woke up I had horrible body aches, and the area around my suprasternal notch felt like it was on fire.  All of the hard coughing had inflamed it something fierce.  Oddly enough, my voice was still in perfect condition. But I felt like hell.  This was not acid reflux!  I took some Advil and cough medicine and fed Roxy.  Luckily it was pouring rain outside so Roxy wasn’t interested in spending much time outside after her meal.  I left a message on my doctor’s voicemail saying that I would be in at 8am sharp in hopes they could still see me.  I wasn’t going to wait through the weekend with this!  If there’s one thing I learned from having pneumonia back in 2014… it’s DON’T WAIT!  Under the circumstances I sent an e-mail canceling the session for Friday afternoon.  I wouldn’t be in any shape to do a good job.  Plus if I’m contagious I didn’t want to infect the production staff!  I took a hot bath and relaxed.  Thank GOD I have this heavy duty prescription cough medicine that keeps me from coughing and helps me sleep.

Friday the 16th – BRONCHITIS AND BED! –  Luckily I got a few hours of sleep in before I had to get up at 7:30 to head to my doctor’s office. I was going to throw myself upon their mercy in hopes they could still squeeze me in.  Luckily, they did.  Doc prescribed me Levaquin and some more cough medicine.  I promptly went to CVS to get them filled and headed home to do some work around the house.  I’m glad I cancelled the voice-over session because my voice was starting to go.  Not to mention that my body was breaking down too. I took some more Advil, my anti-biotic, and some cough medicine and hit the hay.  By the time I got up later in the evening I had sweat through my pajamas.  Unlike the bout I had in October, this one came with bad body aches, chills and sweats.  It was the worst.  Very similar to what I had back in 2014 when it developed into pneumonia.  I put on some new pajamas and went back to bed after taking another shot of cough medicine and some more Advil.  The origin of all this trouble, my suprasternal notch, felt like it was on fire.  It was very difficult to swallow, but I had to in order to stay hydrated.  I got up at 2am to feed Roxy and take her out for a short walk.  I decided to cancel movie night so I sent out e-mails to everyone telling them I’d see them on New Year’s Eve.  This really sucks, but I’m really glad I went to the doctor when I did!  What a waste of a good couple of rainy nights!

Saturday the 17th  and Sunday the 18th – JUST SHOOT ME! – Sleep. Meds. Sleep. Meds. Sleep. Meds. Change pajamas. Sleep. Meds. Lather, rinse, repeat.  That was my weekend.  The body aches were so intense it felt like I had been run over by a train.  I couldn’t get comfortable in bed.  All the Advil was tearing up my stomach and making me nauseous, but it was either that or suffer with the body aches. Some choice!  I have no idea when this will subside, but I leave you with this until next week…

Will it be a Merry Christmas? Or Merry Chris-BUST?!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

The Skekses display at the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Amazing!

The Skekses display at the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Amazing!

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Paul and Oscar finally see eye to eye on suitable trash distribution.

Paul and Oscar finally see eye to eye on suitable trash distribution.

But Oscar and I were at an impasse!

But Oscar and I were at an impasse!

This mummy puppet and I had a great time getting acquainted!

This mummy puppet and I had a great time getting acquainted!

I think like our elf friend Hermey, he TOO wanted to be a dentist!

I think like our elf friend Hermey, he TOO wanted to be a dentist!

Santa heard I was sick, so he came early and gifted me with this nifty Riddler tassle beanie!

Santa heard I was sick, so he came early and gifted me with this nifty Riddler tassle beanie!

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You know when you're sick and your head fills with all sorts of odd images? This is one that came to me during one of those times. The Walking Dude!

You know when you’re sick and your head fills with all sorts of odd images? This is one that came to me during one of those times. The Walking Dude!