December 8 – December 14 (2014)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

BEWARE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE BEAST! When I was checking the weather for Los Angeles this week I thought this was really funny, so I just had to snap a photo of it!

Since it’s the time of year again when I obsess over the Christmas House at 1316 Catalina Street in Burbank, this song has been running through my head all week. It’s Glenn Miller’s version of “Sleigh Ride,” and it figures prominently in the house’s lighting display. It took me a while to find the proper version, but when I did it made my week. The swingy, jazzy nature of this Christmas classic is one of my favorites. And in case you missed the video I took of the Christmas House last year, here it is again!

Monday the 8th – MANNIX-QUIN IS IN! – Around 1 I rousted my carcass from sleep and started the day. I downloaded the info I needed of for my booking on the “Mike & Molly” show for Tuesday. I’ll be providing the voice of Santa for a talking Christmas ornament. I believe the episode will air on Monday the 22nd at 8:30 on CBS, but don’t quote me. It’s called “Tis the Season to be Molly.” Funny stuff! I headed off to my printer’s to check on his progress on my new Planet Wallywood signage for some of my newer displays. We’re having a problem matching the color to the signs I had printed previously because he has a new color copy machine and we’re not getting the same shade of blue to match the old ones. He’s going to work on it a little more. I went over to a shoe repair shop to get a strap repaired for my travel carry-on bag. We’ve put a lot of miles on together, that bag and I. And the strap is showing some wear and tear. There are little tears in the leather all along the strap. I was hoping to just have it stitched up, but the guy at the repair shop said it would cost more to repair it than just buying a new strap. He happened to have a good one there at the shop, so I just bought that and called it good. I headed over to my mailbox to pick up my packages and my Mannix-quin came in! This is a mannequin comprised of a torso and arms only so I can display one of the sport jackets I bought from Mike Connors a while back. I bought about six of the jackets he used during the filming of “Mannix,” one of my favorite shows. I met my assistant Sara for lunch at Paty’s, and then I stopped by McDonald’s on the way home to get an ice cream cone. I went home and set up the Mannix-quin. I wrote Wally’s Week and then took Christmas Nappies on my couch by the fire, with the pets sleeping on the beanbags. While I napped the runner for “Mike & Molly” dropped my script at my door. I got up later, did auditions, read the “Mike & Molly” script, made some soup and a sandwich and watched another “Twilight Zone” episode on the Season Four Blu Ray set before bed.

Tuesday the 9th – DID I SWALLOW THAT!? – I sprang awake from a sound sleep in the morning. I had been wearing my dental brace – aka – retainer overnight and my subconscious realized something was wrong. On my retainer there are four little wire “springs” that help keep my teeth in alignment. The one that sits behind my front left tooth normally sits a bit low, and I can feel the edge of the wire with my tongue just below my tooth. But my subconscious must’ve realized I wasn’t feeling it, and something wasn’t normal. I took the brace out of my mouth, switched on the light and inspected it. In my sleepy haze I couldn’t remember if there was ever a spring there or not. But as the haze cleared I remembered…there WAS a spring there! It could’ve broken off during the night, and maybe I swallowed it. Or maybe it snapped off while sitting around my bathroom and I just didn’t notice it. I really don’t recall what it looked like when I put it in the previous night. I called my orthodontist’s office and asked about it. I’ve had the brace since 2002, and she said braces that old can suffer wear and tear. I shouldn’t worry about swallowing the miniature piece of wire, as it’ll just pass through my system. YIKES! That thing was jagged! Oh well, I’m sure I’ve swallowed worse. I went back to sleep and slept until noon, when I awoke to prep for the “Mike & Molly” session. I took Roxy out to get some sunbathing time (she loves that!) and then I headed over to McDonald’s to get some lunch before going to Warner Brothers to record my voice tracks. I was on the set at 2:30 and waited around for a while. It felt good to be back on a TV series soundstage. Good memories of “The Tonight Show.” The crew was still on lunch until 3pm, and when they returned I was introduced to director Michael McDonald. No, not THAT Michael McDonald. The COOL Michael McDonald from Mad TV! Funny guy. I enjoyed meeting him and we settled on the set so he could direct me. I did the Santa Claus lines several times and he chuckled at a couple of the readings. It was a very brief session, and the crew seemed very nice. I did my paperwork and headed out the door. I called my friend James who works at Warner Brothers post-production services and he came to get me in his golf cart. We drove over to the Warner store where I picked up a Wally Gator and Mr. Twiddles salt and pepper shaker set, a cool Batman ’66 t-shirt, and a second set of the “Batman” TV series Blu Ray set. This set I’m keeping wrapped up and in storage. We hopped back in the golf cart and James took me to the parking lot so I could find my car and head home. I stopped by Baskin-Robbins and got an ice cream cone, and then headed home to feed the kids. I did some work on my website, and then settled down on the couch for some more Christmas nappies. When I got up later I did a ton of auditions and tackled some chores around the house. I made some food and watched another “Twilight Zone” episode before bedtime.

Wednesday the 10th – WALL-TO-WALL WEDNESDAY! – The alarm went off at 8:15, but I laid around with Roxy on the bed for a bit before getting up and starting the day. I checked out e-mails, did an audition and sent it into my agent, walked Roxy and hit the shower to start the day. I hit the freeway and headed to Santa Monica to do some more commercials for Old Navy. We did several spots and tags. We finished up and I picked up some drive-thru lunch at Wendy’s and headed back home. I called my folks and told them about the Washington High School Hall of Distinction honors I recently found out about. I think I may be the only guy from South Dakota who is now in TWO different high school halls of fame! I called my pal Terry to talk about some work I needed done around Planet Wallywood. When I got home I grabbed Roxy and walked her over to the groomer’s. She had some mats in her fur that needed to be brushed (or cut) out, and she was also in desperate need of a bath! While she got bathed I headed to Voice Trax West to finish up a project for the US Airways phone system. They needed some additional voice tracks recorded, and this day completed the latest phase of recordings. I picked up Roxy on the way home, and then went inside to rest up for the evening’s festivities. The producers of the new “Sonic Boom” cartoon were in town from New York and took a lot of us castmembers out to a really nice dinner. It was great seeing everyone again and catching up. The show’s ratings are doing very well and everybody was in high spirits. On the way home I stopped to get some groceries. When I got home I did some auditions and got ready for another early morning, and a VERY full Thursday!

Thursday the 11th – RAIN REPEAT! – 8am came very early. But I got up and headed over to Voice Trax West to record some voice tracks for a new videogame trailer. I can’t tell you what it is yet, but when it’s posted I’ll provide a link so you can check it out. We finished up at 9:45 and I headed over to Gorilla Pictures in Burbank to do a few hours on a cartoon called “Kung Fu Style.” It’s the first time I’ve worked on this project and it was a lot of fun. I’m glad I frontloaded the day with all my responsibilities, because it gave me the rest of the day to enjoy the gloomy weather and relax at home. I stopped by KFC to get some food to go, and then headed home to relax. First, I lit the fireplace and did some things around the house. I did some laundry, enjoyed a dip in the Jacuzzi. But in anticipation of the rain, the landscapers put stinky fertilizer on the grass and BOY did it stink! WHEW! I went back inside, grabbed a shower, heated up my KFC and went to bed to eat and watch an episode of “The Saint.” What a great day to just lay back and do nothing! But the day quickly got away from me. I napped form 6:30 all the way to 11:30! The busy day really wiped me out! I woke up with the pets on the bed cuddling next to me. I got up to do my auditions and start closing out my corporate books for the year 2014. Hard to believe it’s almost 2015! I never ever thought I’d live this long! Toward the end of the evening the rain started and created a nice, relaxing mood. It was a good night to just stay in and cocoon. I made some tomato soup and a sandwich and watched another “Twilight Zone” episode. I left the windows open all night and slept a few hours to the sound of falling rain.

Friday the 12th – RAIN INSANITY! – Like clockwork, I sprang out of bed around 1 to let my maids in around 1:45. They cleaned while I worked on the computer, did a few auditions, and got ready to start the day. When they finished up I got in the Mustang and headed to Mr. Stitch to see how they were doing on a Christmas project I was working on. But the people on the streets were nuts! I guess the rain makes everyone crazy. There was a guy in the left turn lane stopped dead. When I went to move around him so I could go left, he started turning right! And almost ran into me! Then there were people in the crosswalk going across the street against the Don’t Walk sign. People are insane. Everything was looking good at Mr. Stitch, so I took off for Michael’s to pick up my framed art pieces. They had two of the three done. I got my Neal Adams pen and ink commission framed (the one I had him do at the San Diego Comic Con), and my Steven E. Gordon Ant Man drawing got framed as well. My Batman ’66 Christmas ornament piece wasn’t quite done yet. But I’ll pick it up on Sunday. I was getting hungry, so I decided to swing by Little Cesar’s and pick up some pizza and Crazy Bread. I drove over to the Christmas House in Burbank and sat and watched the synchronized lights dance to the music on the FM radio station provided by the house, while I ate my dinner. I’ll probably go see it a few more times before the season is over. I really love it and look forward to it every year! Some houses are getting quite elaborate with their lighting displays, but the simplicity and charm of the one at 1316 Catalina in Burbank really touches me. I had a great front row seat right in front of the house. I finished eating and then headed home to hang my framed art, work on my computer for a bit, and then take some Christmas Nappies. I do, however, have a bit of a complaint about the Christmas music channel provided by DirecTV. I pay extra to get that channel, but the repetition is getting to me. That and the horrible James Brown Christmas songs they play continually. I mean, they’re REALLY terrible. I’ve e-mailed the channel to complain, and they’ve even mentioned getting other complaints about those songs, but they’re still on their playlist for some reason. Next year I’m going to buy a Sirius XM satellite radio and play their Christmas channels in the house. When I woke up from my respite, I worked on fortifying some displays in the house. I normally attach fishing line or thin wire down the backs of them, and then attach it to the wall. When you live in earthquake country, you can never be too careful. I did a bunch of work in the Planet Wallywood home theatre replacing movie one-sheet posters and lobby cards in my frames. I spent some more time archiving my handguns, fed and walked Roxy, and then made some dinner to enjoy while watching another “Twilight Zone” episode before bed.

Saturday the 13th – CRAVIN’ THE KING! – About mid-afternoon I was craving Burger King. So I hopped in the car and headed to the nearest location, which isn’t all that close to my house. I got some of their buffalo chicken tenders and a delicious Italian chicken sandwich (available for a limited time only!). I picked up a few groceries at a nearby store, and then went back home to rest up before movie night. We watched “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” on Blu Ray, and it was very good. When everyone left I grabbed a short nap on the couch, and then got up to spend the rest of the night time hours archiving my handguns. I also did some laundry, did a few chores around the house, and then made a huge salad to enjoy while watching an old episode of “The Avengers” on Blu Ray.

Sunday the 14th – BAT’S IN ‘DA HOUSE! – When I got up late afternoon I sped off to Michael’s to get my finished Batman ’66 Christmas ornament art piece. I went in the framing area, but nobody was there. The line at the front check-out winded through the aisles. I was glad I prepaid! I waited for someone to show up, but nobody was around. I saw my piece laying there. It was wrapped up and ready to go. So I just grabbed it and headed out the door. When I got it home I realized it needed a little extra work. The ornament figure was slightly off-center, so I had two options. Take it back and fight that crowd, and maybe get it back in another week or so. OR…I could open it up and fix it myself. The latter seemed more logical. The framed opened fairly easily, and the figure came off the little mounting nicely as well. I made a second little mount to support his feet, and re-glued everything for a redux. I set it aside to let it dry for a good 12 hours or so. The frame Juan at Michael’s made was beautiful! I threw my stuff together, grabbed Roxy and we headed over to evening church. As is tradition this time of year, we walked through the tree lot (I call it “The Forest”) before we went back home. Our church sells Christmas trees for children’s charities every year. It’ll be the last chance I have to smell the trees, since the lot is closing next Saturday. I got Roxy back home and saw a text from Sara that she wanted to go to Coral Café for dinner. I was thinking about that exact same thing! I drove by her house and grabbed her and we had a great dinner at Coral. After dinner I took her by the Christmas House so she could see it again this year. She shot some of it on her cell phone and she posted it on Instagram. I came back home and enjoyed some Christmas Nappies by the fire. When I got up it was time to record auditions and work around the house. I fed Roxy and Spook, and got ready for another “Twilight Zone” episode before bed. I was craving chili cheese dogs, so I fired up the grill outside and made myself some delicious dogs! Tasty!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

The Neal Adams pen and ink commission sketch I bought from him at the San Diego Comic Con. Framing was done by the talented Juan at Michael’s in Studio City, CA!

My pal Steven E. Gordon did an amazing Ant Man sketch for me, from “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!”

Here’s how the finished Batman ’66 Christmas ornament piece turned out. In the bottom photo you can see how far away from the background the figure is “floated.” It gives it a real 3-D effect!