RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
This cartoon was sent to me last week and it’s hilarious!
“Into the Night” by Benny Mardones hit the top 20 in 1980, but in 1989 it was re-released and hit the top 20 again. It’s one of the only songs to ever do that! It’s a terrific song and I remember wearing the grooves out of the 45 when I got it as a kid. Good stuff!
Tuesday the 16th – BYE, KERMIT! – Since Monday was a holiday, I wasn’t able to get a lot of the things done I wanted to do. So today I got up early and headed to the post office to mail off a few things. Then I went to the UPS store to have them pack up the Kermit the Frog replica Muppet I bought from Myles Mupplicas. The puppet was much too small for my hand, and once I managed to get it in the puppet’s head, I almost didn’t get it back out. I was afraid I was going to rip the seams, but I eventually did get it back out again. He was kind enough to take the puppet back and he’ll re-sell it to another collector. Now I’m on the lookout for a good Kermit replica that isn’t so dinky and is closer to the original Kermit size. I dropped by the bank to drop off some deposits, and then I stopped by the Celebworx office to drop off some gear and my banner from the Florida show. Then it was time to get the Gray Ghost over to the Toyota dealer to get its semi-annual service performed. Monday was the birthday for both of my pals Sara and Edi. I told Sara I’d take her to a birthday lunch, so I walked from Toyota down to Ernie’s Taco House for a great birthday lunch. Then Sara drove me over to Baskin-Robbins so we could get birthday ice cream. As we were leaving the parking lot I got a text that my Rav was done. She dropped me off at the dealership and I picked up the Gray Ghost. I got back home and felt good because I had gotten so much accomplished. Later in the evening I chatted with Tyler, the owner of the Laurel and Hardy “Sons of the Desert” fez I just bought on Monday night on eBay. Come to find out we had a TON in common, and we ended up talking for 3.5 hours! By the end of the conversation my phone battery was EXHAUSTED! I did my nightly auditions (it’s good to finally have my voice back!) and then I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog). It was so good being back on the trail again! It was overcast and about 50 degrees, so the weather was very pleasant! I spent a little time in my anti-grav chair after my WOG doing some relaxing and meditating. It was very, VERY quiet. The overcast acts as a sound baffle, and keeps the sounds of the city at bay! Nice! I did have a blanket on for extra warmth, but it was still very pleasant. I got inside to do some work, and then I made a salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller.”
Wednesday the 17th – COUNT 2.0 GETTING FIXED! – After doing a little work around the house, I headed to KFC to get some lunch, and then I went to the Alex in Wonderland studios to drop off my Count Von Count 2.0 Muppet Replica. I still needed to have the overlaps on his mouth plate done, and I figured Alex would be much more qualified to do that than I would. I’ve done a lot of my replicas’ mouth overlaps in the past, but I started to get nervous about doing it myself. So I decided to call in the pro. She’s also going to fix the angle of his ribbon, and she’s going to shorten his neck a bit. I’m hoping to get him back by next week, because I still need to make his tongue, and my buddy Drew Massey has agreed to sculpt his fangs. Drew sculpted the set for my first Count and they looked perfect! My goal is to have him finished by the Pasadena Comic Con on 1/28 so I can bring the Count along for some cosplay fun. I came back home to do some work around the house, record a few auditions, and then I took my nightly WOG. It was another nice, warm night. VERY pleasant! I spent some time in the anti-grav chair and then came back inside to do some editing and go through my bank statements.
Thursday the 18th – DON’T-HIT-DICKLESS! – Since I was up early and hungry, I called my pal Chris Malmin to see if he wanted to meet for lunch. We met over at Paty’s for a nice lunch on the patio. While I waited for Chris to arrive I had a very “Hollywood” moment. The actor William Atherton was always the “go-to” guy in the 80’s to play those “love-to-hate-them” yuppie villain-types. He was in “Die Hard,” “Real Genius,” and probably his most famous role is in the original “Ghostbusters.” If you remember the EPA guy named Walter Peck. In the movie Bill Murray refers to him as “Dickless,” which is a name I suspect stuck over all these years. Mr. Atherton eats at Paty’s from time to time, and he happened to be there today. I had been waiting to tell him I enjoyed his work for a while, but the opportunity never presented itself. Today, as he was coming back out onto the patio, I simply said, “Mr. Atherton…big fan.” He thanked me with a smile and then he said goodbye to his lunch pal. On the stretch of Riverside where Paty’s is located, there’s a pretty treacherous crosswalk just outside. I’ve sat on the patio eating lunch many times when I’ve seen near fatal accidents occur. The cars tear down Riverside so fast and they don’t pay attention to pedestrians. So here’s Mr. Atherton waiting to cross the street. I’m getting the feeling that I’m going to be witness to a developing TMZ story. Though Mr. Atherton is older, he’s still in really great shape. So he would have no problem negotiating the crazy drivers. But all the while he was crossing I kept murmuring to myself, “Don’t-hit-Dickless-don’t-hit-Dickless-don’t-hit-Dickless!” Luckily he made it across safely and went on his way. Chris and I had a great lunch, and then I went to get my mail at my box. For a second I thought about going to swap out the Gray Ghost for my Mustang, but it’s going to rain all weekend. I want to get the Mustang out when we’re going to enjoy several days of sunshine. I got back home and did some auditions. Later I took my nightly WOG. I saw lots of wildlife during my stroll. In fact, I saw virtually every step of the food chain. First, I saw a mouse cross my path. Later I saw a cat lurking around in a bush. And just as I was ending my walk I saw a coyote in the middle of the street. He was just a “little” scared of me, but he kind of lingered; even after I clapped my hands loudly to scare him off. These coyotes around here are getting brave. I enjoyed some time in the anti-grav chair, and then came inside to do some work around the house. I cleaned up a little because the maids are due on Friday. My pal Brittney Powell flies in on Sunday. She’ll be staying in the Puppet Room for several days leading up to her appearance at the Xena convention in Burbank next weekend. Staying at my house is a lot cheaper than renting a hotel room for the extra days (it’s FREE!) so that way she can spend a few days catching up with old friends. I made a salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller.”
Friday the 19th – RAIN WASH OUT! – The maids arrived later in the afternoon and cleaned up Planet Wallywood. My gal Angi came over later so we could go to Smoke House to eat. Even though I had a reservation at 7:45 we didn’t get seated until 8:30! The tables weren’t turning over as quickly as they had hoped so we spent a lot of time waiting. But the food was amazing (as always) and we had a blast. Even though it was a long wait, it was worth it! I tried to get outside for my nightly WOG before the rain arrived, but even though it was cloudy there wasn’t the rain that the forecast had promised. Funny thing about being a weather forecaster…you can be wrong 100% of the time and still keep your job. Not sure why we didn’t get the influx of rain that was originally expected, but perhaps the storm system decided to move elsewhere at the last minute. We were supposed to have rain by 2am, but no rain arrived. I came back inside and saw Spook on the beanbag by the fireplace. My couch looked pretty inviting, so I laid down for a short nap. I got up later to do a little work, and then I hit the hay.
Saturday the 20th – POPEYE IS WELL HUNG! – When I woke up I realized that we had a little rain, but it wasn’t anywhere near what was originally forecast. Too bad. Later my pal Mike McGee came over to help me hang my Popeye cartoon cutout that his wife Alex made for me a few months ago. Because the position of the cutout wasn’t going to line up with the stud in the wall, Mike had to bring over some wall anchors to mount the piece. It looked amazing once it was hung! But I realized that I need to do some paint touch-ups on the wall around Popeye. There are some marks on the wall from previous posters and art pieces that have been hanging on the wall. Mark and James arrived for our dinner plans, and since Mike and his daughter were still at the house, they decided to join us. It was a great dinner, but once again it took us a long time to be seated at Little Toni’s. But it was well worth it, because the food was amazing. After dinner Mark and James came to Planet Wallywood so we could chat and catch up. When they left I had thought about going for a WOG, but it was raining on and off. Normally I would have prepared for my usual Saturday night Super Saint Salad celebration, but I had to be up fairly early the next day to let Brittney in. Her plane would be arriving at 11:30am so I needed to be up to help her load her luggage in. My normal routine of sleeping all day Sunday wasn’t going to be possible this week.
Sunday the 21st – A-DOG-ABLE! – Brittney’s driver dropped her off at Planet Wallywood just after noon and we got her settled in the Puppet Room. Though she was tired, she was also hungry after her flight. So we drove to Paty’s and had a fun meal on the patio. It was actually pretty nice out. We were seated next to a couple with an adorable dog that was half husky and half German shepherd. He eventually warmed up to us (because I had chicken in my salad) and we started chatting with his owners. They were a very nice couple involved in the video game industry. And as we kept talking it was discovered that the gal was a big “Bleach” fan! Fun! When we got back to Planet Wallywood I decided to head to my room and rest up, while Brittney got unpacked and settled in the Puppet Room. Later we got hungry, but since it was very late, the only thing open was Denny’s. So we headed to Denny’s to get some food, and it started raining. Rain was coming for sure now, and would be here all through Monday. I got back home and did some work, and taking a WOG was once again not possible. But I can attack it again this week when it gets nicer out.
And how was YOUR week?!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
As you can see, the new Kermit replica I bought is about 30% smaller than the first replica I bought, which is a 1:1 copy. It didn’t fit my hand so I had to return it to the builder.
The shirt I bought for Angi in Florida seems to fit well.
Here’s the original “Sons of the Desert” fez I recently bought at auction on eBay. It’s one of the handful of original fezzes from the 1933 film that still exist. I’m SO glad to have this!
Similar to the giant cut-out that adorned the set of my favorite show as a kid, “Captain 11,” my Popeye replica is proudly hung on the Tranquility Zone wall. Here’s a shot of my Popeye, made by Alex in Wonderland, and a shot of the original Popeye cutout on the walls of Captain 11’s set.
