Since he appeared on ‘The Tonight Show’ about a month ago, I have not been able to get this song out of my head. Haunting, beautiful, one of Seal’s best….. “Secrets.”
Monday the 17th – HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY! –Because of the holiday everything was shut down. But we did have a taping of “The Tonight Show.” My friend Edi came and picked me up early afternoon, we had lunch at the Coral Cafe, and then she drove me up to my pal Bodie Stroud’s shop so I could pick up my Gran Torino. He had been working on a few things on it…new shocks, brake shoes and pads, etc….and I was excited to get it again. I had Edi follow me to NBC just to make sure it didn’t die, or break down, or blow up. But it made it great! But on the way home I noticed that it was shifting kind of hard, and it felt like it wanted to die again. So…Bodie made a point to come over the next morning, pick it up and drive it back to his shop. Wow. I guess it just never ends with these old cars. That evening I met up with my friend Fred Westbrook, his pal Jay Dittamo from New Jersey and Jay’s son Giancarlo. Fred brought them over to show them Planet Wallywood and some of the new displays.
Tuesday the 18th – TWO JAYS IN ‘DA HOUSE! – Bodie met me at my house around noon and took the Torino back to his shop. He noticed that there were a few hoses unplugged which he thought may account for the transmission issues. Once he got it back to the shop he noticed that the manifold gasket was bad and needed to be replaced. After he drove off in the Torino I hopped in my Mustang and dropped by my mailbox to pick up some mail. Then I drove by my accountant’s office to drop off some more receipts. (It’s that time of year again!) At “TTS” I met up with Fred’s friend Jay and his son Giancarlo, who I had gotten tickets for. They enjoyed the show immensely, and afterwards I took them back to the Metro so they could get back to their hotel room for a little rest before dinner. Later that night Fred, Jay and Giancarlo met me for dinner at Ernie’s Taco House. I just couldn’t send them back to cold, snowy New Jersey without some REAL Mexican food!
Wednesday the 19th – WILD WEDNESDAY! – I got a call from my agent on the hotline telling me that I needed to record something for “TTS’ at home by 1:30. I got up, recorded it and e-mailed it into the editors. Then I went to grab some lunch, but then got another call saying that they needed me a half hour early to re-record the bit, as they had added a few lines to it. I got into “TTS”, recorded the bit, then did the taping, and headed home. I had the evening free so I was looking forward to getting to the meditation service at church. Because of my nutty schedule, I hadn’t been able to make it there in awhile. But I went and it was lovely. VERY enjoyable. I came home, did some stuff around the house, recorded some auditions in my home studio, e-mailed them to my agents, and watched more “Man From U.N.C.L.E” before bed.
Thursday the 20th – COMEDY LEGEND! – Last week I went over to the Nickelodeon studios to record some lines as Alex the Lion from the “Madagascar” movies for an upcoming four-part episode of “The Penguins of Madagascar.” Last week was all the lines in Part 2, but today I’d be recording Alex’s lines for Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4. I even got to do a little singing! It was a fun session, and it’s a great time working with the “Penguins” crew. I went to grab some lunch, stopped by It’s a Wrap and grabbed a few new shirts, then headed home. I changed into one of my new shirts for “TTS,” and headed to NBC. As I was sitting there during the taping, I overheard somebody say, “So, you got Carol Burnette!” I thought to myself, “What? Carol Burnette? For what, I wonder?” Then later I heard Patrick the mixer ask someone how Carol Burnette was. I asked Patrick if she was on the show and he said she was coming out to surprise two 100 year old identical twins who were guests on the show. They both loved Carol and Jay brought her on to surprise the ladies. I immediately got up and went to the hallway. I just HAD to see the First Lady of Comedy in person! During the taping I hardly ever come out of the audio booth. I just don’t want to be in the way, and I don’t want to be a pest. But for somebody like Don Rickles, Pamela Anderson, Harrison Ford and CAROL BURNETTE, I just HAD to tell my grandchildren someday that I had seen her in person. I stood there in the hallway waiting for her to walk by and I must’ve had a dopey grin on my face. Carol strolled by, looked at me and said “Hi.” I of course said “Hi” back. WOW! I said HI to Carol Burnette! Too cool! I called my folks immediately after the show to tell them, as watching the “Carol Burnette Show” with my family as a kid made for some darn good memories. That night I grabbed a nap and got up and worked through the night on several things. All in all a DARN good day!
Friday the 21st – NEVER MIND! – I was called in to “TTS” around 2, but as I was on my way they called and said the bit had been cancelled, and just come in at my usual time. I had an appointment with my chiropractor anyway, so I had to be out and about nonetheless. I grabbed some lunch and then headed to my chiropractor’s office early. I wanted to tell him about my recent rib injury and ask if getting an adjustment was safe. He went ahead and did the adjustment, but he was gentler than usual. Then I headed into the taping of “TTS,” and afterwards headed home to gather up a few of my guns. My pal Brittney Powell and her son and his friend were going to the shooting range with me later that night. I grabbed my Walther PPK (an old favorite), my 1911 .45 automatic, and my .38 special revolver. I wanted the kids (they are 12) to experience the different kinds of guns…a revolver, a small automatic, and a larger automatic. We got to the range and had a good time shooting some holes in paper targets. Then we went to the Olive Garden and grabbed dinner. After that they came to my house and we watched “Escape From New York” on Blu Ray. I had forgotten certain parts of that movie, particularly the part in the beginning where it shows Air Force One hurtling toward the World Trade Center. CREEPY!
Saturday the 22nd – MY BABY’S BACK! – The maids came to clean Planet Wallywood around 11, and when they were done I grabbed a ride from my friend Sara over to Bodie’s shop to pick up the Torino. It seemed to be driving better than ever, so once we got on a stretch of road I opened her up. I was doing about 55 to 60. Sara was to my right keeping pace with me. Up ahead in the right lane I saw an old car, which I thought might be steam driven. I wanted to check it out further. So I pulled up next to it in the left lane and started honking. I was giving the guy the thumbs up, but the guy in the driver’s seat didn’t have steering wheel! In the older cars (or the “horseless carriage” as they were called back then) the steering wheels were on the right side, not the left. I looked over to the right and there was the steering wheel. And the guy driving the car was MY BOSS, Jay Leno! But of course! I knew the airplane hangers where he kept his cars was in that area, and apparently he was enjoying driving on the same stretch of road I was. But by the time I realized it was Jay I had already passed them up in my Torino. I could see in the rearview mirror that Jay and the guy next to him were checking out the Torino. I can’t wait to ask him what he thought of my Torino and tell him that it was me who passed them on the street. Wild coincidence! I met up with Sara, Brittney and her son at the Coral Cafe for lunch. Then we went over to Gun World to look at some of the guns. Brittney’s son was loving the super high-tech rifles, as he someday wants to be in the Air Force. I found a nice Ruger which looks similar to one of the guns Sean Connery posed with in some James Bond photos. I told my pal George who works at Gun World that I wanted to buy it. So I filled out the paperwork and paid for it. I got home OK with the Torino, got her parked and put away, and went inside to get ready for movie night. We watched another episode of “Twin Peaks” and then watched Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret in the 1978 thriller “Magic.” It’s always been one of my favorites. After that we put on Roy Orbison’s “Black and White Night” on Blu Ray and in full 5.1 surround! Beautiful!
Sunday the 23rd – TERRY’S TREAT! – My contractor Terry came over to start working on some remodeling of The Chaney Room. Over the next month the Chaney Room will be changing a bit, and I’ll have all the photos for you soon of the new look. I ran off to a meeting at Jerry’s Famous Deli with my pals Deverill Weekes and Scott Sebring, and a few friends of Deverill’s. When the meeting was over I brought them over to the house to show off the Torino. I had a few hours before evening church, so I took Scott for a ride down Ventura Boulevard, and into Universal Studios and back home again. The car was running like a champ! I got back and Terry was all ready for church. So we went over and enjoyed the service, and at the end Terry whispered to me that he wanted to join. So he went up front and met with the pastors and joined up! Too cool! We went out to grab a bite to eat at DuPar’s afterwards. After dinner we came back home, he cleaned up the work area and then headed out. I grabbed a nap, then got up and spent all night doing stuff around the house and preparing for a new week.
And how was YOUR week??!!
