January 19 – January 24 (2021)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Every once in a while I like to lurk on a Facebook page where people from my hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota gather and share stories and pictures about “the old days.” I like to download some of the photos they post that are most relevant to my time living there. This is how I remember Main Street looking when I was a kid. It was magical, and I have good memories of walking the entire length of Main Street with my friend Chris and shopping for candy, monster magazines and comics.

Technically, this isn’t a song about Christmas – even though it’s played around Christmas time – so I’m going to feature it this week. It’s a song about winter; specifically December. I’ve been humming it incessantly because the orchestration is so beautiful. It really is a lovely song. I’ve never been much of a fan of Robert Goulet (Elvis wasn’t either, as he would shoot his TV with a .22 revolver any time Goulet appeared on it) but this is a magnificent song. It’s smooth and easy, like a cold, quiet December night. Please enjoy “December Time.” Close your eyes and imagine you’re by a roaring fire, looking out the window and watching the landscape being gently covered by a white, fluffy snow.

Tuesday the 19th – SCAVENGER HUNT! – Last week I wrote and planned out 14 short videos which will highlight each of the Christoween Stalkings I had fabricated to coincide with my 13 Christoween stories, which we’re currently pitching to production companies, manufacturers and publishers. Now that Michelle was in town, and since she’s an engaging model and actress, I figured it would be better to have her on camera demonstrating the Stalkings than me. We spent most of the day rummaging around the garage – pulling out props and fabrics that would be useful in the videos. I also spent a fair amount of time looking through the closet in the Chaney Room for anything appropriate. Then it was time for dinner, so we headed to Jersey Mike’s to get some subs. I brought my giant roll of green paper for the background and hung it up in my showcase area. A few lights here and there and – VOILA! It all worked well and I was very happy with the results. Michelle did a great job! Very soon, on Christoween.net you’ll be able to see how they turned out. I tried to keep them about one minute in length, and I also included a short snippet from each story in the narration. Unfortunately I can’t share the entire stories with you yet. We’re saving that for a publishing/production deal. Michelle and I sat down and I edited the first video to get a feel for how they would flow. It’s not a big budget production, granted. But since these are meant for Instagram and Twitter, I think they’ll more than suffice. Though all 14 will go on our Christoween.net website immediately, I’m going to feature one a week for the next 14 weeks on social media. Later we ate our Jersey Mike leftovers and watched a replay of a webcast from the Museum of the Moving Image in New York that featured three legendary Muppet fabricators. One of the participants in that interview, Caroly Wilcox, recently passed away. So it was a nice way to end the evening – reviewing her wonderful work and legacy.

Wednesday the 20th – RETURN OF THE CARHOP! – My dog Roxy was due for her check-up, as well as her regular blood draw, so I took her to the vet while Michelle went off to meet some local friends of hers. Roxy is on a medication for inflammation and mobility called Carprophen. If you ask me, it’s a miracle drug. She was having real bad issues with tremors in her back legs any time she stood for long periods of time. But she’s her regular self again on this medication. However, long term use of this drug can potentially affect the liver. So it’s important to periodically check her ‘liver levels’ in her blood to see if it’s affecting her adversely. She also had some dry, irritated skin on her underside. The Dr. gave me an antibiotic and a topical foam mousse to apply to her underside daily to help it disappear. Michelle and I headed over to Bob’s Big Boy to get some food to go, but as we drove into the parking lot I saw cars parked with carhop trays on their windows. CARHOP SERVICE HAS RETURNED!!! I made it a point to get back there soon and enjoy some “car”bohydrates in the comfort of my own vehicle. When we returned Michelle helped me shoot a video with my Robin the Frog replica Muppet that I had been wanting to do for some time. During one of her previous visits, she did the hands for Rowlf the Dog portion of the video. We shot several angles of Robin singing “Halfway Down the Stairs.” I sent the files to my pal Scott Sebring for editing, since the end result was beyond the capabilities of the basic editing system in my computer. I edited a few more Stalking videos and we ended the day by watching an episode of “The Tonight Show” from April of 1979, where Kermit guest hosted for Johnny Carson. It was a riot!

Thursday the 21st – FOAM FUN – OR – MOUSSE MANIA! – I fed the kids in the early evening and Michelle applied Roxy’s medicated foam to her underside. We did a quick pick-up shot for the Robin the Frog video for the end. Michelle had Gonzo and I had Kermit. There’s no audio required, as it was just a simple reaction shot. Michelle helped me record a Cameo video for a fan of “Tiger and Bunny” and that was a lot of fun! But it was time to get Michelle to the airport for her flight back home. We stopped at Jack In The Box to get some food on the way, as is our tradition. When I got home I had a ton of auditions to record. I also spent quite a while cleaning and straightening up the house. I realized with horror that the reaction shot we did with Kermit and Gonzo earlier was wrong. They were facing the wrong way and it wouldn’t edit into the piece well. I thought it might be possible to “flip” the shot, but there were lobby cards in the back with lettering on them, and a flipped shot would have looked odd, since all the lettering on the cards would be backwards. So I set up the camera and the lighting again, got the puppets out and put one on each hand. I got the shot I needed and sent all the materials to my pal Scott for the final edit. Whew! What a productive day!

Friday the 22nd – HELLO OLD FRIEND! – The maids arrived shortly after 1:00 to clean up Planet Wallywood. When they left I headed to my mailbox to get my packages, and then to Taco Bell to get some food. I got home and edited a few more Stalking videos. But the week’s activities had left me a little tired around the edges, so I became reacquainted with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while – The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe. It felt good to take a short snooze on my old pal. I fed and walked Roxy, but we had to keep our walk short because it was sprinkling out. I edited another Stalking video and then made some buffalo mac and watched another episode of “The Invaders.” Before I turned in on Saturday morning I found out that Roxy’s sister and littermate Sydney had passed away. Truly, truly sad.

Saturday the 23rd – ACCOMPLISHMENT IS A GOOD FEELING! – Though I slept most of the day away, I tore into several projects around the house like a madman. I fed the kids, ordered a Domino’s pizza, and watched a Lon Chaney Jr. movie on Svengoolie on Me-TV. It was called “Man-Made Monster” and I had never seen it before. Later I did the auditions I had in my inbox and sent them to my agents. I organized my bills and bank statements for some accounting work on Sunday night. I had a bunch of photos to sign for Galaxy Con, the company that hosted the recent “Invader Zim” virtual reunion on-line. I packaged those up and got them ready to mail back to the convention folks. I did a bunch of miscellaneous work around the house, which included installing my new turntable. During the recent exploratory project involving my malfunctioning DirecTV receiver box, I discovered that my old Sony turntable wasn’t working any longer. It took a while for it to get up to speed (a bad belt?) and it would only play on 33 speed. It no longer played at the 45 speed. So off to Goodwill it goes for somebody who just wants to play albums. But the new turntable was easy to set up and it played magnificently! I can’t wait to start spinning some vinyl now! Over Christmas I had recorded a lot of music off of the satellite Christmas channel on to CD-R. So I had about 16 discs full of random selections of Christmas music. I ripped them all into my computer and started editing them. I’m going to make a bunch of audio files for my “adopted Grandma” Shirley to enjoy next Christmas. But even with 20+ hours of Christmas music I recorded, I was still missing a few crucial songs that I wanted. So I searched on-line to find the songs and purchased them. I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched a wonderful episode of “The Saint” before bed.

Sunday the 24th – RUNNING A HOUSEHOLD SURE IS COMPLICATED! – After spending some more time editing my Christmas files and getting the folders shored up and organized, I turned my attention to some accounting work. I had bills that needed paid, and I had to reconcile a bank statement. I’m not a big fan of math or accounting work, so I have to be really focused when I do work of that nature. I spent some time getting ready for the new week. I also recorded a few more tracks as an elf character for my buddy Randy and his “Christmas Across the Lands” show. I’m SO excited to be a part of the show this coming Christmas, since I’m such a huge fan of that show!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

My pal Bruce Kulick, one of the greatest rock guitarists in the world, has been quite busy over the past year managing his merchandise business. And his wife Lisa Lane Kulick has her own business where she embellishes photos with “bling.” A while back, she gave me one of Elvis as a gift. I have it framed next to my Robo-Elvis robot. But I ordered this one from her recently because I’ve always loved Elvis’ “Flaming” jumpsuit, and I love this photo. Here’s how it looks all framed up and placed next to my “Flamin’ Elvis” figure. Here’s Lisa’s website in case you want to have her do some artwork for you! Lisa’s Vintage Glamour Creations items – BruceKulick.com – The Official Bruce Kulick Website