January 19 – January 25 (2015)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

To go along with the song, here’s the picture that amazed Dick Van Dyke when I showed it to him. Mr. Van Dyke is being taught to do a Stan Laurel impression by the master himself!

After meeting the legendary Dick Van Dyke this past weekend and seeing him perform the famous theme song to “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” live with his vocal group, this has been stuck in my head ever since. What an amazing piece of pop culture, performed by one of the most amazing performers in history!

https://youtu.be/ZTTzcXSLjhI

Monday the 19th – HAPPY MLK DAY! – After having gone to bed around 10am, I slept pretty late in the day. When I awoke I did some stuff around the house, read a few e-mails and made some phone calls. I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and then had dinner with my pal Brittney Powell at Paty’s. While walking Roxy later in the evening she spotted a mouse in the complex and went nuts trying to chase it. She was obsessed with finding that stupid thing, as it scurried up the downspout. I grabbed a nap on the couch later and then got up to do auditions. I also did some paperwork, prepped some mail to go out, and put together more of my VO-demo-drink-tumbler-promo-kit things to hand out, as I was running low. I made a salad and watched an episode of “Magnum; p.i.” before bed.

Tuesday the 20th – OFF TO JERSEY (MIKE’S)! – Around mid-afternoon I got up and did some work on my computer. I sped off to the Post Office to mail some things, and then saw my pal Kyle at Plastic Depot to pick up some pieces I had made for Planet Wallywood. One was a little clear plastic “lift” that I put under my big Pinocchio’s left food to make it look like he was stepping. The other was a clear plastic wedge that will be used to angle a picture of Mike Connors as Mannix that will be displayed next to one of the sport coats I purchased from him. As always, Kyle’s work was impeccable. My new favorite food obsession is Jersey Mike’s Subs, a sandwich chain that’s popping up everywhere. I grabbed a giant sub and headed home to eat and watch the State of the Union. I grabbed a nap on the couch, and got up later to do a ton of auditions. I fed and walked Roxy and then retired to finish off the rest of my Jersey Mike’s sub and watch the final “Magnum, p.i.” episode from the season six DVD set.

Wednesday the 21st – COLORED! – Just after noon I go up to check some e-mails and record some last-minute voice tracks for Go 96.3 in Minneapolis. I made some phone calls and then went to Panera to meet with my friend Edi. She was going to run an errand for me over to my agent’s office in West L.A. I stopped by the hardware store and got some screw for the plastic wedge for my Mannix photo. I got home and recorded a few more things and then went off to Floyd’s to get a touch-up on my hair color. It had been too long! I got back home and fed the pets and checked e-mails. I made some dinner and hit the sack to start in on the final season of “Mannix” on DVD. Not only was my pal Larry Storch on the episode, but Mike Connors was wearing two of the jackets I bought from him recently! Too cool!

Thursday the 22nd – HOT IN HOLLYWOOD! – When I arose at 2pm my agent informed me that I had gotten booked on an episode of “Hot In Cleveland” and we’d tape on Friday. I got all the info, call-times, etc. via e-mail, and I called Edi to come over and learn the routine for feeding Spooky and Roxy, since I’d be gone most of Friday and most of Saturday. Edi brought her dog Bunny over to romp around with my pets and it was a very funny sight! I grabbed a quick nap in the evening, and then got up to do a ton of auditions. I also prepped for my day on the “HIC” set, by printing my script, call sheet and crew list. It’s always good to be prepared!

Friday the 23rd – HOT IN CLEVELAND! – The alarm went off at 10 and I sprang from bed and walked Roxy. I got ready and headed over to CBS Radford studios to find Stage 19 where they shoot “Hot In Cleveland.” It’s a big, busy lot and I got a little lost finding the parking structure. But I still made my call time on time! Whew! I checked in with Deborah and Ellen and they took me to the set. They introduced me to Dave Foley. One of my first big jobs in VO was doubling Dave’s voice as Flik and the Disney projects he didn’t have time for. He also doesn’t like to sing, so anytime Flik had to sing for a project they’d have me do it. He’s a great guy and I told him that I was his “stunt and singing voice” for Flik. It was also fun talking about his pal Kevin McDonald, with whom I had worked with regularly on “Invader Zim” as the Almighty Tallest. I watched them rehearse for a little while, and then the time came for them to rehearse my scene. I have the very first line in the show as the voice of a football announcer. They’re watching a game on TV and hear me doing the play-by-play. They put me in a chair directly to the right of the set so I could get a direct eyeline on the action. My lines came in between a few of Betty White’s lines so I needed to keep an eye on her to know when to come in with the next line. Billy Baldwin was guesting that week, and during a break he came over and started chatting about the world of Voice-Over. A darn nice guy, that Billy! I spoke briefly with Betty White’s assistant and told her I always enjoyed when she was on “The Tonight Show.” When Betty got off-set and came to sit down next to her I was introduced to her. Betty White is absolute Hollywood royalty, and she just turned 93! Unbelievable! I had a nice talk with Betty, and Billy asked if I would record his voice-mail as the voice of “The Tonight Show.” What a great group of folks! When they moved on to the next scene I was no longer needed, so I went to my dressing room and grabbed a quick nap. Around 2:30 it was time for the big cast and crew meal, so I had some food and then went back to my room to rehearse. The taping would be at 5pm in front of a live audience. At 4 the entire cast and the director gathered in Betty White’s dressing room to do a read-through of the lines. As we were assembling Betty and I started talking about dogs, and I told her about Roxy. She lit up and said she knew the original Lassie, Pal! She knew my dog’s great-great-great, etc. grandfather! Too cool! Wendie Malick came in and said, “Are you the voice guy?” I told her I was, and that I had worked with her on “Just Shoot Me” a couple of times as a rock club owner, and the voice of a Las Vegas magic show. Then Billy piped up with, “He was the voice of ‘The Tonight Show’ too!” And Dave piped in with “And he’s my singing voice!” It was pretty funny. It was a fun read-thru and when we finished we all headed to the set. While the actors were getting their final touch-ups we ran the lines again. Then I took my place in my chair, got a good eyeline with the actors, and they rolled tape. (Though it’s not tape any more). We recorded the bit about four times in front of the audience. During a break, the audience warm-up guy found a man who was present at the taping of the very first “Hot In Cleveland” episode. He had his picture taken with Betty White and had printed it out. He also brought her a bunch of flowers. Betty got up from the set and walked to the railing and gave him a kiss and accepted the flowers. Like I said…Hollywood royalty! After four passes of the scene I was in they got what they needed and they moved on. Thus, my part was done. They released me but said I could stay around for the remainder of the taping and join the cast for the curtain call. But like the Lone Ranger, I thanked them, signed my paperwork, and fled off into the night. VO guys are like that. Plus I had to get going. I hit the grocery store to get some items, mailed a letter at the post office, got some cash at the bank, and headed home to unload my “HIC” stuff, and load up my luggage for the weekend at the Hollywood Collector Show. I was staying the night at the Westin hotel, where they held the event, so I could be up early to meet Dick Van Dyke! Once I got to West L.A. I picked up some food at Campo’s, my favorite Mexican restaurant, and headed to my room at the Westin to check in.

Saturday the 24th – NO DICK PIC! – Around 4:45 in the morning I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep to save my soul. I tossed and turned for about two hours, and just as I had drifted off I heard a horrible noise outside my hotel room window. It was an employee protest over a labor dispute. It was like Déjà vu, as the exact same thing had happened when I stayed at the Westin back in April. Have they STILL not settled that dispute? I was mad, not only at the protesters, but at the hotel for allowing this to go on. I vowed to never stay at the Westin again. Needless to say I got up to start my day at 7:15 being very tired. But I was finally going to meet the legendary Dick Van Dyke and get my photo taken with him! Check THAT off the bucket list! My pal Mike from Chicago was in town and I met him for breakfast downstairs. When we finished up I headed into the show to get in line for Dick Van Dyke’s autograph. He arrived just after 10am and started the day with a version of “The Star Spangled Banner” with his acapella vocal group. It was nothing less than amazing, and a total surprise! When it was my turn to go up I shook his hand and handed him the photos I wanted him to sign. The first one was a shot of him and Stan Laurel from the early 60’s. He was amazed and wanted to know where I found it. I told him it was all over the place on the web, I just downloaded it and printed it. Then I thanked him for unleashing Andy Kaufman on the world. He said, “He died way too young, didn’t he?” I told him I’d see him at 2:15 for the pre-arranged photo op session. A few weeks ago I had paid $100 on-line to have my picture with him at the 2:15 photo op. I couldn’t wait! I stashed the stuff in my room and grabbed some other stuff to have signed. I found out that Teri Garr had canceled, so I left that stuff in my room as well. Too bad. I really wanted to meet her too. I saw a bunch of friends I hadn’t seen in quite a while. And then I took a Batman cowl to Joan Collins’ table to have her sign it. She’s one of the few original 1966 “Batman” villains still alive. So her signature joined Adam West, Burt Ward, Yvonne Craig, Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, Malachi Throne and George Barris on a Batman cowl that looks a lot like a signed baseball. Since I was only staying the one night I had to move my stuff to my pal Mike’s room so I could check out. I had done pretty much everything I needed to do by noon time, except the Dick Van Dyke photo op. So I had a few hours to kill. I went back my room and ordered some lunch via room service. I figured if I was already in my room at 1pm when I needed to check out there wasn’t any danger of getting locked out. I had my burger and then headed downstairs to get in line for the DVD photo op. But bad news! I found out the photo op had been postponed for a few hours. The photography staff was running behind. I needed to leave the hotel by 3 to get home and get set up for movie night, so this was NOT good news. I remembered back about a year ago when the very same thing happened with a photo op I was supposed to do with the James Bond girls. Their poor planning again burned me bad! I was furious! Had they not learned anything from that previous incident? The fans were outraged and upset. It was turning ugly. The show’s producers were yelling and screaming about a numbered wristband system they had come up with, but since I was eating lunch I wasn’t able to get a wristband. What a crock! It was so dismally disorganized and chaotic, I just left. I’ll get my money back (again) and send a strongly worded e-mail to the organizers. But I don’t know if it’ll help or not. Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…or something like that. I think I’m going to stop going to these shows, as they just don’t seem to get how to manage time or organize things very well. Even though they said the photo op would take place at 3:30, I doubted their word. I left at 3 and got home by 4. My pal Mike called at 4:30 and said they were JUST NOW getting to the Dick Van Dyke photo op. What a zoo! By the time I would have gotten up in line it would have been 5:30! I knew it, and I’m glad I left. Even though I did miss out on a cool Dick pic, but oh well. My pal Scott Sebring came over to visit for a while, and then I grabbed a nap upstairs while he chilled with the pets downstairs for a bit. It felt refreshing to get a quick nap, based on the strange day I had. We watched “Bye Bye Birdie” on Blu Ray and it was great seeing Dick Van Dyke in the role that made him famous. And Ann-Margret is off the charts HOT! When everyone left I did some work around the house, unpacked my things from the weekend, and made a salad and headed to bed. But while I watched an episode of the old British “Avengers” series, my eyes started itching something fierce. It was a lot like when I had a hay fever attack as a kid. My eyes got all puffy and swollen. What the heck happened? I took a Benadryl and went to bed.

Sunday the 25th – SWOLLEN SUNDAY! – By the time I rolled out of bed at 4 I noticed that my eyes were still swollen, although not as bad as they had been. That Benadryl really knocked me out! I took another one and went back to bed, not wanting to go to church looking like a puffy-eyed weirdo. I didn’t wake up until 11pm that night. WOW! That stuff really makes me sleep! 14 hours of sleep! When I got up my eyes were noticeably better, but still not back to normal. I did some auditions and then made a Tombstone pizza and watched a “Mannix” episode. I still have no idea what brought all that on, but I hope it doesn’t happen again any time soon!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

The only pic I got all weekend with Dick Van Dyke! Luckily I have at least this one, taken while he was signing my photos.