January 9 – January 15 (2017)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I shall call him…EWOK Dog!

Occasionally I’ll listen to a local AM station that plays “The Great American Songbook.” One of the songs I heard the other night sounded SO good to hear again. It’s “The Girl from Ipanema” by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz. Classic!

Monday the 9th – WILD “JUICE” CHASE! – By the time I got up at 1 it was time to take my next dose of antibiotics to fight the sinus infection I had acquired on New Year’s Eve. I checked my e-mails, made some phone calls and then went over to the parking garages on the other side of my complex. I had three potential Gran Torino parking spaces I needed to check out. I got word that my car was going to be ready for me to pick up very soon, so I needed to find an appropriate auxiliary parking space to rent. Then I drove over to Staples to pick up a replacement micro SD card for my voice recorder. The 64gb card I bought for it kept saying “card error” when I inserted it into my device. Come to find out, a 32gb card was the max that particular model could accommodate. So I kept the 64gb for future use, and bought an additional 32gb card. It worked perfectly. I went over to CVS to pick up the cough medicine my doctor prescribed for me, but they were out. They’ve been back-ordered on that particular type of syrup for a while. Unlike the cough syrup with codeine in it, which knocks me out, this medicine is great for suppressing my cough, but still keeping me alert enough to do sessions. But since EVERYONE is sick now, it’s very tough to find. I went to Rite Aid, but they’re out. Walgreens is out too. Rats! I took my SUV back to Enterprise to return it (I had rented it to take to Palm Springs over the weekend) and then walked home. It was a gorgeous day, as the rain had stopped for a while. I gave Roxy her antibiotics for her health issue (see last week’s Wally’s Week) and then gave the pets their dinner. I did some work around the house, paid some bills, reconciled checking account stuff, and then worked on Wally’s Week. I went over to the auxiliary parking spot to meet the owner and pay him for 6 months rental. Then my pal Brittney came over for a visit. I hadn’t seen her in a few months because I had been so sick. I grabbed a nap and then got up later to finish Wally’s Week. Then I hit the hay to be up early for an audition

Tuesday the 10th – IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO TODAY! – Thirty years ago on this very day I rolled into the big city of Los Angeles in an old Ford Fairmont station wagon with 110,000 miles on it to make L.A. my new home. I’ve lived in L.A. longer than anywhere else in my life. I woke up at 10:30 and headed to Kalmenson and Kalmenson in Burbank for an 11:40 audition. When I finished I hit McDonald’s for lunch, and then sped off to see my seamstress Karyn at her studio. I picked up my new Star Trek bowling shirts that I had made, and they turned out great! I dropped off some more work for her to do, and then I headed to my mailbox to get some packages. I went to a key place to get my garage door remote reprogrammed for the new Gran Torino parking spot, and then went to get some groceries. I got home and unloaded the groceries, walked Roxy, and then headed to my doctor to have him see how my sinus infection was doing. He said sinus infections are stubborn things, but this is ridiculous. If I don’t improve in a week or to, I need to get a CATscan of my sinuses, and then take it to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Then they may decide to “drain” my sinuses by going up through my gums in my mouth with a needle. Sounds NASTY! I hope I improve quickly! I got home and did some work and relaxed a bit. Then I picked up my “adopted grandma” Shirley and we went to the monthly Sons of the Desert meeting to see some Laurel and Hardy movies. They ran two of my favorite “two reelers,” “Hog Wild” and “Helpmates.” Lots of fun! When we got outside to go home it was raining. I dropped her off at her new assisted living facility, and then went home to grab a short nap on the couch. Busy day! I got up later for a few auditions, and then made some lasagna and watched another episode of “Lost in Space” before bed

Wednesday the 11th – MR. BLUE SKY! – What a beautiful day it was! I walked over to Studiopolis at 10:45am to do an ADR (additional dialogue recording) session for “Sonic Boom” and it was simply gorgeous out! I only had two lines to re-record so it only took 15 minutes. Then I walked back home and prepared a deposit for the bank. I did a few last-minute auditions and then drove over to Chin Chin to meet my assistant Sara for lunch. I stopped by Voice Trax West to see the guys and wish them a happy new year, and then I walked over to the bank to deposit some checks in my account. Before I went home I stopped by CVS to get another prescription filled, but they’re still out of my cough medicine. I got home and did more auditions and fed the pets. As evening settled in I took a nap on the most comfortable couch in the universe, and ended up sleeping until 10pm! Then I got up to tackle the monumental job of transferring all of my 2016 pay stubs, tax receipts, payroll company documents and information to storage boxes for the garage. I needed to clear my file folders for the 2017 receipts and pay stubs. It was a huge task, but I got it all done nice and tidy! By the time it was dinner time for Roxy, it had started raining. After her dinner we tried to take a short walk but we were getting too wet, so we came back inside. The couch was looking very cozy, and with it raining outside I decided to lay down for an hour or so. I don’t know if it was the rain, the fireplace, the couch, or the blanket that Shirley had gotten me for Christmas, but I knocked out until 6am! I got up and made some food and watched “Lost in Space” before turning in for good. It seems like they were running out of ideas for the third season of “Lost in Space.” There’s a lot of repeating going on from previous episodes. But unlike season 3 of “Batman,” where the budgets were cut severely, it looks like they were spending more money on “Lost in Space” season 3. There were a lot of neat special effects stuff, but the storylines were getting really dumb

Thursday the 12th – HAIR WE GO AGAIN! – Shortly after 1pm I got up and did some work around the house. My old pal Sergio Lopez stopped over to begin working on the hair on my Jack Lord mannequin. I’ve had Jack Lord’s original “Hawaii Five-O” suit, tie, shirt and boots on display for a long time, but now that I have a Jack Lord facial likeness, I’m going to completely re-do the display. My effects guy Jim Ojala did a great job putting the latex face on the mannequin, but now “Jack” needs his famous pompadour hair-do. While Sergio worked off of a multitude of photos of Jack Lord, I posted photos and videos of my new Star Trek bowling shirts. It was time to feed the pets and bid Sergio farewell until tomorrow. I got cleaned up and met my assistant Sara for dinner at Lancers. Then I came home to meet with Jim Ojala so he could drop off my “Shotgun Hutch” ride-along mannequin. It’s a sitting mannequin that I’ve dressed up like Hutch, and it will be a semi-permanent resident in my Gran Torino’s passenger seat. I can’t wait to see the looks on people’s faces as I drive by with Hutch riding shotgun! Roxy threw up late in the evening, and I think her tummy got upset from the antibiotics. Her vet put her on amoxicillin, which I know for a fact is very tough on the stomach. I can’t even take it anymore because it tears my stomach up. I think I’ll increase the amount of food I give her when she takes her medication. Poor little girl. I napped on the couch for a while, and woke up to the sound of Roxy puking again. I called her vet and left a message asking if he could put her on a different antibiotic. Until I hear back from him, I’m not going to give her any more pills. I put her in the kitchen with a gate, in case of any repeats. I did my auditions, made some spaghetti and watched another “Lost in Space” episode

Friday the 13th – HAIRING HUTCH! – My maids came over at noon to clean up Planet Wallywood. After they left I worked on my computer, and then did a few last minute auditions. My pal Sergio had been working all morning in Orange County, so he had a long drive in traffic to get to me to start on Hutch’s hair. He met me at Wilshire Wigs at 4:30 and we found a perfect wig for “Shotgun Hutch.” We got back to my house and he started working, attaching the wig to the mannequin and styling it like the photos of David Soul I had posted all over the Chaney Room. While he worked I napped on the couch. Sergio took off around 8:30 and I continued sleeping on the couch until midnight. I fed and walked Roxy, and then went to Denny’s to get some food to go. Roxy was back on her antibiotics, but I doubled her food quantity in hopes that it would help to cushion the harsh antibiotic in her stomach. But I’ll still be watching her very closely to make sure she doesn’t barf

Saturday the 14th – BIRTHDAY GIRLS! – My pal Edi came to town for a day so she could celebrate her birthday with my assistant Sara. In addition to both having the same middle name, they also have the same birthday (but different years). We all met for lunch at Paty’s, and then I hit my mailbox, the cleaners to drop off a comforter, and then we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some supplies and the birthday cake. I got home and relaxed a bit, and then we started movie night. It was a fun time, but as the evening ended I realized with horror that I had forgotten to bring out the birthday cake! Some of the guests had already left, but luckily I called my pal Larry and he was still in the area. So he came back with his daughter and her friend, and Edi, Sara, James, Mark and I all sang “Happy Birthday” to them and we had some cake. After everyone left I napped on the couch, and then I got up to feed and walk Roxy. I came back inside and the couch seduced me back again. I laid down and didn’t get up until 8am!

Sunday the 15th – MICE-UH-LEE’S? – Edi got up around 8am to head back to Palm Desert, so when she came downstairs I got up from the couch and bid her farewell. After she left I cleaned up and headed to bed for a few hours. Mid-afternoon my friends Donny and Tara stopped by with their son for the Planet Wallywood tour. It was great seeing them again. After they left I got ready for evening church with Roxy. After church I drove over to pick up Shirley for dinner. Figuring she’d like to hear some music, I took her over to Miceli’s. It’s pronounced “muh-CHELL-ee’s,” but Shirley pronounces it “MICE-uh-lees.” Cute! Shirley loved the music and the singing and we had a great time. I came home and snoozed on the couch for a bit, and then got up to feed and walk Roxy. My auditions weren’t due until Tuesday morning, because of the MLK Jr. holiday, so I spent the evening organizing my personal log voice recordings for 2016 and getting them into a file folder in my computer. I made note of the fact that my Gran Torino was stolen one year ago today. Not an anniversary I ever want to commemorate. It’s been a crazy year, but hopefully I’ll have the car back soon. I made some food and hit the hay to watch another episode of “Lost In Space.”

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK