While on my way to Voice Trax West to do another US Airways session, the old Genesis song “Man On the Corner” popped into my head. Not sure why. Perhaps I may have seen a lonely man on the corner on my drive over to the studio. I started humming it in my head, and when I got to the studio I looked it up on You Tube. I was surprised that the song was in the exact key I had been humming it in my head! Weird! But it’s a darn good song, and now you can hum it too!
Monday the 9th – LEGEND IN DA HOUSE! – I got a hotline call mid-morning to do some trailer voices for a bit for ‘The Tonight Show” in my home studio. After I finished those I pumped up my bike tires and headed over to Studiopolis Burbank to do some more voice work for “Bleach.” It was a beautiful day, and it was a great ride. It certainly felt wonderful to be back on the bike again after not having ridden it long-distance for awhile. When “Bleach” was finished I drove over to NBC to start the “TS” taping. On the way home though, I got really hungry. So I stopped off at Paty’s on Riverside Drive for a salad. When I got home I checked my cell phone and saw that I had a call from my pal Alex Zsolt asking what my dinner plans were. Since I just ate dinner, I told him I’d meet him and my buddy Rob Richards at DuPar’s for dessert. As we were just winding up our meal, DICK VAN DYKE walked in with a friend and sat down to eat. He sure seems like a happy guy. Always smiling. And you’d never believe he’s as old as he is. The bathroom at DuPar’s is up a steep set of stairs, but Dick just waltzed right up them like nobody’s business. I didn’t want to bug him, but Rob and Alex went over to say hello. What a legend! And eating just two booths away from us! You just never know who you’re going to see at DuPar’s! I’ve seen John Carpenter, Mark Wahlberg and many others enjoying DuPar’s fine diner cuisine! I got home and grabbed a quick nap, then I got up and dubbed some more of my home video VHS tapes to DVD. Little by little I’m chipping away at a project that numbers over 50 tapes!! WOW!
Tuesday the 10th – TORINO TUESDAY! – I got up early for a Nickelodeon audition, and I figured since I’d be in the area of my car painter, I’d take the Torino in for some touch-ups. It had developed a few little chips in the paint (due to rocks and debris during driving) and I wanted to make sure it looked perfect for its upcoming appearances. One is at a car show at the end of the month, where it will be sitting next to Paul Michael Glaser’s table promoting his book “Chrystallia and the Source of Light,” and the other appearance is mid February at the Hollywood Show. I’m very excited since Paul will be joined by “Starsky & Hutch” co-stars David Soul and Antonio Fargas at that show. I’m hoping to get some great shots of those guys with my car! After the auditions was finished at Nickelodeon, Justin the engineer asked if I got my stripe repainted yet. I told him I did and it looked awesome! I asked if he had time to come see it, and he and a few of the producers of the animated project I just auditioned for followed me out to the garage. They took some photos of it and seemed to be impressed. In this business, you do whatever you can to be remembered. Hopefully the producers will think of my come casting time. “Let’s hire the guy with the Gran Torino!” I drove the Torino over to Mario’s shop and went over the touch-ups with him. We decided to not only paint the chips, but also to repaint the entire hood. It has some really bad chipping on the edges (it was that way when I bought hit) and since the car was in the shop we may as well do it while it’s in getting other stuff done. My assistant Sara came to pick me up and we had a quick lunch at Carl’s Jr. Then she dropped me off at home, I got in my Mustang and I was off to Voice Trax West to do another session for US Airways. While I was there, I got a call from my pal Randy Carver who is a realtor. He said there was a house that pretty closely fit the description of what I was looking for near Jerry’s Famous Deli in Studio City. They were having an open house until 2, and I figured I could make it. I did manage to get over there and checked it out. It’s a GREAT house, but its garage has been converted into another room. So that would mean my Mustang and my Gran Torino would have to sit outside in the sun and bake in the heat during summer. I wasn’t sure that was going to work. But the rest of the house was great so I think I’ll have my pal and contractor Terry come check it out with me sometime. I got home and did a quick auditioning my home studio, and then headed off to my mailbox to pick up some packages. Then it was off to NBC for the taping of “TTS.” After the show I got back home to do some work, and take a quick nap. I spent the rest of the night burning more VHS tapes to DVDs.
Wednesday the 11th – PHOTO FINISH! – I slept in and it felt really great! I stayed up most of the night before dubbing DVDs. I was really making progress! Today we would be taping “TTS” earlier than usual because our guest Liam Neeson had to split early. I got a call from Dave at “TTS” who sent me a few scripts to be cut at my house. But I was having e-mail trouble and wasn’t getting the scripts! So Dave had to TEXT me the scripts! Wild! But I got ‘er done and got the files sent. But time was running out. It was getting close to the time I needed to leave for the taping and I was so busy cutting stuff for the show I hadn’t showered yet. YIKES! I hustled through the shower and sped over to NBC. I ended up only being 5 minutes late, but because of the early tape time a few people thought I had forgotten. I told them I was very aware, but I had been busy cutting stuff for the show in my home studio. I guess it made more sense for me to cut it at home and e-mail it in, that way the editors would have the amount of time it took me to get showered and get over there to work on the piece (as opposed to just waiting for me to arrive). But it all worked out and everything went along without a hitch. I actually made it there in record time. Normally it takes me about 15 minutes, but somehow I made it in 10 today. Whew! When we finished taping the show I took a piece of art over to Fast Frame to get it framed. I was lucky enough to find a piece of original art on eBay by Special Effects master Steve Johnson. It was a hand-colored design of the “Loafer Alien” from the 1999 Disney channel original movie. That character was one of the first I had the pleasure of voicing in my career. So it was awesome that I just happened to find it on eBay. I met my friend Edi for dinner at Paty’s, and then went home to finish up some work and take a quick nap on the couch. When I got up late in the evening I did my auditions in my home studio, e-mailed them into my agents, and caught another episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man’ on DVD. I’m almost out of episodes for season 4, and next I’m moving on to all 26 half hour episodes of “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” I figure since I’m in it, I really should watch the whole first season in order to know what I’m talking about if I’m asked questions about the show. As dawn broke, I got a few more hours of sleep so I could be up and at ’em for a morning session for Hasbro I was doing from home!
Thursday the 12th- WIPED OUT WEDNESDAY! – I got a few hours of sleep, then got up for a “phone patch” session for a Hasbro TV commercial. That’s when the directors direct you over the phone, but the session is recorded on my end. When the session was over I uploaded the audio files to a server called Voicebank, and then sent the link to my agent so he could deliver them to the appropriate folks. Then I headed back to bed for a little while. But I soon got a hotline call to do a bit for “TTS,” and when that was finished I got showered and headed over to Office Depot to buy a file case for my 2012 tax receipts and documents. (It’s that time of year again!) I brought my supplies home to dump then, then headed off to grab a quick lunch before I needed to be at NBC for “TTS.” When the taping was over I got some much-needed grocery items and headed home to unload them. My friends Edi and Brittney met me at Miceli’s for a fun italian dinner, and then I came home and collapsed. I was really, really tired! But it was a great, productive day!
Friday the (ooo weeee ooooo!) 13th! – 12 ON 13! – I must’ve been wiped out! I slept nearly 12 hours! But when I got up I felt great! I recorded some pick-up lines for the Hasbro session and e-mailed them in. I got some information about another Open House for that house I was looking at. It’ll be on Sunday from 1-4 and this time I’m going to take my contractor Terry along to check it out. I answered some e-mails and did some work around the house. I sent Sara to Staples to pick up a few things, as I was stuck on the phone with a friend of mine who does lending for home loans. I was trying to get an idea of how much I could qualify for so I could get pre-approved in the event I decided to make an offer on that house. It was a nice day and I really wanted to bike to NBC, but I was running out of time. My lender had already taken off for the 3 day weekend and was on her way to Yosemite with her family. I just had time to grab a quick shower and drive off to NBC. At the end of the show we “pre-taped” a segment for an upcoming show with a HUGE star. This star wasn’t available to appear on the show when we needed them in a few weeks, so the star recorded the interview segment now for airing later. When we wrapped, I headed off to my mailbox to pick up some packages, then went over to my friend Kristy’s house to check on her cat Evie, who had just gotten spayed. She seemed none the worse for wear, and only had a small puncture on her shaved stomach. It’s amazing the things they can do these days! I got home to finish up some work, grabbed a nap, then got up late in the evening to dub more VHS tapes to DVD. This was really fun and it brought back a lot of memories. I hadn’t seen many of those old tapes in over 20 years. While I dubbed the DVDs (they have to be recorded in “real time”) I worked on labeling my file folders for my 2012 tax box. When I finished I watched another episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
Saturday the 14th – GOTTA HELP OUR VETS! –It was great to sleep in a bit, and when I got up I set about filing the tax receipts I had acquired the first few weeks of 2012. My tax receipts for 2011 were already filed and ready to go to my accountant’s office. Some people like to file them all at the end of the year, a HUGE job, but I do mine periodically throughout the year so I don’t have an enormous undertaking at the end of the year. It works out better for me. Then I went to the local grocery store to get a birthday cake for my pals Sara and Edi. Both of their birthdays are on January 15th, and we would be having cake at movie night tonight. I got a nice, thick chocolate cake and had their names written on it. While I was waiting for the cake to be finished a guy about my age approached me and asked if I had ever been military. I told him no, I wasn’t that good. He showed me his military ID and said he was in the Army in the early 80’s, but was in need of some help. He was having difficulty finding a job and paying rent. I told him I wasn’t able to help with rent, but I would be happy to buy him some groceries if he wanted. So he put some items in a cart, and I paid for them when I bought my cake. It’s important that we take care of our boys and girls who loyally served this country, and I hope I made some small difference in his life. I also hope and pray that he’s able to find work soon. I got home and talked to my friend Mike from Chicago. He was in the Bahamas on a little vacation. I told him about the big dinner and reception they would be having in February for the stars of “Starsky & Hutch” after the Hollywood Collector autograph show. I phoned the number and bought my tickets. My old pal Steve Hatt from South Dakota is coming in for the show too! Steve and I used to be called Starsky & Hutch at school because he was blonde and I had dark curly hair, and we were always together. We would even dress like them. So I only felt it was right to have Steve along with me to get a photo taken with them! This is going to be a blast! I grabbed a quick nap then got ready for movie night. Tonight we watched Laurel and Hardy’s second talking short called “Berth Marks.” Then we watched the Blu Ray of “A Dolphin Tale.” It was a great movie but could have used less of the 3-D gimmicks it was required to have. But all in all it was very enjoyable and uplifting. After that we watched a great film from the 70’s called “Kentucky Fried Movie,” written by the guys who wrote “Airplane” and all those other great comedies! When everyone left I spent the rest of the night putting more brown highlights on the Elvis costume that would adorn my Robo-Elvis. The seamstress was coming over on Monday to pick up the suit for alterations, and I wanted to make sure it was completely ready to go when she got here!
Sunday the 15th – OH SHOOT! – Terry came over and we went to look at the house I had my eye on. Overall Terry liked it, but I started to think that certain areas didn’t have enough room for me. There weren’t enough closets in the house to house my considerable wardrobe and costume collection. Terry said the exterior would need a substantial amount of work, as the windows and window panes were cracking and peeling. But the most concerning issue is the fact that the house has no garage. It did have a two car garage, but the current owners converted it into a playroom for their kids. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very COOL playroom, which would be an awesome display room, but I started thinking about my Mustang and my Gran Torino baking in the summer sun and heat while sitting on my driveway. After we were done Terry and I went to Jerry’s Famous Deli for lunch to discuss. Then we were off to evening church. When church was over my friends Chris, Loren, Amanda, Sara and I took off for Outback to celebrate Sara’s birthday. Then we went to Firing Line in Burbank and did some target shooting. This was the first time Chris had ever shot a gun, but he did pretty well! And it was the first time I got to shoot “Nick,” my new nickel-plated model 1911. It was also the first time I shot “Walt,” my newly acquired Walther PPK-S. But it looked like “Walt’s” sights were off a bit, as everybody who shot it was shooting left. At first I thought it was how my finger was sitting on the trigger, so I adjusted. It was better, but still not as accurate as my other two Walther PPK models. I started to think that the gun needed to have some work done on its sights. Which would explain why such a beautiful gun had been sold to the gun store as a used piece. Perhaps the previous owner had trouble with it and didn’t want to futz with getting it repaired. We had lots of fun at the range and shot until it closed at 10pm. I got home and did a few things around the house, but I was pretty tired so I hit the hay early.
Monday the 16th – HAPPY MLK DAY! – It’s not often that I sleep a large chunk of time away. I sleep best in shifts. A few hours here, a few hours there. But today I got some good rest. I laid in bed petting my cat Spooky thinking a lot about that house. The financing that would be required, the increased house payment, the dreaded prospect of moving everything in my collection out of my current residence, and the limitations of this new house. I started thinking that it may not be the house for me after all, and I should keep looking. The “no garage” thing was really starting to bug me. Why convert it back to a garage and incur the expense, when I could just buy a house with a garage on it? All day I thought, pondered, meditated and considered the ramifications. This would be a HUGE undertaking. But I think I’ve decided to keep looking at other houses to see what was out there. After all, I’m really in no hurry. When I bought my current house in 2000 I was in a real hurry. I had an apartment in Culver City and had just been hired to be the voice of the PAX-TV network, whose offices were in North Hollywood. Driving there and back 5 days a week in L.A. traffic from Culver City was wearing on me. So it was a huge relief when I found the house I’m in now, which was very close to work. But now I’m essentially happy with my house, it’s just seeming more and more like I’m outgrowing it. I don’t have additional kids or pets, but I’ve acquired so many collectibles that they’re starting to crowd me out. I could either a) buy a bigger house and (UGH!) move all this stuff to a new location, or b) start to downsize my collection and streamline my possessions so they all fit comfortably in my current environment. Both ideas have merit to me, but both need further consideration. I’ve been told by many that when I see the right house, I’ll know it instantly! Since I haven’t felt that feeling yet, I’d best keep looking. And if it comes down to me staying put, then so be it. Mid-afternoon Sara and I went to grab dinner at Panera, though my mind was wandering elsewhere. I was still mentally locked in the house thing. I got home and met up with Jim Ojala my effects guy, and Kathy my seamstress. Jim brought Robo-Elvis by so Kathy could see what the mannequin looked like all put together. Once we had it assembled, Kathy set about taking the costume in to a nice custom fit. Robo-Elvis was getting closer and closer to completion! As we were finishing up I got a call from Chuck McCann inviting me to dinner. I had just eaten with Sara, but I agreed to meet him for a snack and catch up. The restaurant he was at was very near my house, so instead of wasting the gas I hopped on my bike, turned on my front and back blinky lights, so I wouldn’t’ be hit by a car, and biked over. It felt good biking in the brisk, evening breeze. But I’m afraid I wasn’t very good company as my mind was still wandering about the house issue. Chuck said the same thing I had heard earlier. When I find the right house, I’ll know it instantly. And even though the house I had been looking at had some very nice qualities, I just don’t think it’s the one for me. Too many unsettled storage issues. And I think without a functional garage, that house is going to be a tough sell. I also started thinking about storing my bicycle. Without a garage, where would I keep it? I don’t want to haul it inside the house, with its dirty tires rubbing on my floors. Oh well. Back to the drawing board I guess. I’ll tell Randy tomorrow to keep looking for possibilities as I’ve made my decision to pass on this option.
And how was YOUR week??!!!
