RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Since I was about 6 or 7 I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins in “Dark Shadows.” Recently I saw this on the front door of a supermarket. I’m thinking a few of the letters fell off and they actually meant to say “$5 Friday,” but I just thought that $5 Frid was too funny. I just imagined walking into the store and seeing all sorts of Jonathan Frid collectibles for $5.
I have absolutely NO idea why “Don’t Pull Your Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds popped into my head this past week. Talk about random toonage!
Monday the 18th – OPEN THE DOOR! – Though I’m not usually a morning person, I had to get up early to meet up with the guys who would be installing my new garage door. My old wooden one was warped and noisy. This one will be a sleek, metal door. They worked for about three hours while I napped on the couch. I snoozed all through their drilling and pounding. That goes to show how tired I was. But the door was installed and it was very nice. After they left I continued to nap for a bit. My houseguest Bunny the dog was asleep on the beanbag footstool (her favorite place to crash out), Roxy was asleep on the floor, and all was peaceful and nice. I got up around 4 and walked the dogs, talked to my neighbors, and we let our dogs play free in the courtyard. I came back inside to do some work, write Wally’s Week and wait for Edi to come back. My pal Edi was in town doing a job all week, and that’s why I was dogsitting her teacup Maltese named Bunny. We had dinner and then I came home for a short nap. It was overall a nice, relaxing Monday. I got up later to walk Roxy and Bunny, and watch an episode of “Barnaby Jones” on DVD before bed.
Tuesday the 19th – GOOD FRIENDS! – At 2:30 I headed to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet with my friend Jaime, whom I hadn’t seen in about a year. It was good to dine and catch up on what was going on in her life. I took her to the train station and headed home to let my friend Edi in who was back from her job. I took Edi, and my “adopted grandma” Shirley to dinner at Denny’s. We met up with my pal Brittney Powell there, and we all had a great time! I came back home and napped in my room, while Edi and Brittney chatted in the Puppet Room and got caught up on all their news and happenings. Later I got up and did a bunch of auditions. It’s getting warm again outside. But hey, it’s July. That’s what happens. I did some preparation for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog party Friday night in San Diego.
Wednesday the 20th – GOOD MOON ON THE RISE! – The first order of the day was an ADR (additional dialogue recording) session for “Sonic Boom” at Studiopolis in Burbank. Executive Producer Bill Frieberger and I enjoyed lunch at the Coral Café after the session, and we got to discuss a lot of particulars for the upcoming Sonic 25th Anniversary party that Friday in San Diego. On the way home I stopped by my mailbox to get my packages, I hit CVS to pick up a refill of my allergy medication, I got some groceries, and then I headed home to unload the car. It was a really hot day. I grabbed a short nap on the couch, until my friend Edi came back from her job. We had dinner at the Studio Café and then I came back home to meet up with my friend Jasmine for some pre-Comic Con trip work. I did some auditions and then went to bed to grab a quick nap. As I laid there, I watched a gorgeous, HUGE, orange full moon rise over the eastern horizon. It was fun to just watch the moon move across the sky and listen to some nice music. It put me in a very relaxed place. After my nap I got up to scan a bunch of checks to prepare a deposit for the next day. I reconciled my checkbooks and bank statements, did my corporate bookkeeping, and then made a pot pie and watched another episode of “Barnaby Jones.”
Thursday the 21st – ONE YEAR LATER! – I remember getting the text like it was yesterday. My best friend Terry Crisp’s brother Kelvin texted me to call him immediately. I knew what the news was even before we spoke. My contractor/confidante and best friend of 21 years Terry Crisp had passed away. That was exactly one year ago. I think about him a lot and miss him often. I made up my packing list for my brief trip to San Diego for the Sonic party, did a few errands, stopped by the post office to mail some things, checked my mailbox for packages, went to the bank to make some deposits, get some cash for the weekend, and then I hit Michaels Crafts to try and find a 4’ by 8’ piece of foam core. On my old garage door I had hung a “Scooby Doo 2” bus stop sized movie poster. It had the character I voiced prominently displayed in the lower corner. It was a gift from my pal in Birmingham, England who sent it to me after the movie had opened back in 2004. But now that I have a new metal door, it doesn’t have a flat back. So I need to mount the poster on something flat to hang it on the new door. But Michaels didn’t have anything that large. Edi’s husband Elliot had come to town so she and Elliot went to stay at his friend’s house. Since my pal Brittney would be assisting me in San Diego, we felt it was best to have her stay in the Puppet Room (now that Edi had vacated it) so we would be ready to hit the train first thing Friday morning. I watched the orientation videos for jury service on-line (I’m on call for jury duty all next week) so I’m up to speed on procedure. I spent the rest of the night packing for my short trip to San Diego.
Friday the 22nd – TRAIN IN VAIN! – Promptly at 10:30am our cab picked us up outside Planet Wallywood and whisked us to the Burbank Amtrak platform by the airport. I allowed plenty of time to get there, which meant we had to spend about 45 minutes outside in the hot sun waiting for the train. The train was already a bit late, but when people started climbing on Amtrak realized that they were rapidly becoming overwhelmed. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that it was Comic Con weekend. So once we got to our next stop, which was L.A. Union Station, they took us off that train and put us on another train. Which meant that now, they had to stock the train with supplies to accommodate the influx of passengers. Another delay. My pal and fellow Voice Actor Kirk Thornton and his wife Julie were riding with Brittney and I, and as we rode to San Diego they calculated that the Old Town San Diego stop was much closer to our hotel than downtown San Diego. So we got off at the Old Town stop and took a cab to the Airport Ramada Inn (or as Brittney called it…the “No Tell Motel”). It’s on Rosecrans Street, and I recalled that it wasn’t in a very good area of town. I grabbed a short nap, a shower, and I got ready for the event. Just as we were leaving for the House of Blues (the event’s venue), in walked other fellow Voice Actors Colleen and Roger. They had chosen to drive from L.A. instead of take the train. They had been on the road for about 5 hours. It normally takes about 2 hours to drive to San Diego from L.A., but on Comic Con weekend it at least doubles. So I had already had a nap and a shower, and they were just getting into town. I told Kirk I think we made the right choice with the Amtrak, even WITH all the delays. We got to the House of Blues and went to the 5th Street entrance, but they weren’t going to allow us in. We showed them the exact instructions via e-mail that told us to go to the 5th Avenue entrance. It was hot, it was getting crowded, and we were getting steamed. Finally the organizer arrived and cleared us. Come to find out the 5th Avenue entrance instructions were only good during certain times…something we failed to comprehend. But we got in, and it was time for food. I guess House of Blues likes to maintain interior temperature conditions to be very close to that of the real New Orleans. It was hot, humid and stuffy. Immediately I was feeling claustrophobic and I needed to get some air. The “Sonic Boom” voice actors headed to the autograph table to sign things for fans, and it was a lot of fun meeting everyone. Then came the most fun of the evening…the on-stage script reading. Though not initially part of the schedule, I implored the producers of the event to include a live reading. In my experience at Voice Actor panels at Comic Con, I know that one of the most enjoyable things for the fans is to see their favorite Voice Actors performing the character voices they love. The writers created a very clever and funny 3 minute sketch which the audience totally enjoyed. When each actor was brought out on stage, their headshot was projected up behind them on a large screen. The headshot I submitted was my famous “Spooky the Cat” headshot, where I’m holding my cat and we’re both staring off to the side. It seems to be a fan favorite. When I got to the microphone to say hi to the crowd, I had them cheer for Spooky the Cat. They enthusiastically provided a rousing round of cheers for my cat. I thought that was really funny. This crowd was keyed up and ready to party! When the party was over I met my friends Mark and Connie at Brian’s 24, a San Diego diner. My old friend Panda came over to say hi, and she was in a few remaining pieces of her Harley Quinn costume. It was good to see her again and share some laughs. I got back to the hotel room completely exhausted, and looking forward to going back home. I was glad that I had decided to forego this year’s San Diego Comic Con, and only do the off-site event for Sonic.
Saturday the 23rd – DREAMWORKS? DREAMSCAPE!? – Mark and Connie came to pick up Brittney and myself from the “No Tell Motel” at noon. We went to eat a late breakfast at the Broken Yolk. Then we went in search of Dole Whip. Connie had heard of a place locally that featured Dole Whip (my favorite pineapple dessert) so we went looking for it based on her internet search. BINGO! We found the place and enjoyed a large Dole Whip on a nice afternoon. Next door at Petco, they were having doggie adoptions. Not being one to ever resist petting dogs, we went next door to see the little critters. They dropped us off at the downtown San Diego train station, and though we were early, we got ready to head back to Burbank. But again, Amtrak seemed to be overwhelmed by the influx of riders, so it was delayed by about 15 minutes. I’m glad we bought business class tickets. The train was jam packed! On the ride home we chatted with Johane, a producer at Dreamworks. She was a very nice lady and good company. As we pulled into the L.A. area we were shocked. The skies looked orange and apocalyptic. We had heard about the fires plaguing the northern section of L.A., but this looked awful. The sun was drowned out by a thick, orange/gray haze. It brought to mind the train scene in the movie “Dreamscape,” where in his dream, the President of the United States was given a train tour to survey all of the damage created by his decision to launch nuclear war. We got to Burbank about a half hour late, and our friend James picked us up from the platform. We immediately went to Planet Wallywood where guests had already arrived for movie night. We watched “Young Frankenstein” in honor of our friend Edi who was in town. It’s her favorite movie and she missed her movie night friends. When everyone left I grabbed a nap, and then got on-line to see if I needed to report for jury duty on Monday. Sure enough, Monday morning at 9:30am I needed to be there. Rats. It was still very warm out, plus the fires made the air extra thick and gross.
Sunday the 24th – TOO HOT TO TROT! – As is my usual routine on a Sunday, I slept all afternoon. When I got up just before evening church I determined that it was still too hot to walk over with Roxy. So I went by myself. She was missed. Everyone loves her there. After the service was over I took my assistant Sara to see “Star Trek Beyond.” It was good, but seeing Anton Yelchin on-screen generated more than a few throat lumps and misty eyes in this boy. He sure was a nice guy, and I enjoyed the limited contact I had with him. His parents are my neighbors and he used to walk his dog through our complex from time to time. It was also very emotional to see Leonard Nimoy in his final Spock appearance, albeit in still photos. After the movie I came home to do my auditions and hit the hay so I could be up early for “jury doody.” I just know I’m going to hate this. Wish me luck.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
The SUPER-ADORABLE Bunny the dog was our houseguest for the past week. Too cute for words!
And here’s some video of Bunny in “action.”
Outside the Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary party at the House of Blues in San Diego.
Josh had come all the way in from the east coast just for the party! He didn’t even go to Comic Con!
The strawberry shake at Brian’s 24 was too big to be believed. But I drank every drop!
Here’s the line outside the House of Blues before the party. House of “BLUES?” Get it? (Sonic the Hedgehog is blue.)
