RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
On the rare occasion I get to sleep in, it usually doesn’t last for too long. If it isn’t Roxy jumping up on the bed wanting her tummy rubbed, my cat Spooky climbs up and walks back an forth on my body. My folks sent me this meme they found on-line and I thought it summed up my situation pretty well. The cat in the meme even looks like Spooky!
I’m about 6 episodes into a show called “The Persuaders” starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis. The show was produced in the early 70’s by the BBC and I recently acquired all the episodes on DVD. I watch one every Saturday night just before bed. I’m enjoying it immensely and the only downside is that its run was so short; just 25 episodes! But the theme song has stuck in my head. It’s not surprising since it was composed by the great John Barry; composer of most of the James Bond movie soundtracks.
Monday the 27th – TERRY TRIBUTE! – Bright and early in the morning I got up and prepped for another “Project X” session at Bang Zoom studios in Burbank. We worked from 10am to 12:30pm, and we won’t need to record any more on this project for a few weeks. I stopped by Dino’s Pizza to get a sandwich to go, dropped by my mailbox to pick up my mail, went by the comic book store to pick up the latest issue of the ’66 Batman comic, got some gas in my Mustang, and stopped by the flower stop to get some birthday flowers for a friend in Omaha, and some flowers for my friend Terry’s memorial that evening. I swung by Studiopolis to pick up a check, and then went home to walk Roxy. My friend Brittney Powell came by to hang out with Roxy and Spook for the evening, because the trip down to Terry’s memorial service was going to be considerable. It was an hour down there in traffic, but luckily we left nice and early. So since we had some time to kill, my assistant Sara and I decided to stop in at Howard’s Coffee Shop and get a bite to eat. It was a good call. It had the look of the old diners I used to frequent when I lived in South Dakota; even down to the wagon wheel décor! Since it was the middle of the afternoon we were the only ones in there. I really enjoyed the environment and the smell of those good ol’ diner burgers on the grill! We finished up and went to the church for the service. I purposely sat in the last row because I knew, though it would be sad, that I would be snickering and giggling to myself through some of the service. Thinking about all of the crazy, nutty and funny stuff we used to do tickled me. At memorial services I like to focus on the good times when they were alive. Any sadness I feel comes for myself and his family because we’ll miss him. But I can’t feel sadness for Terry because he’s out of pain and in a better place. (Read my tribute to him here) At the end of the service I said goodbye to his widow and family and we headed out. Sara found a local Dairy Queen so we stopped by there and I enjoyed a banana split. I got home and got a shower and took a quick nap. I got up to do my auditions and then watched another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” from the 12th and final season DVD set.
Tuesday the 28th – TRANSITIONAL TUESDAY! – I enjoyed sleeping in immensely, and when I got up I did some work around the house. I met Sara for lunch at Panera, and then I hit CVS for some supplies, the bank to make a deposit, and the store to get some groceries. When I got home I started typing up Wally’s Week, and then scooted out for dinner with my neighbor Bob regarding some business about our homeowner’s association. I came back to get a short nap on the couch, and then got up to work on-line and around the house. I walked Roxy and then hit the hay. I had to be up early for a session the next morning, but I managed to squeeze in another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” before bed.
Wednesday the 29th – SONIC, STUDIOPOLIS, SARA & SUBWAY! – At 11:30 I was due at Studiopolis to do another session for the “Sonic Boom” cartoon, and since they’re so close to my dog’s groomer I decided to take her over and drop her off first for a bath. I was there at 11:30 but didn’t get into actually record until 12:30; which is fine because I got to relax for a while on a very comfortable couch and eat a bagel and cream cheese. YUM! But once I got in the studio it only took about 10 minutes for me to record all my lines. Director Jack Fletcher is cool like that. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it from his voice cast. Roxy wasn’t ready yet so I headed back home to do some work around the house. Sara came by to pick some mail and a check, and by then it was time to go get Roxy. I stopped in to Subway to get a tuna sub before I picked her up. When I got home I ate my sandwich and started prepping for a session the next day. I’d be doing the voice of an actor who passed away back in 2005 for an animated feature film. I wanted to run a bunch of his episodes to study his voice, inflections and nuances. It helps that I really love the show, so it was fun research. I really wish I was able to tell you what the project is, but in due time I’ll be able to give you more information. It seems in this day of social media all the studios are being very careful with what information they want disclosed about their projects. I fully understand. I got a bit of a sinus headache (the allergies have been really bad lately) so I took a pill and napped for 3 hours. When I got up I did more research for my session the next day, made some phone calls, did my auditions, and made some dinner to enjoy while watching another “Hawaii Five-O” episode.
Thursday the 30th – ONLY IN VOICE-OVER! – I was a bit nervous about my gig later that day and I couldn’t sleep. It was imperative that I totally nail this character. But the job was a dream come true. It did involve doing the voice for a DC comics villain. I hit Taco Bell and then went to the studio to get prepped for the session. It was great fun and we all had a wonderful time exchanging stories and anecdotes. Then I headed off to Skylark Sound in Burbank to do a session for Disney’s Playmation game. This was the voice of a villain in the Marvel universe! The irony struck me. Only in the world of Voice-Over can you play a villain in the DC comics universe in the early afternoon, and then go play a villain in the Marvel comics universe in the late afternoon. I love my life! I hit my mailbox to get my mail, and then swung by McDonald’s for a bite to eat. I got home and walked Roxy and napped on the couch. I was still high from the incredible day I just had. I got up later to do auditions, and treated myself to some carry-out food from Denny’s to eat while watching “Hawaii Five-O” in bed!
Friday the 31st – FRUSTRATING FRIDAY! – As usual I didn’t get to bed until around 7:30am (I’m a night owl!) which is normally alright. But not today. Around 8:30am I heard all this noise outside my house. I got up and took Roxy out only to discover that a huge shady tree that lived between my house and my neighbor’s was being cut down! The tree was gorgeous and huge, and provided a goodly amount of shade for both of our houses. I felt like I had been hit in the gut. All the branches were gone, and it was just a huge stick standing there in the dirt. No more shade. No more birds and squirrels hanging out in the tree’s branches looking for food. I felt sick. But the sidewalk between our houses had become quite badly buckled because of the tree’s enormous roots, to the point where it had become unsafe. The fault lied with the planners who plated a tree too close to the foundation of the houses decades ago. I hated to see it go, but the worker told me an expert came out and determined that the roots would likely continue to grow, and possible into the foundation of our homes! Unfortunately they continued to make all sorts of noise the rest of the day. So I didn’t attempt to go back to bed, but instead I stayed up to do some work on the computer. My maids arrived around 2 so they could start cleaning Planet Wallywood. I tried to take little cat naps while they worked but I never got any quality sleep. Days like today make being a night owl really difficult! The workers finished up with the tree around 3:30 so I made myself something to eat, checked e-mails one final time, and then laid down for a nap at 6. In addition to all the noise, the unseasonal humidity made life difficult too. But my A/C was cranking and I managed to get a few hours of sleep. I got up at 9 so my friend Andrea could come over and do some work around the house. Then we called my assistant Sara and we met her at DuPar’s for a late dinner. For some reason I was craving bacon & eggs! After dinner I stopped by the grocery store to get some groceries and then headed home to relax. I watched another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” which is one of the final episodes in the series. I think I only have 2 more before the series is done.
Saturday the 1st – SAT-URDAY! – The day is appropriately named because that’s all I did…SAT around all day and goofed off. It felt good to rest and catch up on some much-needed relaxation. I had been going fairly non-stop since just before Comic Con, and I was looking forward to a week of vegging out. We had movie night later that evening; with the Vincent Price classic “Madhouse” on Blu Ray! When my guests left I worked around the house, worked on the computer organizing some photo files, and then made my traditional, enormous Saturday night salad, and watched another episode of the old BBC show from the 70’s “The Persuaders” with Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.
Sunday the 2nd – BABY BIRD! – About mid-afternoon I got up and continued working on my computer organizing some photo files. My old pals Joe and Zandra drove down from Lompoc along with their grandson Jameson, and we all went to evening church. On the way out of church I saw a newly hatched baby bird just lying helplessly on the front steps of the church. I couldn’t figure out how he got there. He was still alive, but just barely. I looked up to try and figure out from where he had fallen. And upon closer inspection I realized that the lighting fixtures that were inset into the canopy were home to several bird nests. It looked like this little guy had gotten bumped from the next and had fallen about 20 feet to the cement below. It was amazing he was still moving. I’m sure there were some broken bones in his little body. The birds overhead in the next were chirping wildly. I felt helpless. What could I do? Luckily some woman who was coming up for the next service scooped him up in her hands and went inside with him. I was hoping that we could find a ladder to place him back in the nest, but we would have needed a VERY large ladder to do that since the canopy was so high. Realizing that there wasn’t much more I could do, I took Roxy and we walked home to head to dinner. I met the gang at The Coral Café to get a bite to eat. It was fun catching up after all these years. Jameson, who’s 7, told me of his love for convertibles. So we all piled in my Mustang, popped the top, and had a nice drive with the wind in our hair. When they left I laid down on the most comfortable couch in the universe and grabbed a few hours’ worth of sleep. I got up to do my auditions and checked my schedule for the forthcoming week. It looked like the schedule had relaxed considerably. Add to that the fact that I checked the extended forecast for Palm Springs and it actually looked pretty good; next weekend in particular. The normal temp there is 111 to 114 degrees this time of year, but from the looks of the forecast it looks like a slight cooling trend is moving in on Friday. The expected high is only about 103 and I can deal with that! To sweeten the deal even further, they were saying that the lows at night were going to be in the 70’s; and not the usual upper 80’s! Since I sleep all day when I’m there I don’t much care about the high temps, but when I’m staying up all night looking at stars and relaxing the overnight lows are what I’m most interested in. So I got on-line and made my reservation for a quick jaunt next weekend to my beloved Palm Springs! And in the event that the weather forecast changes between now and Tuesday I can cancel the reservation without penalty.
And how was YOUR week??!!
