Monday the 1st – RELAXATION DAY! – Today was great, because it allowed me to get some things done. I phoned the Holiday Inn in Sioux Falls and arranged for a video projector to be placed in the banquet room for my parents’ upcoming 50th anniversary celebration. I was planning on showing a video, so I wanted to make sure it was going to be a seamless process. I paid some bills and then met up with my buddy Bruce Kulick for dinner at the Studio Cafe in Studio City. It was strange, because when we walked in, we saw my buddy Chuck McCann there eating with some friends, and Bruce saw one of his friends there eating with his parents. I guess that’s THE place to gather. Afterwards, I went home and grabbed a nap. Great, relaxing day!
Tuesday the 2nd – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! – Today is the official anniversary of my folks’ wedding, although their party was going to be this weekend. I called them and left a message, since I can hardly ever reach them. They sure stay busy! I went to the drug store to get some supplies for my upcoming trip. After getting sick after my San Francisco trip in March and my Vegas trip in May, I wasn’t taking ANY chances! In the late afternoon I met up with Andy at Floyd’s Barber Shop and got a hair trim and a touch up on my color. Then I went to Bob’s Big Boy for the usual Tuesday night meeting of creative minds. My friend Mechelle from church came by with her lovely friend Kassandra. Kassandra was going to have a root canal on Thursday so we were all collectively wishing her the best. She (like me) has had several dental issues this past year, but we just have to get through them and move on. It was a lot of fun, particularly since Kassandra brought her little dog along, and we all had fun cuddling him.
Wednesday the 3rd – FOUR SESSIONS! – The day started with a session for “Blue Dragon” at Studiopolis Burbank. I’m playing a character named Mikhail, and this was the second session I’ve had for him. When that was done, I had only about a half hour to get to my next session at Marc Graue Studios. I am unable to disclose the name of the videogame, but I got to be directed by the great Carl Weathers! You remember him as Apollo Creed from the “Rocky” movies. It was a lot of fun and I’ll be working with him again for sure! He even gave me a lozenge for my cough! When I finished up with that “secret” session, I went back to Studiopolis Burbank with only a half hour between the sessions again. WOW! I worked on “Bleach” doing some more Renji voice work. When I finished up there, I had to rush off home, feed the cat, walk the dog and head to Voice Trax West. I had bought some studio time to sing a song for my parents’ anniversary party. My dad requested I sing the song “Love in a Home” from the musical “Li’l Abner.” I was Li’l Abner in a production of it at the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse back in 1979, and my dad has loved that song since. However, with my cough still lingering, I thought it might be dangerous to sing it live. So I decided early in the week I would record the vocal and put a slideshow to it on a DVD. Since I was flying out Friday, it was important that I record the song today, so I could get the finished mixed track to my editor Scott Sebring. Even though I had done three sessions that day, and the voice was a little rough, I did it anyway because time was of the essence. I got to Voice Trax West, we laid in the instrumental track (done magnificently by my old pal Alex Zsolt) and I started singing. I didn’t need any lyrics because I had already memorized the song, so I turned the lights off in the studio, cuddled up to the mic and sang a pass of it. The engineer Paul played it back and we decided to re-do a few areas of the song. It took about a half hour in all, then he spent another half hour doing the mix. It turned out great! I had him e-mail the final mix to Scott, who would be putting it to the video that night and bringing me a DVD the next day. When I finished, I went over to Jerry’s Famous Deli to have dinner with my pal Sara, Richard Halperin, and Danny Smith (producer/writer for “Family Guy.”) Richard had gotten Danny and I backstage at the “Dark Shadows” convention last August, and Danny was so grateful he promised Richard dinner. But Danny’s schedule is so busy it took awhile for it to come together. But we had a great time! Laughing about old Little Rascals movies, and other crazy stuff. We were up late, and I had to get up early the next day for another full day of sessions!
Thursday the 4th – ANOTHER FULL DAY! – I was up bright and early and headed to Salami studios in North Hollywood for a new game based on the “Madagascar” films. Since I’m the “stunt voice” for Ben Stiller’s Alex character, it was about an hour and a half worth of work doing the voice tracks for the game. And seeing director Margaret Tang is always a blessing, and her little baby is beautiful! Then I stopped by a local talent agency with a package containing info and DVDs of “Uncle Davver’s Really Scary Movie Show” and “Livin’ On a Prayer.” Then I stopped by a local store that sells gold to look into investing some money in precious metals. It’s a fascinating world that I could easily see myself getting more and more involved in. Then I headed back to Studiopolis Burbank for a wonderful afternoon of voice work on “The Avengers.” I can honestly say that working with this group of talented people has been one of the most pleasant experiences in my professional career. What fun! After the session I went to Best Buy and picked up the new Blu Ray edition of “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.” I also bought “Clockwork Orange” for Danny Smith, since he hasn’t seen Blu Ray yet and loves all the Kubrick films. Whew! What a day! I spent the rest of the evening packing and getting ready to leave the next morning for my parents’ anniversary party in Sioux Falls.
Friday the 5th – OFF I GO! – My friend Sara got over early in the morning to takeover the household responsibilities, as she would be staying with the animals over the weekend while I was gone. I took off around 9:45 to LAX to catch my noon flight. I got to Park One and valet parked my car, took the shuttle over to the Northwest Airlines terminal and checked in. So far it was all going according to plan. I was a little tired from the previous week, so the first two hours of the trip to Minneapolis I slept. I got to the Minneapolis airport and noticed that they had a Godfather’s Pizza store there. I got a pizza and a root beer at neighboring A&W Root Beer and sat down to wait for the connecting flight. It was supposed to leave at 7, but there was no airplane at the gate! So then the screen read that the flight would be delayed a half hour! This was bad news because I had friends waiting on the other end so we could go see a late night screening of “Star Trek” at the theatre. Luckily, the plane got in, and the flight left only about 20 minutes after it was scheduled to. Even though the plane left late, it arrived in Sioux Falls early! Not sure how that happened, but it did. When I got there my folks were just walking in as I was renting my car, and my sister Bonnie and her family came out as well. The car they had ready for me was a Dodge…(are you ready for this?) AVENGER! I chuckled and knew it was one of those crazy serendipitous things in my life. Since I had the time, I decided to go to the downtown Holiday Inn and check into my room. But when I got into the room I noticed a rancid smell that made it seem like somebody had just been in my bathroom doing their business. I called the front desk and said the room smelled bad. The engineer Chris came up and said, “Yup, a pipe broke a few days ago we thought the issue had been resolved.” So he called the front desk on his walkie talkie and they said they were out of rooms…completely booked! So the only option was to put me on the 9th floor, on the executive level. It’s one of those levels you have to put your room keycard in the little slot in order to be cleared to get on the floor. I remembered immediately my experience at this hotel in 1977 when I went to Sioux Falls to see Elvis in concert. My friend Greg and I were on the elevator on our way back down to the lobby from the 10th floor. We went to the top level so we could look out over the city through the big windows in the restaurant. But the elevator stopped on the 9th floor mysteriously. We knew that was Elvis’ floor and there was no access to that floor for people like us. But the doors opened and Ed Parker, Elvis’ bodyguard got on. He was wearing his red “ELVIS ON TOUR” nylon jacket with the embroidered TCB patch on the sleeve. We talked to him for awhile on the way back down to the lobby. It is something I’ll never forget. After I got checked into room 905, I headed out to the theatre to meet my friends Scott, Bob and Andrea to see the new “Star Trek” movie. They’re my old “Trek” buddies from way back, so I’ve been waiting to see the movie with them. Even though they don’t like it, because it’s not exactly like the original series, I absolutely loved it. I realize that a franchise like this has to be refreshed for a whole new audience, so I was OK with it. There are several scenes in there that made me rather misty-eyed. Unfortunately the movie theatre left a LOT to be desired. There was a huge stain on the screen, and there were continual drop-outs in the digital print which were very distracting. Between the stinky hotel room and the crappy theatre, I was starting to feel that Sioux Falls might be slipping a bit. When we went to Perkins for a bite after the movie, it had started raining. I LOVED it! We had a great time talking about what we had just seen. I can’t wait to see it again. I headed back to my room and crashed out!
Saturday the 6th – THE PARTY! – My family wanted me downstairs in the banquet room bright and early at 9am to help decorate. I didn’t do much decorating (my sisters are MUCH better at that than I am) but I was happy to hang out and observe. I stopped over at the restaurant and had a little breakfast. I connected with Rob, the sound guy for the event, and set up my DVD player for the presentation of the anniversary DVD. But I didn’t want to run the real thing for the sound check, because it would have spoiled the surprise, so I ran some of the new “Garfield” cartoons that I brought to show my nieces. We tried to close the blinds in the room to shut out all the light, but the hotel guy who was working with us said that the blinds were broken and wouldn’t shut all the way. Wow, I was starting to think that this hotel was kind of ratty and not very well kept up. Between the problems with the stink-room the night before, the peeling wallpaper in areas of the hotel, the chipping paint on the hotel’s exterior and now the broken blinds, I was thinking that this hotel just didn’t care very much. Add to this the fact that the plastic key cards would work for awhile and then not work. I had to have them recoded several times. The gal at the front desk said it was because I placed them in my pocket next to my credit cards, but I’ve done that with all sorts of hotel keys of the like from all over the country, and never had that problem. Weird. Oh, I forgot to mention the shower. Even though the shower head was neat, with several settings, the water pressure was so low it took me twice as long to get all the shampoo out of my hair because of the low pressure. Plus, the headroom in the shower was low, as was the showerhead, so I had to play contortionist and bend over backwards to wash my hair. And Elvis stayed at this hotel???!!! Anyway, my sisters and brother-in-law Roger and I were going to put on a skit that my sister Bonnie wrote. It was basically “The History of Barb and Lew in 5 Minutes.” We did our first run-through and it went pretty much like first run-throughs go. But the second one went much better, and I figured one more run-through would make us solid. Then, I went to my room and I got all dressed up for the party at 1:30. The buffet lunch that was served was pretty darn good. All sorts of sandwich breads, meats, cheeses, potato salad, garden salad and more. It was darn good! The food is pretty good at this hotel, even though the accommodations are lackluster. The lunch went well, and my parents had people show up for their 50th anniversary that they hadn’t seen in years. I could tell they were having a great time. My son Zak even stopped in for awhile, which I think pleased my folks to no end. While I was sitting there with my friends, my 97 year old grandma walked over to the table of photos, and saw a gold ribbon that had fallen on the floor. She bent over and picked it right up and put it back on the table. We were all amazed that someone at her age could bend over with so much agility! Amazing! At 3:30 we started the program portion of the party. We started with our skit, which went really really well! I was proud of my sisters for pulling it off, though I always knew they were hams, but I was REALLY surprised by my brother-in-law Roger who showed a talent for performing none of us knew he had! He was great playing the part of my dad. My sister Bonnie played the part of my mom. I narrated and participated in a few of the bits. It got a rousing reception, and even my folks were impressed! My dad told me later that it turned out better than he thought it would. Apparently his expectations weren’t very high for the skit. hahaha. My sister Peggy gave a presentation, my nieces sang songs, I did a bit called “Thanks” that I had written for their 40th anniversary, but hadn’t had the chance to present. Then we ran the video “Love in a Home” to end the show. This video had slides in it from the old days– of us as youngsters, of our late grandparents, even my dog and hamsters! I also had Scott edit in some old 8mm movie footage of my sisters running around the yard, my dog walking around the patio, and my late grandparents walking up the driveway to come visit. I could see my mom starting to cry, and then I saw my cousin Emile cry and go hug my mother. I was really glad I decided not to sing it live! I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the song anyhow because of the lump in my throat. When the video was over, there was silence for a bit, and then applause. My dad, with tears in his eyes, came over and gave me a big hug. I’ll never forget that moment! As I turned the lights back on in the room, it was DEAD SILENT! Nobody said a word, and the room stayed silent for about a minute! I went over to my friends Scott, Bob and Dave in the back of the room and said, “Boy, I sure know how to bring down a room, don’t I?” Their laughs kind of broke the silence and brought everyone back. Scott Sebring did a remarkable job on the video, and I was able to present my sisters and parents with a copy of the DVD for their own collection. My “new” uncle Bill asked for a copy of it as well, since it’s really the first video he’s ever seen of his biological father, my grandpa. Imagine never having met your real father, and you go to a party and you see him smiling and waving, walking up the driveway. I tried to put myself in his place and imagine how that must feel. It was an absolute magical afternoon, and I was exhausted. I walked around with my buddy Dave for awhile, who was also at the hotel for a wedding on the 10th floor. So while he went to greet the bride and groom, I caught a nap for awhile in my room. When I woke up an hour later, it was time for the dance. I got downstairs in time to see my parents have their anniversary dance to Shania Twain’s song “Still the One.” After awhile I was getting hungry, so I took my friends Andrea, Dave and Sam out to dinner. After a delicous taco burger at Taco John’s, I went to Dairy Queen for a banana split! YUM! We stopped at a bar briefly, upon the suggestion of Sam, but in Sioux Falls you can still smoke in bars. So needless to say I didn’t’ last very long. I went back to my room and turned in. It was an awesome day!
Sunday the 7th – OFF I GO! – I packed up my stuff, went to visit my folks in their room, and got ready to leave. The hotel had charged my parents for the video projector, when they promised me on the phone that it would go on MY bill! Geez, can these guys do ANYTHING right? All in all, my parents and I were very unimpressed with the hotel and my dad swore this was his last dealings with Holiday Inn. I drove over to my friend Scott’s house to watch some Blu Ray “Star Trek.” On the way, I stopped at B&G Milky Way and picked up a delicous hand-made strawberry milkshake, and four sloppy joe’s…which you can’t find anywhere here! I took my first bit in the car and said out loud, “OH MY GOSH!” They were so delicous! I delighted in eating them and drinking my shake on the way to Scott’s house. While I was waiting for Scott and his wife Patty to arrive, I sat in my rental car (the Avenger) and listened to satellite radio. I found the LA traffic channel and delighted in listening to what the traffic and weather was like at home on a Sunday morning. We got inside Scott’s house, and my pal Bob showed up as well. While I was watching “Balance of Terror” on Blu Ray, Scott’s dog Marino got up on my lap. I thought, oh! How nice! But Patty said he will cuddle up to you with the true intent of stealing your food! How funny! He tried to sniff my milkshake but I told him that wasn’t for puppies. We enjoyed watching “Star Trek” immensely. Then we went to Scott’s weapons safe to check out some of his new gun acquisitions. While we were looking over his ample weaponry, Scott’s wife said “Oh no!” Apparently, Marino got his milkshake after all! She turned away for a second and when she looked back again, Marino had his entire snout buried in my milkshake, lapping away! He was trying to get at one of the big strawberries in my shake! She brought Marino in and he was licking his mustache and beard to get every last drop off! His tongue didn’t stop darting in and out of his mouth for about 5 minutes. We all laughed until we cried! Then, as the milkshake started to dry on his snout and get sticky, he tried to rub it off with his paws. When that didn’t work he started rubbing his snout on the piles of clean laundry sitting on the floor! We laughed again until we cried even more! Crazy dog! I headed out to the airport to take off, but stopped to pick up my son Zak first. I went to turn my rental car in, and then met up with my folks at the little restaurant in the center of the airport. I checked in at the gate and paid an extra 15 bucks for an exit row seat. My friend Andrea showed up with her sister Liz and her son Jaydon. Apparently, Jaydon is a HUGE anime fan, and wanted to meet the voice of Renji. I brought some photos along to sign for he and his siblings and we had a great talk. But they had to get going so they took off. I bid my parents farewell, and went to security to get screened. The officer on duty there was my old pal Bill Hoier, who used to be on the Sioux Falls PD. When we did a promotion called “The Zoo Coup” back in 1988, where my friends and I dressed up as Batman, Robin and other heroes for the MDA over Labor Day, Bill was instrumental in getting off-duty officers on-site to donate their time. Though Bill didn’t recognize me right off, I said in Batman’s voice “Excuse me sir, have you seen the Penguin or Riddler here today?” He beamed and we shook hands and talked for a bit. I still remember Bill on the 6 o’clock news after the Zoo Coup was over, talking about how great it was that Batman and Robin were able to come help defeat the Penguin, and how it would have been a disaster had they not been there. He played it off on the TV news with a completely straight face, and in a dead serious tone! It was magical! It still makes me laugh to think of it today! I got on the plane and realized that Northwest had sold me an exit row seat on THIS flight…not the flight from Minneapolis to LAX! Why would I need to pay 15 bucks for an exit row seat on a 35 minute flight? UGH! So, I made the most of it and stretched out. The flight was delayed a little bit, and I was getting nervous about making my connection. We touched down at about 6:10, and my flight to LAX was leaving at 7:10! And my gate to LA was on the other side of the airport! I’m glad they have those people movers because it helped me get there faster. I had my i-Pod on so I could just tune everything else out and make my way in haste to my gate. It was a great moment. ‘Let It Rain’ by Eric Clapton came on my i-Pod and it has a great beat to walk to. Then ‘Peter Gunn’ by Art of Noise came on my i-Pod and that was a REALLY great song to walk to! In order to get where I was going I had to take an escalator to another floor, but it was OUT OF ORDER! I had to make a quick decision and took the elevator. I got to the gate in time, but was obsessed by the sight of a Godfather’s Pizza location a ways back. The gal at the gate told me I had time to go get a pizza if I wanted, and they wouldn’t leave without me. I also told her that I had bought an exit row seat in Sioux Falls, but they mistakenly sold me one for the short flight from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis, instead of Minneapolis to LA. So she said she’s see what she could do. So I turned on my i-Pod again, and backtracked all the way back to the center of the airport to find Godfather’s. I got a pepperoni pizza and an A&W root beer. I made it back to the gate just in time, as the waiting area was completely empty! The plane had been loaded. But…GOOD NEWS! The nice lady had gotten me an exit row seat! I got on board, got settled into my window exit row seat and ate my pizza. We didn’t take off for about a half hour, since the crew had just come from another flight that had run late. So it gave me a little more time to enjoy my dinner. I nodded off for the first hour of the flight, but then watched an episode of “Mission Impossible” while I glanced out the window from time to time to look down on the cities we were flying over. The moon had started to rise on one side of the plane, while out the other side of the plane the sun was setting. It was beautiful! When “Mission Impossible” was over, I turned on my i-Pod again. As the sun was setting completely and the moon was shining on the tops of the cloud cover we were flying over (an amazing sight!) the song “Fly By Night” by Rush popped up on my i-Pod. It was one of those magical, amazing moments! We touched down about 20 minutes late at 9:32, but didn’t get to the gate to deplane until about 20 minutes later. I got my bag at baggage claim and just as I had stepped out the door to call the shuttle, THERE IT WAS! I whistled, flagged it down, and got a ride back to the parking lot. It took awhile to get there because the traffic at LAX was packed! Lots of people flying back and forth. It was good to see so many people out there spending money and traveling! I got my car and hit the freeway. When I got home I took Sara out to get a bite and paid her for her house-sitting services. By the time I got unpacked, did my auditions for Monday, and fed the animals, I was beat! But it was a great, MEMORABLE weekend!
And how was YOUR week??!!
