RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I’m getting excited to head back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota over the 4th of July weekend to help my Grandma Wingert celebrate her 100th birthday!
I don’t know a thing about this song or this artist, and I discovered it almost accidentally. But it sure is a catchy song! “Just a Ride” by Jem!
Monday the 11th – MONDAY MANIA! – I find it funny that, though Garfield the cat is famous for hating Mondays, we always record “The Garfield Show” on Mondays. It was a stellar cast to be sure! Laraine Newman was guesting, as was the Emmy nominee (and now Emmy WINNER!) June Foray. Rose Marie, from the old “Dick Van Dyke Show” was there as well. During a break, Rose was telling us stories about how she literally opened Vegas with Jimmy Durante and Xavier Cugat. She was very young at the time but had a great act. She told stories about working with Bugsy Siegel, and even how Al Capone took her to dinner with his goodfellas. What an amazing life and career! All my lines in the episode were finished early, so I was released. I hit the Wendy’s drive-thru for lunch and then got home to walk Roxy. I changed clothes and headed off to NBC for the taping of “The Tonight Show.” When we wrapped, I went back home to do some more work, feed my cat Spooky, and walk Roxy again. I laid down on the couch to take a quick nap, but it ended up being a long one! I got up much later than I had wanted. When I woke up I did a bunch of auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them into my agents. I finished up some other work and hit the hay for the night. I had a bit of a sinus headache, and a had a very early morning the next day.
Tuesday the 12th – TERRIFIC TUESDAY! –I got up early and hit the freeway toward Santa Monica. I went to a studio called Lime to record the voice-over for a new TV spot for Old Navy. VERY funny! We finished up and I headed back home to record a bit for “TTS” in my home studio. I changed clothes and sped off to NBC to tape “TTS.” Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray from “Dallas” were on the show, and it was great to see them get a standing ovation. The show is coming back to television with some of the old cast, and some new. My pal Kathy Bartels was there in the audience with some friends. She works with some of the “Dallas” castmembers for autograph shows and appearances. After the show I went home to do some more work around the house, and then my pal Brittney Powell came over to help with some stuff. I got a call from my agent late in the day telling me to be back at Lime studios in Santa Monica the next morning for a redo of the Old Navy spot we did earlier in the day. So, another early morning for Wally! I took a quick nap, then did my auditions, and then took a nice midnight stroll with Roxy and hit the hay.
Wednesday the 13th – WILD WEDNESDAY! – I was up and at ’em early again for another trip down to Santa Monica for Old Navy at Lime Studios. But I noticed that I was very low on gas, so in the middle of morning drive traffic, I found an off-ramp and gassed up. Even with the quick pitstop, I still made it to the gig on time. But the studio we worked in had problems with the air conditioning. And I always expend a lot of energy when working, especially in doing high energy sessions like Old Navy. So I was sweating like a pig. I had to be at Voice Trax West for US Airways soon, and I was hoping to get home to grab a shower before the session. But no luck. I made it to Voice Trax and explained to Paul the engineer that I might be a little rancid. Luckily I record my US Airways sessions all alone, so no worries of offending anyone with my “essence.” We stopped the session for a little while so I could record some bits for “TTS.” When I finished I went to a little kiosk to buy a new remote for my auxiliary garage where I park my Gran Torino. Until I find the other one in my house, which up to this point has gone missing, I’ll use this one to get in and out of my parking space. I had the guy program it, but when I went to my place to try it out, it didn’t work. The grounds maintenance man Rod helped me program it the correct way. Come to find out the little numbered switches in the back of the remote were programmed upside down. Once we flipped it and programmed it correctly, it worked great! I got home and walked Roxy, showered (finally!) and changed clothes. Then I hit the road for NBC. My old pal Deb and her boyfriend Lee were in town for the L.A. Kings Stanley Cup parade, so I got them tickets for the taping. They had a blast! After the show we went to my friend Ruben Procopio’s house to see the sculpt he did on Andy Kaufman’s lifecast. The lifecast I have of Andy has a very expressionless face, but Ruben sculpted in a sneer, similar to how Andy looked when he did his Elvis act. This will be cast and placed on my Andy/Elvis mannequin which displays Andy’s original Elvis costume, which I just recently added to my collection. Then I took Deb and Lee to my house for the tour, we walked Roxy down to Studio Cafe and we all had dinner, along with my assistant Sara, my friend Edi, and my pal and contractor Terry. Studio Cafe allows dogs on their patio, and they do big business because of it. Edi brought her dog Bunny along and we had fun feeding the doggies grilled chicken pieces. We got back to my house and we all hit the jacuzzi for awhile. Terry fixed a light in my back entry way and then everyone took off for the evening. I managed to squeeze in a quick nap, then got up to do my auditions in the quietness of the late evening. I did some more work around the house and then hit the hay to be ready for another early morning.
Thursday the 14th – HAPPY FLAG DAY! – I got a hotline call to be at NBC at 11:30 for a comedy bit. So I leaped from the comfort of my bed, walked Roxy and got cleaned up. I did the bit for “TTS,” then headed over to Studiopolis to do some more episodes of “Bleach.” After the session was over they set up the video equipment to shoot my greeting for an upcoming convention I can’t attend. It’s to promote a new anime show I’m doing, and since I have an out of town trip coming up, I won’t be able to join the rest of the cast at the appearance. I was wearing my new flag shirt I bought during my most recent trip to Palm Springs. It’s an awesome, high quality shirt with embroidery and true flag colors. Then it was off to NBC to tape “TTS,” and then home to walk Roxy and feed Spook. Later that evening I had dinner with my friend Kristy at Paty’s on the patio. Then I got home to grab a nap. When I got up I tackled a ton of auditions which were due Friday. Then it was back to bed for a few hours of sleep before yet another early morning! I’m sure looking forward to getting out of town for a little for the Voice 2012 conference!
Friday the 15th – FRIED-DAY! – After only 3 hours of sleep, I was already feeling fried. But I had a LONG way to go before I could rest. I was up early again, and headed to Mai Tai studios in Burbank. This was for an Old Navy radio commercial. I hadn’t seen Kevin, the owner of Mai Tai, since late 2011. Since I had seen him last, he got a new Australian Shepherd puppy named Kona. Only 6 months old, Kona was a bundle of energy. I had a great time playing with him and wrestling around. We finished the session after an hour and a half, and I was off and running to my next session, after a quick stop through the McDonald’s drive-thru of course. I got to Studiopolis to do another session for the new anime cartoon we’ve been doing. We’re about halfway through the run of episodes. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope the viewers enjoy all the hard work. During the session we had to stop to do 3 comedy bits for “TTS,” then we continued on. We finished up around 3, and then it was time for me to head to NBC for the final “TTS” for the week. I got there just in time to meet up with Bodie who was bringing my Torino back from repair. The week before my Torino gave out, and I wasn’t sure why. It just stopped while I was waiting to turn left to go home. Come to find out, the fuel filter was filthy and there was some junk in the carb. He cleaned it all out, popped in a new fuel filter and it’s good as gold! When the show was over I hopped in my Torino, left my Mustang in the parking lot temporarily, and went over to Floyd’s to get a touch-up on my hair for the weekend. Then I headed home to pack up for my weekend trip to Voice 2012 in Anaheim. I didn’t really have any particular reason to be there, I wasn’t on the schedule to do any seminars. But I like Jim and Penny who run the conference, and I always have a great time meeting new friends, so since I was in dire need of a break I decided to take a few days off. After packing, my assistant and housesitter Sara drove me to NBC so I could load up my luggage in my Mustang, and I took off to Anaheim from there. It only took about 40 minutes to get to Anaheim, but even at 11 at night the streets were full of people just coming out of Disneyland. I stopped at Denny’s to get some food to go, and then drove to the Disneyland Hotel to check into my room. My friend Amanda lives down that way, so she met up with me and we enjoyed catching up while eating some delicious Denny’s food. I was totally enjoying my hotel room. The light-up headboard that played a music box version of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” I turned the AC up to full and settled in for a long sleep! MMMMM!!!
Saturday the 16th – VOICE 2012! – I slept in until noon and it felt wonderful! I awoke and got cleaned up to go check out the festivities. I found Jim and Penny, and my pal Eric who runs an agency in New York that I work with from time to time. It was actually the first time I had ever met him in person. After checking in with my pals Maurice LaMarche and Rob Paulsen, who were just wrapping up their seminar, Eric and I went to grab a quick lunch. We made it back just in time for Bill Farmer’s seminar which was fascinating. He’s been the voice of Goofy for 25 years, and as he described his life I started to realize how similar our backgrounds were. I’ve known Bill for a long time but never realized it until now. It was a great seminar. As I stepped out to go to the bathroom, I saw Goofy (the costumed Disneyland character) in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel meeting guests. I SO wanted to drag him into Bill’s seminar and get a great photo op! But he was busy “goofing” around with some little kids, so I didn’t bother him. After the seminar I said hi to Bill and we chatted for awhile. Then I met a young aspiring voice actor named Beau Brigland who had contacted me via e-mail several times in the past. He had come to the Voice 2012 conference all the way from the U.K.! Not only was it his first time in America, but his first time ever on an airplane! Good for him! Apparently he told Jim and Penny that he was looking forward to meeting me, so I made sure to find him and go say hi. We had a great time sitting in the lobby of the hotel chatting away. I hope I was able to answer all of his questions. I went back to my room to regroup and clean up for the cocktail reception and banquet. At the reception, I talked to a guy named Barry whose son-in-law is a huge Batman fan. So we called his cellphone so I could say hi as The Riddler. I also recorded a quick message on his i-phone for his granddaughter Bella, whose a 2 year old Batfan! (I think I’m going to try and someday introduce her to my young pal Jamison, whose been a Batman all 4 years of his young life!) I did a quick sit-down interview on-camera with a gal named Gina for her voice-over news blog. Then we all went in to have dinner. There was a great group of people at our table and we had a lot of fun. Bill Rogers and Camille Dixon spoke at the dinner about their backgrounds which led them to becoming the voices of Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure respectively. Then animation producers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears spoke about their careers, including the creation of their greatest character Scooby-Doo! Lotsa great stories! After the speeches I said hi to Joe and Ken and told them thanks for all the great cartoons they produced under the Ruby-Spears Entertainment moniker. Then I introduced myself to Bill and Camille. The weirdest thing happened! As I was briefly describing my background to Bill, he asked where in South Dakota I worked in radio. Come to find out he ALSO worked in Aberdeen, South Dakota (at KSDN…the competing station to the one I worked at) and he helped start the college radio station (which I also worked at for a time) KASD-FM at Northern State College! Then he told me he also worked at KELO in Sioux Falls, and also knew my old pal Phil Heuer aka Harley Worthit. But Bill knew Phil when he was working as Lord Douglas in the 60’s! What a small world! And what an amazing night. When the music stopped some of the people gathered around the outdoor fireplace and continued chatting until the wee hours. Connie, one of the Voice 2012 helper-outers, got the front desk to consent to giving me a late checkout at 1pm! Whew! I could sleep in again! By 2am I was talked out. So I went to my room, packed up my stuff and went to sleep. What a fun day meeting old friends and new!
Sunday the 17th – HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! – I got showered and checked out of my room. As I was waiting for my car to be brought up from valet, I saw my pal Barry again. He was with his son-in-law the Batman fan, whom I got to meet face-to-face. As well as his little granddaughter Bella. I gave them my card so they could send their copy of “Arkham City” to me to sign. I hit the Del Taco drive-thru and hit the road. Traffic was good for awhile, but then got really bad. It took me almost 2 hours to get home from Anaheim. Before going home I stopped by Gun World to pick up my Walther PPK-S and Walther P1 I just bought. Then I got home and unpacked. It was good seeing Roxy and Spook again. I got cleaned up for evening church. But first I needed to move my Gran Torino out of my garage, gas it up, and take it to my auxiliary garage. I parked the Torino, walked over to where my Mustang was parked, and noticed that the time on my cellphone said it was 6:01pm. WHAT?! Church is at 5:30! Did the time fly by so fast that I missed church? I got in my car and noticed that the time on my car radio said it was 4:53. My phone was wacked out! I shut it off to restart it, and when it came back on the time was now correct. WHEW! That scared me for a bit. I went inside, leashed up Roxy and we walked to evening church. It was a great Father’s Day service. We walked back home and I grabbed a quick nap. I got up for my auditions , fed Roxy and did our midnight stroll and then watched “Wonder Woman” on DVD. I hadn’t gotten the chance to watch any Wonder Woman in awhile, because of my busy schedule, but even though I had to be up early Monday morning for another Garfield session, I needed some TV time with Roxy and Spook. It was fun! But it looked like another super busy week ahead!
And how was YOUR week??!
