Monday the 15th – BUSY AS A BEE! – I got on the phone and made reservations for my hotel and car rental for my upcoming high school reunion later this summer. I’m really looking forward to getting back to Aberdeen, South Dakota to catch up with my old classmates. DID I SAY OLD? I mean, my “former” classmates! I also started looking into my available air miles to get free airplane tickets. Shortly after lunch I went to Patches recording studio in Hollywood and recorded some spots for Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. They have a rockin’ summer concert series, and I updated some spots I recorded for them last year. They’re wonderful folks and I enjoy working with them. Then I stopped to get some groceries. After that I stopped over at Voicecasters and did an audition. When I was done I stopped by Studiopolis and picked up some checks, met up with my pal Vic to pick up some dubs of “Livin’ On a Prayer” and “Uncle Davver’s Really Scary Movie Show” (I’m out already!) and then I took my cat Spooky over to the groomer’s to get him a manicure. His nails were getting long and sharp! Later that night I started sculpting on my Andy Kaufman “Heartbeeps” mannequin’s hands, to make them look more like the robot hand appliances Andy wore in the film. I use something called Magic Sculpt, a two part putty that you can mold into any shape, smooth it with water, then let dry overnight. The next day the sculpture is as hard as a rock and can be sanded. It’s quite amazing stuff. For all the latest info on my new Andy Kaufman displays, keep a close eye on this page here…https://www.wallyontheweb.com/andy/andy_restored.htm
Tuesday the 16th – HOUSEKEEPING – I spent most of the day hanging around the house finishing up my business, and talking to my friend Mark Ackerman about why my DVD recorder was having so many failures finalizing my discs. I also went through all my tax receipts all the way back to 1993 and reorganized them all into easy-to-manage boxes. It was a VERY productive day!
Wednesday the 17th – PHONE PHUN! – I spent most of the afternoon hanging out around the house and doing phone calls. I managed to compile enough air miles to get a couple of free flights for my reunion. I also called the manufacturer of my DVD recorder to ask them why I was having trouble. They said that particular model had been giving other people troubles in that area as well. As I suspected. My friend Scott Sebring and I went to Studiopolis so I could do a few pick-up lines as Renji for “Bleach,” and then we went to Best Buy to look into getting some new DVDs. Although “Garfield’s Pet Force” was released on the 15th, Best Buy had none in stock. The gal in the DVD department said that they were for on-line order only. I told her if I wanted to order them on-line, I wouldn’t need to be in their store. (Geez, no wonder some of these places are going out of business!) So I went home and bought 5 copies on eBay. If Best Buy doesn’t want the business, I’m sure someone does. That evening I was delighted to have a clear schedule to get back to the meditational service at church. I’ve been extremely busy on past Wednesday nights and wasn’t able to make it. But it was great to be back. After that I met my buddy Chuck McCann and my pal Sara at DuPar’s for dinner. Chuck was leaving that weekend for Canada to do a show with Tim Conway, so it would most likely be the last time I would see him for awhile.
Thursday the 18th – GORMITI, GOODWILL & GROOVY GOINGS-ON! – I was up bright and early so we could record another episode of “Gormiti” at Studiopolis Burbank. Normally we record on Friday mornings, but our director would be out of town celebrating her anniversary so we moved it up a day. After that I ran errands…the drugstore to pick up some supplies, the tailor to pick up my newly tailored leather pants I bought recently at It’s a Wrap (from the show “Prison Break”), Goodwill to drop off some clothes I was donating, and I stopped by my friend Laura’s place to buy three boxes of vintage Playboy magazines. She bought them at an estate sale and told me about them. I don’t have a big collection, but thought they would be fun to read over (particularly the vintage ads!) perhaps the next time I’m hanging out by the pool with my friend Fred! I also took my DVD recorder to a shop to begin the repair process.
Friday the 19th – END OF THE WEEK AT LAST! – I went to Patches recording again in the morning to do a pick-up for the Busch Gardens commercials I did a few days earlier. Then I took my dog Sassie over to the groomer’s to get a bath, and to get her teeth cleaned (non-anesthesia). Then I went to Voicecaster to audition for a VW radio spot. Then I went over to Talk Shop to audition for a videogame. I listened to the voice references that we were supposed to approximate in the audition, but none of the voices really grabbed me. So I decided not to embarrass myself and waste the casting director’s time and passed on the audition. Sometimes you get sent to do stuff that you just know you won’t do justice to, and as Clint Eastwood once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Then I met up with my friend Mechelle to talk about a product she sells called Sun Rider. She’s interested in getting my going on the program, and she said my health would improve. I’m interested enough in it that I want to get some of the products and see how they do. That evening I took a nap, and when I got up I jogged 3 miles. It was a BEAUTIFUL NIGHT!
Saturday the 20th – DREAM-COME-TRUE-DAY 1 – I picked up my Irish friend Kassandra and we went to lunch at Studio Cafe. We met up with Scott and Vickie Sebring there as well. We met up with a guy named Pat who wants to do a documentary about the music of the “Batman” TV show. After lunch we went to Planet Wallywood and hung out. That night, when the gang got together for Blu Ray Trek night, I had a surprise, secret, celebrity guest. Dorothy Fontana (who wrote under the name D.C. Fontana) is a pal, so she and her hubby stopped by to watch two of the episodes she had written for the first season. It was fun getting her commentary on the episodes as they played, and it took me back to being a 13 year old kid playing “Star Trek” in my friend Blake’s basement! This was a dream come true!! Thanks Dorothy! We all loved it and hope you guys come back again!!
Sunday the 21st – DREAM-COME-TRUE-DAY 2 – My friend Deverill got me passes to the International Make-Up Artist Tradeshow in Pasadena. I met up with Scott and Vickie there and the first thing we did was attend a panel on the make-ups for the new “Star Trek” film. It was, as Spock would say, fascinating! Then we looked around the floor for awhile. I got ready to leave and noticed that elsewhere on the premises of the Pasadena Civic Center, they were holding a sale of Ed Hardy clothing. It’s not my style of clothing, but I got some nice gifts for friends there. I called my dad on the way home (HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD!) When I got home I got ready for evening church. I had always wanted to sing Eric Clapton’s “My Father’s Eyes,” and since it was Father’s Day, today was the day. As a bonus, I managed to talk my buddy Bruce Kulick (guitar wizard from Kiss and Grand Funk) into stopping by to play. He had just gotten back from a tour that morning, but said he would play that evening. We had a great time with the song, and many friends were there…Joe and Zandra, their daughter Katie and her son Jamison, my friends Kristy, Sara, Michael and Mechelle, and Kassandra all were there. Bruce was rockin’! The song had given many teary eyes, and many people even said after the service that they got chills. Good stuff! It was a wonderful service, and a dream come true to be able to jam with Bruce on such a powerful song. The Father’s Day message was given by Bill Hayes, who’s been on “Days of Our Lives” for about 40 years! It was a funny and inspiring message that everyone loved! This song had special meaning for Kassandra since she just lost her father recently to cancer. After church, a bunch of us went out to the Smokehouse to have a delicous dinner. We were also joined by Randy Carver and his lady Shelley Herman. What a fun night! Here’s a shot that some of us had taken just before dinner! Afterwards, we went to Planet Wallywood to hang out and talk. Then Kassandra and I watched an episode of “Charlie’s Angeles” from season 1 (the Farrah years) as that was her favorite show as a kid.
And how was YOUR week??!!
