RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
K-Mart ruled back in the day. Seeing this classic ad on-line sure brought back a lot of memories!
I thought I knew a lot of Beatles songs, but oddly enough, I hadn’t discovered “Tell Me Why” until about 1987. After that, it’s always been one of my favorites. I always love hearing it when it comes up on my device. And when it does…it’s stuck in my head for quite a while!
Monday the 15th – ONTO THE NEXT EVENT! – Today was the day I’d be heading back to L.A. from South Dakota and I had lots to do. I got up earlier than expected, which is common on travel days. I packed some last-minute things, checked out of my hotel, got some gas in my rental car, and hit a local Sioux Falls jewelry store called Riddle’s Jewelry. When I asked my dad at dinner the previous night what he wanted for Father’s Day he didn’t hesitate. “An expandable gold watch band.” He had been wearing a leather band for a while and it was wearing out. But now he wanted one of those expandable bands that matched the color of his watch; a two-tone gold and silver. Luckily there was a Riddle’s right on my way! Luckily they had the exact band he wanted in stock! I purchased it, and headed to the local UPS store to pack up and ship a bunch of stuff I needed to send back home. They said they’d pack it up for me right away, and I told them I’d like to eyeball it before it was sent. My dad always told me “You’ve got to double check everyone,” so that’s been my mantra. I wanted to double check it to make sure it was sound before it got shipped. So to kill some time I ran a few more errands. I stopped at my dad’s apartment to give him my box of toiletries that he keeps for me until the next trip to Sioux Falls, and I gave him the watch band. He loved it, and he said he would go down to the jewelry store later that day to have it sized. I headed over to B&G Milky Way to have some last-chance sloppy joes, and then I headed back to UPS to check my box. It was packed, and hadn’t yet been sealed, but it looked good. Now it was off to the airport to turn in my rental car. While listening to the satellite music channel “70’s on 7” they played “Jet Airliner” by the Steve Miller Band. Perfect. As I always say in moments like these, “God is my DJ!” There are many times in my life when music just randomly seems to underscore my current life’s activities, and it’s a beautiful thing. I turned in the rental car, checked in to my flight, and everything was on time. I slept on and off to Denver while I listened to music on my iPod. I kept my headphones on so I could keep listening to music while I walked to my next gate – B16. Wouldn’t you know it, but Billy Idol’s “Sweet 16” came up on my iPod while I was walking to gate 16! Yup, God is my DJ! The flight to Burbank was safe and on-time, and when I got back home I marveled at the weather…87 degrees and sunny! WOW! I got my car out of valet and headed home. It was good to be back again. I got unpacked, got settled, and grabbed a nap. Later I recorded an audition, took a WOG (walk/jog) and noted how good it was to be back on my nightly exercise program. I spent some time in the gorgeous night in my anti-gravity chair just being thankful and reflecting on what an amazing time I had. I went back inside to do some more work around the house and finish unpacking. Now, onto the next big adventure!
Tuesday the 16th – DR. PUPPET?! – Because it had been a while since I had some “healthy” food, I met my pal Edi for lunch at Paty’s for a salad. It was good to get caught up on all the news. I went to my box to pick up a package, and then went home to clean up. My pal Dr. Cowen came over for a few hours to chat about puppets. Dr. Cowen is a friend I met at the Sons Of The Desert club meetings years ago, and we’ve been friends ever since. Recently, he showed me a picture of a Kermit the Frog puppet that he purchased on-line. I had no idea he was interested in puppets or puppetry! So I told him that I would teach him how to puppeteer, and even build puppets if he was interested. He was curious. I showed him the Muppet replicas I have in my collection, and I let him try my “travel Kermit.” He was pretty good with it. But when I gave him my “travel Cookie Monster” to try, he wasn’t exactly sure how to put it on. The finger loops inside can be a bit confusing, but I said, “C’mon Doc, if you can deliver a baby and do surgeries, you can do a puppet.” He laughed and handed it back to me and said he was giving up. We had a blast! Dr. Cowen released a book he wrote a few years ago about all of the adventures he’s had as a Chief of Police, a paramedic, and a medical doctor. It’s called “Paramedic Chief,” and it’s currently being looked at by a very famous director to possibly be optioned and turned into a movie script! Yup, he’s an absolute genius. But he’s also a good friend who loves puppets and Laurel & Hardy! Like me, he’ll be going to San Diego later this week to attend the Sons Of The Desert biennial convention. It will be my first one ever, and I’m VERY excited to go! As is our tradition before attending a local Sons Of The Desert meeting, we go to an Italian restaurant that’s close to where our club meets so we can chat. So we headed over to the restaurant, got our usual pepperoni pizza, and then headed to the SOTD meeting. There was lots of talk and excitement about the upcoming convention! Since I was still a bit exhausted from my whirlwind trip, I left about halfway through the meeting. I had to get some groceries, but the only logical grocery store on my way home was what’s known as “Ghetto Ralph’s.” It’s a big chain store that’s not in a very good neighborhood. I could go out of my way to nicer areas to get groceries, but I was tired and impatient. “Ghetto Ralph’s” was just as entertaining as I thought it would be. You had all types there, and it sure was colorful and weird. But I got what I needed and headed home to put everything away. I mapped my route for this weekend, first to Hesperia for an in-store signing and then to San Diego for the convention. Luckily, it wasn’t as far as I thought it would be! It will only take me a little over an hour to get to Hesperia (which is in the high desert, heading toward Las Vegas), and from there it will only take a little over 2 hours to get to San Diego. It’ll be a straight shot down the 15 freeway! Nice! People at the SOTD meeting earlier had me convinced that I’d be on the freeway for 4 to 5 hours! I guess they had no idea where Hesperia is. Because Hesperia is so close to Death Valley my gal Angi refers to it as “Hellsperia.” I worked around the house the rest of the night and edited some videos.
Wednesday the 17th – CALCULATION CRAZINESS! – The schedule for today contained nothing more than just getting a few tasks done that needed to be completed. I did some more video editing, went to my local CVS store to get some supplies, pick up a few grocery items that I forgot last night at “Ghetto Ralph’s,” and then back home to do some more video editing. I relaxed for a while, unpacked a few more things, and took my nightly WOG later. Then I had the dreaded and arduous task of reconciling my bank statements. Ugh. With the recent forgery and fraud I incurred in one of my bank accounts, it was particularly important that I do this, and do this right. But for some reason I was 50 cents off in my corporate reconciliation. I just couldn’t figure it out! I figured, and refigured, and figured again. After about a half hour I realized my mistake…I had listed a check in my register for 156.86, when the actual check amount was only 156.36. A-ha! Then it all worked out. I’ve always really hated math, and especially hate the math that goes along with the bank account stuff. When people say to me, “Is there anything you CAN’T do?!” I always reply with, “Yeah. Balance my checking account.” I wish I had the aptitude for working numbers, but it’s just never been my thing. I composed my Travel List for this weekend, as I like to do before every excursion. I find it’s much easier to take some time leading up to a trip, and think about all the things I’ll need. It suits my brain much better than that more chaotic method of hastily throwing things into my travel bags last-minute. I make neat little checklists for every bag I’ll be taking, so when it comes time to pack up, I just refer to the premade list and check things off as I go. I made a salad and watched another episode of “The High Chaparral” before bed.
Thursday the 18th – TWO-TRIP TRAVEL! – Since I have to pack for two separate events on my upcoming travel schedule, I had to make separate lists. I needed to include everything I’ll need for my upcoming in-store signing event at SRG Gaming in Hesperia (which includes pens, photos, etc.), but I also need to pack everything I’ll need for the upcoming Sons Of The Desert convention in San Diego (my SOTD fezzes, shirts, other clothing, etc.). Packing for one trip is difficult enough, but having to foresee all of the things I’ll need for a second leg is also challenging. But I think I’ve got it all figured out. I organized all of the papers and schedules I’ll need to print. Toward the end of the night I headed over to the Alex In Wonderland workshop to pick up my SOTD sash that Alex was making for me. It turned out beautifully! I had mine made in monochrome colors, so it’ll look like it did in the black and white film “The Sons Of The Desert.” I know other guys at the convention will probably have theirs made in various colors, but I love that monochrome look. When I got back home I relaxed for a bit, took my nightly WOG, and spent some time outside enjoying the quiet night in my anti-grav chair.
Friday the 19th – PREPARING FOR LIFT-OFF! – The maids came by early in the afternoon to clean up Planet Wallywood, which is funny because since I haven’t been here much there wasn’t much cleaning to do. My gal Angi came over and we went to get lunch at Paty’s. I also picked up the package I sent from Sioux Falls. It’s good too because there were a few things in there that I would need for my upcoming trips. We went over to Milt & Edie’s dry cleaning to get a few clothing items tailored for Angi, and then I gassed up the Grey Ghost for my upcoming road trip. I got back home, packed up a few things, relaxed for a bit, continued packing some more, did a few auditions, and hit the hay early. I needed to be up early the next morning for my launch.
Saturday the 20th – ON THE ROAD AGAIN! – As it was the one year anniversary of my mom’s passing, it felt good to have something fun to focus my mind on. I got up early and hit the road to Hesperia. After getting some breakfast at the McDonald’s drive-thru, I hit the road. As I was on the 210 freeway heading east toward Hesperia, I called my dad to see how he was doing. As we were talking I noticed that the eastbound traffic was starting to slow down quite a bit, and eventually went into “stop-n-go” mode. Uh oh. I checked the traffic on the computer before I left and the roadways to Hesperia were all clear. Something was up. This continued for a while, and then I noticed the eerie sight of NO traffic on the 210 going the opposite way…westbound. I was giving my dad the play-by-play as it was happening. After about 20 minutes I saw the flashing red lights up ahead and knew something bad was happening. The only vehicle that I saw heading in the opposite direction on the freeway was an ambulance…going slowly, with its lights flashing. That filled me with a sense of dread. If the ambulance had somebody in the back who was needing urgent medical attention, it seemed to me that it would have been going MUCH faster. But the fact that I wasn’t told me that the person inside had probably already expired. Soon, the incident came into view. And what an incident it was. An 18 wheeler for the Target stores had jumped the center divider and was blocking the two left lanes of traffic on the eastbound side. But on the westbound side it had crashed into several cars, and even a huge UPS truck. This didn’t look good at all. Doubly bad, was the fact that ALL of the traffic heading westbound was at a DEAD STOP! They weren’t going anywhere for a VERY long time! People were out of their cars, just talking and hanging out. No attempt was being made to divert the traffic off the freeway, because there really wasn’t anywhere for them to go! They were going to be stuck there for several hours…going nowhere! As the eastbound traffic passed the horrible incident, our speeds picked up. But the “parking lot” of cars on the westbound side continued for the next 5 to 10 miles. Those poor people! The delay had put me off schedule for about a half hour, but it didn’t even compare to the delay that will be suffered by the people who were going the other way! Even with the delay, I still arrived at the SRG store early. I got parked, grabbed my case of photos and headed inside. The weather was surprisingly mild and wonderful, and I was looking forward to a nice afternoon. It ended up being a lot of fun. Some people came into the store to get things signed in person, but the store also had on-line streams going so people in other cities could buy things in real-time. It was sort of like they were at a convention, without having to leave their homes! They could see on the on-line stream what products we had, and in the comments section they could write their wishes about how they wanted it signed, in what colors, and to whom. It was all really clever! My fellow Voice Actor pals Richard Epcar and Steve Prince were also there. The store brought us in lunch from the local In-N-Out, which is always nice, and we ended up wrapping around 7pm. The store had acquired a hotel room for me for the night, which was right next to the 15 freeway. The next morning after I checked out, I’d hit the 15 south and head to San Diego for the next phase of my weekend! Sweet! After I got settled in the hotel I noticed that there was a restaurant across the street called “The Steer ‘N’ Stein.” Sounds like I could get a pretty good steak there. So I went across the street and put in an order to go. But when I got back to my room to eat I realized what a difficult time it will be to cut a steak with plastic utensils! ARGH! But, I managed just fine, and the dinner was delicious, as expected. As it was now evening, I walked around outside to see if I could get a good view of that glorious nighttime desert sky. But there was so much light pollution from the surrounding city that I couldn’t see very many stars at all. But the weather was GORGEOUS! I went inside to hit the sack, and ended up leaving my window open all night to enjoy the cool, desert breeze. When the sun started coming up I closed everything up, but for a while it was wonderful!
Sunday the 21st – SUNDAY, SAN DIEGO & SMOOTH SAILING! – Having got up a little earlier than I needed to, I went downstairs to the lobby to enjoy the free breakfast the hotel provided. Since I was by myself, and the dining area had tables set up with multiple seats, I took my breakfast to my room to eat. There were lots of families with kids in the dining area who needed the extra seating, so I didn’t feel it was right to take up a whole table just to myself. But I ate in my room and it was wonderful. I cleaned up and checked out right at 11am sharp…the posted checkout time! I got on the hotel computer and mapped my route to San Diego. It looked like clear sailing! Since it was Father’s Day, I called my dad again from the road. He said the wreck I told him about on Saturday ended up being mentioned on the national news! Apparently I was correct in my dreaded assumption that someone had perished in the accident. Here’s the news report that I found a few days later…
A woman was killed and dozens were injured after a crash involving a big rig prompted an hours-long closure on the 210 Freeway in Irwindale on Saturday. The crash happened near the Irwindale Avenue exit just before 9 a.m. Officials say the big rig crossed the center divider before colliding with multiple vehicles. The woman died at the scene, and 32 people, including six minors, were injured.
So as I suspected, it was a very nasty crash. Very, very sad. As I drove through the high desert I realized that I had never been on that section of the 15 freeway before. It was very picturesque, with lots of great mountains and desert landscapes! Despite all the numbskulls who run this state, California is absolutely beautiful. I hope the state can get their leadership issues straightened out someday, because I never, ever want to leave. I got to the Legacy Hotel in San Diego around 1:30. Dr. Cowen and his wife Dolly were already there, and he was amazed at the great time I made! Because check-in time wasn’t until 3pm, Doc and Dolly were waiting around in the lobby. I figured I’d let the front desk know I was here, and they told me that my room was already available! WOW! What luck! I put my luggage upstairs and joined Doc and Dolly at the registration desk to get our badges for the convention. It was utter chaos, but it was beautiful. Laurel & Hardy fans had come from all over the world for this! I was with “my people!” This will absolutely be amazing. After we got registered we went into the first panel, which was presented by L&H expert Randy Skretvedt. In my opinion, he’s the foremost expert on “The Boys” and it’s always fun to listen to him. I love hearing his commentaries on the Blu rays, and the talk he gave was all about the many people he’s interviewed over the years who were involved in the making of the films. Fascinating! I learned so much. When the talk was over Doc, Dolly and I went to the hotel restaurant to get some late lunch/early dinner. Then it was time for us all to assemble for the “Parade Of Tents.” When we got there nobody seemed to know what was going on, or what to do. Dave, the organizer, stood up on a desk and announced what all was going to occur. But not only was it hard to hear him, but the directions were rather confusing. After he finished there was a lull amongst the crowd…a state of confusion. I said loudly, “Tell me that again!” This was a reference to a running gag throughout the Laurel & Hardy films, where Stan would state a brilliant idea to Ollie, Ollie would think about it, say ‘tell me that again,’ and then Stan would proceed to completely mix-up and befuddle what he had just so eloquently stated previously. As soon as people realized that I was doing a line from L&H films, there was laughter all throughout the room. Indeed, I was with ‘my people!’ Doc made a comment to me about how disorganized and chaotic everything was. I told him, “Would you expect anything less from Laurel & Hardy? It’s kind of in keeping with the theme of the weekend.” We laughed and continued with the celebration. It was both fun…and funny! I headed back to my room to relax, and when I remembered that the hotel had a free-use microwave down by their bar and restaurant, I took my leftover steak from Steak ‘N’ Stein downstairs, microwaved it, and had a nice bit of protein before bed. I slept like a baby! This was going to be an amazing week! As our club song states, “Having the time of our lives!”
And now, onto the next week!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
THIS WAY TO FUN!
Some of the Sons gather in the foyer for the Parade Of Tents.
Some Laurel & Hardy look-alikes add to the fun!
Confusion and chaos…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The tent from Minnesota is present and accounted for!
This is the actual coat worn by Harry Langdon in the film “Zenobia” from 1939. It was the first film Oliver Hardy had made without Stan Laurel in a very long time.
In my room, I’m ready for action with multiple fezzes for a variety of occasions!
The local chapter of the Sons Of The Desert club is named after one of Laurel & Hardy’s final films…”Saps At Sea.” They did a terrific job hosting the event!
Sunday night June 21, people from all over the world converged upon San Diego to enjoy the biennial Laurel & Hardy Sons Of The Desert convention. It was amazing!
