RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

When I walk with Roxy, she’s fine when we take a leisurely stroll. But as soon as I pick up my pace, she gets very excited. (That’s how I knew she would be a natural for sheep herding!) She starts to tug at my pant leg, and lays her open mouth on my calf and ankle. She also barks at me to get moving and stay in line. Then she’ll look up at me with the coolest, sweetest “happy dog face” as if to say…DID I DO GOOD? It’s hard to snap a picture at that moment with all the activity going on, but here’s a good representation of what I see when she looks up in the midst of “herding” me!

I was asked to sing something at my grandma’s upcoming 100th birthday party, and I was at a loss. I was told that a hymn was a safe bet. I considered “How Great Thou Art,” one of my all-time faves (particularly Elvis’ version) but figured it would be too tough to pull it together. But almost as if it were a sign, I got into my Torino last Sunday to drive to church, and on Sirius XM channel 19…ELVIS RADIO…there it was! Elvis singing “How Great Thou Art!” I guess I’m going to have to figure out a way to sing it at the party after all! Here’s the King of Rock and Roll singing about the King of…well…EVERYTHING!

Monday the 18th – COLLECTOR CONCLAVE! –It was time for another Garfield day at Buzzy’s in Hollywood. Today our guests were the amazing Grey DeLisle, Candi Milo (my boy “Astro” in “Astro Boy!), Laura Summer, and my old pal Jason Marsden. We finished up a fun day of episodes and then I headed to Wendy’s for a quick drive-thru lunch. I got home and walked Roxy, then got ready to head in early to “The Tonight Show” for a comedy bit and the taping of the show. After the show wrapped, I came home and met up with a new pal named Ron, who’s an avid collector of TV and movie costumes and props. He’s got some amazing stuff, and he came by to look at my menial-by-comparison collection. We had a blast, and he showed me an original Carolyn Jones “Addams Family” Morticia costume, and an original Liberace costume. Then we went to dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli and continued the conversation. I wish I had a few extra hundred thousand dollars laying around, as there are several things in his collection I would like to acquire! After dinner I came back to record my auditions in my home studio and send them to my agents, and my pal Brittney Powell came over do some work too. I had a mild sinus headache all day, and now I was experiencing a little dizziness. I was getting tired so I hit the hay to prepare for another early morning. Plus, I had a bad lower backache, which I believe was caused by the bed in the hotel I stayed at over the weekend. OUCH!

Tuesday the 19th – AND THE WINNER OF THE EMMY IS….!! – Another early morning at Buzzy’s for the second day of “The Garfield Show.” Today we had Rose Marie with us again, the sensational Laraine Newman, and recent Emmy winner…JUNE FORAY! We got to hear from June about her exciting day at the Emmys, and winning her long-overdue award. Finally at the age of 95, she won one! We were all so excited for her! After the show, I drove through the Wendy’s Drive-Thru again for some lunch to go. I stopped home quick to walk Roxy, then sped off to NBC for “TTS.” During the taping of the show I was getting a little tired. It had been a big weekend, plus the two early mornings had caught up to me. The show wrapped, I got home to walk Roxy and feed Spooky, and then I laid down for a quick nap. But I ended up sleeping quite a long time. When I got up I did my auditions, did some work around the house, and then made a Tombstone pizza and watched some “Wonder Woman” on DVD on the bed with Roxy and Spook.

Wednesday the 20th – TRIFECTA OF SESSIONS! –I was up early again for a US Airways session, but not for the usual phone line material. This was to do some pick-ups for the safety video I narrated awhile back. The domestic US Airways flights will still have the flight attendants demonstrating the safety procedures live, but for overseas flights you’ll see a safety video that I narrated. We recorded the tracks at Post Modern in Burbank, and then I popped my top in my Mustang and drove to Voice Trax West. It was a beautiful day! I got some spaghetti to-go at Cafe Al Dente downstairs, then went upstairs to VTW to record some more US Airways phone-line material. When I got home I was relaxing a bit, and then got a call from NBC to record a quick comedy bit. I did it, e-mailed it in and then headed into “TTS” to tape the show. My old pal Seth MacFarlane was a guest on the show promoting his new movie “Ted.” When I got home I did some work, my assistant Sara came by to drop off some stuff she had picked up for me, I walked Roxy, then went to meet my pal Edi for dinner at Ernie’s Taco House. I came back home and was very relaxed, as I had no auditions in my inbox to do. I had the night completely to myself! Plus I didn’t have to be up early the next morning! By the time I did manage to get to bed I had been up 18 hours straight!

Thursday the 21st – SLEEP? WHAT’S THAT?! –I got to sleep in (first time in a long time) and it was great! I took Roxy for a nice leisurely walk, then got a hotline call to be into NBC by 1:30 for a bit. I slept for a little while longer and then headed in. I recorded 2 bits, then went to Wendy’s (third day this week!) for lunch. I went into Best Buy to buy a new tablet (non Apple version) because there are a few things I don’t like about my i-Pad. The thing I DO like about the Toshiba tablet I bought, was that it takes memory cards that can be removed. So if I have sensitive documents or top-secret scripts on my tablet, I can just remove the card and all my documents are secure. Can’t do that with the i-Pad I have. I took my DV cam to the repair shop, because the picture was breaking up the last time I played a tape in it. Probably needs a good cleaning. Then it was time to get back to NBC to tape the show. Katy Perry (grrrrr…yeah baby!) was on the show. And as I was driving out of the lot, I saw her standing by her limo in the middle of a huge group of fans singing autographs. How cool is that?! I stopped at Fast Frame on my way home and picked up my framed Ed McMahon passport. My pal Mike in Chicago and picked it up at an auction, and figured I would love having a personal effect that belonged to one of my predecessors. He was right. I love it! I got home and met up with Terry, my contractor and pal. He discovered a bunch of termite damage by my front door that the homeowner’s association is going to have to repair. It was much worse that what he thought it would be when he started the job. Then we picked up my assistant Sara and we went to dinner at DuPar’s. Terry did some more work around the house, making room for three mannequins on a platform that previously held only two. While we were working I decided to get in a cleaning mood. I cleaned off the mannequins containing my Hugh Hefner silk robe, and my Austin Powers Fembot costume. I got the Fembot costume back in the late 90’s, and it’s been on display in my house since I bought my condo in 2000. It was fairly dirty. I removed the costume from the mannequin and handwashed it in the sink. The marabou on the bra and trim was filthy, and looked even worse when it got wet. I thought I had ruined it for sure. Luckily my seamstress Kathy would be coming over Friday, I could implore her for help! I also cleaned the giant mirrors behind the mannequins, and did a bunch of other work around the house. It was a very busy night! When Terry left I did my auditions, then continued with more work around the house. Then it was time for more “Wonder Woman” on the bed with Roxy and Spook. My favorite time of day!

Friday the 22nd – WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT? – I got to sleep in again (or at least as long as Roxy would let me) and it was great! Just as I was getting ready to go into NBC to tape “TTS,” I got a call asking me to be in early, as well as cut a last minute comedy bit at home and e-mail it in. YIKES! Time was running out, but I was determined to get it all done in time. I made it! I went to get my Torino out of its garage, then sped to NBC. I had the car wash company on the lot wash it up nice while I was at work. My pal Dave Barr from Studiopolis was at the show with some friends. I gave them the nickel tour after the show, and then gave them a ride to their car after the show. I got home just in time to meet up with my seamstress Kathy Pillsbury, and my computer guy Sean Fluster. Kathy had been repairing and restoring the Andy Kaufman/Elvis costume I had recently acquired for the collection. While in storage through the 80’s and 90’s, some moths had made a meal of it in several places. Kathy meticulously removed small pieces of fabric from the inside layer of the costume, and patched the holes with that fabric. She fortified the fabric on the back with some iron-on material. It looked great and she did a fantastic job! Sean was getting my new Toshiba tablet set up, and was showing me how it worked. At first we started loading up all my MP3s. But as it was getting down to the end, the power on my complex went out! No idea why, but everyone just lost power. KAPUT! So I told Sean we’d meet next week, and I got ready to take Sara to dinner at a hamburger joint called The Counter. I called the Department of Water and Power and they said a 40,000 volt line by Universal Studios had failed and they expected it to take about four hours. Yikes! When we got to the Counter, my friends Edi and Brittney had arrived to dine with us. By the time I got home, the power was back on! I was able to do work around the house. I printed out the Mapquest map to a place called Drummond Ranch, where I would be taking Roxy on Saturday. It’s a sheep ranch that helps to teach herding dogs how to wrangle sheep!

Saturday the 23rd – SHEEP THRILLS! – I got up early and met my pal Edi, who put my collie Roxy in the back for the long trip to Palmdale. A pal of mine at “TTS” told me he and his girlfriend took her collie-mix dog to this ranch and she had a blast. I was curious to see how Roxy would handle sheep. I knew she had the instinct to herd, since she occasionally tries to herd me when we’re out for a brisk walk. We got the paperwork filled out, and put Roxy in the ring with 3 sheep. At first she was just happy to be running around free, not really paying attention to the sheep. Then Axel, the ranch dog, came into the ring and started chasing the sheep around. Roxy was interested in meeting Axel, but he brushed her off because he was working. Soon, she got the idea of what the game was, and took it from there. She had a blast, and had a ton of natural ability! Her trainer suggested on-going classes, and I agreed. It would be fun for her to come do this at least on a monthly basis. She got one more run in the ring before we left, and then she was exhausted! The trainer said it is physically as well as mentally challenging for the dog. We got back to the neighborhood and I took her to get groomed. She was filthy, but happy. We also took Edi’s SUV to the car wash to get it cleaned. While we were there, I saw my old pal Tom Kenny, voice of Spongebob and many other great characters. I got home and grabbed a couple hour nap before it was time to go get Roxy. Even though I set the alarm for 5:30, I didn’t wake up until 5:45! Apparently, while cleaning my bedroom, my maids had knocked my i-pod out of the dock, so it wasn’t connected! The clock was blinking, but no music was playing! YIKES! While I was picking up Roxy, I saw my friend Sue Blu, voice artist and director. I had just seen her in an episode of “Kojak.” I walked Roxy home and then decided to hop in the Torino and go get a sandwich at the local supermarket. They make really good sandwiches to order! I got home and cleaned up for my movie night guests. We watched “The Gold Rush” on Blu Ray, and “Fright Night” from 1985, also on Blu Ray. Fun night! When my guests left, I did some more work around the house, and then fed and walked Roxy. But we didn’t end up getting to bed until about 7am Sunday morning!

I “herd” it through the grapevine, that my dog Roxy could get some “sheep” thrills by running some sheep! It’s true! Check out this video from the Drummond Ranch in Palmdale, CA!

Sunday the 24th – SINGING SUNDAY! – I got up around 1, then walked Roxy. When I came back in I had some tea and started rehearsing the song I would be singing for church later in the day. I also got busy doing some other work. I opened my file cabinet and it was stuffed. So to alleviate some of the clutter, I decided to sort through some of my old files and throw out stuff I no longer needed. One of the file folders was marked SASSIE. Inside were her old vet bills from the 10 years I had her. I also found her “birth certificate” from the AKG. I hadn’t really gotten sad about Sass in awhile, but this set me off again. The 27th of June will be one year since I had to let her go. Then, I went to my website and watched the tribute video I had made for her last year, and I started crying like a baby. I guess even though a year has passed, and I have a great new doggie, it still hurts. I pulled myself together and got ready for church. We rehearsed the song I’d be singing called “Heaven,” made famous by Los Lonely Boys. My pal Bruce Kulick was in the house with a cool looking seafoam colored guitar. The whole service was music, and it put me in a very good place. I just relaxed, closed my eyes and let the music reach me. I wish we could do more all-music services. Our song went well, and when we finished I met Sara, Bruce and his girlfriend Lisa, and my friends Loren and Amanda at the Studio Cafe for dinner. My old pal Chuck McCann was there too. So it was very good to see him again. He and I have both been very busy! I had walked Roxy to the restaurant so she could enjoy the evening with us on the patio. Then I got home and did my auditions, and hit the hay. I had another early morning Garfield session on Monday, so I wanted to get plenty of sleep.

And how was YOUR week??!!