RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
This past week my folks celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary! 56 YEARS??!! I can’t keep a woman interested in me for 56 MINUTES!
The new parody song I wrote last Sunday about California’s water problems is based upon this song. It’s a hit from 1965 by Herman’s Hermits called “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.” (I think you know where I’m going with this) Oddly enough, the song just celebrated it’s 50th anniversary as a number one hit. It got the number one on the US charts in May of 1965! Serendipity? Next week, I’ll post the parody song for you to hear!
Monday the 1st – SUMMER SLOWDOWN! – The industry has slowed considerably, as it usually does this time of year. It doesn’t usually come back until mid-July or so. So I’m just enjoying some downtime. My old pal Edi came over to visit before she went back to Arizona, and then I sped off to Panera to meet up with my assistant Sara for lunch before she went off to work her day job. I did a little grocery shopping and headed home to enjoy a dip in the Jacuzzi. After a brief nap on the couch I got up to write Wally’s Week, do my auditions, and finish up some work around the house. Then I enjoyed some more “Batman” TV episodes on Blu Ray before bed.
Tuesday the 2nd – RIDDLER REAGAN?!! – When I arose I had some scripts from Go 96.3 to do. It’s the radio station in Minneapolis that I do the image voice tracks for. I got those finished and sent, then I did a few last-minute auditions, and headed over to Jerry’s Famous Deli to meet up with my old pal Michael Reagan to catch up. It was a fun conversation. While we were there we ran into another old pal of mine Glozell Green. During lunch Michael was telling me some fantastic stories about the times his dad, President Ronald Reagan, was in office. He asked me what I had been doing since “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” ended and one of the things I mentioned was doing the voice of The Riddler in the Batman “Arkham” games. He chuckled and said that his Secret Service codename when his dad was in the White House was…RIDDLER! Too cool! After lunch I got a much needed wash and wax for my Mustang. It still had water spots on it from the last rain shower we got, as small as it was. When I got home I walked Roxy and met up with my pal Brittney Powell who was in the neighborhood doing errands. When she left I attempted to take a dip in the Jacuzzi but the water was lukewarm. Something was amiss. So I went to the other Jacuzzi but the bubbles wouldn’t work. Time to write another “nastygram” to my homeowner’s association I guess. I took a nap on the couch, and then got up to do auditions and some paperwork. I made some Chef Boy Ar Dee spicy ravioli and watched the first Egghead episode in the Batman TV series Blu Ray collection. It’s always fun to watch Vincent Price work. But the ravioli wasn’t very good. It was so spicy it killed the natural taste of the Chef Boy Ar Dee sauce that I love so much. It was almost like they were trying to reinvent the wheel. Oh well, I tried it and I’m going back to the old style.
Wednesday the 3rd – SERENDIPITY DOO! – I enjoyed the cool, cloudy day with a walk to the Studio Café with Roxy to meet my old pal Ken Dennis for lunch. Ken was Supervising Producer for the first 3 seasons of “Family Guy” and we see each other still from time to time. The sun started coming out around 2 and started to warm things up considerably, so Roxy and I headed back home. I walked over to my auxiliary garage and got my Gran Torino out for a drive. I hadn’t had it running for a few weeks and I needed to get it out and get it charged up. I drove to my mailbox to get my mail, and just as I had loaded my boxes two guys named Michael and Herman walked by and started talking to me about the car. Come to find out they were writers for “The Simpsons” and we had a LOT of friends in common! They were walking home from lunch so I said, “Hop in! I’ll give you a lift home!” But I took a detour first to the store called Rocket Fizz; a store that sells all types of vintage sodas and candies. We were having so much fun talking about old music, movies and TV shows we liked; I thought it might be nice to accompany that conversation with a Grape Crush or an A&W root beer! We had a blast! Have you ever met somebody whom you felt you’ve known forever? And you both talk so fast because you feel there’s a lot of catching up to do? Truly kindred spirits! By the time we got to Michael’s house so Herman could pick up his car, we saw a cool looking black Chevy Nova being pushed out into the street by two of Michael’s neighbors. My first car was a 1974 Nova (gold with a white top) so I was naturally curious. They saw my Torino coming and stopped to stare. It was fun talking to the two guys who were pushing it. It was non-operational so they were having it hauled to the shop of the guy who bought it. I got his card and I asked to see it when it was totally restored. I looked inside at the instrument cluster and though it was a 1972, a lot of the interior was the same as my old Nova. It really brought back memories! One of Michael’s neighbors came by and started talking to us, and come to find out his dad is famous country singer Freddie Hart. I said, “Easy Lovin” Freddie Hart? He said it was. WOW! Just last week I was thinking about Freddie and that song (which is on my iPod by the way!) The funniest memory I have about Freddie Hart and that song was when my mom and I saw him on “Hee Haw.” We were laughing at what a horrible lip synching job he was doing. But he’s a great performer! And within in 10 minutes, Mr. Hart came out of his house with his wife and walked down the street. We said hi. What a cool day! Of all the weird things! I finished up talking with Michael and Herman and sped off in the Torino the local comic book store. My copy of Batman ’66 #19 that I ordered came in. I got my comic and headed home. As I reflected on the magical day I thought, “Boy! You just couldn’t PLAN a day like this!” Sometimes it’s just fun to lay back and enjoy where life (and serendipity) takes you. Between Roxy and the Gran Torino, I have the two greatest conversation starters of all! I fed Roxy and Spooky and then checked out e-mails. I grabbed a Jacuzzi (it had been fixed!) and grabbed a nap on the couch. When I got up later I did auditions, made hot dogs on the grill and watched another “Batman” episode on Blu Ray!
Thursday the 4th – AUTO-PILATE! – What a great day it was for a bike ride! It was nice and cool, and cloudy. I biked over to Umami Burger in Toluca Lake to meet up with my pal Barry Dennen; legendary character actor and singer. Just before I pulled up to the restaurant I felt a fine mist on my face. It was great to get a little drizzle. We had a fabulous lunch and since we hadn’t seen each other in about 6 months, it was fun catching up. Probably most well-known for his role as Pilate in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” he told me fantastic tales about his recent tour across the country to appear at screenings of the film. He also talked about his performance in Rome late last year with 2 of the other original “Superstar” cast members! I biked back home, made some calls, and then my pal and webmaster Scott Sebring came over to talk about some work we’re doing for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con. Then I took a Jacuzzi, grabbed a nap on the couch, and got up to do my nightly pack of auditions. I worked around the house and then took Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood. It was a quiet, cloudy and cool night. VERY pleasant! Then I went back inside and watched the Batman episode where the Penguin runs for Mayor against Batman! One of the greats! It’s funny that Batman (played by Adam West) won the Mayor’s race, but it would be decades later before Adam West would play Mayor Adam West on “Family Guy!”
Friday the 5th – TOOTH TWISTER! – The first order of the day was to head to Regenix in Beverly Hills to get a follow-up on the progress of my hair treatments. My scalp looked as healthy as ever! I stopped by McDonald’s to get some lunch and then stopped by the drug store to pick up some supplies, the hardware store to get a rare light bulb for my ancient stove. This is what you do during the seasonal work slow-downs…get errands done! I got home to feed the kids and then took off to my Orthodontist’s office. My regular Orthodontist, Dr. Rudolph, has been out of the country. And it doesn’t seem likely he’ll ever see patients again. I think he’s enjoying retirement too much. I haven’t been to his office in several years but I needed an adjustment on my retainer. So his pal Dr. Cannon did some work on it, popped it in my mouth, and it was as good as new. Even though it was the joke of the office, since it was so ancient looking! I guess retainers aren’t made in that color any longer, and they no longer offer the glow-in-the-dark boxes that mine originally came in! On the way home I stopped by Wendy’s to get some food and went home to take a dip in the Jacuzzi. After a nap on the couch I got up to file my receipts, do some bookkeeping and get ready for bed. I watched the Otto Preminger Mr. Freeze episode of “Batman” on Blu Ray. While apparently his presence on the set wasn’t as easy-going as some of the other guest villains, the performance he gave was stellar. And the art direction, set direction and lighting direction of this episode was the best of any recent episodes! I didn’t really settle down to go to bed until 9am or so, and after I walked Roxy one last time before bed I saw some squirrels outside my house. I cracked my door open just a bit so I could watch their crazy antics without alarming them. As I stood on my porch enjoying their goofy behaviors, a hummingbird flew RIGHT AT ME! I thought he was going to fly right into my face! It startled me somewhat, but then I laughed heartily at the absurdity of a hummingbird flying right into me. A few other birds cavorted about in the gorgeous early morning, and as I stood at the door with it cracked open I felt something brush against my ankle. It was Spooky! Not an outdoor cat at all, he spotted some of the birds outside and wanted a closer look. I guess his cat instincts kicked in! He was outside on the sidewalk looking in the bushes for birds! Crazy cat! I grabbed him and took him back inside quickly! What a fun Saturday morning with a bunch of kooky animals!
Saturday the 6th – MAX IS MAD! – At 3 I woke up and hopped on my bike to go get vitamins as my local supplement store. I biked back home, hopped in my car with Roxy and picked up some mail at my mailbox. While I was in the area, I phone my pal Brittney Powell to see if she wanted to meet at Paty’s for a late lunch. She did, and we had a delightful time on the “Paty-o” with Roxy. When I got home I prepped for movie night. We watched the original “Mad Max” on Blu Ray. I hadn’t seen it in its entirety before, and it was…um…kind of weird. First off, it was VERY Australian and sometimes difficult to understand the dialogue. Secondly, the music score (which was much too plentiful) was mixed too loudly, which made the dialogue even more difficult to hear. But the movie started a franchise, so you’ve got to give it that! I made a salad and watched the final two episodes from Season One of “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” on Blu Ray. And while I was in the shower taking one of our Governor’s mandated 5 minute showers, I got the idea for a new parody song about California’s water problems. I hadn’t written a parody song in years, but the lyrics started coming to me a mile a minute. It was writing itself! So I got on the computer, downloaded the music track I needed and started writing. I didn’t’ get to bed until 8am!
Sunday the 7th – “WATER” CRAZY DAY IT WAS! – When I awoke at 1:30 for a lunch meeting, I got a text postponing it. So I slunk on to the couch to grab a few more hours’ worth of sleep. Later, I got up and got ready to head to West L.A. for my friend Carolyn’s 60th birthday party. The drive down the freeway was nice and fast, and the drive into Venice was pleasant. Since that used to be my neighborhood I had a great time looking at the old layout and noticing how many places I used to frequent were no longer in existence. I got to the restaurant at 5 for the party and got seated. But it seemed like the restaurant was totally taken by surprise by that many people. They seemed very ill-prepared. It was 6pm before we even got bread. They hadn’t even taken our orders yet! I ordered a Diet Coke but it was flat. No fizz! Then I ordered plain iced tea with lemon, and they brought me passion fruit. Time was ticking away and I needed to get back home. I figured by 6:30 or so we’d be done eating and I could split. But since it was 6:15 and they were just now getting around to taking the orders, I figured I’d cut my losses and just grab some food on the way home at my favorite Mexican restaurant Campo’s. But the Campo’s in that neighborhood didn’t end up being as tasty as the Campo’s I normally go to when I’m in that area. Strange. I vowed to treat myself to a banana split for dessert at the local Foster’s Freeze. But when I drove over there it was all boarded up! Out of business! Too bad! On the drive back home I chatted with my folks on the phone and got caught up on all their news. When I got home I walked Roxy, and then my assistant Sara came over to do some work. I grabbed a dip in the Jacuzzi and a nap on the couch. I got up later to do my auditions, and did some more writing on my new parody song (which I’ll give you more details about next week!) Since it’s topical (about California’s water struggles) I send it to local talk radio and news stations. I already booked the studio time at Voice Trax West to record it Monday afternoon!
And how was YOUR week??!!
