RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Through my friend Chuck Williams, I met a performer who needed to borrow my Robin costume for a comedy short he was working on. Come to find out this guy fit the costume perfectly and makes a pretty darn good Robin! Good job, Paul! I can’t wait to see how the short comes out! HOLY CINDERELLA!
Just out of the blue the other day, I recalled an artist we used to play in the early days of 94.7 The Wave. When it first started in 1989 it was a mix of New Age (I hate that term) music, Smooth Jazz and soft vocals. It was a genius blend of interesting stuff. A few years later it became more about the Smooth Jazz, and now it’s more about R&B. I haven’t heard the station in so long I’m not quite sure what’s going on with it lately. But I sure gained exposure to a lot of interesting artists back in “the day.” One artist was a harpist named Andreas Vollenweider. (Pronounced Ahn-DRAY-us VO-lun-vy-dur) who didn’t do an album of individual songs, but rather did an entire album comprised of different “movements.” It was pretty good stuff. But this song is by far my favorite of his. It’s called“Moon Dance.” (Not to be confused with Van Morrison’s “Moondance.”) Listen to it and see where this song takes you.
Monday the 14th – DAMN PUBERTY! – I got a hotline call early in the day for a “Tonight Show” bit, but it was to see if I could dub the voice of a 3 year old British boy for a bit. I knew it would sound like a grown man trying to do a 3 year old, so I told them they’d be better off using a girl. Since puberty hit I just haven’t been able to do convincing children’s voices. Since I was up I walked Roxy, and then went to Voicetrax West to do another session for US Airways. This phase of recordings was intense. There was a lot to do in a short amount of time. And time wasn’t exactly something I had in plentiful supply lately. After the session I went to the bank, the pharmacy and then home to look in on the pets. Then it was off to NBC to begin a new week’s worth of shows. When we wrapped I went to It’s a Wrap and bought a few clothing items. I stopped by Taco Bell to get a few more of those Doritos tacos, stopped by my mailbox to pick up some packages, and then home to work. While I was walking Roxy I saw my friend Kathy who represents Lindsay Wagner. She said that Lindsay just got her star on the Walk of Stars in Palm Springs the previous weekend. CONGRATS LINDSAY! She said that Lynda Carter was at the ceremony! Like Lindsay, Lynda was somebody I had always wanted to meet. Maybe someday…??? I went inside to grab a nap, then I woke up, walked and fed Roxy, did my auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agents. I found out that Roxy doesn’t like when I talk loud during auditions. She doesn’t understand yet that I’m not raising my voice to her. So when I’m trying to audition she’ll come up to me and want to get a hug. The same thing used to happen when I first got Sassie back in 2001, but she got used to it eventually. And so will Roxy. I did some more work around the house and then watched another episode of “Bionic Woman” before bed.
Tuesday the 15th – WHO WOULD STEAL THAT?! – Roxy woke me up early to go out…around 9am. Bleary eyed, I took her out for a walk. An attractive brunette with a baby told me what a beautiful dog Roxy was. I recognized her voice. I focused my eyes a little and asked her, “Do you work on the Tonight Show?” She said she did, and I recognized her immediately. It was Kira, who does the Photo Booth comedy feature on the show. I introduced myself and we chatted for a while. She said her production partner was meeting her with some equipment. As it turned out, her production partner was my old pal Eric Schwartz, who used to do comedy bits with me back in the days of the Cutler Comedy Radio Network! What a really small world! We chatted for a bit longer and then I went back inside to go back to bed for a few hours. Then I got up for another US Airways session…the final session for this phase. We also did two “TTS” bits, and when we finished up I went over to get resupplied on vitamins. Heck, after all the work on US Airways, I was going to NEED them! I stopped home for a bit, and then it was off to NBC for the taping. We wrapped up and I got home to feed Spook and walk Roxy. I figured since it was a nice night, I would walk her over to The Studio Café to get dinner. Come to find out my pal Bruce Kulick and his girlfriend Lisa were already there just wrapping up dinner. So I grabbed Roxy’s poopy scoopy and headed down the street. Good thing too, because it was needed. After I cleaned up Roxy’s…um…deposits, I put them in a plastic bag and tied it up. I would drop it in a dumpster on the way to the restaurant. But I didn’t want to carry the poopy scoopy all that way, so I propped it up against a tree so I could pick it up on the way home. I met Sara and Edi at Studio Café as well, and we had a nice dinner on the patio. But on the way home I noticed that the poopy scoopy was gone! In the hour that I had been gone to dinner, somebody (God only knows who) decided that they wanted to steal a freshly used poopy scoopy. WHAT KIND OF SICKO ARE YOU!? Boy, some people will steal anything that’s not nailed down. Disgusting. I got home to get a nap, then I got up for my auditions. I have been wanting to do an updated version of the song “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town,” a Viet-Nam war era hit song by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. The lyrics I’ve added to the song relate the main character’s story in the song more closely to the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars. My goal is to record a version, cut a video to it, and post it on You Tube as a tribute to the US troops. So I could see how the structure of the song worked out, I downloaded several copies of the karaoke version of the song. Then I put it in my Sound Forge system (the same recording software I use to record my auditions) and extended the verses accordingly. I did a quick sing-through and it worked out perfectly! I can use this version as a template for the musicians who record the final instrumentation. Then I made dinner and watched another episode of “Bionic Woman” from the season 2 DVD set. Before bed I noticed that a bulb had burned out in my track lighting system above my computer work area. As I was changing the bulb, I noticed that the metal connection at the base of the bulb stayed seated, but the bulb itself came out. I hate when that happens. To top it all off, the entire track lighting system went KAPUT! No lights! Apparently something happened to short out the entire bank of lights, as well as a few other lights in the area. I tried the breakers but no dice. RATS! What now?! How could changing a bulb short out an entire system?
Wednesday the 16th – JACUZZI AND JERRY’S! –I got a hotline call to do a bit for “TTS,” so I got up and walked Roxy, did the bit and e-mailed it into NBC and then hit the hay again for a few hours. After the nutty schedule I’ve been keeping, it felt good to sleep! Then I got up to head into “TTS” to tape the show. When we finished I came home and walked Roxy, we played on my bike for a while. She likes to run alongside my bike as I pedal fast and bark. She’ll occasionally nip at my calf and ankles. I think she believes I’m some sort of sheep that needs to be herded. After that craziness we headed back inside to relax on the couch. My pal Electric Bob would be coming by Thursday morning to check on the lights. My pal Edi came over later and we hit the Jacuzzi, and then went to Jerry’s Famous Deli for a late dinner. But something seemed odd. All the lights in the front entry way of Jerry’s were turned off! Come to find out they are now closing at 1am! Jerry’s closing? They’ve been 24 hours since I can remember! What’s the world coming to?! It’s just not the same seeing Jerry’s closed! Luckily we were able to get seated and order, but it was still very odd. I got home and recorded my auditions, did some more work around the house, and then hit the hay!
Thursday the 17th – BOB, BREAKERS AND BLEACH! –Electric Bob stopped by to see what had happened with my lighting system. It only took him about 5 minutes. He went to the breaker panel and BOOM! It worked! What the heck?! I hit all the breakers several times and nothing! I don’t know how he did it, but it worked and I was glad to have the lights back. I sped off to Studiopolis to do 3 hours of recording on “Bleach.” When I finished I hurried off to NBC to tape “TTS.” Then it was home to feed Spook, walk Roxy and grab a quick nap. Later that night I loaned my Robin costume to a few guys who were shooting a comedy short. They were shooting all day Friday and would return the costume on Saturday. My friend Brittney Powell also came over to do a couple of voice-over auditions. Then I did some work around the house, worked some more on Robo-Elvis (he is almost completed!) watched another episode of “Bionic Woman” and hit the hay!
Friday the 18th – GIMME SOME UP HIGH! – In the morning I headed back to Studiopolis to work on this new anime series we’ve been doing. I’m on the 9th episode of 26, so we still have a fair amount of work to do. I stopped at Subway on the way in to get lunch. It was going to be a long, 3 hour session so I needed sustenance while I worked. We stopped the session to do a quick bit for “TTS,” then we finished up. I got into NBC early for an early call-time. Tenacious D was performing on the show that day, and as I was in the hallway heading upstairs to put some guests on the ticket list, Jack Black and Kyle Gass were walking down the hall in their crazy outfits. Jack raised his hand to me and said, “Gimme some up high!” I high-fived him and said “The D is in town!” I rather enjoy the quirky nature of Tenacious D’s music. After the show I picked up my mail at my box and headed home to feed Spook and walk Roxy. I grabbed a nap, and then got up to do work all night on my database. I had a huge amount of DVDs and CDs that had to be input into my system. I also continued doing work on Robo-Elvis, and I even had time to squeeze in another “Bionic Woman” episode. By the time I went to bed, the sun had already risen on Saturday morning!
Saturday the 19th – SOUTH DAKOTA BIZ! –A bit we did earlier in the week goofing on South Dakota’s tourism industry had apparently made all the local papers in the state. They had a quote from the head of SD Tourism. They even mentioned the “narrator” in the article, but the ironic twist of the whole thing passed right by The Associated Press. That “narrator” was actually FROM South Dakota! Funny! I figured since I was in a South Dakota vibe, I called to reserve my hotel room and rental car for my upcoming trip for my Grandma Hazel’s 100th birthday celebration in July. One car place I called said they close at 9pm, but my plane doesn’t get in until 10:15pm! Why would they close that early if there are still planes arriving? Well, that’s South Dakota for ya! I also asked about renting a convertible and they said they only have them in the summer. Since my reservation was for July I said, “Isn’t July summer?” All they said was that they were currently sold out of convertibles. What does that even mean? So I rented a car from a different company who WILL be open when my plane arrives, and who WILL have convertibles for rent. I’m tellin’ ya, the world is upside down. I figured since there wasn’t much going on, I’d catch up on sleep. So Roxy, Spook and I went to bed and had a nice afternoon nap. (FYI..while it may seem that I sleep a lot, I actually don’t. I sleep in short shifts because a) my dog gets up every three or four hours anyway, and b) I can’t sleep for long periods of time, as a rule. My years as an overnight DJ have effectively prevented me from ever enjoying sleeping at night, so I stay up all night and it just feels more natural for me. I sleep best for a few hours in the mornings…6a to 10a…and then again in the early evenings…7p to 11p. So I get 8 hours, I just get them in split shifts.) In the evening I got up and started cleaning Planet Wallywood for movie night. My assistant Sara came over and helped me get groceries to restock the kitchen for movie night. My pal Paul returned my Robin costume and said the shoot went great. Our special guest for the evening was Stella Stevens, and we screened “The Poseidon Adventure” on Blu Ray. She was amazed how good it looked and she said she’s never seen it that crisp! It’s still a great film even after all these years! After the guests left I stayed up all night working on populating my i-Tunes. I made some dinner and hit the hay to watch the final “Bionic Woman” episode from Season 2.
Sunday the 20th – SLEEP-IN SUNDAY! –Roxy woke me up around noon to take a walk, and when we returned home I promptly returned to the comfort of my bed. We napped all day, but got up in time for evening church. I walked Roxy over to church and we enjoyed a great service. Roxy loves church because she gets lots of hugs and attention. After church we walked back home and I grabbed another nap. Since my schedule’s been so crazy it felt good to catch up on some much-needed rest. And isn’t that what Sundays are for, after all? I got up around midnight and Roxy and I took one of our peaceful midnight strolls. I came back inside and did a TON of auditions. I think I must’ve had 20 or so. I headed to bed and dug out a Kojak episode from the season 1 DVD set that I didn’t catch when I was watching the Kojaks. The disc in my set was bad and the episode wouldn’t play. So I sent it off to Universal for a replacement. It arrived a few weeks ago and I figured since I was between shows, this would be a great time to see it. It was worth the wait. A really great episode with a young John Ritter before he got his big break in “Three’s Company.”
And how was YOUR week??!!!
