RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I was sitting at my desk the other day and looked up to see a very impactful vision. My dog Roxy heard me turn in my chair and looked up at me from her resting place at the top of the stairs. But in the foreground of my vision was a great photo of my dog Sassie (taken by my webmaster and pal Scott Sebring), which sits on my desk. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the amazing one-in-a-million visual.
This song really swings! Guitarist Marc Antoine really hits the target on this track, which dates back to my days at 94.7 KTWV The Wave in Los Angeles. I recently heard a very talented guitarist doing it live on the streets of Palm Springs during the Thursday night street fair on North Palm Canyon Drive.
Monday the 7th – MMMMMICHELLE PFEIFFER! – First order of the day was to get to Regenix at Cedars-Sinai for my follow-up exam. My actual hair follicles looked great, but I need to do more mini massages of my scalp throughout the day. It’s tough when you wear headphones for a living, but it will help increase blood flow to my scalp and help my follicles grow stronger and thicker. I got home for a little bit to do some work, and then headed to McDonald’s to get lunch on the way to Studiopolis. I did a few hours on this new anime cartoon I’ve been working on (we did episode 9 of 26) and then I headed over to NBC for the taping of “The Tonight Show.” Michelle Pfeiffer was there promoting the new “Dark Shadows” movie and boy did she look great! I don’t know what kind of vitamins she’s taking, but they’re working! After the taping I went home to finish Wally’s Week, do some work around the house, feed my cat Spook, walk Roxy, and then settle down for a brief nap. When I woke up I did my auditions in my home studio and e-mailed them to my agents. Then I dug out the DVDs for “Saturday Night Live’s” second season, the Johnny Cash Christmas special from 1979, and an episode of “The Midnight Special” that featured Andy Kaufman as the guest host. I needed to get some screenshots of Andy turning into Elvis Presley. He had a certain look on his face when turned around to reveal himself that I wanted to capture. His heavy-lidded, sneering smile would be interpreted by my pal Ruben Procopio in a new Andy Kaufman lifecast. If you remember, a long time ago I purchased an Andy Kaufman puppet head used in the 1981 film “Heartbeeps” at a Hollywood prop auction. Under the prosthetics on the puppet head was Andy’s original lifecast taken by the Stan Winston Studios. It was a wonderful discovery because I had two pieces of Andy’s original wardrobe…his performance stage costume, and his “Heartbeeps” costume. I had my special effects pal Jim Ojala make a casting of the lifemask so I could utilize Andy’s likeness on the mannequins that bore his costumes. The original puppet head went on my “Heartbeeps” mannequin, and a copy of the lifemask went on the mannequin that displayed his performance costume. Then I had Jim make another copy that I sculpted Tony Clifton prosthetics on. I made a Tony Clifton mannequin with replica wardrobe that matched what Andy wore as the infamous lounge singer back in the 70’s. Recently, I was lucky enough to acquire Andy’s original Elvis costume from another collector. It was the perfect addition to my set! But the facial expression in the lifemask was Andy’s trademark bug-eyed deadpan look. It worked perfectly for my other 3 mannequins, but it wasn’t appropriate for an Elvis mannequin. So Jim consulted with Ruben, an amazingly gifted artist, animator, and sculptor. From the Kaufman mold, Jim created a copy of Andy’s lifemask in a soft clay-like substance. That way Ruben could resculpt Andy’s features into his trademark Elvis face, but he needed reference photos. I was successful in getting about 35 screenshots of Andy doing Elvis from the DVDs. I sent the best 10 to Ruben via e-mail and he got started sculpting. When he’s finished, Jim will have to make another mold of that lifecast, so he can create a “positive” in fiberglass which will be attached to the mannequin bearing Andy’s Elvis costume. Then glass eyes will be added, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and sideburns. Oh! Don’t forget the chest hair! Then it will all be painted very lifelike and the costume will go on display in my Planet Wallywood collection! Eventually, I’d like to have room enough in my house to display all four Andy Kaufman mannequins together. Kind of like a “Many Faces of Andy Kaufman” exhibit! It would be great to get a pair of Andy’s original white coveralls from “Taxi,” but I’m not sure that will ever be possible. When I finished I walked Roxy. We had a nice, quiet midnight troll. But I noticed that she was still licking her left paw obsessively. Was she bored? Was it sore? So I put an old sock on her paw and she didn’t like that very much. Every time I turned around, she would yank the sock off! Smart doggie! I watched a two-part “Bionic Woman” episode from the season 2 DVD set before bed.
Tuesday the 8th – HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONNIE! –My sister Bonnie’s birthday is today. I can’t tell you how old she is, but I’m pretty sure she’s 29 and holding. I got up in the morning to walk Roxy, and then I got ready for my gig for US Airways. We are in the middle of a pretty intensive phase of the IVR (interactive voice response) telephone system. Until a few weeks ago, we were down to once-a-week maintenance sessions. But the past few weeks we’ve been doing three or four sessions a week. There’s a lot to do in this phase and it’s very hard work. I got some spaghetti at Al Dente downstairs from the studio and did the session. While we were busy doing US Airways tracks, two “TTS” comedy bits came into my e-mail. We recorded those and sent them off to NBC. Then I went home to meet up with my assistant Sara to get my postage stamps she just bought, I did some quick work, and then headed off to “TTS.” After the taping I stopped at my mailbox to pick up some packages, grabbed some apples at the corner store and headed home to feed Spooky and walk Roxy. I did some work on my computer, then took a nap with Roxy. Again we got up for our midnight walk. There weren’t any auditions to do tonight, so I paid some bills (that’s why I needed the stamps!), organized some checks for deposit, and then Sara brought over to-go food from Denny’s and we watched the first part of another “Bionic Woman” two-part episode.
Wednesday the 9th – TECHNOLOGY? YA GOTTA HATE IT! – Roxy’s body clock is precise. She always wakes me up at 11:15am, whether I have to get up that early or not. We went for a walk around the neighborhood, and when I got back a comedy bit for “TTS” was waiting for me in my inbox. I recorded the bit and then headed back to Voice Trax West for more US Airways stuff. I called in another order of spaghetti and did the session. While we were at it, a second “TTS” bit arrived and we turned that around quickly. I headed home, scanned some more checks for a deposit, then sped off to NBC for the daily taping of “TTS.” After the show I took the wonderful sketch Ruben Procopio gave me for my birthday into Fast Frame for framing. I got home, walked Roxy and settled down for a nap. I got up later in the evening for dinner with my pal Edi. She brought her little dog Bunny over, and she had a great time playing with Roxy, chasing each other all over the house! I noticed my computer had a message on the screen stating that it was going to restart in 12 minutes to download an automatic update. I figured it was cool and let it restart. But when it came back up, it wouldn’t restart normally. In fact, it looked like REAL trouble! Nothing was working! Something it downloaded was conflicting with my system. Though it was 3am I called my computer guy Sean and he talked me through a few things. It wasn’t working! RATS! Why would Microsoft download an automatic update that would do this to my system? AAAARRRGGGHH!!
Thursday the 10th – DEAR MR. BURTON – I was awakened around 7am by a restless Roxy. She had peed her doggie bed. I guess with all of the doggie activity the previous night, she may have consumed too much water. Note to self… gotta cut her off after midnight. Luckily her bed was washable, so I took it outside and hosed it down really well. I checked on my computer and one of the restarts worked. It was completely back to normal. Weird! Then it was back to bed for a few hours, and then up for US Airways again. After we finished up at Voice Trax West I headed back home, changed clothes and grabbed my tickets for the big “Dark Shadows” screening that night, and rushed off to NBC. When the taping wrapped, Edi met me at the studio and we drove to the Vista Theatre in Hollywood. It was a full evening which consisted of a screening of the original 1970 DS movie “House of Dark Shadows,” autograph sessions with the original stars of the 60’s soap opera, and a screening of the new Tim Burton film based on the original show. I had never seen the original 1970 film on the big screen and it was GREAT! Jonathan Frid, who just passed away a month ago, was a wonderful screen vampire! Up there with Christopher Lee and Bela himself! My friend Angelique (named after the character from the series), her mom Joyce, and my pal Dan Roebuck were all there. We had fun at the autograph session, and Joyce (a DS fan for decades) had never met the woman who played the character she named her daughter for. It was a fun moment when Angelique and Joyce met actress Lara Parker and got a photo. Angelique showed Lara her driver’s license to prove that it was her given name, and not something she adopted mid-life. Then we settled in for the screening of the new “Dark Shadows” movie starring Johnny Depp. First off, any similarity between the beloved 60’s gothic soap and this film is purely coincidental. It starts off as a gothic romance, then turns into a wacky comedy, and then in the last 20 minutes, turns back into a gothic romance. I’m not sure the powers-that-be knew exactly what kind of movie they were making exactly. It seemed they may have been confused by the whole concept. But I just marked this down to yet another childhood obsession that was sullied by Tim Burton’s hand. First Batman (a rubber batsuit? No Robin? Michael Keaton?), then Planet of the Apes (WTF?), Willy Wonka (creepy! Not charming!), and now Dark Shadows. “Dear Mr. Burton…please stop ruining the things I used to love as a kid. Thank you.” I know Tim must have an army of “yes” men, but perhaps he may need to look at hiring a few “no” men to reign him in when he goes into areas of bad judgment. The movie is way too long. At times I was thinking I would walk out and go home to see Roxy, but since some of the original TV series stars were in the audience, and they also did a cameo in the film, I didn’t want to seem rude. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. In order to love or hate something, it has to have a certain level of tangibility. You can hate racism because it’s evil and wrong. You can love dogs because they’re loyal and beautiful. But the movie is such a non-entity, so it’s hard to feel a certain way about it passionately. There were a few cool things in the film. Seeing the original 60’s stars in a far-too-brief cameo, Alice Cooper, seeing vintage 70’s cars, and a shot of Barnabas diving off an ocean cliff into the water (complete with his cloak flapping in the breeze) comes right off the cover of a vintage Gold Key comic book. And Chloe Moretz is awesome in everything she does. But mostly I left the theatre confused. I pray that Tim Burton steers clear of a Lon Chaney biopic, anything to do with Elvis Presley or Andy Kaufman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Laurel & Hardy or Starsky & Hutch. Don’t get me wrong. I loved “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Beetlejuice” and “Ed Wood” is one of my all-time faves. But if he’s adapting pre-existing products, beware! But Edi, Angelique and Joyce got to see the 1970 film on the big screen and they really loved it! I got home to walk Roxy, do my auditions and then hit the hay. What a day!
Friday the 11th – PEE-PEE PART 2! – Roxy peed her bed again at the exact same time as she did the day before. There’s definitely an issue I need to address. Apparently she was doing it in her sleep, since it was on her bed. Luckily I had potty pads down under her bed, so nothing got on the carpet. I hosed down her bed again, then went back to sleep. But not for long. My agent called and said I needed to rush into NBC for a “TS” comedy bit at 11. I did two bits and then headed to the pet store to get some more food for Roxy. I grabbed lunch and headed back into Voice Trax West for the final day of US Airways tracks for the week. We did two hours of voice-work and then I headed home to get ready for “TTS.” I got to NBC, taped the show, and became really tired. I got home and grabbed a quick nap before my late-night dinner with my pal Mike from Chicago. He owns Windy City Novelties in Chicago, and he brought me a huge box of cool light-up, glow toys. He saw Robo-Elvis in action, which is good. Because he’s the one who gave me the jumpsuit that Robo-Elvis wears. Mike has about 8 Elvis costumes left and wants to make 8 Robo-Elvises for his office in Chicago! We stayed out way too late, but I got home and relaxed.
Saturday the 12th – SELFISH SATURDAY! –Roxy didn’t pee in her bed this morning. Apparently cutting her off after midnight was a good idea. Her prior owner Carol suggested that, and it worked great. She also suggested spraying something called Bitter Apples on her paw. That would keep her from obsessively licking her paws out of boredom. The other night she licked it so much she made it bleed. I don’t have quite the activity going on in Planet Wallywood that Roxy’s used to in Lassie Land, so Roxy may be getting bored easily. But I try to keep her as busy and stimulated as possible. We were up at 11 and headed over to Rusty’s Discount Pets for a bath. I dropped her off and headed back home to wait for my maids. I napped for a bit until they showed up around 1:15. While they cleaned I went back to pick up a freshly laundered Roxy. I called some friends to see if they wanted to get together for lunch, but nobody was available. So I gave myself permission to just have a lazy, selfish Saturday. After the heavy week I had, I felt I deserved it. Roxy and I hit the hay, even joined by Spooky at one point, and enjoyed a long nap. At 7:30 we woke up, but since I cancelled the usual Saturday night movie night, we didn’t have much to do. Several of our regulars were gathering elsewhere to commemorate a friend who had died a year ago. So I took the night off and relaxed. I took Roxy out for a nice, leisurely walk. We played on the bicycle. She loves the fast movement of bicycles and motorcycles as I think it appeals to her shepherding instincts. I ride my bike up and down the driveway as she runs beside me, trying to herd me. It’s hilarious! She’ll even nip at my legs from time to time as she imagines my two-wheeled contraption is a white, wooly sheep who needs her expert direction and guidance. She erupts into joyous barking in the process. She loves it! Since there was no movie night, I couldn’t decide what to do with myself. So many options! After our rigorous exercise we went inside…and took another nap. I lit the fireplace, cozied up on the couch and slept until 1:30am. Boy, I must’ve been really exhausted! But it felt good catching up on sleep and relaxing. I spent the evening working on four months’ worth of neglected bank statements, and filed a few months’ worth of tax receipts. Nothing like productivity! Roxy and I went out for an extensive walk at 4am on a beautiful, quiet, semi-foggy morning. Lovely! We came back in and made a Tombstone pizza and settled down to watch another “Bionic Woman” episode!
Sunday the 13th – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! – I was up at noon to walk Roxy, then I laid around waiting for my seamstress Kathy to arrive. There were a few remaining things to do on Robo-Elvis, including sewing a row of Velcro on to the jumpsuit so the belt would stay on. It was fun visiting with Kathy, and we talked extensively about the new “Dark Shadows” film. After she left I got ready for church, and Roxy and I walked over for the evening service. I called my mom on the walk over to with her a happy Mother’s Day and see how she liked the flowers I sent her. Roxy really loves going to church now. She’s so relaxed there and enjoys seeing her regular friends who come over to her at the end to give her lots of pets and attention. After church I took Edi and her kids to Miceli’s for a Mom’s Day dinner. I got home and grabbed a nap, then got up for some auditions. I wrote Wally’s Week and then watched another episode of “Bionic Woman” from the second season DVD set.
And how was YOUR week??!!
VIDEO FROM THE WEEK
While videoing Roxy relaxing, I discovered the most amazing thing!
