November 12 – November 18 (2018)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Around the holidays I always feel a little “Melon Collie.”

While revisiting some old cassettes I made back when I worked as a DJ at 94.7 The Wave in Los Angeles, I came across this gem by Bernie Taupin. He’s best known for writing amazing lyrics for Elton John’s songs, but in the 80’s he had his own album out. This is “Citizen Jane,” which I really love!

Monday the 12th – A COMMEMORATION OF THE SERVICE OF VETERANS! – Since it was a quasi-holiday, I slept late into the afternoon. I met my pal Pat Evans for dinner so I could return some things he left at my house during a recent movie night. It was good to catch up with him since he’s been very busy. When I got home I did some work around the house, and then did a session in my home studio for Mr. Sparky; an electrical repair company in Texas. They’ve been an ongoing client now for close to a year. I did some work on my computer, typed out Wally’s Week, and turned on the heater. It was very cold again! Winter has come early, I think. I laid down on The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe and slept until 10am! When I got up I was cursing myself, as I knew lying down on the couch for a short while was a bad idea. Then I headed off to bed.

Tuesday the 13th – PALM SPRINGS PREP! – When I got up at 3 I had lots to accomplish! I did a few last-minute auditions, packed up some eBay stuff, answered some e-mails, made some phone calls, and met my friend Sara for dinner at Lancers. I dropped off my eBay packages at the post office, picked up a few pieces of mail at my mailbox, and then headed to the grocery store to get some needed supplies for my upcoming trip to Palm Springs. I got home and put the groceries away, did a few more auditions, packed for Palm Springs, fed and walked Roxy, made some spaghetti, and then hit the hay! Whew!

Wednesday the 14th – ZIM THEN ZOOM! – Shortly after getting up at 12:30, I had some last-minute paperwork to fill out and submit for a Voice Over session I did recently. I dropped Roxy off at the groomer’s, and then headed over to Nickelodeon for a quick session for the new “Invader Zim” movie “Enter the Florpus.” I can’t tell you much about it, but I can tell you that it looks GREAT, and will be a very fun experience. Though the main voice tracks have all been recorded, I was in the studio for some ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording.) These are to re-record certain lines that didn’t quite come out right the first time, or additional lines that the producers didn’t anticipate needing during the initial recording sessions. I was in at 2 and out by 2:45. Richard Horvitz and Rikki Simons were both there, in addition to Jhonen. It’s always a blast hanging out with those guys. If there’s truly a Santa Claus, he’ll bring us all another “Invader Zim” TV series! Fingers crossed! I hit Burger King for lunch, and then stopped by my local “pot” store to buy some CBD oil for Roxy. Yup, we have local pot stores who sell all sorts of marijuana and related supplies. But the CBD oil has been keeping Roxy’s bleeding vaginal tumors at bay, so I’m thankful for that! I stopped by the vet’s office to get Spooky some more food, and then went home to do some work. I walked over to Enterprise to pick up my rental SUV for my Palm Springs excursion, and then picked up Roxy from the groomer. When I got home I did some last minute packing. My assistant Emily came over at 8 to start housesitting, and I hit the road at 9. I got to Palm Springs in just under 2 hours, as I drove top speeds all the way. But when I got out of the car to get my traditional Denny’s meal, I realized that a trip to the desert at this time of year may have been a bad idea. It was COLD! I checked into my usual room at the Palm Springs Hyatt, got unpacked, and spent the evening watching stars on the balcony under a heavy blanket with my pajamas on! I guess I missed my window of opportunity for my perfect night time Palm Springs weather. When I was there in September it was hot and humid, and now in November it’s cold and clear. I wasn’t able to go in October because I was really busy. Oh well, I’ll come back in March and it should be perfect again. But there was very little fall this year. It seemed like it went from the heat of summer into the chill of winter almost immediately. I saw a pretty great meteor, but the best stars of the night came out close to dawn. The Orion constellation had moved into my western-view from my balcony, and it was gorgeous. Orion looked amazing, as did the surrounding stars. Even the “Riddler” constellation (as I call it) which looks a bit like a sideways, crooked question mark. But right around 3am some jackwad started puttering around in a construction site out behind my room. It didn’t look like he belonged there, but he kept throwing pieces of metal and wood around and making a bunch of noise. I tried to ascertain what it was exactly that he was trying to accomplish, but it looked like there was no rhyme or reason to his activities. I referred to him as “The Junk Man,” since it looked like he liked moving pieces of junk around. I called the local police so they could check it out, in case the guy had more insidious ideas in store. The police arrived shortly after I called, spoke with him briefly, and he moved on. What the heck?! Some people. I got to bed around 5am, after enjoying a few, nice quiet hours.

Thursday the 15th – PALM SP-BRRRRRR-INGS! – Right around 4 I woke up and met with my pal Edi, who had brought her daughter’s dog Indy along for the trip. She got checked into her room and we walked the dogs over to Ruby’s to have dinner on the patio. Indy was overwhelmed with her surroundings. Being only a little more than a year old, she’s still experiencing a lot of new things. The elevator in the hotel was a problem for her, and she didn’t want to go in under any circumstances. But once she got used to the ride she settled in nicely. Also, she took a lot of her cues on how to act from being with Roxy. It was a fun time with the dogs, but Indy’s wild behavior was starting to tire Edi out. Indy’s a husky, so it was like Edi was a sled and Indy was pulling her along. We spoke to a few dog trainers on the boulevard during the street fair who told her not to keep Indy on a harness. Since sled dogs are harnessed, Indy’s instincts may be telling her to pull, pull, pull! So Edi started using a collar on her and it seemed to go a little better. Indy was having quite the time with all the new sights, smells, sounds, and of course, all the other dogs at the street fair. When Edi had finally had enough, we went back to the hotel, stashed the dogs in our rooms, and then went back out to enjoy a leisurely stroll through the remaining hours of the street fair. At the end, Edi went back to her room, and I went back to check in on Roxy and we took a short nap. I got up around midnight and went across the street to get an NYPD pizza. Edi walked over with us but was much too tired to eat. So she went back to her room and turned in. I took my pizza back to my room, fed Roxy her dinner, and got set up for more star watching. Luckily there was no Junk Man tonight, but at 4:30 in the morning a city truck pulled up and let off a guy with a loud leaf blower. He started cleaning up the gutters and sidewalks outside my room. Really folks?! At 4:30am?! Then street sweepers showed up and started making all sorts of noise, so I decided to turn in. After all, Edi and I had a full day planned with the dogs, so I couldn’t stay up that late anyway. Between the cold weather and the noise, I was starting to consider cutting my weekend short and heading back home earlier than I had planned.

Friday the 16th – NO DOGS ALLOWED…AT THE DOG PARK! – OR – A DIRTY DOGGIE DOWNER IN THE DUST! Around noon Edi check out of her room and came over to stash her luggage in my room. We headed over to Sherman’s Deli to get lunch, but the waiting list was long so we just decided to hit the KFC drive thru. We got to the dog park to let Indy and Roxy run, but it said the park was closed for maintenance on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10am to 3pm. Since it was 2pm, we decided to eat our lunch in the car and wait an hour for it to open. After all, it was a gorgeous day. More people and their dogs arrived, but at 3 nobody came to unlock the park. Getting suspicious, we went back up to the gate and read the fine print on a small inconspicuous sign. On a VERY small sign hanging over the entrance sign, it said the park would be closed from November 12 through December 20th for reseeding and renovation. Great. They said an alternate temporary dog park had been set up a few miles away. To make matters worse, my two favorite Palm Springs radio stations had already started in with the non-stop Christmas music. It’s TOO EARLY! We got to the alternate park and found the small dog area, and somebody told us the big dog area was on the other side of the park near the baseball fields. After a VERY long walk we still didn’t find it. So we decided to let the dogs run on one of the baseball fields to get some energy out. Roxy’s great off-leash, but Indy…not so much. She took off running and left the baseball field with Edi in hot pursuit! Indy is VERY fast! She darted far in front of Edi and ended up in a neighboring golf course! So much for Indy being off-leash in the future. Not only did Indy get her exercise, but so did Edi! We decided to call it a day and started driving back toward the hotel. Then we saw a sign that said LARGE DOG PARK. We pulled in to see what it was like, but what we saw was a disgusting, dirty, dusty fenced in area with not a single blade of grass. And understandably, not one dog was there. Couldn’t Palm Springs have done their renovation during the summer months when nobody goes to the dog park anyway? Why wait until the peak season of the year to spend some quality outdoor time with your dog? And even still, why the disgusting area for big dogs? In all of Palm Springs that’s the best they could find? We drove back to the hotel and Edi loaded up her luggage and headed back to LA. Roxy and I grabbed an evening nap. I got up later and enjoyed a cigar while my pizza was being made at NYPD. Then we came back in, I fed Roxy, I ate my pizza, and got ready for star watching. It was another cool, clear night – almost TOO cold. Cold nights in Palm Springs kind of defeat my purpose for being here. But we did hear the gorgeous hooting of a nearby owl, which made the evening nice. While I’m on the balcony watching stars, I always pop some popcorn and enjoy a Rice Krispy treat. Occasionally I’ll throw a kernel of popcorn to Roxy, who’s right by my side on the balcony on her bed. But what she REALLY loves are pieces of Rice Krispy treat. While eating my popcorn Roxy fell fast asleep. But when she heard the crunch of me biting into the Rice Krispy treat, she sat straight up out of a dead sleep! She knew the sound! She makes me laugh almost every day. We got to bed around 6am.

Saturday the 17th – DESERT DASH! – After sleeping well into the afternoon I decided I would leave that night around midnight. There was no reason for me to stay through Monday, as it was much too cold for me to enjoy myself. Plus, my housesitter Emily had a plane to the U.K. to catch Sunday at noon, and my other housesitter had fallen through. Also, I had a session scheduled for Monday that I needed to do some prep for. All signs were telling me to cut my losses and head home. I stopped by KFC to get some food, and then hit Walmart for some supplies. I went to downtown Palm Springs to get a few Palm Springs hoodies for the winter at a local store, and then went back to the room to feed Roxy. I packed up most of my stuff with the intention to leave at midnight after a short nap. Roxy and I napped with the cool air coming in through our open deck door. But being Saturday night, a local party had loud music going on until 10pm. I would occasionally wake up and think, “Hey, I like that song,” and then go back to sleep. At midnight I checked out, gassed up the SUV and was on my way home. I made it home in an hour and a half! I unloaded stuff, and then went out to get a few grocery items I needed. I got back home, unpacked a few things and then hit the hay. So long Palm Springs, until March.

Sunday the 18th – SEDATE SUNDAY! – Roxy and I walked over to church for the evening service, and when it was finished my “adopted grandma” Shirley and I walked back to my house, and we drove over to Jerry’s Famous Deli for some dinner. I was feeling a bit out of it, so when I dropped Shirley off at her house I came back to relax for a bit. I got up later for a bunch of auditions, did a little work around the house, continued to unpack, and prepped for a Monday session before bed.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

After an exhausting night at the Palm Springs Street Fair, we rewarded the girls with a couple of chew bones. Roxy hoarded both of them, but Insidious Indy managed to steal one away in the cutest doggie way!