RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

As I was researching Stan Laurel on-line, I found this GREAT photo! Not sure who the photo credit goes to. But it’s the REAL Stan Laurel helping comic great Dick Van Dyke look more like him. A one in a million shot!

I can’t help it! After watching the new James Bond film I couldn’t get the legendary Theme from James Bond out of my head. Even while riding my bike in and out of afternoon drive traffic in the dark of the evening on Monday night!

Monday the 5th – THE HEAT IS ON! – It was another hot day in Los Angeles. One last gasp of summer before fall/winter sets in for good. I woke up earlier than expected for no reason, so I took Roxy for a nice walk. I went inside to do a session in my home studio. It was short and sweet. The director and writer were on the phone listening to me do the session and directing me. Then I saved the files and e-mailed them over later. Then I worked around the house for a bit. Later I headed to NBC to tape ‘The Tonight Show,” and then went to see my chiropractor. I must’ve slept wrong on my left shoulder, because I had a strange feeling down my left arm and numbness in some of my fingers. I thought it could be a heart attack, but I had no other symptoms. No shortness of breath, no pain in my jaw or neck, no cold sweats, and no dizziness. When I got to my chiropractor’s office he showed me a chart of the nerve system. Sure enough, the nerves that feed the fingers run under a muscle in the upper chest near the shoulder. If that muscle gets compressed, the nerves do too. I must’ve squished it while I slept. After the adjustment, I felt much better. I got home and did some work, and then did an interview with my pal Ian Boothby for his internet radio show. I grabbed a short nap, got up and did some more work, and spent some more time working on the new signage for the displays in Planet Wallywood.

Tuesday the 6th – ELECTION DAY! – I got up early to do another Garfield session with the gang. When we were finished Gregg Berger and I stayed later to assist Frank Welker with his pick-up lines from the session he missed the week before. Frank wasn’t at the previous week’s session because he was at a golf tournament. A golf tournament he WON! So Gregg and I had fun working with Frank and we got everything recorded that was needed. I got lunch at Wendy’s drive-thru, then went to It’s a Wrap in Beverly Hills. I found a cool new pair of boots, and two awesome new shirts! Then I went over to Regenix to have a follow-up visit on my hair program. I met up with a friend there who is starting the program. She was worried about losing her hair after the birth of her most recent child. So I told her I would take her over and introduce her to the gang and show her the program. We didn’t have a taping of “TTS” because of election coverage, so I had the late afternoon to myself. I drove home in bad traffic, and now that the sun is setting earlier, it seems to move even slower. I finally got home and checked e-mails and grabbed a nap. When I got up I did a ton of auditions, and set about creating a new hardcover book on My Publisher.com. I had made several deluxe hard-cover books with them in the past, but hadn’t made one in awhile. But after purchasing six rolls of rare Andy Kaufman photos from a photographer recently, I decided I would have the best 30 photos retouched, and then create a photo book. I made some dinner and watched another episode of “Kojak” from the second season box before bed.

Wednesday the 7th – CRAIG! DANIEL CRAIG! – Again I woke up earlier than expected, so I cuddled on the bed with Roxy for awhile. She always loves that. Then we took a nice walk. I did some work, sent some e-mails and headed to Studiopolis Burbank to record some lines for an upcoming “Naruto” episode. I also did a few pick-ups for “Tiger and Bunny” while I was there. I can’t wait for “T&B” to get released, because I think it’s really going to be hot! It’s a great show and we all worked very hard on it. I got a call from “TTS” to record a bit, so Studiopolis engineer Eric was kind enough to help me record it and send it in to NBC. After the session I had planned on going to the local gunsmith to have the front sight replaced on my Walther P1. But I forgot to bring the gun! RATS! So it was back home. On my way home I stopped at my mailbox and picked up my latest mannequin. This is the mannequin I’ll use for my new James Bond/Sean Connery figure. My effects guy Jim Ojala stopped by to get the mannequin. He also dropped off the revised Andy Kaufman/Elvis Presley figure. He fixed the teeth on the figure and it looks much better! I got very busy with stuff, but it was time to head to “TTS.” I grabbed an Elvis poster from my collection that I bought at an Elvis concert back in 1977. It was in rough shape, but I want to have it framed and hung next to my Robo-Elvis figure. I went to “TTS” and it was a great show! Daniel Craig was on, and so were a group of amazing animals with Dave Salmoni. At the act break I went into the hallway to try and get a glimpse of the animals, and Daniel Craig walked right by me and nodded hello. TOO COOL! But the coolest part of the day is when Jay played Daniel a comedy bit we had done a week earlier about Bond drinking too much Heinekin. It was a bit I had voiced. James Bond was listening to me! How awesome is that?! My pals Brian and Bob were in the audience, so I found them after the show and gave them the grand tour. I drove them back to their cars and then headed home to work on my group e-mails for my Thanksgiving weekend hang-out. I grabbed a nap, but ended up sleeping four hours! I must’ve been beat! When I got up I did a bunch of auditions, and one specific audition was very complex. So it ate up a lot of time. I did some more work on the Andy Kaufman book, then fed and walked Roxy. I was hoping to get some time to watch another “Kojak” episode, but it was getting late. I’m almost done with the second season set, and up next is “Charlie’s Angels” Season 5! After tossing down some spaghetti-O’s I hit the hay.

Thursday the 8th – LOVELY RAINY DAY! – Again, I got up earlier than expected. What’s going on with me? Anyway, it was more cuddle time with Roxy on the bed, then a nice long walk. It hadn’t started sprinkling too badly yet, but heavier rain was expected later. I drove to Gun Kings in Glendale to have the front sight replaced on my Walther P1. It’s a very old gun, and a gun expert told me that sometimes the vibration over time will just shake things loose. It was a beautiful, cool, gloomy day. Just the way I like them. It was very relaxing. I played my i-Pod in the car and enjoyed some mellow instrumentals. I grabbed lunch at Burger King and headed over to NBC for a comedy bit. I made it in around 2:45 and recorded the bit. We taped early again today. My new Darth Vader light sabre umbrella had just come in the mail the day before, and just in time! By the time we wrapped the taping it was raining pretty good. It was a wet drive home, but nice nonetheless. I started organizing my tuxes and supplies in anticipation of putting together my James Bond mannequin. I chose a few good possibilities, found a shirt I really liked, and the set of gold cuff links I bought on eBay were a perfect match to the real ones from the movie! I didn’t have any auditions tonight, so I figured I’d spend the wet evening at DuPar’s getting soup and a grilled cheese sandwich (my favorite rainy day food) with Sara and Chuck McCann. After Bond is completed, I’m doing a set of Laurel and Hardy mannequins. I talked to Chuck about the possibility of borrowing his original costume from the days he performed as Oliver Hardy. I brought the unpainted Laurel and Hardy heads to the restaurant to show him. I can always find similar costumes for the figures, but if I got Chuck and Jim MacGeorge’s original costumes from their Laurel & Hardy days (Here’s a glimpse of one of their many commercialshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ8sxO1fHJ8 ) then my figures would take on a whole new dimension of historical relevance! I came home to do some work, send a few e-mails and head to bed.

Friday the 9th – THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY! – Again, I woke up earlier than usual. I don’t even know why I have an alarm clock any more. I walked Roxy on a beautiful morning, and got ready for an audition at Carroll Casting at noon. Just as I was leaving Carroll’s I got a call from “TTS” to be in to record several comedy bits at 1:30. I had some time for lunch, so I called my friend Edi and her mom to meet me at Paty’s for a quick bite. I got to NBC and they weren’t kidding. I had a TON of bits to record. It’s nice to be needed! When I finished up I got some gas and sped off to Fast Frame. I wanted to make sure the autographed Andy Kaufman photo and letter I got back in 1977 was framed with UV glass. So I took it in and had them remove the glass. Sure enough it was UV, but actual UV glass and not plexiglass. Living in earthquake country it’s not a good idea to have a lot of glass around. If there was a shaker, or just pure clumsiness, and the frame hit the ground…the glass could shatter and slice up the letter and photo. So I had them replace the UV glass with UV plexiglass. I headed back to NBC to tape the show. While I was there I went on Fandango and bought several tickets to see “Skyfall” on Sunday night with friends. On the way home I stopped off to see my friend Kristy’s new apartment, then went home to meet my pal Brittney Powell for dinner. We went over to Barone’s for a nice, quiet, relaxing dinner. I got home and grabbed a quick nap, then stayed up all night working around the house. I designed several sign supports that I’ll need for the new signage that’s coming. I made the patterns out of cardboard, but I’ll have the finished product made from angled pieces of plexiglass. Exhausted, I hit the hay.

Saturday the 10th – I NEED MORE HOURS IN THE DAY! – I woke up late morning and let my maids in, then took off to run some errands. I stopped by and grabbed my assistant Sara to help me. I dropped a box of glow sticks and glow necklaces (courtesy of my pal Mike at Windy City Novelty in Chicago) at my church. That evening they were hosting a dance as a fundraiser for youth activities, and I thought the glow stuff would be a nice addition to the festivities. Then I went to JoAnn’s fabrics to get some buttons. The tuxedo shirt I chose for the James Bond mannequin needed studs in the button holes. But the actual shirt Sean Connery wore in the movie had buttons. So the thing to do is to sew two buttons together to use as a bridge. My friend Scott Sebring’s wife Vickie had consented to doing the sewing for me that night at movie night. Otherwise my fingers would have been covered in Band-Aids from all the unintentional finger pricking. We enjoyed lunch at El Pollo Loco, and I even ran into an “Invader Zim” fan there. I picked up a prescription, got some groceries and then headed to the hardware store. I was looking for a way to hang my poster of Andy Kaufman with the mannequin from “Heartbeeps” over my window. Obviously I couldn’t nail a holder into the window, so I’m stretching a piece of wire across the top of the window. Then on the back of the poster I’ll put little upside down hooks to hang on the wire. I saw photos hung at a studio like that before, as the studio’s walls were made of cinder blocks. I got home and walked Roxy, grabbed a quick nap on the couch before movie night, and then watched the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and Rodney Dangerfield’s “Easy Money.” In “OHMSS” the villain is played by Telly Savalas. It was weird seeing him as a villain, since I had been watching him as good-guy detective Theo Kojak in the “Kojak” episodes over the past few months. Speaking of “Kojak,” I watched the second to the last episode in the second season DVD boxed set just before bed.

Sunday the 11th – “BOND (WAAAAA) JAMES BOND!” – I awoke on Sunday and looked at the clock. It was 4:10. I slept well into the afternoon! I got up and got ready for evening church with Roxy. When church was over Sara, Amanda and I drove through Taco Bell to get some fast dinner. We got home and met up with Brian, Emily, Bob and Teri so we could caravan it over to the Universal Citywalk’s movie theatres to see the new James Bond film. When we got there we met up with Joe and Josh Poole, and we got into take our seats. It was very exciting as the reviews for this film were great. But there were two babies making noise all through the first half of the movie. Then the ushers came in talking into their radios. They ejected the babies and parents from the movie, but I have to tell you…it ruined the experience somewhat. People, if you can’t get a babysitter, STAY HOME! Geez! How inconsiderate ARE people anyway? I just looked at my friends and said, “And that is why I never go out!” Thankfully the second half of the film was uneventful. But as we were leaving, I saw a few people talking to the supervisor about the babies. He agreed to give them return passes. So I called everybody back inside and we all got return passes. The best way to change a policy is to hit them where it hurts. The supervisor said his ticket-taker should not have allowed the babies in the theatre. So the score was…four tickets sold to two sets of parents with babies, versus 15 movie passes given out because of the babies. The economics doesn’t seem to work. But the movie was great. They finally stopped trying to be Jason Bourne, and returned to being James Bond. I came home, did auditions, and got ready for the new week.

And how was YOUR week??!!