October 02 – October 07 (2024)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

My buddy Tyler has a wonderful collection of photos and transparencies, and he recently sent me this color pic of Bela Lugosi from his only color film “Scared To Death” from 1947. Wonderful image!

The other night at Bob’s Big Boy I heard “Wonderful Life” by Black on the overhead music system. It blew me away because it was never really a big commercial hit, even though we played it quite frequently on Smooth Jazz 94.7 The Wave, back in the day. In fact, I can’t find where it placed on the American charts at all! Random and fun! Enjoy this amazing song!

Wednesday the 2nd – NO REST FOR THE WICKED! – After submitting a last-minute audition (I hadn’t recorded one of these in a while!) it was off to Studiopolis in Burbank to do a quick session for a video game for a VERY famous franchise. I can’t say which one, but it’ll be HUGE! It was a bit vocally stressful, as I could feel the burn in my vocal cords after the session was over. But since it was only an hour, it shouldn’t end up being too bad. I mailed some stuff on the way home, and once I got back home I fed Spook again. My assistant Emily really cracked the code on getting Spook to eat his prescription food, a food he must be on regularly to control his proclivities for urinary crystals. I mix in one of those little tubes of delicious goo that cats seem to go crazy for and it works great! Mixing in tuna or grilled chicken worked for a while, but he ceased being interested in them. But this “tube goo” works great! I did a little work on-line, and later my gal Angi came over with her dog Khloe. We had a wonderful dinner at Bob’s Big Boy! As we sat there my pal Paul Dini walked by. I gave him a hug and we chatted briefly. I hadn’t seen him in quite a long time. He created the character of Harley Quinn for the Batman franchise, and he and his nephew had just gotten back from a screening of “Joker 2.” I also saw my pals Nery and Alex from Celebwork, who had been eating in the same area as Paul, and never knew they were sitting next to a legend! But once I pointed it out I could see that they were chatting with him at the front counter before leaving the restaurant. I can remember the day when Bob’s Big Boy only played 50’s rock and roll on the overhead music system (to fit their theme), but now they play all sorts of great tunes from the 70’s and 80s! In fact, just before they closed, the song “Wonderful Life” from the artist Black came on. I hadn’t heard that song “in the wild” in a very long time. I have it on my devices, of course, but hardly ever in the general public because I don’t believe it was ever a big hit. We used to play it on 94.7 The Wave a lot, and I fell in love with it there. Fantastic! I was feeling very mellow and relaxed with good company, and I almost didn’t want to leave! But the time came when I had to head home and do some work. Later I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and it was great to be back at it. I had missed it while I was out of town (see last week’s Wally’s Week). I spent some “cool-down” time in the anti-gravity chair outside sipping on an iced tea. The night was warm and wonderful. I came back inside to do a little work, record a couple of auditions, and then I hit the sack.

Thursday the 3rd – MAGNIFICENT MORGAN! – Once again, after a last-minute audition, I sped off to Paty’s to have lunch on the patio with my pal Chris Malmin. I caught him up on the details of my recent time spent in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – where both he and I used to live before moving to Los Angeles. As we dined I spied my new best friend, legendary actress Morgan Fairchild. We chatted for quite a while, and I’m always amazed at her stories. I told her I had recently seen “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” on TV, and I had forgotten how funny she was in it. And the reason she’s so funny is that she didn’t play it for laughs. She said when she and James Brolin shot that scene, they didn’t really know it was a comedy! Morgan recounted the time that she hosted “An Evening at the Improv” back in the 80’s. During rehearsals a young man in a sweat suit came in and told her that he wasn’t going to do his act at rehearsal, but he assured her that later that night during the actual taping, “I won’t hurt you.” She thought that was an odd statement, but once she saw Pee-wee in action later at the club she understood what was going on. She said they both spent some time improvising together on stage and it was magical. She said they became friends and kept in touch. Years later he called her and asked for a favor. At the time Morgan was a very, very busy (and high-priced) actress in Hollywood. He said he was going to do his first movie, and he asked if she would do a role for scale. She agreed, and rearranged her “Falcon Crest” schedule to accommodate a day of filming on what would be “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” The shoot would be on the jungle backlot of Warner Brothers studios, and would involve a fight with ninjas. She assured them that because of her stunt training she would be able to hold her own in the scene – within reason. After all, she couldn’t risk really getting injured with her intense “Falcon Crest” schedule. She and James Brolin did the “ninja” scene and all went really well. But she hadn’t seen a script of the entire film, so she had no idea what they were doing, or why they were doing this particular scene. Which is why she wasn’t playing it for laughs. She had no idea it was a comedy. After handily completing the scene in the morning, they were dismissed. But both Morgan and James Brolin had the rest of the afternoon available since they had blocked out the entire day for the shoot. But there wasn’t anything else to film! She said James Brolin called Aaron Spelling and asked if they could use the set for the “Hotel” series that Brolin was currently filming. They weren’t filming on the soundstage that day, so Aaron approved it. That was the whole set-up for the famous “paging Mr. Herman” scene in the hotel lobby! They improvised the scene on the fly! Absolutely amazing! She also went on to tell us that her first movie appearance was as Faye Dunaway’s driving double in “Bonnie and Clyde!” But I’ll save that story for another day! On the way home I got some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, got some groceries at the store to restock my kitchen, and headed home to unload the goods. I started working on the Christoween tree that will be used on the miniature set I’m building for a cool 1 minute stop-motion demo. My pal Isaiah Thomas and I are planning to shoot in late October, and my part is building the miniature set. I also made some candy cane bats (little plastic bats painted like candy canes) to hang on the tree. I have to stay mindful of creating all of this stuff as if a 10 year old kid was making it. It’s coming along nicely! Later I took my WOG, but it was a bit chilly and foggy out. I didn’t spend much time outside afterwards in my anti-grav chair. Once I came back inside I got caught up on some podcasts and did some drawings of monsters that will adorn Donnie’s bedroom wall in the video. Again, I had to be mindful of keeping them within the “a 10 year old would draw this” mindset. I scanned the drawings and gave my cat Spook a tranquilizer called Gabapentin. He was going to see the vet later, and since he can be grouchy at the vet, they always ask that I give him a tranquilizer before his visit. This will give it a full 12 hours to take effect.

Thursday the 3rd – MAGNIFICENT MORGAN! – Once again, after a last-minute audition, I sped off to Paty’s to have lunch on the patio with my pal Chris Malmin. I caught him up on the details of my recent time spent in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – where both he and I used to live before moving to Los Angeles. As we dined I spied my new best friend, legendary actress Morgan Fairchild. We chatted for quite a while, and I’m always amazed at her stories. I told her I had recently seen “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” on TV, and I had forgotten how funny she was in it. And the reason she’s so funny is that she didn’t play it for laughs. She said when she and James Brolin shot that scene, they didn’t really know it was a comedy! Morgan recounted the time that she hosted “An Evening at the Improv” back in the 80’s. During rehearsals a young man in a sweat suit came in and told her that he wasn’t going to do his act at rehearsal, but he assured her that later that night during the actual taping, “I won’t hurt you.” She thought that was an odd statement, but once she saw Pee-wee in action later at the club she understood what was going on. She said they both spent some time improvising together on stage and it was magical. She said they became friends and kept in touch. Years later he called her and asked for a favor. At the time Morgan was a very, very busy (and high-priced) actress in Hollywood. He said he was going to do his first movie, and he asked if she would do a role for scale. She agreed, and rearranged her “Falcon Crest” schedule to accommodate a day of filming on what would be “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” The shoot would be on the jungle backlot of Warner Brothers studios, and would involve a fight with ninjas. She assured them that because of her stunt training she would be able to hold her own in the scene – within reason. After all, she couldn’t risk really getting injured with her intense “Falcon Crest” schedule. She and James Brolin did the “ninja” scene and all went really well. But she hadn’t seen a script of the entire film, so she had no idea what they were doing, or why they were doing this particular scene. Which is why she wasn’t playing it for laughs. She had no idea it was a comedy. After handily completing the scene in the morning, they were dismissed. But both Morgan and James Brolin had the rest of the afternoon available since they had blocked out the entire day for the shoot. But there wasn’t anything else to film! She said James Brolin called Aaron Spelling and asked if they could use the set for the “Hotel” series that Brolin was currently filming. They weren’t filming on the soundstage that day, so Aaron approved it. That was the whole set-up for the famous “paging Mr. Herman” scene in the hotel lobby! They improvised the scene on the fly! Absolutely amazing! She also went on to tell us that her first movie appearance was as Faye Dunaway’s driving double in “Bonnie and Clyde!” But I’ll save that story for another day! On the way home I got some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, got some groceries at the store to restock my kitchen, and headed home to unload the goods. I started working on the Christoween tree that will be used on the miniature set I’m building for a cool 1 minute stop-motion demo. My pal Isaiah Ferguson and I are planning to shoot in late October, and my part is building the miniature set. I also made some candy cane bats (little plastic bats painted like candy canes) to hang on the tree. I have to stay mindful of creating all of this stuff as if a 10 year old kid was making it. It’s coming along nicely! Later I took my WOG, but it was a bit chilly and foggy out. I didn’t spend much time outside afterwards in my anti-grav chair. Once I came back inside I got caught up on some podcasts and did some drawings of monsters that will adorn Donnie’s bedroom wall in the video. Again, I had to be mindful of keeping them within the “a 10 year old would draw this” mindset. I scanned the drawings and gave my cat Spook a tranquilizer called Gabapentin. He was going to see the vet later, and since he can be grouchy at the vet, they always ask that I give him a tranquilizer before his visit. This will give it a full 12 hours to take effect.

Saturday the 5th – “HOOCEY-GO?!” – My mission was to pick up some paint and supplies for that evening’s work on the Christoween set. I needed some gray paint for the fireplace stonework, and I picked up a few extra items as well. I would be spending the night working on the set while I waited for Angi to get off work and come join me for Laurel & Hardy Theatre later. I went to the grocery store and picked up some items, including Rocky Road ice cream for Angi. I got a late lunch at Togo’s, which included their delicious, new barbecue beef sandwich! Then I drove to my box to pick up a very valuable package that had just been sent. It was the summer sausage that I would be including on my Chef Boyardee pizza later! I was excited for the evening’s event with my guests Angi and Khloestine! When I got home I fed Spook his magic food, and he ate it right up! Fantastic! The more he eats his prescription food, the less urinary problems he’ll have, and that means no wetting around the house! I hardly ever get calls on my home phone, but when I got home I saw that I had a message. It was the vet’s office calling with Spooky’s results from his exam. Unfortunately the news wasn’t great. He is in late stage 2 kidney deficiency, and as a result I’m going to need to give him daily subcutaneous injections of fluids. They said I could make an appointment to come by their office and they’d show me how to do it. This was not the news I was hoping to hear. Rats. I tried to take my mind off it by working diligently on the Christoween fireplace. I got it all finished and it looks great! I took my nightly WOG and spent some quality time outside in the anti-gravity chair. It was cool, pleasant, and quiet. When I sit outside I can sometimes see our property guard who often sits in my purview. Though he’s quite a ways away, I can see him there at his post at night. But I saw him get up from his chair quickly, tear off his jacket, and dance around like crazy. I ran over to see if he was OK. He said he saw a spider crawling on him and he hates spiders! I looked him over with my headlamp and assured him that the spider was long gone. But that was a bit scary! I came back inside and made a Christoween wreath – complete with a giant eyeball and lots of black, faux shrubbery. I also added a few bows and some spiders – in honor of our security guard’s recent ordeal. Just as I was finishing up I got a call from Angi that she was on her way over after she stopped at home and picked up Khloestine. Once they got to my house we chatted for a while, and while Angi got a few hours of sleep, I set everything up for “Laurel & Hardy Theatre!” I made the dough for my pizza, got the Tranquility Zone properly situated, cleaned up, made the pizza and heated up Angi’s soup (she doesn’t eat meat – or Chef Boyardee pizza). I brought the trays of food upstairs to the Tranquility Zone and we got set up. Angi randomly picked out the title of the first film we’d watch – “Below Zero.” We put Khloe’s fez on her and she looked adorable, even though she wouldn’t leave it on for very long. At least we got a good photo of her wearing it. The second film she picked out of the 40 Shorties Fez was “The Hoosegow.” Hoosegow (pronounced HOOCE-gow – like “loose cow”) is an antiquated term for prison. But Angi, being young, thought the title was ‘hoocey-go.” I thought that was quite funny, and I’ll most likely be referring to that film as “The Hoocey-go” from now on.

Sunday the 6th – NEARING COMPLETION! – As usual I slept all day and relaxed. Later I fed Spook again and he devoured his magic goo. I recorded some fun auditions, and then I took a WOG and spent some nice time in the anti-grav chair enjoying a nice cigar. My warm, summery cigar nights are coming to an end soon, so I have to enjoy them while I can. I scanned some checks for my monthly bank deposit, and then worked on the set walls for the Christoween stop-motion video. I cut the apertures in the walls where the windows will be. On Monday I’ll get some paint for all the interior trim and start on finishing everything up. Once the interior walls get painted I’ll start decorating them with specific Christoween decorations – ala candy canes painted like candy corn, and little skulls with Santa hats on them. FUN!

And how was YOUR week?!

PIX FROM THE WEEK