October 14 – October 20 (2013)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Palm Springs is so relaxing, that even Roxy wasn’t above just plopping down on the floor of the Hyatt Hotel lobby and having a rest!

Since most of my evenings in Palm Springs were spent marveling at the amazingly bright, clear full moon overhead, I couldn’t help but sing this song from George Harrison over and over. “Here Comes the Moon,” was a clever follow-up to his famous Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun.”

Monday the 14th – OLD FRIENDS! – It was the first day of October hiatus from “The Tonight Show,” and I was rarin’ to go on a nice, relaxing getaway! But first duty called! I got up early and headed to Patches in Hollywood to record some voices for an upcoming series of Target holidays ads. Normally you’d give the producer an “ABC” of each line (three different, distinct takes) but they let me go nuts. I gave them an ABCDEFHI and sometimes J takes! They wanted variety, so I was happy to give it to them. It’s always better to have more options than less, I always say. We finished up the session and I got to catch up with Mike, the caretaker of Patches in Hollywood. I hadn’t seen him in about four years, and he had gotten married, had a baby, and written a highly acclaimed sci-fi novel in the process! Good for him! I sped off to Mel’s Diner in Hollywood to meet up with my old pal Rob Richards. I’ve always considered Rob to be a “big brother” figure, because I’ve known him since I was 14. He was 19 at the time and a counselor at my church’s youth group. We bonded instantly, because he’s an amazing musician, organist and keyboardist who loved (and still does) the old silent films, and at the time I was heavily into Laurel and Hardy! Rob is the organist at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, and he always likes to wear my black Phantom of the Opera cape when he comes up out of the stage floor playing the organ during the Halloween shows. So we met for lunch, caught up on things, met his doggie Baby, and gave him the cape for the run of Halloween shows he has coming up. I drove back home to get Roxy and take her to Rusty’s Discount Pets to get a bath. I had just enough time to get over to Studiopolis to do two hours on “Naruto,” to voice a semi-recurring character called Aoba. While at Studiopolis I saw my old pal Mark Hamill, and told him all about Monsterpalooza last weekend. He’s a monster lover, and has been since he was a kid, but obviously can’t just go shopping at a convention in public like the rest of us. He would be mobbed! After the session I got home to feed Spook, then walked over to get Roxy from the groomer’s. I was beat. So I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and grabbed a quick nap. When I got up I finished Wally’s Week, and did some auditions. When I finished sending them off to my agents, I made Roxy some food, took her for our late night walk, and began packing for my Palm Springs getaway. I didn’t get to bed until 6:30am!

Tuesday the 15th – LAST MINUTE PREPARATIONS! – My schedule said I needed to get up at 10:45 in order to get everything done I needed to do before I left for the desert. My body clock got up me up a little before my alarm went off, so I began the day. Though my schedule of events changed a little bit, everything went generally to plan. I hit Subway for a footlong tuna, then went to Studiopolis to do some Renji lines for “Bleach.” Susie Goldish, the director and recording engineer, helped me get everything done in about an hour. Perfect! Because every spare minute I could squeeze out of the day was a blessing. I sped home, walked Roxy, prepared her some lunch with rice and chicken (she needed to have a small meal before she took her anti-biotic…which upsets her stomach if it’s not full of food), and waited for Edi to come pick me up to take me to the car rental agency. I got there at 2, rented a Dodge Journey (great vehicle!) and took it to my place and parked it. I hopped in the Mustang and headed over the hill to Regenix for a follow-up visit. It was quick and easy, and I even had some extra time to hit the It’s a Wrap location in Beverly Hills. I found several great blazers, but two of them didn’t fit; either a bit snug in the shoulders, or just too darn big. But I found two jackets that I really liked! One was a purplish-blue tuxedo jacket, and the other was a turquoise blue velvet blazer. I also got my pal Terry a tattered motorcycle gang denim vest that was used in some production. On the long drive home in afternoon traffic I made some calls. When I got home I finished up packing a few items. I had fully intended to grab a hour nap, but I was having too much fun packing and I wasn’t really that tired. I did, however, have a headache. Probably from all the yelling I was doing during the “Bleach” session. No, not at Suzie the director. Yelling as the character of Renji in the show. He seems to yell a lot! He’s always calling out the move he’s doing during battle. I got Roxy loaded up and we hit the road for Palm Springs at 9 sharp! But my headache had turned into a sinus headache. Yowch! I was looking forward to getting to my favorite suite at the Hyatt Palm Springs and just relaxing. We got to Denny’s just off the 111 at 11pm, and got our food to go. We got to the Hyatt and checked in. My normal routine of star watching all night was changed a bit by the enormous and bright full moon that we were enjoying this week. The brightness of the moon washed out many of the stars, but the moon was amazing! I watched it set behind “Mount Abe” (the mountain right out the back door of my hotel room which resembles the profile of Abe Lincoln) at 3:07 am. Stunning! Once the moon went down behind the mountain, the stars in the sky were much easier to see. I sat up all night marveling at space and creation. AAAAAHHHHHHH…Palm Springs at last!

Wednesday the 16th – OFFICER MARK ON DUTY! – After sleeping all morning, I got up at 1 and met my pal Officer Mark (a cop friend) in the lobby. He had checked into his room at the hotel for a few days’ respite too! While there we met a few of the Hyatt managers…David and Mike. As we were talking with them, and as I was conveying to them how much staying there and being treated well by their crack staff means to me, the song “Paradise” by Coldplay came on the overhead music system. It couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been scored for a scene in a movie! Paradise indeed! One of the gals behind the desk at the Hyatt named Darlene invited us to tour the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway House. She worked there during the days and gives tours in character as Priscilla Presley, in the same type of wardrobe Priscilla would have worn during the 1966-68 era. I couldn’t wait! I had always wanted to tour that house and this was my chance! My pal Edi would be coming in on Thursday so I arranged to take the tour on Friday, and it would be a complete surprise for her! Strangely enough, we had traveled to Graceland three years ago, almost to the day! Mark and I walked Roxy down Palm Canyon Drive and we had lunch at Ruby’s Diner (one of my favorite places to eat there.) Then we went over to Cold Nose, Warm Heart; a store that caters to pet owners with a wide variety of pet-related stuff. I bought a sign that reads “DOGS WELCOME. PEOPLE TOLERATED.” I also bought a small ceramic statue that looked like Roxy, as well as a Christmas tree ornament of a dog that looks like Roxy holding a Christmas stocking in its mouth. The young gal behind the counter asked how long we had owned Roxy. WE? She thought Mark and I were a couple! I guess in gay-friendly Palm Springs it’s not an unusual sight! But I told her that Roxy was my dog and Mark was just hanging for the week. His girlfriend is a teacher and couldn’t get off work during the week to join us. Then I asked, “Do you get a lot of long-haired hippie gay guys here?” (I inquired because visually I’m certainly not “the type.”) But she said they get all kinds. I told her I was more the “desert rat” type of Palm Springs resident. After a good laugh we picked up the Dodge Journey and took Roxy over to the dog park. I started talking to a lady named Kathy who used to work with the Wrather Corporation in the 80’s. She used to work a lot with Lassie and the Lone Ranger, two of the Wrather Corporation’s creative entities. She had fascinating stories! After tearing around the dog park for a while, Roxy was pooped! We took her back and dropped her at the room for a good rest. Now, I’ve always struggled with the perfect way to describe what makes the Palm Springs environment so appealing to me. It was the feeling l first got when I visited the town to speak at Adam West’s “Star on the Walk of Stars” ceremony in April of 2010. It just felt…perfect. But Officer Mark finally nailed it! It’s “weatherless.” Exactly! It’s not hot, it’s not cold, it’s not windy, it’s not still…it’s virtually weatherless. It feels like you’re walking around wearing a comfy velvet glove on your body. It’s tough to describe until you’re there, but that pretty much sums it up. We headed over to Walmart to pick up some eats and supplies. I don’t shop at Walmart that often, but I found some amazing things. I got these great hoodies that look like the costumes of Spider-Man, Captain America and Darth Vader! I also got some Tony the Tiger things…like pajama pants and a pillow! I also grabbed some Pop Tarts and red delicious apples. When I got back to the room I grabbed a nap, then I got up to walk Roxy. After she got off work, Mark and I met up with Darlene at Denny’s for a late-night snack and we talked Elvis for hours! But it was getting very late and I was missing out on valuable star watching time! Again, the brightness of the full moon prevented many stars from being seen, but I actually videotaped the setting of the moon behind “Mount Abe.” Figuring the moon set the night before around 3am, I got my camcorder all ready at 3. But it wasn’t even close to setting. In fact, it set a FULL HOUR later than the night before…at 4:03am! How does that work? A full hour than the night before? I need to talk to some astro-physicist and find out why that is. But as I taped the moonset, I also had music playing on my i-Pad. And what song do you think came on totally randomly? “Paradise” by Coldplay! Unbelievable!

Thursday the 17th – OWLS, SHOOTING STARS AND ABE! – Another beautiful day in Palm Springs. Many residents were saying it was the best weather they’ve had in a long time. For a long while it was scorching, and then it rained for several days. It was up at noon and Roxy and I took a walk. Edi arrived with Bunny at 2:30, so we loaded everyone up and went to lunch at Panera. Then we hit the dog park so the doggies could get some exercise. Then it was back to the hotel to change for the Palm Canyon Street Fair, a Thursday night favorite and personal tradition. My pal Kevin, an editor at “TTS” was there with his family, so we met up and went to dinner at Ruby’s. It was great sitting around…dining and people watching. A guy with two birds came by, a Macaw and a Cockatoo. Kevin’s four-year-old son loved seeing the birds and talking with them. When people saw Roxy they would either say, “Lassie!” or “I had collies when I was a kid and I loved them!” I wish I had a buck for every time somebody said that. I modeled my cool super-hero hoodies for Kevin’s son, then they went back to their hotel. I grabbed a short nap, and then got up for all-night star watching. Normally, there are climbers that you can watch climb up “Mount Abe” during the night. You can’t see them individually, but you can follow their bright LED flashlights as they make their way up the steep precipice. There were about 5 climbers that I counted, but one climber turned on his red light. It was odd seeing so many white lights, then seeing one red. I wonder if it was some sort of game they were playing, or if that one climber was lost or in trouble, and that was the signal for assistance. It’s fun to sit back, listen to music and eat popcorn and drink Cokes in a glass bottle, and watch the activity. A huge bird flew over the top of my balcony and down across my field of vision. I wasn’t sure what it was but I suspected an owl. Then later I heard him hooting in the distance. I waited patiently for the full moon to set, but like the night before, it was delayed almost another full hour! It didn’t fully set behind “Mount Abe” until 5:15am. But unlike the previous nights, the moon set DIRECTLY behind the profile of Abe Lincoln! It was a stunning sight that I wish I could have photographed! Once the moon fully set and was no longer visible, it’s light back-lit the silhouetted face of Lincoln perfectly! WOW! It was amazing and eerie at the same time!

Friday the 18th – HONEYMOON HIDEAWAY HOUSE! – I got up at noon and was looking forward to touring the Elvis Presley Honeymoon Hideaway House at 1pm. My new friend Darlene would be conducting the tour as Priscilla, and would be wearing a replica of Priscilla’s famous veil and wedding dress, by my request. Edi had no idea where we were going at first, but when we got there she recognized it instantly. We had a great tour with about 20 other people, and we learned a lot. It was fascinating! After everyone left, Officer Mark, Edi and I stayed around the house and chatted with Darlene. It was cool lounging around on the long couch where Elvis him selvis had sat and chatted back in the 60’s while he was filming “Clambake.” He would escape Hollywood on the weekends and drive to the Hideaway in Palm Springs for rest and sun tanning. We drove back to the hotel and parked the car, then walked over to Maracas Mexican Restaurant and had lunch. Then Edi and I went to the Fame Cigar and Wine store and bought two Monte Cristo cigars to smoke at sunset. We dashed into Cold Stone for some ice cream, then we headed back to the hotel. Officer Mark had to take off for home that evening, so we bid him adieu. After a quick rest in the suite, my pal Ron Chaney drove over to meet us. Ron is the grandson of The Wolfman, Lon Chaney Jr. And the great-grandson of Lon Chaney Sr.! Edi and I missed out on having cigars at sunset, but dinner with Ron was just as fun. But as Ron, Edi and I stepped out on to Palm Canyon Blvd. to visit the pizza place across the street, something occurred to me. I looked up and saw the blazing full moon overhead in the clear Palm Springs sky. I said, “I’m not sure hanging out with a Chaney when there’s a full moon is such a good idea.” We all had a good laugh, then went to NYPD pizza and put in our order. We chatted for a bit, then went back to the hotel and ate pizza by the poolside firepit. After Ron took off for home, Edi and I grabbed our Monte Cristos and headed for the smoking deck which sits high above the pool. We got some beverages and lit up. The smoking deck was lit only by the full moon overhead, and was stunning! Instead of cigars at sunset, we had a new favorite…Cigars Under the Stars! We walked the doggies for a little while, then I set about with my main project of the night. There’s a cute aquarium video that plays on channel 24 on the hotel’s closed-circuit television system. Edi and I have become quite fond of it. It’s a 40 minute video loop of several different kinds of fish in an aquarium. But it’s become a lot of fun to watch. We know when one green fish (we’ve named “Pickle”) chases the other green fish, and we know when the two little goldfish (we’ve named “Edi and Ems”) come out of their little cave to explore. It’s a lot of fun, and I’ve asked the management several times where I can get a copy of it, but nobody seems to know much about it. But it’s always on in the room when I check in! The clerks don’t know anything about it either…other than it’s listed on the TV channel list as “Fish Video.” So I set up my new video camera on a tripod to capture the full 40 minute “Fish Video” for my very own. Obviously it would be much better to get a copy of the video directly, but it this is the only way I can enjoy it at home, then it’s what I must do. I finished it up and checked that it was ok in the camera. Perfect! I got ready for star watching, and I throughout the course of the night there must’ve been about 60 climbers on the mountain. Then I remembered that there was a big AIDS walk starting on Saturday, so maybe this trek up “Mount Abe” was part of that. But there were tons of bright LED flashlights trudging up the mountainside. It was fun to watch. The moon didn’t set until around 6:15 am! It was getting later by about an hour every night. In fact, just as the moon was setting over “Mount Abe” in the west, the sun was starting to rise in the east! Knowing that my checkout time was 2pm Saturday afternoon, I started to feel a bit blue. I wasn’t ready to leave. Logically, I really had no reason to come back to L.A. so early. The only thing that made me hesitate was my Saturday night movie night with friends. But I had Roxy with me and I had plenty of extra food and supplies for her. I had plenty of supplies for myself, and I didn’t have anything to be back for until Sunday afternoon. I talked to Deb at the front desk about the possibility of keeping the room for another day. Deb said the room WAS still available, and she would even give me a discount on an additional day! That was all I needed to hear! So I went to the business office and sent an e-mail to all my movie night folks telling them it was canceled for this week. I needed just one more night in PS!

Saturday the 19th – ONE MORE NIGHT! GIMME JUST ONE MORE NIGHT! – After sleeping late, I took Edi, Bunny and Roxy to Panera to get lunch before Edi had to head back to L.A. We stopped by the dog park but as soon as I pulled up and didn’t see any cars parked on the curb I remembered a sign that was posted on the gate a few days ago. They would be closed for a period of time starting Saturday October 19th for reseeding of the grass. I was supposed to meet up with Kathy the Lassie and Lone Ranger lady to get some souvenirs from her. But I called her and she gave me directions to her house. We got there and she gave me two replica silver bullets with Lone Ranger engraved on the side. She said Clayton Moore used to hand those out to the kids when he would appear as The Lone Ranger. She also gave me a little metal Lone Ranger pin that he would also give out. But even cooler, was a book called “The Lassie Method” by original Lassie trainer and owner Rudd Weatherwax. Roxy’s great-grandpa was right on the cover! They had several of those books they would give out at Lassie appearances. She had several left in her collection and she gave me one. TERRIFIC! What a nice lady! She had lots of fun stories too! We got back to the hotel and Edi got packed up and headed back to Los Angeles. I grabbed a nap, and then got up to have dinner at Ruby’s with Roxy. It was fun people watching and eating on the patio. Again, it was another beautiful evening. The crowd on Palm Canyon Drive was energetic and enthused. People love living in Palm Springs! I picked up another Monte Cristo at Fame and walked Roxy back to the hotel. I put her in the room to rest up, and I hit the poolside smoking deck and enjoyed my cigar under the moonlight. I was feeling VERY relaxed. I casually started packing up my stuff, thankful that I had extended my stay. As I sat on the patio during my final night, I saw at least 3 shooting stars (2 of them were VERY bright and stayed lit a long time!) and heard my hoot owl friend again. There were more climbers on “Mount Abe,” and when I finally turned in at 6am, the moon wasn’t even close to setting behind the mountain. It’s getting later and later every day. I still would like someone to explain to me how that works! But finally, I was ready to end the vacation and head back.

Sunday the 20th – P.S. – I LOVE YOU! – One of the advantages of being a Hyatt Gold Passport member is late checkout. They said I could stay until 4pm, but by 2 I was up and packed and ready to rock. A quick stop through the Burger King drive-thru and we were on our way down the road. Roxy’s not a great traveler in the car; she pants a lot and seems kind of nervous. But the direction we were headed had the sun blasting in through the driver’s side of the car. So I stopped shortly down the road, dug out one of my hoodies from the dirty clothes bag, and put it in the backseat driver’s side window. This would give her a little shade as she laid in her bed. I got home around 4:45, just in time for evening church. I hastily dropped off the luggage and parked the rental car in a space in my complex. We walked over to church and had a nice time. When we got back my friend Amanda came by and we sped off to The Coral Café for dinner. I got back and grabbed a much-needed nap. When I got up, I did a ton of auditions, sent them into my agents, and finished unpacking. There was a lot left to do, but it was one of the best vacations ever!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Here are some of Roxy’s doggie friends she met at the Palm Springs Dog Park.

Kevin’s son LOVES meeting a Cockatoo!

A shot of the beautiful, stunning and mesmerizing full moon I took outside my room.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway House

Inside, you see the amazing architecture. No wonder Elvis loved this house!

A pair of Elvis’ sunglasses sit on display in a locked cabinet.

The famous Honeymoon Bedroom. By the way, Elvis and Priscilla’s daughter Lisa Marie was born exactly 9 months after their wedding day. So…do the math.