RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

A REAL hot dog!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! “Makes a blind man talk about seein’ again!” They just don’t write them like this any more! The Spinners and “One of a Kind Love Affair” has been on my mind all week!

 

Monday the 19th – TUNE FOR A TOY! – A nice, brisk walk to the post office started the day, and then it was over to Voice Trax West for a fun 2 hour session for a talking toy. This particular toy even sings, so we spent a little time while crafting the toy’s theme song. I can’t say anything more about this toy, but it sounded so cool I actually want to get one when it comes out! More on that later! I walked home and stopped at Subway to get a sandwich, and then went home to do some work on the computer. Later I did a ton of fun auditions, and typed out Wally’s Week. I made some spaghetti and watched another episode of “The Time Tunnel.” I originally thought I only had a few episodes left, but I was HAPPILY surprised to see that I have 10 full episodes left. I LOVE this show!

Tuesday the 20th – BLUETOOTH BLUES! – My pal Edi met me for lunch at Paty’s, and later I tried to get the sound system in my Gran Torino to talk to my new tablet. I wanted it to play the set of 70’s tunes I had loaded up in the device, but for some reason they wouldn’t talk to each other. It was very frustrating. I got some packages at my mailbox and then headed over to my editor’s studio to complete my latest Actor’s Reel. As the entertainment industry opens back up again, I’m going to delve a little bit into some on-camera work. I figure it’s about time, as I’ve done just about everything I can do in Voice-Over. So it’s time to try and conquer some new ground. You can see the latest version of my Actor Reel here. I got home and fed the kids, and my pal Sara came over later to catch up. I hadn’t seen her in a long time, and since she’s been under the weather and out of town, we had a lot of catching up to do. I spent the rest of the night working around the house.

Wednesday the 21st – PRINTER PRONTO! – There were some more packages I needed to grab from my mailbox, and then I had to stop by the cleaners to get my comforter. I stopped by the Burbank Auto Doctor to get an appointment to get an oil change and standard maintenance done on my Gran Torino (it’s been FOREVER) and then I headed over to an auto audio expert to see if they could get my tablet and my car’s audio system to talk to each other. They didn’t have any luck either. There was some kind of barrier wall between them! I stopped by Burger King to get some lunch at the drive-thru, and then hit Krispy Kreme for some donuts. My pal Jim Ojala had Tweeted out earlier that Krispy Kreme had “monster donuts!” That is, donuts made up to look like classic monsters for Halloween! When I found out that the Frankenstein ones were the classic cream-filled, I knew I had to get a half dozen! They’re amazing, and to be honest, the little pretzel neck bolts are nothing short of inspired! Since I was informed by my warranty company that my laser printer wasn’t able to be repaired, and that they were sending me a check for the full value of the printer, I was on a mission to find a new laser printer. I liked the brand I had been using, but the guy at Staples told me that they were having trouble keeping that brand in stock because of all the manufacturing trouble in China. I found a demo model of the kind of printer I wanted, but he said the closest Staples store that had one in stock was in Costa Mesa. NO WAY was I driving to Costa Mesa for a printer. So I just bought some ink for my inkjet printer and headed home. But my little voice told me to go to the Staples in Studio City and see what they had. I looked around a bit and BINGO! There was the exact model I wanted! I grabbed it right away! I also got a brand new office chair. The one I had been using for the past couple of years was too wide and cumbersome; not streamlined at all. And it wasn’t tall enough either. I think this was more of a “gamer’s” chair, rather than an office chair. The new chair I selected looked a bit like Darth Vader’s costume; ribbed, black vinyl. Plus it was thinner and taller! Just what I needed. I decided to donate my old chair to my church. The stuff just barely fit in the Torino (good thing I didn’t have the Mustang!) and I got home and unloaded everything. I fed the kids, did a little work around the house and did a bunch of auditions later that night. I went to Denny’s to get some late-night dinner to enjoy during another episode of “The Time Tunnel!” When I walked Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood it was misting out. I guess summer’s really over!

Thursday the 22nd – MAYBE BABY! – My agent informed me that I was booked for a session in my home studio on Friday morning, but the producers wanted to test my line first. I fired up the system and did the test and it worked perfectly! I checked my e-mails, worked on my computer and enjoyed a nice, cool day. I had a pizza delivered and watched the final Presidential debate. I won’t tell you who I’m voting for, but I will tell you this…I’m voting for the tall, white guy in his 70’s. I wanted to vote for Adam West, but I’d better not. I think an Adam West/Jim Henson ticket would be one I could really get behind! A late-evening e-mail came in from my agent saying the session for Friday morning was going to be postponed til next week. But then I got a second e-mail from her saying that maybe it wasn’t, and it might be a go for Friday morning after all. I really hate not knowing what’s going on because it’s tough to plan my life accordingly. So I decided to stay up all night working on the computer to see if come early Friday morning they would need me. They did not. So I went to bed.

Friday the 23rd – TOPS IN TECH! – About mid-day my agent contacted me again and said the session was on for Tuesday. They were having trouble working out the scripts, but by Tuesday they should have everything sussed out. Since it was a nice, cool day I had my front door open to let the breeze in. I heard a guy delivering a small package to my front step. I don’t usually get packages at my house so I went out to see what it was. It was a small padded envelope from a pharmacy. It was some medication I ordered…TWO MONTHS AGO! Luckily the pharmacy replaced the initial lost shipment back in August, and I promised if the lost one ever arrived I’d send it right back. Sure enough, I opened up the packing slip and the date was August 21, 2020. It had arrived exactly two months and two days late! VOTE IN PERSON, PEOPLE! It’s situations like this that make me nervous about sending in my vote. I called the pharmacy to tell them the package finally arrived and they e-mailed me a return mailing label and I sent it back off to them. I did a tech test for a virtual Power Ranger panel on Saturday afternoon called “Morphin’ Meet,” and the tech worked out great! I don’t like technological surprises, so it was well worth doing a dry run the night before. I drove to the store to get some groceries, and wouldn’t you know it…I figured out how to get the Torino’s music system and my tablet to talk to each other. Apparently the music system defaults to connect the BlueTooth to an iPhone and not an Android system. Once I got into the settings of the music system and shut off all the other stuff I didn’t need, I told it to welcome the Android system. It all connected perfectly! Now I’ll have unending 70’s tunes in my Gran Torino when I drive around! I took the groceries inside and put them away, and then I built my Vader chair. I love it!! It fits into my office space perfectly! And the design is very “Dark Lord!”

Saturday the 24th – MORPHIN’ MEET! – Mid-afternoon I prepped my “set” for the upcoming virtual video panel for the Power Rangers event on-line that I’d be participating in. It was a lot of fun! Spook made an appearance, Roxy made an appearance, and I even got to spring my Animal 1:1 Muppet replica on everyone! What a blast! During the panel my pal Bob in the Midwest was texting me complaining that his favorite Halloween special wouldn’t be airing on broadcast TV this year. And any DVD that he would order of the show wouldn’t get to him in time for Halloween. Between his texts and trying to pay attention to the on-line panel, I was hopping like crazy. Once the panel was over, we all switched over to an IM platform so we could instant message with fans. At that point I texted a buddy of mine who can find anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) on the internet. I told him Bob’s problem and literally within 15 minutes my pal had found the Halloween special as an MP4. I delivered it over to Bob and saved the day! On the IM chat I got to speak with some really great people, and even give out some advice to collectors as to how to properly display their collections. They had seen part of Planet Wallywood on my webcam during the panel and they were asking me for advice. I told them it’s all about thematic presentation and organization. Keep the like items grouped together. Nothing’s worse that looking at a muddled collection without any thematic presentation. I also suggested to them to use their “high spaces.” Get a tall ladder and keep it handy for displaying stuff on the higher portions of walls. Oftentimes, the high spots on walls get ignored, but that’s great display space for larger items. We also discussed glass display cabinets and Plexiglas cases for smaller items. After it was done my pal Bob called me and we chatted for well over an hour. I’ve known Bob for about 50 years when we first bonded over our love for the Baltimore Orioles and their third baseman Brooks Robinson. But we also love Star Trek and have very similar musical tastes. It’s a lot of fun to chat with an old friend of so many years. He recalled the time when we were kids and he invited me to go camping for the weekend with his folks. When they came to my house to pick me up I carried out several large cardboard boxes of toys and personal effects I just couldn’t live without for the weekend. Bob laughed as he recalled his dad’s incredulous face, “Good grief! We’re only going for the weekend!” I told Bob if he thought that was bad, he should see what I pack for Palm Springs getaways! I like to have the comforts of home even when I’m away from home. We got a good solid laugh recalling the good old days. At his home in Minnesota, Bob is quite fond of the evenings he spends relaxing on his deck. When I’m in Palm Springs I’m virtually the same way on the balcony of my hotel. Bob and I are really very similar in a lot of ways, even to this day. It’s a blast to keep in touch with good old friends like that. I did some laundry later in the night, because my sinuses were starting to clog. I think it’s because there’s so much Spook hair on my blankets, so it was time to give them a good wash. Between the cooler, moist days and nights, and all the cat hair, my allergies were going nuts; even though I’m not allergic to cats. But all that hair and dander had to go! Later I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched episode 2 of the first season of “The Saint” with Roger Moore. GREAT SHOW!

Sunday the 25th – BRRRRR AT BBBBOOOOB’S! – After a long day of reset, I was craving a really good burger. So I called my friend Sara to meet me at Bob’s Big Boy. But the weather had turned decidedly colder, so it wasn’t the same as enjoying outdoor dining on those warm summer nights. But the food sure was good! I came home and did some organizational work around the house and got ready for a brand new week!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Here are the delicious cream-filled Frankenstein donuts at Krispy Kreme. Monsterlicious!

As I was looking around in my video collection for clips for my Actor Reel, I came across two old video we had done back in the early 80’s. One was a benefit concert we did for the Sioux Falls Jaycees called “Elvis Lives,” performed on the third anniversary of his death; August 16, 1980. I’ve been posting a few clips here and there on social media, so here are a few here on my website.

“See See Rider”

“Suspicious Minds”

“The Wonder of You”

I also came across a video we did with my Muppet replicas promoting bicycle safety tips for kids as we headed into the summer. It was called “Summer Safety Tips for Kids.” I’ll have more clips of both in the coming week. Hope you enjoy them!