RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Back when I was a kid, I bought all the Fisher-Price Sesame Street puppets I could afford. My prize possession was my Grover, which at the time seemed pretty rare. I had a lot of fun doing shows with all my puppets, but when it came time to give Grover a bath, mom was happy to help out with the blow dryer.
Saturday night as I was working around the house in the overnight hours, a great old song popped into my head. Liz Damon’s Orient Express had a hit with “1900 Yesterday” back in the early 70’s. I remember thinking how beautiful the song was, and how it sounded so unlike anything else on the radio at that time.
Monday the 20th – PLATES OF HONOR! – When I awoke just after noon, I walked Roxy and then came back inside to prepare for a voice-over session in my home studio. I did some spots for the I Heart Radio network. When we finished up I did some more work around the house and read some e-mails. Then it was time to clean up and head to Voice Trax West to record some more voice tracks for US Airways…now called the New American. It was a short session so I had the rest of the afternoon to do errands. I went over to Office Depot to get some toner for my laser printer, and I headed to Michael’s Crafts to get some plate holders that you could hang on the wall. My pal Rob Richards gave me his “Wizard of Oz” plate collection; six collector plates that he’s had for years. I guess he got tired of hauling them around, but they’ll sure look good on my Puppet Room wall next to the new “Wizard of Oz” busts. I went across the street to a restaurant named Stout and met my assistant Sara for burgers. Then I headed home to do work. I put the plate holders up on the Puppet Room wall, and boy do they look sweet! I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and then grabbed a quick nap. My pal and fellow collector Rob Klein came over for a tour of Planet Wallywood and to discuss some possible trades of items. After he left I set about doing my auditions, and then fed and walked Roxy. I made some dinner and went to bed to watch the final “Kojak” episode ever. They went five full seasons, and their final episode starred Danny Thomas. He was a much better actor than I gave him credit for. His dramatic turn in this episode was top notch! It was a great episode directed by Telly Savalas, the star of “Kojak.” The series went out with a bang!
Tuesday the 21st – I’M A DOLE-AHOLIC! – It was an early morning for me…up at 10 and then dropping Roxy at Rusty’s for a bath. I drove all the way over to my agent’s office for an audition. My gas tank was very close to “E,” so I was urging it along all the way. But I made it. After the audition I got some gas. Then I hit the McDonald’s drive-thru for gas of a different sort (burp!). I stopped by It’s a Wrap in Beverly Hills to see what they had to offer in their Halloween section, but I didn’t get anything. Then I headed over to Whipp’d L.A. for another Dole Whip. Now that my pal and fellow voice-over artist Greg Berg has clued me in to where I can get Dole Whip in L.A., I try to make an excuse to slide by there at least once a week! It was deeeelicious! I drove over to get Roxy at the groomer’s and then headed home. I wasn’t home for long though, as it was time to head to Studiopolis Burbank to start dubbing the second “Tiger and Bunny” movie called “Tiger and Bunny: The Rising.” It looks like it’s gonna be good! I got home and barely had enough time to clean up and head off to dinner to meet my agent Pat. We finished up and I came back home to grab a quick nap. Then I got up for my nightly auditions and made some dinner. I hit the hay to start in on “Magnum; p.i.” Season Five. That season started with a two-part episode starring a very young (and very sexy) Sharon Stone. I think she’s a much better actress than most people give her credit for. It was a darn good episode!
Wednesday the 22nd – WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY! – Just after noon I got up and met my pals Tony and Crystal for lunch. Tony does some great upgrades for 12 inch action figures and he was picking up some experimental fabric for new improved capes for the Hot Toys Robin figures. They have a cute little dog named Millie, so we walked the dogs over to the neighborhood eatery who just so happen to allow dogs on their patio. The cute dogs always attract lots of attention, and a big guy named Conrad came over with his grandkids to see the doggies. After chatting with him he said he’s been a stuntman all his life. My assistant Sara has relatives in the stunt world and he knew them! Small world! Then my pal (and legendary actress) Stella Stevens came over to say hello. She was also eating there! But of all the weird things…Conrad’s young granddaughter was ALSO named Stella! So they had great fun taking pictures together! Only in L.A.! We walked back home and we hopped in the Gran Torino to go get ice cream. It was an absolutely beautiful day. After hitting Baskin-Robbins we went to It’s a Wrap in Burbank to check out their Halloween stock. But again, I found nothing. When I got home I took a dip in the Jacuzzi and grabbed a nap. I got up to do my usual nightly auditions, and fed and walked Roxy. I made a delicious Tombstone pizza and settled in to watch part 2 of the “Magnum; p.i.” episode with Sharon Stone. Fabulous!
Thursday the 23rd – TIME WARNER…AGAIN?! – My day started with an audition at Voicecasters shortly after noon. Since I was in the area I hit the KFC drive-thru and got some lunch. Then I headed to Voice Trax West to do a session for a winter sports campaign in Canada called Winsport. After the two hour session I headed home to meet up with my pal and webmaster Scott Sebring. Then Time Warner arrived to install a new model that is supposed to accommodate the new, higher speeds. But when the tech showed up, he brought the wrong modem. Why am I not surprised?! Luckily he had the correct one back in his van, and it got hooked up eventually. I worked on the computer for a while and then grabbed an evening nap. Now that it’s getting darker earlier and is cooler out, it’s darn good conditions for a quick nap on the most comfortable couch in the galaxy! I awoke, did my auditions, stole off to Denny’s to get some takeout food, and watched “Magnum; p.i.” before bed.
Friday the 24th – CATERPILLARESCUE! – Just before noon I had another session scheduled in my home studio. This was for a Sprite campaign. I did several voices of sports announcers, newscasters, and even a stadium announcer that was so loud, I’m sure it rattled my rafters (in addition to a few of my neighbors!). We ended the session and I started in on editing the tracks to upload to the client. When I finished I was getting peckish. So I called my assistant Sara and had her meet me at Paty’s for lunch on the patio. I took Roxy along too. At lunch we talked about the new Michael Keaton movie “Birdman.” It looked interesting to me so we decided to go see a 4:30 screening of it at a neighborhood theatre. It was a very enjoyable film. The best part is, the director just turns the camera on and lets the actors act. There’s not a lot of cut, cut, cut, cutting in this film which I really love! Some scenes go on for about 10 minutes before they cut away. The amount of direction and choreography that must’ve gone into blocking these scenes must’ve been intense! I recommend the film! But it’s fairly weird! I got home to enjoy my Friday evening and do some work around the house. I fed Spook and took Roxy for a walk, and then did some work on the computer. I went to the Jacuzzi to take a dip later on in the evening. It was dark out, but as I sat in the hot tub I noticed the silhouette of a cute caterpillar crawling along the edge of the swimming pool about 3 feet away. I thought to myself, “Don’t fall in, dude.” He kept crawling along at a slow pace. I got out of the Jacuzzi to watch him more closely, and it’s a good thing I did. He slipped and fell right in the pool! I scooped him out and put him on the pool deck. Then I went back to towel myself off and put my jacket on. I went back to the area to find him and see how he was doing, but I saw no sign of him. I even went home to get a flashlight and come back, but STILL no sign of him! It’s like he simply disappeared! He didn’t move very fast, so I’m not sure where he went. He literally vanished into thin air! I went back inside and napped on the couch for a few hours, and then I got up to prep my sink to dye some fabric. My seamstress makes these upgrade kits for the NECA Adam West Batman figure. The plastic joints on the figure are distracting and ugly, so we’ve figured out a way to make him a little costume to cover up the ugly joints. But the fabric I was using is starting to run out, and other people have ordered upgrade kits too. I found some wonderful heavy, white nylon fabric which I dyed two slightly different shades of gray. The 1966 Batman tights and leotards are a very unique color. They’re gray, but a beautiful shade that has a hint of blue and purple in them. So working out the formula and testing it on fabric swatches took a while. But once I locked into a mixture I liked, I dunked the two yards of fabric and dyed them. I hung them to dry in the Puppet Room bathroom and then started on another creative project. Last year I turned a red leather cap into an Ant Man cap, by cutting out and attaching the Ant Man “black circle” logo to the cap. The design is made from some black leather I had laying around, and it looks pretty neat. Then I have an Ant Man patch embroidered and sewn on to the back. I just wish I could figure out how to put little silver antennae on the cap to make it complete! I got so many great comments on the cap after wearing it to several conventions that a few people have asked to have copies. I sat down made whipped one up for my friend Steven, who just made me a beautiful chrome Ant Man helmet for my collection. All I need now is the embroidered patch, which I’ll pick up next week from Mr. Stitch! I got to bed Saturday morning around 10am!
Saturday the 25th – HALLOWEENIE! – Roxy woke me up at 2 by jumping on the bed and sneezing right in my face. Darn dog! I was still tired but I got up and walked her nonetheless. Once I was up I stayed up. I worked around the house, and then dropped a package off at the UPS store. I hit McDonald’s for a snack (it’s a good thing too, as you’ll read why later), and then went to the pharmacy to get a refill on my cough medicine. Though my cough has diminished considerably, I occasionally still get a coughing fit. Then I headed home to get ready for my pal Brian’s Halloween party that night in Hollywood. I wanted a costume that was comfortable, so I dug out my “Dude” costume from “The Big Lebowski.” I was just going to throw it on and go, but once I did it looked incomplete. My hair was much too dark. I checked the Chaney Room and sure enough! I had a full can of golden blonde Streaks N Tips left over from my own Halloween party a few years ago. So I went outside on my patio with plastic wrapped around my shoulders, and sprayed my hair blonde. The drive to Hollywood was slow, as there was a concert at the Hollywood Bowl that night. But eventually I made it into the Hollywood area to pick up my friend Kathylynne for the party. She was dressed as Daisy Duke. Hmmm…the Dude and the Duke! Neat! Since it was the Saturday before Halloween the streets of Hollyweird were packed with all sorts of nutty folks. But it was good people watching. Kathylynne was starving and I assured her there was a restaurant next to the club we were going to. We could eat there and head in to the party. We got checked in and then went next door to eat. But there weren’t very many tables occupied. Always a bad sign. Come to find out it was an “organic” restaurant. Well, I figured I’d give it a try. It’s a good thing my little voice told me to get a snack at McDonald’s earlier, because the food that arrived wasn’t anything I was interested in eating. Kathylynne either. So we paid our check and headed back to the party. They had a cast of “Rocky Horror” people performing and they were great. It brought back a lot of good memories as I used to be Frank N. Furter in our Sioux Falls “Rocky Horror” cast back in about 1983. The gal (yes gal) who was doing Frank was particularly good. After the performance I stopped her and told her I used to do Frank in the Midwest before she was even born. She doubted me, but I told her it was in 1983. And since she was only 25 she agreed. Yup! Long before she was born! The party ended and we hightailed it to DuPar’s in Studio City to get a grilled cheese sandwich and some soup. YUM! I got home and put my Dude costume away, but I was still buzzing. I decided to put together two more Ant Man caps. The black leather designs have to be glued to the caps in just the right way, otherwise they don’t turn out right. It was very “zen” to sit there listening to music and working on these hats. Cutting the designs out of black leather, meticulously gluing the pieces into place on the caps, and smoothing them down to dry. If you put too much glue on, it squishes out the sides of the design, so exactly the right amount must be applied! Then I fed and walked Roxy on our late night stroll around the neighborhood, and I came back inside to make an enormous salad for my Saturday Night Saint and Salad night. I enjoyed watching another episode of Roger Moore in the 1960’s show “The Saint” before bed. Earlier Kathylynne asked me why I liked Roger Moore as James Bond better than Sean Connery. I told her I liked Connery quite a bit. But while watching him as Bond I didn’t get the same “I want to be him” feeling that I did while watching Roger Moore as Bond. She said she totally gets it. I didn’t get to bed until around 9am Sunday morning.
Sunday the 26th – RIP MY SQUIRREL FRIEND! – Luckily I got to sleep until about 4pm. When I got up I walked Roxy then sat down at my desk to attack the ever-increasing mountain of receipts and bank statements that needed attention. I started by categorizing all my receipts from the past three weeks. Some go into personal, some go into the corporate account, some are my assistant Sara’s, and some are cash receipts. I was debating whether or not to go to evening church, but I finished up segregating the receipts by 5pm. That was just enough time to grab a shower and head over to evening church. And boy I’m glad I didn’t miss that one! It was a fabulous service, and the band never sounded better! Great music, and a nice fat sound with two guitars, bass, drums, piano, percussion and four singers. Amazing! Some of the youth from the church performed a song, and after the service the kids all flocked around Roxy. She’s very popular with the kids, and she loves laying on her side while they all pet her. We walked home and I did some more work with my receipts. Now I have to log them into my bank account tally sheets, and reconcile them all with bank statements. But I was craving a taco and enchilada from Ernie’s Taco House. I called in a takeout order and went to my garage to get in my car. But when I opened the garage door I saw something just outside my garage that, in the dark, looked like a discarded rag. Or a dead rat. Unfortunately it was one of my beloved neighborhood squirrels. He was lying on his side with his eyes closed…dead. He looked like he was sleeping. It puzzled me because, unlike other dead squirrels I see in the street, his body had no visible trauma. He looked very peaceful and intact. I had lots of questions in my head. First off, why in front of my garage? When a squirrel pal got West Nile virus back in 2005, he came to me for help when he was really sick. Because I’m so nice to the squirrels and feed them nuts regularly, they think I’m their den mother. Maybe this squirrel was feeling ill and came to my garage hoping I could help him. Was West Nile back again? God I hope not! It virtually decimated our squirrel and crow population back then. I don’t think he was hit by a car because cars can’t go that fast in the alley behind my house because of frequent speed bumps. Sometimes squirrels lose their footing in the trees above and take a tumble. If they fall into the grass or bushes they’re usually alright. But sometimes they hit the pavement and get internal damage. That happened with a squirrel I took to the vet several years back. The Vet said that, though he was still alive, he was out of it because of head trauma. And he would never return to normal. I had to sign the papers to have him put down and it was a very tough thing to do. This was quite a few years before I had to have my dog Sassie put down, so the experience was a new and sad one for me. But the Vet assured me that the squirrel was lucky I found him. Otherwise he would have laid there suffering, with the possibility of a dog or a cat coming by and mutilating him. I took some cardboard pieces out of my trash and moved the squirrel’s body away from my garage and by some hedges. Then I went to get my takeout order and bring it home. My friend Mark the Cop said that maybe it was the one squirrel who had a peanut allergy! Funny! I ate my dinner, took a dip in the Jacuzzi, and then came back home to find my little shovel. I buried the squirrel by the hedges and then came back inside to continue working on my bank statements. It was a LOT of work, but I conquered it. Then I still had about 10 auditions to do. But once they were finished and uploaded to my agents, I made some soup and hit the hay to watch another “Magnum; p.i.” episode.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Kathylynne and I arrive on the red carpet at the Hollywood Hotness Halloween Party in Hollywood.
