RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

DON’T ASK! My friend’s wristband to the Yaoicon.

Not only did I catch this song on the radio this past week and cranked it up in the car, but it also came on my i-Pod in my room. I LOVE THIS SONG! “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay.

Monday the 8th – COOL COOL MONDAY! – I was up early to get my friend Sunni on the plane back to Seattle. She had a great visit and loved chatting with her new BFF Margaret Kerry…the body model for the original Tinker Bell! It was cloudy and overcast and it was a nice break from the weeks of ultra-hot weather we’ve been experiencing. After dropping her off I went back to bed for a few hours. I had an early call at “The Tonight Show” so I couldn’t sleep too long. I got to NBC in the early afternoon and recorded several comedy bits, then I chilled out for a bit, and then we taped the show. I did another bit after the show and then headed home. I dropped off my comforter at the cleaners, and then I went home. My pal Sergio Lopez came over to fix the hair on my new Michael Myers “Halloween” mannequin. In order for the mask to look exactly like it did in the film, the hair had to be styled a certain way and be colored darker. My new pal Rob came over to get a free Captain Action hat. I saw him driving down the street with a Captain Action sticker on his car and we struck up a conversation on the street at a stoplight. He finally made it over and I rewarded him with a cool Captain’s hat with the embroidered Captain Action logo emblazoned upon it. I took Roxy for a walk, and then set about my evening. I had a lot to do….pay bills, auditions, finish Wally’s Week, laundry and trash. As I finished up the day I noticed how perfect the Myers mannequin looked. Thanks Sergio!

Tuesday the 9th – BUSY VOICE! – I got an early wake-up call on my bedroom hotline to record a ton of bits for “TTS” in my home studio. Just as I would finish one and send it in, another one would pop up in my inbox. It’s nice to be needed! Then there would be updates and revisions to the bits I already recorded! I managed to get a few more hours of sleep, then I got up to head into NBC to tape the show. Just before I left I got a call to do one more revision, then I headed into work. I wanted to bike in, as it was a beautiful day, but because of the late call for the revision, I barely had time to make it to work in my car, let alone a bike! I got to “TTS” and my voice was sounding good again. I think the inflammation was finally starting to subside. It also helps that I’ve been eating a lot of popsicles, as the cold helps reduce the vocal inflammation as well. I got KFC on the way home, and then went into the house to walk Roxy. I came back inside for a short nap. My pal Edi came over to hang out, we fed Roxy, took a walk and then I did some work around the house. Strangely enough I had no auditions to do. I hit the hay because I had to be up early the next day for a gig. I was also keeping an eye on the weather forecast in Palm Springs. I was planning on taking Roxy (PS is VERY dog friendly!) but they’re expecting each day to be around 100. I’ll be bummed if I can’t take her, but I don’t want her to suffer. I watched another episode of “Kojak” from the Season 2 boxed set before bed.

Wednesday the 10th – DOUBLE DARK DAY! – What a crappy day. I found out a friend of mine in Mississippi committed suicide, and attempted to take his 10 year old son with him. I knew my pal was bi-polar and had some issues, but I had no idea it was that bad. My pal was dead, but his son was just barely hanging on. With this on my mind, I drove to Santa Monica to Lime Studios to do a commercial for Mellow Mushroom Pizza. It ended up being a very fast session, and the producer had a clear idea of what he wanted. It was great! I back to my neighborhood and stopped at Office Depot to get some supplies. Then I went to Rusty’s Discount Pets, my regular pet store, to get Roxy some treats. Rusty Jr., the beautiful 9 year old collie who’s long been the mascot of the store, wasn’t there. I was shocked when the clerk behind the counter said, “Rusty died last night.” WHAT?! He was only 9 years old, going on 10! And in perfect health! I immediately felt even more horrible! They said he passed away peacefully in his sleep. No idea how he died! A quick backstory…the original Rusty was a sheltie. He passed away several years ago. Right around that time I got my dog Sassie, and started taking her into Rusty’s for grooming and supplies. Terry, the owner of Rusty the dog and Rusty’s the store, fell in love with Sassie and started thinking about getting a full-size collie. He did, and he named him Rusty Jr. Big, beautiful Rusty would wander around the property freely and greet all the customers to try and coax them into giving him pets and love. Last Christmas was my first Christmas without Sassie for 10 years. I was feeling a little glum and really needed some collie love. I went over to Rusty’s to pick up some supplies for Spooky my cat. I saw Rusty there ready and waiting for some lovin’. It was great getting some collie kisses and hugs again, and I got very emotional. Now here I was again, not quite a year later, sitting in my car in Rusty’s parking lot crying like a baby. But for different reasons. Partly because I’ll miss seeing Rusty around the store, but thinking how poor Terry was feeling brought back those not-so-distant memories of losing Sassie. It’s a horrible feeling. What a lousy day! It was there at that point that all the weight of the past 24 hours came crashing down on me. I dried my eyes, started my car and vowed to go to bed when I got home from “TTS” and pull the covers up over my head. I went into NBC and kept up the brave face, and then picked up my comforter at the cleaners on the way home. I also stopped by my box and picked up some mail. When I got to my house my pal Jim Ojala was there to fix some stuff on the Myers mannequin, my assistant Sara came over, and my old pal Kristy stopped by. It was nice to see some familiar faces and have some laffs. As I walked Roxy on her evening stroll, I was committed to taking her to Palm Springs with me next week. After the Rusty news I don’t want to procrastinate. Rusty was in perfect health! I went back inside to do some work around the house, and then I grabbed that nap I promised myself. I got up for some auditions, pay more bills, get some mail ready and watch another episode of “Kojak.” What a truly awful day, and I was glad to see it go.

Thursday the 11th – THUNDERY THURSDAY! – I slept ‘til noon, and I really needed it! I got up to walk Roxy and it was very cloudy. The weather guys were talking rain, but I wasn’t sure. As I sat at my desk going through e-mail I heard the sound of thunder in the east. I love that sound! Sassie used to freak out, but Roxy didn’t seem bothered in the least. As I listened to the AM radio, the airwaves crackled with the electricity in the air. I LOVE that sound. Reminds me of being a kid in South Dakota, listening to the radio for the latest storm reports, with the signal cracking and crunching. Neat! No “TTS” bits came into my inbox, but I had lots to do around the house. Sara came over to pack up the mail and take it to the post office. Then I was off to do “TTS.” After the show I came back home to walk Roxy and feed Spook. Then Edi came over for the Vice Presidential debate. It was a rainy evening, nice and cool. I had a fire going in the fireplace (the first time in several months). After the debate, we headed to Jerry’s Famous Deli to grab dinner. Then I got a short nap, then I was up all night doing auditions. I e-mailed them to my agents, watched another episode of “Kojak,” and hit the hay.

Friday the 12th – HIATUS EVE! – Roxy’s diarrhea had come back, but I think it’s because I’m in the process of changing her food over to Burt Ward’s Gentle Giants food. Anytime you change a dog’s food you have to be super-gradual about it. It can so easily upset their system. I got into NBC early for a comedy bit, and we were going to tape a half hour earlier anyway because it’s the last tape day before we have another week’s hiatus. After the bit I went to Rocket Fizz in Burbank, a cool store which offers all sorts of rare sodas and candy. I bought a bunch and bagged it up in a brown paper bag. Then it was back to NBC to finish up the week, and head out on vacation! I stopped at my chiropractor’s office for a treatment, but nodded off in the waiting room. I was REALLY tired! I got crunched and cracked, and went home to walk Roxy and feed Spook. Edi, Sara and I went to Panera to get dinner. I also stopped at CVS and picked up a prescription of a mild steroid to further reduce my vocal inflammation. I still wasn’t 100% and my Ear, Nose and Throat doctor Dr. G suggested I go on Prednisone for 5 days. When I got home I saw a sack on the floor. Beside the sack I saw 3 gumballs and a wrapper. It was my sack from Rocket Fizz. I had eaten all the candy except for a few leftover gumballs, and a Big Cherry candy bar. You know the ones…cherry and filling in the middle, chocolate shell with nuts? Where did it go? There was no wrapper, and no other evidence the candy bar ever existed. Did I eat it earlier and forget about it? No, I specifically remember saving it in the sack for later. The only evidence was some light brown stains on the carpet. Bravely I knelt down to smell it, and it was CHOCOLATE! Roxy ate the ENTIRE Big Cherry candy bar AND the wrapper! Uh oh! I immediately called the emergency animal hospital in the area. They said because of her large size, and the small size of the candy bar, they said not to worry. They said most of those candy bars are sugar anyway. But I was more worried about the plastic wrapper which was making its way through her digestive tract! She seemed perfectly alright. In fact she didn’t even seem the SLIGHTEST bit guilty! Edi called her Chocxy the rest of the night. But I was tired and needed a nap. I laid down and didn’t get up until 2am! I had my pal Edi drive me over to the Ford dealer to leave my car for Early Bird service early Saturday morning. I had an SUV reserved for next week’s trip to Palm Springs (to take Roxy and all her stuff) but as the weather reports got closer to the target dates, I realized it was going to be MUCH too hot for her to have a good time. So I wanted to make sure my regular maintenance was updated on my car so it would be roadworthy for the trip. To thank Edi for the ride I took her to breakfast at DuPar’s. Those eggs and pancakes were GOOD! Then I went home and got a few hours’ sleep before my maids showed up Saturday morning.

Saturday the 13th – SATURDAY ERRANDS! – My maids arrived around noon, so I got out of bed and let them in to begin their work. When the maids left I got showered and headed to Ford with my assistant Sara to pick up my Mustang. I drove over to Gun World to register for my new .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 29. Since I just bought a new gun in the last 30 days, I had to put some money down on this one to reserve it, then wait out the 30 days so I could register again. I went to Taco Bell and got some food and ate it on the way home. On the radio I heard Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend.” I used this song on a tribute video to my dog Sassie when she passed away, and I just can’t help but hear this song in that context now. Let’s just say it‘s really difficult to drive and eat tacos when you’re bawling. I went to North Hollywood Hardware to buy some Bondo to patch a crack in my shower. I’m going to have my master bathroom remodeled soon, but not until November. So I have to put a Band-Aid over any cracks in the tub until it can be replaced. I went to Rusty’s to get some food and potty pads for Roxy (it sure is sad there without Rusty!) and then I got home to play with Roxy for a while. I got the bike out and had her chase me around on it. She loves that! Figuring I had effectively tuckered her out, I took her back inside and then went to pick up Sara so we could go get groceries for that evening’s movie night. We came back and stashed the supplies, then got ready for movie night. I got a short 20 minute nap on the couch, then the guests began to arrive. We watched “From Russia With Love” on Blu Ray from the new James Bond Blu Ray set “Bond 50.” We followed that up with “Frankenstein” from the new Universal Monsters Blu Ray set. After movie night I did some more work and prepared a little bit for my Palm Springs trip. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be taking Roxy this trip. I’ll take her in March when it’s cooler. I made a salad and hit the hay to watch “Kojak.” I didn’t get to bed until 7am Sunday morning. But it was a pleasant evening!

Sunday the 14th – YAOICON?! – I slept until 2, then got up and walked Roxy. I went back to bed for a few hours until evening church. Sara, Amanda and I sat with Roxy at church, then we went to Coral Café for dinner. We met up with a friend of mine who was in town from San Francisco for the Yaoicon. She loves it. What is Yaoi you ask and why is there a convention for it? I wasn’t sure either, so I asked. Well, Yaoi is a type of Japanese animation that features very homoerotic themes. I’ve never voiced any of that in my career, but it has a pretty large following. I don’t really understand the appeal, but my friend sure loves it. After dinner they headed back to SF, and I took Amanda and Sara shooting at the gun range. I shot my new Kahr .380, but I had a real problem with it jamming all the time. The spent cartridge would hang up in the ejection slot. I only got through one full clip once the entire time. I had to continually stop and empty out the spent cartridge, take out the clip, clear the chamber and start over. Come to find out it was very dry and needed a good oiling and cleaning. This is the first gun I’ve ever bought that wasn’t ready to go right out of the box. But I guess I needed to get it in for a once-over. We also shot the Model 25 Smith & Wesson, which is the big brother to the new .44 magnum I just bought. On the way home we got ice cream cones at McDonald’s, and then I came home to do a bunch of auditions. But I had to turn in early for an early Garfield session in Hollywood on Monday morning. Boy am I glad this crummy week is over! Palm Springs here I come for some sun, fun, rest and relaxation!

And how was YOUR week??!!