September 02 – September 07 (2025)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Since I just saw a 50th anniversary screening of “Jaws,” this behind-the-scenes picture has been on my mind. Though it looks like they’re in the middle of nowhere in the climactic scene, in reality they were just a few yards from shore. And the film crew was standing on the real Ocra, filming the scene on what was left of the Orca. Amazing when you see it from this perspective!

As I waited for my pal Chris Malmin to arrive, and I was sitting on the patio at Paty’s enjoying a warm, sun-drenched day, I popped in my earbuds to hear some music. “Pinch Me” by Barenaked Ladies came on and provided the perfect underscore for the day. Amazing!

Tuesday the 2nd – THUNDERHEADS AND DUNDERHEADS! – A large booming noise awakened me late-morning. I thought to myself that it was an odd sound for a passing jet to be making. Then I realized that it was a familiar sound, particularly given the times I had recently spent in South Dakota and Houston, Texas. It was a thunderstorm. But thunderstorms hardly EVER happen in this area! Then I remembered some flashing in the western sky that I had seen the night before during my time in my anti-gravity chair. I guess it WAS lightning after all! So this all made perfect sense. I opened the window so I could hear it, but unfortunately it didn’t last long. Since I was up I decided to organize some stuff for the post office. I drove out to mail off my stuff, and then hit my box to pick up a few packages. I got home and prepared for the 50th anniversary screening of “Jaws” in IMAX! I couldn’t wait! My pal Chris Malmin arrived at 3 and we headed to the theatre on the Universal Citywalk. I got some popcorn and a drink and we took our seats in the very last row. IMAX screenings aren’t the kind of thing where you want to sit very close. However, the last row seemed kind of like a “bad luck” row. There was a guy sitting by himself at the very left end of the row, then a couple of empty seats, then Chris, then me, and an empty seat to my right. But that was soon taken up by a guy who seemed intent on wrestling me for space on the armrest. Guuuh-reeeat. The guy to my right started coughing. And then he coughed again. And again. I thought he might be sick or something. I let it go for a while, but after it became clear that the guy was most likely going to cough through the entire movie, I got up and sat to the left of Chris to get away from “the coughing man.” About a third of the way through the movie he got up and left anyway, but I was comfortable in my new seat. There were two empty seats to my left and then the guy by himself at the end of the row. The movie was going along fine, and the experience was fantastic! I couldn’t believe that I was seeing one of my favorite films in this format! I wanted to drink up every second of it! But after act one, the lone guy off to my right dug out his phone. Uh-oh. He seemed like he was a fan of the film, so I thought he might just check a quick text and then put it away for the rest of the movie. Nope. He stayed on his phone for the rest of the movie! Luckily he had the light on his phone turned down, but on behalf of every cinephile who loves this movie, I was mad! What could have possibly been more engaging on his stupid phone than frickin’ “JAWS!?” After all, he obviously paid for a seat at this screening and wanted to see it, but he was now just using the film as background noise while he checked his damn Twitter feed! He must’ve been sick in the head, or something. This phone addiction is a severe mental illness; an addiction, and it’s sad and maddening. I honestly believe that this generations’ addiction to cell phones will have to be addressed in the coming years as a serious mental illness, and the treatments will have to be on par with how you’d treat an alcoholic or a drug addict. I’m serious. This is a real problem, and this generation can’t put their phones away for an hour and a half movie that they PAID TO SEE! I was incensed, but I tried to ignore him as best as I could. Using “Jaws” as background noise so you can check your phone. ABSURD! When the credits started to roll the phone addict quickly left his seat, as he probably could sense my disgust, and he didn’t want any sort of confrontation. I honestly just don’t get it. It’s gotta be a mental illness of some sort. I would be all in favor of theatres doing “phone-free screenings,” where you have to lock your phone up before the movie. Heck, I don’t even take mine IN to the theatre. NOTHING is going to be that important for the next two hours of my life! Unless you’re a doctor or trauma surgeon, leave the phone in your car! End of rant. Once we got out to the Citywalk it was flooded with people, and we soon realized that it was preview night of the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. Chris mentioned that he hadn’t been on Citywalk in a long time, so we took some time and walked around to see what was new. I picked up a few items for the grandkids and then headed home to do some auditions. I relaxed a bit and then did random work around the house. I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) through the complex and it was gorgeous! I also enjoyed some time in the anti-gravity chair staring at the sky and meditating. When I got inside I busied myself with stuff I needed to do. I had received a box for a Renji Funko Pop in the mail earlier in the day, so I signed that and packed it up to ship out. I put the Universal t-shirts in a box along with the Shark puppet I had bought recently in Houston, and got it labeled to ship to the grandkids. I scanned some checks for a few deposits and hit the hay. What a day!

Wednesday the 3rd – GOLDEN DREAMS! – Since it’s been about a month that I’ve had this plugged salivary gland on the right side of my neck under my jaw, I went in to see my ENT Dr. Jill. She checked it over and said she’d love to see what’s causing it, and that will take a CT scan. RATS! I was hoping for a quick fix, but the blockage is in rather deep. I’m really hoping I won’t need surgery! So Monday at 2pm I’ll get the image taken and we’ll go from there. I hit McDonald’s for lunch and then headed home to grab a few things. I went to the bank to make some deposits, but the teller’s scanner wasn’t being very responsive. The bank wasn’t very busy, so I just looked around to occupy myself while she worked. And then, in walked the most beautiful girl I had seen in a long time! A reddish Golden Retriever! I said, “Hi beautiful!” The dog’s owner (quite attractive in her own right) said, “Are you talking to the dog, or to me?” I smiled and said, “Well, the dog’s nice too.” We started chatting and I found out that the Golden’s name was Honey and she was 4 years old. Her owner said, “Do you wanna go say hi?” She placed the leash in Honey’s mouth, and Honey walked herself over to me. What a beaut! I gave her lots of pets and praise. She was something. But then it was time to go back to her owner, so she put the leash back in her mouth and walked back. What a stunner! She kept coming back to me periodically, and when she did she turned her back to me. I guess she really loved the back and butt rubs I was giving her! I thought to myself, “Now I bet I’m gonna have dog dreams.” I headed up to Voice Trax West to work an hour doing work for American Airlines, and then I went over to the post office to mail off some things. I got some more cans of cat fud at the vet’s office, and then I went back home to clean up. A few weeks ago I was at Paty’s dining on the patio with my friend Kelly, and the two people at the table next to us kept mentioning puppets. As they got up to leave I asked if they were puppeteers. Kenji and Shannon said they were and that they really loved puppetry. I gave them my card and invited them to tour my house anytime. Well, today was the day they would be coming by for a tour of Planet Wallywood, so I straightened everything up as best as I could. They arrived on time and we did the tour. I let them play with some of my Muppet replicas so they could get a sense of what Henson-style puppetry was all about. Shannon had mostly worked with marionettes in the past. And they did the nicest thing. Before they left they gifted me with a Trader Joe’s gift card! Fantastic! I’ve given a lot of tours, but nobody’s ever done that before; at least as far as I can remember. Nice kids! I did my nightly auditions and then relaxed for a bit and took a nap. The last dream I remember just before I woke up was…you guessed it…about a Golden Retriever. I was with some buddies hanging around, and we saw a shadowy figure approaching. At first I thought it was another guy, but as it got closer it was a Golden Retriever! And the dog was happy and whining; the kind of whine a dog does when they’re happy to see you. The dog approached me and I gave it lots of pets and kisses and I kept saying, “Can I adopt you? Can I adopt you?” And then I woke up. RATS! It’s not fair! But if you believe in such things, maybe that was me meeting my future dog in another plane of existence. Ya never know! I recorded some more auditions, took my nightly WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair outside relaxing. I came back inside to do some video editing and other various work.

Thursday the 4th – THE HEAT IS (STILL) ON! – My pal Edi and I met at Paty’s for lunch, but she was being affected by the heat so we had to go inside to eat. I don’t think I’ve eaten inside Paty’s in several months, to be honest. But it was good to catch up. I called my pal Scott Maguire in Sioux Falls (he’s a bigger “Jaws” fan than I am) and we talked about the film. He sees it on TV a lot, but he wasn’t able to get out to the theatres to see it on the big screen again. We chatted about the film for close to two hours! I headed inside to do some work, relax, and then do my nightly WOG. Since the days were hot, that meant that the nights were very balmy too. I enjoyed lying out in my anti-grav chair enjoying the quiet and the night.

Friday the 5th – FULL MOON FRIDAY! – When I go to conventions to sign autographs, I like to take some time out and walk around the convention to look for interesting stuff to buy. Almost 100% of the time I end up buying something from a local artist that’s not commercially available anywhere else. An artist named Bobby Perez has a business called Rotten Apple Designs, and he does the most amazing wooden plaques of popular characters that are painted with black light-active paints. He had several plaques that I would have liked to have bought, but when I saw the Astro Boy plaque I went crazy! I’ve always loved that character, and this plaque would fit very well in the Tranquility Zone; the room where I have my black light set up. But the plaque would not fit in my luggage to get home, so they said they’d mail it to me. Well, after a few weeks, the Pony Express…ahem…I mean FedEx, finally got it to me. Today! It looked fantastic and I couldn’t wait to get it on my wall. I was hungry so I decided to stop over to Paty’s and have a bite. I phoned Chris Malmin to see if he was busy, and he came right over. We got a good chance to chat about “Jaws” and how brilliant it is. After lunch I got some groceries for the weekend, and then came home to put them away. I relaxed for a bit, and then did my nightly WOG. The cool-down time in my anti-grav chair was stunning. There was a mostly-full moon in the sky, and the night was peaceful and warm. Stunning! When I came back inside I got busy. I brought up my big ladder from the garage so I could do some cleaning and maintenance work in my living room. I have a large, vaulted ceiling in my living room, so the large ladder is a must to get to those hard-to-reach places. First up was the top of the video cabinet. I have a Darth Vader bust that talks, but the batteries in the talking device were out. I replaced the batteries, wiped off Vader’s helmet and breastplate, and cleaned the rest of the cabinet’s top. I’ve got a lot of other things up there as well, and they were also filthy! A good cleaning and dusting was definitely long overdue! I have a light on my wall that came from “The Tonight Show,” and it was gifted to me when the show ended in L.A. back in 2014. The light has a cover that has the words “VOICE OVERS – QUIET” on it. When we were doing voice sessions in the editing bays, sometimes the microphone would pick up voices from the hallway. So the tech guys created a blinking light to let people in the hallway know that we were recording. It’s one of my prize possessions from my time on the show. But the light had burned out and needed to be replaced. When I pulled the bulb out, I realized it was a small bulb that I didn’t recognize. I didn’t think I had that type of bulb in my supplies, but I went up to check anyway. Lo and behold, in a plastic Mentos gum container, I saw the words “BULBS FOR VO SIGN.” Apparently when they gave me the light, they also gave me their supply of replacement bulbs. TOO COOL! So I popped a new bulb in and we were good to go! But I wasn’t ready to quit yet. I went up to the Tranquility Zone and set about hanging my new Astro Boy plaque. I removed a collage I had created a few years ago that commemorated my time at KABR-AM 1420 in Aberdeen, South Dakota. That collage was going to be moved to the Aisle of Art in the upstairs hallway so I could make room for the black light Astro plaque. But once I removed the KABR collage I realized that my east wall was FILTHY! I decided it needed a quick repaint! I dug out a small jar of interior wall paint and got to it. It really was quite gross-looking. But because the collage was hanging over it for so long I barely noticed. The Astro Boy plaque is just as wide as the KABR collage, but not nearly as tall. So I had some extra room to play with. Once the paint dried and I got Astro hung where I wanted him, I moved some of the other black light artwork around so it would complement the Astro plaque better. I had to be careful because it was about 5 in the morning, and I didn’t want to start pounding nails in the wall in consideration of my neighbors. Once I got Astro in place, I brought up my hole punches and my glow paper. I cut out various sizes of holes from the glow paper to make glow stars, and I placed them all around Astro Boy. The black light seems to activate the glow paper better than regular light, so it would all look really great! Then I cleaned up and hit the hay. I was exhausted, but I got some really good work done!

Saturday the 6th – WINTER IS A-COMIN’! – Because I had worked all night and morning in the Tranquility Zone, I slept most of the day. My gal Angi and I were supposed to meet at 6, but when I got up at 5pm I had a text from her saying she was starting to get sick. I think all of the traveling she’s done, and the past month spent in New York has worn her down a bit. So I texted her back with well wishes, and I went back to bed myself. Later I got up to do some work around the house, and take my night WOG. The time in the anti-grav chair was MAGICAL! The moon was REALLY full now, and the night was warm, quiet, and peaceful. Since it would probably be one of the last warm nights of the season, I took the opportunity to enjoy a nice cigar. And it was a good one too! But after about an hour outside, a thought popped into my mind as a slight chill came into the air. I thought, “Winter’s coming.” I packed up my chair and put it back in my garage. While I was there I pulled out a mid-size ladder and took it around to my front patio so I could wash it down with the hose the next day. I would probably need that ladder to hang some stuff in the Aisle of Art hallway upstairs in my house. But when I got to the front of my house, and got a gander at the overhead eastern sky, it took my breath away. It was gorgeous and clear, and I realized that my earlier thought about winter’s arrival was probably spot-on! I saw the Orion constellation in the eastern sky – which to me is a sure sign that winter is on its way. When Orion first appears in the sky, that to me is a harbinger of the impending change of seasons. So yeah, I guess my earlier thought was right. I got back inside and did some more work moving stuff around on the walls, without having to pound nails. I took the big ladder upstairs to move around some of my vintage Ben Cooper Halloween masks. With a few exceptions, everything’s almost the way I wanted it. Since it’s the first Saturday of the month, that means it’s time for my own personal commemoration I call “Laurel & Hardy Theatre.” It’s a nostalgic nod to the Saturday nights I spent as a young teen watching their films on TV in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I made a Chef Boyardee pizza (the taste of my childhood!), and settled in for some laffs. It’s those little things that you do for yourself that make life worth living. All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day! The films I drew out to watch were “Hog Wild,” and “Any Old Port.” I wasn’t as familiar with the latter film, so it was good to see that one again. Hilarious!

Sunday the 7th – COMATOSE SUNDAY! – As is usual for me on a Sunday, I spent all day resting and relaxing. I did a little work around the house, did some prep for the new week, and then later took my WOG and spent some time outside in the anti-grav chair. Delicious!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK