RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I was perusing some old shots taken in the 50’s, and something doesn’t look right about this one. Hmmm…
After my encounter with a real ice cream man, in a real ice cream truck, of COURSE I was humming Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man” all week! Sing along!
Tuesday the 7th – I’M ‘BAFFLED!’ – Since I would have a one-hour session for a Marvel video game in my home studio later in the afternoon, I needed to baffle my recording area with all sorts of soundproofing. Once I got my little ‘sound fort’ built, I signed on through a service called Source Connect, and spoke with the folks at the studio. It only took about 20 minutes to actually record, so it was a nice, easy one. I’ve been working on this game for a few years now and have the majority of the lines already recorded. This was just a small “pick-up” session, so the producers could pick up some new lines that needed to be recorded. I took Roxy out for a little break and started chatting with my neighbor Bob. We decided to take a nice brisk walk over to Panera to get dinner, and then I came back home to do some work. Later I recorded a bunch of auditions, made some spaghetti and, since I’ve now finished watching the entire “Mod Squad” series, started in on “I Dream of Jeannie” season five.
Wednesday the 8th – VOTESICLE! – My pal Edi came over in the afternoon and we drove to our nearest polling place to cast our votes in the current California state election. The polling place was set up in a recreation center next to a park. There were all sorts of kids playing on the playground equipment, and right outside the door (like a spider waiting for flies) was a real ice cream man, in a real ice cream van! I had a great time chatting with him and getting some ice cream, like I used to do when I was a kid. I even made him play the annoying music for a little bit. One of the advantages of being an adult, as opposed to being a kid, is you can eat your ice cream BEFORE your dinner! So we decided to head to Paty’s and chase our ice cream with a salad. I got home and fed the kids, relaxed, and did some work around the house. Later I did my nightly auditions and drove over to Denny’s to get my usual order. As Roxy and I were enjoying our late-night stroll through the neighborhood, I looked ahead and saw something moving away from us. There are a few cats that roam around at night and I figured it was one of them. But it was bigger than a cat, with a really bushy tail. This was a coyote on the property! And he had heard us coming and was bolting out of the complex fast! Because the cats wander around our complex unfettered, they likely pee everywhere. I’m thinking the pee smell attracts the coyotes who are hoping for a hot lunch. That’s a good reason to keep your cats indoors at all times! We haven’t had a coyote problem here in years, but now I’m thinking that the cat pee might be a good reason why we’re having a problem again. I went inside to enjoy my Denny’s and another episode of “I Dream of Jeannie.” This season is terrific because it’s the one where they get married. The ‘bachelor party’ episode had me laughing out loud! In the morning, as I was walking Roxy one more time before bed, I saw an amazing dragonfly on a branch of a tree outside my house. This is the second time I’ve seen this, and in the same tree. I remember that the same thing happened about a year ago! Is this good luck or something?
Thursday the 9th – I VANT YOUR BLOOOOOD! – The first stop of the day was to a lab to have some blood drawn, and then I hit Jack in the Box for lunch. I got home and did some work, and later there were a bunch of auditions that needed to be recorded. I spent the rest of the night retouching photos, and planning out a shoot that I need to do for the YouTube versions of my Christoween stories. But it involves shooting video of my fireplace. And who wants to run the fireplace when it’s 98 out?
Friday the 10th – SENIOR DOG DUTIES (DOODYS?)! – The plan was to walk to Voice Trax West to do an afternoon session, but my left knee was very painful. I think I turned too fast while walking recently and it re-ignited my old “Beetlejuice” injury that I received when I was doing the Beetlejuice show at Universal all those years ago. So I decided to drive. I did another narration for Multi-Media Assemblies. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years, but the producer told me this is most likely the last one. It’s a great program that uses contemporary movie, TV show and music video clips to illustrate points about bullying, drunk driving, drugs, etc. But the world has changed so much in recent years, and school assemblies are no longer being done. Gathering large groups of people into a gymnasium isn’t a really great idea anymore, so it kind of defeats the purpose of the Multi-Media Assemblies business model. He tried releasing them to view on-line, but the way the screens are set up for the assemblies doesn’t translate well to a tiny laptop. Oh well, it was a fun run, and this program helped a lot of people. After the session I stopped by CVS to get some supplies, the grocery store to get some eats, and then Carl’s Jr. – cuz I was craving a huge burger. In the evening I napped a bit, and when I got up I found that Roxy had peed on the carpet downstairs again. Normally I have her in a diaper if I’m napping, but I had just taken her out before our nap. I guess being 13.5 years old, she’s going to have to be in a diaper virtually all the time now. So I cleaned it up and started to reflect on my dog Sassie, and what I did back then when she was having these problems. I’ve got to do something to save my carpet. I stayed up all night working on personal projects, and I managed to kill enough time until the Home Goods store opened on Saturday morning. I bought a nice vinyl runner that I could lay down in the living room next to where she lays. But as I was leaving the store in Burbank, I looked across the street and saw my old pal Foam Mart. I could get a big piece of L200 (a very dense, foamy, closed-cell material) and lay that down. It’s liquid proof. But they wouldn’t be open until Monday. I made it a point to go over there Monday to get some of it. I went to Hobby Lobby to buy a frame for my pal Bazooka Joe’s picture with Jay Leno that we took last week. (Joe is my 102 year old WWII veteran pal) I’m making one of my Cookie Monster caps for a little boy named Carlos who is battling cancer. But Hobby Lobby didn’t have any caps for kids. So, it’s off to Amazon for me. Carlos just lost his hair again during his most recent chemotherapy, so the cap will come just at the right time! I mailed off some bills at the post office, and sped by the place where Bazooka Joe lives to drop off the framed pic. Then I got back home and laid down the vinyl runner, and hit the hay!
Saturday the 11th – TUBBY & SLIM?! – Since I had been up all night, it stands to reason that I slept most of the day away. When I got up I did some Christoween work for the big 13 Weeks of Christoween that’s coming up on October 2nd (see Christoween.net for details!), and then I made some lasagna and watched Svengoolie on ME-TV. He ran “Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” a film I had never seen before. Their character names in this one were Tubby and Slim. Of course, Lou Costello was tubby, and Bud Abbott was slim. I doubt the writers of this film stayed up very late at night thinking up THOSE names. It’s like they weren’t even trying. I prefer Wilbur and Chick, like in “A&C Meet Frankenstein.” Later I worked on some more Christoween stuff and worked around the house. I walked Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood, and since the evening weather was perfect, I enjoyed a nice cigar. I have two sessions next week, so this night was my cut-off night anyway for enjoying such a thing. I came inside and made my Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched another episode of “The Saint” before bed.
Sunday the 12th – CHRISTOWEEN CONTEST; NOT! – Michelle came over in the mid-afternoon to do a “partner read” for an audition. A partner read is when the producer wishes to hear two people read together for a commercial. Those have become rather rare in the past few years, as the producer likes to digitally combine the two actors they like in the audition process. But this one was more about chemistry, so we did a few passes and got one we really liked. Later in the day I ordered a Domino’s pizza and did some work. Since I have a fair amount of aspiring Voice Actors and graphic artists following me on Twitter and Instagram, I thought it would be nice during the 13 Weeks of Christoween to tap their talents and expose them to my thousands of followers. I had thought about doing some sort of contest that would have aspiring Voice Actors read a section of that week’s Christoween Caper, and then have a winner each week that would get exposure, and a cool Christoween collectible. I also thought it would be fun to have graphic artists listen to the story for the week and just sketch what their mind’s eye is seeing as they listen. But contests can be problematic, on many different levels, so I’ve just decided to open it up to submissions and post them all! Let’s be inclusive. After all, that’s one of the driving messages in our Christoween stories, so why not? This will be fun, and I’m hoping for a lot of submissions! I’m really hoping people will connect with the stories once the audible versions get posted. I’ve noticed that the weather in Palm Springs is getting very nice; rare for this time of year. But I always suspected that we’d have an early fall. So I’m considering a quick getaway very soon. Plus, this could possibly be Roxy’s last trip to Palm Springs with me, as she’s already 13.5 years old. I ate my leftover Domino’s and watched a few more “Jeannie” episodes. This may very well be the funniest season yet. I’m laughing out loud a lot with these shows!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
A friend sent me a shot of the Donnie Druthers plush I sent her, and her cat went wild for it. (Maybe I should start filling these plush figures with catnip?)
Are dragonflies good luck? I saw this one on a branch outside my house this week. Then I remembered that I saw one just like it in September of 2020, in the same tree, on almost the same branch. What are the odds?!
My pal Edi and I doing our democracy thing.
This past week my pal Bruce Kulick was inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame. He asked that I record a video for the induction, but as the Dell Computers Glam Rock Guy. I was more than happy to comply. Here’s how it turned out!
A summer day, voting and getting ice cream. What could be better?
