April 22 -April 28 (2019)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I noticed some snails outside my house the other night and thought this was a funny situation.

When our local AM oldies station does “Sunday Night 70’s” I’m listening with rapt attention. Since they played Abba’s “I Do, I Do, I Do” I haven’t been able to stop singing it. Ahhh…those were the days!

Monday the 22nd – RESET DAY! – With all of the wacky stuff that happened the week before, it was time to give myself a “Reset Day,” something I need every once in a while just to hit the Reset button on life. Particularly since I hadn’t gone to bed until 11am after doing that promo session for Fox that came in first thing in the morning. So I stayed snug in my bed until 4:30 in the afternoon, got up to walk Roxy, I fed both pets, did a little work on-line, and then went back to bed to sleep some more. I got up around 10:30 at night, did my auditions, typed out Wally’s Week, paid some bills, went through my bank statements to reconcile my accounts and checkbooks, and did bookkeeping. I walked Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood, came in and made some hot dogs, and watched a few episodes of “Happy Days” from the second season DVD set. All in all, a VERY enjoyable day!

Tuesday the 23rd – RESET DAY 2! – Feeling like I just wasn’t back “at it” quite yet, I took another Reset Day to get recombobulated. When I got up at 3 I did a little work, checked my e-mails, fed the pets, and then napped on The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe for a bit. I got up later and recorded an audition, edited some music for a personal Voice Over thing I’m doing, edited some videos, and fed the pets. I took Roxy out for our late-night stroll again and it was a gorgeous, starry night. It made me miss Palm Springs quite a bit, so I started thinking about my next trip out there. I made some spaghetti and watched a few more episodes of “Happy Days.”

Wednesday the 24th – BACK TO BIZ! – The first item of the day was to meet with a gal named Ariel as a potential new housesitter/petsitter. I’m planning a fair amount of out-of-town trips this year, so I need somebody who’s available and who’s willing to learn the Planet Wallywood security system and the pets’ routines. We had a great meeting at Jerry’s Famous Deli and it seems like she’s going to work out fine! I gassed up the Torino (gas prices are NUTS! Almost 100 bucks!) and headed to the post office to buy stamps. I took a sign I made over to a printer to have it laminated, and then I went to CVS to pick up some supplies. I went to the neighborhood “pot” store to buy some more CBD oil for Roxy, and then went home to feed the pets. I did a bunch of auditions, did a quick session of tags for one of my regular clients, did a little work around the house, and then grabbed a short nap. I got up later to do some prep for a VERY busy Thursday. I rewrote and re-recorded one of my children’s stories that I had written a while back. I felt the story needed some elements fleshed out a little bit more. Once I was satisfied, I hit the hay.

Thursday the 25th – THANOS THURSDAY! – My first stop of the day was Jersey Mike’s to get a #13 on white to go. Then I went to Bang Zoom studios to do some more work on the ongoing digital assistant project I’ve been working on for several years. The past couple of weeks we didn’t have sessions because we were waiting for my voice to completely heal from the persistent cough I acquired through getting the flu a little while ago. But I’m sounding like my old self again, so we have a bunch of sessions scheduled in the coming month to get everything we need recorded for the year. The session ended at 6, so I sped home to feed the pets. Then I walked over to the theatre in my church to rehearse for the upcoming “Homeward L.A.” dramatic reading. As a fundraiser for the Midnight Mission on Skid Row, actors all over L.A. will be involved in various stagings of dramatic readings over a 10 day period. The one I’m involved with is at my church’s theater and will go up on May 4th. When rehearsal was over I walked back home, hopped in the Torino and drove over to the Arclight theaters with my pal Sara. I got us tickets to see “Avengers; Endgame” at 10:30. It was amazing, and the final half hour was the best of any movie I’ve seen in a long time. People were CHEERING in the theater! And, of course, there are sad parts too which had many people in the theater weeping. What a great film! I can’t wait to see it again! There were things in there that I cheered loudly for, for personal reasons, but I’m not going to mention them here. But suffice to say, it gave me a pleasant chill. But oddly enough, some of Paul Rudd’s Ant Man lines sounded familiar. Then it occurred to me that I had read those lines at a session at Disney about a year ago when I was voice doubling Paul Rudd. I figured the lines were for the “then” upcoming “Ant Man and the Wasp” film; not knowing they were for “Endgame.” But it sounded like during the interim, Paul had come into re-record the lines himself, so I doubt anything I did at the session was used in the film. But it sure was a cool moment for me! I got home and fed the pets, and then hit the hay for a jam-packed Friday.

Friday the 26th – GO, TORINO, GO! – I was having a blast driving the Gran Torino around all week. My first stop was at Carroll Casting in Studio City. I had seen Carroll at the grocery store recently and we chatted and got caught up. And now here I was at her new digs (VERY nice!) doing an audition. Then I sped off to see my Ear Nose and Throat doctor Dr. Jill. But strangely enough, it wasn’t for me! I was introducing my pal Valerie Perez to her so she could be looked at for an issue she was having as the result of diving on the Great Barrier Reef a few years ago. She loved Dr. Jill (who wouldn’t?) and she started on the road to have her issue resolved. Then we headed over to the Smoke House to enjoy an amazing lunch. The lunch portions are as big as the dinner portions though, and we had MORE than enough food! She said she had never been there before and was amazed at how “retro cool” it was! Just before lunch was served their photographer came around to snap a shot, and we both looked STARVED! Bring on the garlic cheese bread! (Something the Smoke House is famous for!) I stopped by my box to get my mail and headed home to do a few auditions, and grab a short nap on the couch. That amazing steak lunch DID give me the sleepies! I got up a little later to enjoy dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli with my friends Edi and Elliot Lurie. It was fun hearing all about the concert he did in his hometown in New York a few weeks ago. Then I got home and did some work, rewrote another one of my kid’s stories, drove over to Denny’s to get some food, and watched a few episodes of “Happy Days” before bed.

Saturday the 27th – BUSY BIRD BUILDER! – Andie, my stylist, said she could squeeze me in for a quick touch-up on my color. During the week she works at Fox doing hair, so Saturdays are the only day she can see her personal clients. While I was in the chair at 4, my pal Scott Sebring called to let me know he had just finished up a job in the area. So he stopped by and we chatted for a bit. Then we went over to Chin Chin to have lunch and chat about a huge upgrade that’s coming soon to my website wallyontheweb.com! Very excited for this! It really hasn’t had a re-design in about 15 years, but it’s due. When it was first designed back in 1996, the thought of accessing websites from mobile phones was a fairy tale. Now everything on the web has to be optimized for mobile phone usage, so that’s going to be our main focus with the new design. Stay tuned! We stopped and picked up some grocery items, and then headed to Planet Wallywood to get ready for movie night. We all watched an old classic; “Edward Scissorhands.” It’s a very sweet movie, and seeing Vincent Price in his final motion picture appearance always give me a lump in my throat. He was a real treasure! After my guests left I grabbed a nap on the couch, and then got up a little later to re-write another one of my kid’s stories. I did some work around the house, fed and walked Roxy, made my Saturday Night Super Salad and watched an episode of “SNL” from the fourth season DVD set. The guest band was The Grateful Dead. Sorry, I know they were popular, but I never really got the appeal. Maybe because my bodily system doesn’t have enough foreign chemicals in it, or something. But to me, they sounded like a really bad garage band. The songs they sang weren’t even very good. Strange. As I was getting ready for bed, looking out on the gorgeous overcast “blue” morning, I was watching a cute little Mourning Dove fly back and forth into a tree just outside my patio area. Each time she’d return she had a stick in her mouth. She was building a nest. She came and went several times, and then just sat on the branch for about 15 minutes taking a rest. It was so cute! I guess I’m going to have new neighbors soon; her, a male Mourning Dove, and hopefully all sorts of little baby doves!

Sunday the 28th – SHIRLEY-LESS SUNDAY! – Though my ‘adopted grandma’ Shirley was at movie night, she hasn’t been feeling well the past few weeks. Her blood pressure has been very high, and she’ had to visit the hospital a few times. She called to let me know she was going to stay home all day and not go to church. So Roxy and I walked over to evening church and enjoyed the service without Shirley. We walked back home, had a snack, did a little work, and then I napped for a while. I got up later and stayed up all night working on a ton of auditions. Then I re-wrote a few more of my children’s stories, fleshing out certain things in the stories that I felt needed expanding upon. I can’t wait to tell you more about them once everything is in place! When the stories were finished I recorded them in my home studio so music can be placed behind them later. It was raining out a little bit, so once it subsided I took Roxy out and tried to enjoy a cigar. But the cigar just crumbled at my touch. I think the humidor at the store down the street where I bought it isn’t operational. It was very dry, flaky and bitter. From now on, I’m only getting cigars at a real cigar store! I came inside, made a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box and watched the final 3 episodes of “Happy Days” from the second season DVD set. I’m going to stop at this point with the show, as season 3 is when they started the dopey “live audience” shows. And the quality suffered as a result. But MAN! The first two seasons were gold!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK