RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Happy 85th birthday dad!!

While on one of my walks this past week, “It’s Late” by Queen came on my iPod. It’s a GREAT song to walk to, and it totally rocks!

 

Monday the 27th – VOCAL BROKAL! – After realizing that I was suffering some vocal limitations on Sunday night, I woke up fairly concerned about my vocal prowess for a session I had scheduled for the day. I headed over to Marc Graue Studios in Burbank and worked with my old pal Keythe Farley! It’s always a blast working with Keythe and we laugh…a LOT! Luckily the voices I had to do for this particular project were in the lower range, so I didn’t ever have to tap into my upper range, which was suffering greatly from my vocal restrictions. I stopped by McDonald’s on the way home and then got some groceries. I went home to put the groceries away and then my pal Brittney Powell came over to do some work. I grabbed a short nap, and then I got up to type out Wally’s Week. I didn’t have any auditions to do that night, which was probably all for the best given the fact that I needed some vocal rest to let the inflammation on my vocal cords subside. If you remember from last week, I came to the conclusion that I thought it was because of some eating before bed I had been doing. I thought I was pretty diligent about not eating bad stuff before bed (which causes acid reflux as you’re digesting and lying flat in bed) but I cheated a few too many times. And now I’m paying the price. Well, now I’m serious about not doing that again. When I lose my voice because of that it takes about a week to fully recover. I hadn’t been sick at all (thank God!) and hadn’t been overusing my voice, so eating before bed was the only alternative cause I could think of. When I got groceries I loaded up on things like yogurt, blueberry bread, cottage cheese, bananas, etc. – stuff that is OK to eat before bed. Speaking of bed, I hit the hay as early as I could because I had to be up early the next day for a different session at Marc Graue studios. I’m hoping my voice will have improved some.

Tuesday the 28th – DOUBLE DUTY DAY! – At 8 sharp I sprang from bed and got ready. I was back at Marc Graue Studios at 9 for a 2 hour session on a video game. Again, I was VERY thankful that the voices they had me do were of the lower, gruffer variety. No upper range was needed. They’re going to have me back in a few weeks for a second session. When I wrapped I headed over to Roundtable Pizza in Burbank to enjoy their lunch buffet. Then I stopped by my box to pick up my mail. My “Star Trek” hand phaser bottle opener came! It’s amazing! I sure would have loved to have had THIS as a kid while playing “Star Trek” in my friend Blake’s basement! Knowing I had a second session at 4 that afternoon, I got home and napped for an hour or so. I remember as a kid that my dad would come home for lunch, make some soup, and then nap on the couch for about an hour. Like he was, I’m a master napper! I drove over to Pure Imagination studios to do some more work on an animated Lego film which will be showing on-line and on TV very soon. I’ll let you know when it releases! On the way home I stopped at KFC for dinner, and then went home to feed the kids. My pal Sara came over to help me do some work, and then I grabbed a nap. It was VERY windy outside, but still fairly warm. My voice was still rough, especially given the three sessions I had done over the past few days, so I’m looking forward to a few days’ worth of voice rest. And NO eating before bed!

Wednesday the 29th – OF ALL THE NERVES! – It felt nice to sleep most of the day, but late afternoon I got up and took Roxy over to the vet’s to have her leg tremors looked at. She runs fine, and walks fine, but when she’s standing still her back right shakes quite badly. It’s fairly common for a dog of 11, but it’s tough to watch. The vet put her on a medication that we hope will work. Unlike my other dog Sassie’s situation, where the nerves in her back legs just died off causing her to feel like her hindquarters were ‘asleep,’ Roxy seems like she does have some age-related pain in her back right leg. The vet said it’s a nerve and muscle issue. We’re going to see how this new medication works, and if need be, she’ll have to have some blood work done before she goes on a stronger anti-inflammatory. I took Roxy back home (boy was she glad!) and fed the kids. I went to Jerry’s Famous Deli to have dinner with my friend Helen, and then came home to do some work. I napped on the couch virtually all night!

Thursday the 30th – DAD IS 85! – Having slept on “The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe” until 7am, I got up and worked on my Oscar the Grouch puppet until 10am. Then I hit the hay. I slept most of the day, but got up for a dinner meeting at Jerry’s. I phoned my dad who turned 85 years old! Thankfully he’s in excellent health, as is my mom! Then I came home and did more work on Oscar, recorded some auditions, and took care of some work around the house. My voice was getting better. I took a short, meditative nap, and then got up to work all night on my new Actor Reel; a 5 minute demo of clips from my past on-camera work. All but 2 of the clips were on DVD. The ones I had on VHS had to be transferred to DVD first so I could take them to the editor. I found the scenes I needed and jotted down the timecodes on the disc to give to the editor. Next week I’m getting some footage from the movie I did a month ago called “The Rideshare Killer.” I cleaned up around the house, cleaned my bedroom closet and went to bed around 6am Friday morning.

Friday the 31st – WONDERFUL WALLY WALK! – It was an absolutely gorgeous day. After several days of high winds, it was nice that it had turned calm and warm! I put on my walking shoes and strolled over to CVS to pick up a few items. I walked over to the garage where I house my 1974 Gran Torino and pulled it out to drive it for a few days. I drove to my box to get my mail, picked up a few grocery items at the store, and then went back home to car swap. I put the Mustang away for a few days so I could drive the Torino around. I went inside and finished up my work on pulling clips for my Actor Reel, and I took Roxy outside for a walk and enjoyed a nice cigar. I went back inside and got ready for bed to watch another episode of “The Mod Squad. “ I ate some “safe” foods; yogurt, blueberry bread, popcorn and an apple – all approved “pre-bed” foods!

Saturday the 1st – IS THAT A GROUCH ON YOUR HAT OR ARE YOU JUST ANGRY TO SEE ME?! – Since it was another gorgeous day I walked over to Kit Kraft to pick up some acrylic hemispheres that I could use for eyeballs on an Oscar the Grouch cap I’m making. I had previously made a Rowlf the Dog hat, which I really love, and this time I’m making an Oscar hat. I tried to figure out a way to get the eyebrow to move up and down, but it wasn’t possible given the fact that there wasn’t any room for the mechanics to move once it was on my head. I hit the hardware store to find the bolts, nuts and washers I needed, and then I met my pal Sara at Mendocino Farms for a late lunch. I got back home and fed the kids and cleaned up for movie night. I also took some two-part sculpting epoxy called Magic Sculpt and attached the bolts to the insides of the hemispheres. That way, once they’re cured, the bolts will go through little holes in the cap, and I can fasten them on through the back with a washer and a nut. But I have to paint the eyes first, once the epoxy is cured. As windy as it’s been here, it may be a while before I can get outside to paint them. We had a fun movie night watching the Blu Ray release of “Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde,” a goofy horror film from the early 70’s whose storyline reflected the ‘Women’s Lib’ movement of the day. It was great fun! When movie night was over I took a short nap, got up at 3am to feed the kids, and then worked on inputting new DVDs and CDs into my database. I did a little more work on my Oscar the Grouch head (it’s my third attempt that I’m calling Oscar 3) and I’ll be visiting the special effects shop in about a week to get the eyebrow pull tabs fastened to some sort of ‘rod and ring’ system so I can work the eyebrows up and down while I’m puppeteering him. The idea is to have a beat-up trash can in a corner of my living room where Oscar will live permanently, peeking out from over the edge and peering at my guests with a frown that warns them to not get too close. I’m VERY happy with how he’s turning out! I also did some work on my Oscar cap, which should also be epic. I made my Saturday Night Super Salad and watched “Space 1999” before bed. This episode was actually VERY good! I enjoyed it immensely. It’s the first time we see Commander Koenig have to kill someone for the safety of his crew. I’ve decided that I’m going to allow myself two ‘eat-before-bed’ days per week, as long as they’re not next to each other. Even then, once I’ve finished eating, I usually go downstairs to walk Roxy, and goof around the house for a few hours before I got to bed. So I’m going to keep a very careful eye on my eating before bed habits from now on. I figure my cheat nights will be Saturday (obviously) and possibly Wednesday or Thursday.

Sunday the 2nd – 02022020! – This is the only palindromic date we’ll see this century! I walked Roxy over to evening church (more like RAN to evening church, as Roxy was in a real hurry!) It was great seeing her in full stride given her nerve and muscle issues in her back leg. In fact, she was getting ME winded! She loves going to church because she gets treats and lots of pets and love. My ‘adopted grandma’ Shirley walked back with Roxy and I. Then Shirley and I hopped in the Torino and drove to Bob’s Big Boy for dinner. Since there was some sort of football or basketball game going on that night, there was no wait at all! We got seated immediately, which is RARE at Bob’s Big Boy! It was great not having to see any TVs on, or hear any loud, screaming sports fans. We enjoyed a great meal in a mostly empty restaurant. I wish there was a big game EVERY day! I drove Shirley home and then I returned to Planet Wallywood to grab a short nap. I got up later to do some auditions and work around the house all night doing random stuff. The pets and I hit the hay for good around 6am. The voice had improved considerably, thankfully!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

While at Bob’s Big Boy we sat right next to the famous Beatles table; where they all sat after their big L.A. concert back in the early 60’s. Presumably that was the last time Paul enjoyed a hamburger!

This green leather cap will soon be my Oscar the Grouch cap. I can’t believe I found a cap in a color that so closely resembled the color of the fur I have!

Somewhere in this pile of madness lurks a groovy, grimy, green grouch!

While I was rummaging through my old on-camera work pulling clips for my Actor Reel, I found a VHS tape of an episode of “The Martin Short Show” I did. It was his short-lived daytime talk show, and on one episode I played an Austin Powers look-alike named…well…Wally. But as I scrolled through the tape I realized that my old pal Kevin McDonald was ALSO on that same episode as a rocker kid! This was two full years before we were cast together as the Almighty Tallest in Nickelodeon’s “Invader Zim” series! Wild!

Here’s a little video demo I put together of the current progress on my Oscar head. I need to have a trigger mechanism installed to work the eyes on an equal plane, put in some finger loops, Do a little more sculpting and shaping of the foam head, and of course add the fur, but the basics are there! I’m VERY excited!