May 17 – May 22 (2016) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I LOVE THIS PHOTO! I found it on-line and grabbed it immediately. This happened at the Paul McCartney concert in Sioux Falls when a woman named Michelle (named after the Beatles song) and her young son Simon were invited up on stage by Paul so he could sign her arm. I’ll never forget that moment, and I KNOW they never will!

All the while I was watching “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (and for a few days after) I was humming Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” What a great song!

Tuesday the 17th – LOTS TO DO! – When I got up around noon I put in a DVD of an old TV show to study a voice that I’d be “voice matching” later in the day at a session. I stopped by Taco Bell to get lunch, and went to Salami Studios in North Hollywood to eat my food before the session. From 2 to 4 I did the session for a Warner Brothers animated feature and it was great fun! What a great group of guys. I wish I could tell you more about it, but all in good time. I headed over to Plastic Depot to pick up some things my pal Kyle had been working on. The biggest project was a stand and dust cover for my Kermit the Frog replica puppet. It’ll keep him safe and dust-free. Then I headed to my mailbox to get my mail, I mailed a few things off, and then I stopped by the cleaners to pick up my dry cleaning. Then I went home to relax, do a little work around the house, catch up on a few things, and grab a short nap. When I got up later I did my auditions in my home studio and sent them to my agents, and then I headed back to bed to be up early for a session on Wednesday.

Wednesday the 18th – A BIG WEDNESDAY “WHEW!” – I had to be up early for a 9am session at Studiopolis in Burbank. It was a great session and during the times when I wasn’t needed, I got a lot of great reading done in a multitude of new comic books! When the session ended at noon, I headed to Roundtable Pizza to get a pizza to go. YUM! I drove over to my seamstress Karyn’s studio to pick up some work she had been doing for me. She made some repairs to my Jesus costume (though I won’t need that until next Easter), she made a new costume for my 8” Joker figure (the manufacturer used the wrong color fabric so I had that corrected), she made some alterations on the Robin vest that adorns my mannequin, and I dropped off a cap so she could sew on an embroidered Wings patch that I bought at the Paul McCartney concert. I got back home and spent the remainder of the afternoon doing some work. I got a bit tired (those early morning sessions do it to me all the time) so I grabbed a short nap. Then I got up later to do all sorts of things; auditions, laundry, dishes, I put Robin’s vest back on the mannequin, and I changed the sheets and comforter on my bed. It would seem that I was getting back into normal life after my MayMayhem excursions. I made some spaghetti and watched a few episodes of “The Munsters” before bed.

Thursday the 19th – RESPITE! – It sure felt good sleeping late! I got up around 2 and met my assistant Sara for lunch at Jersey Mike’s. I took Roxy along so she could get out and see some of the world too. I got back home to do some work around the house, I wrote Wally’s Week (though I was very late), and uploaded some photos and video for my website. I realized that I hadn’t done a Wally’s Week the previous week because of the wacky Monday the 9th I endured. With the colonoscopy, being anesthetized, and trying to get my life together for Palm Springs, it just slipped my mind! So I had two weeks’ worth of entries to do. I grabbed a nap, and then got up to do my auditions. There was still a fair amount of stuff to do after my trips, so I spent the rest of the evening working on that. I enjoyed the rest of my Jersey Mike’s #13 on white while watching a few more “Munsters” episodes before bed.

Friday the 20th – AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE! – My maids arrived just after noon to clean, and my contractor Electric Bob came over to check out the problem with my vibrating garage door. After the maids left, a young filmmaker named Diana came over to have me record a few voice tracks for a film she was doing. My assistant Sara found her on-line, so I contacted her and did the voice tracks. I like to help out young filmmakers in the infancy of their careers. God knows enough people went out of their way to help me when I was first starting my career. So I’m repaying the favor. I did some work on the computer and then walked over to Studiopolis to pick up a check. My friend Brittney Powell came over to do a little work and pick up a check for some work she had done for me in Palm Springs. A little later I picked up my 89 year old friend from church, and my adopted grandma, Shirley. We went to dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli. I hadn’t gotten to see her in a while because of my nutty schedule, so it was good to catch up with her. I came home with a full tummy and grabbed a nap. Then I got up to spend the rest of the night on my various e-mail accounts cleaning out old and unwanted e-mails. Around 2am I fed and walked Roxy around the neighborhood on our regular nightly outing. As we walked through the quiet evening, I was overcome with, what the Eagles call, a “peaceful, easy feeling.” I just felt an overwhelming sense of thankfulness and an “attitude of gratitude.” There was a big, beautiful moon in the sky and a sky full of stars. I felt calm, peaceful and at ease. After our walk I took Roxy inside and I went back out to the pool area to lay back in a chair and just sit in a lounge chair and stare at the sky. I was totally enjoying the environment; a distant night bird was chirping away, occasional low clouds would dance across the bright full moon creating all sorts of shapes in the sky. It was kind of like looking at a beautiful painting that was changing all the time. The smell of the moist night air, mixed with the cool of the evening was quite soothing. Mars and the stars looked amazing, and I enjoyed watching the steam rise up from the Jacuzzi, and a gentle ripple eased across the surface of the pool. What an experience! I was truly loving life! I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched some more “Munsters.” What a magical night!

Saturday the 21st – RETURN TO ROUTINE! – Shirley and I headed out to get lunch around 2:30, and then I picked up a few items at the local CVS. They were having a dog adoption outside the store so we enjoyed walking by and seeing the doggies. I told each one of them that I knew they would someday get a great home with a nice family. We stopped by the bank so Shirley could cash her IRS check and then I took her back home. I went back to my house and napped for a bit. Then my friends started showing up for movie night. I hadn’t had a Planet Wallywood movie night in about a month, so it was great seeing everyone again. After it was over I did some work, then made my usual Saturday night Super Salad and watched an episode of the old BBC series “The Avengers.” It was good to be back at the routine again.

Sunday the 22nd – A CAREER FIRST! – I sprang from bed and started getting ready for the “Alice Through the Looking Glass” screening at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. It was a cast and crew screening for those who worked on the film. I picked up my friend Yulia at 2:30 in Burbank, and we drove to Hollywood. We had some time to do a little shopping at Hot Topic and the Christmas store. Then we checked into the El Capitan and got our tickets and our popcorn. My agent Cathey was there too with some of her friends, so we picked out some seats in the balcony, put on our 3-D glasses and got ready for the movie. Before it started I saw the director James Bobin in the lobby. I thanked him for including me in the festivities and he said, “You’re all over the film! You’ll be very happy.” He and I had such a great time working on doing the voice tracks for the film and experimenting with all sorts of different takes on things, I couldn’t wait to see what had finally made it into the film. This would be a career first for me; my very first credited performance in a Disney feature film. And it was a bit moving for me to finally be enjoying an experience that I had dreamed of for a long time! I sat riveted in the balcony and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen! I’m not normally a fan of 3-D movies, but this was amazing to watch! And it moved swiftly and deftly! I was trying to pick out all my voices in the film…Humpty Dumpty, some chessmen, a bird, a guard, etc. It was fun listening for what made it in the final film. I saw my friend Abby in the lobby after the film. Abby was the gal who did all of the booking arrangements and filed my paperwork so I could get paid. She said that James had called her during the week to make sure I’d be at the screening. HOW COOL!? After the movie Yulia and I went over to my old pal Rob Richards’ house to see how he was doing. I hopped in my car to head home to feed the pets, and Yulia hopped an Uber to head to a meeting. On the drive home I was feeling very high. I napped for a bit, and then got up to do a bunch of auditions, go through a month’s worth of receipts, pay some bills, and reconcile my bank statements. Whew! What a week! I rewarded myself by making a Chef Boy Ar Dee pizza and I watched the final two “Munsters” episodes.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK