RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Roger Moore has always been my favorite James Bond, and I love “Star Wars,” so you can imagine my reaction to finding this on-line!
Another random tune that came up on my i-Pod unexpectedly…and when I heard it I said, “Boy does this song sound good!” It’s called “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” by The Walker Brothers.
Monday the 16th – MOTORIN’ ON A MONDAY! – Around 9:30am I got up and headed over to Glendale Memorial Hospital to have a sit-down with Dr. V who did my recent colonoscopy. He was talking at me so fast about the results as I was coming out of the anesthesia I wanted to have another visit with him just to be really clear what all went on and what I should be doing. I will be going back next August for another one to make sure everything’s ok. Had I had received a clean bill of health I wouldn’t have to another one for several years down the road. Oh well, that’s what you get when it tends to run in your family. When I finished up I headed to Burbank to do an audition at Voicecasters. Then I headed home by way of KFC for some quick food to-go. I got home and checked in with my houseguest Deb. She was feeling much better and was craving a burger. I took her over to DuPar’s to get a salad and hamburger to go, then dropped her back home again. I got a call from “The Tonight Show” to be in early at 3:15 to record a bit. On the way to NBC I stopped at my mailbox and picked up some packages, then headed into the studio. I recorded the bit, then rehearsed the opening. While we taped the show I typed up Wally’s Week for the new week. On the way home I stopped at the dry cleaners and picked up a comforter and headed home. I fed my cat Spooky and walked Roxy. One of the packages I received was a new Robin mask and cape for my mannequin. The color of the cape was closer to the color of the original than the one I had. Unfortunately after working with it for awhile I realized that it wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t quite wide enough to accommodate the shoulders on my mannequin, so I put the old one back one and just left well enough alone. Well, it was worth a shot. I did my auditions then napped from 9pm to 1am. I was beat! It was a VERY busy day! When I got up I did some work around the house, fed and walked Roxy, made some dinner and watched another episode of “Kojak” on DVD.
Tuesday the 17th – TRAVELIN’ ON A TUESDAY! – My semi-annual dental appointment was at noon, and I passed with flying colors. The cleaning went smoothly and I didn’t have any cavities. I stopped by Plastic Depot to pick up some custom-made puppet stands for my Puppet Room, then I hit Jack In the Box for some quick drive-thru lunch. When I got back home Debbie was up and around, and feeling much better. I took Roxy out for her potty business and she got some valuable sunbathing time in. She LOVES the sun! I still don’t know how a dog with all that hair can possibly enjoy lying in the hot sun for 20 minutes! I did some work on the computer until it was time to head to “TTS.” We taped the show, then I went back home to feed Spook. Deb felt like taking a walk so we walked Roxy down the street for some exercise. A very sexy young gal was asking about apartments for rent in the area, and I told her I would keep an eye out for her and let her know if I heard anything. (It was my less-than-clever way of getting her contact info) She said she was a hip hop dancer and worked in music videos. She had just moved in from Chicago and was looking for appropriate digs in the area. Then I came back inside and did my auditions. My pals Edi and Brittney came over and picked us up for dinner at Ernie’s Taco house. In the booth next to us were two gorgeous ladies! Was it “Hot Chick Day” or something and I didn’t get the memo? On the way home I stopped for some fro yo and went inside to get ready to take a dip in the jacuzzi. But there STILL weren’t any working jets. What the H? So I went inside to nap for a little while. When I got up I did some work around the house, walk and feed Roxy, have some cereal and head to bed for the night.
Wednesday the 18th – LOOKING AT LOOKING GLASS! – My hotline rang at 10 with orders to be at NBC at 1:30 to record a bit. That worked out perfectly because I had a 1pm lunch scheduled with Elliot Lurie, the lead singer of 70’s band Looking Glass. The past few weeks I’ve been mentioning how my friend Edi and I have been rediscovering their music, all because “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” is one of her favorite songs of all time. I bought a CD on eBay called “The Complete Recordings of Looking Glass” and have been enjoying it ever since. So I felt compelled to try and contact LG lead singer Elliot Lurie so I could ask him some questions I had about the band. He agreed to meet me at the world-famous NBC Commissary for lunch! Just as I was driving on the lot I got a text from him saying that he was sitting outside the Commissary listening to the band. Band? I had forgotten that the landlords of The Burbank Studios (where we tape “TTS”) was throwing an End-Of-Summer Soiree complete with live music and food. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. The Blues Brothers Band from Universal Studios was on stage playing their set, and Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Lucy were all posing for photos with employees. What fun! The music brought back good memories of when I worked at Universal Studios as Beetlejuice from 1994 to 1998. I found Elliot, introduced myself, and we went inside to order lunch and talk in a quieter environment. He said, “Ok, I’ll answer any questions you have, but my son will kill me if I don’t ask you this first. What voices do you do on “Family Guy?” I laughed and filled him in on my history with the show. It was fun exchanging information…he a “Family Guy” fan, and I a “Looking Glass” fan. After lunch I took him to the stage so I could record my comedy bit. He was sitting in the audio booth and I was on the microphone doing the bit for Troy, one of the writers. When I finished the bit I went into my radio DJ voice and said, “We now return you to the rockin’ sounds of Looking Glass, on 1420…KABR.” Elliot laughed. During our backstage tour we discovered that a representative from the Flextone guitar amp company was there demo-ing their latest invention. They asked Elliot if he’d like to try it out and he agreed. So there I was, standing backstage at “The Tonight Show” watching Elliot play guitar riffs. Surreal! He was totally enjoying himself. We chatted as we walked around the set about how the technology of music performing has changed so much. He said in the old days you could barely hear yourself on the monitors and you had to tune your own guitar. Now with the new monitors, he has no problem hearing himself and he has a little device to tune his guitar. He’s been playing out recently with a group who hires lead singers of famous songs to come on stage and sing their hits. He said they may be playing L.A. in December. I MUST see that! I walked him to his car while hearing more stories about the music industry in the early 70’s. As I listened to Elliot’s smoky baritone speaking voice it occurred to me…why isn’t this guy in Voice-Over? (Hmmm…note to self…) I went inside to prep for the show and we had a great taping. When I left I could see Christina Aguilera’s limo pulled over to the side of the driveway as she stopped to sign autographs for waiting fans. Classy! I got home and fed Spook and walked Roxy. Deb said she wasn’t feeling well again, so I decided to let her rest and I went in my room to grab an early evening nap. It had been quite an amazing day! I woke up later that evening to the enormous Harvest Moon shining in my bedroom window! I did my auditions for the evening, cleaned up my ULTRA messy desk, did some paperwork, made a Wally Super Salad and retired to watch another episode of “Kojak” from the Season 4 DVD set.
Thursday the 19th – BODACIOUS BODIE STROUD! – At 10:30 the hotline with instructions to be into “TTS” at 1:45 to record another comedy bit. I slept awhile longer, then got up at noon to walk Roxy. I got some work done around the house, did another comedy bit for “TTS” in my home studio, and then drove over to NBC. Tim Allen was the guest, and whenever Tim’s on he and Jay indulge in car talk (which is AWESOME!) Tim was going to show a clip from a new show he is doing for the Speed Channel. In the clip he drives his 1968 Camaro that was built for him by my pal Bodie Stroud of BS Industries. I got a text from Bodie reminding me to watch for the clip. I told him he should come over and see the show, and he thought that was a good idea. He called Jay’s Garage and arrange for a pass to come see the taping. I told him if he could be there by 2:30 I’d buy him lunch. I hadn’t seen Bodie in a long time because he had been busy working on “Rock My RV.” So we had a lot of catching up to do. It was great chatting and learning the latest news. Lots of good stuff has been happening to him. TV deals, great new car projects, and best of all…his dad beat leukemia and is back in great health again! Amazing! Bodie got a nice mention from Jay on the show, and after the taping Bodie and I walked around the stage and continued our conversation. I think he and I are going to plan an Elvis vigil to Graceland in early December, so we can see the mansion all decorated up for the holidays. I went home and did some work, walked Roxy and took a dip in the jacuzzi. But it was a very short dip. Now the jets were working, but the heater was out. YIKES! The water was ICE cold! Only hours before I had been assured by the maintenance people that all had been fixed and was working properly. Well, time to issue another call and e-mail I guess. Sara, Debbie and I went to The Counter to get hamburgers and all was going well, until I was halfway through my hamburger. I noticed that the cheese on the burger was a little tough and chewy. I pulled it back out of my mouth only to find that it was covered in paper! I think it was the paper separator that is used to separate the cheese slices in the package. Apparently the chef forgot to remove the paper before placing it on my burger. Boy, this just wan’t my day! The Counter staff asked if they could make me another one but my appetite was gone. And so was my love for The Counter. I shall not be back. (I’ve had countless service-related problems with them in the past, but this was the last straw!) When I got back home I grabbed a nap, then got up for several auditions, which I recorded in my home studio and e-mailed to my agents. When I got up I fed and walked Roxy, scanned some checks for a bank deposit, had some cereal and went to bed.
Friday the 20th – FINALLY FRIDAY! – For the third day in a row my hotline rang to wake me up. I had a comedy bit for “TTS” in my inbox that needed to be recorded right away. When I sent it in I scanned a few more checks for my bank deposit, then got ready for work. But then another “TS” bit arrived in my inbox. When I finished recording that and sending it in, I drove over to Taco Bell to get some quick lunch. Since it was Friday we tape an hour earlier than usual. Nurse Ana from Dr. V’s office was there with her son Cliff, and my young pal Austin Harris was there was his parents. Austin just produced a documentary on voice actors for a class in his school. After the taping I brought them all backstage for the tour, and then walked them to the parking lot. I got in the Mustang and headed to the bank to make a deposit, and then went to It’s a Wrap to shop. It was opening day for their big Halloween sale, but unlike in years past I didn’t really find anything that piqued my interest. I got a couple of cool shirts, and a bowling shirt which I’ll use as the pattern for the Tony Clifton bowling shirt I’m having made. I got home and fed Spook and walked Roxy, then napped from 7 to 10. Amanda came over for a visit and her, Deb and I went to grab some late dinner. I got home and did some work around the house, since I was feeling pretty energetic. I made some soup and watched an episode of “The Saint” from the Season 1 DVD set. By the time I got to bed it was about 7:30am Saturday morning!
Saturday the 21st – SATURDAY SWITCHEROO! – Though I didn’t get up until 2pm, I still had lot of afternoon left to do what I needed to do. Deb, Amanda and I took Roxy over to the groomer’s to get a bath, then we went to pick up some vitamins I needed. We ate a delicious lunch on the patio of Panera, and the afternoon weather was absolutely perfect! We picked up some groceries and got the birthday cake for our friend Emily’s birthday party that night. Whenever anyone in our movie night group has a birthday we always get a cake and celebrate it together. While I was at it, I also got a cake slice for my pal Edi who’s just wrapping up her divorce proceedings. So I had the gal at the cake counter write on the piece of chocolate on chocolate cake…JUST DIVORCED! I got home and put away the groceries, walked over to the groomer’s to get Roxy, and then came home to swim. The jacuzzi had been fixed, but it’s still about 5 degrees shy of what it should be. Nevertheless, it was fun! We were going to watch the new Blu Ray release of “Star Trek Into Darkness,” but once we gathered up all the gang I found out that everybody had already seen it, and hardly anybody liked it. So I made a last-minute executive decision to sneak up on the Halloween season, and play “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” on Blu Ray. It was Christopher Lee’s second appearance as the famous vampire. Everybody seemed to enjoy that one. After movie night was over I cleaned up the house and got ready to call it a night. I made some of my world infamous Buffalo Mac (since I had been to Denny’s the night before and acquired some Buffalo Chicken Strips!) and watched an episode of “The Saint.”
Sunday the 22nd – SUNDAY SILENCE! – My pal Emily drove Deb to the airport so she could catch her plane back to Monterey. Amanda also took off for home, and I went back to bed to sleep the rest of the afternoon away. I got up for evening church, and it was nice to be back. I wasn’t able to go the past few Sundays because of other stuff going on. I like to bring along a treat for Roxy so I can give it to her after church is finished. It encourages her to be good during the service if she knows there’s treats afterwards. So I cut up some “wiener coins,” little slices of hot dog that I keep in a small ziplock baggie. Not only did Roxy enjoy them, but so did Bentley, a cute, tan little Pomeranian who comes to church with his owner Sara from time to time. In fact, it seemed like Bentley had just discovered hot dogs for the first time. She went totally crazy for them! She was dancing around, bouncing up and down, and vibrating. Yes, vibrating! I picked her up and it felt like a cell phone on vibrate. She was shaking like crazy! She truly LOVED those weiner coins! The walk home at dusk was VERY pleasant, and unnaturally quiet. It was the quietest evening I’ve experienced in a long time. You know how they say “The silence is deafening?” Well it was! I quietly went inside my house, so as not to disturb the peaceful vibe I was in. I got into the jacuzzi, but I didn’t turn on the jets. It would have added too much sound. Instead I sat in the hot water, relaxing my muscles, with my head leaned back looking up at the sky. As the dusky sky turned darker and darker, it was fun watching the stars appear one by one. VERY relaxing. Did I mention it was quiet?! I came inside to continue the quiet evening with a quiet nap on the couch. I kept the front door open with the screen closed so I could get some fresh air in. I had a very enjoyable nap until around 10pm. I got up to do a ton of auditions, and then I got busy around the house. I put laundry away, cleaned the kitchen, put dishes away, took the garbage out, and started working on my new Wizard of Oz display in the Puppet Room. I took Roxy on our regular late-night stroll through the neighborhood and I marveled at how bright the stars in the sky were! It made me long for Palm Springs, but I reminded myself that in only a few more weeks I’d be lounging in Palm Springs in my favorite hotel room, watching the stars set behind the mountain all night. Since the weiner coins smelled so good earlier, I decided to make some hot dogs on the grill and enjoy them as I watched another episode of “Kojak” on DVD. And then…to bed.
And how was YOUR week??!!
