RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I used to love the 8″ action figure format back in the 70’s, and the Mego company in particular. They’ve been out of business for a long time, but a new company is making all sorts of new figures in the “Mego” format! Some are reproductions of the famous figures from the 70’s, and some are all new figures that Mego never released. Such is the case with the 1966 Batman TV series figures. Here they are all lined up together! From left to right are: Batman, Robin, Riddler, Joker, Penguin, Egghead, Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne. I must confessed that I’ve customized a few of them to my liking. Bruce Wayne was missing his famous ascot, so I fashioned one out of a scrap of some old silk boxer shorts. The costume that came with the Joker was purple, not fuchsia like the TV series costume. So I had my seamstress tear apart the purple one, make a pattern, and construct a Joker costume out of appropriate fabric. My next move is to figure out how to make an umbrella for Penguin!
Friday morning I was awakened by my iPod alarm to the sweet sounds of Stevie Nicks singing “Landslide.” It was a very pleasant way to wake up and really got my day off to a great start. Have a listen!
Monday the 29th – SOLVING THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS…OVER LASAGNA!? – First stop of the day was my printer’s to get more signage printed for my upcoming trip to Aberdeen South Dakota for my induction into my high school’s Hall of Fame. They are having all the inductees display memorabilia tables, so I wanted signs that label what each item is. After that I went to Kit Kraft to pick up some materials I’d need for the signs. I grabbed lunch at McDonald’s and headed home to relax. My pal Brittney Powell came by later in the afternoon to help me work on my speech for the event, then I got showered up and headed to Miceli’s in Hollywood to have dinner with a screenwriter Mark Evanier introduced me to. Kathylynne is from Australia, and seated at the table next to us were two girls who were visiting Hollywood. One was from Barcelona, Spain and the other was from Norway. Kathylynne and I both had lasagna, and the girls thought that looked good so they ordered it. I joked that we had our own little United Nations going at Miceli’s. We talked all about our home countries while we listened to the strains of old Hollywood showtunes being played on a grand piano. Fun! We stayed there for hours talking. I told Kathylynne it’s important that we as Americans treat our visitors nicely, so when they go back home they can’t complain about what jerks Americans are. I’m sure when those girls get back home they’ll have all sorts of funny stories to tell about the odd, long-haired guy at the Italian restaurant in Hollywood. I got some groceries on the way home and then went inside to get Roxy for a walk. I did my auditions for the evening and fed Roxy. After our late night stroll through the neighborhood I watched another episode of “Kojak” before bed.
Tuesday the 30th – SPEECH! SPEECH! – The more I thought about it, the more nervous I was becoming about the hour-long connection time in Minneapolis for my flight to Aberdeen, South Dakota for the Hall of Fame festivities. I knew that I had to be at my old high school first thing Friday morning to give a one hour speech to two DIFFERENT assemblies. I started thinking that if the flight to Minneapolis leaves L.A. a half hour or 45 minutes late, I would NOT make my connection, and I wouldn’t be able to get to Aberdeen in time to do the speeches. That just wasn’t a thought I was comfortable with. So I called Delta and paid a bunch of money to catch an earlier flight to Minneapolis. I’ll have a three-hour layover on the ground in Minneapolis, but I’ll be able to sleep better at night knowing that the likelihood of making the speeches just got a whole lot better. For argument’s sake, I asked the lady on the phone at Delta what the percentage of on-time arrivals my flight traditionally had. She looked and said it was 80-89%. WHOA! Not high enough! So I’m glad I booked a different flight to ensure I would make my connection to Aberdeen! I finished up Wally’s Week for the week and then met my assistant Sara for dinner at Paty’s. Then I headed home to work on the signage for the HOF event. I took a brief nap, then got up and did my auditions for the day. I wrote for a few hours on my speech and finished it! Now I just have to go through it a few times and fix it. I’m going to keep the long form, printed version handy (37 pages!) but I’m going to try and memorize as much of it as possible. I fed and walked Roxy, and then made some Buffalo Mac and watched a “Kojak” episode!
Wednesday the 1st – ROCKTOBER! – Though I didn’t get up until 2pm, I walked Roxy and then went back to bed to rest until after 5pm. Thursday is going to be a very busy day and I wanted to be rested for it. It’ll be my first four-hour Voice-Over session since I contracted pneumonia, and I want to make sure I’m up for it. Plus I had a dental cleaning scheduled, and had a friend coming into town that I had to meet for dinner. I sent out the invites for my Saturday night movie night, and then I worked on clearing the junk off my desk! I did a few auditions. Kathylynne called and said she was in the area, and asked if I wanted to meet at Jerry’s Famous Deli for some late dinner. I threw on my clothes and headed over. We had a blast until they closed. Then I came home to feed Roxy and prep for a long Thursday. But not before watching a little “Kojak” before bed. Who loves ya, baby?!
Thursday the 2nd – TURNING A CORNER! – My dentist appointment was at 12:30, so I went in and got my teeth cleaned and inspected. He said there is an old filling in my lower left side that’s “gapping.” So I’ll need to have a crown put on that when I get back from Aberdeen. My semi-annual cleaning and exam was originally scheduled three weeks ago. But I postponed it because I didn’t think it would be very polite for me to cough in my dentist’s face while I was having my teeth cleaned. But all went well today. I grabbed a fast lunch at McDonald’s and headed over to Warner to do a four hour session on a videogame. I was nervous about my cough and the tickle in my trachea which still hasn’t completely left. I pulled in and saw my pal James in Post-Production Services. We chatted for a bit, and then I went inside. I explained to the staff that I had been sick but was no longer contagious. But during the four hour session my adrenaline kicked in and I hardly coughed at all! Of course I had taken a little medicine before the session, but it went well. I continued to flood my system with water and went through FOUR liters of water in the first two hours of the session. They told me I’d better slow down on the water because after four liters, you start flushing nutrients from your body. So they went and got me a Diet Coke, which they said wouldn’t go through me quite so fast. It was a very physical session, but I made it through with flying colors. I was totally jazzed and happy! It was good to be back! I think I really turned a corner with the coughing problem today. Thank GOD! It made me feel a little better about those two one-hour speeches I was going to give next Friday. I finished up at 6 and then headed home to feed Spook and Roxy. I went out to meet a friend from out of town for dinner, and then headed back home to do auditions and grab a nap. Usually I get a nap and THEN do auditions, but I just wanted to do it backwards tonight for some reason. But I was so happy about not coughing I was in the groove, and wanted to get it all done. I got up later and did some things around the house. I’m pulling a few “Tonight Show” collectibles out of storage to take to Aberdeen for the memorabilia table, so I needed to do that. Plus I have to prepare a couple of boxes of stuff to Fed Ex to Aberdeen for the event. It’ll be a busy rest of the week. I made a pizza and watched “Kojak.”
Friday the 3rd – SAD FRIDAY! – My alarm went off at noon and the soothing sounds of Stevie Nicks singing “Landslide” gently nudged me awake. It was amazing. I took Roxy to the groomer’s to get a bath, and then went to Studio Café to meet my pastor for lunch. It was a hot day so we ate inside. Pastor Bob greeted me with some sad news. Our friend Joe Cranston, a regular at our Sunday evening service, passed away Thursday morning. I’ve known Joe for about seven years, since I started going to that service. He’s the father of actor Bryan Cranston, and one of the fondest memories I’ll have of Joe is being backstage at “The Tonight Show” with Bryan and he, talking about Bryan’s upbringing, and what a great father he considered Joe to be. Amazing. Joe’s in a much-better place now, but it’s still sad. After lunch I went back to Warner. I had forgotten my iPad after I left the session on Thursday. I got my mail at my mailbox, and then headed to my printer’s to get some signage. But he had closed early for the Jewish holiday. I picked up my really clean dog at the groomer’s then went home to rest for a bit. I got showered and had a wonderful dinner with friends at the Smokehouse. Steak! MMMM! With a full tummy I came home to rest on the couch, then got up to do some work on the computer and plan for the upcoming week, and trip to Aberdeen. I assembled all of the items for the Fed Ex boxes that I’ll be shipping on Monday. Then I made some stew and watched “Kojak” as the sun rose on a new day.
Saturday the 4th – SLEEPY SATURDAY! – I didn’t get up until 3pm, and then I got up for a bit to walk Roxy, but then plopped back down on the couch and slept until 6pm. I worked around the house for a while, and then worked on my speech. We had a small house for movie night, but it was a pleasant time. We watched an old horror flick called “Scream and Scream Again.” I remember reading about it back in the early 70’s in “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine, but had never seen it. It didn’t know if it wanted to be a vampire film, or a Frankenstein rip-off, but it was interesting. And VERY British. But seeing Christopher Lee have a scene with the great Vincent Price was worth the price of admission! Then we watched the first disc in the new “Midnight Special” DVD set that just came out. I really used to love that show in the 70’s, and seeing all those great acts again made me very nostalgic! After everyone left I cleaned up and prepped the Fed Ex shipment for Aberdeen. I laid everything out on the table that I’ll have for my memorabilia exhibit. I think it’s going to be awesome! My sister is bringing her laptop from Sioux Falls and with the aid of a TV monitor supplied by the school; we’ll show a slideshow of photos dating back from the old high school days to present day.
Sunday the 5th – HEATWAVE ENDING! – It was too hot to walk Roxy to evening church, so I drove over. Our weather got hot again for a bit, but is tapering off to cooler temps early this week. Kathylynne joined me at church, and then we had dinner at the Coral Café. I came home to nap on the couch, and then got up to start in on my auditions. I laid our my preparations for a busy Monday, then made a sandwich and watched “Kojak” before bed.
And how was YOUR week??!!
