Wally’s Week

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
WEEK 1

Yeah, I know. Another bit about how much I miss my dog. So sue me.

For some reason I had been humming the Herman’s Hermits song “No Milk Today” – which was odd, considering I wasn’t out of milk. It’s just a darn good song.

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
WEEK 2

It was recently Leonard Nimoy’s birthday, and somebody posted this great shot of him as Mr. Spock.  I had never seen it before

Ever hear the opening strains of a song that takes you right back to a certain place and time? That’s the case with “Hold On” by Santana. I remember this well during the early days of MTV.

Monday the 18th – OVER AND OUT! – After a social media teaser on Sunday, the fans of Jeff Lynne’s ELO were treated to some good news on Monday morning. The band is going on a final tour starting in August and wrapping up in October. The great news is, the first show will be in the Palm Springs area, and the final show will be in L.A.! As a bonus, halfway through the tour, they’ll do a show in St. Paul, MN – close to where my South Dakota buddies are. I phoned my ELO buddy Officer Mark and he agreed to snag tickets to the California shows. I called my buddy Scott in Sioux Falls and he agreed to snag me a ticket for the St. Paul show in September! WOW! I hope we get good seats! The “Artist Pre-Sale” tickets go on sale Wednesday, with the general public seats going on sale on Friday. Luckily I follow Jeff Lynne on social media, so they’ll send out a special pre-sale code to the “serious” fans who follow him. I picked up some packages at my box, and then went to Paty’s to have a salad. I came home to do some work, and unwrap a package of acid-free tissue paper that just arrived. My 1933 “Sons of the Desert” screen-used fez that I bought a few months ago is on a plastic fez form to keep it looking good and in shape. But I was worried that the plastic may have a negative reaction with the wool felt that was used to make the fez. So to prevent that from happening, Alex in Wonderland suggested I get some acid-free tissue paper to act as a barrier between the fez itself and the plastic fez form. It looks sweet now, and I can rest easy knowing it’s protected. Later I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and even spent some time outside cooling down in the anti-grav chair. It was amazing seeing the almost-full moon setting behind the horizon. I heard two owls hooting overhead. What an amazing experience! And to think the “day people” miss out on great stuff like this! I went back inside and typed out Wally’s Week and hit the hay.

Tuesday the 19th – NOT HOLDING POWER! – While I was coordinating with my friends about getting ELO tickets on Wednesday, I was having trouble with my cell phone. I realized that the battery (now 2.5 years old) was not holding charge for very long. So I ordered another one on Amazon with the hopes that it would be here soon. I worked around the house for most of the day. Later I took my nightly WOG and spent some more time in the anti-grav chair looking at the beautiful moon on a gorgeous evening. When I got inside I needed to order some more photos for the upcoming appearance in Dallas for Weebcon. I popped the “Bleach” logo on one of my Renji Abarai photos and it looked pretty sweet. I’ve been doing that with a lot of the photos I sell, and people really seem to love having the show logo on the photos.

Wednesday the 20th – THE AUTO SWAPEROO! – Shortly after noon I drove over to Deeds Automotive (in the location that used to be the Burbank Auto Doctor) to see my mechanic David. I wanted to have an oil change done on the Mustang, in addition to getting a shut-off installed on the negative battery terminal. That way I don’t have to carry around a wrench to remove the cable from the terminal. I’ll just have to move a little lever and it will ensure that the battery doesn’t drain at all while the car sits idle for long periods. I drove him over to my auxiliary parking, we cranked up the Mustang, and I got back in the Rav. David drove the Mustang behind me and we headed back to the shop so they could get started on the work. I hit Taco Bell for some lunch, and then headed over to Plastic Depot to see my buddy Kyle and pick up the new Plexiglas base for my Rowlf the Dog display case. I stopped by the Verizon store, but they don’t carry any accessories for phones. No batteries. Nothing. Good thing I ordered a new phone battery on Amazon, which hopefully will be here by Friday. I got back home and packaged up a shirt I bought on-line. It’s a shirt by Rsvlts, and it’s called Batman Graffiti. It’s a wonderful green and black print, and the Riddler seems to figure prominently on it. I have one Rsvlts shirt that I bought several years back (sized XL) and it fits great. So I ordered one of these in XL too. However, when it arrived and I tried it on, it was much too tight in the shoulders. I don’t get it. The shirt I bought a few years ago still fits great. But the new one is too tight. That can only mean one thing. The makers in China are making them slightly smaller than they used to in order to skimp on fabric and save on money. I’m returning it to the seller and having them ship a XXL instead. I walked over to Harry’s Camera to drop off some more negatives to have them scanned and printed. Then I went to the post office to ship the Rsvlts shirt back to the seller. I went to CVS and had a few photo prints made, and then I got a few grocery items. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. It was great to be out again enjoying the weather on a nice, long walk. Since today was the day for hardcore fans to get ELO tickets, Officer Mark called me with the results. The Palm Springs tickets for late August are terrific. My pal Scott called earlier to say that he got some great floor seats for the St. Paul show in September. But unfortunately, the best seats we could get for the final show in L.A. in late October were all the way in the very last section. Earlier I had been talking to Scott in Sioux Falls, and he mentioned that there were several VIP packages available for a higher price. The price he quoted me sounded very reasonable, so I asked Officer Mark if he could get back on the website, use the special pre-sale code again, and get us a couple of VIP seats. After all, it IS the final show of the final tour…so it has to be special! Mark has done a ton of stuff to help me out over the years and he will never take a dime for it. So I told him to get two VIP seats and I would pay for them, to thank him for everything he’s done. He reported back that he got third row seats for the final show, and I could NOT be happier! WOW! Later I did my nightly auditions, took my nightly WOG, and made some soup and a sandwich and settled in to watch another episode of “The High Chaparral” before bed.

Thursday the 21st – NEW CHRISTOWEEN PROJECT! – My pal Isaiah, a very young, talented stop-motion filmmaker and puppet fabricator, met me at Paty’s so we could discuss doing a stop-motion project for Christoween. We started coming up with some great ideas, and I’m very excited to get started on it! I picked up my packages and headed home to work around the house. I received the new pair of custom-made pants for my Stan Laurel “Stannequin,” but I haven’t had time to dress him in them yet. But they look fantastic! I did my nightly auditions in my home studio later, took my usual WOG, and spent some nice, quiet time in the anti-grav chair enjoying the wonderful night.

Friday the 22nd – RIDDLER FAN AND FOOD! – After relaxing most of the day, my pal Amanda let me know she was passing through town. So we headed out to Bob’s Big Boy for dinner. One of the servers there is a HUGE Riddler fan, so it’s always fun to talk to him and see how far he’s gotten in the new “Suicide Squad” game. After dinner I came back home to do some work and relax.

Saturday the 23rd – BASE FOR THE CASE! – My pal Drew Massey and his gal Nikki joined me for lunch at Paty’s, and we discussed a lot of great, fun stuff. They’ll both be performing in the upcoming “Puppet Up!” show at the Henson studios, and I’ve already acquired my tickets for April 27th. They told me they’d both be performing that night! GREAT! I stopped by my box and picked up the new stack of photos I’ll need for my trip to Dallas and Weebcon next weekend. I got home and worked around the house. Later I installed the new Plexiglas base for my Rowlf the Dog display case. It was quite involved, as I needed to cut some strips of rubber to use as padding for the base to sit upon. Then I had to completely clean the case, as it had become quite oxidized from my essential oil diffuser. I put it all together and it looked fantastic! Then it was time for some boring accounting work; going through my bank statements and reconciling all of my expense receipts. I paid a few bills as well. Then it was time to make a salad and settle in for a few more episodes of “Honey West.” While I had heard a lot about this show in the past, I’m not quite a fan yet. The male and female leads don’t have very good chemistry, and the writers seem to like to have them bicker a lot. It’s weird. I just wish the cool factor for this show was a bit higher. Perhaps it’ll change as I get deeper into the series.

Sunday the 24th – READY FOR WEEBCON! – As is usual with my Sundays, it was an extended “crash” day…where I just enjoyed lying around, marshalling my energy for next weekend’s 3-day convention in Dallas. In the evening my pal Bob came over to chat. He also needed to borrow a Captain Kirk tunic for a comedy bit he’d be performing at next weekend’s WonderCon in Anaheim. Later I did my auditions, took my WOG, and worked some more around the house.

Monday the 25th – THE AUTO SWAPEROO; PART DEUX! – The work on my Mustang has been completed, so I drove over to Deeds Automotive. My mechanic David drove us in the Mustang over to my auxiliary parking. The oil has been changed and the cut-off switch on the negative battery terminal has been installed. The idea was to put the Mustang to bed and get the Gran Torino out so they could do some work on that now. I haven’t had the Torino out for a while, and I’ve been considering selling it. It might be time for it to go to a better home that can spend more time with it. It was great having the Torino out again, and I drove David back to the shop so they could start working on it. I hopped back in the Rav and headed home to do some work. On Sunday night, when my buddy Bob was over, my cat Spook jumped up on his lap. But Spook managed to lodge one of his claws into Bob’s thumb! OUCH! So my pal Sara brought her clippers over to give him a mani/pedi. My gal Angi came by later and we headed out to get dinner. It was good to see her again, since I haven’t seen her in a while. She got hit by a whopper of a flu and was down for the count for a few weeks. Later I did my nightly auditions, made a salad and watched an episode of “The High Chaparral” and that week’s installment of “Collector’s Call” on ME-TV, which I had recorded on Sunday night. Tomorrow I need to get prepped for my trip to Dallas!

Tuesday the 26th – WEEBCON HERE I COME! – Most of the day was spent getting ready for the big Dallas trip. I also did some work around the house, and recorded my auditions, but most of it was spent packing for the trip.

Wednesday the 27th – BLAST FROM THE PAST…OR…THE GREAT PUPPET HAUL OF 2024! – After recording a few last-minute auditions, I drove over to the Burbank Studios on Bob Hope Drive. I’d be helping my pal Drew Massey haul some puppets from his show “Barbarian and the Troll” over to his storage. Nickelodeon has studio space rented on the Burbank Studios lot, and the puppets were there waiting for us. But when I pulled up to the gate, I realized that it was the old studio location where we did “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” for almost five years! I pulled up to talk to the guard at the gate, and I recognized him from the old days…ten years ago! He recognized me too and we had fun chatting for a while. I met up with Drew, and come to find out, the studio that Nickelodeon had rented for the “Aaron and Erin” show was in the old “Tonight Show” stage…stage 11! We loaded up all the puppets, and between Drew’s car and the Gray Ghost, we got all the boxes in with no problem! Before we left they showed us around stage 11 so I could see all the changes they made. The stage was basically the same, but the inner offices had all been subdivided and were all totally different. What a blast from the past! I followed Drew to his storage facility, but all three handcarts had been monopolized by some guy who was moving a bunch of stuff out into a huge moving truck. We asked to use one for just a few minutes but he started yelling at us, telling us that we should have come earlier in the morning. First off, I was wondering why the storage facility was so short on carts. Wasn’t it their job to have lots of carts around? Secondly, I was wondering why this guy felt it was OK for him to monopolize all three of the remaining carts. Luckily, the management of the facility got involved and grabbed one of the carts for us. We stashed the puppets safely, and then headed to Mel’s in Sherman Oaks for lunch. On the way home I stopped at Staples to get some more paint pens for signing this weekend. I picked up my mail at my box, and then headed home. My pal Chris Malmin would be looking in on Spooky while I was gone, so he came over to pick up the house keys. We grabbed dinner at Paty’s and chatted. Then I came home to do some auditions and last-minute packing. I went through my photo file and did some organization for the weekend. I took my nightly WOG, and got ready for Thursday’s flight to Dallas.

Thursday the 28th – THE PALACE IN DALLAS! – After some last-minute packing I drove to the airport, checked in, and saw a few other Voice Actors who were also going to the convention in Dallas. There was a pretty significant delay in the flight due to a loose screw that needed to be fixed. With all of the brouhaha going on currently about aircraft parts falling off in mid-air, I guess one can’t be TOO safe. As we waited in the terminal a guy approached me about the Funny Face Goofy Grape t-shirt I was wearing. We started talking about the products from our childhood and the conversation gradually led to cartoons. He said he recognized me as a Voice Actor, and he used to see me during his time at Nickelodeon! He worked on the “Jimmy Neutron” crew, and had seen me around doing “Invader Zim.” His name was Keith and we had fun chatting. Then we got onboard, and lo and behold, he was sitting right next to me on the plane! There are NO accidents in life! We chatted during the entire 3 hour trip to Dallas and it was fantastic. We agreed to stay in touch. I also had fun with the American Airlines staff, as I mentioned that I’m the guy who voices all the announcements they always play during the flight. I even did a sample or two for them. Flight Attendant Cecily said, “You sound just like that guy!” I said, “I AM that guy!” She thought I was fooling her. She said she always thought it was AI, or mechanical. We had a ton of fun, and I even made a video with the other Flight Attendant Aaron where I did some of the “American Airlines voice.” Great fun! We were met at the airport by the drivers, and after we gathered up our luggage we were driven to the Gaylord Texan, an immense resort/compound that’s enormous! As you walk around the grounds you feel as though you’re outside, but it’s all indoors. Amazing place! After I got my stuff put away, my pal Brittney Powell stopped by so we could grab dinner. She lives in the Dallas area now so it was great to see her again. I did some shopping in one of the hotel’s convenience stores to get some supplies. But I was pretty tired so I hit the hay. Oddly enough, and especially for such a big resort, there wasn’t a clock in the room. And it was difficult to get a proper temperature in the shower. I guess nobody’s perfect.

Friday the 29th – WEEBCON: DAY 1! – I slept extremely well, and I got up and organized for the first day of the convention. After dipping into the green room for some quick lunch, I hit the floor at 1pm. The convention center was having a fair amount of coverage and connection issues with their internet access, which hampered my assistant’s ability to take credit card purchases. Eventually it all got sorted out, and I was busy solid from 1pm to 6pm! I didn’t even take a bathroom break! It was wild! During the course of the day my pal Bryce brought Kentaro Ito, who is the Japanese voice of Renji Abarai in the anime “Bleach” (and the originator of the role) to my table. I knew he was going to be there and I was VERY excited to finally meet him after hearing his voice for 20 years during “Bleach” sessions. He walked up with the group, pointed at me and said, “Abarai Renji?” (In Japan the last names come first) I pointed at him and said “Renji Abarai!” We laughed and shook hands, and through his interpreter I told him what an honor it was to meet him. He loved my Renji cap (which I had painted myself) and I put it on him for some photos. It was amazing meeting Ito San. They told me we’d be doing a panel together Saturday afternoon at 3. Though I didn’t have a panel on the schedule the con folks handed me, I told them I’d be honored to be there. But as I informed people who came to my table about the panel, nobody seemed to know anything about it. The convention hadn’t really been very effective at promoting it, which is a shame. To have such an esteemed actor from Japan in the states, and to not promote the panel with the TWO voices of Renji seemed weird to me. The day finished and I went back to my room to get cleaned up for dinner. Brittney and I got reservations at one of the in-house restaurants, but it was about a 45 minute wait. We were starving so we went into the bar area. The host told us about the “grab and go” food that was in another area of the restaurant. There was a little “picnic” area that had beef brisket sandwiches and drinks. We opted for that instead. I’m glad we did! The sandwiches were so amazing, I had TWO! WOW! After dinner Brittney and I walked around the hotel and explored for a while, but I was tired so I went to my room and hit the hay.

Saturday the 30th – WEEBCON: DAY 2! – While my lines weren’t necessarily long, it was steady business all day. Brittney and her sister would be coming by the convention later, but nobody had any cell signal in the convention center. So their wi-fi was spotty, and the cell signal was virtually non-existent. It made it very difficult to communicate with anyone about coming to the show. Add to this the fact that the producers of the show don’t hand out program booklets any more. All of the scheduling is done on-line. So if there are panels or activities scheduled, nobody has any clue because they are unable to get on-line in the “dead zone” convention center. It seemed very illogical and bizarre to me. That would explain why nobody seemed to have heard about the panel with Ito San and myself. Luckily Brittney and her sister arrived just in time for the panel, and we headed to the ballroom to start the panel. But I was VERY disappointed to see only about 20 people in the panel. To have such an esteemed guest from Japan, and to have BOTH voices of Renji from “Bleach” seemed to me that it warranted a HUGE crowd! Many of the people in the panel were people that I personally told about it at my table. I felt a little embarrassed for our Japanese guest. He may have mistaken the low attendance for a lack of interest in “Bleach” in America; which isn’t the case at all. However, I think he had a lot of success at his signing table, so I’m sure he knew it was a fluke. Another screw-up was the fact that nobody was there to moderate the panel! I’m not sure if the Weebcon people were just so overwhelmed with stuff they forgot, or if screw-ups like this were commonplace. Oh well, I offered my services to moderate and be a panelist. So it was me, Ito San’s interpreter Chester, and Ito San. Chester sat between us and interpreted the questions from the audience. Despite the small crowd, it was a very enthusiastic crowd. We were asked to do our famous call-outs – “Bankai! Hihio – Zabimaru!” – and we were happy to do it. As the originator of the role I felt it was only right to have him go first. Having heard him do it for so many years in the recording sessions, and now seeing him perform it live gave me chills! When he finished I said, “Oh hell no. I’m not following that.” But I soon followed it up with the English version of the famous callout. The small crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Earlier in the day I spotted a wonderful Renji cosplayer that I invited to come to the panel. It was great that Ito San and I got a few pictures with him. I really hope the producers of this convention stop over-relying on internet notifications (particularly foolish, considering you can’t get very good signal in the convention center) and go back to program books. I’ve saved every program book from every San Diego Comic Con I’ve ever been to, and I explained to one of the workers that they become souvenirs to the fans. Also, you can sell advertising in them and make some extra dough. Plus, when you can’t get internet signal, it allows the fans to still stay in touch with what’s going on. I hope they take my advice and improve their structure somewhat. I was very disappointed. I headed back to my table to continue signing, and Brittney and her sister took off because Brittney’s sister’s leg was starting to hurt. So I’d be all alone for dinner that night, which was fine because I was pretty beat. I just wanted to get a pizza and go to my room and stare at the wall. There is an Italian restaurant in the hotel, so I headed down there to see about getting a pizza to go. As I was standing in line I saw my pal Bryce with a contingent of people, including Ito San and Chester. They asked me to stay and eat with them. There are NO accidents in life! It was great chatting with them all, as they were using a universal translator app on their phones to have a conversation. We’re living in “Star Trek!” When I learned that Ito San would be returning to Japan the following morning, I bemoaned the fact that I hadn’t had him sign anything. But I remembered that I had on my custom Renji cap, so he was kind enough to sign the bill of my cap. We got some great photos and had our dinner. Ito San wanted a Heineken, but the restaurant was all out. They were also all out of pizza. Very strange. Did they not know a huge convention was coming to the compound that weekend? So Ito San ordered a Bud Light. We laughed at the fact that Bud Light sounded a lot like Bankai – Renji’s famous call out. So in the tone of the “Bankai” call out, Ito San said “BUD LIGHT!” It was an absolutely hilarious moment that I will never forget. Interestingly enough, the Japanese and English voices for a character called Rock Lee were also at the table! You just can’t write this stuff! Utterly amazing! We all took some photos together, said our goodbyes, and we headed back to our rooms. I really hope Ito San returns so we can do some more appearances together as “The Renjis.” When I got back to my room I started packing up for my trip back home on Sunday night.

Sunday the 31st – WEEBCON: DAY 3! – Since it was Easter I expected it to be somewhat slower than the first couple of days. But I was wrong. It was slow and steady all day. I was scheduled for a “Bleach” panel at 2, and lunch was being served from noon to 2. So I figured I’d get something to eat at 1:30, hit the panel at 2, and at 3 go get my luggage from the hotel and wheel it down to the convention center. That way I’d be all ready to go when they drove us to the airport at 4. But at 12:40, while I was signing, somebody came to my table to inform me that the “Bleach” panel had been moved up an hour to 1, instead of 2. I hadn’t eaten anything all morning, so I was a bit flummoxed by this. Again, the organizational aspects of this convention left me very puzzled. The fans were fantastic, and I met a lot of really great people, but I believe the producers need to have an administrative “come to Jesus” moment and consult with producers who have been doing conventions successfully for years to improve operations. Lots of room for improvement here, and I’m not the only actor who thought so. So I sped off to the green room to inhale a quick sandwich, and even still I was 10 minutes late to the “Bleach” panel. I was on the dais with David Vincent and Steve Staley, but the way the audio was configured, we had a very difficult time hearing the audience’s questions. It’s commonplace to have a monitor on stage so the panelists can hear what’s going out over the PA system. But all we were hearing was the bounce-back from the audience speakers. The sound came out, hit the back wall, and would come back to us very echo-y. Indeed a strange way to do things. So the panelists had a very difficult time hearing the audience’s questions, particularly since most of them are relatively soft spoken. We managed through it, but it wasn’t easy. I went back to my table for a little bit and tried to ascertain where we would be picked up for the ride to the airport. Once that was established, I got my luggage out of the baggage check at the hotel and got prepared to head out. I signed a few more things and then at 4:30 we headed out. We checked in for the flight, got dinner in the airport, and boarded the flight. But once again, our departure was delayed due to an on-board intercom issue. But again, I had some fun with the Flight Attendants, talking about being the voice on the PRAMS (pre-recorded audio messages) that they play on the flights. They told the Captain I was the voice of American Airlines and he said, “Hey! You’re a celebrity.” But on the flight, the only REAL celebrity is the Captain, who is responsible for the lives of the passengers. And he did a wonderful job getting us home. After I landed I gassed up the Gray Ghost and headed home. My cat Spooky was glad to see me, and we napped for a bit. I got up later and did some auditions, put some stuff away, and got organized for the maids to arrive on Monday. What a weekend. Whew!

And how were YOUR two weeks??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Here’s the final display of the “Sons of the Desert” fez, complete with Laurel and Hardy autographs, my membership certificate, and the fez atop the fez form. It was a lot of work, but I think it looks slick!

Kentaro Ito and I are having a blast seeing this faithful recreation of the anime character we both voice.

The Kenpachi cosplay was also very impressive!

Ito San and I clown around for a bit.

I was having a blast at this panel!

My pal Domenica from Otaku Haven gifted Ito San this amazing “Bleach” flag.

It’s always a kick seeing amazing cosplays of the characters I’ve voiced. It’ll never get old!

Ever hear the voices on an American Airlines flight and wonder what those people look like? Well, here we are! The female voice is my pal Debi Mae West, who does the safety announcement, and I do all the other stuff.

A wonderful Barnaby Brooks cosplayer from “Tiger and Bunny” came to my table!

Since it was Easter Sunday, I had to break out the bunny ears!

The Funko Pops are still the most popular item at my table!

If you look real close, you can see Ito San’s autograph on the bill of my Renji cap!

During my time in Chattanooga, TN last year I was elated to have been carded at one of the local eateries. (April fools! I don’t drink beer, actually. This was all a set-up)

Ito San and I do our callouts made famous in the “Bleach” anime. What a moment this was!