RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

On the final night of my annual Happy Th-HANG-sgiving Hang Out and Open House, one of my guests snapped this picture of Roxy in her favorite position…sprawled out comfortably on one of the bean bag chairs. She’s definitely one of the gang!

Each year, I know it’s officially Christmas when I hear this song in passing. Either ont he radio, in a store, or somewhere. I can’t purposely play it myself, but I wait for it to appear “magically.” Sometimes it gets pretty late in the Christmas season before it’ll pop up and make its appearance, but this year I heard it in a restaurant 10 minutes after midnight on Thanksgiving morning! So, since the cat is out of the bag, here it is for you to enjoy too. My favorite Christmas song of all time…“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by the late Andy Williams! When I hear this song, I’m instantly taken back to my childhood Christmases!

Monday the 19th – LIKE DA BIKE! – It was another beautiful day so I rode my bike to work at “The Tonight Show.” This week, I remembered to wear a light colored shirt. The week before I rode to work but forgot that the sun sets earlier now because of the change back to standard time. But this week I got smart. The ride was great, but I think I overdid it. I’m not used to riding bike so much, so when I got home my legs hurt. I took a dip in the jacuzzi to settle the sore muscles. I met my pal Edi at Little Toni’s for a bit, and was joined by my friends Chuck McCann and his assistant Ottis. He brought me some derbies to use in my new Laurel and Hardy figure display (details coming soon on that!) But at dinner I was feeling a bit out of sorts. I’m wondering if that Dexilant antacid medication I had been on for six weeks wasn’t completely out of my system yet. So I came home and grabbed a nap, then got up to do some auditions. I did some work around the house then hit the hay around 4:30am.

Tuesday the 20th – COOL DREAM! – I woke up at 10am and came out of a cool dream. First of all, it was in vivid color. Secondly, it was very pleasant. I was sitting in a living room of a house waiting to go in to audition to sing a jingle for a magazine. In the waiting area, they had one of the magazines laying there, and in the bottom left-hand corner of the cover it said EVERYTHING ABOUT ANDY! and had a photo of Andy Kaufman. Trying to make conversation while we waited, I started telling Andy Kaufman stories. Then they played a demo of the jingle so we could learn it. The vocal was in gibberish, and sounded a lot like Andy Kaufman doing his foreign routine. I told them I had no problem doing gibberish because I used to impersonate Andy all the time. But when the guy who was auditioning before me came out of the studio, I got a shock. IT WAS ANDY! He said, “Wally, nice to finally meet you.” I gave him a hug and I realized he was taller than me. He looked very much like he did in the early days of his career. He told me he ‘d be appearing at a local comedy club that night and he invited me out. He said I should come because I was nominated for the “Inside My Best Friend’s Head” award. As he turned to leave I told the casting director I would have liked to have met him years ago, but he was doing that whole “dead” thing. Andy didn’t even turn around to address it, though I’m sure he heard me. They took me in to audition and they walked me past the kitchen, complete with dirty dishes on the table. I was wondering what sort of studio this was anyway. They took me into the back room which had been converted from a bedroom into a studio. There were two small children playing in the studio, and I noticed there was classical music playing. I saw a handwritten sign posted that said, “NO SINGING OF ROCK AND ROLL OF ANY KIND!” Apparently they wanted to keep their children shielded from the evils of rock and roll. Around my left pinkie was the keyring containing my car key. I couldn’t get it off. I licked my finger but it wouldn’t budge. I apologized to the director and told him I would sing the audition with the key on my finger. Then I woke up. Weird dream. But VERY cool on many levels. But I didn’t even get a chance to audition! I wonder if I would have booked it? I got up, walked Roxy and then laid down for another hour or so. I got a hotline call to be into NBC at 1:45 to record a comedy bit. I went in, did the bit, and then headed to Plastic Depot to pick up some custom-made plastic supports for some signage in the Chaney Room. I stopped by a Quizno’s to get a tuna sandwich to go. The lady started my sandwich with her plastic gloves on. Then as it went through the oven, she took off one glove and took my money. When she was done ringing me up, she put her glove back on and started to finish my sandwich. I stopped her and said, “Uhhh…you’re not going to make my sandwich with the gloves you just touched my money with, are you?” She smiled and washed her hands and got new plastic gloves. Gee! You gotta watch EVERYONE! If I had been an under-cover health inspector that would have earned them an immediate fine! I went next door to Radio Shack to buy a new digital recorder. I’ve filled up five of them so far with recollections, stories, memories and opinions that I plan to pass down to my children and grandchildren after I’ve left this mortal coil. I went to Gun World to pick up a bunch of ammo and then headed to NBC to tape the show. After we wrapped I stopped by the hardware store to get some nuts and washers for my signage in Planet Wallywood. Then I stopped by Vitamin World to pick up some supplements before they closed and then headed back home. I walked Roxy and then headed over to the Studio Cafe to meet my friend Bruce Kulick and his girlfriend Lisa for dinner. Then it was back out to get some groceries and other supplies. It was home to take a dip in the jacuzzi and then to bed. Fun day!

Wednesday the 21st – THANKSGIVING EVE! – I got up early and did a pilot at Universal Studios. It was fun to be back on the lower lot again. It really brought back some memories of working there back in the late 90’s as Beetlejuice. The voice I did was for a pissed off dolphin in a new pilot, and the session was short and sweet. I came home to do some work, and then my maids arrived. I wanted them to come before Thanksgiving so the house would be clean for my annual Planet Wallywood Happy Th-HANG-sgiving Hang Out and Open House. My effects pal Jim Ojala brought over the Sean Connery/James Bond figure. He was complete except for the tuxedo and his hair. He looked amazing! I couldn’t wait to get him all dressed up in his tux and show him off this weekend. Sara came over to lock up after the maids finished, and I sped off to work. We taped two shows today…one for later that night, and the second one for Thanksgiving night. After the first taping was over, I went to UPS and picked up a new mannequin for my Oliver Hardy figure. I dashed home to feed my cat Spooky, Sara came by to walk Roxy, then I headed over to Fast Frame to pick up a framed Elvis poster. I needed something to go behind my Robo-Elvis figure, so I dug out the poster I bought at the Elvis concert I attended on June 22, 1977. It was fairly beat up, but the obvious mileage on the poster would help me tell the story of clutching it firmly while enjoying the concert and seeing Elvis Presley perform live! Then it was time to get back to NBC to prepare for the second taping…our Thanksgiving show taped before an all-military audience. It was awesome! Asian recording artist and rapper Psy was the musical guest. He’s the guy that does that “Gangham Style” video, where he dances like he’s riding a horse. Many of our military personnel have filmed themselves doing that crazy dance in all corners of the world. It was AMAZING to see every member of our all-military audience standing and dancing in the aisles. Utterly breathtaking! It was a great audience. And Jay is always at his best with the military in the audience. By the time we finished our second show I was beat and ready for four days off! I went home to jacuzzi. My pals Edi and Brittney joined me for dinner at the Coral Cafe for a late dinner. When I got home I wanted to go to bed, but I couldn’t resist dressing my James Bond figure! I finished it and it looked great! I did some other work around the house to prepare for Thanksgiving weekend. By the time I got to bed, I had been up 21 hours straight! Whew!

Thursday the 22nd – HAPPY THANKSGIVING! – I got up around noon to walk Roxy, and then I headed back to bed for a few hours. At 2:30 the gang showed up so we could carpool over to the Sportsmen’s Lodge for our traditional Thanksgiving buffet. There were 16 of us and we had a great time with great food! Then most of us headed to my house to watch movies all night. The annual Happy Th-HANG-sgiving Hang Out and Open House was under way! When everyone left I cleaned up and got ready for an episode of “Charlie’s Angels.” I made a meal of the four P’s…pizza, pudding, pineapple and popcorn! FUN!

Friday the 23rd – DAY 2! – I slept until 4 in the afternoon! When I got up my assistant Sara and I went to get some groceries. We came back and set everything up for night number 2 of the annual Planet Wallywood Happy
Th-HANG-sgiving Hang Out and Open House. More movies and more fun! I stayed up most of the night doing work around the house, then made a salad and headed to bed to watch another episode of “Charlie’s Angels.” I didn’t get to sleep until 9am!

Saturday the 24th – DAY 3! – Again I slept until 4, then went to the local craft store to pick up some supplies. I stopped by UPS to pick up my mail, and then went home to nap for a few more hours before the final night of movies began. It was a great way to end the weekend of festivities. Another successful Hang Out! I made a sandwich and hit the hay to watch another episode of “Charlie’s Angels.”

Sunday the 25th – VACATION’S END! – I slept very late, but got up in time to go to evening church with Roxy. Then my friend Amanda and I went to Ernie’s Taco House for dinner. I didn’t have any auditions to do, but I had some other work to do around the house. I got ready for a new week, which was shaping up to be incredible busy! But it sure was a nice four day break, spent with good friends, great films and terrific food!

And how was YOUR Thanksgiving week??!!