April 26 – May 02 (2021) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Shortly after I moved to Sioux Falls I got a job as a radio DJ at KELO-AM in the spring of 1979. An old pal of mine sent this photo to me of the morning team getting arrested for charity. It sure brought back good memories of seeing Warren West and Harley Worthit, and the old on-air studio! Good times!

Score another one for the Coffee Shop Cuts channel on DirecTV! I just discovered another great song called “Every Morning” by J Mascis!

Monday the 26th – MUNDANE MONDAY! – As is the usual routine for a Monday, I went to my box to get my packages, stopped off at Paty’s for a salad, and then headed home to do some work around the house. I had a ton of Voice Over auditions to record in my home studio, and there was some prep work I did for a video with Kermit the Frog I was planning on doing Tuesday.

Tuesday the 27th – NINE-ONE-WONDERFUL! – In anticipation of a short Kermit the Frog video I was planning on doing, I charged up my video camera and a BlueTooth speaker. The idea was that Michelle would shoot me operating Kermit to a version I did of “Bein’ Green.” Then my friend Chris would play the song on his phone, and send it to a BlueTooth speaker that I would carry on my person, so I could hear the audio very well to hone in on the lip sync. I worked with Michelle a little bit about how to use the video camera. The quality on the high resolution video camera is much better than on a phone, but since she’s only ever recorded video on her phone, it required a little tutorial. My friend Chris came over right on time and we got ready to go. Chris bent down to pet Roxy and I turned my attention to the computer to print some things. All of a sudden I hear Chris yell, “OW!” I turned to look at him in shock. Clearly something had hurt him. Now, when something like this happens, a lot of scenarios run through your mind at lightning speed; in milliseconds. All of the options run through your mind like a computer, all simultaneously. It’s like when my pal Luke leaned back on a chair at my house, the back snapped off, and he fell backwards into one of my display cases, breaking one of the glass doors. I instantaneously assessed the situation in much the same way. But this was different. I had to determine what the cause of the pain was through the process of elimination. As I said, all of the options ran through my mind in milliseconds, and I had to assess them one by one to discard the useless options. First, did Roxy bite Chris? That one was so absurd it didn’t take me very long to discard that one. Roxy would never bite anyone, let alone somebody she likes. Period. So on to the second option. While on the floor, did he somehow land on a piece of broken glass from my recent cabinet-shattering incident? That was absurd too, because my maids have been here four times since that incident happened and every piece of stray glass has been long since vacuumed up. The third option was, while Chris was on the floor, did he pull a muscle or pinch a nerve? Having a pinched nerve issue of my own I know they can be painful at times. But Chris asked, “Did something fall on me?” Michelle and I were perplexed because there wasn’t anything that COULD have fallen on him. As he stood up he shouted very sharply a second time, “OWWWW!” Michelle and I were getting very concerned. Chris solemnly said, “I have to go to the hospital.” I immediately got 911 on the line, but it was a recording. So I ended the call. I told Michelle to drive Chris to the local emergency room, but being new to L.A., she wasn’t exactly sure where it was. By now, Chris had experienced another attack of sharp, jolting pain. I tried 911 again and they answered! We tried to get Chris settled into a chair and relaxed, and as I had 911 on speakerphone he explained that he had a de-fib installed in his chest from a surgery a year ago. He has some genetic heart issues, so they installed a defibrillator in his chest. We soon ascertained that the internal de-fib was causing his pain. They said paramedics and fire were on the way. I went downstairs to flag them down, and they arrived within minutes. It was a bit scary, but I’m glad the First Responders were here so fast. They put him on all sorts of monitors and while they were here he had a few more attacks. My first thought was that the de-fib was malfunctioning. But then I had the horrible realization that the de-fib was probably doing its job. Unlike a pacemaker, which provides a more subtle regulation of the heart’s rhythm, a de-fib will shock it back into the proper rhythm if it senses a deviation from the usual heart pattern. Though Chris had this installed a year ago, this is the first time it’s done this. It must’ve sensed that Chris’ heart was malfunctioning. So…it did its job. Thank GOD! Had he not had that, I hate to think that he might have expired right in my house! And I’ve known Chris for about 35 years, I consider him a little brother, and that would have been just awful. But he was in good hands now, and he was taken to the hospital for monitoring. He remembered what he was told by the doctors who installed it last year. They said, “When this goes off, it’s going to feel like you were kicked in the chest by a horse.” From what I could see, they weren’t far off from the reality of the situation. Michelle was still a bit rattled by it all, so we drove to Paty’s to have a nice, relaxing lunch so we could calm down a bit. I reassured her that it could have been MUCH worse. Like when Luke fell into my display case, the only things broken were the chair and the display case door. Luke was thankfully NOT hurt! Chairs and doors can be easily replaced. People not so much. I told her if Chris had been at home, or alone, or worse yet DRIVING, when this happened, the ending might not have been so favorable. But because he was with people who loved him, we could get him help immediately. I grabbed my packages at my box and we headed back to Planet Wallywood so I could do more trademark work with my attorney for our Christoween property. When filing for trademarks there is a LOT to consider in order to be compliant with the rules! It’s all very complicated. Later on I wrote Wally’s Week (a day late!). I made a salad and watched another episode of “The Lone Ranger.” We’ll try to shoot the Kermit video in a few weeks.

Wednesday the 28th – …AND SPEAKING OF LUKE… – It’s easy to tell that things might be returning to normal again, because I had a ton of auditions to record again. I worked around the house all day, and my Luke Ski stopped by to sign some Christoween books! I just had several copies printed of our first Christoween book “Frankie-fied!” and I’ll soon be selling some of them through the Christoween.net website, along with Frankie Christoween Stalkings! After Luke did such a great job illustrating the “Frankie-fied!” animatic, I decided to pick select images from the animatic, color them, and use them as the illustrations for the first book. Each book will come signed by Luke and myself. One of the things I got in my mail was a special edition version of Gerry Rafferty’s “City To City” album. I’ve always loved this album since it came out in 1978, and this had a second CD with it that included demos of some of the songs on the album. I loved listening to the raw versions of the songs before they were produced and released to the public. Fascinating! An old friend of mine, with whom I hadn’t spoken in years, recently got back in touch with me to check in. That got me remembering that I had a lot of home video footage that I had recently digitized in my archives. I decided to make an edit for her so she could enjoy them too, considering that she and her children figured prominently in the videos. She’s gonna LOVE this!

Thursday the 29th – WONDERFUL WALK! – My pal Brittney stopped by so we could strap on our walking shoes and go meet our friend Edi and her son Josh for lunch at Panera. It was a gorgeous 90 degree day with a slight breeze, so it was a perfect day for a walk. After lunch we walked back to my house, and I did some work on my computer and recorded my nightly auditions later. It felt really good to get out and get some exercise! I talked to my dad in South Dakota and he was doing the same thing! The weather here and the weather there was very similar!

Friday the 30th – TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE! – Jim Ojala, the effects guy who has done lots of work for me in the past, let me know that he had two fresh, new resin “pulls” from the new mold of my Frankie Christoween ornament. I drove over to his studio and inspected them. They looked GREAT! He suggested another cool item. He could run the heads with a flat back, put a magnet on the back, and make refrigerator magnets! EXCELLENT IDEA! He’s going to run one so we can see what it would be like. I got my mail at my box, and then headed home to do some work. After she finished work, Michelle came over and we went to Denny’s to get some food. Normally, Michelle works Friday nights. But she’s planning a pre-birthday surprise for me on Saturday so we have to be up early for it.

Saturday the 1st – BOB BAKER BIRTHDAY BONANZA! – Michelle instructed me to be ready to go by noon for the birthday surprise she has been hatching for me for months. All I knew was that other people I knew were also in on it. I couldn’t imagine what it would be! It could be anything, but she knows me pretty well. She knows what I like. At noon she informed me that our Uber was here. An Uber? She wasn’t driving to this place? When I went out back to meet the Uber I realized it was my pals Officer Mark and Miss Connie! This was going to be fun! As we drove down the freeway I was trying to figure out where we could possibly be going. Oh sure, I could have laid back and enjoyed the ride, but what’s the fun in that?! Our first stop was to a place called Galco in Highland Park. I had heard about this place but had never gone. It’s in an old, refurbished grocery store. It’s the kind of grocery store I used to go to with my mom when I was a kid. Walking into this place was like walking into the past! The way the shelves were designed, the meat counter, the ceiling, and they even had the old fashioned, classic check-out counter! It was amazing! But Galco specializes in delectable retro treats! Mainly, classic soda and candy! I filled a box full of goodies and we took off for our next stop. They surprised me with a private tour of the NEW Bob Baker Marionette Theater! They left their old theater (which I had been to several times) in downtown L.A. (all for the better, in my opinion) and found new digs in Highland Park. The area is more residential and family oriented, and is a much better place for a puppet theater! Our tour guide was Missy and she showed us all around. Granted, they’re still getting settled after the move, but I wasn’t swayed by that at all. I loved seeing everything out and viewable, ready to find their permanent home within the confines of their new residence. Michelle had urged me to bring a Muppet replica along, but I wasn’t quite sure of the reason. Check out the video below to see how much Gonzo enjoyed the experience! What fun! It was something that I never would have thought of doing on my own, but Officer Mark and Michelle hatched a perfect birthday surprise! Then it was time to go enjoy lunch at a place called Foxy’s, and a quick stop by Dave’s Hot Chicken. Not to eat, but to shoot a video. On the way to the restaurant we passed this place called Dave’s Hot Chicken. My mind started hatching a plan. I had Gonzo with me. Gonzo is obsessed with beautiful chickens. The sign advertised “hot” chicken, and since “hot” has two different meanings, I thought that Gonzo definitely needed to visit for a quick video. The irony of the whole thing is, Gonzo’s performer is Dave Goelz! It was just all too funny. So after lunch we stopped by and shot a little quickie video that I hope you like. Michelle and I got back to Planet Wallywood and she had to speed off to work. I was exhausted from the exciting day, so I napped a bit. I got up later to do some work around the house, and make a Chef Boyardee pizza. Since it’s the first Saturday of the month, instead of my usual Saturday Night Super Saint Salad, I enjoyed three Laurel and Hardy two-reelers for something I call “Laurel and Hardy Theater.” I watched “Unaccustomed As We Are,” “Perfect Day, “ and “Men O’ War.” Hilarious!

Sunday the 2nd – BAD BOLTS! – Since I had some time to kill, I decided to start prepping the Frankie Christoween ornaments for painting. I pre-drilled all the necessary holes in the resin heads. First, the hole in the top of the head for the little metal eye that holds the hang cord. Then the holes where his head bolts will go, then the pupils in the eyes, and then the little holes where his hat will be screwed on. But I realized in horror that the bolts I bought were slightly bigger than the ones I used on the prototype. I have to go get the right sized bolts on Monday! I did some touch up/patching work on the heads and let it sit overnight to cure. I worked around the house the rest of the evening. What a week filled with good AND bad things!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK