September 12 – September 18 (2022)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I never give political endorsements, but I feel it’s time to make my voice heard! That being said, for 2024, I’m all about Bush-Chaney!

Have you ever heard the term “Desert Island Album?” It basically refers to an album that you’d want with you if you were ever stranded on a desert island. Of course, you could only take a handful. “Band on the Run” by McCartney is one of them I’d want, but “City to City” by Gerry Rafferty is another one. It’s a perfect album! When the song “Island” came up on my Walkman when I was driving around in my Gran Torino this past week, it sounded so darn good!

Monday the 12th – TRICKLE TRICKLE LITTLE CAR! – After having the Gran Torino on the trickle charger all night it was rarin’ to go! But before I took off I had a call with my computer guy Gabe to make sure that the issues I’ve been having with backing up my computer data have been resolved. Instead of backing up at a specific time once a week, he set it up so it updates daily during “inactivity” periods that the computer senses. Brilliant! I drove the Torino over to the Smoke House to have dinner with my old pals Alex Zsolt and Rob Richards. Both are tremendous musicians, and occasionally they perform together. I introduced them to each other many years ago. I first met Rob back in Aberdeen, South Dakota when he was a youth group counselor at church. We had a ton of common interests so he became like an older brother to me. He moved out to L.A. around 1993 and soon became the theatre organist at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre! I first met Alex in Chicago at a Batman convention in 1995 and we became friends after that. Since we share decades of memories together it was fun hanging out, eating delicious food and reminiscing and telling stories. I got home and set about doing my auditions. But the new audio interface that I just installed recently was malfunctioning. I looked at all of the settings and made a few adjustments, and it worked fine. I’m not sure why my computer went back to the old settings (and only recognized my old, now-removed audio interface) but I set it straight! I wrote Wally’s Week, made some hot dogs on the grill and watched another episode of “The Magician” in bed. Since Roxy was alert and awake in her room downstairs, I carried her upstairs so she could join Spook and I for dinner. It had been a long time since she was up there enjoying some TV time with us. It was nice.

Tuesday the 13th – MAGIC MARK! – This Tuesday seemed a lot like a Sunday, because I didn’t do much at all except lounge around and relax. I did get an e-mail about the upcoming recording sessions for a new cartoon series that everybody’s been talking about. It’s good to know I’ll be involved. I did a little miscellaneous work around the house, did a few auditions, and recorded some voice tracks for another Multi-Media Assemblies presentation. This is a program I’ve been working with for about 22 years, and it’s very exciting. The producer acquires clips from TV shows, feature films and music videos and creates a short presentation for kids in schools. The kids all assemble in their gymnasiums and see a huge three-screen multimedia presentation that discusses the subjects of drug abuse, bullying, alcohol abuse, empathy, compassion and reckless driving. While I’ve been elated to have been involved with this project for over 22 years, it seems like it’s time to hang it up. The dynamic at schools is quite different now than it was when this project first began. So this will be the final presentation of its type. But it sure was a good run, and I’m sure the program has touched a lot of lives for the better. I was in the mood for a Chef Boyardee pizza, so I spent some time and made a really good one and watched another episode of “The Magician.” The guest star was a very young Mark Hamill, who played a traumatized young guy who was witness to a horrible murder where a government agent was burned alive. But once the case was solved and Mark’s character was on the mend, he was asked what he planned on doing with his life. His character responded, “I’d like to learn to fly a plane.” And without missing a beat I spoke up, “Or an X-Wing!”

Wednesday the 14th – BRAAAAAAIIIINS! – There is an overhead skylight in my upstairs hallway that I’ve never really liked. While it does provide a certain amount of light, it’s not in an ideal location. I have a lot of valuable framed artwork in that hallway and I’m afraid it will suffer from long term exposure to UV light. Of course I framed everything with UV-resistant Plexiglas, but I don’t want to take any chances. Autographed pieces, movie posters, artwork, etc. all adorn that hallway that I call the “Aisle Of Art.” (Say it out loud…it’s a play on words.) My house also came with an overhead skylight in my main bathroom’s vanity area, and since the day I bought the house it remained covered with tin foil and a blackout shade. The lady who had the house before me didn’t like it either, so I just kept up what she had installed. When we had roofing work done a few years ago I asked the workers to just cover it over, as I wasn’t using it, nor did I like it. They were happy to comply. Then I had my contractor Handy Don cover it from the inside and put some drywall and spackle over it. Whoever designed this overhead-skylight-in-the-bathroom thing clearly wasn’t a woman. No woman I know likes to look at herself in the mirror with stark, overhead lighting. I don’t even like it much. It casts such horribly shadows. So I’m glad it’s gone. But since the roofers are long gone I tried to create a way to plug the 22” by 22” square overhead skylight in my hallway. I measured the skylight’s aperture and (as expected) none of the measurements matched. One end was 21 ¾” across while the other end was 22”. On the other angle one end was 20 ½” and the opposite end was 21 ¾”. Nothing was symmetrical, and I could pull my hair out all day trying to create a cover that would match those wacky dimensions. I was also wracking my brain about how I would attach it inside the skylight’s aperture. Then I looked at my puppets. FOAM RUBBER! I’ll have a chunk of foam rubber cut 22” by 22” and squeeze it into the aperture. The foam will naturally expand and hold itself secure in the opening without nails, tacks or screws! So I drove the Gran Torino over to Foam Mart and had them cut a piece of charcoal gray foam 5” thick, and 22” by 22” square. Then I headed to Hobby Lobby to return something. Not for a refund. Just return it. The last time I was there (about a month ago) I realized when I got home that something had gotten into my sack that I hadn’t bought. I think the guy in the checkout line ahead of me bought it, but the clerk accidentally put it in my bag instead. It was a package of Mylar art bags which I didn’t have any use for. So I kept it around to take back when I was in the area again. I walked it in and told the checkout clerk that the Mylar bags had gotten into my bag by mistake, and I wanted to return them so their inventory wasn’t screwed up. Obviously when the guy who DID purchase them got home and discovered they weren’t there, he probably went back and complained. The clerk didn’t really know what to say. I wasn’t asking for a refund (since I hadn’t purchased them in the first place) I just wanted them to go back to the store because it was the right thing to do. All she said was, “I’ll tell the manager.” Alrighty then. Oh well, I did my good deed for the day. On the way home I stopped by my mechanic, the Burbank Auto Doctor to check on my Mustang. It’s been in the shop for almost a month because its computer malfunctioned. Because that year of Mustang uses a very specific type of computer it was difficult to find one that would work. The first one they put in also had malfunctions, so they took it out. But they got another one in from Utah that should do the trick! I wanted to see it before they installed it. It will go in immediately after it’s appropriately programmed for that model of car by an expert computer programmer. But he’s stretched very thin going from here to there programming car computers. So hopefully by next week I’ll have it back in my possession. I stopped by my mailbox to get my packages. There were a lot of them. I got the new “Elvis” movie on Blu Ray (I haven’t heard many good things about it so I’m a bit leery) and I got the remainder of my t-shirt order from Tee Public. I got home and squeezed the foam rubber “plug” into my skylight and it worked brilliantly! I worked on the computer designing some backing cards for the embroidered Christoween patches I had made up for this year. I’ll sell a few, but also give some away at the upcoming Son of Monsterpalooza in mid-October. I took a brief nap and noticed that I was actually chilly. The weather has cooled off considerably since last week’s heatwave! When I got up later I did a ton of auditions, and then took Roxy out for our late-night stroll through the neighborhood. Because of her advanced age we go slower now, and not quite as far as we used to. But at least she’s out getting some exercise and a chance to stretch her legs and keep her muscles working. I wanted to spend some time outside relaxing, but Dead Tree Terrace has become overgrown with a large bush (which grew like crazy during the recent rains we had), plus it was chilly out. But instead of looking up at the western sky at Dead Tree Terrace, I put a comfy chair outside the front of my house to look at the eastern sky for a change. I put a blue plastic pail upside down over one of the little security lights along the sidewalk to dim the light, but the blue plastic of the pail turned it into a really nice-looking muted blue light! There was lots to see – the Orion constellation, Mars, the moon, etc. It was gorgeous! As I sat there in the quiet I heard the distant screeching of a screech owl. But then the screeching got closer, and closer and closer. Just then, high up overhead, a graceful screech owl soared eastward in search of his breakfast. He never flapped his wings even once. He simply glided gracefully on the air. It was stunning. He continued screeching until he was no longer in eyeshot or earshot. It was breathtaking. But right around 4am the marine layer started moving in. It’s the thick bank of cumulus that moves in off of the ocean and makes the skies overcast in the mornings. One by one all of the stars disappeared. The moon had faded a bit too, but was still visible. Until the marine layer increased its density and completely swallowed up the moon. It looked like the moon was on a “fader,” and somebody was simply turning out the moon’s light, slowly and deliberately. I took one last deep breath of cool, moist air and headed inside to make a salad and watch another episode of “The Magician.” I’m absolutely LOVING this show. It’s a cross between “The Saint” and “Mission Impossible!”

Thursday the 15th – NEW FRIENDS! OLD FRIENDS! – After picking up my packages at my mailbox I headed to Paty’s to have lunch with my friend Tuesday Knight, her mom and her friend Jeff. But I was early so I just sat in the parking lot in my Torino. I saw a beautiful charcoal gray convertible Mustang pull into the parking lot. It looked to be about the same year as mine, and was in just as good a condition. I spoke with the owner for a bit and he told me it only had 88,000 miles on it and was a 2002. I told him I had a 2003 with 81,000 miles on it. We both lamented the fact that things are starting to go on the cars now, being 20 years old. In fact, he just had to replace his idler pulleys too! That was the original reason I took the Mustang into the mechanic a month ago, before the computer failed. His name is Ryan and he’s a young writer, director and filmmaker. The owner of the car next to my Torino came out after his lunch and we started chatting. He asked if I was Wally Wingert. Come to find out we have a good mutual friend in animator and artist Ruben Procopio! I invited him to come by Planet Wallywood for a tour someday. Tuesday and company arrived and we all went inside. I invited Ryan to join us for lunch so we could talk about upcoming projects and ideas. It was cool making two new friends. You just never know who you’re going to meet in this town! We had a great two-hour lunch talking about all kinds of things and we all agreed to stay in touch with Ryan and keep updated on his projects. The Gran Torino was in desperate need of a bath, so I drove by the local car wash for a hand wash and wax. It looked AMAZING afterward! Then I went home to relax. Later I did a bunch of auditions, and then went outside in front of my place to watch stars again. It was pretty chilly though. Summer is definitely over (insert sad face here). I heated up my night with some buffalo mac (mac and cheese with buffalo chicken bits and celery) and an episode of “The Magician.” I was happy that Roxy was able to join us on the bed again for some TV time. While I ate my dinner, Spook and Roxy both ate some pieces of kibble I fed them as we watched the show. Just before I turned in for good, I turned on some cartoons on ME-TV and they were airing an old animated short featuring the character called Cool Cat; a beret-wearing tiger. I could tell that Larry was doing all the voices in the piece, and it was fantastic. I loved spending time with him and getting to know this legend, and we all miss him.

Friday the 16th – RUFF DAY FOR ROX! – To start the day the maids came over to clean Planet Wallywood. But with all of the moving around, Roxy’s back legs were getting quite fatigued. I had to take her outside for a while so the maids could clean her area thoroughly. That didn’t help. She used to like to lie down in the lush green grass in our courtyard, but with the California drought currently going on, it’s nothing more than a dirt patch now. So she didn’t lie down, she just kept standing and walking. Soon, her legs were collapsing out from under her and she was falling. I took her inside to rest. Later I decided to try her out on her new wheel cart I bought. This would suspend her back legs just enough so her weight wouldn’t be on them fully. She could pull herself along with her front legs and regain mobility. But she clearly didn’t like being hooked up to that contraption and all she did was walk backwards. She couldn’t grasp the concept of going forwards. I could tell it was causing stress for her, so we went inside to rest. As I laid in the Puppet Room contemplating what I could do to make her life easier, I heard a loud crash downstairs. I looked over and Spook came darting into the room. I went downstairs and saw Roxy laying on her padding, and her food and water bowls were upside down. Apparently while drinking or eating, her legs just gave out and she crashed into her bowls, spilling the entire contents. She was panting rapidly and I could tell the whole situation was causing a great deal of stress for her. Poor girl. I gave her one of her strong pain pills in hopes that she would settle down and get some rest. I went to Ernie’s Taco House with my pal Sara and it wasn’t pretty. It was a pretty sad dinner where we discussed end-of-life plans for Roxy in case she got worse. I’ve never cried in an enchilada before, but there’s always a first time for everything. Considering that Roxy’s currently on medication for inflammation every day, and occasionally on medication for pain, and even occasional medication to stimulate her appetite, I started wondering just how fair it is to her to sustain her life with medications. But aside from the anti-inflammatories, she’s not on any other regular medication. Her spirit is still very much viable, but her body (and mind, in some instances) are starting to fade. This is the absolute worst part of pet ownership. I hate it. I just #@$%(& hate it. But, the good years you have together with your pet makes it all worth it somehow. Once Roxy settled down and the pain pill kicked in, I napped on the couch next to her. She slept for a very long time. She needed it. I paid some bills and did some accounting work later. Then I made some lasagna and watched another episode of “The Magician.” Roxy was sound asleep so she didn’t join us tonight.

Saturday the 17th – THE FINAL FOUR! – Thankfully Roxy was doing much better after a long rest. I’ve decided that I’m going to monitor the amount of time she spends on her feet, and modify it so it’s only in 15-20 minute increments. Anything after that is too stressful for her. Then with good rest periods in between she’ll still have good use of her legs and muscles, and she won’t become overstressed. She was eating well (without need of her appetite stimulant) and walking up and down the stairs in front of my house pretty well. I walked to my stylist’s shop to get a touch-up on my color, and then walked home to relax. My pal Officer Mark came over and we hopped in the Torino and went to Denny’s for dinner. Then we came back and watched the remaining four episodes of the Turkish comedy series I dubbed into English. I had seen four of the eight episodes back in May, but due to our busy schedules we couldn’t get together to watch the remaining four episodes until now. It was good to see them and I had a lot of fun memories working on that show. The show is called “Ersan Kuneri” and is on Netflix. I don’t have Netflix so Mark was kind enough to bring his system over so we could watch it. It was announced that there will be a second season of “Ersan” coming in 2023. I kind of knew that already, since Tuesday and I discussed that at lunch a few days ago. She’s in regular touch with Cem Yilmaz, the Turkish comic who created “Ersan” and stars as the title character. Shortly after I was cast as the English voice of “Ersan” I told the casting folks about Tuesday and how perfect she would be for one of the main roles. All of the English cast did fantastic work, but I really loved Tuesday’s work, and the hilarious work of my pal Dan Roebuck who voiced Altin. Later that night, after a nap, I started working on the eye cones for my new Mahna Mahna replica Muppet. I threaded in some monofilament (aka fish line) into the eye cones and pulled it down to replicate the blinking characteristic of the puppet. But it wasn’t working correctly. So I took a small portion of a toothpick and stitched that to the top of the cone across the width of the cone, and then inserted the fish line down through the center of the cone. It worked perfectly, and provided the exact look of the original. Apparently the Henson group also had to attach a flat piece across the top of the eye cone so you’d get a wide area of the cone to pull down during the blinking manipulation. For the real eye cones, I’ll paint the small portion of toothpick orange to match the color of the cone. In one of the screenshots of the original Mahna Mahna I acquired, I can actually see the little piece stretching across the width of their eye cone. I think I’m on the right track. But as the monofilament went through the bottom of the eye cone, it encountered too much friction and resistance. This is no doubt caused by the monofilament rubbing against the foam rubber, which causes a drag due to its porous nature. Then I had the idea to create a little smooth channel that the monofilament could run through; something similar to one of those little plastic coffee stirrer straws. The opening would be just big enough for the monofilament to go through, and the smoothness of the plastic would allow the fish line to run through it smoothly. But do you think I could find one easily? I never drink coffee, so I didn’t have any on hand. But I think those would do the trick if I seat a small portion of one into the bottom of the foam eye cone and into the head of the puppet. That’s what experimentation is all about. As my friend Steve the puppet builder says, “Puppet building is mostly about problem solving.” I put new sheets on the bed, a new comforter, got out some fresh pajamas, made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched an episode of “The Saint” before bed.

Sunday the 18th – ALWAYS MOVING! ALWAYS CREATING! – As is usually the case with my Sundays, I slept most of the day. It felt very good. Roxy is doing MUCH better and I couldn’t be happier. When she does go outside and meets other dogs and people, her spirit is big and wonderful. Thankfully, the end-of-life discussion has been put on the back burner for a little while longer. As I was looking around the Tranquility Zone I noticed that there’s just bare wall behind my Rowlf the Dog replica Muppet in his case. I used to have a silent movie title card behind him, but I moved that downstairs and it sits above the door leading to my garage. Now it just looks boring behind him. I had made some snazzy backgrounds for a few other of my Muppet replicas in their display cases, so I started thinking about making one for Rowlf. I had some really great red-gold lame that would look nice behind him, but I would need a piece of foam core 24” by 28” to cover the space. I didn’t have anything that big, so I’d have to make a point to get over to Plastic Depot on Monday and see if they had anything similar. As I started plotting out the background for Rowlf, I also started futzing with the spacing of my James Bond display in my room. I have two framed Bond movie posters; one for a limited-edition “From Russia With Love” and “Thunderball” double feature, and the other for my favorite Bond film “The Man With The Golden Gun.” I moved them to the left about four inches so they would butt up against a doorway. I also have three 12” by 12” framed pieces that I moved closer to the posters as well. This would create a little more “breathing room” next to the Rowlf case and his new background. One of the 12” by 12” pieces is an autographed Roger Moore photo of him as Bond from “Live and Let Die.” The other is the album cover for the soundtrack of “The Man With The Golden Gun” which was signed by Roger Moore and the two Bond girls in the film, Maud Adams and Britt Ekland. But the third 12” by 12” framed piece is some artwork I found INSIDE the “Golden Gun” album. I drew it when I was about 13, and it features a leering James Bond lying in bed, and in the foreground are three scantily-clad ladies. Indeed, I was smitten at an early age. Looking at that sketch makes me laugh, so I decided to frame it and put it up with the rest of the Bond stuff. I did a little work in the garage, and then came back inside to work on the computer for a bit, and then head to bed.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK