April 03 – April 09 (2023) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Good ol’ Mark Twain. Spot on, as usual.

When I’m out of town I like to bring along a Bluetooth speaker and play music from my phone. As I was putting stuff away in my hotel room in Sacramento this past weekend, “Put Your Money On Me” by the Struts popped up and I’ve been singing it ever since. I don’t think this song was ever a hit, but it sure is a great piece of music!

Monday the 3rd – I CAN SEE!!!! – The day was windy and cold, but sunny! I’m REALLY looking forward to those warmer days. Speaking of “looking,” I went over to my eye doctor’s office and picked up my new prescription reading glasses. It was a very quick appointment and I just needed to have them tightened up a little bit and I was good to go. I had planned on hitting Burger King down the street for lunch, but my old pal Kathylynne was in the area and texted me to meet for lunch at Paty’s. I picked up a prescription at CVS, and a few groceries at the store on the way over. Then we had a great lunch on the patio at Paty’s and got caught up. I headed home to unload the groceries, and then I grabbed a nap in the Puppet Room with Spooky. I got up and did some auditions, worked around the house, and checked the Super Grover arm rods. I wanted to make sure the epoxy I used to secure the screw posts onto the ends of the arm rods were solid. That epoxy is GREAT! It’s totally solid! I put them through a moderate stress test to make sure they stayed on. Success! Now I can’t wait to get working on the rest of the puppet, but I’m currently in a holding pattern as I’m waiting for my pal Drew’s buddy who’s a dyeing expert to return to town to see if he’s able to tint the fur slightly darker. I typed out Wally’s Week, made a super salad, and watched a few more episodes of “The Muppet Show” and a couple episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” on the H&I channel.

Tuesday the 4th – THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES IN LIFE; PART 1! – Though I got up a little bit later than I would have liked, I eventually got up and got going! I walked to the hardware store to buy some nylon straps and clamps for my photo case. I want to make sure that the photo case I’ll be traveling with the SacAnime this weekend is secure. There are latches on the case, but if it accidentally opens up during transit and all the photos inside fall out…I’m in trouble! These straps will be wrapped around the case, clamped and secured. I stopped by the vet’s office on the way home to get some more Cat Fud, and then I walked back home. I wrapped the straps around the case and sized them up. I cut off the excess length on the straps, poured out some Barge glue and dipped the edges of the straps into the glue. This should keep the straps from fraying once it cures. Once the straps were threaded through the clamps, I glued some Velcro to the straps to keep them secured down. My friend Emily came over and we drove over to pick up our friend Bianca for dinner. We found a great parking space at Little Toni’s and we got our table. Bianca, who’s only 21, had been talking about possibly getting schooled on doing film and TV make-up. I glanced over to the booth behind us and thought I recognized the guy whose back was to me. I quietly said, “David.” The guy turned around and it was my good pal David Woodruff, one of the best make-up guys in the industry! There are NO accidents or coincidences in life. We talked about getting make-up training and he invited Bianca to come tour a local school anytime she wanted. Amazing! The ladies headed home and I did the same. I did a little work around the house and then settled in for a nap in the Puppet Room. I got up later to do some auditions, scan some checks for a deposit, and I organized my packing list for Sacramento for the weekend. I’m excited to be out and about again!

Wednesday the 5th – THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES IN LIFE; PART 2! – After checking some emails I walked down to the bank to make some deposits. On the way I ran into my friend Grace, whom I’ve been talking to about her burgeoning career in Voice Over, music and acting. I hadn’t seen her in a while and it was a reminder that we needed to get together again soon to continue our discussion. No coincidences in life, remember. She was meeting her scene partner for coffee so they could go over their scene for their acting class. I walked over to the post office to mail a bill, and then I hit Subway for a sandwich. My dad has a saying that, “You should do one good deed a day, no matter how small.” When I do, I always like to call him and report on what happened. While I was waiting for my sandwich to be made at Subway, a bent-over elderly man had just gotten his sub and headed to the drink dispenser to get a cup of water. On his way back to the table he was spilling a little bit of water on the floor as he walked. I realized there was no way he was going to be able to bend down and clean up the small puddles of water, and I figured it was dangerous for someone who may walk in and not see the puddles, and slip and fall. So as the server was toasting my sandwich I got some napkins, bent down and cleaned up the water puddles. The elderly man was very, VERY appreciative and thanked me profusely. I told him I knew the owner of the store and I didn’t want him to endure a lawsuit. Then we laughed, I got my sandwich, and headed home. I called my dad on the way home and told him I did a TRIFECTA good deed. I cleaned up the puddles for the bent-over elderly man, I prevented some customer from slipping and falling and hurting themselves, and I prevented a lawsuit against my buddy who runs the local Subway. I’m going to start a club on my “Cesspool Media” accounts to see if others have any good deeds they want to report. I got home and recorded my auditions, and then my pal Sara came over to show me the work she’s been doing on the “Star Wars” shows. She’s a creature performer and some of her creature work has been featured prominently in some of the recent episodes! It’s doubly cool since she’s a HUGE “Star Wars” fan! Sadly, my friend Edi called and asked me to create an image for her elderly dog that she could post on her accounts. Like what I had gone through with Roxy a month and a half ago, it was time for Edi to say good-bye to her little dog Bunny. She hired the same service I did when I let Roxy go, and later that afternoon she would be saying farewell to her 16 year old teacup Maltese. It was very sad for me too, as I’ve known Bunny most of her life. When my dog Sassie passed away back in 2011, spending time with Bunny gave me great solace. There was a period of time when Bunny lived with me for a little bit because Edi was busy with out-of-town work. So in a lot of ways, I felt like Bunny was part of my family too. R.I.P Bunny. My heart was hurting for Edi as I knew all-too-well what she was going through. The memory is still very fresh in my heart and mind. I grabbed a nap, and then I got up to pack my carry-on bag for SacAnime. I also went through all of my pens to test them for ink capacity. I threw a few away, but I think I’m generally ready to go! I also packed up my clothing bag and I’m ready to go! I made a salad and watched two episodes of “The Muppet Show” from season five.

Thursday the 6th – SOJOURN TO SACTOWN! – At noon I got up to pack some final things, I printed out my convention itinerary (the schedule of events where I’d be expected to be at the con), and I did a few last-minute things before my pal Emily showed up to house sit for the weekend. On the way to the airport I stopped at Paty’s for a salad on the patio and to collect my thoughts. I got to the airport, parked, and checked into my short flight to Sacramento. I’m sure looking forward to getting out and seeing people and having fun again! And based on how the past month and a half has gone, it will be nice to have a change of scenery and a change of energy. As we waited to board the flight, I saw my pals Carlos Alazraqui and Butch Hartman. Carlos is a fellow Voice Actor, and Butch created the Nickelodeon shows “The Fairly Oddparents” and “Danny Phantom.” It was great catching up with them and our trip was underway! Once we landed we got a ride to the Roseville Hyatt and checked in. Luckily I’m a Hyatt Discoverist member, so I’ll get points for my stay over the weekend! We walked over to a local restaurant called the Lazy Dog and had dinner. Later Carlos and I were joined by our Voice Actor pal Neil Kaplan who arrived on a later flight. After dinner I went back to the room to get unpacked and relax.

Friday the 7th – SACANIME: DAY 1! – It was up at 11, clean up and prep for the convention, and get picked up for transportation over to the convention. But when I got there the convention was in full swing, and many of the other actors were already there and signing at their tables! I felt like I had arrived too late, for some reason. But it was OK, since they had to transport the actors to the convention in shifts. Not everybody could fit in the van at the same time so they had to stagger the pick-up times. It sure is a nice feeling having con-goers yell out greetings to me as I walked into the convention hall! I had a steady line all day and met some great folks (and DOGS!). I broke for lunch and saw my old pal Daran Norris in the Green Room. I gave him a big hug and we got caught up. I’ve known Daran since 1994 when we were both Beetlejuice actors at Universal Studios Hollywood. We’ve both had a ton of great experiences since then and it was fun looking back. I love that guy! I spent the rest of the day at my table with my fantastic assistant Nifty Nick! Later, as the convention was just about to close, another old pal came by to say hi. I’ve known Dale Schornack since I was 16 years old and working at KABR-AM in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Just as I was starting in professional radio, Dale was just leaving to go to college to study TV journalism. But we ended up later at the same station in Sioux Falls when he was an anchor and reporter at KELO-TV, and I was a full-time radio DJ at KELO-AM. Eventually he got a huge job as an anchor at Channel 10 in Sacramento, and I got to see him back in 2015 when I was at SacAnime back then. I hit him up again to see if he could meet up for my return to SacAnime in April! It was great hanging out with Dale and his galpal Sharon! We had lots of laughs and went to dinner to enjoy the evening. The manager of the restaurant and some of the staff had stopped by the table to say hi. Not only was Dale very recognizable from his years on local Sacramento TV, but some of the staff were HUGE “Family Guy” fans as well. It was fun doing voices for the staff and making them laugh. Dale and Sharon drove me to CVS so I could get some supplies for the weekend, and then I headed back to the hotel to relax. I ironed my shirt and pants for the next day, jotted down some stuff in my journal, and hit the hay. Though it had been raining off and one, the forecast was for a sunny weekend eventually.

Saturday the 8th – SACANIME: DAY 2! – What a magical day it was at the second day of SacAnime! First off, a young lady and her mom approached my table and I was reminded of a panel I did when I was there for the convention back in 2015. I don’t know how it all came to be, but eventually a baby ended up on my lap during one of my panels, and sat with me through most of it. I think the baby was fussing, or getting restless, or something like that. So as a gag, I offered to give the mom a break and take the baby off her hands and bring her up on stage with me. Normally I’m quite allergic to children, but it was a funny bit. The baby was dressed in a purple outfit with little purple fairy wings. My friend Brittney was in the audience and snapped a picture during the interchange. Not only did the baby stop fussing, but she became entranced with my microphone and my water bottle. I figured the baby needed a drink so I opened up the bottle and gave her some water. The entire room went, “AWWWWWWW.” It was hilarious! Well, the young lady standing in front of my table WAS THE PURPLE FAIRY BABY! Unbelievable! I told her I had to get a picture of her to send to my friend Brittney. It was great to see them again! I was ushered over to the panel room for a “Bleach” panel, but first I stopped to grab a corn dog at the corn dog booth. The panel was with my fellow “Bleach” Voice Actors Michelle Ruff and Neil Kaplan. It was a fantastic time! The activity at my table was a bit slower than Friday, but it gave me a chance to relax a bit more and chat with my fellow Guest Actors and some of the con-goers. I also got the chance to meet a wonderful Hungarian Kuvasz named Magic. Gorgeous dog! It was great getting to spend some time with her. Later I went to dinner with some of the other actors and agents, and when we returned to the hotel lobby a lot of the assistants were sitting around chatting. So we popped up some popcorn, put it in a box for us all to share, and we sat around laughing well into the night. I got back to my room and couldn’t believe the weekend was over already! I packed up and got ready to head back home after the final day of the convention on Sunday.

Sunday the 9th – SACANIME: THE END! – We all threw our luggage into the van and headed to the convention. We’d be leaving directly from the convention to the airport so we needed to be packed and ready to roll at the appointed time. Since all the actors were heading out that night once again the transportation times needed to be staggered. I was happy to see that Magic the Hungarian Kuvasz was back, but another little doggie named Ohana also came to the table! Since it was Easter it was a much slower day than the previous two, but that’s always to be expected for a Sunday. After the show a bunch of us went to dinner, and then we got to the airport and got checked in. Neil and Carlos were also on my flight. They brought on a young man and his mother and sat them in the first row. Apparently the boy had slipped and fallen in the restroom at the airport and hurt his ankle. I noticed he had a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog gear on, so I asked his mother if he had ever watched the “Sonic Boom” TV series. She said he loved it! So I told her I was on the show and played Cubot and I’d love to give him a photo when we landed. I nodded off here and there during the short flight home, and once my luggage arrived at the baggage claim I spotted the kid and his mom. He was in a wheelchair at this point. His name was Lucas and come to find out; it was his birthday that day! (Some birthday present, a twisted ankle!) He was on Spring Break, and I joked with him that Spring “Break” was just a term, and he wasn’t actually supposed to break anything. Then I did the Cubot voice for him and he smiled very broadly. He also said he enjoyed “The Garfield Show,” so I signed a few Cubot and Jon Arbuckle photos for him and his brother Noah. HEY DAD! I did another good deed! I got the Gray Ghost out of valet parking, drove to McDonald’s to get some food, and headed home to pay Emily. I got cleaned up and took a nap. Later I got up to unpack and do some work and record my auditions. It was a VERY busy weekend, but it was JUST what I needed! Meeting the people has always been a favorite thing of mine to enjoy!

And how was YOUR week?!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

This past week I was elated that I was able to FINALLY acquire Christoween.com as a mirror URL for our content on Christoween.net. Both addresses work now!

These are the “Ernies” I ordered as custom Vans through their website. This is now the third pair of custom Vans I’ve ordered, but they’re so cool I’m afraid to actually WEAR them anywhere for fear they’ll get damaged! But I DO need to order a pair of “Berts” now to go with these, I think.