October 21 – October 27 (2024)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Spotted recently at Paty’s – a GORGEOUS Ford Model A coupe!

In the midst of all the ELO mania this past week, I can honestly say I’ve become a fan of their opening band on the “Over and Out” tour – Rooney! A lot of their songs are terrific, but I think my favorite is “Stay Away.”

Monday the 21st – PRODUCTION REVISIONS! – Given the fact that over the weekend I embellished the script for the Christoween sizzle reel that I’m doing with up-and-coming stop-motion animator Isaiah Ferguson, he and I had a discussion about how he was going to make the previous deadline that we had established given the extra responsibilities. We decided that I would handle the editing of the piece, as well as the shooting of the live action segments at the beginning and the end of the video. This will take a few things off his plate to give him more room to do what he does best. It was a gorgeous day, and seemingly summer is back for a while. I stopped at my box to pick up some packages, and I got two pairs of black jeans that I bought on eBay. These were purchased to possibly be a part of my “Jeff Lynne” cosplay outfit for this weekend’s concerts. For being “previously owned,” they’re in really great shape! I met my pal Chris Malmin at Paty’s to catch up on things, and I got to chat with my gal Angi on the phone. She’s back from her two week trip back home to help her mom with a family matter. I can’t wait to see her again! I came home and did my nightly auditions and relaxed. Later I did my nightly WOG (walk/jog) but didn’t spend any “cool down” time afterwards outside in the anti-gravity chair. I had too much stuff to do! Tuesday morning I’m delivering all of the set pieces and props I’ve been building for the Christoween video to Isaiah so he can begin animating! EXCITING! I’m being very careful because I don’t want to forget anything. I typed out Wally’s Week and then hit the hay. It would be a very, VERY short night!

Tuesday the 22nd – JUST A COUPLE OF OLD DJ’S! – After just a few hours of sleep I was up early and off to the studio that Isaiah had acquired to shoot the Christoween video. I hauled everything over, which consisted of 4 miniature flats, a bag of decorations and props, a box of set pieces, and a bag of extra stuff he may need for filming. It was a beautiful day! We met at the appointed time, handed everything off to him, and was on my way. I stopped at the vet’s to get Spooky some more of his prescription cat food which, thankfully, he was now eating a ton of (thanks to those little tubes of cat goo that I squeeze in!). I hit CVS to pick up a few things, and then headed over to a local store to pick up some roses to welcome Angi back home. When I got back to Planet Wallywood I recorded a few auditions, and then headed out to Paty’s to meet up with my old pal Amy Hiatt for lunch. Amy and I were DJs at 94.7 The Wave back in the 80s and 90s. She worked the 10pm to 2am shift, and then handed it off to me at 2am for my overnight shift. While we were at Paty’s I spotted megastar (and my dad’s all-time favorite actor) Bruce Dern! While Amy and I were on the patio chatting some people came up behind us to say hi. It was Mike McGee from Alex In Wonderland, along with his daughter and one of their employees! Small world! Amy and I had great fun talking about the old days and catching up on the latest news. I got back home and did some more auditions. I thought I should probably take a nap before Angi came over, but I was too excited to see her – I couldn’t sleep. Once she got to my house we headed out to Little Toni’s for a late dinner before they closed. While we were there a nice family came in with four kids. Since it was almost midnight we thought that was odd to have little kids out on a school night. But we started chatting and they had just come from the Imagine Dragons concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Not sure if those kids know how lucky they are to be able to attend a concert with their parents like that, as it’s something they’ll remember the rest of their lives. When I was a toddler, my folks went to the touring Grand Ol’ Opry show in Sioux Falls. They saw Johnny Cash (who they said was out of his mind on drugs and couldn’t perform), and the great Patsy Cline (about a few months before she died). She died in March of 1963, so I would have been not quite 2 years old. I really wish I could have seen her when I was a little older. What a voice! But the day had worn on me and I was EXHAUSTED! I went home to snooze for a while and ended up sleeping 5 hours! I did a little work and then went back to bed.

Wednesday the 23rd – COMATOSE! – It was one of those days when I just felt like sleeping all day. I had a lot of catching up on sleep to do! I got up later and did my WOG. Then I decided to move my anti-grav chair to the front of my house to gaze up at the eastern sky. The Orion constellation was in clear view, as were a handful of stars and a beautiful moon! But the cluster of stars had moved in the sky a bit since last week, so I had to adjust my chair accordingly. It’ll be interesting to see where they’re at in the sky when we go back to standard time in a week. When I got back inside I recorded several fun auditions. Then I made a pizza, did some work, and planned for the big ELO weekend ahead!

Thursday the 24th – SHIPPING SHOCK! – Since I was going to be out of the house on the usual day my maids clean Planet Wallywood, I had them a day early. After they finished I went to the garage and cut out a 1 yard square piece of green fake fur that I used for my Oscar the Grouch and Mahna Mahna puppets. I’m having a “travel” Mahna made by a builder in Chile, and I wanted to send him a chunk of the fur to use for the vest. I love the look of this fur a lot, and I definitely want him to include it in his build. For a little piece of fake fur UPS wanted 300+ dollars to send it to Chile! WHAT?! The fur is only worth about 4 bucks. I went over to Paty’s to have a delicious salad on the patio. Since a post office is right behind the restaurant, I took the fur over there and asked what THEIR rate would be. For 6-10 day delivery it was only about 60 bucks. DEAL! Now, we’re talking about the post office, so it may or may not actually get to its final destination. Using the post office is always risky. But that class of shipping includes insurance so I should be OK. Then I stopped at Baskin-Robbins to get some ice cream, and then I headed over to Rocket Sound to do a quick video game session. But as I was walking into the building the studio engineer met me at the door and said a mistake had been made, and they didn’t actually require my services. And then he said the magic words – “But you’ll still be paid!” BONUS! I love free money! I went back home and packed up for the ELO weekend extravaganza! I did a few auditions, and then cut a video with Kermit the Frog for a guy to use for his marriage proposal. Good luck, dude! I packed up, took my nightly WOG, spent some time in the anti-grav chair, and then hit the hay to get ready for an historic weekend!

Friday the 25th – ELO: THE SPACESHIP LANDS IN L.A.! – Though I had set my alarm for 11, my eyes shot open at 9am. My brain said, “I forgot to pack a small mirror!” In order to see the back of my head in the big mirror in the hotel bathroom, I would need a small mirror for the process of styling my hair like Jeff Lynne for the concert. I hate when my subconscious works on stuff and then jars me awake with stuff like that. I rummaged around in my stuff and finally found a small compact mirror to throw in my baggage. I tried to get back to sleep, but it was to no avail. Ugh. My pal Officer Mark arrived at the appointed time of noon to pick me up. He would be doing all the driving this weekend which made my life much easier. Considering it would be a day of what Angelinos call “Carmageddon,” the traffic was pretty smooth. In addition to a football game happening that night at SoFi stadium (right across from the Forum – the ELO concert venue), there was also a Laker game downtown at the Staples Center, and the first game of the World Series at Dodger Stadium! Busy day in L.A.! Just before 1 we got to the LAX Hyatt. Instead of traipsing back and forth to our houses to attend both concerts on Friday and Saturday, I cashed in some of my Hyatt points and got us rooms for the weekend near the venue. It would be a MUCH easier commute to the Forum both days! But since it was early our rooms weren’t quite ready yet. We had a leisurely lunch in the hotel restaurant. During the meal I got a text telling me that my room was ready. However, Mark’s room wasn’t yet available. We loaded in all the luggage and stashed it in my room. While Mark waited for his room to open up I unpacked and we chatted about the schedule for the evening. We would meet in the hotel lobby around 4:15 and head to the Forum. The concert doesn’t start until 8, but the Forum has a lovely terrace where you can lounge around, purchase food and drinks, and enjoy the evening. They open the gates at 5. The rooms we got were all “interior” rooms – which meant that there were no outside windows at all. SWEET! In the morning the sun won’t come beating into the room. Despite the blackout curtains that most hotels have, they never seem to be able to screen out ALL the sunlight. And as a late sleeper I’m really gonna love not having any outside windows! It’s going to remain nice and dark when Saturday morning comes! Mark got a text that his room was ready, so he took his luggage out and I started the process of doing my “Jeff Lynne” hair. I used to wear my hair in that particular style all the time in the old days, but once I decided I no longer wanted to look like a holdover from the 80’s I grew it out and combed it back. Last weekend my stylist Andie cut in some layers so it would be more amenable to doing what I needed it to do for my “concert cosplay.” Andie had given me a curling mousse that would help bring back some of the natural curl in my hair. I showered, applied the product, and then started blow drying my hair. As it’s drying, I needed to scrunch it up with my hand from the root to the tip. Once it was all dry I stood back up and looked in the mirror. “WOW! This $#!+ really works!” It looked like my old 80’s hairdo! I put on my t-shirt, boots, jeans and the same kind of military-style Navy blue jacket that Jeff Lynne seems to wear a lot in concert. And then I added the famous gradient aviator sunglasses. The cosplay was complete! Mark and I met in the lobby at the appointed time and we headed out. We got to the Forum around 4:45 and parked in our Priority parking space. WELL worth the money! There was already a small line of people waiting to get in, so we joined them. We met a guy from Brisbane who was in town for a conference, and decided to go on-line and find one ticket for the evening. We chatted for a while, and then he said in a thick Aussie accent, ”Hey brotha, can I get a picture with you?” A few other people in line were getting pictures with me as well. We went through the first barrier, the metal detectors. But even though I had emptied my pockets of metal, and taken off my coat which had metal buttons, I still set it off. Then they took me to the side and wanded me. People were walking by laughing and saying that “Jeff Lynne can’t even get into his own concert!” What fun. What memories! Then the next barrier was the ticket takers. Of course since it’s a completely “paperless ticket” venue, Mark had them on his phone. Since I don’t own a Smartphone (and never will) the tickets had to be his responsibility. Our parking ticket was on his phone as well. But I refuse to play the “paperless ticket” game for several reasons. First off, it’s a scam. I’m sure they are somehow able to access all sorts of data on your phone and mine info about your buying habits, etc. Secondly, I used to love keeping my concert ticket stubs as souvenirs, but now since it’s all intangible…well…there goes THAT tradition! Mark and I headed up to the Forum terrace to relax and hang out before the doors opened. I got a hot dog and we met up with a former coworker of Mark’s who was also at the concert. Mark needed to buy an ELO t-shirt, so we headed to one of the many merch tents. The venue also has a “clear bag” policy, in order to be able to see exactly what’s inside your bag – ya know – for security reasons. But the merch tent didn’t have any clear bags in which to keep the t-shirt. This meant that Mark would have to hold it throughout the entire night. He noticed that there were handbags for sale in the tent that looked like the ELO spaceship – which ironically enough weren’t clear. So he paid the considerable asking price so he could at least have a place to store his t-shirt. They brought the bag to him which was (you guessed it!) wrapped in a clear plastic bag. This was weekend absurdity #1. At this point the crowd on the terrace was growing, and more and more people were asking for photos. In each one of them I did the famous Jeff Lynne “thumbs up” pose. It was great fun! At 6 we checked into the VIP desk to get our swag bags. NOW we get bags! Come to find out, had Mark just waited a bit, he would have had a canvas shoulder bag to store his t-shirt, and he could have saved 60 bucks. But the ELO spaceship handbag WAS pretty cool! In addition to the canvas shoulder bags, we got a commemorative VIP laminate, a poster, and a cool felt banner. It looked very retro, and the color of the trim looked like it might actually glow in the dark. (I found out later it doesn’t.) Our tickets also got us access to a lounge area with food and drinks. They had some banners on display, and more people were asking for photos with me. It was a blast seeing how tickled people were by the whole fake Jeff Lynne thing. Then the Forum doors opened at 7 and Mark and I went in to find our seats. They were in the third row slightly left of center stage. We were sitting there patiently waiting for the opening band to start, and a guy with long silver hair approached us. He said, “I don’t know if you’re trying to look like him, or if you just look like that, but here – have a few guitar picks!” He said he loved that I looked like Jeff Lynne and handed Mark and I guitar picks from guitarist and ELO musical director Mike Stevens. COOL! The guy must’ve been Mike’s guitar tech. Mark wondered if he had gone backstage to tell the band and crew about the Jeff lookalike that’s in the audience. So far the Jeff Lynne cosplay was WELL worth doing, and the price we paid for the tickets were worth every damn penny! Having seen the opening band Rooney two times now (once in Palm Desert on the opening night of the tour, and again in St. Paul about a month ago) I was becoming a fan. Their catchy, pop-inspired music was easy to sing along to, and even more fun to watch them perform. They took the stage and did not disappoint! But one of the strangest things I’ve ever experienced happened during their second-to-last number. Halfway through the song I heard the sound of a crowd cheering in the sound mix. I thought, “That’s new. I haven’t heard that at any of their other shows.” But the sound grew – louder, louder, and louder. Finally it almost overwhelmed the music! I said to Mark, “What’s going on?!” We thought a celebrity may have entered the arena. But when we turned we saw a bunch of people in Dodger shirts standing up and cheering. They were going wild. Apparently people at the concert were monitoring the first World Series game on their phones, and apparently the Dodgers just hit a game-winning grand slam. The singer for Rooney celebrated by whipping off his jacket and stripping down to the LA Dodgers t-shirt he was wearing. But that growing crowd sound amidst the music was unearthly. It was surreal – unlike anything I’ve heard before. Fantastic! I’ll never forget it. Then it was time for intermission so I headed to the Men’s Room. On the way a few people were saying things like, “Have a good show up there tonight.” It was funny as heck! Then ELO took the stage and it was as stunning as always. It’s sure a lot different seeing the show from up close! We felt more a part of the action, as many of the band members looked out and made eye contact with the audience. With the paperless ticket policy permeating the majority of the concert industry now, I most likely won’t be going to any more concerts. But if I do, I don’t think I’ll ever buy a ticket beyond the third row again! Utterly amazing! But the coat I was wearing was getting hot, and I was getting tired of viewing the concert through sunglasses. For tomorrow night’s concert I’m going totally casual! Luckily the parking lot was easy to get out of, and Mark and I headed to Denny’s to get some breakfast. We got back to the hotel around 2 and I passed out for about 10 hours! WOW! What a day!

Saturday the 26th – OVER AND OUT! – When I got up at noon I texted Mark and found out he was at the Academy Museum taking some photos. He headed back to the hotel so we could get lunch in the hotel restaurant again. It was a gorgeous day, so we got a table on the patio. In front of the LAX Hyatt there’s a huge grassy area where people were playing with their dogs and relaxing. It was fun to watch them chase the dogs around while we ate. When I awoke I considered doing the Jeff cosplay again for a little bit. It was such a blast the night before, I was looking forward to some more potential fun that night. But the coat was still a little wet from the night before, and I decided that I wanted to just be concert casual for the final night. After lunch I headed back to my room to relax, and once again we met in the lobby at 4:15. It had all worked so well the night before, why change the plan? Just like déjà vu! We got to the Forum again around 4:45 and since the Priority Parking pass was in my possession, I had to bring my tablet to generate the code (being a paperless venue). The attendant scanned my tablet and we were shown where to park. But a security guy said we should wait to get our “Front Of The Line” passes, as they were still being printed and hadn’t been delivered yet. I was confused. Front Of The Line? What was that? Printed? In a paperless venue? The guard said the passes would get us to the front of any line in the venue. OK…fine. But when the passes were brought to us, they were printed on old-fashioned Ticketmaster ticket stubs – JUST LIKE THE OLD DAYS! Ok, so the venue is paperless for tickets and parking, but for FOTL passes they STILL print them? Weekend absurdity #2! Weird! We went through the metal detectors and once again I had to be wanded. I guess since I look like some sort of metal dude, they figure I’m also carrying a lot of metal. But we made it through and got our tickets scanned. Once again we wandered around the terrace and relaxed. It was GREAT to get there early. We could hear music coming through the doors of the Forum, and we realized it was the band doing their sound check! Fabulous! The only thing missing were Jeff’s vocals, so apparently he doesn’t do sound checks. I loved the gray ELO tour shirt I bought in Palm Desert so much that I decided I wanted to buy another one. But every single merch tent was sold out! Apparently I wasn’t the only XL guy who loved that shirt! I knew I should have gotten one on Friday, but I didn’t. Rats! The Forum staff wisely had set up video monitors of the Dodger game that people could watch while they waited for the doors to be opened. Not being much interested I walked through a small crowd to get to the bathroom and I heard, “Wally Wingert!” I turned around and it was my old VO pal Keythe Farley! Keythe had been the Voice Director on many gigs I’ve done over the years. We got a photo and chatted for a while. Fun! We checked into the VIP table again, but apparently we got a different package than the one we had the night before. We still got the canvas shoulder bag, but we got a different laminate, and the cool NOT glow-in-the-dark banner. But no poster. And no lounge access. That’s totally cool. The lounge had nice food, but I was looking forward to getting inside and getting some popcorn for the show. Tonight our seats would be dead center in the 19th row. We took some pictures outside until the doors opened. The Forum is directly in the middle of the two main LAX flight paths. So planes were constantly flying over – and flying over VERY low! It was magical. When we got in I got some candy, popcorn and water and we found our seats in the 19th row. The guys next to me were from Adelaide Australia, and were VERY big! It was a father/son team, and their trip to LA to see ELO was a bucket list item. The dad (I never got his name – so I’ll just call him “Dadelaide”) had printed up special shirts for he and his son just for the occasion. His son Simon had just turned 50, so this trip was a belated birthday present. Dadelaide was about 6’ 4” tall, and broad. Son Simon was 6’ 6” tall and even broader. Being 6’ 2” and somewhat broad, I knew this would be a fairly crowded evening – made worse by the fact that the chairs at the Forum were made in the 1930s when people were malnourished and small. But we made the best of it, and I really enjoyed meeting Dadelaide and Son Simon. Dadelaide said he’s loved ELO since he was young, and Son Simon had been raised on ELO all his young life. Luckily, the seat on the other side of Dadelaide remained unsold, so once we stood up to enjoy the show, we could all spread out a little bit and take up the extra room. Rooney took the stage and played their asses off! Amazing band. How are these guys not world-famous? I don’t get it. And then the final L.A. ELO show began. Mind-blowing! The only issue was having to occasionally see the show through the telephone lens of the people standing in front of me. Apparently they can’t hold the phone in front of their face to record the concert, they have to hold the phone way up over their head to record it, which obstructed our view considerably. Luckily the Australian giants next to me didn’t seem to have much of a problem with that issue. This marks the 8th (and most likely final) time I’ve seen them in concert. After my first ELO concert experience at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2016, then again at the Forum in 2018, St. Paul in 2019, San Diego in 2023, Palm Desert in August, St. Paul (again!) in September, these two shows would wrap up an amazing ELO octagon! Well worth every penny I’ve spent! Like I told the Aussies, “Money comes and goes, but ELO is over.” On the way to the car I spied my old “Tonight Show” buddy Rick Stern, so we chatted for a bit! It took a while to get out of the parking lot, but we eventually got out and got to the hotel to pack up our things around midnight. Since the concert was over there wasn’t any reason to stay the rest of the night in the hotel, and I was looking forward to seeing Spooky and sleeping in my own bed again. We drove to a local Denny’s to have some food, and then Mark dropped me off at my house. I fed Spook, unpacked a little, and then hit the hay at 3am! I woke up at 6am and downloaded all the photos and videos I had taken at the show. I made some notes for Wally’s Week and did some more work. I made a salad and watched “Collector’s Call” from last week on my DVR. This one featured my old pal Larry Strothe and his Creature From The Black Lagoon collection. But I was still buzzing from the amazing weekend, so I spent most of the afternoon doing other work around the house. In fact, I didn’t get back to bed until Sunday night at 6pm. My schedule was clearly all screwed up!

Sunday the 27th – ELO AFTERGLOW! – After having gotten to bed at 6pm, I woke up at midnight. I did some auditions, and then downloaded about six songs by Rooney. Their songs have, to quote my old radio buddy Scott Maguire, “more hooks than a tackle box!” Fun stuff! It was nice to be out doing my WOG again and spending some time under a cloudy sky in my anti-grav chair. It was overcast for a while, but the clouds subsided for a bit so I could see a few stars here and there. I went back inside to put stuff away from the weekend excursion. I edited some photos and was still buzzing from what an amazing experience this weekend had been.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK