March 03 – March 09 (2025) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Since we’re on the subject of Daylight Saving Time, here’s an interesting document about the necessity of implementing permanent standard time.

Hitmaker Phil Collins doesn’t quite get the respect he deserves, I feel. In the 1980s it seemed like he had a #1 hit about every other week. The guy was unstoppable! Here is one of his best, “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).” Beautiful!

Monday the 3rd – CHRISTMAS…IN MARCH?! – Every year I’m honored to be able to voice the character Wally the Elf for the world-wide syndicated 12 hour Christmas radio show called “Christmas Across the Lands.” I have been a fan of the show for many years, and after reaching out to the producer and host he asked if I would do an elf character who has an hourly feature consisting of Christmas fun facts. Without hesitating I said YES! Randy, the host, likes to work far ahead, because of the enormous amount of material he needs to create for the two radio shows he distributes. So that means all of the Wally the Elf content needs to be delivered to him by the end of March. Plus, this year, he wants to do a segment on the growing popularity of the “dark” Christmas celebrations that are happening. Sometimes called Cryptmas, or Creepmas, but I choose to call it Christoween! The 13 story series I wrote and am promoting will be getting a huge plug on this year’s “Christmas Across the Lands,” as Randy will be interviewing me for a short segment, and then following it up with Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Holiday” from 1966. The song is a rare treat that can be found on the original album that contained the hit “Monster Mash.” It’s all about Frankenstein, Dracula & Wolfman plotting to ambush Santa Claus when he comes down their chimney. But when Santa arrives with gifts, they soften their monstrous tone! It’s a gem! After I wrote down some facts about Christoween and recorded a few thoughts on the subject, I sent all the material over to Randy for editing and compilation. I did some work around the house and then relaxed a bit. I painted my kitchen ceiling with one more coat and it was looking pretty good. I made the executive decision to declare the project done. I recorded my daily auditions and got ready to do my nightly WOG (walk/jog) around the neighborhood. I noticed how well my 19.5 year old cat Spook is doing, and how well he’s eating. He still has some ‘hygiene’ issues that come with having an older cat, but other than that he’s eating well, drinking well, and he’s got a lot of spry energy! When I came back inside from my WOG I typed out Wally’s Week and moved all the furniture back into the kitchen and put everything back together the way it was.

Tuesday the 4th – TUESDAY TO-DO’S! – Looking at the sky and seeing a bright sun, and enjoying the warm early-spring weather, one would find it hard to believe that rain is coming soon. I drove to the cleaners to drop off a comforter, and then got a few packages at my box, which included my new “Thousand Year Blood War” prints of my Renji character (which I’ll be debuting at the upcoming Sacramento Comic Con in a few weeks), and my Darth Vader lightsaber hilt, which I’ll be adding to my new Darth Vader costume as a belt prop. Then I went over to Paty’s to have lunch on the patio and get some sun. As I sat there studying the beautiful lightsaber hilt, which was 3D printed by an artist on ebay, I realized that the D ring, which is on the hilt as a utility to hook it to the Darth Vader belt, was also made of plastic. So this D ring was printed only for looks, but not for the practicality of hanging it on a belt. So when lunch was finished it was off to the hardware store to buy a real metal D ring that I could attach to the lightsaber hilt. Then I went over to CVS to get some supplies, and I picked up a few grocery items at the store. I headed home to unload everything, and then I drove over to the Universal Citywalk to meet my pal Valerie Perez for dinner at Buca DiBeppo. We’ve met there for an occasional dinner for years, and internet buzz had me believing that they were going to be leaving Citywalk soon. However, when we spoke with our server, she said that another company has purchased the chain and they will remain open. YAY! When I got home I did a few auditions, chatted with my computer guy Brian about the recent snafu that happened with one of my back-ups, and then I relaxed for a bit. I did my nightly WOG, finished up the auditions I needed to record, worked on my computer for a bit, and then perused the list that my pal Thor sent me. It’s a list of components I’ll need to purchase for the construction of my computer system! Very exciting! I did some editing work and planned out the rest of my week. Since it was about to rain heavily, I made a Paladin Saladin, and got ready to watch “Have Gun – Will Travel” while it rained in the early morning hours. Unfortunately, while the episodes were very good, the rain wasn’t quite as plentiful as they promised, so it was a bit disappointing.

Wednesday the 5th – COMATOSE WEDNESDAY! – Though I have my weekly “Comatose Sundays” – where I spend the majority of the day catching up on rest and being lazy – I figured it was a good day to have a mid-week comatose day. It was raining off and on all day, so it was a good day to stay in bed anyway. I had a few phone conversations with friends, and kept on relaxing. It felt great! When the rain subsided later I went on my nightly WOG, and then came back inside to work on the computer. I did some preparation for the meeting I’d be having with my pal Kelly DelCambre the next day for the Roger Moore James Bond figure we’re creating for the upcoming Monsterpalooza convention in May. This involved capturing a fair amount of photos and materials that his company can use during the creation of the piece to ensure that it’s as close to being an exact replica of the scene from “The Man With The Golden Gun” as possible. Then I broke down and prepped a script for a session with American Airlines which will happen Thursday afternoon.

Thursday the 6th – MANNEQUINS, MUNCHIES, & MOUTHWORK! – At high noon Kelly arrived so we could start plotting out the work his company will be doing on my new James Bond figure. We looked at video clips, still photos, and had a very fun chat about how we were going to make this figure a reality. He also needed to pick up the mold for the head so he could take it back to the shop and they could create the resin head from the original sculpture done by the amazing Rubber Larry. But we were starving so we headed to Bob’s Big Boy for lunch. But when we pulled up…OH NO!…I had forgotten that they sent out an email saying they’d be closed for filming Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Paty’s was much too busy, so we went over to Ernie’s Taco House to have some delicious Mexican food. As a bonus, there was plenty of parking and our food arrived right away. This was important, as I had a 3pm Voice Over session for American Airlines scheduled at Voice Trax West. We finished up, headed back to my house to get Kelly loaded up with all the stuff he’d need for the project, and I headed to Voice Trax West. When the session was over I headed to a local shoe repair shop to get a pair of boots shined, but when I pulled in they were just locking up to go home. Oh well, I’ll bring them back in a few days. I went back home to relax. Later I recorded my nightly auditions, and enjoyed another nice WOG. The city needs to shut the water off in our area for a few hours on Friday morning, so I’m hoping to sleep through the whole procedure. So that way when I wake up, I’ll have my water turned back on!

Friday the 7th – JOE AND JOE! – When we were given the original notification that the city would have our water turned off from 9am to 2pm I figured that, since those hours fall within the scope of my usual sleep patterns, that I could just sleep right through the whole thing. However, I woke up around noon. As expected, there was no water…but I had planned on that. But right around 12:30 the water came back on, so they must’ve finished the work on the water main sooner than expected. This was great! A few days ago I had to postpone lunch with a friend, because if my water was off I couldn’t shower. And I don’t like to go anywhere without showering first! But this meant that if he was still available, we could meet after all. I texted him and we arranged to meet at Paty’s around 2. I dashed off to the cleaners to get my comforter, and I hit my box to pick up a package. It was the voice amplifier that I had purchased on eBay for my Darth Vader costume! It comes with a little headset that wraps around my head, and that plugs into a small metal box that clips onto your belt. You turn it on, and it amplifies your voice! I know that some Voice Actors use these when they’re doing signings at conventions so they don’t strain their voices while talking over the din of the crowd all day. But this one will go on my Darth Vader costume, once I can figure out where on the costume the speaker will be attached. I mailed off a few bills at the post office and then met Joshua for lunch at Paty’s. My gal Angi happened to be in the area so she stopped by too. It was a fun lunch on a gorgeous day! Joshua’s house is on my way home, so I gave him a ride on the way back to Planet Wallywood. That evening I met my pal Joe Garner for dinner at the Smoke House restaurant. The place was hoppin’! It was a great time catching up and enjoying delicious food. On my way out to get my car I asked the guy at the front desk, “Hey, does that World War 2 veteran “Bazooka” Joe come here anymore?” He said, “Yes! He’s here right now!” I was elated! I hadn’t seen Bazooka in a long time, so I couldn’t wait to see him. I know that he had ticked off another birthday since I had seen him last. Once I saw him sitting at a table with friends listening to the band. I reminded him who I was and he was glad to see me! He said he had just turned 106 just a week earlier! Amazing! He looked fantastic! That really made my night! I headed back home to relax a bit, and then I took my nightly WOG.

Saturday the 8th – “COS-FUSION!” – Later in the day my friends Officer Mark and Miss Connie came by to pick me up for an anniversary screening of “The Muppet Movie” at a popular revival theatre in Hollywood. Our friends Scott and Vickie Sebring would be meeting us there, along with my puppet-builder pal Steve Troop, my puppet seamstress Maggie and her friend Evan, and our buddy Boz. Since we were all Muppet fans, I suggested that we bring some Muppet replicas so we could get some cool photos at the theatre. Steve brought over the Strangepork replica he built a while back, Vickie brought her Beaker replica, and I brought my “travel” Kermit and the Robin the Frog I built for Maggie to use. We got to the theatre nice and early and found our seats. Our friends eventually arrived and we gathered for the movie. I hadn’t seen “The Muppet Movie” on the big screen for several years. Unfortunately, when I went to see it back in 2018 it seemed like they were just running a very bad DVD print of it, and it was fairly disappointing. I was looking forward to seeing it on 35mm film again in a real theatre. But when the movie came on the sound was turned up to “ear-bleed” level, which was clearly disturbing a majority of the audience. Plus, it seemed that the aspect ratio of the film was off. Some of the things at the top of the frame were getting cut off, so the cropping of the picture was definitely amiss. However, the audience seemed to enjoy it, even though halfway through the film the audio dipped down to a level that was about one-fourth of the “ear-bleed” level at the start of the film. Now, instead of covering their ears, the audience was straining to hear the dialogue. It seemed odd that a theatre so renowned for running classic films would be having such a hard time with this one. When the film finished and everyone was filing out, we took out our replicas to get a few shots around this beautiful, newly-renovated theatre. But as expected, people started taking photos and videos. Then they started to approach us to ask for selfies, which we love doing. But I noticed that my pal Officer Mark was no longer shooting pictures, and I thought something was awry. Apparently he had been asked to stop shooting, even though there were hundreds of other people around us taking video and pictures. As people were getting their selfies and heading out, a young theatre manager (wearing a mask) approached us and pointed to Steve, Maggie, and I and said “Can I talk to you guys?” It was difficult to hear him through his mask with the crowd noise in the lobby, but as near as I could determine he was a bit upset that we were there. He thought we were doing some sort of unapproved event or something. He said, “The next time you want to do an event, call ahead and let us know.” I told him we weren’t doing an event, and that we were just a bunch of Muppet cosplayers celebrating the film, and we just wanted to get a few shots. I reminded him that cosplay was a protected form of artistic free speech. Granted, it was their property and they could do anything they wanted, but as evidenced by the happy faces of the patrons who were there, our presence was bringing great joy and smiles to people who really could use it right now. I really didn’t want to get into a pissing match with him so I told him it was all harmless, but then he tried to baffle me with a piece of twisted logic. He told me the name of the company that owned the theatre, and that we were using trademarked characters that weren’t theirs. I thought that was an odd attempt at logic. So, when you dress up to cosplay a Marvel or Star Wars character at a screening, you can only do it at theatres owned by Disney? Or when you dress up for a Sonic screening you can only go to theatres owned by Sega? (Does Sega even OWN any theatres?!) That didn’t make any sense at all, as I constantly see social media posts by cosplayers who dress up and attend movie screenings all over the world. The theatres (who are desperately struggling for any business they can get these days) usually love the fandom, welcome them, and help celebrate it. After all, back in 1987 I attended several screenings of the 1966 “Batman” film in full costume and we had no problem. In fact, people LOVED it! Not to mention “The Rocky Horror Picture Show;” a film whose very fan base is all about dressing as the trademarked characters from the film at screenings. So clearly his attempt at logic wasn’t quite computing with me. He said, “Next time just let us know you’re coming.” And I said, “We won’t be coming back.” Part of me felt like just walking out right then and there (I don’t want to ever hang out where I’m not welcome) as the Masked Manager clearly wasn’t aware of the current cosplay culture that has become commonplace in modern day. But there were so many smiling people still waiting to get their selfies I decided to hang in and let everyone finish getting their photos. It occurred to me later that, because the theatre specializes in running old films (as they’re primarily known as a revival theatre) they probably don’t get a lot of people dressing as Judy Garland for their screenings of “Meet Me In St. Louis.” So yeah, cosplay may be a fairly new concept to them, as they probably don’t encounter it much in their “classic film” routine. Later I thought that if we would have gathered our group outside the theatre in the courtyard for photos, that might have been better. But Officer Mark and Miss Connie, always the critical thinkers, had checked the theatre’s website earlier that day to see if they had any rules or regulations about cosplay-type things. And they didn’t find anything that posted would deter us from being there. Mark thought that since we seemed so organized and professional, the theatre may have thought we were filming something for monetary gain. Oh well. I’m guessing that their website will be including policy about cosplayers in the near future. Most of us went over to Little Toni’s for a late dinner and we had a blast. Then I headed home to relax. Because of the late-night I had, as well as the impending (ultra-stupid) time change to Daylight Saving Time that night, I didn’t get out for my WOG. Changing the 15 or so clocks in my house twice a year is always a real hassle. I’m hoping that soon the DST law will be abolished and we can stay on standard time as God intended. DST’s demise is long overdue. After spending about an hour resetting all the clocks (due to the considerable number of clocks I have, I can’t really remember all the necessary requirements for resetting each of them), I decided to make a document to refer to in the future. The document consists of detailed instructions to reset each clock in the house. Of course, the analog clocks are easy, but each of the digital clocks all come with their own criteria for resetting the time. Just my luck, after creating such a detailed document for future use, this nutty “government-mandated jet lag” will end soon, negating the need for such a document. I made a salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller.”

Sunday the 9th – YUP! GOVERNMENT-MANDATED JET LAG! – That’s the best description of DST I think I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been noticing a HUGE backlash against it on social media. Change is in the air. I rested all day, but got up for a bit to feed and care for Spook. Then it was back to bed. Later I had a considerable amount of auditions to record, and then I took my nightly WOG. But when I came back inside and started to edit some photos, I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. So I went to the Puppet Room and napped for a while. I got up to do some work, and then hit the hay for good.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK