RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Yup. This.
During Elliot Lurie’s set at Vitello’s in Studio City this past week, he played all sorts of songs from his catalog. “Blue Lady” is from his solo album he recorded after Looking Glass broke up. Always clever with the story songs, this one tells the tale of a neighbor Elliot used to have when he was living in an apartment in New York. It’s catchy, and the story is amazing.
Monday the 19th – 007 HEAVEN! – My pal Sergio Lopez arrived at 1pm so we could do the final touch-ups on my Roger M00re life-size figure, which will be on display in a few weeks at the Monsterpalooza museum in Pasadena! Rubber Larry, the amazing artist who sculpted the facial likeness, stopped by too. I’m glad these two got to meet because I sense that Rubber Larry may hire Sergio for future projects that he’s working on. My main goal with these two amazing artists was to take (what’s called in the industry) “last looks.” It would be our last chance to get together as a group before the figure moved to Monsterpalooza to be put on display. Larry was concerned that the lashes looked too long and thick; too “doll-like.” Sergio took his really small scissors and trimmed the lashes around one eye, and “de-densified” them. Larry and I both agreed that it looked MUCH better, so he proceeded to do it on the other eye as well. Initially we thought we may need to remove the lashes and apply some different ones that Larry had suggested, but we all agreed that whatever Sergio did with the scissors was working very nicely. During this time my pal Ben Bentley dropped by, as he was in the area shooting a client (relax…he’s a photographer). After Sergio finessed the eyelashes, he turned his attention to the hairline of the 007 head, and he filled in areas here and there that needed it. It was looking amazing! Rubber Larry had to split for another meeting, but Sergio, Ben and I headed to Paty’s to get lunch. Unfortunately, upon our arrival, they posted a sign that stated that they had to close for a few hours due to a gas leak. EEK! So we drove on ahead to Bob’s Big Boy and had a great lunch on the patio, on a gorgeous day! I hadn’t seen Ben in a while so it was great catching up. Ben went to his next appointment, and Sergio and I headed back to Planet Wallywood so he could do the final styling of the hair on the Roger M00re head. It looked fantastic! I worked on the computer for a bit, and I communicated with Alex In Wonderland regarding the set piece she was working on for the 007 Monsterpalooza exhibit. She would have everything ready to go by Tuesday! Awesome! I relaxed for a bit and made some plans on how to enjoy the next few days, which were expected to be fairly warm. LOVE IT! Later I recorded my daily auditions and emailed them in to my agents. I bought my airline tickets for all three legs of my upcoming 10 day tour in June. First, I’d be going to White Plains, New York for the Undiscovered Realm convention on the 21st and 22nd. Then on the 23rd I’d be flying over to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to get ready for our fourth annual Voices Against Cancer event. While I’d be back in South Dakota, my sisters and I will also be throwing a huge 85th birthday party for our mom. Then on the 30th I’ll head back to Los Angeles. WHEW! I’m looking forward to it. It should be a blast! I did my nightly WOG (walk/jog) through the neighborhood, and then came inside to type out Wally’s Week.
Tuesday the 20th – PHANTOMS & FOAM BOARDS! – As I was running low on cat fud, I decided to stop by the vet and pick up another case of food for Spook. Then I went to a couple of jewelers to see if they had the capability of polishing up the Phantom of the Opera metallic sculpture I had just bought over the weekend. It was a gorgeous piece (#56 of 950 made in 1989) but had tarnished with age. They said their equipment was built for polishing smaller things like rings and bracelets, and couldn’t accommodate this large of a piece. Rats. I drove to Foam Mart to have them make some precision cuts on two 3’ by 4’ pieces of foam board I had. On the black boards, I drew out the outlines in white grease pencil for the Funhouse flats that will be included in the James Bond display at Monsterpalooza. All they needed to do at Foam Mart was cut along the lines I provided, and then I’d take the pieces back home for assembly and decoration. Everything was cut perfectly, and I headed to Burger King to get some lunch. Then I drove over to Alex In Wonderland to pick up a few things. First, Alex had finished the alterations for the suit that will adorn the Roger M00re figure. She also completed the Golden Gun display box and raven. The fact that she could construct a full-size raven out of foam, feathers and wire is utterly and completely amazing! She’s the best! While I was there I was chatting with her husband Mike about my problem with the tarnished Phantom sculpture. Mike has been working with metals since he was in high school, so he brought out some specific compound and tried it on the back of the silver mask. He wiped the compound off and it polished up VERY nicely! He’s going to spend a week with it and polish the entire piece. I went home to unload all of the stuff I had acquired during the day. I spent some time working on the newly-cut Funhouse flat pieces, and trimmed the black pieces with white trim tape. They looked amazing! A few of the other pieces will have to be covered with the same orange velvet that covers the Golden Gun box, but that will take considerably longer, as patterns will have to be made for each piece. But so far, so good! Later I did my daily auditions and took my nightly WOG.
Wednesday the 21st – ELLIOT LURIE’S A STAR! – Since I had been up all night working on some of the Funhouse flat pieces for the Roger M00re display, I slept well into the afternoon. Later my pal Emily dropped by, as did my gal Angi and her dog Khloe. We had tickets to see my buddy Elliot Lurie play at a local club, and I didn’t want to miss it! When we got to Vitello’s a lot of our friends were already there. We sat down at our table and ordered our dinner and drinks. Back in about 2015, I had a New Year’s Eve gathering at Planet Wallywood for a few friends. I asked Elliot if he would bring his guitar and play a few tunes for us. (Elliot wrote and sang the hit “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” as well as many other terrific songs) He said he would love to, on one condition; that we videotape it. So we got a crew together which consisted of my pals Mark and Bob on cameras, and Scott on audio. The idea was that Elliot would take the finished video, sweeten and edit it, and put it on-line for all to see. As a result people started contacting him about doing private house parties at THEIR houses! He was busy flying around doing his one-man singer/songwriter shows, much to the delight of many of his fans. And now I’m reading articles on-line about how bands like the All-American Rejects have decided to do their next tour as private house parties. (Hmmm…I wonder if THEY happened to see one of Elliot’s videos too!) Elliot’s tight 45 minute presentation offered a diverse variety of emotions; one second you’re laughing at “The Divorce Song,” and the next minute you’re getting teary-eyed at “I’ll See You In Heaven.” Heck, the set even included the theme song he wrote for “Lizzie McGuire!” But when he ripped into his #1 hit song, it was fun to see all of the phones pop up all over the room. EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE loves that song! After the show we all gathered to take photos, as the “gang” was together again. Since we stopped doing my Saturday night movie nights at Planet Wallywood we all hadn’t really been together like this in a happy setting. The only exception was when many of us got together for the memorial gathering for our “adopted grandma” Shirley back in 2023. I’m really hoping that Elliot will do more of these types of appearances because I feel the word-of-mouth will now travel, and others will be interested in seeing his show. Los Angeles is traditionally a very tough crowd to play for, but everyone was loving his intimate 45 minute set of amazing stories and music. Angi and I got back to Planet Wallywood to walk her dog Khloe. Later I took my nightly WOG, did some work around the house, and put in the Blu-ray disc for the final season (season 5) of “The Incredible Hulk.” But much to my surprise, there are only 7 episodes in the final season. Traditionally a full season of TV episodes numbered around 26. A half season was 13 episodes. But 7? I wonder why they did so few? Anyway, I should be done with the series any day now, and it’s my plan to get my Tranquility Zone rigged for Netflix so I can finally watch the second season of “Ersan Kuneri” (the Turkish sitcom I worked on, providing the English dub voice for the main character), and the second season of “Tiger and Bunny” (the Japanese anime show where I provided the English dub voice for Wild Tiger).
Thursday the 22nd – A DRY RUN FOR VADER! – It’s been difficult getting together with my pal Sara Raftery because she’s been very busy of late. But today she was available. She has the ability to whip up Midwest-style sloppy joes whenever I’m getting a hankering for some! I also needed her assistance as a dresser (and a “Star Wars” fan) to help me don my Darth Vader costume in a dry run before next week’s Monsterpalooza. I used to delight in doing Darth Vader appearances back in 1980 and 81 before cosplay was even a thing. But now that I purchased the deluxe Darth Vader costume from Jazwares I couldn’t wait to do it just one more time, in a near-perfect costume! It’s my plan to cosplay for just ONE HOUR on Saturday the 31st, walking the floor in my Darth Vader costume, getting some photos and video, and then putting it on a mannequin for permanent display in Planet Wallywood. But I suspected before the convention I needed to work out a few convention bugs first. When Sara came over we drove to a grocery store to pick up all the supplies we’d need for the sloppy joes. Then we came back to Planet Wallywood to “suit up” as Vader. Everything went well, but there were a few snafus along the way which Sara helped rectify. The strapping system for the chest box was like putting on some sort of complicated brassiere. But we got it figured out. The new component in the equation was the addition of my head microphone and speaker box. I wasn’t quite sure where the speaker box (which would amplify my voice from inside the mask) would go on the costume. But it fit on the belt right behind the light saber, and will go virtually unnoticed. Once dressed, I was completely happy with the results. The two things I didn’t like about the costume was the codpiece (which I had remade by Alex in Wonderland) and the thin, pleather gloves. Later I got on eBay and bought some real leather gloves from New Zealand. I doubt they’ll be here in time for the convention, but I don’t really care. I just want better looking gloves for the life-size figure I’ll be constructing. Then we had sloppy joes and BBQ chips. DELICIOUS! After Sara left I relaxed for a bit, and then recorded my daily auditions. I took my WOG, and since it was still relatively warm out, I relaxed in my anti-grav chair for a while outside. It was nice and tranquil, until one of our security guards drove by. “Do you live here, man?” I told him I lived in the unit right behind me…ya know…the one with the open garage door? He said he figured as much and we started casually chatting. Bear in mind that it’s now about 3 in the morning. But it was a nice, pleasant quiet night and we enjoyed chatting. We ended up having a lot in common! His name is Kevin and he’s about 25. He wants to get into the LAPD someday. I told him that if it was a little warmer, I would most likely be enjoying a nice cigar. He asked what my favorite cigar was, and I told him Monte Cristo. He said he is in a cigar club that sends him 5 cigars a month to try out. FUN! But I’m afraid I wouldn’t get through 5 cigars in a month! I barely get through 5 cigars in a YEAR! But it was fun chatting with him. But then it was time to go inside and finish up some work.
Friday the 23rd – ONE OF THOSE DAYS WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GOT A LOT ACCOMPLISHED! – I started the day with a bunch of phone calls I needed to make. One of them was to my A/V guy Brandon, who sent me links of stuff I needed to buy to get Netflix in my Tranquility Zone. I ordered the equipment and made some more calls. My maids arrived to clean Planet Wallywood, and when they left I drove my VERY dirty Rav over to the car wash. While they worked on it I walked to the Mexican restaurant down the street and grabbed a quick lunch. I drove over to my box to pick up a ton of packages. The remaining components for my new computer system arrived, so I’m all set to go with setting up my new machine! I dropped off some bills at the post office, and then got a few chicken breasts to-go from Paty’s for my salads. I stopped at a local cigar shop to pick up a few Monte Cristos for next weekend’s Monsterpalooza. Every year my friend Perry (who is the showrunner for the convention) spends his Saturday night at the convention in the courtyard outside enjoying cigars with other convention-goers who stop by for conversation, drinks and a nice cigar (or two!). I joined him last year and we had a blast sitting outside all night talking about monsters and Laurel & Hardy! So I want to be set for next weekend! I also needed some supplies for setting up the Roger M00re figure, so I hit the hardware store. Stuff like Velcro, double-stick tape, duct tape, power strip, extension cord, etc. – were all on my list. I stopped by CVS to get some photo prints made, including the display card that contains the credits of everyone who helped make the Roger M00re figure a reality. I headed home to do some work and make some more calls. It was great because we were swinging into a 3 day weekend! It had been a very busy day, but I got a LOT done that I needed to do! I relaxed and enjoyed the cooler weather, as the temps were starting to plummet for the weekend. Later I did my WOG, and then worked on the computer. I built a third Funhouse flat that will hold the credits card in the Roger M00re display. I typed out some checklists to make sure I don’t forget anything while packing. I made a salad and watched another episode of “The Incredible Hulk” from the very brief final season.
Saturday the 24th – THE BIGGEST MOVIE STAR IN THE WORLD! – In the afternoon my gal Angi stopped over and we headed to Paty’s to enjoy a fun lunch on the patio. It was so relaxing I didn’t want to leave. But we had to get going to the Universal Citywalk so we could get tickets to see the new “Mission Impossible” movie. We got there around 5, but the next available screening wasn’t until 6, and it was an Imax showing. If there was any movie you want to see in the Imax format, it’s THIS one! Since we had some time to kill before the movie, we shopped at a few stores. I got a Dole Whip at the frozen yogurt shop, and we sat outside in the sun people watching. I noticed that the guy sitting at the table next to us looked very familiar. Sure enough, it was Gary Numan – the guy who did the song “Cars” in 1979. I had seen him on social media posts recently, so I recognized him fairly easily. But since he was enjoying the day with his family I didn’t bother him. But still, it was cool to see him! The new “Mission” movie was utterly amazing! Tom Cruise is the biggest movie star in the world, and he’s the real deal. I‘ve always said that there’s a distinct difference between an “actor” and a “movie star.” But Tom blurs the line…because I know he’s a great actor (“Rain Man” and “Magnolia” proved that), but he’s also an amazing movie star who holds the viewer’s attention for almost the full 3 hours! The movie was long, but amazing. The movie opens with Tom welcoming the audience in a short greeting. When his face appeared on-screen there was applause. Hard to believe that a few years back, Tom was being vilified for choices in his personal life and perceived “odd behavior” in some instances. But now he’s back on top, and people love him. The film ended with a huge round of applause. The movie is quite a feat of achievement! When I got back home I took a short nap, as I was expecting to be up all night working on the Funhouse flats. First I took my nightly WOG, and then found some tissue paper in the garage. A few of the accent pieces on the flats need to be covered in the same orange velvet that covers the Golden Gun and raven and display box. Luckily I found the perfect fabric at JoAnn’s going-out-of-business sale, and bought the remaining four yards at a VERY discounted price. (The price per yard was about ¼ of the price I would have paid for it a few months ago!) I took the accent pieces and traced them onto the tissue paper. Then I drew on allowances for the extra fabric that would fold over the edges and be glued to the backs. By the time I had completed all of the patterning, it was time to make my Saturday Night Super Salad and watch an episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” before bed!
Sunday the 25th – VELVETY SMOOTH! – Upon waking up around 4 in the afternoon I saw that I had a text from my friend Joe Pendleton. He said they were in my area buying a dress for their granddaughter Audrey’s graduation, and they wanted to know if I would meet them at Little Toni’s for dinner. I told them I’d be right there. I showered up and headed over. It was great catching up, and it was a great way for me to give Audrey her graduation check in person, without having to mail it! I stopped at the grocery store before heading back home, because I needed hot dog buns. It’s my tradition every year to bring summer in with hot dogs on the grill on Memorial Day. I also say goodbye to summer each year by having hot dogs on the grill on Labor Day. When I got home I did some auditions that were due on Tuesday, and then relaxed. When I got up later I took the smallest of the Funhouse flats accent pieces and cut some of the orange velvet fabric per the pattern I had made the night before. Then I spray glued the fabric to the piece to see how it would go. I wanted to start with the smallest piece to try out the process. That way if I made an error, it wouldn’t be too hard to make another one. But it went pretty well! I took my WOG and enjoyed the late evening. When I got back inside I finished up the other three pieces, going from smallest to largest. I was able to do everything between my living room and my garage. That Super 77 spray glue from 3M is totally amazing! I laid them all out so they’ll look like how they would appear when fully assembled at the convention. I have to take them over in pieces because when finished, they’re too big to fit in my car. I’ll assemble them at the convention using high-test Velcro. Then break them down to take them back home when the convention’s over. But they still need the support systems created for the backs of the flats. I’m hoping that my friend Mike McGee at Alex In Wonderland will be able to help me with that before the convention weekend. As the sun came up it was obscured by a thick covering of “May Gray,” but it helped to keep things cool. I made my hot dogs on the grill and turned on the TV to watch the President lay the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – another annual tradition of mine. Then I finished watching a 3 hours special about Eric Clapton in the 70’s that I had taped off TV. It was a fascinating look inside one of my favorite musical artists.
Monday the 26th – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM! – In anticipation of a VERY busy week, and weekend, I spent the entire day resting up. I did an audition, emailed it into my agent, and then typed out Wally’s Week. I took my nightly WOG, and then spent the rest of the evening prepping for the new week.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
The Funhouse Flats are complete!
The Darth Vader dry-run was a success!
Elliot Lurie has a blast onstage playing for a very appreciative audience!
After the show Elliot signed some stuff for fans.
Me, Elliot and Officer Mark congratulate Elliot on a great show!
Me: “OK, Alex. I need a velvet-covered box that has a raven on top with the Golden Gun in its mouth – just like in the movie.”
Alex: “Done.” Unbelievable work!
Though it’s very hot inside, wearing this amazing Darth Vader costume is such a kick! And the voice amplifier works perfectly! Monsterpalooza here we come!!
