May 11 – May 17 (2026) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Back in the 50’s the Wraither Corporation owned the rights to The Lone Ranger and Lassie. So getting them both together for a photo op was no problem. When I ran across this photo over the past week I had to laugh, as you can see the hand of Lassie’ trainer off to the upper left giving her (him, actually) a command.

I’m frankly not a big Taylor Swift fan, but a good song is a good song. And when I discovered “The Fate Of Ophelia” recently, I immediately had to buy it.

Monday the 11th – ZOOMIN’! – Over the past week I did a lot of measuring and calculating in an attempt to determine the size of box that each of my Muppet replicas would need to be safely transported to the Pasadena Convention Center on May 28th for Monsterpalooza. Once I had a complete list of their sizes, I compared it with the box sizes that I had noted when I was at the local U-Haul facility recently. Once I got a full inventory of my required needs, I went over to U-Haul to get the boxes I’ll need, along with a bunch of bubble wrap to help protect the puppets during their transit. Then I hit Jersey Mike’s to get a sandwich for lunch. I headed back home to put everything away, and then I prepped Planet Wallywood for a Zoom interview that I’d be doing later that night. My assistant Emily has a friend who hosts a live YouTube show, which mostly focuses on “Star Trek.” She asked if I would consider being a guest and I enthusiastically consented. Since it had been a fairly warm day, and I’d be on the move throughout the house, I kicked on the A/C for a while. Emily used her laptop to do all the camera-work, and the one-hour interview went pretty well. When we finished up we headed over to Paty’s to have some lunch on the patio. But all the tables were covered with tiny little bugs. The bugs were attracted to the lights of the patio, and that’s a sure sign that summer is on the way. We went over to Bob’s Big Boy to dine on their patio, as they don’t have the same kind of lighting that attracts bugs. When I got home I did some auditions, and recorded a VO for The Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. I love being a part of that organization, and I’ll voice anything for them, any time. They have a new show they’re opening this coming weekend called “Choo Choo Revue,” and it’s the first original show the theatre has done in over 40 years! I did the voice of a train announcer who heralds both the departure and arrival of the trains during the show. I’m SO excited to be a part of this show! I gave them three different character options, so I’m waiting to hear which one they prefer. Then I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and then typed out Wally’s Week.

Tuesday the 12th – I HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE!!! – The kind folks at The Bob Baker Marionette Theatre contacted me to let me know that the third option on the VO track I sent them was great, and they requested that I record the second piece for the show in that same character. I recorded it right away and sent it over. My pal Mark Fullerton came by so we could grab lunch at the Smoke House, which is always very tasty. Then he took me over to a place called Lake Hollywood Park. In almost 40 years of living in L.A. I had never been there…and it was beautiful! It’s definitely a place I want to take the grandkids when they arrive in a few weeks. At the park you get an EXCELLENT view of the famous Hollywood sign! I got back home and relaxed for a bit, and then did some more work on the mouth of my Herry Monster Muppet replica. I recorded a few auditions, and then took my nightly WOG and edited some videos.

Wednesday the 13th – THE POWER OF CELEBRITY! – About mid-afternoon I fired up my home studio and recorded some voice tracks for a new commercial for the company called Ruby. When the session was finished I got cleaned up and headed to Barone’s restaurant to grab dinner with my old pal Dan Roebuck. He was in town doing a few projects before he jetted to the east coast to start filming on his new project that he wrote with his daughter. When I pulled into Barone’s the parking lot was packed full. Busy for a Wednesday. Since I’ve been going there so long I’ve struck up a friendship with Rachel, the owner’s daughter. I congratulated her on the big crowd, as it was something akin to what you would have seen pre-2020. She said that Steve Carrell is a regular customer, and gets take-out all the time. She asked him if he would do a “reel” for Instagram and he kindly agreed. Rachel said the reel got 2.5 million views, and the restaurant’s business doubled almost overnight! WOW! One of the first lessons I learned when I moved to L.A. was…”if you don’t ask, you don’t get.” And boy is it true! When I got home I did some auditions, finished the bottom jaw of Herry Monster’s mouth, and then finished the top of his head. He is now officially ready for the next step: being stitched together by my seamstress Maggie. I took my WOG and called it a night.

Thursday the 14th – “WELL…THE ‘TOOTH’ IS…” – Back in January I had my #31 tooth extracted because of an ongoing decay issue. I did everything I could to try and save it, but it wasn’t meant to be. In March my oral surgeon checked on how the bone graft was healing, and he was satisfied. Now that it’s May, he wanted to take a scan of the area to make sure there was enough bone material there to install an implant. I went in to take the scan, and the Dr. said it was looking good. But he confessed that I don’t really need a tooth there…at least not right away. He said I may want to get one at some point in the future, but he said to think about it for a little while. I may hold off until the fall and see how things go. Then I hit Wienerschnitzel and got a few chili cheese dogs with kraut (YUM!) and headed back home to do some work around the house. I edited some videos and prepped Herry for his appointment with Maggie on Saturday. I relaxed and later recorded some auditions. I did my nightly WOG, and then came back inside to do more prep for the Monsterpalooza museum exhibit in a few weeks…TWO WEEKS from today, to be exact!

Friday the 15th – STUCK BROW! – My puppet seamstress Maggie stopped by to do some work stitching Herry Monster together in several places. He needed his lower jaw attached, the fur piece over his brow needed to be attached, and there was a seam down the back of his head that needed to be closed up. She got all of that finished, but I noticed that the brow mechanism wasn’t going back down to its “neutral” position. This probably meant that the fur piece had probably been stitched to his head a little too tightly, and needed to be relaxed. The spring that holds the brow in its neutral setting was a little too taut. So we’ll have to work on that on Saturday. When we finished for the day I took Maggie over to Paty’s for dinner, where we met up with her boyfriend Jeff who was there to pick her up. We were also joined by my pal Chris Malmin. FUN! I got back home and did some work, relaxed for a bit, and then took my nightly WOG. I edited a few videos, and then put the third puppet platform together. I needed to start attaching the implements to it that would support the puppets that will be on display at that level. It included Super Grover, Frogenstein (Kermit as Frankenstein), and Herry Monster. It was all looking great!

Saturday the 16th – NEW NEW CHOO CHOO REVUE! – A few days ago, Bob Baker Marionette Theatre manager Alex Evans invited me to the ‘friends and family’ performance of their new show “Choo Choo Revue.” I picked up my pal Sara Raftery and we headed to Highland Park. There are so many exciting things happening at that theatre, and I’m so very proud of those kids. The show is absolutely delightful, and I’m SO proud to be a part of it! It’s rare when I can sit and experience something where I smile through the entire thing! But I literally could not wipe the smile off my face. It’s so charming! On the way back home I asked Sara if she wanted to get a bite at Paty’s. We were soon joined by Joe and Zandra Pendleton, who were in town, as well as Maggie – who had come back to the area to finish up Herry. After lunch we all went back to Planet Wallywood so Maggie could start her work, and I could discuss the loading procedure for Monsterpalooza with Joe. He’ll be helping me set up that day, since he was the one who created the three platforms the puppets will be displayed upon. It’s exciting to think that it’s almost here! And having my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids here for it will make it extra amazing! By the end of the afternoon Herry’s head had been put on his body, and he’s almost complete. The only thing I have left to do on him is the inclusion of his purple “hot dog” nose, cutting, shaping and styling his fur, and attaching his tongue and pupils. Then he’s a complete monster! I relaxed for a bit, and then worked some more on the third puppet platform. Now that I had the measurement for Herry’s finished height, I could cut a wood dowel for his support mechanism on the platform. It’s all coming together nicely! I made a Saturday Night Super Salad and watched an episode of “Night Gallery” on Blu ray before bed. Productive day!

Sunday the 17th – ANOTHER MONSTER IS BORN! – It was another restful Sunday, and I took my usual, nightly WOG. The final piece of the puppet platform puzzle was the addition of Frogenstein; a mash-up of Kermit the Frog and the Frankenstein monster. I had a costume and pieces made up for my Kermit puppet a few years ago for Monsterpalooza and he was a big hit. Now I’m taking my Kermit the Frog photo replica puppet (made by Master Replicas) and dressing him in the outfit for display in the Monsterpalooza museum in a few weeks. Our exhibit is called “Jim Henson; 70 Years of Creatures, Monsters & Misfits.” So I figured Frogenstein would be a natural addition. I dressed the photo replica figure in the costume and then sat down to create the mechanism required for his neck bolts. On the puppet I used magnets, with the bolt pieces on the outside of the puppet attracted to magnets on the inside of the puppet. But since the Master Replicas figure isn’t a puppet, I have no access to the underside of the fabric of his neck. So I made a little armature wire device that goes across the back of his neck and holds the bolts into place. Not only is the armature wire covered in green fleece, to blend into Kermit’s fabric, but it’s almost mostly covered by the hair on the Frankenstein head piece. It looks fantastic! There are just a few more minor things to do, and we’re ready for the show…IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! I made a salad and watched an episode of “High Chaparral,” and it was excellent. It was made even more so because of the presence of my dear, dear friend Leonard Stone – one of the most prolific character actors of the 60’s and 70’s. It’s always great seeing him pop up as various characters in these old TV shows I watch. I love him and miss him. He was a great guy.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK