May 05 – May 11 (2014) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Just like a kid again! That’s how I felt when I opened up the package this week and found four new 8 inch figures based on the 1966 Batman TV series. When I was a kid I was a nut for the MEGO toy line, which included 8 inch action figures of most every relevant super hero, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Wizard of Oz and more. Now that a new company is doing figures in the 8 inch format, I’m trying to snap up all the ones that appeal to me.

My pal Bruce Kulick, amazing guitarist from KISS and Grand Funk, joined me at church last Sunday night for a rendition of “Let It Be” for the Mother’s Day service. I have not been able to extract it from my mind. It IS quite the catchy tune, after all!

Monday the 5th – GOODBYE PALM SPRINGS (FOR NOW!) – Roxy “cuddled” me awake on our hotel bed at the Hyatt palm Springs. I think she was ready to go home. So we took a quick walk, packed up and hit the road around noon. I stopped by A&W on the way out of town for some food and root beer to go. I totally missed the turnoff to the 210 freeway and had to double back. That lost me about 20 minutes. But I got back around 2pm and got some auditions done that were due at 3pm. I unpacked a bit and waited for my assistant Sara to pick me up at Enterprise after I returned my rental SUV. When I got back home I collapsed and slept for a long time. I was exhausted from the culmination of the previous two weeks’ worth of activities. When I got up later in the evening, I finished unpacking, did some auditions and e-mailed them in to my agents, and then attempted to get acclimated to life back at home. I made some late dinner and started in on the “Magnum P.I.” Season 3 DVD set, with a two hour season opener!

Tuesday the 6th – CATCHING MY BREATH! – I woke up to find a lot of nice birthday greetings on my e-mail and cell phone. Nice! I did some work, then the maids came by at 1:30 to clean up Planet Wallywood. My effects guy Jim Ojala came by to drop off my Cowardly Lion bust so I could set about getting him “haired” by my hair guy Sergio Lopez. On the way out the door, Jim took the female mannequin bust and the Dorothy foam-filled latex head with him to begin work on the final of the four Oz busts I’m doing. I sat down to write Wally’s Week and recount all of the wacky adventures during my previous Palm Springs vacation. It was a nice cloudy, cool day. I ate some lunch, napped in bed for a bit, then got up to do some more work and check e-mails. Then I felt the need for a nap on the couch. (I think I may be learning bad habits from Garfield the cat!) It felt good to rest up and reset my system. Later that night Sara brought over a birthday cupcake. I had a ton of auditions, so after I finished them I walked Roxy, made a Tombstone pizza and watched another “Magnum P.I.” episode. At the end of the day I got this great birthday video from my pal Officer Mark! Check it out!

All in all, a pretty well birthday!

Wednesday the 7th – STRETCHING MY LEGS FANTASTICALLY! – One of the nice things about not being at “The Tonight Show” any longer, is that I have the whole afternoon open to do sessions now. That means I get to sleep later in the day. Before I had to do other sessions earlier in the day. But I got up at noon and headed over to Studiopolis Burbank to do some more work as Mr. Fantastic aka Reed Richards for a Marvel project. It was a 2.5 hour session that was great fun! I headed back home to walk Roxy and do some work around the house. I got cleaned up and met a friend from “The Tonight Show” for dinner at Jerry’s Famous Deli. We had fun dining, catching up, and talking about the “old days” of last year. I came back home and grabbed a nap on the couch, then got up just before midnight to greet my pal Alex Zsolt who had come to town from Nashville to do some business. Alex has a great music ministry, and he travels all over the world. This week, he was in L.A. and staying in the Puppet Room of Planet Wallywood! We chatted for a few hours and caught up, I did my auditions, then got ready for bed, dinner and “Magnum P.I.”!

Thursday the 8th – GET ‘CHUR MOTOR RUNNIN’! – At one I was awakened by my cuddly dog, who just couldn’t get enough cuddling! I sprang out of bed to make a ton of phone calls, and do a last-minute audition for a promo. I chatted with Alex for a bit before he headed off to a meeting. Sara and I headed off to get lunch at Paty’s, then I sped back to Floyd’s Barbershop to get a touch up on my color. They had installed a new motor in our Jacuzzi (after four years of complaining about the wimpy, old motor) and this motor is so powerful you can’t have a conversation with anyone else in the hot tub! In fact, while I was chatting with my neighbor Bob, another neighbor came over and said she could hear everything we were saying! Apparently we were projecting our voices above the loud motor so much, that the world was listening! I headed back inside, after being nicely tenderized, to grab a nap on the couch. It was an absolutely beautiful night! I woke up later to do auditions and finish up some work. Alex came back after some meetings and clocked out for the day. I made some dinner and watched another “Magnum” episode.

Friday the 9th – O. HARDY! – Once again I got up at one and met up with a pal of mine from “The Tonight Show.” I wanted her to meet Alex because she had a lot of great contacts in the music biz. We sat around laughing and chatting, then it was time to get serious. I did some work around the house and hopped in my Torino with Alex to head to the Debbie Reynolds Rehearsal Studio in North Hollywood. The third and final auction for her amazing movie memorabilia collection is in a week, and I wanted to see one particular item I was interested in bidding on. It’s an original suit jacket worn by Oliver Hardy in a film called “The Big Noise.” Since I have a full size Ollie mannequin in The Chaney Room, it would be totally cool to have him wearing one of Ollie’s actual jackets! The jacket is dark blue and has a 20th Century Fox label in the inside pocket that says O.Hardy. Neat! In addition to that, they had a ton of other great stuff in the auction and the preview was amazing. We got lunch to go at Taco Bell and headed home. My friends Scott and Vickie Sebring stopped by, and along with Alex, we drove the Torino over to Barone’s Italian Restaurant for a little birthday dinner. Alex’s birthday is on the 12th, and I had just had mine, so we combined it into one big feed! On the way home I got some grocery items, then headed back to grab a nap on the couch. When I got up I fed and walked Roxy and reviewed the song “Let It Be” by the Beatles. I’d be singing it at evening church Sunday night with the help of my pal Bruce Kulick on guitar. In fact, it was his suggestion to do the song for Mother’s Day. I also studied the script for a new “Dark Shadows” audio drama that I had been cast in. I’d be recording a scene on Saturday at Voice Trax West with Quentin Collins himself…David Selby! Talk about a dream come true! I made dinner and watched another “Magnum” episode.

Saturday the 10th – DARK SHADOWS DAY! – Roxy turned 6 today! She was born on May 10, 2008. After getting some birthday pets and a treat, I sped off to Voice Trax West to do my scene with David Selby. The new audio drama is fabulous, and I’ve been given the part of a guy named Norman; a fairly sizeable role! The last time I had seen David was at NBC when I gifted him with a prop portrait that had been painted of him for a TV show he did. We did our scene and “unfortunately” we got it right on the first take. I say unfortunately, because it would have been great to do it a few more times because of the thrill of acting with David Selby! But because we did it perfectly, and David had to scoot to a theatrical performance he was doing that night, one take was it. But when my character said, “Quentin Collins, you’re a fool!” I got chills. I thought of all those times as a kid I sat in rapt attention watching “Dark Shadows” on TV, unable to take my eyes off the exploits of Quentin Collins and Barnabas Collins. And here he was sitting next to me, and we’re doing a scene together! He gave me a very nice compliment after the session and I considered that high praise indeed! It was a perfect day to hop back in the Gran Torino and drive around to do some errands. I saw Bruce Kulick and his wife Lisa as they pulled up next to me and complimented how the car looked. I stopped by a local grocery mart to get some items, then I headed back home to start cleaning up for our special guest for that evening’s movie night. I hadn’t been able to have my usual Saturday night movie night gathering for about six weeks because I’ve been out of town and otherwise occupied. So it was good to prep for another one. I had missed having them. I cleaned all the old leaves out of my flower bed, and swept the dead leaves off my patio and hosed down the area. I put in a new selection of movie posters and lobby cards in my frames, and straightened up the house. Sara came over to vacuum up and clean the kitchen, while I made preparations for our special guest…Lara Parker! Lara played Angelique in “Dark Shadows.” It’s a pure coincidence (though I don’t really believe in them) that I had two “Dark Shadows” events in one day! But sure enough! Had David Selby not been doing a play that night, I would have invited him too. We watched “Night of Dark Shadows” on Blu Ray, and Lara provided live commentary about the making of the film, the storyline and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. It was a great time and she and her husband Jim were terrific. She was really taken by the collection in Planet Wallywood. She even brought copies of her books to sign for the movie night guests! WOW! What a class act! When everyone left I cleaned up around the house, fed and walked Roxy and enjoyed a giant salad for Saturday Night Saint and Salad night!

Sunday the 11th – LET IT BE! – Shortly after one I got up and started rehearsing for my musical number at church. Bruce Kulick thought “Let It Be” by the Beatles would be an obvious choice for a Mother’s Day service because the whole song is about Paul McCartney seeing his late mother in a dream and telling him not to fret about things and just “let it be.” I guess you can still get good advice from your mother even though she’s left this mortal coil! I got my steamer out and steamed a but, because the winds had kicked up the night before and made my allergies go crazy! I cleaned up and headed over to church with Roxy to rehearse. The number went very well and when church was over Bruce and Lisa, Sara and I headed over to DuPar’s for dinner. But the hot turkey sandwich was kicking in and I needed a nap! Though I had an early audition on Monday morning, I couldn’t resist getting a few hours in on the most comfortable couch in the universe! I recorded a few auditions, walked and fed Roxy then headed off to bed to prepare for a long Monday. Not only did I have an early audition scheduled, but the lion’s share of my part in the “Dark Shadows” audio drama would be recorded all of Monday afternoon!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

You are soooo beautiful…to me! Rusty, the mascot collie at Rusty’s Discount Pets, sings to Roxy while she gets her bath.