May 18 – May 25 (2026) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

This would have been really cool to see this live! It has a very 1978 look to it!

Boston’s debut album was one of the best produced, most “listen-on-repeat albums” that was ever released. Every track a winner. When “Smokin” came up on my device this past week, I listened to every little nuance…from the wonderful work on the organ, to the drums, and of course those amazing vocals. What a band!

Monday the 18th – A GRANDSON GIFT GAFFE! – My grandson Devin’s birthday is this coming Thursday, and a few weeks ago I ordered a rolling storage cart for all his art supplies. It’s what he wanted, so I got one for him on Amazon. But the expected delivery date kept getting pushed back…and back…and back. Finally they posted that they didn’t have a definitive delivery date. So sadly, I had to cancel the order. It obviously wasn’t going to be there in time for his birthday on Thursday, even though I had ordered it several weeks ago. So I sped off to Michaels to pick up a few supplies and ask about sending him a gift card. That way he can go to his local Michaels and pick out a rolling cart he likes. I bought some paint and a few other things while I was there. I hit CVS to pick up some items, and then got some groceries. I went to Taco Bell’s drive-thru and got some dinner, and then headed home to get on-line and buy Devin’s gift card. It will be delivered to him on his birthday. Neat! Later I recorded some auditions, took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and then edited some videos.

Tuesday the 19th – THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM! – Next week is Monsterpalooza and all of the related craziness that will transpire. I can’t wait! The exhibit we’re doing for this year’s museum is really coming together and I’m excited to share it with everyone. My daughter, son-in-law and grandkids get into L.A. on the 29th and they’ll be with me all weekend at Monsterpalooza! Excellent! I chatted with my gal Angi for a bit, as I hadn’t seen her in a few months. She’s been traveling to see family, and she just got back. I’m going to let her decompress for a few days before I start bugging her about getting together. I recorded my auditions, did some more work on the Monsterpalooza exhibit, and then took my WOG. The figure I started focusing on finishing was Frogenstein; my Kermit/Frankenstein mash-up. There was a video game in the 90s that made Muppet characters into classic monsters, but in that game they referred to him as “Kermonster.” However, since the figure I’m doing isn’t an exact copy of that, I’m referring to him as Frogenstein. Frog sounds a lot like Frank anyway. I stitched his eyelid pieces together, dressed him in the costume, and started working with several poses. I got my Herry Monster replica ready to be taken to Alex In Wonderland to get his nose attached. Exciting! I made a pot pie and watched an episode of “The High Chaparral,” and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the episode was written by my old friend, the late D.C. (Dorothy) Fontana! Excellent episode!

Wednesday the 20th – FORGED! – This is the kind of day that nobody wants to have. I got a call from my insurance company wondering where the payment for my home insurance was. I told them I mailed the payment in full back in March, and my bank statement shows that it had been cashed. They still maintained that they hadn’t received it. I did some investigative work, went onto my account on-line, and was horrified by what I saw. The check I had sent the insurance company back in March had the same amount, but there was a different name in the “pay to the order of” section. I had been defrauded! We’ve had a lot of problems with mail being stolen from mailboxes in L.A. (in fact, people are stealing EVERYTHING now!) so I’m assuming that the mailbox in which I deposited my insurance check was broken into, my check was removed from the mail, was scanned, and then digitally altered to reflect a different payee. My signature was left intact. All this seemed to start when banks began allowing people to send in photos of the checks through an app, and not having to present the actual check at a bank branch. I remember my reaction when I first found out they were allowing that. I said something to the effect of, “Well THAT’S fraud waiting to happen.” Sure enough. That’s what’s happening. And because the amount had remained unaltered, I didn’t notice anything odd when I reconciled my bank account statements. A standard bank statement only tells you the check number, the amount, and the date it was cashed. It doesn’t include the name of the payee. That needs to change if they’re going to keep on accepting pictures of checks, instead of real checks. From now on I’m going to be very sloppy when I write checks. I’ll write over lines, extend lines into other columns…I’m going to make it as difficult as I can for the digital artist to remove the pertinent information. And oddly enough, these guys don’t waste their time on checks with small amounts. They don’t bother with the 8 dollar or 20 dollar checks. They wait for the ones with sizable amounts. I phoned my bank’s fraud department and we both got on-line and started looking over the account. In the process we discovered ANOTHER check that was forged…this time to a different person. It explains why my mortgage company said they never got my mortgage payment back around that time. I just figured my check and their “late notice” crossed in the mail, even though I didn’t remember sending my mortgage payment late. But knowing how slow the postal service is, I just wrote it off to their lengthy delivery time. So hopefully the bank will do an investigation and determine that it was indeed fraud, and refund my money. The banks allow this to continue as they just simply file a claim with the FDIC and get the money returned by the government. Great. Your tax dollars at work. So the bank froze my account and I will need to go to my local branch and set up a new account. The guy on the phone set up an appointment for me, so I’ll be going in the next morning. I’ve got a LOT of work to do in order to make this situation normal again. Thanks fraudsters. Hope you get hit by a runaway ice cream truck. I recorded a bunch of auditions, took my nightly WOG, and relaxed afterwards in the anti-gravity chair outside. It was actually warm enough to enjoy some meditative time outside and a nice cigar.

Thursday the 21st – NOSE NEWS! – I drove over to the Alex In Wonderland workshop to check out the progress on the nose for Herry Monster and it looks amazing! Alex is going to trim the fur on it a little bit shorter and then attach it to the puppet. Wow! I hit Jack in the Box for some dinner and then headed home to eat. Then I headed over to my bank and spent about 2.5 hours there getting everything set up for the new account. I have to refile paperwork for certain automatic deposits, etc. – so that will take some doing. It was a fairly miserable experience. I went home to reset for a bit, and then I headed to Warner for an audition for a video game. The director was on Zoom, as he lives in the Seattle area. He started the audition by telling me that he had met me about 20 years ago at the Detroit airport. He heard me on the phone talking to my agent about something, and he mentioned that he wanted to get into the video game industry. I chatted with him and gave him a copy of a TV pilot I had just produced. I also told him to call me when he was settled in L.A., and I even invited him to my birthday party I had at the Silent Movie Theatre. He said he never forgot how nice I was to him. That was really amazing to hear! We had a lot of fun during the audition, laughing and telling stories. As I walked back to my car I shook my head and laughed. Yup, the old saying is true. “Be nice to everyone on your way up, because you’re going to meet them again on your way back down again.” I’m so glad he had a pleasant experience back then. I went over to Paty’s to relax, decompress and have dinner. It was a very, very long day. Then I went home to rest. Later I edited some videos, and I took my nightly WOG.

Friday the 22nd – ANGELIC ANGI! – Despite the fact that the bank told me that my debit card would still work with the new account I just set up, it wasn’t true. Some purchases I tried to make with it had gotten declined. So, first thing in the morning, I headed back to the bank to order a new debit card. What a hassle. I went over to Jersey Mike’s to get a sandwich, and I got a few cigars at my cigar shop. I got home in time to let the maids in to clean Planet Wallywood. Then I did some work. Angi came over later with her dog Khloe and we sat around catching up on all the news from the past few months. Then we headed to Chin Chin to get dinner. It sure was good to see her again. I had missed her quite a bit. Based on the busy, somewhat stressful week I had, I was pretty wiped out. I decided to stay inside and not WOG, but rather to hit the hay and get some rest.

Saturday the 23rd – GOOD DEED DO-ER! – Alex at Alex In Wonderland was only going to be in her shop until 2, so I hurried over at 1 to pick up the finished Herry Monster replica. My pal Sergio Lopez would be coming over Monday to style his hair, so had to grab the puppet today. He looks amazing with his new nose! Alex sure does stellar work. I had some time to kill so I met my pal Chris Malmin over at Paty’s (aka “The Office”) for lunch. I picked up a package at my box and then headed over to my stylist’s shop for a trim and a touch-up on my color. Then I headed back home to start arranging stuff for the packing process for Monsterpalooza next weekend. I also cleaned up a bunch of stuff in anticipation of giving my grandkids the tour of Planet Wallywood next week! I did some video editing and then rested for a bit. I did my nightly WOG and encountered some of my neighbors – which is usually odd at that time of the night. There’s an elderly man who has two dogs, and occasionally I see him walking them in the middle of the night. Since it’s very dark and quiet out, I don’t want to startle him or the doggies, so I usually give him a cheerful “Good morning! How are the doggies?” I’ve seen him enough now that he’s familiar with my exercise habits, and he knows I’m not some guy lurking around who’s up to no good. But as I walked past one of the units on my route I noticed some people loading some stuff into a U-Haul van…which is a little odd at that time of night. I strolled on past to check it out, and I discovered that it was two ladies named Janet and Jane who were loading art pieces into a van for a trade show later that day. I had met Janet before when she walked her doggie past my garage, and she remembered me. A few of the things they needed to load into the van looked rather heavy; much too heavy for two ladies who topped out at about 5 foot each. I offered my “lifting” services for the heavy stuff. They sure appreciated it. We chatted while we loaded stuff into the van, and I wished them a successful day at the trade show. So here it is, 3 in the morning, and I’m loading stuff into a van. I could have never predicted THAT! But that’s life…fun and unexpected. So, I did my good deed for the day. I finished up my WOG and headed back inside to work on some more stuff. I made a salad and watched another episode of “Night Gallery” on Blu ray. I sure do love that show!

Sunday the 24th – IN THE MIDDLE OF A THREE DAY WEEKEND! – My pal Sergio is coming over Monday afternoon to give Herry Monster a trim and style, so I prepped the work area for him to arrive. I did some more organization, wrote up a packing list, and did some other things for next weekend’s convention. I did some video editing and took my nightly WOG, even though it was a bit chilly outside. Toward the morning I made a pot pie and watched another episode of “The High Chaparral.” I also watched the President lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which I traditionally love to do every Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I love that ceremony.

Monday the 25th – A SERGIO SUPER SNIP SNIP! – One of the last things I needed to do on my Herry Monster replica Muppet was to have his fur trimmed and shaped. My friend Sergio Lopez is a genius at this sort of thing, and he’s done the wigs on every figure I have in my house…and many of my puppets too. But with a name like Herry Monster, he was going to need some special care. The thing about the original Herry is, his fur pattern is very chaotic. It goes all over the place, but delightfully so. Sergio was great at capturing the essence of that character. And Sergio’s eye is so well-trained, he could spot areas on the original puppet where the fabricators trimmed the fur shorter for definition. Amazing. After working we headed to Paty’s for dinner and we were joined by Angi. But I was getting tired, so I headed back home and slept for a while. I got up to do my nightly WOG, edited some videos, and worked on Herry Monster. While he was being worked on, I had parchment paper covers on his resin eye pieces. This kept them from being scratched or damaged during the fabrication process. Now that Herry was almost finished, I took the parchment covers off. I glued his tongue in his mouth, and on Tuesday I’ll add the pupils to his eye pieces. Then…he will be complete at last! Another puppet finished! I made a salad and watched an episode of “The High Chaparral.” Then I turned in. Wow! What a week!

And how was YOUR week??!

PIX FROM THE WEEK