RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I’ve always loved this BTS shot of a couple of bros hanging on the set of “Jaws.”
As I continue down my path of the rediscovery of Steely Dan’s music, I’ve been studying their music intently. I had their greatest hits album when I was a kid and I loved it, but I had put them on the back burner after that. Now, I’m getting “reawakened” to their stuff. I’ve been singing “Bodhisattva” non-stop this past week!
Monday the 21st – A MERRY, MANIC MONDAY! – After picking up some packages at my box I headed to Wienerschnitzel to pick up some hot dogs to go. I got back home and did a little work, and then walked to Studiopolis to do some voice tracks for some of the final episodes of “Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.” I got back home in time to meet my computer guy Thor so he could rectify a few issues I was still having with my new computer, but I think this will officially be the last phase of set-up. I think we’ve finally got it tweaked how I like it! But those hot dogs I had earlier didn’t do much to fill me up, so I met my pal Chris Malmin at “The Office” (the patio at Paty’s) for dinner. While I was there I ran into my old pal Phil, who has directed me in countless video game sessions. Normally he directs from home, so I’ve only seen him on a tiny little Zoom screen for the past several years. It was great seeing him in person! I came back home and did a requested audition, and then rested for a bit. Later I did my WOG (walk/jog), but as I got into a different area of the complex I saw a large police presence on the grounds. Three vehicles with their lights on! They were looking for somebody in a specific area of the complex. When I walked up I was behind them and they paid me very little mind, so obviously they weren’t looking for me. Perhaps Baxter the Skunk had taken to robbing houses? I cut my WOG short and headed inside. If a suspect was on the grounds I didn’t want to chance it. I typed out Wally’s Week and made myself a “Paladin Saladin” and watched a few episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” before bed.
Tuesday the 22nd – “COMATOSE…TUESDAY?!” – Normally, I officially give myself a day off every Sunday to rest up, recalibrate and refresh. I normally sleep the entire day and recharge. I call it my “Comatose Sunday.” But since I was busy last Sunday I decided I would make Tuesday a “Comatose Tuesday” instead. I had the day free and I really needed the downtime. Later I did a bunch of auditions, took my nightly WOG, and cooled down outside in my anti-gravity chair. Then I worked in the garage a little organizing some puppet stuff. After that it was inside to do some work, and call it a day.
Wednesday the 23rd – TWO “OBSESSIONS!” – When I finished working around the house I headed to the post office to mail off some stuff, and then I hit Jersey Mike’s for a sandwich. I ate in my car while sitting in the parking lot of a grocery store, and when I finished I went inside to get some groceries. I got home and met with my gardener who finished up some work in my little flower patch outside my house. Then I drove to Little Toni’s to pick up some pizzas for an impromptu ‘movie night’ that I was having at my house. I used to do them every Saturday night for friends and colleagues, but we stopped getting together in early 2020 when they launched the scamdemic. But tonight my friends Edi, Mark and Chris came over so we could watch a couple of movies that had just been released on Blu Ray…”EPIC: Elvis Presley In Concert,” and “Obsession.” Edi got too nervous about the latter film, so we ran the Elvis film first and then she took off. I had seen “EPIC” twice before in Imax and it is wonderful. But I had never seen “Obsession.” It’s truly an amazing film. The story, the sets, the concept, and especially the acting, are all really remarkable! If there aren’t a few Oscar nods in there somewhere I’ll be shocked! We enjoyed watching the restaurant scene, because it was filmed at Little Toni’s…one of my favorite dining places! In fact, we had sat in that booth many times! Mark, Chris and I discussed the film after it ended, and then I got some rest. I did my nightly auditions, took my usual WOG, and spent some time outside in the anti-grav chair. The hot weather of a few weeks ago gave way to some cooler weather for a while, but warmer weather has returned again. Thank God! That’s the way it always is in L.A., it seems. Super hot toward the end of August, then it cools off, and then warmer weather returns for a few weeks before finally handing it over to cooler fall weather. Currently we’re right in the sweet spot of the two weeks of warmer weather. And I’m going to take full advantage of it! I even enjoyed the peaceful, quiet and warm evening with a nice cigar! I came back inside to do some editing and some work around the house.
Thursday the 24th – PACKAGES, PATY’S & PUPPETS! – My assistant Emily and I met for lunch at Paty’s, and then I picked up a few packages at my box. Then I came back home to do some work. My computer guy Brian called to do some remote work with the back-ups on my system, and then I headed to Alex In Wonderland to have her do some tweaks on the Guy Smiley head she made for me. Before I start working on the body, I have to make sure the head is exactly the way I want it. Then when I’m satisfied, I’ll use the head for scale to create the rest of his body. I have a shirt and a tie all ready that I purchased on Amazon (they sell them for babies!) so all Alex will need to do when I’m done is stitch the arms to the body and create a double-breasted suit jacket out of dark blue corduroy. I also dropped off some eye pieces for the Yip Yip Martians I’m making to her husband Mike. They are hollow, plastic Christmas balls – and they need to be fortified with resin so they don’t cave. I came back home and did some auditions, took my usual WOG, spent some time in the anti-grav chair enjoying the night (and an amazing full moon) and then went back inside. Since my pal Kelly Delcambre is bringing over a custom-made mannequin on Friday, I wanted to sit down and design the info card that will accompany the mannequin when it goes on display. It ended up looking amazing!
Friday the 25th – CHUCK McCANNEQUIN! – Once again I walked to Studiopolis to record some more voice tracks for some of the final episodes for “Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War.” As it’s getting to the climax of the series, there was a fair amount of yelling involved. I’m glad they only did one take of those! When I came back home I got a notification that my custom-made “Star Trek” boots had arrived at my box. So I eagerly drove over to my box to get them, got some Taco Bell at the drive-thru, and headed home to open them up. But as expected, the boots didn’t fit. I went back and forth with the bootmaker from Etsy about my specific sizing requirements. Since they’re from Pakistan, I’m not sure if something got lost in the translation or what, but the calf circumference wasn’t big enough. I SPECIFICALLY told him going in, that the reason I need custom boots is because I have very muscular calves. He sent me a sizing form that was very detailed, and I had Alex In Wonderland take the sizes meticulously. It’s as if the bootmaker just ignored them completely. I could only zip them up ¾ of the way, as the last 4 inches of the boot shaft wouldn’t close. It’s odd even though I was very specific up front about this when I ordered them. I’m not sure what they’ll do about it, but these boots are unusable. Very disappointing. Even if they DO make a replacement pair that is correct, the likelihood that they would be here by Halloween isn’t very high. Stay tuned. My pal Kelly came over in the late afternoon with the Chuck McCannequin – a figure that I’ve named because it will be adorned with Chuck’s original costume and cap from the Saturday morning series “Far Out Space Nuts.” My pal Mike in Chicago purchased it from a recent auction and gifted it to me. WILD! Since my late friend Chuck was a big guy, the costume wouldn’t have looked right on an off-the-shelf mannequin. Kelly set it up and it looks incredible! My pal Mike will be in town this weekend and he’ll be SO surprised to see it! I did some work around the house and sent some letters back and forth to the boot seller in Pakistan who apologized profusely for the error. He’s going to talk to his bootmaker and see what they’ll be able to do. But he assured me that the problem will get solved. I’m still wondering why he paid absolutely no attention the meticulous measurements we sent them. Now I have to take measurements of the boot shaft, and compare them to what we put on the measurement sheet. What a pain. The good news is, the boots are GORGEOUS! And all of the rest of the sizes are perfect – the length, the height, the ankle, EVERYTHING. Everything except the calf circumference…the main thing that I warned them about when I placed the order. Just as I was about ready to go out for my WOG in the middle of the night I heard a “bump” outside in the main area. I went outside to investigate and I saw a young man out there that I didn’t recognize. I said, “Can I help you?” He said, “Can I help YOU?” I said again, “Can I help you?” He said, “I live here.” I said, “Oh, so do I!” Come to find he’s the new owner of one of the houses across from mine, so I introduced myself to him. Though it was 3am we were talking and getting acquainted. He seems like a really nice guy. He and his girlfriend just bought the house recently and they’re still in the process of moving in. I took the opportunity to give him a glance at the lower floor of Planet Wallywood and he couldn’t believe his eyes. I told him when they get settled, I’d be glad to give him and his girlfriend the full tour. It was a funny interaction, considering it was 3 in the morning, but hey…that’s life. I took my WOG under a big full moon, and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. I came back inside to do some editing and get ready for a VERY busy weekend!
Saturday the 26th – FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD! – My gal Angi is back in town from her East Coast tour, so she stopped by with her dog Khloe. Then we drove over to Outback to join our friend Emily for her birthday lunch. Then I came back home to do some work and get ready for yet ANOTHER meal…at the Smoke House. My pal Mike and I agreed to meet and catch up. I literally hadn’t seen him in about 10 years – so we had a lot of catching up to do. After dinner I took him to my house for a tour of Planet Wallywood. He hadn’t been there in so long, and I had lots of new stuff to show him…INCLUDING the new Chuck McCannequin. He loved it! After he left I got a little rest, and then took my nightly WOG. I spent some time in the anti-grav chair enjoying a nice cigar on a warm evening under a glorious full moon! I came inside, made a salad and watched an episode of “The Outer Limits.”
Sunday the 27th – ABORT MISSION! – During our dinner Saturday night, my pal Mike invited me to an event in Hollywood that he had tickets for. At first I resisted, because I’m very protective of my “Comatose Sundays,” but I decided since Mike only comes to town once in a while I would go with him. I drove to the event and parked the Gray Ghost, and then headed up for the festivities. I went inside to the lobby, but in the distance I saw a person whom I would really rather not see again. Their energy is very negative, and in my dealings with them I found them to be very unprofessional, unethical, and unscrupulous. So I turned on my heels and headed back outside without hesitation. I called Mike, who was already inside, and asked him to come outside. I explained the situation to him, how I would feel very uncomfortable with this person being there, and how I’d rather not subject myself to that. He totally understood, so I excused myself and went to have lunch at a local restaurant and head home. Oh sure, I could have gone in, played the phony “Hollywood” game and played nice in a disingenuous way, but that’s not me. I’d rather just avoid the situation altogether. I got back home to relax a bit. Later I did my WOG, recorded some auditions and sent them to my agent, and went outside to enjoy the rest of the night with a nice cigar in the anti-grav chair. I’ve been approached by a local orchestra to emcee their annual Halloween concert – which sounds like a BOATLOAD of fun to me! We’re going to meet up this week to discuss it further and exchange some ideas. I made myself a “Paladin Saladin” and watched a few episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” before bed.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Sorry bootmaker, missed it by THAT much.
Kelly Delcambre’s “Chuck McCannequin” is perfect!
