May 18 – May 25 (2015) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Here’s a shot of my dad with a photo of himself that was taken when he entered the Army in the 50’s!

Of course with Lynda Carter mania pervading our entire weekend in Palm Springs, I couldn’t help but sing the “Wonder Woman” theme song over and over. And since watching it is much more fun that just listening to it…here’s the opening to the show!

Monday the 18th – MULTI-TASKING MONDAY! – First order of business for the day was an in-home session for a few radio commercials. I did the voice tracks, edited them and sent them over to the client. Then I did some work around the house until it was time to hop in my Gran Torino and head over to Michael’s. I was getting my vintage Lynda Carter poster (that I had hanging on my wall back when I was 17) dry mounted on foam core in hopes that she would sign it in Palm Springs this weekend. I figured having it dry mounted and flat would be better than rolled. It was less likely to get damaged that way. Juan committed to having it done for me by Tuesday afternoon. Perfect! I got home and hopped on my bike and drove over to CVS to pick up some supplies for Palm Springs. I had a nice lunch at Panera on the patio and enjoyed the day. It was breezy, but not cold. A perfect day for a bike ride! I came back home and wrote Wally’s Week and then took a dip in the Jacuzzi. The temp hadn’t been as warm as it should be, so I did a temperature test with a thermometer. Then I went inside to write a note to the management company and ask that they bump up the temp a bit. I enjoyed some veggies and dip and then took a nap on the couch. I got up later to do some auditions, and then I switched my Gran Torino with my Mustang so I could drive over to Beverly Hills the next day for a quick session for “Ted 2.” I mapped the route I would be taking to the editorial suite for the session, and then I made a Tombstone pizza and watched some “Twilight Zone” episodes on Blu Ray.

Tuesday the 19th – SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOTTA PUNT! – When I woke up I found a message from my agent saying that the “Ted 2” session had been postponed until Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict. So I walked Roxy over to Rusty’s to get her a bath before our trip. I ran into my neighbor Caroline and her dog Ridley and I asked if they wanted to go along. They walked over with us, and on the way home we decided to stop into the Studio Café and have a quick lunch. Thank GOD I put some money in my pocket before my walk over to Rusty’s! Otherwise I would have had to wash dishes to pay for lunch! Since I had only planned on walking Roxy over for her bath I didn’t have my credit card with me. But I ended up having enough cash for lunch. Whew! When I got home I grabbed my credit card and walked over to Enterprise to get my SUV for the weekend. Since I travel with so much stuff I need more space than my Mustang offers. But the one they had reserved for me was much too small. Plus the backseats wouldn’t lay down flat so I could load in my stuff. Then they offered me a mini-van, which was much too big! I felt like Goldilocks! I told them I would go back home while they rounded up another vehicle that was closer to my needs. They called around to their sister branches but nothing was available. Looks like I would be a “soccer mom” for the weekend and drive around a mini-van! I walked over to get Roxy from the groomer’s and took her home. Then I hopped in my Mustang and went to Michael’s to get my dry-mounted Lynda Carter poster. I sure hope she’ll sign it. She’s doing a Meet and Greet on Friday at the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs. My pal Mark and I are planning on lining up early to make sure we meet her, and I’m hoping to add her signed poster to my Bo Derek, Loni Anderson and Farrah Fawcett! I stopped by Enterprise to see what they found. They located a Buick Enclave at a different location, so their employee had to follow me to my house so I could drop off my Mustang and then drive me to the other location to pick up the Buick. Boy! This day hadn’t turned out like I expected at all! The first branch we went to said they just drove the Enclave to a different branch. So it was back in the car and off to the other Enterprise branch. The vehicle was there but it was dirty. So I had to wait a bit for it to be washed up. It still seemed like it was a little big for my needs, but at this point I wasn’t going to hassle with it. I really loved the Dodge Journey I had in March for my Palm Springs trip. But it wasn’t available. I got home and did some work and took a dip in the Jacuzzi. It still wasn’t very hot. I got back inside and started my immense packing project for Palm Springs. Wednesday is going to be a very busy day so I wanted to get the packing out of the way. When I finished up, I started on a TON of auditions. I finished those up and it was time to feed Roxy. What a day! I made some stew and watched the final 3 “Twilight Episodes” on Blu Ray. My next DVD project will be the “Batman” TV series; season two!

Wednesday the 20th – PALM SPRINGS HERE WE COME! – Just after noon I woke up, walked Roxy, did a few last-minute auditions and headed down to West LA to do the session for “Ted 2” at 20th Century Fox Studios. I went down nice and early so I could get lunch at Campo’s…my favorite Mexican restaurant. I got my food and pulled over on Motor Avenue (my old stompin’ grounds back in the 80’s and 90’s) and ate my lunch with the top down and listened to the radio. Then I headed to Fox to check in. I’ll be the voice of a TV reporter in “Ted 2.” When I got to the studio I saw my old pal Bill Rogers, the voice of Disneyland! Seth MacFarlane was there directing the session, but he was a little under the weather so we made it a quickie session. I was the first one up of the six actors who were doing other reporter voices. I got to my car, popped my top and headed home. I did some more auditions, did a bunch of auditions, did some last-minute packing, and split at 9pm. While on the 210 freeway I kept telling myself, “10 East, 10 East, 10 East!” Last time I went, I was braindead and took the 10 West back toward LA and lost a lot of time on my trip to Palm Springs. But I got on the right exit this time and all went well. The SUV came with Sirius satellite radio, so between listening to the 70’s and 80’s stations, I also checked in with KTNN 660 AM out of Window Rock, Arizone. That’s the Navajo station I love to listen to while driving down the dark desert highway at night! I got to Denny’s in Palm Springs around 11pm and picked up the food I called in. Then I got to the hotel and checked in. Nice! It’s always great to stay in my favorite room. It was a bit windy and cool out, but the forecast said it was warming up toward the weekend. I ate my Denny’s and got unpacked. There weren’t many stars to see from my balcony because of all the clouds, but it was still nice being there nonetheless. I got to bed around 5am when the sun came up. It was going to be a great weekend!

Thursday the 21st – PS I LOVE YOU! – Being in Palm Springs is Heavenly! I got up at noon to walk Roxy, and then went back to bed and got up around 3. I made some calls, and arranged for my brother-in-law in South Dakota to take my first Gran Torino. Roger is a good guy and loves working on cars and knows what he’s doing. So it’ll be in good hands. I walked Roxy over to the Spa Resort Casino where the Lynda Carter Meet and Greet will be. I wanted to check out the layout and establish contact with the Head of Events and Promotions Derek Brognan. I couldn’t take Roxy into the hotel, so Derek and I chatted outside and enjoyed the day. He’s a nice guy. I got a feel for what was going to happen and I realized I was going to have to line up early if I was going to meet Lynda. Then Roxy and I walked over to Ruby’s Diner to have dinner on the patio. Roxy was pretty tired after all the walking. She was laying down on the patio by my table when a lady at a table next to us started talking to me about Roxy. Her name was Sharon and she and her friend Beth were celebrating. Sharon had just had her first “clean” cancer screening in a long time. She had been battling cancer for a while and was elated that the screening came back completely free of cancer. Reason to celebrate! She said she would watch “Lassie” as a little girl and cry every time Lassie waved goodbye at the end of the show. I said, “You too?” She said her mom forbid her from watching “Lassie” after a while because she didn’t want her ending up in tears. We had a good laugh about it, and I made Roxy do the famous Lassie wave for her. I said, “Don’t cry now.” I got a couple pictures of her and Roxy together. While I was dining I saw Marcelle West walk by with a friend. I said hi to her and we chatted for a bit. Marcelle is Adam West’s wife and she said they were getting packed and ready to move to their summer home in Idaho. The weather in Palm Springs was getting too hot for them. I told her to tell Adam hi for me. Before I left Ruby’s I secretly told the server to add Sharon and Beth’s check to mine. I would buy their lunch to help them celebrate. I walked next door to Fame Cigar and bought a Monte Cristo for later in the week. I bought an A&W root beer in a bottle at Rocket Fizz and headed back to the room to get ready for the Thursday night street fair. We got back to the room and I gave Roxy her light evening dinner. Then we headed out to the street fair. I went to Lappert’s Ice Cream to get a Dole Whip, and talked to a couple from Minnesota who now lived in Palm Springs. I was wearing my Minnesota Twins cap, so every time somebody from Minnesota saw me they came up to talk to me. I met so many transplanted Minnesotans I started to wonder if there was anybody left in that state anymore! But they all said the same thing when I asked why they were in Palm Springs! “We got sick of the winters!” is what they all said. I dropped Roxy back off at the room to get some rest, but I went back out to the street fair to buy some things. I got my favorite hand-made soap, some beef jerkey, talked to “The Pillow Lady” for a bit, and then at the very end of the street fair I saw my favorite Native American musical artist Waykey. He plays a variety of wind instruments and his music is fabulous. Last time I was in Palm Springs I bought 6 of his CDs, and I bought another 3 this time. As he played I was almost moved to tears. I enjoyed talking to him after he performed a song. He’s an amazing artist and I would love to hear him collaborate with some visionary musical genius like William Orbit! A 19 year old gal named Jennifer stopped me on the street and asked for my phone number. I asked why she wanted it. She said she needed friends. But she was with a tall, lanky guy named Cole and I asked if he was her friend. She said yes, but she wanted more friends. I started looking around for the Candid Camera, figuring this was a joke. So we continued talking for a bit and I told her I’d be a lousy friend, living so far away. Cole told me he was originally from…you guessed it…Minnesota! This was quickly adding up to be the weekend of many coincidences! It was a total coincidence that Lynda Carter just happened to be performing there on the same weekend I had already planned a trip. As the weekend went on I started counting the coincidences, but eventually lost count. Jennifer never did get my number, but I’m sure I’ll see her at the street fair the next time I’m in town. I spent a lot of time talking with various people at the street fair, since Palm Springs residents are generally so incredibly nice. The very last thing I did before I hit my room was to buy the very last tri-tip sandwich at the barbecue place. YUM! I took it upstairs and ate it on the balcony while I watched the stars come out. I took a quick nap on the bed and then got up to feed and walk Roxy. My friends Mark and his girlfriend Connie texted me and let me know they had made it into town. We arranged to have lunch the next day. I spent the entire rest of the night watching stars and listening to music on my private balcony. HEAVEN!

Friday the 22nd – THE LYNDA LINE! – At high noon I met Mark and Connie at Las Casuelas for lunch with my pal Rupert Macnee. Rupert produced promos when I was the voice of the Pax TV network back in 2000 to 2003. He lives in Rancho Mirage with his father, the great actor Patrick Macnee. Rupert had his dad sign a few of my “Avengers” DVD covers. It was fun talking about the old days and chatting about new projects. After lunch I stashed the stuff in my room and Mark, Connie and I went to the Spa Resort Casino, where Lynda Carter would be doing her Meet & Greet at 7pm that night, so we could check the layout. We saw my pal Derek and he suggested we sign up for the Rewards Program so we could have a few spins on the new Wonder Woman slot machine. I won nothing, but Mark won four bucks and Connie won six bucks! So Mark said the Dole Whips were on him! Not being the kind of guy to pass that up, we hightailed it over to Lappert’s to enjoy a Dole Whip. While I was out I went to Cold Nose, Warm Heart and bought Roxy some little booties so her paws wouldn’t get hot on the Palm Springs sidewalks. I headed back to the room to get ready for the Meet & Greet, try Roxy’s boots on, and feed her some dinner. Mark and Connie went over to the Spa Resort Casino to hold our place in line. Good thing too! Because by 4:30 there were already 5 people in line! Roxy hated her boots, of course, but she eventually got used to them as we walked up and down the hallway. As much as she hated them I’m sure blistered paws would have been far more uncomfortable for her! I took my foot out of my sandal earlier and put it on the sidewalk and YOWCH! It was hot! I heard that dog’s paws can take about as much heat as our feet. If that’s the case, I’m glad I bought the booties. I grabbed my Lynda Carter poster and headed over to the Spa Resort Casino around 5:45 to relieve Mark and Connie in line. The people waiting there were fun to talk to! They had brought stuff for her to sign as well. The number 1 person in line had been waiting there since 4:00. Her name was Lynn and she had driven all the way from San Diego. I told her about the concert and she said she knew nothing of it. But the guy behind her said the show was sold out. Too bad, since Lynn would have really enjoyed seeing the show! Mark and Connie came back just before 7:00, but Lynda was running about 15 minutes late. But luckily we were guaranteed to get in, since we were the sixth, seventh and eighth people in line! Unfortunately about 30 seconds before we went into meet Lynda the word came down that she wasn’t going to be able to sign anything. I think this was in the interest of expediency, since there were a TON of people in line behind us. They could hustle a lot more people through the line if Lynda didn’t have to stop to sign stuff. I told Lynda that Stanley Ralph Ross was a good pal of mine (Stanley helped develop “Wonder Woman” for television) and I showed her the poster I had on my wall when I was 17. She looked it and said, “Yup, I remember THAT belly button!” I told her I was sure it was still very nice but I was a gentleman so I wouldn’t ask to see it. We had a good laugh, and we held the poster up for the photo. Mike the photographer said, “Hold the poster up a little higher.” I said, “Not too high! You’ll cover up the real Lynda!” He snapped the pic and I thanked her for being there. Before I took off I jokingly said, “We’ll be in row M at the show tomorrow. Be sure to look for us!” She said she would, but she knew I was joking. Funny! They gave me a pre-signed Wonder Woman picture, which was better than nothing. Derek had told me that he sat with Lynda the night before while she signed all 100 of the photos that were given out. We took our stuff back to my room to stash it, picked up Roxy and headed to Ruby’s Diner for some dinner on the patio. Our Lynda Meet & Greet photos would be printed and ready by 9pm. As we finished up dinner, and got a Dole Whip afterwards, we took Roxy back to the room. I told Mark, “Hey, I’ve been fighting cigarette smoke at that casino all day (you can smoke in Indian owned casinos) so I think I’ll take my cigar over and smoke it there. I lit it up and walked to the Spa Resort Casino. We walked in and headed to the back to get our pictures. Mike the photographer was there and remembered us and got our pictures for us. The lady behind the counter looked at me and said, “Is that a cigar?” I said, “Yup.” She squished her face together and said sharply, “You can’t smoke that in here!” I wanted to say, “Why? Not enough carcinogens for you? I have been putting up with smelly cigarette smoke all day and THIS bothers you?” Later I told Mark and Connie, “I wanted to say to her…Lady. You have smoking, drinking, gambling and very probably prostitution going on in this casino. And a CIGAR is the thing that offends you?” But I got my photo and hightailed it out of there. But our pictures turned out great and Mike did a great job! We walked back to the hotel and Mark and Connie headed back to their hotel. I decided to sit on a bus bench, finish off my cigar and watch the beautiful crescent moon dip down behind the mountain. I got back to my room and grabbed Roxy to take her for a little walk. My pal Brittney Powell phoned to say that she had wrapped filming on a movie she was working on and did I want her to come to Palm Springs to join in on the fun? I told her to drive on over!

Saturday the 23rd – SOMEBODY STOLE AN HOUR! – At 8:30am sharp I sprang awake. So I put my sweats on and went to take Roxy outside for a potty break. I came back inside and fell back asleep until 3 in the afternoon. Brittney and I walked down Palm Canyon Drive to look for a dress for her to wear to the Lynda Carter concert that night. We found a perfect black, understated dress with a necklace and belt for adornment. Perfect! We went over to Ruby’s to get a light snack, knowing that we’d be going out for steaks later before the concert. But as we sat at Ruby’s enjoying the day, I noticed the time. YIKES! It was already 5:00! Mark and Connie were coming to pick us up at 5:20 for dinner! We hustled back to the hotel to get changed. I still needed to give Roxy her light dinner and grab a shower. I told Mark and Connie to make it 5:45 instead. I totally lost track of time. Either that or some evil villain swiped an hour out of the day that I really needed! In the elevator of the hotel I heard somebody else mentioning that they lost track of time and had to be somewhere in 15 minutes. I told them I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who that happened to, and I was convinced that somebody DID remove an hour from the day somehow. We made it to Fleming’s steak house for dinner, and headed out at 7:45. The concert started at 8:00. My seats were already purchased so no worries there. We pulled into Agua Caliente about 5 minutes to 8, valet parked, and then got our tickets and found our seats. No sooner did we plop our butts down in our seats, than the lights went down and the show started. Talk about great timing! I’m glad my lack of timekeeping ability didn’t set us too far back. The show was great and Lynda was fabulous. Though she didn’t embrace her Wonder Woman history any more than she had to. Is she ashamed of it? She mentioned it in passing a few times, but I was expecting…wanting more. I noticed some empty seats around and thought that they would be full if she would have more fun with the Wonder Woman thing. She had 3 very talented female back-up singers and I was aching for them to rip in to the Wonder Woman theme while the overhead screens showed clips of Lynda in action as Wonder Woman. After all, 99% of the people in the audience were there because of her history as Wonder Woman. The other 1% were old people who got tired of gambling and wanted a distraction from the casino floor. Off to the right side of the theatre we saw…the #1 Fan Girl Lynn! She had made it into the show. It WASN’T sold out after all! I told her after the show that I was almost happier to see HER there than myself! She was an UBER fan! In fact, we have Lynn to thank for getting Lynda’s final “spin” on video. Lynda introduced her band and mentioned that one of her keyboard players was John Jarvis. I recalled a John Jarvis who had several albums we used to play on 94.7 The Wave back in my old “smooth jazz” DJ days. I waited around after the concert to talk to him and SURE ENOUGH! It was him! What fun it was talking about the old days of The Wave! Nice guy too! As we went out into the casino many of the band members came out and we started chatting with them. We drove back to the hotel and we had intended to go to the Coconut Bar to sing karaoke, but it was packed. Saturday night…go figure. The karaoke master said he had 31 songs lined up and another 15 after that. We decided not to wait and went to Rite Aid to get some ice cream instead. The long walk poohed Roxy out considerably, which was great because that meant she would sleep soundly. I got back to the hotel and got set to spend another night on my balcony listening to my Palm Springs playlist on my iPad and watching the stars.

Sunday the 24th – CONTINUING COINCIDENCES! – A guy I listen to on the radio said he doesn’t believe in coincidences…no such thing says he. My mindset is mostly consistent with his. I think divine providence has a lot to do with life. After all, this had been the weekend of odd coincidences, but they hadn’t stopped! Mark and Connie were all checked out of their room and were about to head back to L.A. My pal Ron Chaney drove in to meet us for lunch at 1 at Las Casuelas (aka the “Elvis” Mexican restaurant…since that’s where he ate when he lived in PS in the 60’s.) On the way out the door of the Hyatt a gal came in and said, “Wally!” At first I didn’t recognize her, but it ended up being my pal Sherry Hardeman from San Francisco! She was there with her boyfriend Rod and they had just stopped in to see what the scene at the Hyatt was like. That was wild! We finished up our conversation and I headed to meet up with Ron. We were on the patio with Roxy and Ron came out to say hi. While walking through the restaurant he had seen a bunch of his friends…um…coincidentally. But the oddest thing happened. During dinner I was telling Ron about a podcast my buddies do called “Monster Party,” and how he’d be a great guest. I texted my pal James Gonis, one of the hosts of “Monster Party,” to see if he could talk for a bit. I was going to put Ron on the phone with James so they could work out a time for him to come on the show. But when James called he said, “I’m in Palm Springs for the weekend.” WHAT??!! I asked him where he was. He ended up being about four blocks away from the restaurant! Unbelievable! He walked over and we had a great afternoon chatting. I talked Mark into getting one more Dole Whip before he took off for home, so we walked over to Lappert’s. The crowd in Palm Springs had grown considerably since I drove in on Wednesday. But the Memorial Day weekend crowd was in full swing! Mark and Connie took off, and Roxy and I went back to the room to grab a nap, while Brittney hung out downstairs at the hotel. Across the way from my room there was some party going on with a live band. So I opened up my patio door and listened to the band as I drifted off to sleep. Blissful! I ended up sleeping nearly 3 hours! When I got up I took Brittney and my pal Darlene from the Hyatt out to Denny’s for a midnight snack. I got back to the room to enjoy my final night of star watching. I really REALLY didn’t want to leave the next day. But I had to. While star watching I saw two fast moving pin pricks of light streak across the sky. They moved much faster than your average jet. I heard that they may have been satellites. They moved in a straight line and didn’t veer off from that pattern. So maybe they were. This is the first time I brought my binoculars to Palm Springs to star watch, and it was fun getting a closer look at things. I got to bed as the sun was rising around 5am. Luckily because of my Platinum Hyatt status, I got a late checkout of 4pm! I wanted to let the holiday traffic die down a bit before heading back home.

Monday the 25th – MEMORABLE MEMORIAL WEEKEND! – The packing for home began when I woke up at 3, and I just skated out of the room in time for my 4pm checkout. I thought I was pretty clever letting the brunt of the holiday traffic die down before hitting the freeway. That is, until I got to the 111 just before the 10 freeway. YIKES! Wall to wall cars! I phone Brittney who was a few miles up the road ahead of me, and all she did was laugh hysterically. She suggested that I find a good radio station and enjoy the ride. Luckily my SUV came with Sirius satellite radio, so I put it on the 70’s channel and enjoyed myself. I steeled myself for what I thought would be a four hour ride home. But after about an hour the traffic broke up and I was doing 80 all the way home. Maybe there WAS something to that “waiting for the traffic to die down” idea after all! It really only took me a little over 2 hours to get home. While I loved my time in Palm Springs, it was really good to be home again. I unpacked a little bit and grabbed a nap. My cat Spooky was really glad to see us and joined Roxy and I on the bed for a nap. What a great trip. And I think Roxy had a great time too! When I woke up I did my auditions, unpacked some more stuff and took downloaded all the pictures from the weekend.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Scratch THAT off my bucket list! Meeting Lynda Carter was a dream come true!

And seeing her in concert was amazing!

Here’s a cool video my friend Mark put together.

My friend Sharon hangs with Roxy on the patio of Ruby’s Diner.

Native American artist Waykey is amazing to watch and hear.

Here he is performing.

Roxy’s not too happy with her new boots, which protect her paws from the hot Palm Springs sidewalks.

A gorgeous German Shepherd at the Palm Springs Dog Park.

If a coyote and a teddy bear had a baby…???

A white fluffball.

So one day, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie were chilling out…

Two fine specimens…a Great Dane and a Greyhound.

Greta the Great Dane!

A gorgeous Blue Merl Australian Shepherd

Here’s some video of Roxy playing in the park.

A cute Maltese on Palm Canyon Drive

I ran into my friend Sherry from San Francisco!

The gals from Sinfalicious!

Brittney strikes a patriotic pose in her new flag dress.

Our pal Ron Chaney.

Ron Chaney poses with my pal James Gonis!

Brittney and I have a great time at the Lynda Carter concert.

After the show we pose for shots with the band!

John Jarvis, Lynda’s keyboardist, is a Grammy winning artist whose music I used to play on 94.7 The Wave in the old days!

The lovely Tamara from the Hyatt Palm Springs.

Roxy made the Hyatt’s instagram page!

Ticking off yet another Sinfalicious employee!

But it’s all in fun.

Mark brought me a late birthday gift…my very own Thor book! It features photos of our buddy James in his Thor costume at last year’s San Diego Comic Con!