July 13 – July 19 (2009) – Wally On The Web

Monday the 13th – TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS! – Nothing much to report, just hung out around the house making calls and taking care of some things. With Comic Con coming up I have to make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. But sometimes I only end up with my t’s dotted and my i’s crossed! That night I had dinner with my friend Emily who’s an appearance manager. She wants me to do a convention in November in Florida, so I took the opportunity to meet with Seth the promoter to find out more about the convention. It sounds like it would be a great time! Stay tuned!

Tuesday the 14th – TERRIFIC TUESDAY! – I went to Salami recording in the morning to record some tracks for an anime show called “Kekkeshi”. I play one of the spirit dogs and I’m working with Kevin Seymour. It’s fun because like me, Kevin is also a collector so as we get to know each other we’re exploring each other’s interest in the world of collecting. When I finished up with that, I went over to Studiopolis Burbank to record my voice tracks for another episode of “Gormiti”…as the characters Magmion and Starseater. I finished up there, and headed home to walk Sassie. Then I headed over to Cedars-Sinai to the offices of Regenix. Afterwards I stopped by the hardware store to pick up some items, and picked up a pair of leather pants at my tailor’s. When I was finished there I got home to get ready to have dinner with my friends Joe and Zandra, who were in town for a seminar Joe was attending. We had a great italian meal at Little Toni’s that night with my pal Sara, and good ol’ Chuck McCann. What a great day!

Wednesday the 15th – LOOONG DAY! – In the early morning, I was at Voice Trax West to record another two TV commercials for HH Gregg, a store in Florida. I’m the voice of HH, their little animated character. It’s a great job, and it’s lots of fun. For the first time, I got to see the finished animation from the first spot we did. It looks awesome. When I finished with that I headed home to make some more calls and prepare for a meeting. I also snuck in a little nap before my production partner Ken Dennis picked me up for a meeting we had with a production company in Burbank to talk about “Livin’ On a Prayer” and “Uncle Davver’s Really Scary Movie Show.” The meeting went well, and afterwards we grabbed a bite at Paty’s to talk about our options. That evening I went to the meditational service at church, then grabbed another nap. I don’t sleep a full 8 hours at a time. My busy mind won’t let me, So I sleep like I eat, often and in small increments. I’ll do a 2 hour nap here, and sleep 6 hours at night. Or 1 hour here, 2 hours there, and 4 hours at night. It’s weird I know, but it works for me and my lifestyle.

Thursday the 16th – VIDEO CREW ASSEMBLE! – I made a call to the hotel I’ll be staying at when I go back for my high school reunion, just to make sure I can ship some clothes there. I have a very tight layover on my flight there, and I want to be sure that if my luggage doesn’t make it in time, I still have some clothes and supplies to wear once I’m there. I went to Carroll Casting shortly after noon to audition for a Toyota commercial. I stopped by a neighborhood camera store to rent an 8mm editing system. I was sent a lot of old movies from my aunt, and I wanted to see what was on them before I decided whether or not to have them transferred to DVD. Then I dashed home, showered up and styled my hair for the “Avengers” session? Styled your hair for a voice session, you ask? Well, I did it because we’d be shooting what’s called “B roll”, video of the actors recording their lines that will be included in some sort of documentary or DVD bonus material I’m guessing. I wanted to make sure to have a decent shirt on for the interview portion, so I had to pick out a camera-friendly shirt as well. When that was done, I headed home to rest up. Then I continued my on-going garage-cleaning project. While it’s getting better, it’s not done yet. There’s more work to do, but it’s certainly MUCH better than it was!

Friday the 17th – FUN DAY! – I drove down to It’s a Wrap to see if there were any new items I wanted to pick up, and I also went to a DVD store to pick up the new release of “Charlie’s Angels; Season 4.” It wasn’t supposed to be released until Tuesday the 21st, but it’s the first season Shelley Hack joined the cast, and I knew that Shelley was going to be at an autograph show on the 18th. So I talked them into selling to to me early so I could have her sign it. After that, I went to get some photos printed of an actor named Paul Michael. He played a character named King Johnny Romana, a gypsy king, on “Dark Shadows.” His girlfriend is Marion Ross from “Happy Days” fame, was going to be at the autograph show on Saturday, so I was thinking that he might be with her, I figured I’d take some shots along to show him and have him sign. I went through his episodes on the “Dark Shadows” DVDs in my collection and pulled about 83 screenshots of his character. It was hard because the show was shot on videotape in 1966, and the quality was kind of hit or miss when you’re trying it isolate specific shots. Plus, the camera was always moving, so it moved in and out of focus a lot. But I think I grabbed some pretty good ones. That night my friend Alex and his wife Monica were in town from Nashville, Joe and Zandra came back, and my pal Leonard Stone (from Willy Wonka) was in town with his granddaughter for the autograph show. We all met for dinner, along with my friends Sara and Dan Roebuck, at Barone’s in Sherman Oaks. What a great time! After that, we went to Dan’s house to see his horror museum. It should be a stop on everyone’s tour of L.A.! It’s amazing! When I returned home, I spent the rest of the evening pulling the items I wanted to have signed at the autograph show the next day.

Saturday the 18th – HOLLYWOOD SHOW! – I picked up my friend Sara and we went to the Hollywood Show in Burbank around 11:30. I was there to see a lot of different folks, and had my bag of items in tow. It was going to be over 100 degrees that day so it was definitely prohibitive to be outside for too long. First stop was Davy Jones of the Monkees. I had met him back in 1987 so I had him sign the pic we took then. Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz had already signed it, so his was the only one I was missing. I also had him sign my Davy Jones bobblehead. Now I have 3 of the 4 bobbleheads signed, and I doubt I’ll ever get Mike Nesmith! Then I had Shelley Hack sign my DVD and several other photos. I even had her sign a TV Guide cover. But the coolest thing of the day was when we went over to see Henry Winkler. Now Henry has to be THE coolest guy in Hollywood. As soon as he saw me he remembered me, and was very gracious to Sara. I had him sign a Fonzie bobblehead, and Sara got a photo signed as well. He also took a photo with her. Later I found out that they were going to do a ‘Happy Days’ cast photo opportunity, where you could get your picture with the entire cast of the show. As the line was starting to form, and it was getting chaotic, Henry grabbed me and said, “C’mon Wally.” He wanted me to come back with him so I could be first in line for the photo. But the guy who ran the show told me the line was forming in another area. So, being a good rule-follower, I got back in line. All of a sudden Henry appeared again and grabbed me. The soft-spoken Henry was gone, and now the tone of his voice was VERY Fonz-like. He said, “C’mon…you want to wait on that line?! You’re family!” It was AWESOME! It was really like hearing from The Fonz! So, not being one to argue with The Fonz, I followed. I told the guy who ran the show that Henry wanted me in the back with him. Apparently, he didn’t want to argue with Fonz either. We got a great shot together, and it’s now one of my prized possessions! It included Don Most (Ralph), Anson Williams (Potsie), Erin Moran (Joanie), Marion Ross (Mrs. C), Tom Bosley (Mr. C), and Henry. WOW! Not only did I have a great photo, but a GREAT story to go with it! Sara enjoyed meeting Billie Hayes, who played WitchiePoo on H.R. Pufnstuf and Mammy Yokum in ‘Li’l Abner.” Sara enjoyed playing Mammy in a production of Li’l Abner in school, so now she got to meet the REAL Mammy. They took a great shot together, both striking a Mammy Yokum pose. I got all my stuff done within a few hours, so Sara, Joe, Zandra and I went over to Denny’s for lunch. After lunch we went back and hung out some more. It was a great show and I can’t wait for the next one in October! When I got home I noticed that my voice was hoarse. Apparently with the dry heat and all of the talking I did all day, my voice was toast. So I had some hot tea, lemon and honey and tried to baby it. My effects guy Jim Ojala came by to pick up the mannequin for the upcoming “Heartbeeps” mannequin. Then everybody started showing up for Blu Ray Trek night. The episodes we saw were “Miri” and “Dagger of the Mind.” One of the guests had mentioned The Archies, so we dug out a few Archies DVDs and watched a few scenes from those old Filmation cartoons. What fun! But I was wiped! Between the heat and my voice being gone, I was ready to hit the bed!

Sunday the 19th – SLEEPY SUNDAY! – I slept really late, and it felt good. I got up and started looking through the old 8mm films I got from my aunt and found a couple of good ones. Then I went to evening church to do my elder duty. After church, I went home, grabbed a quick bite and took a nap. My friend Alex and his wife Monica returned around midnight from their stay in Anaheim, so Alex and I went for a nice, brisk walk. When I got back home, I continued on the garage project, and then settled in to watch the new “Charlie’s Angels” DVD! Life is good!

And how was YOUR week?!?!

Pics from the Week

Sara and Billie Hayes strike a Mammy Yokum pose!

A dream come true! A “Happy Days” cast photo. We’re only missing Ron Howard. From left to right is Don Most (Ralph), Anson Williams (Potsie), Erin Moran (Joanie), Wally, Tom Bosley (Mr. C), Marion Ross (Mrs. C), and Henry Winkler (The Fonz!)