March 4 – March 10 (2013) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

After coming out of Ernie’s Taco House on Sunday night, I hopped in my Gran Torino and headed down the road. After a few blocks I saw something fluttering underneath my windshield wiper. I pulled over and stopped so I could see what it was. It was a note that was left for me while I was inside having dinner…

While watching the third episode of “Van Dyke and Company” last Saturday night, I rediscovered the talents of John Denver, Dick’s guest on that show. After my movie night guests left I went on i-Tunes and started rummaging through John’s music. I bought “Like a Sad Song,” the song he performed on the show, but I also downloaded “Rocky Mountain High,” probably one of John Denver’s biggest hits. I always liked it in passing, but now I was listening to it with new ears. John’s beautiful, poetic lyrics spoke to me, as the song details a guy who finds himself in the magical Rocky Mountains. I was particularly touched by the line that says, “Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before.” That’s the exact feeling I had when I visited Palm Springs the first time on that April night in 2010! I hadn’t really been able to sum up my feelings verbally before, but that line says it perfectly! Even though I’ve never enjoyed the Rocky Mountains, the overall spirit of this song moves me, speaks to me…takes me places. Which is what the arts is all about, right?

Monday the 4th – DUCK-A-BOO! – We are on a week’s hiatus from “The Tonight Show,” so I took the opportunity to be a lazy slug. I slept all day and got up around 6pm. I did a little work around the house, walked Roxy, and then took my assistant Sara to dinner at The Counter for hamburgers. I got home and took a dip in the jacuzzi. The duck couple that visit our pool this time every year were in the pool, and they now don’t seem bothered by me being in the jacuzzi, about four feet away. While I was relaxing, I saw little duckie heads peeking up over the edge of the pool, then ducking back down again. It was almost like they were playing peek-a-boo. It was very funny! I went inside to do a little more work and a few auditions. Then I started preparing for my next day’s session singing songs for “The Garfield Show!”

Tuesday the 5th – TOON TUNES! – I woke up mid-morning, but didn’t sleep that well. Roxy was on the bed all night, panting, shaking the bed, getting off the bed, then back on. It was very annoying. But I headed over to Buzzy’s in Hollywood to record two songs for “The Garfield Show.” They had lunch brought in, so I grabbed a bite and then headed over to my appointment at Regenix to do a follow-up on my hair treatments. A friend of mine had recently finished her treatments for breast cancer, and she wanted to go along to Regenix with me to see if they had a program for post-cancer hair treatment. We finished up at Regenix, and then I headed back home. But on my way there the day turned gloomy, though it was sunny and nice earlier. I got home and walked Roxy, then took a jacuzzi break, and got a nap on the couch. When I got up later that evening I did an audition, and then picked up Sara to go get some food at Denny’s. On the way home I talked with my friend Fred about the “Jay Leno Retiring” story that had just been released a few days earlier. We both had our suspicions about who started this story, and we agreed that it’s basically B.S. Considering that “The Tonight Show” is currently the only thing enjoying #1 status. So why fix that? I guess you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Wednesday the 6th – O.T.G.C.! – I got up late morning and headed up the freeway to the Oak Tree Gun Club in Newhall. I was meeting my friend Mark the Cop, and Obi John Kenobi to do a little target shooting. John and I still needed to focus in the sight on my AR-15, and my pal Mark wanted to take a few shots with it as well. After lunch at the Oak Tree restaurant, we hit the rifle range. Ammo for the AR-15s is understandably difficult to find these days (the factories can’t keep up with the demand), but they had several magazines already loaded up with ammo that they were selling. I had been meaning to buy some more mags since I bought the gun from John, so I bought 6 mags and we were on our way. It took us about three tries, but we eventually got the sight zeroed in perfectly! Obi John brought his bench rest from home (a really NICE one!) so we could keep the gun steady while he adjusted the sight with a small screwdriver. He then spotted where the shots were going with a pair of binoculars. He said I was grouping the shots within the circumference of a quarter, and in some cases the bullets were going through other bullet holes! Mark blew through a few mags and had a great time. Then it was off to the pistol range to try our hand at the shooting gallery. They have all sorts of metal contraptions that spin when you hit them. Sometimes it’s tough to see exactly where you’ve hit on a paper target, but with targets like these it’s easy to tell if you hit it or not. I bought a box of .380 factory ammo at the counter, and was telling Mark that the target ammo I was shooting out of my Kahr was jamming, but the factory ammo shot well. The lady at the counter had a stunned look on her face. She thought I was shooting out of my CAR, not my KAHR. I realized what the confusion was, and told her it was a Kahr .380 pistol, and not my car. We all had a good laugh, and I told her that even if I was shooting out of my car, I certainly wasn’t going to admit it in front of my COP FRIEND! We had a good time shooting at the gallery. My Walther PPK was shooting excellently, and I even tried Mark’s .40 caliber Sig Sauer 226. Dead on! But my .45 Colt 1911 wasn’t shooting so well. I had bought it used several years ago and the sights were apparently off quite a bit. It’s cool to hear that bullet hit the metal and go “TING” and then spin around. It was a cool, overcast day, and there weren’t many people at the range. So we had lots of space to move around. What a great day! I drove home and got ready for a session at Studiopolis Burbank for “Bleach.” But before I left I did a quick audition for my agent and e-mailed it in. Then it was off to “Bleach.” When I finished I stopped by It’s a Wrap to pick up a few items. When I got home I stopped by my neighbor Byron’s house so he could cut some wood for a few puppet stands I was making. I bought the What-Not Muppets at Toys ‘R’ Us and needed a few stands to display them. I went inside and paid some bills, dressed my Robin mannequin with a new t-shirt I had bought at It’s a Wrap, and then my pal Edi came over for a visit. We took a dip in the jacuzzi, but there weren’t any ducks around to join us. I did some work around the house, recorded six auditions, and then made some spaghetti and watched another episode of “Kojak” from the Season 3 boxed set before bed.

Thursday the 7th – L IS FOR LAZY! – Since I didn’t have anything going on, I gave myself permission to be a lazy slug again. I woke up at 2, took Roxy out for a potty break, had some Cap’n Crunch All Berries cereal, then went back to bed until 6pm! And THAT ladies and gentlemen, is what a vacation is all about! When I finally got up I fed Spook and walked Roxy. Then I started doing some work around the house. My pal Jason Marsden brought some friends over for a tour of Planet Wallywood. They were a great group of guys and I think they enjoyed their tour. After they left I went upstairs to start working in my room. There were areas of my room that have needed dusting for a long time. In particular three of my display cases. I put on some nice music and started dusting. This meant I had to remove every item from my display case, dust the glass shelf, clean the items then replace them. It’s time consuming, but rewarding and creatively stimulating. One was my James Bond cabinet, which houses all of my Bond collectibles, the other was the cabinet of characters that I’ve done voices for, and the third was my anime cabinet, with all my anime characters in it. As I worked it started to pour rain. It was a nice, relaxing evening. Doing some leisurely cleaning, listening to nice music, and listening to it rain outside. But I got very hungry and was craving my traditional rainy day food…a grilled cheese sandwich, fries, chicken noodle soup and a side of ham! So I called my friend Kristy, picked her up and we went to DuPar’s for a late dinner. We finished up and then I headed back home to do some more work, four auditions, and a quick walk with Roxy in the rain. I checked on-line to find some Case Logic DVD racks. I have three of them and I love them, but I need more and I cant’ find them anywhere. I guess they’ve discontinued them. I got exhausted searching for them on-line, so I went to bed and watched another “Kojak” episode.

Friday the 8th – L.A. is for Lazy Again! – It was the perfect day to be lazy. On vacation, nothing happening, and it was raining outside. I got up around 2 and walked Roxy, checked e-mail and voicemails, then opened my bedroom window and listened to it rain while I slept some more. When I got up I made some dinner reservations at Barone’s then took a jacuzzi. I got showered and then picked up Sara for dinner. We met my friends Edi and Brittney there. It was a great dinner! I saw my pastor and his wife there, who were at Barone’s to see Patsy Meyer perform. Patsy is the percussionist in our church band. After a delicious meal, I came home and walked and fed Roxy. Then I did some work and watched another “Kojak” episode.

Saturday the 9th – SATURDAY SAINT! – I got up around 2 and worked on my niece’s Flat Stanley book. It’s almost finished and ready to send to her school. I picked up Sara to run some errands with me. We went to a bulb store to find a rare light bulb for my fiber-optic lamp. While at the store I got a really bad heartburn attack and it wouldn’t go away. I had forgotten to eat anything when I got up, and the acid was killing me! So we got some lunch and then stopped by a pharmacy and got some Gaviscon to keep in my car in case that happens again. After eating I was feeling better. We also stopped to get some grocery supplies for that night’s movie night. I got home and straightened the place up. Then we ordered food and watched an episode of “Van Dyke and Company” Dick Van Dyke’s 70’s era variety show. His guest was John Denver who sang a great song I just had to buy on i-Tunes afterwards. Though I wasn’t a fan of John’s when he was active, I’m kind of starting to “rediscover” his talents. Then we watched “Quantum of Solace,” the second to the last James Bond film in our series, then an episode of “Kojak” from 1975 starring a VERY young Sylvester Stallone! When my guests left, I cleaned up and then got ready for bed. I made a giant salad and watched a two-part episode of “The Saint” from 1966. It was amazing and I can’t wait to screen it at a future movie night. But then I remembered it was stupid Daylight Savings Time! You know, I complain about this twice a year. It’s utterly stupid, and pointless. I haven’t heard one good argument for why we’re still doing it. An American Indian philosopher put it well, (and I paraphrase), “Only the government would cut off the top of a blanket, sew it on to the bottom and try to convince you that the blanket is longer.” Exactly! And I love the argument that kids are waiting in the dark for their buses. Hey, weren’t they waiting in the dark for their buses all winter long? Why change it the last two months of the school year? The sun has been coming up at 6am and setting around 6:45. What kind of school starts before 6am and gets out after 6:45pm? There ought to be a law against this idiotic practice.

Sunday the 10 – SCREWY SUNDAY! – The leap ahead always screws me up. I slept until 2, walked Roxy and gave her and Spooky a treat, then went back to bed until it was time to get up for evening church. It was a beautiful day, and my neighbors were enjoying some time around the pool. This coming week should be gorgeous as well, and I can’t wait to start biking to NBC again! After church, Roxy and I walked home and talked to a few neighbors for awhile. One neighbor had a big, beautiful Pyranese dog named Montana. Roxy loved playing with her! My pal Amanda arrived and we headed out to dinner at Ernie’s Taco House. Edi, her daughter Ems, and my assistant Sara joined us. I even ran into my agent Sumeet at the restaurant, who said he was bringing guests to the next day’s taping of “TTS!” When I got home I took a brief nap on the couch, then did two auditions. I fed and walked Roxy and turned in early to be up for a Monday morning session for Old Navy.

And how was YOUR week?!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

(Photos Courtesy of Mark the Cop.)

Using Obi John Kenobi’s bench rest, I focus in on the bullseye of the target on the right.

After a few adjustments on the electronic sight, I fire three more rounds. Obi John locates the shots on the target to see if the adjustment was successful.

John explains that my grouping of shots are all within the circumference of a quarter, but they’re still a little off the bullseye. So another adjustment is made.