Wally’s Week

May 26 – June 07 (2026)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

MAN! Those were the days!!!

I’ve always loved the sound that the 70’s group Three Dog Night had going. The different vocalists, the harmonies, everything was just golden! “Family Of Man” came up on my device this past week and I was rockin’ out!

Tuesday the 26th – PACKING, PUPPETS, PREP, & MORE! – A few weeks ago I went to the U-Haul store where I’ll be renting the van to move everything over for Monsterpalooza, and bought a bunch of boxes in different sizes for the various Muppet replicas I’ll be bringing to the convention. I also bought a fair amount of bubble wrap to pack them. They have all been waiting patiently in my garage until their time to shine, so tonight I brought them all up into my living room to begin staging for the big event. I also brought up some luggage so I could start packing a few items for the weekend. I’ve got a LOT to do! But it’ll be worth it. I wrote Wally’s Week, did some auditions, took my nightly WOG (walk/jog), and continued packing.

Wednesday the 27th – ON THE ROAD! – Because one of my checking accounts had suffered some forgery and fraud recently (see last week’s Wally’s Week) I had to find a notary to notarize some paperwork to help set up my new bank account. What a pain in the neck! After I finished, I figured I deserved some nice chili cheese dogs with kraut, so I headed over to Wienerschnitzel to get some lunch. I’m currently not doing any sugar and I’m trying to do very low carbs, but those hot dogs are YUMMY! However, I’m still staying away from the fries and the banana split, which I used to enjoy with every set of hot dogs! I went over to Foam Mart to talk to Leland, one of the guys who works there. He did a beautiful job on the barrier walls that I had fabricated for the Monsterpalooza exhibit. However, as I was readying them for transport, the blocks of rigid foam that he used as stands had just popped right off. So the glue he used to attach the rigid foam blocks to the back of the walls wasn’t very good at all. I wanted to ask him what I should do, as the show is two days away! He showed me the glue he used and said it’s very, very expensive. It’s odd that it wouldn’t have worked a little better, being so costly. But he said to get some good old-fashioned white glue and that should do the trick. So I went across the street to Hobby Lobby to grab some. While I was there I also bought some suitable fabric for a sash I’m having made for the upcoming Laurel & Hardy convention in San Diego. I want to have Alex In Wonderland make a replica sash (as seen in the “Sons Of The Desert” movie) that I can wear at the convention. It doesn’t need to be a bang-on replica, but just something that suggests the sashes that were worn in the film. I headed back home and started working on the Muppet exhibit for Monsterpalooza. I printed some packing lists, did some packing – it was all VERY exciting! I also heard from my daughter Lacey that their family was on the road to L.A. and everything was going well! I rested for a bit, and then kept on packing. Then I started packing up all the puppets in their individual boxes. It was WILD! My living room was filled with puppets, boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and tools! Doing this exhibit is MUCH more work than doing the Roger M00re exhibit from last year, but it’ll be worth it! I didn’t take a WOG tonight because I was much too tired! Tomorrow’s the big day!

Thursday the 28th – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 1! SET UP DAY! – My eyes shot open early in the morning because I was too excited to sleep. Joe and Zandra Pendleton texted me to say they were on their way and should arrive just before noon so we can go get the moving van we’re renting to haul everything to the convention. They arrived, parked their car, and hopped in the Grey Ghost. We drove to the U-Haul facility and gave them our information. Then Joe and Zandra hopped in the van and followed me to my house. At first I didn’t think the van was going to be big enough to hold all the stuff we needed to take over, but Joe assured me that he had driven one of these babies before, and they had PLENTY of room! He was right, too. We got everything loaded, and still had a little room to spare! I put some stuff in the Grey Ghost as well, including my travel bags. We hit the road and got over to the Pasadena Convention Center. Joe and Zandra arrived just before I did. Because of the layered dynamic of my exhibit, we had to load in from back-to-front. This meant that the first thing to go in was the backdrop and the backdrop frame. I learned from last year NOT to load everything in first, and THEN set up. It made the area very cluttered, and it made set-up very difficult. So we just loaded in what we needed piece by piece. I assembled the backdrop frame and attached the backdrop. I found the power outlets and tied into it with a strip. Luckily Joe had brought an extension cord! Then I stood it up and set up the light that would backlight the portrait of Jim Henson that was in the backdrop’s design (brilliantly designed by my pal Scott Sebring!). Once that was up, we brought in the back platform and the puppets that would be displayed on it. Luckily I had pre-assembled all the platforms at the house, and we transported them to the convention that way – so there wasn’t any assembly to do once we got there. It was a little more difficult to transport them like that, but well worth it! The puppets on the back were Super Grover, Frogenstein (Kermit dressed as the Frankenstein monster, and Herry Monster. There was a considerable amount of work to do posing the armature wires that would keep Super Grover in his “ready-to-take-off-and-fly” pose, but it went well. I’m SO glad I did a dry run of everything at my house a few weeks ago so I could anticipate any problems. Frogenstein went up very well, as did Herry. So…it was on to the middle platform. We also brought in Oscar in his trashcan, Gonzo, Rizzo, Mahna Mahna, Gleep aka Green Grover, and Animal. They all set up relatively well, but getting Animal posed perfectly took a little bit of time. It was already looking amazing! In order to make the exhibit interactive, I kept Mahna and Gleep loose on their display rods and didn’t attach them down. This would allow me to step behind the barrier wall at any time, grab a puppet and do some impromptu performing for anyone who might be interested. Then it was onto the front platform. Last year during set-up, it was really, really hot. The convention center didn’t want to have to air condition the entire place just for 100 vendors who were setting up, so it was a good thing I dressed coolly! But this year they also decided to keep the lighting very low, to prevent it from becoming too hot. I appreciated their efforts, but it made setting up fairly difficult. It was hard to see the details of the exhibit that needed attention. The front platform was brought in along with Cookie Monster, the Count, the Bat Pack (the 3 bats I had made that each bore the names of my grandchildren), and Beautiful Day. Those were fairly easy to set up, but once all the platforms were set up and ready, I had to adjust their placement. Some of the characters in the front platforms were blocking some of the characters on the back platforms. I made sure that each of the platforms had varying heights to try and prevent this, but they just needed to be moved a few inches from side to side to accommodate this issue. Luckily my neighbor who had exhibit space next to mine is my good friend Kelly Delcambre, and he wouldn’t have cared if I had to skootch over a smidge here and there. We also decided to move Oscar the Grouch a little more forward, and the picture was complete! Then we bought in the faux brick barrier walls and set those up, and everything was picture perfect. Except for the fact that when I re-glued the rigid foam stand onto the back of the walls, I got them switched accidentally. Oops! I was in such a rush to get everything ready I hadn’t paid much attention to it. Luckily Leland and Foam Mart had a booth at Monsterpalooza, so Leland said he would come rebuild them and fix my mistake early the next day. Whew! But because the lighting was so dim in the museum room, I would have to come in the next day when the lighting was better to do the detail work. We were essentially done, so Joe and Zandra headed across the street to the Yard House restaurant to get a table for dinner, while I pulled the Grey Ghost from the convention center parking lot into the hotel parking lot, and checked into my room. I joined them for dinner and we had yummy steaks (we deserved it after all that work!). We were joined by my pal Amanda who was in town and wanted to stop by and say hi. After dinner I headed back to the hotel, put away my clothes and belongings, and started planning for the next day – which was going to be VERY exciting!

Friday the 29th – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 2! DAUGHTER DAY! – When I went over to the exhibit early in the day it was completely dark! So much for doing last-minute detail work on the puppets! Luckily I remembered I had brought along my headlamp in my tool bag, so I grabbed it. This allowed me to spritz some of the puppets’ hair, tweak their poses, and just do a thing they call “last looks” in the movie industry. That little headlamp SAVED the day! I got back to my room to do a private signing for my friend DahVeed who owns Toyzilla toys. He wanted me to sign 100 of the new Renji Abarai Funko Pops that had just recently been released. I hadn’t signed any of these yet, so he did a live stream to commemorate the moment. The guys came up to certify the signature, and then I was on my way back to the show for final tweaks – just a mere hour before opening! When I got back to the exhibit I was shocked and amazed! The lighting pros had lit up the exhibit marvelously. It looked terrific! There was a little overhead light that was shining on the display, but they installed really cool flat lighting panels just behind the barrier wall that weren’t visible to the public. They projected the lighting up on the puppets from down below – PERFECT “monster” lighting! They looked great! We were now officially ready to open! I did a few last-minute tweaks and went over to the hotel lobby to meet my gal Angi. As I was walking her up to the top level in the parking garage, we ran into the genius actor/composer Paul Williams! I told him I was coming to his table to have him sign my “Muppet Movie” vintage one-sheet poster. What a nice guy! Angi and I headed over to the convention, which was now open for business! It was great fun seeing friends and chatting. It was also wonderful seeing so many people enjoy the exhibit. There was one guy who asked specific questions about the exhibit, and even asked “Why do the bats each have name plaques?” I told him that the bats bore the names of my grandchildren who would be visiting this weekend. One of my favorite things to do was to stand back and observe people as they rounded the corner and saw 15 Muppet replicas all gathered together. Their reactions made me smile. It was also fun watching what they were focusing on when they took pictures on their phone. The star far and away was Frogenstein! They loved him! I took my vintage “Muppet Movie” one-sheet poster over to Paul Williams’ table and had a remarkable interaction. He asked, “Is it OK if I sign it ‘Someday we’ll find it…?’” I immediately went into my Kermit the Frog impression and answered back with a musical “…the Rainbow Connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me.” He said, “WOW! Your Kermit the Frog is PERFECT! Can I write that?” Taken aback I said, “Sure! That would be great!” I told him about the exhibit. Then I told him the whole story about me wanting to be a Muppet performer when I was 20, and sending in a videotaped audition (in which I utilized all of my homemade Muppet replicas I had fabricated with my mom) to Henson Associates in New York. But instead of getting a job offer back in the mail, it was a Cease and Desist! They were shutting me down! Mr. Williams, as well as the rest of his line, were listening to my story and laughing at my jovial recollections. So at least I got to provide him with some comedy! But WOW! What a compliment! Back in the museum, one of the volunteer show controllers told me how much she always loved Oscar, and that seeing him in person was thrilling (even though he wasn’t the real one). I told her to get her phone out, and I stepped behind the barrier wall, grabbed the Grouch and did some performing for her. All the other cameras came out to capture the moment as well, and it was a dream come true! If I do another exhibit for the Monsterpalooza museum, I definitely want to make it interactive somehow. It was magical! And Payson (that was her name) really loved it! Angi and I went back to the hotel to ask a question about something, and as I was standing there I heard a voice to my right saying, “Complaining again, huh?” I wasn’t complaining at all, so I thought that was odd. I looked to my right at the lady standing next to me, and I tried to place her face. In a split second my mind immediately went to “is this gal a make-up artist I know?” Then, I realized it was my eldest daughter Lacey…she made it!!! I gave her a hug and introduced her to Angi and the gal behind the front desk at the hotel. Lacey said her husband and the kids were exhausted and I’d see them tomorrow, but Lacey was ready to go check out the convention for a little bit. She was tired, but she was running on pure adrenaline and excitement about the convention! We went over and got her wristbands, and headed in. The first thing I wanted to do was take her to the museum and show her the bats with the kids’ names on them! She loved it! We did some looking around and shopping, but she was running low on energy. I walked her back to the hotel and told her to get some sleep. By then the show was shutting down anyway, so I turned off the Henson light in my exhibit, and Angi and I headed to the hotel bar to get some food. Whew! What an amazing day!

Saturday the 30th – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 3! GRANDKIDS! – As I was getting ready in my room in the morning, I had some music playing from my phone on a Bluetooth device. As I always say, “God is my D.J.!” And it’s true! The most random songs always come up to underscore specific moments in my life! First, “Monster Mash” popped up on my phone, followed by the 1984 song “Tenderness” by General Public. As Lacey would have been 1 and a half years old when that song came out, she and I would always dance around to that song. Amazing. And now here she was in L.A. 42 years later! I went over to the convention to turn on the Henson light and get set up for the new day. Once the show opened to the public, I pulled Oscar out of his can and did a little performing for a kid who was interested in puppeteering. I really do love the interactive quality of the exhibit! Then, Lacey texted me to let me know she and the family were heading down from their room, so I headed over to the hotel to greet them. My 8 year old granddaughter Natalie was dressed as “The Little Pale Girl” from the “Terrifier” movies…which was appropriate because the actress who played that character in the movie was at the show signing autographs! My grandsons Devin and Elliot came off the elevator as well, as did my son-in-law Andy. The gang was all here! Fabulous! After a lot of hugs and chatter, we walked over to the convention. Natalie met Amelie McLain, who played the character that Natalie was cosplaying. Since the movie is not really suitable for an 8 year old girl, Natalie has only seen clips. But she thought it would be a great character to cosplay, so Lacey bought her the costume. Amelie couldn’t have been nicer, and she even took a selfie with Natalie for her OWN social media site! Natalie had a blast meeting her! And being 17 and very attractive, my 15 year old grandson definitely took notice! He quietly said, “Wow. She’s really beautiful!” We walked around the convention and took in the sights. I had a great time introducing them to my Monsterpalooza friends. They all enjoyed learning that Lacey is an autopsy tech back in Sioux Falls, and while we’re surrounded by fake brains and bones at the convention, Lacey deals with the real thing every day! Lacey’s entire family is very artistic, so my grandson Devin really wanted to meet a specific artist at the show whom he followed on-line. The artist is known as Meat Canyon. But his line was continually very long, so we went to get lunch in hopes that when we returned his line wasn’t quite so long. My pals Sara Raftery and Chris Malmin also came to the show, and it was the first time meeting the grandkids. Chris was doing a cosplay of Peter Criss from KISS, and he looked fabulous. When we went to the hotel restaurant to get lunch, actress Lin Shaye was at a nearby table. So was Lori Petty – both were taking a break from signing at the show. But all of a sudden in walks rock legend Alice Cooper (who was also taking a break from signing) and he took a table about 50 feet from us. WOW! He looked at us and nodded hello. What a cool guy! We headed back to the convention and Elliot purchased a 3D printed helmet of Master Chief from the videogame “Halo.” I told him that Steve Downes, the voice of Master Chief, would soon be a guest at our children’s cancer charity “Voices Against Cancer” in Sioux Falls in a few weeks, and he should get the helmet signed! Luckily, a friendly show controller informed me that Meat Canyon would be leaving early. I phoned Lacey and told her to skedaddle over to Meat Canyon’s booth immediately so Devin could meet him before he took off. Thankfully they arrived just in time, and the show controller got us in line (even though she had previously capped the line to all others). Whew! Devin got to show his hero his sketch book of art, and Meat Canyon (real name is Hunter) was VERY complimentary and encouraging. He signed a poster for Devin and we were on to the next thing. I could tell that Devin was happy to get the validation. Almost like his Grandpa having his Kermit the Frog impression validated by the guy who wrote “The Rainbow Connection,” eh? I stepped back into the museum and noticed a little girl staring at the puppets. I asked her if she liked puppets and if she would like to meet one of them. I pulled Beautiful Day off his display rod and her mom started recording. The little girl was playing along wonderfully, chatting with B.D. like he was her long-lost friend. It was hilarious. Then she started telling him that there were monsters and ghosts all around. Beautiful Day started quaking in fear…”M-m-m-monsters? G-g-g-ghosts?” She was laughing at the fact that he WAS a monster, but yet he was scared of them. It’s a little bit I stole from the famous “Monster At The End of The Book” story. I also performed a little bit with Mahna Mahna, as the rest of the people present would answer back with the obligatory “Doot doo, da doo doo!” What great fun! A few months ago, long before they sold out, Lacey had purchased a photo op ticket with David Howard Thornton who would be appearing in character as Art the Clown from the “Terrifier” films. Thankfully David’s manager Bob said it would be OK for the entire family to be in the photo! The grandkids absolutely loved seeing their name plaques on the Bat Pack in the museum exhibit, and we kept going around the convention until it closed at 6pm. We cleaned up a little bit and then headed over to the Yard House to get some dinner. What a day! The kids were all recounting all of the cool stuff that they saw at the convention. This was a dream come true. It’s odd to think that my first visit to L.A. happened in 1976 when my family came out for a vacation…50 years ago! And now my grandson Elliot is 15 and is visiting L.A. for the first time. I just wonder if the visit will have the same life-changing impact on him that it did with me. Only time will tell. I walked them back to the hotel and they all turned in for the night. As their body clocks are all set on Central time, it was pretty late for them. But for me? It was time for our traditional “cigar circle” outside of the hotel. This is where several of my monster pals sit around and smoke cigars and talk about monsters, movies, Laurel & Hardy, and more. Great fun! I came back inside, packed up some stuff for my Sunday exit, showered, and hit the hay!

Sunday the 31st – MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 4! THE LOADOUT! – The gang and I met up for lunch in the hotel restaurant, but unfortunately we weren’t joined by any celebrity diners. Once we ate we headed to the convention to enjoy the final day. It had been quite the weekend! Toward the end of the day Joe and Zandra arrived with the U-Haul van and looked around the convention a little bit. When the convention closed at 6pm we got busy breaking everything down to haul it away. Now that the show was over, Joe disassembled all of the platforms for easy transportation home. He could always use the wood for other purposes. I removed the puppets from the display rods, packed them in the boxes, while Joe and Zandra carted everything to the van and packed it up. It took us about an hour and a half to break everything down and get packed up. As I was heading to the Grey Ghost to take my leave, I noticed that actress Lin Shaye was with her manager loading stuff up, and Lin was leaning slightly on my car. As I walked up she apologized for leaning on my car, and said she didn’t scratch it. I said, “If you did, I’d make you sign it. It would be a great story!” She laughed and we talked about the weekend’s festivities and compared notes. I told her I had the Muppet exhibit in the museum and she replied that she really loved it. She had met Jim Henson a few times in her travels, and said the experience was magical. Then she said, “You kind of remind of me Jim.” WOW! Nicer words I have never heard! I headed toward home and Joe and Zandra were close behind in the U-Haul van. We unloaded the barrier wall in my garage, and we took the boxes of puppets inside to my living room. Then we headed to Little Toni’s to get some food. We were all exhausted, but happily so. I got back home, went inside, cleaned up, and passed out. What an amazing experience. It was only just beginning. I had a HUGE week ahead of me!

Monday the 1st – GET POPPED! – The family met me at the Funko store in Hollywood. Angi soon joined us as well, and we all got “popped.” This means that you can get custom Funko Pops made of yourself by simply picking out various pieces on a kiosk. It’s quite brilliant, actually. I had one made of me a while back, but this time Angi got a two figure set of her and I. But unlike last time, the computer kiosk refused to accept the word “Wally” – citing that it was a bad word. What? I know in the U.K. the term Wally is used in a certain way, but my U.K.-native son-in-law Andy confirmed that it’s really not that bad. Oh well. The attendant at the counter said to spell it a different way, and she would correct it on her end before they assembled the piece. Strange! I guess I’m a naughty word! Lacey and the gang had a great time selecting all of their characteristics for their custom pop. Then we looked around the store while the staff worked away at finishing up the process of building our customs. I found the new Renji Funko Pop and proudly showed the kids that grampa’s character had a new Funko that was just released. I also made friends with Sebastian the manager, who was able to find me a few Riddler Pops that I am going to sign for our Voices Against Cancer charity event in a few weeks. Turns out he was a big fan of The Riddler in the “Arkham” games. We enjoyed an outdoor lunch in Hollywood at Chicken Guy restaurant, and then we went across the street to Amoeba Records, a huge physical media store in Hollywood that’s legendary. I picked up a new CD of the “Epic: Elvis Presley In Concert” soundtrack, and Lacey found a vinyl release of her favorite band Sleep Token. Then, I took Devin and Natalie, the two youngest grandkids, off to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Lacey, Andy and Elliot headed to the Museum of Death further into Hollywood. As an autopsy tech she was curious about the museum, but we figured it probably wasn’t appropriate for the two youngest members of our crew. So we went over to the wax museum to have some fun. Besides, Devin is very interested in sculpting, so I wanted him to see the amazing sculptures in the museum. When we were done I took the kids to their hotel to meet up with Lacey, Andy and Elliot. Then I headed home to start getting my house in order. It looked like a disaster area after returning from the weekend at Monsterpalooza. I had a lot of work to do! I napped for a bit, did my nightly auditions, and put all of my Muppet replicas back in their rightful display space. Since Herry Monster was the new addition, I hadn’t had time to install a display rod for him yet. I buy these neat little flanges that will hold a 1” diameter flag pole, and you can tilt them in any direction you want with a thumbscrew. But mounting it posed a problem. The screws just pulled right through the drywall. I put in some wall anchors, but they were weak and pushed right through the drywall. Then I got out some monster wall anchors, and those worked really well. FINALLY! Third time’s the charm. By the time I hit the hay I was exhausted! And tomorrow was Universal Studios day!!

Tuesday the 2nd – THE OLD STOMPIN’ GROUNDS! – Lacey and the gang headed to Universal Studios early, but I told them I would meet up with them later. They wanted to do the Harry Potter area, but I wasn’t that interested (having not seen any of the films), so I told them I’d join up with them for lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon with them. I parked, had my pass scanned (which Lacey was kind enough to pre-purchase for me) and walked into the park. I hadn’t been there in years, and the place had really changed. And it was REALLY different from when I used to work there about 30 years ago doing Beetlejuice! In fact, if it hadn’t been for a few still-standing landmarks, I would have been totally lost! It was THAT different! I walked in and saw one of the park’s actors dressed in an old-fashioned policeman’s uniform. I said hello, and he said hello back. Shortly after that I felt him come up behind me…pacing me. He said, “What are we doing in the park today?” I told him my daughter’s family was visiting from South Dakota and I would be joining them for the afternoon. He said, “Are we celebrating anything special?” I told him, “No, just being together. You won’t believe this but I used to work here 30 years ago.” He said, “I know. Doing a certain ‘ghost with the most,’ right?” How did he know I used to be Beetlejuice. Amazing! I told him he was right, and he must have remembered me from working there. He also confided in me that he was a fellow Sons Of The Desert member! He said, “If you need anything, just ask for Officer Lansky!” I hadn’t been at Universal Studios for 10 minutes, and already my day was made! I found Lacey’s crew in the Harry Potter area, and we decided to have lunch in the Harry Potter restaurant. I marveled at the architecture of the place, which was amazing. I asked Andy if they really had places like this in the U.K. and he confirmed that they absolutely did! The lunch was delicious and then we moved on to the Simpsons ride. Then it was time to take the studio tour. A lot of stuff I loved and remembered had been removed from the tour, which was too bad. Lacey remembered the King Kong ride boasting a huge animatronic King Kong that she loved. But now it’s just a movie that you watch while the track bumps and shimmies underneath you. Not quite as impressive, sadly. In fact, a lot of the tour’s charm has gone away. But when we saw the “Jaws” section of the tour, the tour guide mentioned that the ride is now 50 years old, as it opened in 1976. I told my grandson Elliot that I was here that summer, and saw it then. Unreal. Now HE’S 15 years old, experiencing L.A. for the first time. Funny how things work out. We all went on the Jurassic World ride, and we all got soaked. It’s a LOT wetter than it used to be. Unfortunately Natalie didn’t like the final plunge and she was a bit frazzled from it. But I was amazed at something called the Raptor Encounter, which features a person in a VERY realistic raptor costume interacting with the park guests. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, trying to figure out how they did it. We went to Nintendo World, which I had very little interest in. So I just sat on one of the mushroom stools while the gang went to do some rides. I just sat there and people watched. It was quite fun. We went to the section devoted to the films made by Illumination, which contained a water park and a delightful Minions ride from “Despicable Me.” Then it was over to Miceli’s restaurant to get some dinner, and we were joined by my assistant Emily and my pals Mark & Connie. What fun! After dinner I bid them all goodnight, and headed home to work again. I still had a few things to do before the house is ready for the big tour tomorrow!

Wednesday the 3rd – LUNCH, LAYING LOW, & LAUNDRY! – Everyone was pretty exhausted from the previous day, so we took it easy. My pal Jim Ojala gave everyone a tour of his effects studio, and they all enjoyed seeing how make-up effects are created. Lacey, being an autopsy tech, exchanged numbers with Jim in case he needed her opinion on creating realistic brains, bones & wounds! We had lunch at Ernie’s Taco House, and then headed to my house for the big tour. It was so amazing showing Lacey my house for the first time, and showing the grandkids the collection. Devin responded, “WOW! This is a collector’s dream!” That it is, kiddo. Lacey said they needed to do some laundry so I offered my washer and dryer for their needs. It gave us the chance to sit around the house and chat, which was really nice. That evening we all had dinner at Paty’s with my pal Ruben Procopio, legendary animator for Disney and Warner. My two grandsons are quite interested in drawing and animation, so Ruben had some great advice for them. They sat around the table sketching and chatting. What a night! Then I headed home, picked up my pre-packed overnight bag, and headed to the Hilton Garden Inn in Anaheim. I wanted to spend the night close to Disneyland so I could be there first thing in the morning for our day at Disney, without having to deal with morning traffic. I got to the hotel, showered, and collapsed!!

Thursday the 4th – DISNEY DAY! – My good pal Sergio Lopez met me at the hotel and we enjoyed breakfast before starting the day. He’s worked at Disneyland for a long time, so he was our escort through the park for the first part of the day. We met up with Lacey and the gang around 8:30am. The first thing I wanted to show the gang was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, because I wanted them to hear grampa in the auction section of the ride. Unfortunately, the ride was closed for refurbishment…which is odd for early summer. Don’t they do refurbishment in the off-season? Rats! Oh well. We went to the Haunted Mansion and had a great time. I was a little worried about 8 year old Natalie, given that she had a slightly difficult time on the Jurassic World ride, so we rode together on the Doom Buggy. She was utterly charmed by the ride and had a great time! We headed over to the Tiana ride and got in line. But just as we got ready to load on the ride, it broke down. Quite a bummer given that we had stood in line for about 45 minutes! We waited another 20 minutes and when the ride still wasn’t working, we exited. Double rats! We walked over to the Smuggler’s Run ride and got in line. Seeing a giant Millennium Falcon was impressive! Getting on the ride itself, and getting to lounge around for a bit in the central part of the Falcon was like being on the movie set! Amazing! The ride is very impressive and we all had a great time. It was time for lunch, so we ate at the barbecue restaurant and relaxed. It was pleasant watching the pirate boat and the riverboat cruise by lazily on the water. Plus, the sun was starting to come out after a hazy “June Gloom” morning. But we hadn’t done any “princess” stuff yet for Natalie, so I suggested we go to Fantasy Land. We saw a marching band parade by, and we stopped to enjoy the music. Natalie got some Sleeping Beauty Mickey ears, and she was elated when Sleeping Beauty waved at her in the parade and pointed to her ears! Core memory made! The gang went on the Dumbo ride, and we all went on the Snow White ride. But I found that the signs which posted the current wait times were a bit deceiving. A 25 minute wait was more like a 45 minute wait! We did a LOT of standing in line. We headed over to the Wishing Well, which Lacey (a long-time Snow White fan) used to really love as a little girl. The well is still there, but it no longer sings – which Lacey was disappointed by. Then we headed over to Star Tours, which was amazing. The last time I had been on it Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens was doing the voice of the pilot robot. But the ride is completely different now, and it features C3PO accidentally piloting the ship. It also features an encounter with Darth Vader and Boba Fett, and even features appearances by Yoda and Admiral Ackbar! It was great to see the legacy characters in this ride! Impressive! Most impressive! It was getting late in the afternoon, and Andy wanted to ride the train around the park to have a look. But while the posted wait time for the train was 10 minutes, it took more like 50. What was going on?! After that ride I said my farewells. They continued onto California Adventure, and I hit the freeway to head home. I got back home around 7:30pm and was exhausted. I napped for a bit.

Friday the 5th – FOR THE “PIER” ENJOYMENT OF IT ALL! – One of the things the gang really wanted to do was to swim in the ocean. My pal Mark suggested that the best place for that would be the Santa Monica pier. There were restaurants, rides, games, and of course, the majestic Pacific Ocean! By the time I arrived the gang had already staked out a place on the beach and was having a great time in the surf! I bought a blanket from a passing vendor and put it on the sand next to Lacey’s. This was one of my favorite days so far. While the kids frolicked in the water with their dad, I got a good chance to just sit with my eldest daughter and chat – something we hadn’t had the chance to do so far in the trip. It was great! We saw a nearby couple with their cat on a leash, but the cat was NOT enjoying the beach experience at all. He kept wanting to jump into the lap of his mom. He didn’t like the sandy ground at all! Lacey laughed when I said, “C’mon kitty. This is the world’s largest litter box. Enjoy!” Lacey spotted a hawk eating a pigeon on the beach. Ugh. But it was getting late in the day, so we went onto the pier to get lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I told them I’d meet them later at the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre for our final excursion before the left L.A. on Saturday morning. I drove home and got cleaned up for the “Choo Choo Revue” show at Bob Baker. I drove to Highland Park to meet them, and they had come directly from the beach! They didn’t have time to get back to their hotel to change clothes. But they were enjoying themselves nonetheless! During the pre-show the host pointed me out as the “voice of the theatre” and introduced me to the rest of the audience. That was REALLY nice! After the show (it was my second time seeing it) Alex Evans, the head of the theatre, gave us a tour of the backstage area, and he gave the kids a personal puppeteering lesson. They were having a great time working the puppets, though some of the bigger ones were quite heavy for them. What an amazing day. What an amazing week! One for the books!

Saturday the 6th – FAREWELL…BUT NOT FOR LONG! – Angi and I got up early so we could see the gang off at their hotel in Universal City. They had planned on driving for three days to get back to Sioux Falls, but they were missing their fur babies so badly that they decided to buckle down and make it back home in TWO days! They had a few long days of road time ahead of them! I’ll be seeing them in a week when I go to Sioux Falls for our Voices Against Cancer children’s cancer charity event – the 605 Pop Culture Con! I’ll be leaving Wednesday and staying for about 5 days. After we said our goodbyes I got some groceries and put some gas in the Grey Ghost. When I got back I met up with the maids so they could clean Planet Wallywood. I grabbed a short nap, and then I went to my stylist Andie’s salon to get a touch-up on my color. I picked up a few more grocery items that I had forgotten earlier, and then I went home to work on some paperwork for the people investigating the fraud and forgery that recently occurred with my checking account. Completely spent, I took a nap. I got up and went outside to start my WOG (walk/jog) routine again. It was nice to be back out! But given the amount of walking I had done the past week, I probably walked about 40 miles in total! The nighttime weather was warm and breezy, so after my WOG I spent some time in the anti-grav chair in a state of gratitude, reflecting on the amazing week I just had. I enjoyed an iced tea and a nice cigar. Then I went inside to do some work around the house. As it was the first Saturday of the month, it was time for my monthly “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” ritual. I watched two films – “Helpmates,” and “Towed In A Hole,” both amazingly funny films! I also watched the commentaries for both films. It was relaxing, funny, and pleasant!

Sunday the 7th – BACK AT IT – FOR A FEW DAYS, ANYWAY! – I had been looking forward to my normal “comatose Sunday” for several days. I took full advantage of having nothing to do and relaxed, rested and refreshed. I kept working on the bank paperwork and prepped all my stuff for the new week. I had to cram a lot of stuff into Monday and Tuesday before I leave for Sioux Falls on Wednesday. Later I did a few auditions, took my WOG, and hit the hay.

LIFE IS WONDERFUL!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

All the puppets are boxed up and ready to roll for Monsterpalooza!

Friday afternoon in my hotel room I did a private signing of the new Renji Funko Pops for my pals at Toyzilla!

It’s time to put on make-up! It’s time to light the lights! The convention center staff lit up the Muppet monsters with amazing “monster” lighting effects!