Last week on “The Tonight Show” Sergio Mendes came on the show and performed his hit “Mas Que Nada”…one of my all-time favorite songs. I loved it in “Austin Powers,” and I recently heard a local musician do a version of it when I was in Palm Springs. This song has been on my mind! And now it’ll be on yours!
Monday the 2nd – A “MARVEL”-OUS DAY! – I got up early in the morning and headed to Culver City to a studio called Station 22. It’s where we did all the voice tracks for the videogame “Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.” In the game I provided the voice for Modok, like I had in the “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” TV series. There were some extra things they needed recorded and a ton of stuff signed for charity auctions. It was great sitting there surrounded by all sorts of swag and signing my name on them. Considering I had just spent the past Saturday afternoon asking one of my childhood idols Paul Michael Glaser to sign some stuff for me, it was odd to be in the reverse situation. But I loved it! When the session was over I went over to It’s a Wrap and bought some items. Then I headed home to get ready for “The Tonight Show.” When we finished the show I headed home to do an interview with Captain Logan for his internet show. Then I headed over to Mo’s to have dinner with my pal Fred Westbrook, Andrew from Canada and his pal Peter, and a few friends from Minnesota John and Kelly. We were later joined by my friend Edi and her kids Emily and Josh. That night my friend Brittney Powell came by to do a voice-over audition.
Tuesday the 3rd – TUESDAY TERMITES!? – My homeowner’s association wanted to send the termite inspector over to my house, as they were looking at all the units to see if there was any termite damage. I tried to explain to them that the termite guy had already been to my house on the 16th and nobody had any recollection that they had been there. None of the inspectors remembered being to my house. Really? I have Batman standing at the top of my stairs! A HUGE Mike and Sulley from Monsters, Inc. in the corner. A Fembot standing over the living room. And nobody remembered? But when I got up and heard the doorbell ring I answered it, and there standing on my porch was THE SAME GUY WHO HAD BEEN TO MY HOUSE ON THE 16TH! He said, “I don’t know why they sent me here again since I’ve already been here.” WHAT? How could this have fallen through the cracks!? It wasn’t that big of a deal, but when I found out that nobody at the termite inspection company remembered being at my place, I started to think I had been scammed by a guy POSING as an inspector so he could scope out my house for a possible robbery. I was relieved when I found out that the guy really WAS a termite inspector. I’m just not sure why he hadn’t told his boss he had been there before. Maybe he wanted a reason to visit again and see some more of the collection. I went over to Voice Trax West to do some more work on the IVR project. We were into our second month, and in a few weeks we’d be taking a break as phase 1 would be over. I was ready for the break. But the job has been interesting. When that was finished I went to NBC. After “TTS,” I went over to Pickwick Bowling Center to pay the down payment for my upcoming birthday party. I sat and spoke with Bryan the manager about what I wanted to happen at the party, and who would be coming, etc. I couldn’t wait as this was a new venture for me. I had decided to stray away from renting movie theatres like I had done in the past. I was very excited to see how it would turn out!
Wednesday the 4th – WEB WOES! – My electrician Electric Bob was supposed to come over and install a new lighting system in the Chaney Room, but he called and said his wife took off with the car that had the fixtures in it. Oh well, we’d do it Saturday. My assistant Sara came over mid-afternoon as she had to wait for the internet guy to come look at my DSL. The past week I had been having trouble with my DSL connection at 11pm. Almost every night, I would lose the DSL connection at the same time. It would flutter, then come back, then flutter, then come back. It was very weird. I told them to come out and fix it or I was switching to cable. Later they told me that I had a more bandwidth that I needed and they thought it might be the cause of the problem. That’s it. I’m going with cable. Wish me luck. I hit my chiropractor’s office for an adjustment, and then off to “TTS.” I went in a little early to do a record a voice bit for the show. My friends John and Kelly came to the taping and when it was over we went to Mo’s for a bite. Then they came over and took a tour of Planet Wallywood. Later that night my masseuse came by and gave me a much needed massage!
Thursday the 5th – DREAM COME TRUE! – I got up and headed to Voice Trax West for more IVR work. Once the phone system launches I’ll fill you in on where you can hear how it all sounds. It’s going to be amazing, and we’re certainly putting a lot of work in on it! During the recording, I got a call from my agent that I had a few “TTS” scripts in my e-mail that I needed to record and e-mail in. One of them was a version of the coroner from “The Wizard of Oz.” The writer sent along the original coroner scene that I’d be parodying but I know that movie so well (it’s my ALL-TIME favorite movie!) that I really didn’t need it. I did several versions of it and sent it over. When I was nearing the end of the session I was craving chicken noodle soup. So when it was over I stopped at Panera and had soup and a sandwich. MMMM!! I got home, walked Sassie, and headed over to “TTS.” When the show taped they played the Coroner bit I had worked on. The geniuses in the art department had put my vocal over the original “Wizard” scene and it fit perfectly! What a thrill to have my voice in the original movie. And the audience loved the bit and it got a huge laugh. Not sure who the writer on it was, but the entire team at “TTS” did a terrific job…the CGI guys, the writer, the sound mixer, and the keyboardist who scored the background music under the vocal. It’s one of my favorite things on the show to this date! I got home and was wiped out, so I took a nap on the couch. My home phone rang and it was my old pal Dan Roebuck. We chatted for about an hour about all sorts of things. It was great to catch up. Then I went to Denny’s and got some food to go.
Friday the 6th – HAWALLY FIVE-O; PART 1! – For my 50th birthday today, I decided to throw a Hawaiian themed bowling party (how random is that?!) at a place called Pickwick Gardens. Instead of throwing it on Friday night, I chose Saturday night as a suitable alternative. Since I love the old “Hawaii Five-0” show and I’m turning Five-0, I thought the connection was too good to pass up. Make sure to check out the Hawally Five-0 page to see photos from the party! I started the day at Voice Trax West for another few hours of IVR, then I went to CVS to pick up a prescription. I headed home quickly to walk Sassie, then I went over to Voicecasters to do an audition for a Domino’s Pizza commercial. I had a few moments to hit a local second generation clothing place called Junk For Joy, where I found the coolest Hawaiian shirt. Then I went across the street to It’s a Wrap and got a great straw hat with a black and white band on it. I was at “TTS” when I got a notification from my bank that somebody had gotten my debit card info and was charging stuff in an unauthorized fashion. Geez…happy birthday to me! What an awful gift. So I had to spend some time during the show talking to a bank official to get it straightened out. The first guy I got didn’t sound like he knew what was going on. He admitted that it was his first day. I could tell, but he was kind enough to send me over to a supervisor. He said I should go to a local branch and get it sorted out. Meanwhile, a friend of mine at “TTS” had an original prop badge from the old “Hawaii Five-O” and let me use it for my party. He wouldn’t sell it to me since it was a family heirloom (I begged him to sell it to me!) but no dice. But at least I got to borrow it! So I wouldn’t lose it, I pinned it to my shirt and wouldn’t let it out of my sight! So after the show wrapped I went to my bank and saw my buddy Stephen Adika there with his girlfriend Jamie. I showed him my badge and he said it was cool. All the while we were sitting there waiting to talk to a bank official I kept flashing my badge at passers-by saying “Five-0. Five-0” We laughed ourselves silly. Hey, it was my birthday. I was allowed. I got everything sorted out and headed over to meet up with my friend Amanda who had come to town for the party. That night Sara, Amanda and I had gone shopping for groceries. Sara brought my mail over and in it was a gift from my friend Tony in Minnesota. His brother Jon and I were best friends in Junior High, and we loved “Star Trek,” Laurel and Hardy and collecting comics. Unfortunately Jon died unexpectedly about 5 years ago. And his collection of tens of thousands of comics sits dormant in his house with his wife and kids. I opened the package from Tony and in it were two comics (a “Star Trek” comic and a Batman comic) and a monster magazine from Jon’s collection. I was touched to the point of tears! I would treasure these always! I decided to color the black and white band on my Hawaii hat, so I spent many hours with watercolor markers coloring in the band, with helpful advice from Amanda. It turned out great!
Saturday the 7th – HAWALLY FIVE-0, Part 2! – I got up early and met up with my friend Terry. Sara would be giving us a ride to my pal Bodie’s shop so we could pick up my two Gran Torinos for my party. That day I’d be selling my first one (the technically challenged one) to my contractor and pal Terry. He has the technical know-how to give it the TLC it needs. Bodie wasn’t quite ready for us when we got there, so we went to get lunch at Burger King. I got a text from Bodie saying that they were ready, so we hightailed it back to his shop. Terry and I had a great time driving the Torinos down the street, one after the other. We called it our Torino parade. Electric Bob came over to install the lighting in the Chaney Room and it looks fabulous! The four fixtures highlights each of the four figures in the room. Then it was time to head to the party. I got cleaned up and put on my Hawaiian shirt and hat. We drove over to Pickwick and by the time we got there my buddy Nate from Star Car Central had a bunch of great TV/movie cars there! He did it as a favor for my birthday, and it was quite a surprise! I was expecting a few, but there were two Transformer cars, a Back to the Future DeLorean, a Sunbeam Tiger like Maxwell Smart’s, the ’66 Batmobile, the KITT car and of course my two Torinos. WOW! My guests were beside themselves, as was I! I had planned the party for a maximum of 200 people but figured 150 would show. All sorts of great folks showed up. Old friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. Some of “TTS” folks showed up, My pal Bruce Kulick and his girlfriend Lisa came, along with Eric Singer the drummer from KISS, Stephen Adika who played with Guns N Roses, Slim Jim Phantom from The Stray Cats, drummer Tommy Clufetos, President Ronald Reagan’s son Michael, and I saw my old pal Daran Norris (Fairly OddParents) and he kicked my ass at bowling. I’ve known Daran and his wife Mary Elizabeth since 1994 when we were all working in the Beetlejuice show at Universal. We had a great time and it was really good seeing him again! My pastor Bob Bock and his wife Peggy arrived, I also saw Dan Roebuck and many other friends and colleagues. Scream Queen Debbie Dutch was there, as was Jorge from Gun World, and many of my friends brought their kids. It was a total party atmosphere and it was a dream come true! I just wished I had more time in the evening to talk to more people. Even though the invite requested no gifts, some folks brought cards and gifts, which I appreciated. Somebody overheard somebody else talking about the party and it became the quote of the night! He said, “There’s someone here from every slice of Wally’s life! There’s a pornstar over there, a pastor over there…some kids. And a gun guy!” I thought it summed up the evening nicely. Quite a diverse group! I learned a whole new respect for physics. My bowling was very strange, but luckily I had witnesses. My first ball (I hadn’t bowled in years) was a gutter ball, but my spare was a strike! WEIRD! I had more gutter balls than not, but the oddest thing happened. And remember, I HAVE WITNESSES! The ball would leap out of the gutter and HIT THE PINS! This happened not only once, but three times total! It was VERY strange, but added to the magic of the evening! When the party was over a small group of us went to DuPar’s for some food. Though pizza and soda were served to my guests, I only had a few pieces while I was on the run, and only one soda. My throat was parched from all the talking, and I hadn’t had that much liquid during the night. So I needed to relax and decompress. It was a VERY successful party and I want to thank everyone who came and help make it special! I got home and was so mentally charged that I didn’t get to sleep until 6am!
Sunday the 8th – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! – I slept really late, but I did get up to call my mom, sister Peggy and Grandma Hazel for mother’s day. I went back to bed and slept until it was time to go to evening church. After church I went back home to take a nap on my couch. I was STILL beat! That night I did auditions to e-mail to my agent, and paid some bills. WOW! What a week!!
And how was YOUR week??!!
