April 16 – April 22 (2012) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

These are the cigars Edi and I bought for our “laying-by-the-pool-in-Palm-Springs-smoking-fat-cigars” experience. Dominican made Monte Cristo and a Romeo Y Julieta.

Though I know this song has been on “What’s Wally Humming” in the past, I don’t think I’ve posted this version. When it popped up on my i-Pad as I was watching the beautiful star-filled sky over Palm Springs, it gave me one of those magical feelings. It’s “Mad World” done by harpist Claire Hamilton! I can’t get enough of this song. It’s haunting!

Monday the 16th – HIATUS WEEK IS HERE! – I had fully intended to ride my bike to Studiopolis for my cartoon session, but I got a last minute call from my buddy Troy who writes for “The Tonight Show.” He had some time to come over and look over Planet Wallywood. I had been trying to get him over for a long time, so I told him to come by for a bit. He loved the collection. But because of my time constraints I couldn’t give him the full tour. But he’ll be back I’m sure. Since my Mustang was in the local Ford dealer getting serviced for my upcoming trip to Palm Springs, I grabbed the Gran Torino and drove over to Studiopolis for my session. When I pulled up I saw a few friends I hadn’t seen in a awhile and they were all marveling at the Torino. Plus I was on the phone with my son Zak at the time so I was very distracted. Sure enough, I got out of the car and locked my keys inside! RATS! I called AAA to come let me in, and since the car was made in 1974 it’s a bit easier to get into than the newer cars. So once he showed up, I left the cartoon session for a bit, handled the situation with the technician, and then went back inside to continue. Since we lost time, I worked a little longer to make up for it. Boy! Talk about absent minded! (By the way, I’m waiting for the go-ahead to tell you the name of the new anime cartoon I’m working on. It’s going to be awesome!) After work I distressed at Taco Bell with a few of those Doritos tacos. Then I put gas in the Torino (OUCH! Almost $100 worth!) and then I went to JoAnn’s Fabrics. I picked up some Velcro to hold up his belt, since the mannequin doesn’t have much in the hip department. I’ll have my seamstress Kathy stitch a row of Velcro to the costume all around the hips. That way the belt will remain secure on the robot and won’t slip down. I also bought some thin, black elastic to hold his glasses on. The glasses the robot is wearing are Elvis’ actual, personal glasses. Complete with the gold TCB logos on the sides, and the gold EP in the center. I bought them from a collector who purchased them from the estate of Dennis Roberts, Elvis’ eyewear designer. Since the robot is very animated, and moves his head quite a bit, I didn’t want the original glasses flying off his head and crashing to the floor. So I tied a piece of thin, black elastic into one of the holes on the sides of the glasses, looped it around the back of his head under his wig, and tied it off on the other side of his glasses. That way they’d be secure and you’d most likely never see the elastic. I got some delicious ice cream at Rite Aid, and then went to get my nose spray prescription. I got home to type up Wally’s Week and then did some work around the house. I glued one side of the Velcro to the inside of Robo-Elvis’ belt. After about 24 hours it’ll be set permanently, and then Kathy can stitch the other side of the Velcro to the jumpsuit. I had dinner with my friend Brittney Powell, then I came back home to do some auditions and do some more work around the house. Later in the evening I made some of my world infamous “Buffalo Mac” and then watched another episode of “Kojak” on DVD. Boy, for the first day of my vacation, I sure worked a lot!

Tuesday the 17th – TOO MUCH TO DO TUESDAY! –My agent called me late morning for a last-minute audition. So I recorded that in my home studio and e-mailed it right off to him. I had a hair appointment scheduled, but I had way too much stuff to do before I left town for Palm Springs that night. So I figured my time would be better spent doing other stuff. I biked to Metropolis bikes in North Hollywood, where I bought my bike originally. I just decided after two years I would have some maintenance and an inspection done. Just to make sure it was still in good operational condition. I dropped off my bike, then walked about a mile to the Ford dealer to get my car. It was a pleasant walk. On the way I found a Radio Shack and went into purchase another digital recorder. I’ve filled up about 3 so far with stories, thoughts, feelings, opinions, recollections and the like…for my descendants to listen to. I figured if they ever wanted to know what their old grandpa (or great grandpa) was like, listening to stories might give them a good indication. I would give ANYTHING to have recordings of my grandparents telling stories and offering their thoughts on certain things. I only had a little recording time left on my current unit, and I didn’t want to be on the road to Palm Springs and run out of space. When I got my car I drove home and got some bank deposits ready. Then I stopped by McDonald’s for lunch, and it was back to Studiopolis for another cartoon session. But I didn’t get out in time to hit the bank before they closed. I got home and finished up some work and started packing for my trip. I also had about 2 hours’ worth of auditions to do before I left. Sara came over around 10pm to begin housesitting, but I didn’t get on the road until 10:45, a little later than I hoped. But I made great time to Palm Springs, making it there in about an hour and 35 minutes. I stopped off at the Denny’s on the outskirts of P.S. to get some food to go. I looked at my mileage counter and it was 111 miles from my house to Palm Springs! I had just driven in on highway 111 to get to Palm Springs! 111 is a really lucky number. How cool was that! When I checked into my room at 12:45 I was very excited to be there. I had a long night planned of eating my Denny’s dinner on the balcony of my room, which was facing a beautiful mountain. The weather was absolutely perfect at about 65 degrees! I got my Cokes in glass bottles chilled, popped some microwave popcorn and sat up until 5am stargazing and enjoying the peaceful, warm evening. Now THIS is relaxin’!

Wednesday the 18th – CALM SPRINGS! – I slept really, really late and it felt really, really great! I had the Do Not Disturb sign on my room door, so the maids didn’t need to come clean. Frankly, I hadn’t been in the room long enough to get it too messy anyway. I woke up around noon and said, “What the heck. I’m on vacation!” So I slept some more. I got up mid-afternoon when my friend Edi arrived with her dog Bunny. Just then I got a call from my assistant Sara (who was housesitting) saying that DirecTV was having technical difficulties again and she wasn’t getting a signal. Why does this always happen when I leave town? I was having déjà vu from last March when I came to Palm Springs. She wasn’t having any luck talking to the numbskulls who work at DirecTV (I swear there must be an IQ test they give you to work there, and the lowest scores get the job!) Unfortunately, DirecTV has several call centers all over the world, the Philippines, Mexico and Idaho. Idaho? Finally we got somebody on the phone from Idaho and he helped her reset the system. So her DirecTV issues were resolved, and I could finally enjoy my vacation. We went downstairs to get something to eat at Happy Hour, got some beverages and hit the hot tub. It was a beautiful, warm night. Though Palm Springs can get hot during the day, the evenings are amazing. So still, peaceful, calming and dare I say…a tad bit spiritual! It’s hard to describe but if you’ve ever been there you know what I mean. We ate dinner on the patio of Ruby’s Diner, and when we were there in March we needed to sit under heat lamps. But tonight no such accommodations were needed! We walked down to Rite Aid and got some ice cream cones. What a great night for a walk! We stopped at the cigar on Palm Canyon Drive to buy some cigars and wine. We got back to the hotel and sat outside in some comfy chairs and watched people go enjoying the late evening. People are so nice there and everything is so relaxing. Even Edi’s dog Bunny seemed to be relaxed! We got tired sitting outside, so I walked Edi and Bunny to their room. I continued walking around the pool area looking at the incredible stars and enjoying the peaceful, quiet evening. I got to my room and made some popcorn, iced up a Coke and sat up all night watching stars again. In fact, I didn’t get to bed any night during my vacation before 4:30am!

Thursday the 19th – REST WELL, JONATHAN! – I got a text from my pal Scott Sebring in the morning with news that Jonathan Frid (the original Barnabas Collins from “Dark Shadows”) passed away over the weekend at the age of 87. Luckily I had the occasion to meet him several times at “Dark Shadows” conventions. He was one of my childhood heroes. All the greats are dying. And many of them this week…Dick Clark, Levon Helm…etc. Sad. Edi and I went out to do some shopping and have lunch at Maracas, a Mexican place on Palm Canyon Drive. It was a pretty hot day actually! We got some ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s and then headed back to get into the pool! We floated around in the water for a while, talking to other people who were trying to escape the heat. And at the end of the afternoon, just as the sun was starting to go down, Edi and I hit the smoking deck to enjoy our cigars. I haven’t had a cigar in about 2 years, but it was very enjoyable. And the scenery was delightful. Then we got cleaned up and headed downstairs for the street fair, which happens every Thursday evening in Palm Springs. It’s one of my favorite things to do, and I’ve established several street fair rituals. I always buy some hand-made soaps from the same vendor, I always buy lots of hand-made licorice in all sorts of flavors, I always get a bag of kettle corn, and I always buy a huge glass of home-made lemonade. YUM! People love bringing their dogs to the street fair and I always see lots of great ones. Bunny loved watching the festivities from the comfort of her carry-bag. We went to a store called Cold Nose, Warm Heart and bought some treats for Bunny. I also bought a sign for the people who are letting me adopt Roxy the collie. The sign says “DOGS WELCOME. PEOPLE TOLERATED.” Earlier in the day I walked by a t-shirt in the store that made me pretty emotional. It was a simple design on a dark navy blue t-shirt. It had a silhouette of a dog sitting and looking up at a star-filled sky. The caption read “Brightest Star.” I’m not sure why it made me so emotional, but I’m sure it had something to do with my memories of my dog Sassie, and the fact that I love to stargaze. Maybe in some section of my heart I feel that Sassie’s waiting for me on a hillside under a huge star-filled sky. Waiting for my arrival so we can enjoy looking at stars for all eternity together. Not sure. But when I walked past the shirt a second time later in the day, it gave me the same emotional reaction. I just had to buy it. In fact, it was hard to sign the credit card slip since I wasn’t really seeing so well through the mist in my eyes. The street fair was winding down so Edi and I got a pizza and sat down by the pool to look at stars and eat. We saw hawks fly over, bats soaring overhead, several shooting stars and more. It was amazing. I got up to my room and…you guessed it…made some popcorn and iced up a Coke. I sat on the balcony of my room until the wee hours, listening to relaxing music on my i-Pad. I noticed something really neat as I was stargazing. I would focus intently on a star that was near the horizon of the mountain in front of me. Slowly but surely the star would get closer and closer to the mountain. When the star got right on top of the mountain, I wouldn’t blink, but would keep staring. Pretty soon…POP! The star was gone! Right out of existence! Well, actually the earth’s movement sent the star down behind the mountain, but it was really cool watching stars disappear one by one behind the mountain. I laughed and said to myself, “ I just saw the earth turn!”

Friday the 20th – HOME, JAMES! – I got up around 11am, packed and headed out. The weather had gotten considerably warmer and I was leaving at just the right time. I had a very nice drive home and made it back by around 2:30. I grabbed my bank deposit and went to the bank to deposit some checks. Then I checked the mail at my box. Then it was right back to work! I was at Studiopolis at 4pm to do another 2 hour session for the new anime cartoon. Nothing like getting back from vacation and getting right back into work! But doing what I do isn’t really work, it’s more fun. So it’s alright! When I finished the session I went to It’s a Wrap to see if there was anything new. Then I went home to feed my cat Spook, unpack a few of my bags from the trip, and then I drove up to Lassie Land to get Roxy for the weekend. She only has one more week of training left until I get her on a permanent basis! I gave Pat and Carol the “Dogs Welcome” sign and they loved it. Roxy was running around the yard on a beautiful night while I chatted with them. But when I stood up to go, Roxy ran over to me and sat right down in front of me as if to say, “OK, let’s go. Get the leash. I’m ready!” What a great dog! When we got back I met up with Sara, did some more work around the house, continued unpacking, walked Roxy and headed for bed. I was REALLY tired, but had gotten a lot accomplished. I slept like a baby!

Saturday the 21st – GOOD TO BE BACK WITH FRIENDS! – I got up around 11, walked Roxy over to Rusty’s Pets so she could get a bath, and then drove to the Hollywood Collector Show to hang out for a bit. Though I didn’t have many autographs on my want-list, it’s always fun to hang out and see friends. I met Troy from “TTS” and showed him around. It was his first autograph show of this kind, and he was like a kid in a candy store. I introduced him to Verne Troyer, and he signed Troy’s Mini-Me standee. I stayed until 4 or so, and then went to Rusty’s to pick up Roxy. The store’s mascot Rusty, is a beautiful male collie who’s about 8 or 9. We got some great shots of them sitting together on a warm spring day. I took Roxy home, we had a quick nap then got up for movie night. I got to show everybody Robo-Elvis and they loved him! Especially my friend Larry’s daughter, who loved walking in front of the IR (infra-red) sensors and making him say things to her. When movie night was over I took Roxy for a long walk, did some more work around the house and hit the hay. I would FINALLY get to sleep in. If Roxy will let me!

Sunday the 22nd – SUNDAY IS FUNDAY! – Roxy woke me up around 10 to take a quick walk, and then I came inside and went back to bed. It felt good to sleep in. Later in the afternoon Sara picked me up and took me to Metropolis so I could get my bike. It was all checked out, realigned and readjusted. I rode it home on a BEAUTIFUL day. I got showered up and got ready for evening church. Roxy and I always sit toward the back of the room. After several weeks of this routing, Roxy is settling into it quite nicely. Now she sits quietly by my side or lays on the floor in front of me. It also helps to have a ziplock bag full of hot dog slice to keep her calm. After church I headed home, did some quick repair work to my jeans, then drove up to Lassie Land with my friend Amanda to take Roxy back for her final week of training. It was hard taking her back, as I’m getting quite attached to that little girl. But next week she’s mine for good. And all of the training has really paid off. She’s a LOT better than she was at first, and has really mellowed. Amanda and I grabbed dinner at the Coral Café. We noticed two police officers who came in to eat, and though most restaurants give police a 50% or more discount on their food, I always like to pick up the rest of their check. I instruct their server not to tell them who it was that paid it, just that it came from a grateful citizen who appreciates their service. I got home and did some auditions and e-mailed them to my agent, and got set for what was promising to be a VERY busy week!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PICS FROM THE WEEK

The great Ray Bolger’s star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars!