RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Nowadays you can’t have cartoons from different studios pictured together because of rights issues. But back in the 1960s TV Guide created a remarkable two-page illustration which featured many of the famous cartoon characters of the day all pictured together. This piece is absolute MAGIC!
Though Vince Gill had a successful career as a country singer, and now he’s playing with The Eagles, he once had a band called The Pure Prairie League. They had a hit in 1980 called “Let Me Love You Tonight,” and it’s been on my mind. Great stuff!
Monday the 17th – PHASE 2 IS COMPLETE! – An email came in that said I had some packages at my box, so I sped over there and picked them up. One package contained a great Spock tunic I recently bought. Though it’s XXL I’m going to have it tailored to fit me, much like the Kirk tunic I bought a week ago. Not only will my pal Kathy Pillsbury tailor the two tunics to fit, but she’s also making me a new set of Star Trek pants. Not sure when/where I’ll wear them, but it’ll nice to have some ready to go if needed. My computer guy Thor came over for ‘phase 2’ of my new computer installation. There’s SO much to do when you get a new computer! We still have a fair amount of stuff to do before it’s totally complete, but a lot less than what we had before. Little by little we’ll get it all perfected. Sometimes with this process, it seems like 1 step forward and 3 steps back! I drove over to Alex in Wonderland to pick up some pants she altered for me, and to pick up my altered Herry Monster Muppet replica. She rounded the top of the head just a bit and now he looks PERFECT! I always say it, and it’s never not true – when making these replicas, it’s weird how as little as 1/16th of an inch can make all the difference between inaccurate and spot-on! I chatted for a long time with Alex and her husband Mike. I came home to relax for a bit, and then I did my nightly WOG (walk/jog). As it was a gorgeous, warm night – I spent some cool-down time outside in the anti-gravity chair and I enjoyed an iced tea and a nice cigar. I came back inside to do some auditions, worked around the house a little bit, and then I turned in. It’s going to be another really busy week ahead!
Tuesday the 18th – MERCH MADNESS! – My friend Edi Lurie handles all of the merch for her husband Elliot Lurie (the singer/songwriter of the mega-hit “Brandy”) and she had an idea for a new shirt they wanted to sell. It features the original 45rpm label of the song. She came over so we could scan the record she had, and then we loaded that up to a flash drive. Then we drove to Hobby Lobby to pick up some awesome stone-washed “vintage-y” t-shirts they sell. They had 16 left and I told Edi to buy all of them. They came in a variety of sizes. Then we took them to her printer and put the order in to have the shirts printed with the 45 label we just scanned. He said they’d be ready by Thursday, just in time for her and Elliot to leave for their weekend gig. We hit Ernie’s Taco House for lunch, and then came back to my house to shoot a quick “teaser” video that she could post to promote the forthcoming shirts. She took off and I did some work around the house. I drove over to Michaels crafts to pick up a newly framed “Groovie Goolies” cel (the old frame I had it in started peeling and cracking), and it turned out very nice. I picked up some groceries and got home just after sunset. As I was about to close my garage I noticed an orange glow in the sky. I went outside to get a closer look. At first I thought it was a drone, but it was too fast for that. The object had an oblong orange glow behind it, and then it turned and went almost out of sight. But soon after I could see the lighted down traveling up, up, up and out of sight. I think I saw a rocket launch! Come to find out Space X DID have a rocket launch around that time as it was launched further up the coast at Vandenberg Air Force Base. WILD! I went inside to do some work, recorded some auditions, and then rested for a bit. Later I did my WOG, spent some time in the anti-grav chair, and came back inside to type out Wally’s Week!
Wednesday the 19th – GUESTS AND GUY! – After some last-minute cleaning up around the house (my house was still pretty chaotic from my post-Chicago madness) I headed to Paty’s to meet up with fellow Voice Actor Jon Bailey and his girlfriend Hunter. We talked about puppets and some upcoming projects. It was a gorgeous summer night out; just perfect dining weather! Then they came over to tour Planet Wallywood. After they left I did my nightly auditions, and worked a little bit on my Guy Smiler replica Muppet. I’m getting his mouth plates finished and installed into the head that was made by Alex In Wonderland. When I’m done I’ll take him back to her so she can add the neck and cover the entire head with fleece. Then I’ll put his eyes, hair and eyebrows on, and from that I’ll construct his body. EXCITING! I relaxed for a bit, and then did my nightly WOG, spent another great summer evening outside in the anti-grav chair, and did some work around the house before bed.
Thursday the 20th – ROAD TRIP!!!! – At the upcoming Galaxy Con in San Jose, Dave Goelz of the Muppets will be appearing and signing autographs! I’ve always wanted to meet Dave, as he’s the last original Muppet performer from the main cast who is STILL at it! He does Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, and more. I talked my pal Mark Fullerton into going with me for the weekend, so he came over so we could make our airplane and hotel reservations. But he came up with a genius idea…why not just DRIVE?! It made perfect sense as I’m fairly sick of air travel of late. The debacle coming out of Hartford, and the 3 hour delay coming out of Chicago has left me weary. But he said the drive to SJ would be along the coastline and it sounded amazing! So we skipped the airline and made our reservations for our rooms at a hotel in San Jose. We also got on-line and bought our tickets to the convention. This will be the first convention in a long time where I haven’t been a guest or a signer! I’m just going as a fan…just like the good ol’ days! I’m actually now VERY excited for this trip! We headed over to Barone’s to grab lunch, and then I came home to do some more work on Guy Smiley. The puppet didn’t have a very full range of mouth movement though. The real puppet’s mouth opens almost a full 45 degrees. He has to have a big mouth…he’s a gameshow host! So I moved a few things around to make sure I had the full range of mouth movement. I removed the thumb loop from the underside of the bottom mouth plate and put it in the inside of the lower jaw piece. When I look at the real puppet, I can almost see the outline of Jim Henson’s wrist in Guy’s neck, and this proved to me that the thumb loop needed to be lower. I also opened up the access hole in the back of his jaw piece a little so I could spread my hand open very wide to get that mouth dynamic. I recorded my nightly auditions, relaxed a bit, and then took my WOG. I spent some time in the anti-grav chair, as usual, and then came inside to do a little video editing.
Friday the 21st – THE CHUCK McCANNEQUIN! – At a recent auction my pal Mike from Chicago bought Chuck McCann’s jumpsuit and cap that he wore in “Far Out Space Nuts,” a Saturday morning show from Sid & Marty Krofft in the 70’s. He bought it as a gift for me, which touched me beyond belief. Chuck and I were good friends, and I didn’t even know this costume was up for auction! Because Chuck was a tall, portly guy – I’m going to have my pal Kelly Delcambre make a custom mannequin for the costume. If I just used a standard “out-of-the-box” mannequin it would be FAR too thin for the costume. And it would just hang on the figure loosely and not look very appealing. Kelly came by to see the costume and get an idea for how much work he’ll have to do on it to make it effective. The maids came by to clean up. It was a VERY warm day. We’re going to have a heat wave for the next week…with temps close to 100. But hey…it’s summer and that’s what happens. Normally in L.A. we get about one really hot week in the summer, and then it starts to cool off. This is probably the week. Happy that I had perfected the Guy Smiler mouth issue, I started making the pattern for the inside of his mouth plates. Then I traced that pattern onto something called Duvetyn (a blackout fabric) and then cut it out. I glued it onto the mouth plates and it’s looking very, very nice. Next week I’ll take the head to Alex and have her cover it with the yellow/gold fleece. I’ve already got a place picked out to display Guy when he’s done! After his head is completed I’ll make his body and take it to Alex so she can make his double-breasted sport jacket! Sweet! I was sent 20 pieces for a private signing recently, so I figured I’d get that finished so I could get the materials back to the organizer. He was very, very descriptive about where to sign, what colors to sign in, etc. I found this to be VERY VERY helpful. It took very little brain power to complete, and it was extremely easy! It’s almost like doing a paint-by-number piece! When I finished the signing I laid everything out to make sure it dried very well. I took my WOG but stopped short at the southern-most portion of the complex. The skunk was up ahead foraging in the lawn for bugs, etc. I stopped, turned right around and headed the opposite way. I informed the guards who were on duty to be careful walking back and forth! YIKES! This skunk is getting pretty bold, and doesn’t seem to be bothered much by people. While in the anti-grav chair I enjoyed a nice cigar and an iced tea. I came inside, relaxed a bit, then made a salad and watched a few episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel!”
Saturday the 22nd – SWEET, SWEET SLUMBER! – After my Chicago trip I needed a few days of solid rest. And I’m getting it this weekend! I slept most of the day, but then called my assistant Emily to see if she wanted to meet at Paty’s for dinner later. It was a gorgeous summer night, and the perfect night to dine outside and relax. I came back and rested some more. Later I dug into my corporate and personal checking accounts so I could reconcile all of the band statements with the receipts I collected up. I always dread this time of the month! My calculations were 8 cents off! So I had to go back and do it all over again. Ugh. But I caught my error and it eventually all worked out. While on my WOG I asked the guards if they had seen the skunk, and they reported that they had seen him further up the road heading north. This skunk is VERY bold around people! I really hope he finds another place to hang out soon. I’m getting sick of tip-toeing around during my WOG fearful that I’ll run into him again! I spent some time enjoying the warm summer night in the anti-grav chair, enjoying another nice cigar. Then I came inside and made a salad and watched an episode of “The Outer Limits.” “The Architects of Fear” featured Robert Culp, and my adopted grandpa Leonard Stone! It was great seeing Leonard on-screen again, as I’ve always loved his work! I miss him greatly. Though in this episode he didn’t play a likeable character at all! He was an amazing performer!
Sunday the 23rd – SUMMER SLEEP! – Since it was another hot day out, I stayed inside all day with the AC on and slept in cool comfort. Later I did some auditions and a little work around the house. It sure felt good to decompress all weekend and catch up on my rest. Since next weekend is going to be very busy I really needed this weekend to do absolutely nothing. I took my nightly WOG (no skunk sightings!) and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. I saw something moving to my right and thought it was a moth. But I shined my light on it and it was a spider that had come down from the tree overhead. I felt like Little Miss Muffet. I decided to fold up my chair and come inside for the night and make some curds and whey.
And how was YOUR week?!?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
It’s always a great day when we got to eat at Barone’s!
Mark Fullerton shows off a magnificent pizza creation.
Let’s DO this!
I’m shocked that Barone’s had found parmesan shakers that actually sprinkle cheese! The old design with the little round holes always got clogged so easily! Brilliant!
Getting stocked up for those warm summer nights!
The private signing items are all signed and ready to ship!
Thanks to Will for sending me this picture of his Renji tattoo and my signature, which he also had tattooed in. Though I would never be brave enough to get one, I can appreciate the artistry of it all!
America’s Favorite Gameshow Host is coming alive!
