RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Considering as much star-gazing as I do, I’ve never been able to adequately capture the constellation that I call “Riddler Stars.” Why? Because it looks like a giant question mark in the heavens. The light-polluted skies in L.A. are prohibitive for getting a good shot of that star cluster. However, I found a really great shot of it on-line. I wish I knew the photographer to whom the credit goes, but alas…I do not.
In the “old days” I discovered new music by listening to the radio. Nowadays I oftentimes catch a song I like when it’s used on some sort of social media post. Like this song by The Caesars. It’s called “Jerk It Out” and it’s raw, raucous fun!
Monday the 2nd – ERRANDS! – With a lot on my plate for the day, I got an early start. First it was off to the post office to mail off some packages and bills. I also sent about 2/3 of a yard of original Antron fleece (commonly called Muppet fleece) that I had recently acquired through my buddy Jim Ojala at Ojala FX. He has a friend who was downsizing at his effects studio and Jim spotted the yard and a half of Anton fleece in a pile of stuff to sell. He immediately bought it knowing that I would most likely pick it up from him. It wasn’t cheap, but since they don’t make the original, heavyweight Antron fleece any longer, it was a steal! So the Mahna Mahna replica Muppet that I’m having made in Chile by a very talented builder will be made from the original “Muppet skin.” To me, it’s the details that really make me happy. I went over to Paty’s to have a salad in the sun, got a few packages at my box, and mailed off my folks’ Christmas gift while I was there. I needed professional help to mail it, because it was two framed family photos from the set of pictures we took back in September during my trip to South Dakota. I can go ahead and publicly write about what the gift was without ruining any surprises, because at the date of this writing my parents have already opened their gift. I’m happy to say the framed pictures arrived safely and unbroken! One of my favorite Palm Springs hoodies had a zipper malfunction, so I took it to the tailors at my local cleaners to have it replaced. Though it would be expensive, it would be worth it – as it’s one of my favorite shirts. I hit Baskin-Robbins for some ice cream and then headed home. I did a little work and relaxed. Later I recorded my auditions, took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and then went inside to write Wally’s Week.
Tuesday the 3rd – LIGHTING LUNACY! – Since I had the afternoon free, I decided to hit up a local lighting place to see if they had any cool LED effects lighting for my Tranquility Zone. But when I got there all they basically had were light bulbs of all different varieties. Bummer. Then I headed into Sherman Oaks to visit an old light store I had been to many times before. I called them a week ago to ask if they had a specific type of rope lighting, and they said they did. When I Googled their number the listing for the business said it was “Permanently Closed.” But when I called the number listed on the page somebody answered. So I figured the internet was lying, which sometimes happens. Once I got to the store I realized that they were, in fact, closed permanently! But if the store was closed, who did I talk to on the phone a week ago? When I got back to the car I looked up the phone number for the store in my call history and gave them a ring. I asked why the call went through when they were no longer in business. He said the number in their former area code automatically transferred to their Santa Monica store, and he had neglected to mention that fact when we talked. Bummer. Talk about wasted afternoons! I got back home and got prepared for that evening’s Sons of the Desert meeting – the quarterly meeting of the local Laurel & Hardy fan club. I met my pal Dr. Cowen at an Italian restaurant that’s about two blocks from the club meeting. Just like last time, we got a pizza and got caught up on life. The SOTD meeting was really fun, and I came away with my membership paid up for 2025, a new hardcover book called “Promotional Pandemonium” (about the promotional campaigns for L&H’s feature films), and a brand new button-down shirt. The shirts had been fabricated by one of the members, and it featured artwork that promoted the upcoming international L&H convention happening in San Diego in 2026. I proudly bought one and I’ll definitely go to the convention in June of ‘26! When I left the meeting it was just before 9pm, so I decided to visit the Christmas House in Burbank. It’s a wonderful home in Burbank that’s owned by a professional lighting designer. I’ve been going there for over 10 years, and every year the show improves. The home’s owner Alan has a low-power FM station that he broadcasts specific Christmas songs through. The light show is choreographed digitally to each song, and every individual song has a different style of presentation. It’s amazing! This year his yard is even more densely populated with gorgeous, brightly-colored LED lighting effects. And the best part of all, during a specific part of Manneheim Steamroller’s “White Christmas,” it starts snowing! He installed a new “foam” snow machine. What falls is actually little bits of foam, but with the lighting he installed it makes it seem like it’s blizzarding in Burbank! Movie magic! When I got back home I began prepping for the carpet cleaners who would be coming on Wednesday afternoon. I recorded a few auditions, took my nightly WOG, and did some more prep before bed.
Wednesday the 4th – IT’S OFFICIAL! – Unlike the times when I’ve had my carpets cleaned before, this time I’m breaking down my bed in the Tranquility Zone! This is because I’m having a custom-made area rug delivered on Thursday, and the carpets where the rug will lie need to be spotless before the rug is installed. My pal Chris Malmin came over around noon to help me break down the bed and move it into my bathroom area. The mattress is the hardest part to manipulate, since it’s big, bulky, heavy and unwieldy! We moved the box springs and bed frame out of the way, and the area under the bed was FILTHY! I’m so glad I’m having it cleaned! It’s amazing how much dust can collect over time! The cleaners arrived and did a fantastic job. When they finished Chris and I went to Ernie’s Taco House for lunch. As we chatted and ate I heard Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” my favorite Christmas song. And more importantly, my personal signal that the Christmas season is official! I’ve had a ritual in my life for the past 20 years or so that, whenever I heard that song randomly in “the wild,” that’s the universe’s signal to me that Christmas is imminent. I never like to hear it too early, as it seems wrong. But the timing was just right for this encounter! Since I had my Tranquility Zone all broken down, I removed one of my blackout curtains and dropped it off at the cleaners to have it cleaned overnight. For tonight I’ll be sleeping in the guest bed in the Puppet Room. The carpets will be completely dry by the time the ‘rug guys’ deliver the rug on Thursday morning. Later I took my nightly WOG, worked around the house, and did some prep work for the installation of my great, new area rug!
Thursday the 5th – THINGS DON’T ALWAYS GO TO PLAN! – As I was sleeping in the Puppet Room I was awakened just before 9am by the loud beeping of a truck backing up. I sprang awake, thinking that it might be the carpet guys. It wasn’t, but they arrived shortly after. The delivery guys were super professional and they got the huge, rolled carpet upstairs without hitting or damaging any of the collectibles and artwork on my walls! They laid it down and it all looked perfect! After they left I realized I had a few hours before Chris would come back to help me replace the bed. So I set about doing some detailed cleaning on the headboard and surrounding areas. It was much easier getting to certain areas in my room to clean without having a bed there! It’ll be quite a while before I’m able to gain access to those areas again, so I made it count! Many years ago I learned a trick from other Voice Actors who suffer from acid reflux. Elevating the head of the bed is an industry trick that most Voice Actors I know have done. It uses gravity as a failsafe measure to keep the acid from burning your vocal cords while you sleep. When I learned this trick, I had my contractor Terry (may he rest in peace) build me some little “risers” that would support the three front wheels on my bed frame. They were about 7 inches square, and about 6 inches high. In the middle of each riser were holes that went down a few inches to accommodate each wheel. Once Terry installed them I had been using them successfully for years. They were really dusty, so I cleaned them very well. They’re made of cedar so they smelled good too. I figured I’d do as much pre-work as possible before Chris got there so all we had to do was replace the mattress and we could get to lunch. “Best laid plans of mice and men.” After lining up the area rug perfectly where I wanted it, I brought the bed frame in and set it down in place. Then I placed the first riser under the left wheel. Right in the pocket! Perfect! Then I put another riser under the center wheel. In addition to having a hole for the wheel, this one had an additional “channel” cut in it. I wasn’t sure why that was, but the wheel wouldn’t go into the riser easily. I turned the wheel in the same direction as the channel and it set down into it perfectly. I was a bit concerned that the channel wouldn’t secure the wheel well enough, as it gave it an avenue of escape if the bed frame slipped. With just a center hole cut in the riser it “locked” the wheel in place. Oh well, the other two risers would lock it in nicely. But when I went to place the riser under the right wheel it wouldn’t fit in! The hole was too small! How in the world did it work so well all those years? The size of the wheels hadn’t changed, and the wood didn’t shrink. What was going on? Try as I might, it wouldn’t go in. I had to increase the size of the hole to about 3 1/8” – as the hole was slightly less than 3” at this point. I took the riser downstairs to my tool box, drew the proper sized hole with a Sharpie, drilled little holes all around the circle to score it, and then started to chisel away at the wood. But the chisel wouldn’t chisel down far enough to make the entire 2” length. I needed to get one of those round things that they used to cut holes in doors for door knobs! Rats! I’m not sure why Terry cut this one too small, but I had to make it work, and soon. The rest of the bed couldn’t be reassembled until we had the foundation set! When Chris got over I told him we needed to run an errand to get a specific tool to make the hole bigger in the riser. We got to Anawalt lumber and the guy there knew exactly what I needed. Luckily I took both risers with me – the good one and the bad one. “You need a hole saw!” he said. “Aisle one.” I found the correct size and we headed out the door. While we were out I had to drop by the cleaners to pick up my blackout curtain. The cleaners had called that morning and said the curtain was rejected because it wasn’t colorfast and it would bleed color onto the other clothes being cleaned. Rats. That’s what you get when you buy cheap and crappy Chinese-made curtains. So I’ll have to hand clean it with damp cloth. While we were in the area we had lunch at Paty’s on the patio. As we were now very much behind schedule, I attached the hole saw to my drill and bored the hole wider in the riser. I chiseled out the rest of the wood to clean it out and it worked perfectly! All three front wheels were properly seated in the risers. We put the box springs on the bed frame, and then wrestled the mattress onto the box springs. Once we got it on I heard a CLUNK! The displaced weight of everything caused one the risers to topple over. This was rapidly turning into a Laurel & Hardy routine! So off went the mattress again, and we realigned everything. But now the bed was off-center from the headboard by a full 6 inches! We picked up the box springs, realigned everything, measured once, measured twice, and determined that it was dead center! We wouldn’t be able to slide the heavy mattress onto the box springs, we’d have to lift it and set it down. We were both breaking a sweat at this point and I was ready to be done with it! With the protective cover on it was hard to grasp the built-in handles on the mattress. But we made do. We got the mattress on the freshly realigned box springs and all was good. But then I realized that all of the moving around had caused the area rug to slide slightly off its original mark, and the far edge of the rug was curling up over my baseboards slightly. Screw it. I’m leaving it that way. It didn’t make any sense to break everything down again just to move the rug an inch, only to have it move back again anyway once we put everything back. Plus, having the rug cover the baseboards slightly looked pretty nice, since it hid a lot of electrical cables that ran along the baseboard. Chris took off and I relaxed for a bit. That was a lot of work! Luckily it’s work that only comes once every 20 years or so! My gal Angi came over later and we headed to the holiday party that was being thrown by my Voiceover agency. It was in the area so we stopped in for a bit. But when we got there I looked around the crowded room and didn’t recognize anyone! It was a lot of new faces! Ordinarily I would have run into many of these people at various commercial or animation sessions, and we would get acquainted that way. But after the scamdemic changed the entire industry I don’t often get to meet new faces in “the wild” anymore, like in the old days. I found Tom the VP and chatted with him for a while, and then I found Wes the President and CEO and got in line to say hi. I’ve never been a drinker so I’ve never really been very comfortable in the bar scene. Add to that the noise level in the establishment was very loud, and Angi and I were hungry anyway. So after about 15 minutes we took off. I took her to the Christmas House, and then we went to the Coral Café for dinner. I got back home to relax and noted that it was pretty chilly out. After the rough day I had, I wasn’t really in the mood to do my WOG. Plus I had too much work to do around the house. The maids are coming Friday, and after that my entire weekend is open! WOO HOO!
Friday the 6th – SOME FUN, NERD STUFF! – Though my maid service said they would arrive between 11am and 1pm, they didn’t actually get there until right around 1. “I’m sure glad I got up early for THIS,” he said sarcastically to himself. I could have used the extra 2 hours of sleep! Oh well. The weekend was nigh and I could catch up on sleep then. When the maids left I hit my box to pick up a few packages. One package contained a dress shirt I bought on eBay for the new Roger Moore James Bond figure I’m making. In the other package was a super 8mm film reel of the Laurel & Hardy film “Berth Marks.” I don’t have a projector, but I bought it because of the box art. I intend to frame it for my Tranquility Zone as art. I hit Jersey Mike’s for a sandwich to-go, and headed home to eat and relax. I put the film box in the shadow box frame that I bought at Michaels last week, and it looked great! I napped for a bit, and then got up later to do my nightly WOG. It was actually pretty nice out! I came back inside to do some work around the house. I put the dress shirt I just received with the black suit and tie for my Bond figure and it all looks amazing! Now all I need to get is a pair of 70’s-era square-toed slip-on shoes and a belt.
Saturday the 7th – THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH MEANS…! – After I woke up I checked emails and was reminded by a friend that the Heritage Hollywood memorabilia auction was going on, and I could monitor the auction on-line. Oddly enough I got on just in time to see a pair of the famous ruby slippers from “The Wizard Of Oz” sell for a mind-boggling 23 million dollars! These were the same pair of shoes that belonged to a guy named Michael Shaw who loaned them to a Judy Garland museum, only to have them stolen shortly thereafter. They had been missing for many years but were finally located by law enforcement during a sting operation. The story behind these shoes is amazing! Now, not only did they have the provenance of being the “hero” pair of ruby slippers seen in the majority of pivotal scenes in the movie, but they had a second dubious provenance from the entire theft debacle! Back in the spring of 1993 I was working at an L.A. radio station called 94.7 The Wave. We did a two-day radiothon to benefit AIDS research, and that’s when I met Michael Shaw, the owner of this pair of slippers. He was a volunteer at the radiothon and he happened to mention to me that he owned a pair of the famous ruby slippers. Since “The Wizard of Oz” is my favorite movie of all-time I asked if I could ever see them. He invited me over to his Hollywood home, and shortly after I got there he brought out the shoes. It was amazing to hold them, and as I remember, I may have wept a little. He said he gets that reaction a lot when she shows them. I had no idea at the time that I was holding 28 million dollars in my hands! I also got to see Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West hat sell for over 2 million! Unbelievable! It was a nice day so I drove to Paty’s to have lunch on the patio with my pal Sara. It was sunny, warm and nice. These days will be getting to be fewer and fewer as we progress into winter, so I’m enjoying them while I can! When I got back home I did a few auditions, and then relaxed and rested up. Later that night I did some miscellaneous work around the house, and then read some articles about the history-making purchase of the ruby slippers. Including the “buyer’s premium,” which is always added to the hammer price, the buyer paid about $32 million! I took my nightly WOG, and then scanned some checks for the final bank deposit of 2024! Hard to believe! Since it was the first Saturday of the month, it was time once again to indulge in a personal treat I call “Laurel & Hardy Theatre.” In order to enjoy the nostalgic thrill of seeing L&H movies on KABY-TV when I was a kid, I do a monthly attempt to recreate the experience as best as possible. Even though the pizza I used to enjoy from Aberdeen, South Dakota-based Lu’s Pizza is no longer attainable (Lu’s went out of business in the early 90’s) I enjoy another staple of my childhood in its place – a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box! I’m not much of a cook, but I can make a mean Chef Boyardee pizza! Along with it I have a banana Twinkie (as a suitable substitute for the old Banana Flips I used to love), popcorn, and ice cold Diet Pepsi. Though I used to drink regular Pepsi as a kid, I feel that the taste of Diet Pepsi is more similar to how I remember it tasting back then. To top it all off, I enjoy it in one of the giant Laurel & Hardy mugs my mom made for me in her ceramics class back in 1973. I alternate between the Stan and Ollie mug from month to month. To “nerd out” even further I don my custom-made Laurel & Hardy print pajamas and a Sons of the Desert fez. I know it sounds weird, but it’s a lot of fun. In fact, waiting for my monthly “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” to roll around each month is a bit like waiting for Christmas to come! As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that treating yourself to little things in life that make you happy is the key to peace and tranquility. My recent L&H viewing habits have been comprised of a varied selection of their 40 short “talkies,” with the titles on little pieces of paper being randomly chosen out of a Sons of the Desert fez. I call it my “40 Shorties Fez.” But since “Laurel & Hardy” Year Two” was released on Blu-ray last November, my habits will switch to watching two of those films each month through May. I enjoyed the “Year One” Blu-ray immensely, which featured restored and remastered versions of all their silent films from the first year they were together – way back in 1927! They did 10 films together in 1928 and I can’t wait to start watching them in 2025! When I’ve completed those, I’ll go back to the 40 Shorties format again. The first shortie I pulled at random was “Going Bye Bye,” which has Stan and Ollie planning to hastily leave town after they provide testimony which sends a hardened killer to prison. The felon vows to escape and give The Boys their due – which includes breaking off their legs and tying them around their necks. It’s a very, very funny film! The second film I drew was “Perfect Day,” where the boys are just trying to take their wives on a picnic during a gorgeous day. My friends and I still use Stan Laurel’s quote “We’re going now,” to this day. Hilarious! Since I was in the mood to watch a third shortie I drew out “Berth Marks,” the very film I just received on super 8mm just a few days earlier. What are the odds?!! It was another fun evening filled with laughs, fun and fabulous foods! Life is good!
Sunday the 8th – SUNDAY SCRIPTING! – As usual for a Sunday, I didn’t get out of bed much. I laid around, worked a bit around the house, and later took my nightly WOG. A few months ago I got an email from ME-TV asking all of the collectors who had been featured on the first five seasons of the show to shoot a short video to promote the advent of their upcoming season six. I had several ideas of what I wanted to do, but after dealing with a cold, my pal Mark the Cop’s hand surgery, and other scheduling conflicts, we were finally going to shoot it on Monday. And just in the nick of time, too – as all videos are due in by the end of December! I wrote the script for the video and then hit the hay. Wow! What a week!
And how was YOUR week?!?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Angi wonders if I’ll ever get off the computer so I can pay attention to her!
Thanks to my pal Dan Roebuck, the artist for Bazooka Joe bubble gum created this amazing caricature of our WWII veteran pal “Bazooka” Joe Pietroforte, and posted a tribute to him on their social media page. Great stuff!
At the Sons of the Desert meeting, a few of the members acquire their new shirts for the 2026 international convention in San Diego!
