December 7 – December 13 (2020)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Here’s another hilarious adventure from Meth-Head Seth! Especially for the Christmas season!

I put this video together last year, but I still love it. It’s a song called “Santa Claus’ Party” by Les Baxter – but it sounds a lot like a kiddie record I would have owned as a child (something on the Peter Pan label!) So for your Christmas viewing and listening pleasure, here’s my video of “Santa Claus’ Party!”

Monday the 7th – COWBOYS FOR CHRISTMAS! – I was in a holding pattern awaiting info from producers at the Sundance Channel about a promo I was supposed to do. About mid-morning I got the info I was looking for, along with the script and musical bed. They told me I could do the promo on my own, undirected – I just needed to deliver the files to them by noon. As I was about to start recording, the workman outside my window on my neighbor’s patio started sawing and cutting. Great timing. Two of my neighbors have had workmen refurbishing their patios in tandem. So the noisy ambience has been an on-going thing for the past two months. I’ve been pretty lucky in being able to dodge the majority of the noise during the times I needed to record stuff, but today my luck ran out. Thankfully, when I went out to talk to the workman he agreed to take a break for about 20 minutes so I could complete the audio files and get them sent to Sundance. It’s a promo for their Cowboys For Christmas programming. Not only did I sing a cowboy version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” but I also did the tag lines as well. It was a lot of fun! After I got the files uploaded for the folks in New York, I did some other work. Later in the day I did a ton of auditions, and that night I had a pleasant walk through the neighborhood with Roxy and a nice cigar. It was cloudy and not as cold. I even shot a few clips for my end-of-year video I’ll be posting next week. I came back inside and typed out Wally’s Week, made some Buffalo Mac and watched another episode of “The Mod Squad.”

Tuesday the 8th – TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS! – My agent contacted me with a booking in Santa Monica on Thursday, so I did some preparation for that. I worked around the house all day and did some miscellaneous things. I got an e-mail from one of my favorite restaurants called The Smokehouse – a great steak place. They now deliver! And just my luck, the Tuesday dinner special was filet mignon! SOLD! I had a delicious meal delivered, and with a happy, full tummy, I retired to The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe with the pets and took some “Christmas Nappies.” Later I did my nightly auditions.

Wednesday the 9th – WHIRLWIND WEDNESDAY! – There were a bunch of errands to attend to so I got at it! I dropped off a comforter at the cleaners, got a salad to go from Paty’s (outdoor dining has been temporarily suspended by the idiots who run this city), got my packages at my mailbox, ate my lunch, and then went over to the local hardware store to get some paint for the star-field ceiling I’m planning for my kitchen. I’m going to paint a section of my kitchen ceiling dark blue, and then add glow stars to it so I can “dine under the stars!” This is the section of ceiling that had to be opened and patched back up again after the leak in one of my copper pipes had been repaired. I figured that since I had to repaint it anyway, after it had been patched, I might as well paint it something cool. I went to Staples to pick up a 2021 day planner (yup, I still do it the old fashioned way with pen and paper – I don’t trust digital devices), and then I came home and tested out the paint I bought. It’s a nice color called “Midnight Blue,” and I think it’ll look great. It’s more turquoise in color than actual deep blue, but with the lighting and the glow stars, it should look very nice when it’s completed. I have to take off the metal rings that surround my light fixtures and paint them blue as well. I know the paint will go on the drywall of the ceiling well, but I’m a little concerned that the paint won’t cover the metal very well. I’ll need to experiment. I got another Cameo video order in, so I spent some time shooting that and uploading it for the buyer. I did my nightly auditions, and then recorded some material for a client’s phone system. I took some “Christmas Nappies,” and then got up later to do even more auditions! I made some spaghetti and then hit the hay to be up early the next day for my session in Santa Monica!

Thursday the 10th – CHARACTER CURVEBALL! – Right around 1 I hit the road to be in Santa Monica by 2 so I could record a session at Lime Studios. I’ve always loved Lime, but with all of the new virus restrictions it was going to be like a ghost town there. But first, since I was in the area, I hit my favorite Mexican restaurant called Campo’s to get my usual lunch. DELICIOUS! I got into the studio at 2, they took my temperature, and then I got set up in the booth. Before we started the session the director (who was on Skype) said, “I’m going to throw you a curveball. We all know your work, so we figured you could handle it.” Come to find out, the character that I did for the audition had been almost completely changed! But the new direction of the character they gave me was something I could easily adapt to, so it ended up being very fun. That sometimes happens in the Voice Acting world. You’ll audition for a character in a certain way, and get the booking. But when you show up you’ll find out that in the interim, the producers have completely changed the direction of the character. It keeps things interesting, and really separates the pros from the amateurs. We worked for about 3 hours in the studio, and then I drove home to feed the kids. I was beat, so I really enjoyed cuddling up for “Christmas Nappies” on The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe with the pets, the Christmas music on the satellite, and the fireplace going. When I got up later I did some more work on my end-of-the-year video, which I think you’re really going to like when I post it next week. My voice was a bit tired from the 3 hour session earlier, so I decided to wait on my auditions for a few days; since they weren’t due right away anyway.

Friday the 11th – “IT’S CAROL F@#A%ING BURNETT!” – As a rule, just before I wake up to start the day, I always seem to have a VERY vivid, full color dream. Normally they’re only relevant to me personally, but the one I had on this day was really wild! I was coming in from a parking garage and walking through a tunnel with a bunch of friends. I was smoking a cigar and walking next to me was Johnny Cash. He asked to have a drag on the cigar and I said to Johnny, “You don’t smoke cigars.” But he grabbed it out of my mouth and took a drag. I grabbed it back from him and we all walked into the lobby of the hotel. I saw Carol Burnett standing there looking worried. I approached her and said, “Is everything OK.” She intimated that she wasn’t able to get a room. In the dream I knew that I was a member of that hotel’s rewards program, and that the hotel always needed to keep rooms handy for their members, so I told her to give me a second. I went up to a lady at the desk, and there were papers spread out all over the counter. I said to the lady, “Do you know who that is?” She said, “Yes,” and then she said, “Not really.” I told her that I wanted to use my rewards account to get a room for her to help her out. The lady behind the desk said, “We’ll have to put it on the credit card you have on file with the membership.” I looked at her and said, “What could go wrong? It’s CAROL F#()$%&*ING BURNETT!” Then I woke up. Whew! Weird dream. But they all are. When the dreams are that fun, colorful and vivid, I like to wake up and start the day so I don’t lose the memory of the dream. I’m afraid if I go back to sleep, I might not remember it when I finally wake up. I got up to do some work, recorded some auditions, and then the maids showed up to clean Planet Wallywood. My friend Edi texted me to let me know that her dog Bunny wasn’t doing very well and was in a lot of pain due to some major back pain due to a problem with the discs in her spine. That made me very sad, as I almost consider Bunny partially my dog, in a weird way. When my first collie Sassie passed away back in 2011, I took great solace in Bunny’s company. That night I took some more “Christmas Nappies,” and I’m really enjoying the Classic Christmas channel (#858) on DirecTV! Unfortunately they occasionally play “All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” and it rouses me out of my peaceful vibe (that high, squeaky voice pierces through my brain and annoys me to no end). I fully recommend the channel if you have DirecTV. When I got up later I filmed some more segments for my end-of-year video. I made a pot pie and watched another episode of “The Mod Squad.” It was a great episode with Martin Sheen and Harold Gould!

Saturday the 12th – WINDING DOWN! – As is normal for this time of year, it’s time for me to start winding down my corporate bank account for tax purposes. It’s a lot of annoying accounting and calculations, but it’s necessary for the type of corporation I have. I worked around the house, and I decided to start painting the metal rings that attach around the outside of the lighting fixtures in my kitchen ceiling. But the first step was to clean them really well. So I put them all in a sink full of hot, soapy water to let them soak. I filmed another segment for my end-of-year video and edited it into my final cut. I only have a few more scenes to shoot for it, but I need some help to get those shots. It was a cold, windy, cloudy winter night in L.A., so I decided to get a Domino’s pizza and watch a monster movie to enjoy the “Christoween” season. Svengoolie on Me-TV ran “Return of the Vampire” with Bela Lugosi. It was great fun! I did some more work around the house, and later I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched another episode of “The Saint” with Roger Moore. It was an odd episode, because Simon was barely even in the first half! But it ended up being a great episode.

Sunday the 13th – YUMMY YOUTH! – After looking around Planet Wallywood for a bit, I found a great support for the metal rings I’d be painting. It fit them perfectly! It’s a round section of Plexiglas that I had been using to support a display in the Chaney Room. But its diameter fit underneath the metal rings exactly how I had hoped, and it allowed me to paint them without having to hold or touch them. My friend Sara came over to make some Midwestern sloppy joes. But first we needed to hit the store to get some supplies. I found some Doritos that looked very vintage – with the original package artwork! They were taco flavored – and they taste a lot like how I remember them. So they were the perfect addition to my Midwestern sloppy joes! Between the chips and the sloppy joes, it was like tasting the days of my youth! I fear they are a limited edition, but I hope they keep them around for a while! With a tummy full of great food, I took some “Christmas Nappies,” and got up later to do my nightly auditions, and take care of all my end-of-the-year tax stuff for my accountant. I had to have the final info for him on Monday morning so he could start his computations to close out the year. I also scanned some checks and put together some deposits for my bank, paid some bills, and settled other accounting things. I hate math, but it’s gotta be done.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK