February 05 – 11 (2024) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

See! I knew my weekly crash days were scientifically sound!

As I was cruising around town this week “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)” by Robert Palmer popped up on my device. However, it wasn’t the version I used to play on the radio back in 1979. It was some sort of remix that I didn’t particularly care for. So I got on-line and tried to find the original we used to play back in the day. After searching a few options, I finally found the ORIGINAL version of the song, which I feel is far superior to the remix. Enjoy!

Monday the 5th – RAINY, RELAXED, & READY! – The rain was ever-continuing so I just hung out around the house and relaxed. When it let up for a short while later in the day I took advantage and walked over to the local market and picked up some salad fixins for that night’s salad. I got back home, settled in and typed out Wally’s Week. Then I made my salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller.”

Tuesday the 6th – CHANGE OF PLANS! – When I finally woke up I looked at the alarm clock in horror! It was already 4:30 in the afternoon, and my buddy Rob Richards was due at my house any minute for that night’s Sons Of The Desert meeting (the local chapter of the Laurel & Hardy fan consortium). I called him frantically and he sounded as cool as a cucumber. He said with all of the rain we’d been having, he too had lost track of time, and we both decided to take a pass on that evening’s meeting because of the weather. At the time we spoke it was pouring rain, so I went back to bed. I got up later to do auditions, did some work around the house, prepped for my Wednesday adventures, and took a WOG (walk/jog). It was nice to be out and about again getting some exercise. The rain had subsided for good. That is, until the next storm.

Wednesday the 7th – GETTIN’ IT DONE! – Since the rain was over (for now) I decided to get out and get all my errands completed. I met my pal Chris Malmin at Ikea in Burbank so I could pick up a few things. He had never been there so it was fascinating for him to see the incredible scope of that store. First we began by eating some Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes in the cafeteria. It was there I saw my old pal Malakai, who used to make props and do effects for the film industry. We had him pull a table up next to ours and we chatted for a while. FUN! I did my shopping and picked up a ton of new items. Note to self: When shopping at Ikea stick to the first floor. That’s where you’ll find all the items you’ll need. The second floor is for larger furniture items, and the first floor is for household goods. I said goodbye to Chris and then headed over to the Celebworx office in Burbank to settle up on my account for all my recent appearances. Then I drove over to Alex In Wonderland to show her my Sons Of The Desert fez so she could start constructing a custom-made mount for display. She had some great ideas and this is going to be a great addition to the Planet Wallywood collection! I went to my mailbox to get some packages, and then I went back home and unloaded all the stuff. I did a few auditions, did some work around the house, and later I did even more auditions. I scanned some checks for a deposit, and plotted my schedule for Wednesday, which would include a 2 hour video game session at Studiopolis. I delighted in taking another rain-free WOG.

Thursday the 8th – “IT’S DEAD, JIM!” – My first stop was McDonald’s so I could get some food before my video game session at Studiopolis Burbank. The game wasn’t anything I auditioned for, but occasionally you get what’s called a “gimme.” It’s when a producer just calls you up out of the blue and offers you a job, because he or she knows your prior work. I was happy to take it, as anytime at Studiopolis is assured to be a great time with great people. After the session I hit the bank to make some deposits, and as I drove over to my auxiliary garage to look in my Mustang and Gran Torino I passed by my old mechanic’s location. It was OPEN! I thought The Burbank Auto Doctor had gone out of business, but all the bay doors were open and there were classic cars there! I pulled a U-turn and stopped in to see what was going on. One of the mechanics there had been at the Burbank Auto Doctor previously, and he explained that the owner of the new garage had taken over when the Auto Doctor left. Fantastic! Now I have a place to take my cars for service again. I drove into my auxiliary garage to put the new license stickers on the plates of my Gran Torino and my Mustang. As we were looking at nice, sunny days in L.A. for the next few days, I thought I might get the Mustang out for a few days and drive it around with the top down. But it wasn’t happening. The battery was completely dead. Too bad too, because I just bought that battery about a year ago. But I let it sit idle for so long the battery completely drained. I didn’t want to take the time to try and jump it with the Gray Ghost, so I made a note to call my friend Mike McGee and see if we could salvage the battery, or if I would need to buy a new one. He showed me how to take the cable off of one of the battery terminals in my Gran Torino to prevent that from happening to it. But I guess I need to learn how to do that to the Mustang as well, for when it’s going to sit idle for a while. I picked up a package at my box, and then headed over to JoAnn’s to get some fabric. I bought a really sweet Riddler jersey recently on eBay. A fan was wearing it when he came up to my table in St. Petersburg and I loved it so much I vowed to get my own. The largest they come is XL, so I bought one. But this XL fits very snugly. It’s a good fit, but a little too snug for a “jersey” look. So I talked to Alex In Wonderland about putting in side gussets to make it a little roomier and more relaxed. I’d like to wear it to signings, but in its present state it wasn’t very comfortable. And if I wanted to wear a t-shirt underneath it, it’s too snug for that in its present state. I had intended to find some material similar to the stuff it’s made from, but no luck. I also had no luck finding a similar shade of green. However, I DID find a nice shade of purple that almost exactly matches the mask he’s wearing on the graphic on the chest. So I grabbed it. It will look terrific! I stopped by the hardware store to pick up an extension cord and some jumper cables to keep in the Gray Ghost. Then I came home and did some work around the house and recorded some auditions. I got a call from Josh Brame, who is the Guest Relations coordinator for our Voices Against Cancer charity in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I’m looking forward to our next event there in July! Later I did some more auditions, did some work on the computer, took my nightly WOG, and made a salad and watched the final episode of the first season from “Boris Karloff’s Thriller.” The guest stars were William Shatner and Natalie Shafer! It was great seeing Captain Kirk and Mrs. Howell together, and it was really great seeing “crazy Shatner;” as he starts losing it toward the end of the episode. All in all this has been a great series with not one bad episode! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Friday the 9th – DINNER AND DOLE WHIP! – The date of February 9th always holds a special place in my heart, as it was 46 years ago when a bunch of high school classmates and I mounted an Elvis Presley tribute at the school’s talent show. It was just 6 months after Elvis died, and it was a pivotal moment for me. It was when I realized that I was going to be in show business no matter what it took. It was a great, memorable evening. My pal Emily Daniel came over to do some work, and then I headed out to the Universal Citywalk to meet my pal Valerie Perez for dinner at Buca DiBeppo. I used to hang out on the Citywalk (the shopping area set up outside of Universal Studios) all the time when I was working in the theme park as Beetlejuice. So it was good to hang out there again. We had a delicious dinner, and then headed to the local fro-yo place to get some Dole Whip. But we just made it before they closed! Friday night on the Citywalk and everything was closing at 9pm? This was unheard of, as Friday nights on the Citywalk used to be rockin’! I walked Valerie to her car, but then I had to traverse the parking lots to try and remember where I parked. It wasn’t easy (I should have written it down) but I finally found it! Later I did some auditions, did some work around the house and realized I was too tired to do my nightly WOG, which is rare. However, I had quite a vigorous WOG around the Universal Studios parking structures trying to find my car, so I guess I got my exercise in for the night after all!

Saturday the 10th – PLANET WALLYWOOD UPGRADES! – Since I was up earlier than expected, I decided to get out and run some errands. I hit the cleaners to pick up some dry cleaning, and then hit my box to pick up a package. It was an 11” X 17” poster print of the original movie poster for the Laurel and Hardy movie “Sons Of The Desert.” I have some display space available on the side of a stacker shelving unit that sits adjacent to where the original fez will be displayed. So it’s the perfect place for this poster, and bonus, it will sit directly under my Sons Of The Desert membership certificate! Since it was a glorious, sunny day, I sat on the patio at Paty’s and enjoyed a salad while feeling the warm sun on my face. I stopped to get some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, and then headed to CVS to get some photos printed for my photo album project. I hadn’t touched my photo albums since I got back from St. Petersburg and dealt with the Con Crud I picked up, so it’s time to get back on the program and continue on with the photo album project. But unfortunately, their entire photo section was roped off and out of order. Apparently the recent rains had leaked into the store right above that area of the store, and it was under construction. I didn’t have time to go to another location, so I’ll do it another day. I got some grocery items and then headed home to unload everything. I walked over to my stylist Andie’s shop for a touch up on my color, and then headed back home to relax. Later I was preparing to go on my nightly WOG and checked the weather on-line. It was presently 39 degrees out! But undeterred, I layered up and went out anyway. Heck, I used to deliver newspapers as a kid in much colder weather than that, and for a longer period. This would be easy! When I got back inside I cut a piece of plastic the same size as the “Sons Of The Desert” poster, I sanded it and spray-glued the poster onto the plastic piece. It looked slick! I put some spacers on the back of the poster so it would “float” on the place where I would eventually mount it. I carefully measured the area, and then mounted the poster on the side of the stacker shelves. When the display mount and cover are finished, the fez will go on the top of a display case directly next to the stacker shelves. It will look amazing! I mounted an overhead light which will shine down directly on the fez for display purposes. Then I took some new LED puck lights that just came in, and I headed upstairs to the Tranquility Zone. For a while I had electric lights illuminating the cases that contained my Rowlf, Animal, Kermit and Gonzo 1:1 Muppet replicas. The power cord on the Rowlf case had fatigued over time because of the weight of the power supply, so I removed it and replaced it with a puck light. These puck lights also have a variety of colors to choose from, so I didn’t need to use colored gels – like I did with the electric lights. Additionally, I can turn them on and off with a master remote. The way I had the light configured for the Gonzo shelf was a bit more complicated. I had to remove the entire Rowlf case and base, and a specially made spacer where the electric light that shone on Gonzo was placed. It was no easy task tearing everything apart, but it had to be done. I removed the light, put everything back together, and mounted the new puck light in the Gonzo case. Like the light in the Rowlf case, it could be assigned a color and manipulated with a remote control. Doing the same for the Animal and Kermit cases was considerably easier, but still time consuming. I have a ton of rechargeable batteries, so keeping the puck lights lit is no problem. Now, all of the lights on the Muppet replica cases can be controlled with one remote. Slick! I took the electric lights out and put them away to use for another purpose down the line. I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched an episode of “The Saint.” I only have about three more episodes left to go in the series, and then my Saturday Night viewing will move on to something else.

Sunday the 11th – EARLY VALENTINE’S DAY! – My gal-pal Angi is going to be in class on Valentine’s Day evening, so she asked me if I would be up for doing a Valentine’s Day celebration early on Sunday. I don’t usually get up early on Sundays, as it’s my weekly “crash” day, but for her I’d do it! I was ready to go around 1:30 when she came over. She brought me a card and a bunch of delicious candy, and I had gotten her a dozen roses the previous day while I was out shopping. Then we had to decide where to go to eat. My only request was that we go somewhere that didn’t have a TV, since there was going to be some sort of ball game that day and I didn’t want to be bothered by it. The only logical place was Bob’s Big Boy! We had a very fun lunch, and were joined by a bunch of other people who obviously didn’t want to be bothered by a silly ball game. Plus, Angi discovered a new treat! Our server Diego (a buddy and a huge Riddler fan) told her about the chocolate/strawberry shake they make. She tried one and loved it! Fabulous! I got back home to relax and noticed that Spook didn’t seem to be feeling himself lately. I think he might be constipated again. This happened to him a year ago, right around the time Roxy passed away. But instead of putting him through a series of horrible vet visits, like last year, I think I’m going to look for an easier solution. Angi said they make cat laxatives for over-the-counter purchases, so I’m going to look into that. Later I did updates on my computer, and did some data entry in my database. I worked around the house and prepped for the new week.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

As I was going through old photos for my photo album project, I found this shot of a guy who looks like a giant Andy Kaufman creeping on Playboy Playmate Missy Cleveland. It made me laugh. Could it maybe have been Krist Novoselic from Nirvana? (By the way, that’s a 20 year old me in the Darth Vader costume).