RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I saw this picture on Bo Derek’s Instagram page this week and flipped out. It’s hilarious! (my favorite part is the “Smooch Patch!”)
Not exactly sure why this song stayed with me this week, but Don and Juan’s “What’s Your Name” sure is catchy!
Monday the 26th – TORINO ON THE TOWN! – When I got up at 2 I had a few last-minute auditions to attend to, and then I hopped in my Gran Torino and headed over to Bang Zoom studios for a gig. But first I stopped off at Del Taco to get a few tacos. The session at Bang Zoom was for this super-secret project I’ve been working on for several years now. The 3 hours I spent working was difficult; lots of tongue twisters. By the time I finished my brain was fried. Then I drove to Joann’s fabrics to pick up some material that had been sent in from another store. I wasn’t able to find it in-store, and I needed it to match some fabric I bought there a while back for a shirt that needed alterations. I figured I’d get a quick something-to-eat at El Pollo Loco, but it has got to be the slowest drive-thru in town; nearly a half an hour!! I finally made it home to feed the kids, and then I hit the couch hard and napped for a while. I got up later to do my nightly auditions, and then I worked on my photo album project again. I finished up the “South Dakota Plays” album, and now I’m turning my attention to “South Dakota Radio” and “South Dakota Puppets.” This is really fun, and the albums are looking great!
Tuesday the 27th – WALLY’S WEEK WOOPS! – Right around 1 I woke up, did some work around the house, took care of some urgent e-mails, and then headed to Del Taco for a burger and fries (as I’ve said before, the best fast-food burger and fries in L.A. is at a fast-food Mexican place!). Then it was back to Bang Zoom studios for another 3 hour session for the super-secret project. The material they gave me was somewhat easier than the previous day, so we breezed through it. When we finished up at 6 I stopped by my box to get my mail, and then drove to my auxiliary garage to swap cars. I put the Torino to bed, and got the Mustang out. I had planned on going over to CVS to get some photos printed from a flash drive, but decided to head straight home to feed the kids. I took care of some e-mails and recorded my nightly auditions. Then I hit the Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe for a quick nap. I got up later and was fully intending to work on my photo albums, but I realized that since I hadn’t gone to CVS earlier to get some pictures printed, I had nothing to work with. It was then I realized with horror that with all of the hubbub going on, I completely forgot to type out Wally’s Week on Monday night! So I got right to it and spent all night writing. I hit the hay around 8am.
Wednesday the 28th – SHIRLEY 91! – Today marked my “adopted grandma” Shirley’s 91st birthday! The first thing I did when I got up was to call her and wish her a happy birthday! Then I did some work until it was time to head to Bang Zoom again. After acquiring some quick lunch at Taco Bell I headed to the studio to put in another 3 hour session on the super-secret project. It was the last session we’d be doing for several weeks. When we finished up I headed home and did some work, and then went over to Floyd’s Barbershop to meet with my stylist Andie. We touched up my color, but I also wanted her to chop off the straggly ends that were looking very stringy. We ended up cutting off about 4 inches, but it was much needed. About once a year I have her take that much off just to freshen everything up. It was time. I came home and walked Roxy, and then I napped on the couch. When I got up later I did my auditions and fed the kids. Roxy and I enjoyed our late night stroll through the neighborhood. I drove over to Denny’s to get some food to go, and then came back to watch the final “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” episodes from the current DVD set I was watching.
Thursday the 1st – “AND THAT’S THE TOOTH!” – It ended up being a very busy Thursday! My first stop was to my Oral Surgeon’s office. Back when I had my sinus issue last year the CT scan revealed a cyst above the roots of my #14 and 15 molars. It was likely the result of a botched root canal on my #14 from several years ago. The doctor said he wanted to extract both the 14 and 15, but I still feel that the 15 is vital. The CT scan he showed me showed only minor bone loss on the 15. Plus, my endodontist had just done a root canal on that tooth less than a year ago. Why would he have bothered if the tooth was a loss? So he called the endodontist and they talked. He decided that when he went in to take the 14, he’d look around up there to see how the 15 was doing. He may or may not take the 15 as well at that time. But I’m not convinced the tooth has to go. I don’t mind losing the 14 because it’s a loss, but I still feel the 15 should be given a chance. I think I need to consult with my endodontist to get a second opinion. I was bummed out. So to cheer myself up I went over to Foam Mart to buy a bunch of foam rubber to build a new puppet. I got 1 inch thick foam to build the head, and ½ inch thick foam to build the musculature for the body. I also bought some flat pieces for the finger supports on the mouth. Then I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some more pages and page protectors for my photo album project. I stopped off at CVS to get some photos printed from my flash drive and pick up a prescription. I’m loving the new hair; much easier to take care of and it’s not always blowing in my face. I got home and did a last-minute audition, and then my friends Sunni and Erica dropped over. They would be staying with me for the night on their way to Bakersfield to see a friend of Erica’s. I’ve known Sunni for a long time, so there was a lot of catching up to do. Just then my pals Scott and Vickie Sebring stopped by, so we all decided to go to dinner at Little Toni’s. When we got back to Planet Wallywood my effects guy Jim Ojala brought the new and improved Andy Kaufman mannequin over. The eyes had been replaced with a set of more realistic-looking ones. He had also fixed the arm position of the right arm so it looked more natural. I brought the tall ladder up from down in the garage and we got to work. First, I did last-minute touch-ups on his hair. Then we got him dressed in Andy’s original performance costume. (Andy wore this suit of clothes in virtually every appearance he ever made) I climbed up the ladder, Jim handed the mannequin to me and I put him in place. But with the new LED overhead lights, it made everything a lot brighter than the old Halogen lights I had in there previously. So down he came again so Jim could do some touch-ups. Back Andy went into the case to check again. But we decided his eyes needed to be brought out a little more, so back down the ladder with Andy one more time. This happened about four times throughout the course of the night (I got my workout in for the night!) before we finally decided that he looked perfect. I placed the record player into position and he was all set. I just had some work to do with a few of the accompanying photographs and it would be all finished! Erica and Sunni retired to the Puppet Room and I grabbed a short nap on the couch. Then I got up later to work around the house. I watched the ME-TV special about the 1966 Batman exhibit we did at the Hollywood Museum, and then did some writing. I fed and walked Roxy, but because it was raining out we kept our walk to a minimum. I did some more work around the house. By the time I was ready to turn in, Sunni and Erica had awakened to start their trip to Bakersfield. After I bid them farewell I made some food, got into bed with the electric blanket turned up to high, and watched another episode of “Barnaby Jones” while watching it rain outside. It was a gorgeous morning and very relaxing! I got to sleep around 2pm Friday afternoon!
Friday the 2nd – FRIED-DAY! – I honestly believe the intense days of work on the super-secret project had fried my brain a little bit. So I was enjoying the relaxation. I slept all day and woke up around 6:30 in the evening to feed the pets. I did a little work, and then slept on the couch a little more. It was rainy and gloomy out; perfect sleeping weather! Later in the evening I woke up, did some work around the house, made some dinner, and watched the first part of a two-part “Barnaby Jones” episode.
Saturday the 3rd – AND HE COUGHED, MAN! – Shortly after I got up at 2 I called my assistant Sara to see if she wanted to run errands with me. So I picked her up and we headed to my box to get my mail. I had bought an LED lighting kid from a guy on eBay, but he sent me a different item by mistake. It was some old videogame contained on an SD card. So I made a note to contact him immediately when I got home. We had lunch at Paty’s, and it was then I discovered that I had developed a tickle right in the center of my collarbone. I hoped it wasn’t getting sick. The cough was getting more “barky” as the day progressed. This wasn’t good. Then we went over to Michael’s crafts to pick up some supplies. We stopped at CVS so I could get some photos printed, and then we got groceries and I took Sara back to her house. I got home and put the groceries away, and then started working on the Andy exhibit. One of the frames I bought had broken, so I discarded that idea and went with plan B. Then I took apart a framed collage I had of Andy wearing the costume I own and replaced a few of the older pictures with newer, brighter shots. I worked on that until my guests started arriving for movie night. It was special guest night, as my pal Randall Carver dropped by with his wife Shelley to watch an episode of “Taxi” with us. Randy played John Burns in the first season of “Taxi,” and since we’re watching the series (one episode a week) at movie night, we thought it would be fun to have him stop by and do commentary. He had a lot of great stories! We followed that up with Rodney Dangerfield in “Back to School.” After everyone left I grabbed a nap, and then got up to do work around the house. I was going to make my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and watch “SNL,” but the cough was starting to worsen. I just wasn’t feeling up to it, so I decided just to turn in. I had to be up early anyway for lunch with Sunni and Erica before they hopped on the plane back to Seattle, so it was all for the best.
Sunday the 4th – MARCH FORTH! – As planned, I texted Sunni to see if they were back in the L.A. area. We agreed to meet at the airport about an hour and a half before their plane took off so we could have lunch. I picked them up and we went to an area Denny’s. It was great seeing them, but I wasn’t feeling very good. Physically I felt fine, but all of the coughing was very fatiguing. I dropped them off for their flight and I went to CVS to get a few more photos printed. I got back home, but decided not to go to evening church; just in case I was contagious. But I wasn’t feeling any other symptoms other than this nagging cough. I didn’t understand what was going on. I finished hanging up the photos in the Andy Kaufman display and I’m very happy with how everything worked out. I did some other work and then went to bed. I slept from 8:30 to 2am! I got up to feed the pets and walked Roxy. Then I did a few auditions. Luckily the characters I auditioned for all had deep, raspy voices; perfect for my cough-fatigued vocal cords! I put a few more feathers on my Mahna Mahna puppet (just to fill in a few gaps) and then put a new page in my Actor Portfolio. I realized last week that my Dell Glam Rocker hadn’t been put in my portfolio, so now that’s been taken care of. I did a little research about my digital projector on-line. I’m trying to figure out if it will show photos from my tablet or iPad. But I think the projector is pretty old and doesn’t have the technology needed to do that. Despite the chest congestion I was feeling pretty good. Luckily, with all of the Mucinex I had been taking, the coughs are very “productive.” Just to be safe I called my pal Brian at Profiles in History to cancel our Monday appointment. I still didn’t have any idea if I was contagious or not. I also left a message on my doctor’s voicemail to see if I could come in on Monday afternoon to be seen. Then I watched the second part of the 2-part “Barnaby Jones” episode and hit the hay. I’ve just gotta find out what’s going on with this darn cough!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
The Andy Kaufman case was completely cleaned out and the new LED lights were installed.
Then the new posters were hung and I installed a classy-looking red velvet curtain
“Here I Come to Save the Daaaay!” Andy is placed in the case…
…and he’s ready to be adored!
The rain’s moving in!
If you haven’t caught it yet, the ME-TV special about the 1966 Batman exhibit at the Hollywood Museum is really great! It will play for the next two Sundays at 7:30am on DirecTV channel 54 KAZA.
Or you can see it here on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYWhInzIxTw
