RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Was this REALLY how it started? It’s highly probable.
Elvis Costello had a few great tunes, and two of my favorites had titles with girls’ names. “Alison” is one, but “Veronica” came on my player the other day and I had forgotten how much I love this song.
Due to several circumstances beyond our control we were unable to post a new Wally’s Week last week. But here are two weeks’ worth of adventures for you. Enjoy!
Tuesday the 2nd – RAM IT, DAMMIT! – After working around the house for a little while, my pals Joe and Zandra Pendleton came over. We headed to Paty’s for dinner and we were joined by my friend Angi. Then we came back to Planet Wallywood and put the new RAM sticks into my computer, and IT WORKED! I now have 32gb of RAM in my system. Finally! We hung out and chatted. Later in the evening I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and there were a few sprinkles. It wasn’t anything to be concerned with, but by the time I got back home the rain had begun to get heavier. I set my anti-grav chair up in my garage and watched it rain for a while. It was lovely. I came inside and did two auditions, made a salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” before bed. I’ve got to get serious about packing for my upcoming trip to St. Petersburg, FL tomorrow!
Wednesday the 3rd – FINAL DAY! – After doing some much-needed work around the house, I did some final packing for my weekend trip to the St. Pete Comic Con. I did some auditions, and a few other random things. I took the last WOG that I’d be taking for a while, but it was too chilly to sit outside in the anti-grav chair. I MISS SUMMER!
Thursday the 4th – CONDITIONS NOT MET! – After some last-minute packing for my trip, I stopped by the Celebworx office in Burbank to pick up my banner for the weekend’s appearance. They’re the appearance company who booked me for this event. I met my pal Sara for lunch at Paty’s, which was good because I hadn’t seen her in a while. It gave us a chance to catch up. I stopped to get some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on the way home, and when I got back home I finalized a few things. The itinerary I received from Celebworx had very ambiguous hotel information on it, so I decided to make some calls to check on it. The original condition for me doing this show in St. Petersburg was that I’d be taking a direct redeye flight from LAX to Tampa on Thursday evening the 4th (tonight) and arriving at 6am Friday morning the 5th. I told my appearance manager that if the show producer could have a room waiting for me when I landed early Friday morning I’d do the show. I prefer direct flights to those with connections, because it cuts down on the percentage for mishaps (lost luggage, delays, cancellations, etc.). I also prefer red eye flights because they seem to be more laid back. But I wasn’t getting the sense that my room was going to be ready for me that early in the day. I made some calls and inquiries but my outreach wasn’t garnering the results I had hoped for. I was starting to believe that I’d be stranded once I got on the ground in Tampa with no room to check into. I was starting to get nervous and starting to consider not even getting on the plane. I didn’t want to have to crash out in some hotel’s lobby for 8 hours until I can check into my room at the regular check-in time. After all, early check-in was a very strict condition for me doing this show. I chatted on the phone with my pal Sheriff John, who lives in Tampa. He said he would personally go to the hotel to see what was going on. Sure enough, he confirmed that the show’s producer had NOT acquired the room for me for a Friday morning arrival. Sheriff John, with his own money, paid for the room, checked in for me, and made sure I could get into the room upon my early-morning arrival on Friday morning. I wasn’t happy at all, as this was a strict condition of me committing to doing the show. This was a very bad sign and I was NOT happy about it. I called my appearance manager but he didn’t know much info about it. For a split second I considered not going and calling it off. If this is indicative of what I can expect for the rest of the weekend, it didn’t bode well. I was getting a lot of, “The producer knows a guy, who knows a guy, who’s friends with the hotel manager…etc.etc.etc.” But that wasn’t good enough. Had my pal Sheriff John not saved the day and gone to the hotel personally, I would NOT have been in any mood to appear at a convention the rest of the weekend, and most likely would have turned around and come right back home. From now on, special circumstances like this will be IN WRITING, and not verbal. I’m learning a lot about doing these shows, and the more I learn the less I want to do them in the future. When my house sitter came over at 6pm I was napping, so I got up and got ready to go. My driver Alex arrived at 8, and by 8:30 we were at LAX and I was checking in for my flight at 10:15pm. It was a great flight, and I slept a bit and listened to tunes. It’s unbelievable that you can go from LAX to Tampa direct in four hours. But that’s all it took! Had I taken a different flight it would have been a 6-8 hour ordeal; what with layovers, connections, and possible delays. And I don’t care how many times I hear it, it’s still a real kick to hear myself make the announcements on the overhead speaker system on the plane. It still tickles me, even after all these years. I arrived at 5:20am and met my driver Sammy. It was still dark at that hour in Florida so I wasn’t able to see much on the drive from the Tampa airport into St. Petersburg. I dropped my luggage off at my room at the hotel (thanks again, Sheriff!) and treated my driver to breakfast at a delightful mom-n-pop place called the Central Café. It had been there since the 40’s, and the prices hadn’t increased much since then! I was flabbergasted at the low prices, as a breakfast like that would have cost three times that much in L.A.! I came back to my room around 8am, got unpacked, and slept.
Friday the 5th – WHERE ARE YOU FROM?! – When I woke up at 2 I made contact with Janine, my local rep. I also met the show producer and asked him about the snafu about early check-in. He said, “I had you in for early check-in at noon.” I told him, “Dude. I got in at 6am. What was I supposed to do for six hours?” Not sure why simple math like that escaped him considering that my arrival time was well-known to everybody in the loop. I simply think he didn’t want to pay for the extra night (which was contingent to my being there.) Like I said before…next time…in writing. Sheriff John came to pick me up and we drove into Clearwater to a place called Shoot Straight. It was one of his favorite gun ranges to visit. As we were signing in to get a lane I asked for “inner ears” as well as “outer ears.” Ears is the term for ear protection at the range. Some are fine with the ear muffs, but I also like to augment my ear protection with foam ear plugs as well. As the gal at the desk was getting us our needed supplies I said as John Lennon, “I need to have me hearing.” That refers to the time nutball Phil Spector fired a gun off next to John Lennon’s head in the studio when they were recording together. Lennon allegedly said, “Phil, if you’re going to kill me, kill me. But don’t fire a gun next to my ears, I need me hearing.” When she heard the accent the lady asked, “Where are you from?” I stuck with the bit and kept speaking as Lennon and told her I was from Liverpool…”You know…where the Beatles are from.” Oddly enough Sheriff John was wearing a Beatles t-shirt, so that might have what subliminally gave me the idea to go into Lennon’s voice in the first place. The lady looked at me quizzically and said, “Are you f—ing with me?” I smiled and said, “Yeah.” Sheriff John explained that I was a Voice Actor in town from L.A. for a convention. I forgot that there probably weren’t a lot of actors in that area who go into character voices. We met a few other shooters in our area and we got into a conversation about the differences in gun laws between California and Florida. Some of the people asked me why I was there and Sheriff explained that I was in town for a convention. Then the obvious questions start popping up like, “What shows do you do voices on?” I always like to ask their age before I answer, so I can determine what shows they might have been watching when they were young. Sure enough, “The Garfield Show” was the big winner. I did the voice of Jon for them and they smiled broadly. “NO WAY!” one girl exclaimed. It’s always fun to get those reactions. I got to shoot a “shoot-from-the-hip” shotgun that Sheriff owned. And while it was fun, it’s more of a novelty than anything. But it was also nice to shoot his former service weapon…a 9mm Glock. After stopping at a local convenience store to pick up supplies, we were hungry for dinner. So we went back to St. Pete and headed downtown to find a nice Italian place. St. Petersburg is a gorgeous town with lots of vintage architecture and beautiful buildings. But downtown, there is NO parking. We circled for quite a while before we found a lot that charged $7 an hour for parking. THAT was quite like being back in L.A. again! But Angelo’s Pizza was delightful. We got back to the hotel and a few of us hung out on the patio and chatted for a very long time. Word had it that it was going to pour rain the next day, so I hoped that wouldn’t “dampen” the attendance for the show. Another difference between Florida and California is the number of cigarette smokers. Hardly anyone smokes here (at least in L.A.) anymore, but in Florida it’s still quite prevalent. I had to go in eventually as the smoke started to get to me. I got back to my room to organize for Saturday, and shower off all that nasty smoke!
Saturday the 6th – FLORIDA FUN! – When I was initially asked to appear at this convention I had a few hesitations. First of all I’m leery of winter shows, as lots can happen weather-wise to screw things up. You don’t really have those concerns in Florida and California, and since I was taking direct flights bad weather in connecting cities wouldn’t affect my connecting flights. But also the fact that this show was so close after Christmas made me wonder just how successful it would be. When I woke up I opened my curtains and saw that it was pouring rain. At first we were told that we could get umbrellas and stroll the three blocks to the venue (with our case of photos along!) and we’d be fine. But it was coming down in sheets, so vehicular transportation was arranged. Despite the weather the show was fairly well attended, but being a new show it hasn’t found its devoted following quite yet. As the wet weather subsided later in the day the attendance picked up, so it ended up being a fairly good crowd. But the venue (a place called The Coliseum) was absolutely stunning and gorgeous! The first thing I noticed about St. Pete, is that they honor the vintage origins of their gorgeous architecture. But to modernize it a bit they’ll add current-day lighting effects. Really stunning! I met a ton of nice people, and there were two terrific Riddler cosplays that were very impressive. But oddly enough, it seemed to be a ‘comic con’ with no comics. It was mostly filled with artists exhibiting and selling their hand-made art and crafts. Not a comic book was in sight! I’m not sure if that’s a new trend among comic cons or what, but it threw me for a loop. Sheriff came by at 3 to hang out, and then we all headed back to the hotel at 5:15 after the show had closed. Comic book artist Dexter Vines had a table across from mine so I invited him to come along with Sheriff and I to dinner. I wanted to hit the original Hooters location in Clearwater. Ya know…strictly for historical purposes. We had a terrific time! The Hooters girls posed for a photo with us, and they invited Sheriff in for the picture. But he sheepishly said, “I can’t. I’m married.” Hilarious! Florida is really gorgeous and I enjoyed looking at the landscape as we drove back to the hotel. Once again I sat on the patio chatting with others and enjoying the evening. Now that the rain had passed, it was quite a wonderful evening with fantastic weather!
Sunday the 7th – A FIRST FOR A FAN! – We got to the show for the final day, and shortly after opening a girl dressed as Invader Zim stormed my table with her family. She was obviously VERY excited. She explained that it was her first convention, and I was the first Voice Actor she ever met. She had drawn a picture of my Tallest Red character that she wanted me to sign, and she gave me a pinback button of the same picture. While her family rolled video I asked her all sorts of questions about her costume, where she was from, etc. She was VERY excited and I knew this would be a memorable moment for her. We clowned around and took a few photos together and she and her family went on their way. This is one of the magical things about what we Voice Actors do. I’m sure that young lady will remember that for a long time to come, and it was clear that she had prepared for it for quite a while. It made me smile. The show was pretty slow, but I met some really great people. There was a Sonic panel at 2 with myself, Cindy Robinson and Karen Strassman. Later in the afternoon Sheriff John and his wife Officer Kelley arrived to hang out for the final hours, and then we headed out to get steaks. I didn’t want to stay out too late because with a flight that left at 6:51am, that meant I would have to be up and gone by 4:30 in the morning! I packed up my things when I got back to my room and got a few hours of sleep.
Monday the 8th – CUCKOO FOR COCO! – Though my alarm was set for 4am, my eyes sprang open at 3am. I never sleep well the final night of a trip. It might be for fear of oversleeping and missing my flight. But when I woke up I could feel something weird in my chest. I wrote it off to the wet weather we’ve been having and took a little cough medicine so I wouldn’t be coughing on the flight home and alarming everyone around me. The car arrived at 4:45 to take Cindy Robinson and I to the airport. Both our flights were on American, and both flights left around 7am. But mine was a direct flight to LAX, while Cindy had a layover in Phoenix. Not sure why we weren’t on the same flight, but oh well. We got checked in, went through security screening, and ended up meeting again at the only breakfast place that was open. I got a ham and cheese croissant and waited to board. All was going according to plan! As I boarded the plane with my carry-on bag and croissant, I sat down next to a lady with a cute little dog. The doggie was VERY excited to see what my ham and cheese croissant was all about. I sat down and the doggie was all over me. The lady apologized and said, “I’m so sorry. She’s very friendly.” I said, “Small world. So am I!” She said she hoped I wasn’t upset by the dog. I told her, “Of all the people on this plane, I’m the LAST person that would be upset by a nice doggie.” The dog’s name was Coco, and she was a four year old Chihuahua and terrier mix. I told her owner that Coco is the ONLY type of four year old I’d ever want to sit next to on a plane. The flight was great, and I got to spend some time with Coco on my lap giving me hugs! It was exactly what I needed, as my “doggie love” time has been severely limited since Roxy passed last February. This couldn’t have happened at a better time. In addition to holding Coco (she would go back and forth between me and her mom), I slept a bit, had a nice in-flight breakfast, and slept again. When I woke up I asked the flight attendant T.K. how much time we had left in the flight. He said 35 minutes. 35 MINUTES?! It was almost over? Wow! Fantastic. There’s nothing like a direct flight! I disembarked and headed to the baggage claim area. Once again I met Coco and her mommy. I noticed the date on the screen at baggage claim. “Oh, it’s Elvis’ birthday!” Coco’s mom said that she plays tennis with Elvis’ former girlfriend Linda Thompson! What a small world! I got my baggage and Alex the driver picked me up to take me home. Emily and I went to Paty’s to get lunch and it felt good to spend some time in the sun on the patio. Then I went home, unpacked, cleaned up, and hit the hay. But when I woke up later in the evening…it hit me! I had a sore throat and body aches. I got hit with what’s commonly known in the industry as Con Crud. Rats!
Tuesday the 9th – MY DEFENSE REGIMEN!? – Though I’m very diligent about my defense regimen when I’m on the road (twice a day sinus rinses, supplements and boosters, gargles, nose and lung protective medications) something had gotten through my regimen of defenses. I think between the odd sleeping hours, the weather change, the stress of the hotel situation in Florida, and the time difference, my body was weakened a bit and the Con Crud was allowed to take hold. Well, so much for this week! I texted Sara and asked if she would cancel my appointment at the Toyota dealer to have the Gray Ghost serviced with its semi-annual maintenance. I went outside to sit in the sun for a while in hopes that the UV light and the extra vitamin D would help. As bad as it was, I could tell that it wasn’t going to be as bad as some cold/flu things I’ve had in the past. Hopefully this will be mild, and hopefully my defense regimen helped to minimize it somewhat. Then it was back to bed for the rest of the day. Come to find out, Sheriff John and Officer Kelley had come under the weather as well. So it’s definitely going around!
Wednesday the 10th – DOCTOR! DOCTOR! – First thing in the morning I did a telemedicine call with my doctor to let him know what was going on. He knew by the sound of my voice I was in trouble. I could barely speak. He prescribed me the appropriate meds, and I called my pal Sara to see if she would pick those up, along with a few grocery items. I was lacking a few things in the fridge, but I figured when I got home from the con I would do a grocery store trip and pick up what I needed. The stuffiness in the nose was starting now, on top of the body aches and the sore throat. Sara got the meds and supplies and came over and put everything away for me. What a pal! I went outside and spent some time in the sun by the pool, which I honestly think helped quite a bit. I slept all afternoon, and when I awakened in the evening everything was soaked. The infection had broken and I sweat it all out. This is one of the worst parts about having the flu like this…when it breaks. Yuck! I got up to do a small amount of work, and my voice was still pretty rough. Earlier in the day when talking to my doctor on the phone I could barely speak. So far the body aches are gone, and the cough is still manageable. I’m trying to sleep as much as possible but I keep having weird dreams. I haven’t taken my WOG (walk/jog) in about a week and I was missing it. But I’m not back to full strength yet.
Thursday the 11th – SPOOK’S LOVING IT! – Though I’m trying to sleep as much as possible, it’s also difficult with Spook around. He wants to cuddle all the time and he keeps waking me up when I don’t want to be woken up. But he’s loving the fact that I’m home all the time with him and I’m not going anywhere! He clearly loves having me there day and night!
Friday the 12th – AND HE COUGHED, MAN! – The coughing fits have started, which is good news because that means it’s the end of the line for my flu, but bad news for my body. Since I’ve been sleeping so much I got up in the early morning and took my meds. It took a while to get back to sleep, but I forced myself to. Later in the afternoon I was feeling pretty good, save for the occasional coughing fits. I got some time in the sun by the pool, and then drove the Gray Ghost to a car washed to get cleaned. I got some grocery items I needed, and then I headed to my box to pick up a package. I had recently bought a second Kermit the Frog replica to take out on appearances with me. I don’t like to use the 1:1 replica that I got several years ago for various reasons, so having a second “appearance” Kermit was a good idea. I bought it from a builder I’ve been following on Instagram, and it looked pretty good. I got home and unloaded the groceries, and then opened the Kermit. He looked fantastic, though about 30% smaller than the 1:1 replica I had built years ago. Then I tried to put my hand inside his head. WHOOPS! The hole where the top of the body connects to the neck was very, very small. I could barely get my hand inside. I was worried that I’d split the seams! I eventually got my hand inside, but it was very cramped. I decided to pull my hand back out before I did any damage. Uh oh. It wasn’t coming out. The neck on this Kermit was too small for my hand, and I was really afraid pulling my hand out was going to cause trouble. Eventually I got my hand back out, but I vowed to never try that again. I sent the builder a comparison shot of my 1:1 Kermit and his build, and told him it was about 30% smaller than it needed to be. But he said that’s just how he builds his Kermits and he’s never had any complaints. Luckily he said if I shipped it back he’d refund my money. Too bad too, because it was a really nice little puppet. But unfortunately, it’s unfit for my variety of uses. It’s odd because I don’t have particularly large hands (compared to other puppeteers I’ve seen) so I’m not sure who exactly would be a good fit for this Kermit. But I was now feeling so good that I got some work done around the house. I put away the rest of the stuff from my trip, and started compiling the two weeks’ worth of Wally’s Week posts.
Saturday the 13th – REFRESHED AND RENEWED! – For a second I had considered going out on my WOG again, but when 2am rolled around I turned over and went back to sleep. I’ll get back to it when I’ve hit full strength again. By the time I finally got up I noted that I had slept a full 8 hours; which is rare for me. I got up to do some work around the house, and then headed over to see my stylist Andie for a touch-up on my color. I got back home and did some graphics work, and then later my pal Chris Malmin brought his buddy Todd over who was visiting from South Dakota. Chris wanted me to show him around Planet Wallywood. After the tour we agreed to meet at Little Toni’s for a late dinner, but when I arrived at the restaurant I got a text from Chris that he took his pal Todd back to his place because he wasn’t feeling particularly well. He was coming down with the crud that was going around. So I excused myself from Little Toni’s, and came home and made some spaghetti. I went back to bed to grab a nap. Later I got up and worked around the house, and since I was out of town the first Saturday of the month, I had postponed my monthly “Laurel and Hardy Theatre” evening to tonight. I decided to tear through the house and reinvigorate everything. I took the comforter and all of the sheets off my bed and put on clean ones. Off to the laundry with the “sickie” sheets! Then I took apart the main fan in my Tranquility Zone and cleaned it top to bottom. It was FILTHY! It felt great to have a lot of things cleaned and reinvigorated. I did my usual prep for my monthly “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” celebration; I laid out my Chef Boyardee pizza mix and all the ingredients, got my special mug ready, got the popcorn ready…but OH NO! I was out of banana Twinkies! I don’t remember eating the last of them, but I couldn’t find them anywhere! I know I was down to my last few, but I figured I had enough to last a while. Maybe they got eaten. I don’t know. But since I’m a bit OCD about stuff like this I was wracking my brain about the whereabouts of the Twinkies. I guess I’d have to improvise and use something else for dessert. I watched two great silent films “Sugar Daddies” and “The Second 100 Years.” It sometimes puzzles me how these films get titled, as they don’t seem to have much to do with the movie’s plot. But they were fantastic to watch. Sadly, I’m running out of films to watch from the “Laurel & Hardy: Year One” Blu-ray set. I only have 3 more shorts left on this set to watch (the short “Hats Off” has been lost for decades so it couldn’t be included on this set) and I’m saddened by that. I know they’re working away on “Laurel & Hardy: Year Two,” but I’m not sure how close they are to releasing that. I like to watch each film with the music track, and then re-watch them with the commentaries provided by Laurel & Hardy expert Randy Skretvedt. It’s amazing information!
Sunday the 14th – SUNDAY SET-UP! – After getting up late in the afternoon I did some work around the house, even recorded a few auditions (since my voice was coming back), and tried to get set up for the new week. I need to get to the bank to make some deposits, mail off some bills, and get the Gray Ghost into the shop for its usual maintenance and service. I started in on completing Wally’s Week for a Tuesday morning posting.
Monday the 15th – MLK JR. DAY! – With the best of intentions, I got up and started planning my day of errands. I would mail off some stuff at the post office, hit the bank and make some deposits, and then hit Paty’s for lunch. I was reminded by a friend that it was MLK Jr. day and nothing would be open except Paty’s. I had forgotten about the holiday. Given the week I had, I was surprised I could even remember what year it was! It was like a whole week disappeared from my life like a bursting bubble! The only thing left for me to do was to hit Paty’s for a salad. The comfortable, familiar surroundings were very comforting as I enjoyed my typical salad on the sun-drenched patio. They had an awesome Yacht Rock station playing music on the overhead speakers, so that was fantastic to listen to. I got some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins after lunch, and then I headed over to CVS to get some supplies. I’ll hit the post office and bank tomorrow. I also have to remember to mail Kermit back to his builder. In the early evening I got on my computer to participate in an important eBay auction I had my eye on for a while. In 1933 Laurel and Hardy made one of their best films ever; probably their best-known feature film called “Sons of the Desert.” It’s about a fraternal organization (similar to the Shriners) to which Stan and Ollie belong. In the film, they have to figure out a way to get away from their wives for the weekend to go to the national convention. They have to fabricate a tall tale because their wives have other plans for them for the weekend. I’ve loved this film since I was a kid. I saw it at a beautiful theatre in downtown L.A. back in 2018 with a packed house of people who also love this film. It was a monumentally impactful experience to finally see this treasure with a giant crowd who loved it as much as I did. In 1933 the costumers for the film were tasked with creating several felt fezzes that would be worn by background players, as well as featured cast members, and of course, Laurel and Hardy themselves. The fezzes for the background players had the Sons of the Desert logo simply painted on. The more featured players would wear fezzes that had the “desert sunset” logo embroidered on them. In those days there was no such thing as digital embroidery, so ladies at the Hal Roach Studio had to hand-embroider the logo on every fez. Since the fezzes were felt and are almost 100 years old, not many of them have survived in very good condition. The ones that come up for auction are either the painted-logo fezzes, or fezzes that have seen a fair amount of damage to the felt or to the tassels. While I was ill I spent some time goofing around on eBay and happened to spot an original SOTD film fez that belonged to a friend of Stan & Ollie’s. A British comedian named Harry Worth had been on the bill with them at several appearances towards the end of their careers. It’s unclear how Harry Worth came by the fez, but it was in his collection when he passed away in 1989, and then his wife cared for it until her death in 1999. The seller had it in their possession since 2007 and it was time to move it to a new caretaker. Experts who know more about the types of embroidery, fabrics and construction techniques from back in 1933 have all authenticated this as one of the few remaining “main cast” fezzes. With the exception of autographs, I don’t have anything from Laurel or Hardy in the Planet Wallywood collection. So it was time to get serious. I emailed several questions back and forth to the seller, and I received prompt responses. As is my quirky habit, I usually ask the universe for some kind of sign when embarking on a project like this. While watching “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” last Saturday night, I received my sign. I was listening to Randy Skretvedt’s commentary on one of the silent films I was watching. Bear in mind that these particular films were made 6 years before “Sons of the Desert” was filmed. I played a game with myself. I said, “OK universe. If “Sons of the Desert” is mentioned somewhere in Randy’s commentary tonight, then that’s a sign I should go for it!” When Randy was pointing out a scene in the silent film that was filmed on the Hal Roach Studios’ “New York Street” set, I received my sign. He said, (and I paraphrase) “That scene was shot on the old New York Street area of the Hal Roach backlot. But that area was modernized in 1933 when Stan and Babe were seen marching down the street in “Sons of the Desert.” Oddly enough, because I was so wrapped up in Randy’s commentary, I didn’t immediately recognize the sign. But on Monday morning I woke up and said, ”Wait a minute! HE MENTIONED “SONS OF THE DESERT!” It was then I knew I had to go for it. As the end date for the auction approached (Monday night 12/15/24 at 8:02pm) I got more and more nervous. I had no idea how many others were vying for this gem. I was there at the auction’s end to make a high bid in hopes of winning it. 20 seconds left in the auction, I put in a super high bid (that I was hoping couldn’t possibly be beat using eBay’s incremental bidding system) before the final bell. BINGO! No other bids! The fez was mine! Prior to bidding I had a place all picked out in the Chaney Room where I could display it. It will fit nicely on top of another cabinet which, strangely enough, sits right next to my framed “Sons of the Desert” membership certificate! Plus, the Chaney Room doesn’t have access to any outside light, and barely has access to any interior light. This will be the perfect place to display it! I may move my Laurel and Hardy autographs behind it to complete the picture. I’ll be on the hunt for the proper display stand, as well as a suitable Plexiglas case. No moths will get at THIS baby! Later in the evening I decided to get back on my nightly WOG routine. It felt good to be out again, but during the time spent in my anti-grav chair afterwards, I got chilly and rather tired. So I went inside acknowledging the fact that I may not quite be up to full strength yet. I did some work around the house and then hit the hay.
And how were YOUR weeks?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
The Hollander hotel (where I stayed in St. Petersburg) was originally opened in 1933. But it had languished for a long period of time unoccupied. In the early 2000s it was reinvigorated as a boutique hotel with lots of quirky acknowledgements to its past. Here is an original phone booth with the original equipment.
Of course, since the equipment is 1930s (Laurel and Hardy’s era) I couldn’t resist but to try to see if either of them would pick up the phone on the other end. “Hello. It’s me. Is that you?”
The architecture all over town is stunning, and it’s made even more gorgeous by modern lighting effects.
The inside of the Coliseum (the venue for the show) was breathtaking.
I’m at my table and ready to go!
When I saw this kid’s Spiderman costume I got envious. Where was that costume when I was a kid?! All I had was this…
Our Celebworx family photo for the weekend was fun. Cindy Robinson, Karen Strassman, and our on-site handler Janine bring the fire!
It was fun to meet Manny & Gabby
And JC was a great guy too!
Garrett Sander, who created the Monster High line for Mattel, was there signing for the fans. This is a Monster High booth that had nothing but Monster High products. In retrospect I’m regretting not getting a figure and having him sign it!
Later, Sheriff John treated comic book artist Dexter Vines and myself to dinner at the original Hooters in Clearwater.
Upon my return to the Hollander hotel, I was entranced by the local sensation Judy B. Goode in the lounge!
When I was a baby, my folks called me Wa wa. I still have a few friends to this day who call me that. So I begged Sheriff John to get a picture of me next to the lighted sign at a convenience store chain called Wawa! (Should I sue?)
Yup, Steve Martin in “The Jerk” was an absolute prophet. Not quite a Cup ‘o’ Pizza, but a Pizza Cone is very close!
I was proud to be this young Zim fan’s first Voice Actor she ever met, at her first ever convention. I tried to make it as fun as possible for her so it’ll be a moment she’ll never forget.
With apologies to Paul Simon’s song “Graceland”…”My traveling companion was four years old.” But this is the ONLY kind of four year old I’d want to travel with. Part chihuahua and part terrier…cute little Coco sat on my lap for part of the trip and gave me some much needed doggie love.
While I was in the St. Petersburg, FL area for the St. Pete Comic Con I went shooting with Sheriff John. Here’s a little view from my hotel room of a gorgeous, rainy Florida morning. Even more beautiful is the St. Pete Coliseum, where the convention was held. And to top off the weekend, I had a “pizza cone.” Ever see the movie “The Jerk?” Steve Martin’s “Cup o’ Pizza” was absolutely prophetic!
