RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Hard to believe the movie “Return Of The Living Dead II” came out 38 years ago. It was one of the first things I worked on when I moved to L.A. in January of 1987. I wore my Michael Jackson Thriller jacket to the set one day for a laugh, and when the crew saw it they hatched the idea of adding a funny Michael Jackson bit to the film. As I was reviewing the comments about the film on social media, it was apparent that scene is very fondly remembered. And oh yeah, I still have the jacket!
During the past week I ran across John Lennon’s song called “Woman,” which came out in 1980. I hadn’t heard this song in a long time. Our Program Director at KELO radio was a huge Beatles fan, so we literally played this one once an hour. I was pretty burned out on it and I never needed to hear it again. But when I heard it in passing this past week it sounded pretty good. And now it’s been on my mind.
Monday the 12th – RUNNING ON EMPTY! – Every time I have an early morning Voice Over session scheduled I never sleep very well. Or for very long. Luckily the session was really fun and didn’t take very long. It was for the Kansas Lottery and I played a monster truck-type announcer. When that was all finished my friends Mike and Alex from Alex In Wonderland came over to try the new cape and cloak on my life-size Darth Vader figure. It fit really well, but Alex needed to take them back to the shop to do some further alterations. I did some work in the afternoon around the house, and in the evening I met my pal Alex Zsolt and his friend Larry at the Smoke House for dinner. They were in town visiting from Nashville. When dinner was finished I drove them to their hotel and then headed to the grocery store to get some appropriate “soft” food items for my upcoming oral surgery on Tuesday morning. I stopped by the cleaners to pick up a comforter, and then arrived back home to meet up with my assistant Emily. She’d be crashing in the Puppet Room for the night so she could drive me to the oral surgeon first thing in the morning. I did my auditions, typed out Wally’s Week, and then ate something. My cut-off time for eating was 1:30am. Since the surgery was scheduled for 9:30am I had to stop eating and drinking for 8 hours prior to the surgery. Because of everything I needed to do before getting a little sleep, I didn’t get a chance to go out on my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and I really missed it.
Tuesday the 13th – 31 IS FINALLY GONE! – Again, I didn’t sleep very well. I actually ended up waking up earlier than necessary. I cleaned up and Emily drove me to the oral surgeon’s office and got me checked in. This is the same oral surgeon that did amazing work during my “sinus-and-tooth” debacle back in 2018. I got seated in the operating room and they started the “twilight sleep” process. The surgery seemed brief, and when I started to come out of it I had some pretty bad double vision. Going forward, whenever I have some “light” surgical need like pulling a tooth, I probably WON’T opt for the twilight sleep again. It’s more hassle than it’s worth. You can’t eat for 8 hours, you need a driver, etc. I’ll just have them numb me up and have them yank it. But yeah…my #31 is gone. Hopefully the long ordeal with this tooth is over. I really tried to do everything I could to save it, and retain my own biological material. But when it was determined that one of the canals was inaccessible due to calcification, and the nerve could not be removed, there was no other logical option. I look forward to getting an implant as soon as is physically possible – which could take several months. I picked up my medication at the pharmacy downstairs and we went over to Bob’s Big Boy for lunch. I had some delicious soup and mashed potatoes and gravy. Then I got home to take some medication and rest – which I did the rest of the day. I can’t WOG for about a week until I’m all healed up. The surgeon’s staff said I needed to avoid anything that would increase my blood pressure, as it could put strain on the surgical site.
Wednesday the 14th – FROM ONE SURGERY TO THE NEXT! – When I got around I felt a little better. I only had minor pain, and I could do some light work around the house – in between resting periods. When my stitches dissolve I figure it’ll be safe to go on my nightly WOGs again, but we’ll see. I was contacted by the office of the surgeon who will be doing my thyroid surgery, and we set a date for February 6th. I really want to get all this medical stuff behind me and get on with the year. What a hassle. I did a few auditions, and continued relaxing.
Thursday the 15th – STIR CRAZY! – The temp was about 80 degrees out and I was going nuts. I had to get out of the house! None of my friends were available for lunch, so I headed to Paty’s to grab a bite and relax in the sun. Turkey noodle soup, mashed potatoes and tuna salad hit the spot – and kept consistent with my “soft-foods-only” mandate. Then I picked up a package at my box, and headed to the post office to mail off some bills. I got back home to do some work around the house. I’m still continuing to reorganize my bedroom closet so it’s more streamlined and efficient. I had a few plastic bins with drawers in the kitchen that I was no longer using. One had condiments in it that my movie night guests would use (I haven’t had a movie night since 2020!) and the other was used as a treat bin for my pets (and I no longer have pets). I cleaned them out and repurposed them for clothing items in my closet. Plus, I cleared a lot of space on my kitchen counter! Double win! I’m itching to go on my nightly WOGs again, but I don’t dare quite yet. One of the packages I got in earlier included about 4 yards of sky blue, long-pile faux fur. I had been thinking about making a Herry Monster Muppet replica for a long time, but until now I haven’t been able to find the right fur – either in color or texture. But this fur from Hong Kong looks perfect! I’ll go shopping for some foam rubber soon to start working on him, but I need to acquire some more reference photos and make a few more drawings first. I rested for a while, and then did my nightly auditions. I had considered trying a WOG, but I’m still not feeling it yet.
Friday the 16th – FRIDAY FRIENDS – FINALLY! – The maids arrived shortly after noon and when they finished I headed over to Paty’s to have a delightful lunch with my pal Chris Malmin and his friend Carolyn. It was a gorgeous day with lots of warm sunshine. But we talked so long that it got late into the afternoon. I made it back home to change into some different clothes, and then my pal Amanda came over. We went to Little Toni’s for my friend Edi’s birthday dinner. I didn’t really want to eat again so soon, but the spaghetti at Little Toni’s is hard to resist! With a VERY full tummy, I headed back home to rest. I really wanted to get out and get some exercise, but I’d better not push it. I’m really not in the mood for complications to occur, which would require more surgery. I’d better play it cool. I worked on my bedroom closet again, and even moved some stuff in and out of the Puppet Room closet. Later I made a nice, soft pot pie and watched an episode of “The Virginian.”
Saturday the 17th – EPHEMERA-MANIA! – One of the pending things I needed to do was to sort through one of my storage bins and inventory all of the items in there. Up until now it was a mish-mosh of all sorts of different stuff, and I wanted it sorted and inventoried. As the majority of it was all ephemera, I had to separate each item in to categories. Then I made category envelopes and stuffed them full of items. It was stuff like press clippings, event materials, comic con stuff, correspondence, cards & letters, etc. It’s all stuff that I wanted to keep, but don’t really have an immediate need for. Plus, I ended up tossing a lot of stuff away after I reviewed it and determined that I had no further need for it. It was tedious work, but it was light work –with no heavy lifting. So this was the perfect time to get all of this done. I crammed everything into one bin, which also included a lot of the custom-made “Chelsea” boots I used to wear, and got it ready to take downstairs to storage. I was also able to move some stuff out of the Chaney Room and get things in order in there as well. I rested for a bit, and then did a little more work. The stitches have started to dissolve and are frayed and stuck in one place. It feels like I have a huge piece of food stuck in my teeth and it won’t come out. It’s very annoying, but it’s all part of the process. I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad (which I’ll be sure to eat VERY carefully) and I watched another episode of the 1976 limited series “Fantastic Journey.” I sat down at the drawing table and started drawing out the floor plan and other ideas for this year’s offering for the Monsterpalooza museum. It’s going to be a GOOD one! Stay tuned!
Sunday the 18th – DAD! – Before I hit the hay for my usual “Comatose Sunday” I got a call from my sister in South Dakota. My dad was admitted to the hospital with a bladder infection. Apparently he had the symptoms for quite a while but never told anyone. When he was caring for my mom during her health issues, if any little thing occurred with her health he would take her to the doctor. He felt being overly cautious was a good thing for her. And he was right. But now I think he needs to apply the same thinking to his own health. They’re keeping him in the hospital for a few days to monitor his progress. He’ll be 91 in a few weeks. Later my friends Joe and Zandra Pendleton came over and we headed to get dinner. When we finished we came back to Planet Wallywood to start mapping out some plans for the Monsterpalooza museum exhibit. Joe will be building some special platforms for the display and we needed to go over the details. I’m VERY excited! I got a little rest, and when I got around I felt pretty good. It was a nice night (about 47 degrees) and I figured I’d try going a WOG. It’s the first time back out in about a week. But a quarter of the way into it I knew it was a bad idea. The surgical site was throbbing a bit and I didn’t like how it was feeling. Apparently it was still affected by the increase in blood pressure and it was a bit painful. I cut my losses and headed back home. Rats! Still too early. I cut some new voice tracks for my friends at the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. I narrate a show there called “Hooray L.A.” and it will be back onstage this coming week. It will play for the next few months. While the show is generally the same as it’s always been, they like to update a few bits here and there, and that requires some new narration. I love working with that theatre. Fun stuff! But as I was recording the tracks, I could feel the last of my stitches come out! Fabulous! I’m on the mend! I made some mac and cheese and watched another episode of “The Virginian.” This one featured Bette Davis and was remarkable! WOW!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Post-op – #31 is outta here!
Soft lunch!
