January 27 – February 03 (2025)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Given the fact that my cat Spooky is 19.5 years old, according to this chart, that would make him about 95 years old in people years!!!

I’m not sure whatever happened to this guy, but when the song “Cry Just A Little Bit” by Shakin’ Stevens came out in 1983 I really liked it. And it sounded so good when it came up on my device the other day.

Monday the 27th – DANDY HANDY DON! – My contractor Handy Don came over to fix a bunch of stuff. He patched up the walls where he repaired the water leak last week. He worked on my dishwasher to install a new heating element, and he tacked down the new rug in the Tranquility Zone. It had been rippling quite badly with all of the movement going on; walking back and forth, etc. But now that it’s been tacked down in several places it won’t be moving again. It was a very busy day. Since my pal Brittney Powell was in town for the upcoming Xena convention, we went to grab some food at Ernie’s Taco House. I came back home to relax a bit, and then did my nightly WOG (walk/jog) later. It was a chilly 37 degrees out, but I just considered it “training” for the cold weather I’ll be experiencing in my upcoming trip to South Dakota. However, upon checking the extended forecast for Sioux Falls, it looks like it’s going to be close to 50 for most of the days I’m there! That’s pretty rare for February in South Dakota! I guess I should count my blessings. Later I wrote out Wally’s Week.

Tuesday the 28th – VOICEMAIL ISSUES! – To start the day I did a few auditions, and then called my friend Dr. Cowen to see if he wanted to meet for dinner before the Sons of the Desert meeting later in the evening. He said he had left me a voicemail last night confirming dinner, but I hadn’t received any notifications of his message. Very weird! It got me thinking that perhaps I was having an issue with voicemail notifications. Come to think of it, a few weeks ago when the L.A. fires were blazing, my voicemail notifications were going crazy. I would get a notification that I had a voicemail, but once I listened to it and then subsequently erased the message, the notification was still present – even though there were no new messages. Now it’s apparently not notifying me at all, because when I called my voicemail I had 11 messages from the past several weeks that I hadn’t checked! Infuriating! I called the company who made my phone and they said that issue wouldn’t be a hardware issue, since it’s the carrier’s responsibility to alert the customer to the presence of a new message. So I called my carrier and talked to a nice guy (who oddly enough was originally from South Dakota!) and he said that because many of the permanent towers burned down, they were using a lot of temporary mobile towers to carry signals. He said that the process for sending notifications for voicemails is an internet-based technology, so perhaps it wasn’t quite working normally yet. So now if I see that I’ve missed a call, I’m going to call my voicemail just to make sure no message was left. I didn’t tell Brittney where we were going, as I wanted her to be surprised. We met Dr. Cowen for pizza at a nearby restaurant, and then went to the Sons of the Desert meeting and watched some hilarious films. Brittney said that she actually enjoyed it quite a bit. We got back to the house and I relaxed a bit, and then did my nightly auditions. Then I threw on my workout clothes and did my WOG. I spent the rest of the night working on my computer and organizing for my upcoming trip to Sioux Falls for my dad’s 90th birthday party.

Wednesday the 29th – MOVED TO TEARS! – Early in the afternoon I did some auditions that had just come in, and then I set up my camera and lighting to record a Wallygram. An order had recently come in with the request that I perform the J.P. character from “Street Fighter 6.” Because of my nutty schedule I hadn’t been able to get to it for several days, so I wanted to make it very special to make up for the delay. I shot it, edited it, and sent it to the customer. They wrote back and said that the Wallygram moved them both to tears; in a good way. That kind of review is always very nice to get. I met my pal Chris Malmin for lunch at Paty’s, and I stopped by my box to pick up the new knit tie I had ordered from Japan. It will be for my new Roger Moore James Bond figure that I’m making. In the movie “The Man With The Golden Gun” the villain keeps a life-size figure of 007 in his mansion to use for target practice. I’m recreating that figure for Planet Wallywood. The tie that he’s wearing in this 1974 movie was perplexing me for a long time, until I realized that it was a knitted tie – made popular in the 1970’s. After many attempts to find the right one, this one looked perfect. However, I was made aware that a company named Turnbull & Asser provided many of the clothing items to the James Bond production company over the years. I had found a knitted tie on their website that also looked pretty good. It’s a lot more expensive than the one I just bought from Japan, but if it’s the exact one used in the film 50 years ago, I may have to spring for it. I got back home and chatted with Brittney for a while, did some auditions, and then relaxed. I printed my schedule for the weekend in Sioux Falls, took my nightly WOG, and then worked on my computer.

Thursday the 30th – DISHWASHER DILEMMA! – After the maids finished up cleaning Planet Wallywood, Handy Don came back to investigate why my dishwasher wasn’t properly washing the dishes. Don had replaced the heating element the other day, but now we have a new problem – the dishes weren’t getting clean. I think it’s time for a new dishwasher, personally. So he tore the thing apart to try and determine what was wrong, but everything seemed normal. But after a test, it still wasn’t cleaning the dishes. As I was pulling some laundry out of my closet in the Tranquility Zone I bumped a shelf and one of my lava lamps fell down and crashed into my glass sphere lamp. It shattered into a million pieces. Rats! When will this day end!? I took Brittney over to the hotel where the Xena convention would be and got her checked in. I hit KFC for some food and then dropped off a comforter at the dry cleaners. I spoke with Handy Don about the dishwasher debacle and we formulated a plan to buy a new one and install it soon. This thing has been trouble almost since the day I bought it, and I wouldn’t not recommend a Bosch unit to anyone. I recorded my auditions, worked around the house, and got packed up for my trip to Sioux Falls early the next morning.

Friday the 31st – A DERN GOOD VIDEO! – My eyes sprang open at 5:45am, a full 15 minutes before my alarm was due to go off, and I was up and at ‘em! I cleaned up, loaded up my luggage in the Gray Ghost, and said my goodbyes to my cat Spook. Given his age I never know if it will be the last time or not. My pal Chris Malmin will be hanging out with him all weekend while I’m away. I got to the airport by 7, but I was pretty tired. I gave my car to the valet and then went inside to check in. When I went to the screening checkpoint the TSA gal gave me a laminated pass that stated that I was pre-check. In the TSA Pre-Check line I started unloading my electronics from my bag and putting them in the bin. The TSA guy yelled at me, “You don’t need to take them out of your bag. Read the card!” Read? This early in the morning I can barely walk erect! I thought it was ill-advised for him to growl at me, considering that I had only been given the pass 20 seconds earlier. Am I supposed to just stop and hold up the line of travelers just so I can read their stupid card before I hit the screening line? Honestly, I truly hope the TSA goes away soon. They’re a pain in the ass, and I believe it should be the airline’s responsibility to screen their passengers anyway, not the government’s. I got a breakfast sandwich and found a quiet place to eat it along with a banana and some orange juice. When I got to my seat I pulled my cap down over my eyes, turned on my iPod and listened to tunes on the flight to Denver. At one point when I woke up the flight attendant came and tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I needed anything. I told him some water would be great. He said, “By the way, I recognized your name on the list. Love your work!” I told him thanks and asked his name. His name was Chad and he was a cool guy. It’s rare that Voice Actors ever get recognized, but when it happens it’s a pleasant surprise. I was sitting across the aisle from cute 10 month old twins. But as cute as they were, they were pretty noisy. It’s times like that when I realize that my expensive noise-canceling headphones were worth every dollar! I hit the terminal at the Denver airport and started looking for my Pizza Hut restaurant that I love. I like to get a personal pan pizza for lunch during my layover. But the space was vacant! OUT OF BUSINESS! Rats! No more Pizza Hut on the B concourse. Just my luck. But everything was running smoothly and on time with the airline, so I guess I couldn’t be too unhappy. I got on the flight to Sioux Falls and I had booked the same seat I had the last time I went to South Dakota. It’s a single seat on the left side of the plane, and it’s right by the window. The snow caps on the Colorado mountains were lovely. As we flew over the landscape all of the little bodies of water were frozen over, and they had the most amazing little zig-zag patterns on the ice. The countryside was gorgeous! We landed in Sioux Falls, I grabbed my carry-on bag, and I headed into the terminal. Just as I was getting off the plane I felt like I tripped on something. I looked back to see what it was and the guy behind me said, “Your sole is coming off your shoe.” WHAT?! I have a certain brand of shoe that I love for traveling because they’re very comfortable. But apparently the Vlado shoes I was wearing were older, and the glue had gotten dry and brittle. I was hoping I could keep the sole on my shoe long enough to get to baggage claim, but no such luck. The entire thing came off as I was walking downstairs. So I was walking with one good shoe, and one shoe with no bottom. I was really glad it didn’t happen earlier, when I was in Denver walking to my connecting gate! I got my luggage and headed to the car rental agency. The manager there suggested a good shoe place to get a new pair of shoes. Once I got my vehicle I made a beeline to the shoe store. I had thought about sending the Vlado shoes back home to repair, but once I got the shoe off and got a good look at it, it wasn’t really logical to try and fix them. I just threw them away. It was a shame because the top of the shoes were still fairly new and unused. But the glue that kept the top fastened to the bottom just gave out. When I get back home I’m going to put all my Vlado shoes through a rigorous test to see if the glue is getting old on them as well. I got my hotel room, unloaded my stuff, and then met my folks, and my sister and brother-in-law at Fry’N Pan; my folks’ favorite hang. Three months ago I ran into legendary actor Bruce Dern at Paty’s. I had seen him many times around town, as well as some of the autograph shows I attend. Bruce is in my dad’s top three favorite actors. My dad always loves the villains in the shows he watches. About 10 years ago, at an autograph show, I asked Mr. Dern if he would say hi to my dad on the phone. They ended up chatting for about 15 minutes! Both Bruce and my dad were lifelong runners, and they chatted a bit about jogging. Bruce also mentioned that his wife is originally from North Dakota, and he had traveled through South Dakota often. I never forgot how nice he was to my dad back then, so if I see him at a restaurant I always like to buy his meal. When I saw him at Paty’s back in November I wrangled his server and told her that I’d be covering his check. After he was told he gave me a thumbs up through the window, so I went inside to say hi. As we chatted I got the idea to have Bruce cut a video for my dad’s birthday. It would be amazing! I gave my card to his assistant, and I got a call a few days later so we could arrange it. Bruce made an amazing “stream-of-consciousness” video for my dad’s 90th birthday, but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise until dad’s birthday in late January! I had to sit on this for three months and not say anything! It was tough to do, but tonight was the night I’d be showing it to him. I whipped out my tablet and told dad I had a very special message for his birthday from a friend. Since their conversation 10 years ago, my dad has always jokingly referred to him as “my ol’ buddy Bruce Dern.” On the phone he’d say, “Guess who was on “Gunsmoke” last night! My ol’ buddy Bruce Dern!” So I asked Bruce’s assistant to start the video by saying, “Hello Lew. It’s your ol’ buddy Bruce Dern.” It’s actually quite funny! I showed him the video at dinner and he was blown away, as I hoped he would be! We all chatted for a long time, and then I hit Wal-Mart to get some supplies, including a frame for the Bruce Dern autographed photo I had gotten for him earlier in the month. But because it was late in the evening, the only way to pay for your stuff was through self-checkout. I don’t believe in self-checkout, as I’m not their employee – so why should I do their work for them? I asked someone if they could check me out, and they told me to go to a certain register. Seeing that a real, live person was heading to the register, a lady rushed over and put her things down on the conveyor belt. I figured she was in a real hurry, so I didn’t much care that she jumped the line. But as she attempted to use her debit card to pay for her purchase, she was clearly having trouble. She put in the number a second time, but it didn’t work. She tried a third time, and she was clearly getting very frustrated. The clerk called a manager over to try and help, but the manager told the lady that there wasn’t any money left on the card. Flustered, the lady said to hold her purchases for her, that she’d go out to the car and get a different one. I felt bad for her, so I leaned in and asked the clerk, “How much is her bill?” The clerk said, “$16.07.” Really? That was all? I told her to add the lady’s purchases to my bill and I’d cover it for her. The manager thanked me profusely, and the lady turned to thank me but was starting to cry, so the words wouldn’t come. Gotta pay it forward, ya know. As I left the manager said, “God bless you.” After a day of getting yelled at by an impatient TSA goon, and losing the sole of my shoe in the airport, it was nice to focus on the good things that happened that day. I went to my hotel and unpacked.

Saturday the 1st – ROMEO! – When I was about 12 or 13 my dad’s office in Aberdeen, South Dakota was located next to a McDonald’s restaurant right by Moccasin Creek. At the time McDonald’s in Aberdeen was fairly new. On Saturdays my dad would go into the office for a few minutes to take care of a few things, and he’d take me with him. After he was done we’d go have lunch together at McDonald’s. Having a Big Mac with dad was always a great memory for me. So since I was back in Sioux Falls for his birthday, I wanted to make a point of taking him out for lunch at McDonald’s. My mom came along and we had a lot of fun eating lunch and chatting. Because of the nutty schedule I always have when I go back to Sioux Falls I don’t get as much of a chance to chat with them as I’d like. But this trip was different. We spent many, many hours talking. And it was really nice. I dropped them off at their house and then headed to my room. Then I spoke with an old friend on the phone for a while. He and I had been in a lot of plays together during the old days of the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse. I had heard that he was battling cancer, and the prognosis wasn’t exactly what they had hoped for…1-3 months. We talked for a while and he mentioned that he’s in a group of guys they call ROMEO – which stands for Real Old Men Eating out. As it happened, they were having a big gathering of the ROMEO club that very night at the house of one of the former directors of the Playhouse. I told him I didn’t want to crash it, but I would love to see everybody. He told me that they would love to see me too, so he gave me the address to the gathering. I got cleaned up and met mom, dad, my pals Smith, Maguire and his wife Patty. Then I headed over to the opposite side of town to crash the ROMEO party. It was a great time, and it was wonderful seeing a lot of familiar faces from the old days! Given the circumstances of the gathering the mood was surprisingly light and full of laughs. While my pal’s diagnosis is sad, he’s surrounded by a lot of love and laughter. At one point I stood behind him, placed my hands on his shoulders and started singing “Those Magic Changes” – the song he sang when we did “Grease” back in 1984. He started singing with me, until we got to the point in the song where we both forgot the words. I’m really glad that circumstances presented themselves in such a way that I was able to attend that gathering. As you might know, on the first Saturday of every month, I like to commemorate my memories of watching “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” on channel 9 back when I was 12 and 13 years old. But February would be tricky, because on the first Saturday of the month I’d be in Sioux Falls. And on the second Saturday of the month I’ll be in Seattle for a convention. But I thought that having a “remote” Laurel & Hardy Theatre in my hotel room might be kinda fun. After all, my memories of watching those movies on a cold, wintery Saturday night in Aberdeen might be fun to relive on a cold, wintery Saturday night in Sioux Falls. I made the plan for exactly how I’d do it. I packed one of my Sons of the Desert fezzes in my luggage, along with one of my Laurel & Hardy shirts. I bought some banana Twinkies at Wal-Mart the night before, and my plan was to stop by a movie theatre (just a few blocks from my hotel) and get some freshly-made movie theatre popcorn. A local Sioux Falls place called Boss’ pizza tastes very similar to the pizza I used to eat in Aberdeen from Lu’s Pizza while watching The Boys. And, they cut it into squares too, just like Lu’s used to do. After I stopped by the theatre to get popcorn (they were just starting to clean up for night – so I made it just in time!), I went over to Boss’ pizza (again, just a few blocks from my hotel) and put my order in for a pepperoni and sauerkraut with extra sauce. I sat in my rental car with the heater on and waited for the pizza to bake. My remote Laurel & Hardy Theatre would be fun! I got back to my hotel around 11 and chatted with the desk clerk named Jonah. He mentioned that he was a fan of horror movies like me. He surmised my affection for the genre by the fact that I was wearing my “Halloween; the night he came home” jacket. He also mentioned that he thought I looked like make-up legend Tom Savini. We chatted for almost an hour about horror films, etc. Then I went upstairs, cleaned up and got ready to watch two silent L&H films from the new “Year Two” Blu-ray set; “From Soup To Nuts” and “You’re Darn Tootin’!” My pal Scott Sebring had ripped both films to a flash drive just for the occasion. I plugged the drive into the USB port on the TV in my room and VOILA! “Laurel & Hardy Theatre – Remote!” What fun!

Sunday the 2nd – 90! – A gentleman named Mick Zerr who used to teach at my old high school in Sioux Falls had emailed me about my induction in the Washington High School Hall of Distinction back in 2014. He wanted to confirm that I had gotten the certificate and the commemorative pin. I emailed him back that, while I had the certificate framed and hanging on my wall, I never got a pin. But as luck would have it I was in town, so if he’d rather give it to me in person (instead of mailing it), I’d be available to meet at noon before my dad’s party. So Mick stopped over to the hotel and we chatted for a while. Then I picked up my folks and we headed to my dad’s 90th birthday party. Though the guests wouldn’t be arriving until 2, it was nice to have the immediate family together at 1 so we could all chat. Lots of people showed up and it was a great time. I saw relatives I hadn’t seen in quite a while! I took the folks back home and dropped them off, and then headed to my room to pack up some things. Then we all met for dinner at Outback and had a great time. But the warmer weather was coming to an end, and there was a definite chill in the air (along with some flurries!). So after I hit the local DQ for a banana split, I got back to my room, packed up, and hit the hay!

Monday the 3rd – BYE BYE BRRRR! – Once again, my eyes shot open at 5:45am, several minutes before my alarm was set to go off, and I got cleaned up, packed up, and checked out of my room. I drove to the airport, returned my rental car, and got checked in for my flight. I had to remove my new shoes at the TSA screening, because the metal zippers and eyelets were setting off the machine. I didn’t have that problem with my old shoes, but oh well. At least the soles were staying attached to these shoes. I sat quietly (and tiredly) at the gate waiting to board the plane. It was a perfect flight to Denver on a chilly, overcast morning. I slept most of the way. I got to my connecting gate and waited, boarded the plane, and napped again. Everything was wonderful and on time, which is very important! Once we landed in L.A. I walked off the jetway and enjoyed the warm day. The weather had turned quite warm in Southern California! I got my car out of valet, picked up some lunch at the KFC drive-thru, picked up my comforter at the cleaners, and then got home and gave Spook some kisses and pets (and food!). It was a short trip, but it was a lot of fun – and certainly action-packed! I’ll have a few days rest in L.A. and then I’ll do it all over again; but this time at Anime Washington in Puyallup next weekend! I got unpacked and relaxed, did some auditions, and then typed out Wally’s Week. Busy busy!

And how was YOUR week?!?!

PIX FROM THE WEEK