July 10 – July 17 (2023) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

And on the subject of music…this…

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Kelly Clarkson song “Breakaway,” here it is. Listen to the words and you’ll understand why it was so wild that it came up on my player randomly just as I was about to leave Sioux Falls. No coincidences in life.

Monday the 10th – A BODY YOU CAN ‘COUNT’ ON! – With the 1 inch thick foam rubber I purchased last week at Foam Mart I started constructing the body for my Count Von Count Muppet replica. It started with a basic foam tube, but I did some altering and added a shoulder piece to create a chest and some shoulders. I cut a hole in the top for the neck of the puppet. My plan was to get it over to Alex In Wonderland and get her started on the costume before I leave for South Dakota later this week. I drove over to my box to pick up my packages, and one of them contained the amazing metallic brocade that I’ll be using for the Count’s cape lining! The original lining they used on the Count’s cape was a gorgeous jacquard metallic brocade fabric, but in the most recent years they started using a flat, multi-colored fabric, and even started using a bizarre paisley pattern. I’m sticking with the “old school” approach, and I found a beautiful fabric that will look perfect for my purposes. I also got a DVD set of the old TV show “Thriller” which was hosted by Boris Karloff. I look forward to adding that show to my evening viewing routine. I had some lunch at Paty’s, and then went home to write some checks for a few bills. I walked over to Voice Trax West later in the afternoon for a two hour session for a new video game. It’s always fun to work with my buddy Bill Black, the director. On the way home I dropped my bills in the mail at the post office, bought a few nice cigars (since warmer summer weather is quickly approaching!), and stopped at GNC to get some supplements. It was nice to get back to my walking again, given the fact that I had that back injury recently. The compression band I bought really helped! I got home and cleaned up, and my pal Angi came over so we could go to dinner. We went to the Coral Café and had an amazing dinner. Later I recorded a ton of auditions, and typed out Wally’s Week.

Tuesday the 11th – THE FABRIC OF LIFE! – For next weekend’s “Puppet Up!” show at the Henson Studio, I want to ‘strike the colors’ and ‘fly my flag!’ I’m planning on dressing in my new Kermit the Frog sweater, along with my Kermit shoes and “Muppet Show” t-shirt. But I wanted to use the leftover fabric from my Grover Muppet replica and make a new cap. I already had a smaller nose that would work, so I just needed my seamstress Maggie to cover the cap with Grover fur and add his famous lower red lip. I ordered some appropriately-sized plastic puppet eyes on Amazon, and those should come in next week. Maggie and her friend and driver Evan dropped by to pick up the fabrics so she could get working on it before I left town, and have it ready for next week. While they were here, we all decided to drive down to an amazing fabric store in Beverly Hills called International Silks and Woolens. The head guy there is a guy named Safwat, and I’ve known him since the late 90s when the costume designer from the 1960s “Batman” TV show told me that’s where he got all of his amazing fabrics for the show. Though he still looks young, Safwat was working there during the years the show was being filmed and worked with designer Jan Kemp quite often. I had a list of fabrics I needed for The Count; dark green acetate material for the cape, white cotton fabric for his shirt, black satin for his tux lapel and black velveteen for his tuxedo jacket, ribbon for his sash, and various buttons. I found most everything right away pretty easily, but I was having trouble finding the perfect dark green acetate. I ran a few of the color options by Maggie and Evan, and while they were very nice, we felt they weren’t perfect. Remember, I was looking for a more “old school” Count look, which meant a green that was so dark it was almost black. I stepped away from the immense rack of acetate fabrics they had and went upstairs to see what they had in the room above. After a quick walk-through I realized there wasn’t anything there I needed. As I descended the staircase…THERE IT WAS! The perfect fabric! This role of dark green acetate wasn’t in the rack where all of those types of fabrics were normally kept. It looked like it had been pulled out of the rack, examined, and then just laid on top of other fabrics so it could be put back later. It was a deep, deep green fabric and I decided to buy the remaining three and a half yards that were left on the bolt. I told Maggie and Evan if I could get out of ISW for less than 300 bucks I’d be doing well. The total bill was $220, and I walked out with everything I needed and I was very happy! We hit the local lighting store and I picked up a few things, and then we hit Burger King in Hollywood on the way home for lunch. What an amazing day! Later I did my nightly auditions, did some work around the house, took a late-night WOG (walk/jog) through my complex, and came inside to make a salad and start in on the first episode of “The Incredible Hulk” from the season 3 BluRay boxed set. I also got to watch two episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” on the H&I channel before finally going to sleep.

Wednesday the 12th – THE FINAL COUNTDOWN! – With my trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the 2nd annual Voices Against Cancer event this coming weekend, I needed to get some things done before I fly on Thursday. I stopped by my box and picked up my packages, which included two yards of white Fuzzelle fleece that I’ll be using for my Count replica. My pal Alex in Wonderland will custom dye it to the tint I need it. On the way to Alex’s studio I stopped and got the Gray Ghost gassed up, and then I went to give all of the fabrics to Alex to get her started on the project. With the writer’s strike going on (and soon the actor’s strike) Alex will have some time to work on The Count. Normally she’s so busy with industry projects my puppet replicas get “back burnered” a lot – which I quite understand. Alex and I went over the Count puppet scheme. I showed her all the fabrics, gave her the foam body, gave her photos and sketches and got her going on the project. I also dropped off my two Stan Laurel marionette puppets in hopes that she could transplant the head on the puppet I recently won at the Sons of the Desert meeting, onto the body of the vintage puppet I bought on eBay. The body on the puppet I won at the meeting was badly stained, but the head was in pretty good shape with very little paint loss. The puppet I bought on eBay had a lot of paint loss on the head, but the body was in impeccable shape! If anyone can do it, Alex can! We went through Alex’s pantone book to pick a good color to dye the Count’s fleece. I’m only having her dye one of the two yards, since the only fleece you see on the count is his hands and head. Also, it gives me one yard to keep on hand in case we don’t like how the first yard turns out. I stopped at KFC to get some food to go for dinner, and then hit Target to pick up some grocery items. I got home, put away the groceries, and packed for my trip on Thursday.

Thursday the 13th – TIME FOR ME TO FLY! – At 6:30 in the morning my alarm went off and I was up and at ‘em! I packed a few last-minute items, showered, and met my house sitter Emily at 7. I received a text from the airline telling me that one of my flights was going to be delayed until 3 that afternoon! My flight from LA to Denver, and my flight from Denver to Sioux Falls had VERY similar flight numbers; with just one different digit. I immediately thought the delayed flight was my flight to Denver – which would have screwed up everything, and I most likely would have missed my connection to Sioux Falls. PANIC! But Emily double-checked it, and realized that it was the later flight from Denver to Sioux Falls that would be delayed. Its original departure time was just after 1pm, so this two-hour delay wasn’t going to end up being much of a problem. It would put me into Sioux Falls later than I expected, but at least I’d make it. I drove to the airport, checked my bags, and got through security. I was paged at the terminal, so I went to the desk to see what they wanted. They asked if I would change seats with somebody who had a “guardian” issue. Apparently it was somebody who wanted (or needed?) to travel with another person, and by switching seats with me they would get to sit together. The problem was, the seat they wanted me to take was in the first row, which has no seat in front of me under which I can store my carry-on bag. But I decided to do it anyway, and just put my bag in the overhead compartment. After all, I wanted to be as helpful as possible. But once I got on the plane I realized the person in my original seat didn’t even seem to know the person next to them. Hmmm, weird. The overhead bins in my seating area were all full, so I had to move back quite a ways to find enough open space in the bins to stash my bag. I had forgotten I had my headphones on listening to music, and the headphone cord got tangled up in the strap on my bag. As people were standing behind me waiting to board the plane, I was performing some sort of “Stan Laurel comedy routine” trying to untangle my headphone cord from the bag strap. (Early mornings really aren’t my thing) I tried to laugh it off as just being a klutz, and I finally got it stashed safely. I was regretting switching seats. But as they say, “no good deed goes unpunished.” Next time I’m asked to switch seats to the first row, I’m going to politely decline. To make matters worse, once they served me some orange juice I managed to spill some of it all over the table at my seat. (Did I mention I’m not an early morning guy?) It all would have made Stan Laurel proud. They served us breakfast and I listened to toonz on my iPod all the way to Denver. There was a very nice elderly couple sitting across from me in the first row, and when the time came to deplane they were having trouble getting their roller bags down from the overhead compartment. I didn’t care about anyone else behind us, I stood up and asked if I could assist. They loved the fact that I grabbed their luggage from the overhead compartments, extended the handles for them, and got them on their way before I let anyone else behind us proceed. The airlines really need to reserve the first overhead bins on the plane for people in the first row with no storage space that would normally be under the seats in front of them. But the bins always get stuffed right away by people who sit further back. It was great being able to help them out. We landed just after noon, which meant that I had a three hour layover before the delayed flight took off to Sioux Falls. I got a personal pan pizza and sat in the terminal listening to toonz and sketching out ideas to build the puppet head for the count. Unlike the “round heads” like Rowlf, the Count’s head IS round, but it has a peak in the center. It’s gonna take some deep thought to make this one. The flight to Sioux Falls was good (albeit it late) and I got my rental car at Hertz and drove to my hotel. Initially, I reserved a mid-class sedan for my stay, but the company upgraded me to a Toyota 4Runner! NICE! For the first time I decided to stay at the Hyatt in Sioux Falls which is less than a year old. I could get points for my stay on my Hyatt membership, and the hotel overlooks a man-made lake called Lake Lorraine. I got a top-floor balcony room so I could sit outside and enjoy myself during the evenings. I got settled and met my folks and my pal Scott Maguire for dinner and had a very nice time. Then I headed back to the room to unpack and get settled. I sat on the balcony and wrote notes for Wally’s Week, and watched the sky light up in the east as a wonderful thunderstorm was brewing!

Friday the 14th – YOU TEE EYE – AGAIN?! – It sure felt good to get some serious sleep. The room was very comfortable and nice. Spending all day on the plane and in the airport I needed to do some stretching, as my back was aching a bit. I also decided to drink a lot of fluids, as the previous day I hadn’t really had many liquids. After all, who wants to drink a lot of liquids and sit captive on an airplane waiting for that lighted seatbelt sign to be turned off so you can go to the bathroom? I sat on the deck and meditated for a while, listened to some toonz, and while the weather was cloudy, it was very pleasant. It was also fun watching the geese on the lake. VERY relaxing! I met my folks, my pal Dave Rowe, my sister Peggy and her granddaughter Tesslyn for lunch. But while I was at lunch I felt like I might be getting another UTI. I had one in early June and I’m very familiar with the feeling. I realized (as was the case in early June) that I hadn’t had enough fluids the previous day. So when lunch was over I drove around Sioux Falls looking for an Urgent Care center. I had to stop at a few different places, but I eventually got directions to a suitable place. I had a great time joking around with the staff at the clinic, and the attending doctor issued me a prescription that I would get at the local Walmart. I got back to my room, rested a while, and was already starting to feel a bit better. I got dressed and ready for the big soiree at Dr. Lou George’s estate, which would bring together the Voices Against Cancer sponsors, the attending celebrities, and many honor families who have been through childhood cancer issues. As this is the second year we’ve done this, it’s becoming my favorite part of our little charity weekends. It gives the celebrities a good overview of “why” we’re all here. And while I’m not on the roster to sign this year (I signed last year during our maiden voyage) I was on-hand strictly as Vice President of the charity. So I could catch the bus out to Dr. George’s castle (yes, it’s really a castle!) I drove to the host hotel downtown to join the crew. The first familiar faces I saw were Dee Bradley Baker (I’ve known Dee since we both started out as Beetlejuice performers back in 1994), and Nika Futterman (with whom I worked on the “Sonic Boom” show for two years!) After I gave them hugs and welcomed them to the event, I also saw a lot of Sioux Falls locals who were volunteering for the event once again. It was great to see everyone! The soiree was once again really amazing! When the time came for the microphone to be passed around to the celebrities, in case they wanted to say a few words, it was the words of Ian McDiarmid that chilled the room. The celebrity list for this year was fairly “Star Wars” heavy, and Mr. McDiarmid is best known for playing Senator Palpatine/The Emperor in the “Star Wars” movies. He was always one of my favorite characters in the films, running very closely to my love for Darth Vader and Yoda. Mr. McDiarmid took the microphone and said that he was happy to be there. He said, “Tomorrow’s the big event and I only have one thing to say…(then he goes into his Emperor character voice)..”DO IT!” The crowd went nuts! What a night! The soiree was attended by about twice as many people as last year, and they actually ran out of water. My buddy Dr. Lou George (the President of Voices Against Cancer) said, “People in South Dakota don’t RSVP. They just show up.” But everyone had a great time. Last year, Rob Keisacker (the Treasurer of Voices Against Cancer) asked if I would shoot a short video with one of my Muppet replicas for a young gal who was battling cancer. Luckily, her twin sister was able to give her a bone marrow transplant and save her life, but it was a very arduous and delicate procedure. But instead of just doing a quick video, I decided to do a whole 10 minute presentation which included all of my Muppet replicas! I had lots of friends help out with the shooting process, and we based most of it at the fabulous Icons of Darkness exhibit in Hollywood. Oddly enough, the little gal’s name is Holly (her twin sister’s name is Haley), so we twisted that into the whole Hollywood motif. They really enjoyed the video, and in fact were totally blown away by it. At the soiree, the entire family was present and I was honored to be able to finally meet them in person. They were very effusive about how much they enjoyed the video, and I told them it was our pleasure to do it. In Dr. George’s castle, he has a large western-facing picture window that’s gorgeous. But many of the L.A. residents were blown away as sunset was about to occur. Because of all of the Canadian wildfires, the air in South Dakota has been affected with a thick haze. Through this thick haze, the sun looked like a large red ball in the sky which looked very ominous. Many of the celebrities were taking pictures of it with their phones because it looked so odd. Because we’re so far down south in California, we didn’t get any of the Canadian smoke. (We occasionally have our own smoke to deal with when WE have wildfires!) I joked that I couldn’t wait to get back to L.A. to breathe some clean air. We got back on the bus and headed back to the downtown area. We were joined by Graham McTavish (who played Loki on our “Avengers; Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” series) and the great John Rhys-Davies! It was great listening to them chat and tell stories, and occasionally Mr. Davies would go into his Gimli voice and make us all bust up. My pal Sara is a huge fan of Graham’s, so once we got off the bus he was nice enough to say hi to her on the phone. She was star struck to say the least! I got back to my room and decided to get a Boss’ Pizza. I love that pizza, and one of my favorite reasons to visit Sioux Falls is all the great food. When I ordered the delivery, I told the gal on the phone to make the pizza extra good, because I didn’t live there and it’s only an annual treat for me. I also told her I’d be ordering every night during my stay in Sioux Falls. Shortly after I hung up, I got a call on my phone asking if I just ordered a pizza, and if I was really going to order every night I was there. Turns out, it was Michael, the manager of Boss’ Pizza. I told him I lived in Sioux Falls many years ago, and I came to town to do the charity event. He said he was going to give me a 50% discount every night I ordered. Then he found out some of the characters I voiced and he was blown away. Then he said, “You know what? You’re going to eat FREE every night you’re here!” WOW! Fantastic! And in about a half hour, my complimentary pizza arrived and I tipped the driver nicely. I enjoyed sitting on the balcony eating my pizza, writing notes for Wally’s Week and relaxing. The big event is the next day!

Saturday the 15th – LAST YEAR I MET A BABY – THIS YEAR I MET A TEENAGER! – When we did our first Voices Against Cancer event last year it was in its infancy and had a few bumps and thumps that are to be expected with a first-year event. But this year’s event had grown SO MUCH in just a year! It was unbelievable! I got to the show just before 10am and couldn’t believe the line of people waiting to get in! This year we held it at an actual convention center, and the location was a big improvement over last year’s. It was great seeing a lot of familiar faces and giving out tons of hugs. I helped one of the hair stylists carry in a heavy box full of equipment that she’d need to do the St. Baldrick’s head shaving event. I thought it might be funny to pose for a quick social media pic, and make it look like I was considering participating in the head shaving event this year. (I didn’t) I also saw an Adam West Batman running around, and it sure brought back memories. Terry is the official Sioux Falls Batman. It was fun chatting with him and telling him stories about how I was the official Sioux Falls Batman back in 1981 through 1987. But Terry has taken it to the next level, and he customized a three-wheel vehicle into a mini Batmobile. Amazing! As I strolled around it was nice being mobile, as opposed to being tethered to a signing table like last year. Many people approached me and asked for photos and autographs. FUN! Ian McDiarmid was very busy signing, as were all the other actors. My folks arrived, as did my buddy Dave Rowe. Michael from Boss’ Pizza came out to chat for a while as well. My nephew Taylor was very excited to meet my pal Bryce Papenbrook, as Taylor’s a huge fan of “Attack on Titan,” an anime series in which Bryce stars in. Taylor and his girlfriend Amber had a GREAT time! This year they decided to include dealers and artists as well, so it was fun shopping around. They even had a kitty rescue with lots of kitties getting adopted! When I saw a very tiny white kitten, it brought back memories of when I adopted my cat Spooky 18 years ago. I wanted to get autographs from Ian and Graham, but the way they had purchases set up was exclusively through QR codes. As a flip phone owner, that was impossible. So I enlisted the aid of a few nice people I was talking with, paid them cash, and they bought the autographs on their phones for me. We stood in line for Ian together so they could present the QR code at his signing table. I thanked him for raising the “real estate value” of our little charity with his presence. He said he was happy to participate. As the show wound down, I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big cast and crew dinner at a local steakhouse. At my table this year I was joined by my pal Dee Bradley Baker, a few of the sponsors of the event, and Dr. George’s little daughter and her nanny. Several years ago I bought Dr. George’s daughter Claudia a Rowlf the Dog puppet, which launched her into a love for puppets. So as we sat there together we talked about puppets a lot. When dinner arrived she took out her phone and started watching my Muppet videos on my YouTube channels. She stated that she’d like to get a Gonzo puppet, so I made a note-to-self to buy her one on Amazon and have it shipped to her as soon as I got back home. Her nanny told me that Claudia and her mermaid puppet are virtually inseparable! As the group was breaking up at the end of the night (there was so much love in the room nobody really wanted to leave, but many had early flights home the next day) I got to spend some time talking with Ian McDiarmid. I told him his portrayal of the Emperor was one of my all-time favorites. I told him I loved the fact that he wasn’t afraid to let a villain be a villain. He said, “Yes! Why not go for it?!” His scenery-chewing performance as the Emperor is forever iconic. I thanked him once again for his participation. What a great guy! Just like last year, after all the hugs and well wishes, I left the dinner feeling very, very high. SO much love in the room! On the way back to my room, I noted that I had enjoyed so much amazing food that I probably wouldn’t be placing my usual order from Boss’ Pizza later. But when I got to my room, a pizza was waiting outside my door! Amazing! I called Michael to thank him profusely for the pizza, which looked very yummy! I told him I was going to head downstairs to the lobby, buy a Diet Pepsi and have a great end-of-evening on the balcony. But when I got back downstairs to the lobby, THERE WAS THE BOSS’ DRIVER with a Diet Pepsi for me! WOW! I was blown away!! I gradually came down from the high of the day while enjoying pizza and Pepsi on the balcony, enjoying the late evening. I heard at the dinner that next year’s Voices Against Cancer event will be TWO days in August. Stay tuned!

Sunday the 16th – THE AFTERGLOW! – Though the air quality was a little iffy, I met my pal Scott Maguire and his wife Patti for brunch. We sat on the patio at a local café, and we were joined by my old pal Scott Smith as well. We had fun chatting and catching up. After brunch I stopped by my old haunt B&G Milky Way and got a delicious strawberry and vanilla twist cone. Patti and I were talking about muscle aches and back pains, and she had a few suggestions about things she uses when those problems arise. She’s a runner, so she’s constantly dealing with body ache issues. I stopped at the local Walgreen’s and picked up some Tiger Balm and some SalonPas back patches. Then I went back to my room to put a cold pack on my lower back and relax. Later I went to a local eatery to meet my family for a big family gathering. It was great seeing everybody; my nieces, my uncle and aunts, and my folks and sisters and their husbands. After dinner I stopped by the local movie theatre that was by my hotel, and picked up two tickets to “Mission Impossible.” My pal Maguire had mentioned earlier in the day that he wanted to see it. So I got us a few tickets for the 8pm show. It was a fantastic movie that was a very fun ride with NO slow parts at all! Riveting! After the movie I was looking forward to my nightly Boss’ Pizza, but nobody was answering the phone. I found out the next day that they had closed early for the night, unfortunately. But I had eaten so much over the weekend that I needed a little break anyway. I packed up most of my stuff and got ready to fly out the next day.

Monday the 17th – GOD IS MY D.J.! – After checking out of my hotel I drove to a local restaurant to meet my folks and Maguire for lunch. Then I got another strawberry and vanilla twist cone at B&G, and then stopped by FedEx to buy a box in which I could stash my dirty clothes for the trip home. It was time to head to the airport. Every time my phone dinged with a text message I panicked. I was in fear that it was the airline letting me know that one of my flights was delayed, or worse yet…CANCELED! But luckily, nothing like that happened. After I gassed up my rental vehicle just before returning it, I hopped in to drive to the airport. I had my phone tied in with the Bluetooth system in my car so I could hear toonz as I drove around. I started up the car and I couldn’t believe which song began. Out of thousands of songs I have on my system, “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson started up. I just laughed and said, “OK God. I get it!” If you don’t know, the song talks about growing up in a small town and the singer’s eventual desire to “break away” to bigger and better things. Wow! What are the chances? Of all the songs! As I’ve always said, there are no coincidences in life. I checked into my flight, and so far everything was running on time. I returned my rental car and headed to security. But the security team at the Sioux Falls airport held me up for quite a while. They saw something in my carry-on shoulder bag they didn’t like. So they proceeded to literally tear apart my bag to find what they saw on the X-ray. After virtually unpacking my entire bag, they discovered that it was an Altoids tin with some AA and AAA batteries inside. The officer said they thought it might be drill bits. Luckily I was at the airport early enough that the delay didn’t endanger me at all. We got on the plane and were ready for a timely take-off. But we sat on the runway for about a half hour due to some sort of radio issue. I KNEW IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! Luckily, they made up the time in the air, so by the time we made it to Denver we were only a few minutes late, and I had no problem making my connection. But literally 50% of my flights over the past few days had issues. Unacceptable. The airlines truly need to “up their game,” in my opinion. As I sat there in the Denver airport, waiting to board, I was eating my Pizza Hut personal pan pizza. As I looked down to take another bite, I saw two feet standing in front of me. I looked up and it was the little elderly lady I had helped with her roller bag a few days previous! She thanked me again for helping with her bags on Thursday, and I told her if we sat next to each other on the flight back to Burbank she could count on my help again. She said I was a very nice guy. I got on the flight and had a smooth trip home. The elderly couple I told you about were in the seats directly in front of me. So once again, I was able to help them with their luggage upon our return to Burbank. I got my car from the valet and the very first song that popped up on my Bluetooth was “Coming Home” from KISS! Again…of all the songs…what are the chances? God’s a very clever D.J. for the songs in the soundtrack of my life. I drove back home, got unpacked and got settled. Whew! What a trip!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

It was a real thrill to meet the honor family for whom we made a Muppet video for last year! Here we are doing “naked puppets.”

Our little charity has grown quite a bit this year!

First stop was to sign a few items for the silent auction!

The annual head-shaving event for St. Baldrick’s is off to a great start!

OH NO! Should I or shouldn’t I???

A “Zim” fan couldn’t wait to show me her Irken tattoo!

A “Bleach” fan couldn’t wait to show me her henna tattoos – an Ichigo sword, and a Renji sword!

Hangin’ with the Sioux Falls Batman and Robin!

Victoria in her Gir onesie was excited to hang out with one of the Almighty Tallest!

Last year, when I saw Treasurer Rob Keisacker sitting at dinner with his daughter Cassandra lying her head on his shoulder, I decided to jump in and grab a shoulder too for a funny photo op. This year Rob asked if I’d like to recreate last year’s pic, so we did. I’m sensing that we’ve created an annual tradition!!