RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
MONGO ONLY PAWN IN GAME OF LIFE! My sister Bonnie’s family just got a new puppy named Mongo. HOW CUTE!?
Last Saturday night as I was puttering around my house doing busy-work, this song came up on my computer. As I reflected upon the fun night I had just enjoyed watching movies and eating dinner with good friends, I thought the song was appropriate. It’s a band called The Verve and it’s “Lucky Man.” This song wasn’t a hit like their “Bittersweet Symphony,” but it sure is a good one!
Monday the 14th – MONDAY FUNDAY! – I met with my old pal Rob Richards at Mel’s Diner in Hollywood. Rob is the head organist at the legendary El Capitan Theatre (owned by Disney) on Hollywood Boulevard, and the restaurant is close to the theatre. It was good catching up. He borrowed my Phantom of the Opera cape last September for some Halloween shows. He likes to come up from the stage floor on the elevated platform, playing the organ with the cape flowing behind him. When we finished up I went to get some vitamins. The lady at the vitamin store had been asking for a signed photo for quite some time, so I finally obliged her. Her wall is lined with various celebs who have visited her store. I picked up a new batch of business cards at Prints Charm’n, and then headed to Foam Mart in Burbank. I had them custom cut some shelf liners for my gun cabinet. Now the hand guns can sit inside the cabinet and rest inside their custom cut foam cradles. I stopped by Baron Hats in Burbank to order up a hat for my Michael Crawford Phantom of the Opera mannequin. Now that I’ve got the Phantom cape back I’m going to adorn the figure with the classic Phantom cape and hat to make the image complete. It was time to head to Studiopolis to do a few hours on the “Bleach” cartoon, but I went to the WRONG STUDIO! It was at one of the other Studiopolis locations! I got some gas in my car and sped home. Since the studio location was closer to my house, I figured I’d grab Roxy and we’d walk over. We had a blast at the session and Suzie the director LOVED having Roxy around. We worked on some of the final “Bleach” episodes, as it’s coming to an end soon. I think we may only have one more episode after this, and the legend we know as “Bleach” will end. For being a good girl during the session I got Roxy some treats at Rusty’s, and then we walked home. I started filling my gun cabinet with the foam liners. Finding which guns went in which pockets was kind of like that game you play as a kid, where you have to put the correctly shaped block in the right hole. My pal Terry came over and he started helping. He built the rack in the first place so this was just perfect. My pal Evil Wilhelm came over to bring Terry a Tin Man head. He loved Terry’s work on my Tin Man bust so much, they’re talking about doing some more. I think Terry’s even considering making a full-size Tin Man figure! Jim Ojala came over with the newly repainted Scarecrow bust, and he, Terry and Evil all had fun comparing notes. I love creative people and I was surrounded by them! When everyone left I finished up the gun rack, and headed to the Jacuzzi to relax my back. I took a quick nap and then got up to do my auditions and finish up Wally’s Week. I was tired, so I’ll work on finishing up the Scarecrow tomorrow.
Tuesday the 15th – PRE-CON CALM! – Around 1pm my assistant Sara came over to pick up some of my 2014 Voice-Over Promo Kits to mail out. I had just received some more last-minute addresses from my agent and I wanted to get them right out. Then I headed to my seamstress Karyn’s studio to pick up some stuff I’ll need for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con. I also dropped off some more stuff for her to work on. I had her re-sew the stitching that had unraveled on my Minnesota Twins jersey, and I picked up a couple of finished bat caps. One I would be giving to my pal Scott Sebring for a late birthday gift, and the other I was going to send to Adam West. Knowing his sense of humor, I thought he’d like it. On the way home I stopped at the hardware store and picked up some silver metallic paint. While doing the lining of the hat for my Tin Man bust, I scraped a little bit of the paint on the exterior. So I need to repaint the entire thing so it all matches. I got home and fed Spook and gave Roxy a snack, then got ready for dinner at Barone’s with my old pal Mark Evanier. It was the calm before the storm, because Mark is always in a whirlwind at Comic Con, darting from panel to panel and riding herd on the Special Guests. It was fun to just relax, eat great food, and chat about his plans for next week’s San Diego Comic Con. When I got home I set about working on several projects. One of them included painting the famous blue eyebrows on the bat caps. It was very time consuming, but I wanted to make sure they were done right. I also had several auditions I needed to record and e-mail into my agents. I fed Roxy and gave Spook a snack, then hit the hay. No TV time tonight…I was just too exhausted!
Wednesday the 16th – SEW WHAT?! – My “hair guy” Sergio Lopez came over at noon and started in on the hair work for the Cowardly Lion bust. I’m doing a series of four “Wizard of Oz” busts and they’re all nearing completion. Aside from his hat (which was getting repainted) the Tin Man was pretty much done, and the Scarecrow was pretty much finished with the exception of a few, final touches. When I took Roxy out for a walk we ran into Sara who had come by to pick up some more mail. She mailed some more 2014 Promo Kits, as well as the bat cap which I was overnighting to Adam West. While Sergio worked away in the Chaney Room, I sat at my desk with some Barge glue and Q-Tips making more bat ears for bat caps. I was relatively pleased with how the “B” style of bat caps had turned out, that I decided I may make more in the future. The “A” style required expensive embroidery, so there will only be four of those made. But the “B” style is a navy blue leather ball cap, with the famous bat ears stitched on the side, and the trademark blue eyebrows on the front. I also worked on filing receipts, paying bills, going through bank statements and prepping a deposit for the bank. When Sergio came out to tell me he was finished for the day I looked at the clock. It was already 5:00! Where did the time go? The day literally FLEW by! I had very little time to get to the bank to deposit my checks so I hustled out the door. I stopped at McDonald’s to get some food because I was famished. Sergio was doing one of those 30 day master cleanses and he couldn’t eat anything. So as not to torture him I decided not to eat anything in the house while he was there. So I grabbed some food while I was out. I dropped the bills in the mail and headed back home to do some more work and grab a nap. I got up a few hours later and walked Roxy, and then finished up some more work. I worked on inputting CDs and DVDs into my database, organized and reconciled my bank statements, and sent out my invites for movie night. Then I grabbed my needle and thread and started working on my “Wizard of Oz” Scarecrow bust. His tunic needed some little pieces of Velcro sewn in so it would stay together in certain spots. I also wanted to stitch Velcro into the inside of his tunic so the pack of straw would stay put. In case the straw was ever damaged it would be easily removable and replaceable. But I didn’t want to stitch the Velcro through both layers of his tunic. Otherwise you’d see the stitching on the outside of his costume. So I just sewed it to the under layer, which was REALLY difficult for a novice like me. I also stitched the rope around his neck on to the skirt around his neck. That way there would never be any gap between the rope and the skirt, and it would always look nice and neat. I just need to add the little touches of wheat sprigs in his head and Scarecrow is done! I walked Roxy and made some stew for TV time. We watched a few episodes of “Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray from the Season 3 boxed set.
Thursday the 17th – CLOCKS ON WARP DRIVE! – Sergio came by at noon again to do more work on the Lion bust. I checked e-mails and walked Roxy over to Rusty’s to get her a much-needed bath. I spoke with Terry, the owner of Rusty’s for quite a while. On the way home I grabbed a Subway BBQ Steak footlong. I had been wanting to try it for a few weeks now. I saw a few of my neighbors out walking around so I spent some time chatting with them. I got home and worked on stuff all afternoon and BAM! I looked up at the clock and it was 5:00 again! Were the hands on the clock spinning faster than usual or something? Man, time was flying! I guess that means I’m having fun! I walked over to get Roxy and came back home to work on stuff around the house. I grabbed a nap on the couch from 8 to 11, and then got up to do my auditions. I walked Roxy, made some dinner and hit the hay with some more “Twilight Zone.” It was an episode called “Once Upon a Time,” and it featured silent film comedian Buster Keaton. It may be my favorite “TZ” episode ever. In fact, I considered running it for my friends at this Saturday’s movie night. The episode was about time travel, and would certainly fit the theme of this week’s movie “The Time Machine” starring Rod Taylor!
Friday the 18th – WHEAT THE HECK?! – I got up earlier than usual, around 10am, to be in Hollywood for an audition at 11. I walked Roxy then headed over to Elaine Craig Casting in Hollywood. Then I got some groceries, checked the mail at my box and headed home to meet up with Terry my contractor. I gave him the Tin Man hat to repaint. He knows much more about it than I do, so it’s in better hands. I sat down with my Scarecrow “Wizard of Oz” bust and a bunch of craft wheat. I also had my Barge glue, needle and thread, and some leather. I bunched up a small group of wheat sprigs and glued them together at the base and bound them small pieces of leather. Once the glue dried, I glued some Velcro on to the leather. I also glued small pieces of Velcro inside the openings of the Scarecrow’s head. He has a seam running down both sides of his head, and this is where little shoots of wheat and straw are poking out. That way it looks like the Scarecrow’s head is literally a sewn-together burlap bag. (The make-up genius of Jack Dawn in 1938!) Ray Bolger’s make-up featured a small bundle of wheat coming out from underneath his hat in the upper right side of his head. He also had wheat shooting out from his lower left cheek, and his lower right neck. I printed out several photos of the Scarecrow so I could try to match them perfectly. Once I had them the way I wanted them, I painted them a “Oz” yellow and Velcroed them into place. I snapped some photos and then hit the Jacuzzi to relax. I grabbed a nap from 10:30pm to 1:30am, and then got up to do some more work around the house. I made some hot dogs on the grill at 4am and retired with some more “Twilight Zone!”
Saturday the 19th – WHEAT MORE COULD YOU ASK?! – When I woke up at 1 I walked Roxy and examined my “wheat” job on the Scarecrow again. Now that I’m looking at it with fresh eyes it didn’t look right. So I added one more little piece to the upper right side of the head, and I completely redid the group of wheat in the left side of his face. It was too prominent and I was seeing too much “stem.” I yanked it out and started all over again. Regrouped, reglued and repainted. I also thinned out the wheat sprigs somewhat to give it a more accurate look. He was perfect now! I set him up in the Puppet Room and stared at him in ultimate satisfaction. I also got some more shots of him. Now I just need the Tin Man hat to be repainted, and the Lion’s hair to be finished. I’ll most likely get Dorothy back after Comic Con so Sergio can start working on her hair and eyebrows then. I napped on the couch until 7 when Sara came over to help me clean up for movie night. It was a full house! Everyone loved the Buster Keaton “Twilight Zone” episode! We also watched another episode of “Search,” and then watched 1960’s “The Time Machine” on Blu Ray! Great film! When my guests left I busied myself around the house, doing work on the computer, taking more pics of Scarecrow, and some dreaded bookkeeping. I hate math, but it’s got to be done. As I was about ready to turn in relaxed in my bedroom and watched the beautiful cloudy, gray morning. Little sections of cloud cover would dissipate and make room for the dawning sun. It was stunning. I kept watching the sky until it gradually started to clear around 5:50am. I watched the final episode of “The Saint” on my black and white DVD set, as I enjoyed what may be my final “Saturday Night Saint and Salad Night.” I may watch the color episodes again, or I may try watching the old British show “The Avengers.” I have six episodes on a DVD so I’ll give those a try. If I like them I’ll order the entire set. When “The Saint” had finished I watched the news until 9am or so and then hit the hay. It was still fairly cloudy and very cool. Did L.A. finally get its “June Gloom” in July?!
Sunday the 20th – DRAPE SHAPE! – As is usual with my Sunday routine, I slept until 2pm. I got up to walk Roxy, enjoy a bowl of cereal, and slept until it was time to get up for evening church. Roxy and I enjoyed the service and we strolled home on a beautiful, lazy Sunday evening. After doing a little work around the house and recording my auditions, I slept on the couch from 8 to midnight. Sunday IS a day of rest, after all! But when I got up I tore through the house doing work. The curtains in the Puppet Room were filthy. So I took them down to take them to the cleaners, and I completely cleaned the curtain rod assembly. I’m going to order some green velvet curtains to hang in front of them. They’ll look great behind the new Oz busts. I prepped the Chaney Room for Sergio’s return on Monday to continue working on the Lion’s hair. I took out the garbage, did dishes, laundry and cleaned up after movie night. By the time I finished I had accomplished a lot. I made myself a Chef Boy Ar Dee pizza in a box and enjoyed another “Twilight Zone.” The main villain in the episode called “One More Pallbearer” was familiar to me. His physicality. His voice. A ha! It was Joseph Wiseman, better known as Dr. No in the very first James Bond movie. This would have been right around the time he did “Dr. No,” so it was cool seeing him without his Asian eyelid covers and without his hair slicked back. What a great actor! And it occurred to me while I was watching him that he could have made a pretty good James Bond! He had an amazing voice, great hair, and looked debonair but tough. I wonder if the producers ever considered him for the role, but instead offered him the role of the villain once they settled on Sean Connery. The world may never know!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Joseph Wiseman in the “Twilight Zone” episode “One More Pallbearer.” Think he would have made a decent James Bond?
The Minnesota Twins jersey I got at Lids in the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Too cool!
This is a vintage 1966 Captain Action figure wearing a Batman costume from a new Ken doll. I didn’t much care for the Ken doll, so I made some changes to the costume and put it on Cap. Nice fit! This may be have been what a Batman TV series costume would have looked like on Captain Action back in the 60’s!
Scott Sebring models his birthday gift…a bat cap!
The new Scarecrow of Oz bust!
This is my sophomore picture which was patched up and given new life by Scott Sebring through the magic of photoshop. My folks rummaged through tons of photos to find this for the upcoming Hall of Fame ceremony at Aberdeen Central High School. I’m being inducted into the HOF in October.
While sorting through old photos my parents also came up with this one! It’s a four year old me, just before my fifth birthday, wearing my home-made Batman costume and giving the camera my best, stoic Adam West face! That’s my dad holding my sister Peggy.
