July 20 – July 26 (2015) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

The amazing documentary “Starring Adam West” has begun airing on Showtime, and since it started I’ve been hearing from all sorts of old friends who saw me in the film. One old friend is Sandy Lewis, my girlfriend from back in 1980! I was digging through old pictures of us to send her via e-mail, and I found this one. It was taken backstage at a concert I did called “Elvis Lives.” I’m in the chair getting my hair done while Sandy hung out against the wall. BOY! Were we kids back then!! It’s been great getting back in touch with her!

While shopping for groceries recently “Run-Around” by Blues Traveler came on the overhead speaker system and I had forgotten how great this song is. It had me humming, whistling and even singing aloud in the store!

Monday the 20th – TORINO TO GO! – Just before I headed to a videogame session at the Marc Grau Studios in Burbank, I hopped in the Gran Torino to tool around for a while. The producers at the session came out to see the car and they loved it! After the session I sped off to get some groceries, and then hit Jersey Mike’s to get a sandwich for lunch. I got home and uploaded some last-minute auditions to my agents. After a quick walk for Roxy, I headed to Michael’s Crafts to get my new Lassie cel framed. At the San Diego Comic Con I bought a “pan” cel from the old Filmation “Lassie” TV show. A pan cel is a wide animation cel and background that is used for wide pans in the series. It also came with a cel of some foliage, so I’m going to have that matted in front of the Lassie image so there’s dimension to it. I got my mail at my mailbox and it included a new boy mannequin for another “Halloween Boy” display in Planet Wallywood. I found a miniature Michael Myers mask while cleaning out the Chaney Room, and decided to give my lifesize Michael Myers mannequin a mini companion. The mask needs a lot of work, but it’s starting to come together nicely. I thought a lifesize Michael Myers couldn’t get any creepier. But a small one is just disturbing! I finished up Wally’s Week and then grabbed a nap. I got up for auditions and watched “Hawaii Five-O” from the Season 12 DVD set before bed as I finished off my Jersey Mike’s sandwich.

Tuesday the 21st – FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND – After having worked solidly for several weeks, I was really looking forward to a day all to myself. I was planning on having a nice lunch and then seeing a matinee of “Ant Man.” But when I got up at noon to walk Roxy I got a text message from my contractor Terry’s brother Kelvin. It directed me to listen to a voicemail message he had left on my cell phone. Fearing the worst, I didn’t listen to the message but called Kelvin directly right away. As I had feared, my friend of 20 years who had been with me through thick and thin, and had created wondrous works of art in Planet Wallywood, had passed away that morning at the age of 63. Terry had been in declining health the past few years due to many different afflictions. When I had talked to him last week he was having trouble getting his breath. I knew Terry probably wouldn’t have a long life, but I didn’t think it would come this soon. This was sad news indeed. I’m glad I didn’t have to rush off to a job, because I wasn’t in the mood. I went ahead with my plans to see “Ant Man” because I just wanted to check my brain for a few hours. I stopped at McDonald’s to get lunch on the way, and went to the matinee. It was a terrific movie. When I got out of the movie my thoughts went to Terry again. I’m glad he’s finally out of pain, and I’m not sad for him, but I’m said for myself and everyone else who loved Terry. I’ll miss him. And it occurred to me that this is the first close friend who has passed away. Most of the people in my life who have died were either elderly relatives, or good friends. But not necessarily close friends. I’ve known Terry for 20 years and we knew each other’s secrets. He was like a big brother to me and always had my back. This was a first in my life that wasn’t a good first. And as I get older I fear there will be more of this to deal with. But that’s life. On the way home I made calls to let some other friends know about Terry. I stopped at the post office to pick up a package, and then went to CVS to get some items. I went home to check e-mails and then I grabbed a nap. I got up to do auditions and then took Roxy out for our usual late night walk around the neighborhood. It was nice and cool out so I took off my shirt and wrapped it around my waist. It had started to mist a bit, so it felt wonderful. Walking in the nice, quiet night as a thin layer of mist hit my face and back. Roxy was having fun trying to chase a few raccoons up some trees. I told her to ignore them and we continued to walk back home. But as we walked away from the raccoons, I turned around occasionally and shined my flashlight on one of them in the tree. Their glowing eyes stayed on us until we left the area. It was kind of creepy actually! I went inside and headed to bed because I had to be up early the next morning for a “Sonic Boom” cartoon session.

Wednesday the 22nd – HUMP DAY HAPPENINGS! – The ol’ alarm clock went off at 8am so I could be at a “Sonic Boom” session at 9am. It was cloudy and still pretty humid out. We finished up the session at 12:30 and I walked back home from Studiopolis. I did some work on-line, and then drove to a different Studiopolis location to do a Marvel videogame session. I got to play Hank Pym and Modok again. When we finished up I hit It’s a Wrap and bought a cool new pair of shoes. They are gold metallic with black vinyl accents. I stopped by Taco Bell to get some lunch, and then hit my local printer’s to get a script printed off. The script, for an upcoming animated feature film, had my name on every page. It’s what they do in case copies of the script get out. They know who to hold accountable, since the actor’s name is scrawled all across every page. I got home and fed the kids, and then got ready to head over to Barone’s for a small dinner party. My pals James and Mark, who produced my Voice Over Workshop panel at Comic Con, bought me dinner to thank me for doing the panel. Luckily, my pal Edi was in town from Palm Springs, so she joined us as well. I got home and did some work around the house, and then hit the hay.

Thursday the 23rd – PHANTOM PHUN! – Though I didn’t need to get up until 2 or so, my eyes shot open at 11am and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I had a busy day planned so I needed to get moving anyway. I sent off the invites for my Saturday night movie party, and then I got ready for a 3 hour session for “Project X,” a new super-secret voice-over project I’m involved in which I can’t breathe a word about publicly. I left the session at 6 and then went home to feed the pets. I showered up and headed to Hollywood to meet my friend Angelique Perrin and her mom for an evening at the Pantages Theatre seeing “Phantom of The Opera.” This is a touring company who has taken up residence in the historic theatre through mid-August. I had seen the original “Phantom” about a dozen times between 1989 and 1992 when it played in downtown Los Angeles. I had seen Michael Crawford perform the role (brilliantly) several times, and I also saw Davis Gaines perform. The touring production is scaled back somewhat, probably due to the limited size of the Pantages stage. But there were other changes made in the show that were purely creative. And most of them weren’t good changes. I did like the shadow projections that they utilized on the walls behind the actors. But certain costume and directorial changes in the blocking and choreography left me cold. All in all, it seemed like a “college” production. Everyone was very capable in their roles, but it was lacking that “spark” that I had seen in past productions. The roles were being sung beautifully, but not really acted. I came home and did auditions, and then hit the hay so I could be up early for another session for Project X.

Friday the 24th – SUICIDE BY COP! – Thank God it’s Friday! I got up at 7:30am, took Roxy out for a second, and then came back inside and slept until 9. Then it was off to Bang Zoom studios for more work on Project X until 1pm. I got a sandwich at Dino’s, and then went to pick up my dry cleaning. I got a few grocery items and then headed home to start the weekend. It felt good to be free, and I was very much looking forward to the weekend. I saw my neighbor Caroline out on her patio doing some cleaning, so we chatted for a while and caught up on her recent vacation. While we talked we noticed a bunch of helicopters flying overhead. Then we saw them hovering over an area to the west. She wondered what was going on. I told her that Lindsey Lohan probably passed gas and the news stations were rushing to cover the monumental event. Then Caroline’s mom called her. Just a block from where I was getting groceries an hour earlier, a man had showed up waving a gun around and firing it into the air. Luckily he didn’t shoot anyone. The police arrived and he aimed the gun at them. Of course they shot him dead. That’s what the helicopters were for. The package he had with him was suspicious so they had a robot blow it up. I watched the whole thing on-line (the cameras were rolling live from the hovering choppers). Obviously the gunman was there to commit suicide by cop. What a cowardly way to end it all. I relaxed on the couch for a bit and grabbed a nap. I got up later and started scanning some photos of my pal Terry so I could send them to his widow for the Memorial Service on Monday. Boy, it’s sure hard to believe I won’t be seeing him ever again in this life. I’m gonna miss that big galoot. I watched another episode of “Hawaii Five-O” before bed.

Saturday the 25th – TRIBUTE TO TERRY! – My pal Larry and his family were scheduled to come over at noon for a tour of Planet Wallywood. Whenever they’re in town to visit him, Larry always likes to show them something different. I gave them all a tour and after they left I went over to Jerry’s Famous Deli for lunch with my pal Brittney Powell and my assistant Sara. I got back home and napped until my friend Emily came over at 7 to clean up and prep for movie night. We were going to watch “Blazing Saddles” on Blu Ray. It was my pal Terry’s favorite movie so we did it in honor of him. After the movie we also watched a few snippets from movies that Terry appeared in as “Elvis.” “Leprechaun 3” and “Love Stinks” both feature Terry as an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas. When everyone left I did some work around the house, made my traditional giant Saturday night salad and watched another episode of the BBC show from the 70’s called “The Persuaders.”

Sunday the 26th – SUMMERY SUNDAY! – Normally on Sundays I like to sleep all day, but for some reason I got up at 2 and started my day. I did my auditions and e-mailed them into my agents for first thing Monday. Then I walked Roxy over to evening church. It was a gorgeous summer evening. On the way home I ran into a gal named Allie, who is the daughter of my pal Elliot Lurie (former lead singer of the band Looking Glass)! Strangely enough, she had just moved into the neighborhood so I guess I’ll be seeing her a lot! What a small world! I went inside to relax for a bit before meeting Sara at Denny’s for dinner. I went back home to finish up some work, and then I hit the hay for an early Monday morning session. The forthcoming week I plan on composing an essay tribute for my friend Terry, so keep an eye out for that. It was a weird week, with lots of ups and downs.

And how was YOUR week??!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

At Barone’s, we couldn’t help but notice how it looked like my chocolate mousse was making an obscene gesture!

Hail hail! The gang’s all here!

Outside Barone’s, strangely enough, stands a billboard advertising Titan Insurance…with the bobblehead character I voice on the TV ads!

Though he needs some work (new hair, a paint job on the mask, a black t-shirt and boots) Mini Michael takes his place in the Chaney Room.

As I started sorting through pictures of my late friend Terry Crisp, I noticed that the only shots I have of he and I together are all funny, wacky shots; where I’m dressed up as some zany character. Here’s the first shot Terry and I took together when we met at Universal Studios in the Beetlejuice show. This was 20 years ago in 1995.