RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
Don Sahlin was the mastermind behind the creation of the Muppets’ signature look. Here he is creating a Bert puppet, and it’s magical to see (at least to ME!).
I came across this song on-line this past week and was hooked! Josh Turner’s “Your Man” is a total earworm! GREAT SONG!
Monday the 27th – BACK AT LIFE! – Every day I’m feeling better and better, and I’m anxious to get back to life. I relaxed a little bit, not wanting to push it, and did some work around the house. I had a ton of auditions to do, and I’m glad I still had my voice after the brief head cold I endured. I typed out Wally’s Week, took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) around the complex, relaxed under a mostly-full moon in the anti-gravity chair. In fact I was so relaxed, I actually fell asleep! I was startled awake when I thought I heard something in the bushes next to me. Come to find out it was simply a dry leaf falling from the tree overhead. I went inside and called it a night.
Tuesday the 28th – REARRANGEMENT ARRANGEMENT! – Because it had been a while since I had lunch with my pal Chris Malmin, I texted him to see if he wanted to meet me in “the office” (the patio at Paty’s in Toluca Lake) for a bite. When we finished I picked up a package at my box, and then headed home to start plotting out some rearrangement of the artwork on my walls in Planet Wallywood. Soon I’d be getting some framed artwork back, and I needed to rearrange some stuff to fit it into the scheme of things. Later I recorded my auditions, took my nightly WOG, spent some time outside in the anti-grav chair, made some spaghetti and watched an episode of “The High Chaparral.” I only have a few episodes left in the second season, and then I think I’m moving on to the second season of “Have Gun – Will Travel.”
Wednesday the 29th – MONSTERFULLY GREAT NEWS! – My eldest daughter Lacey texted me and mentioned that she had been checking out the guest list for this October’s Son of Monsterpalooza. There were several actors she was interested in seeing, so she may be coming out to visit in October. GREAT NEWS INDEED! Since the trip would be a quick one, she would be coming solo this time; no son-in-law and no grandkids. But it’ll be fun spending time with my eldest daughter and enjoying the sights and sounds of Son of Monsterpalooza! I relaxed all day, and though I thought I was getting better I had a pretty serious coughing spell. I guess my head cold isn’t quite ready to release me yet. Later I did my auditions, took my nightly WOG, spent some time under an increasingly-full moon in the anti-grav chair, and came inside to do some video editing.
Thursday the 30th – THAT’S MY Q! – My friend Edi Lurie was in the area so we met over at “the office” for lunch. Just as we were finishing up I saw a familiar face approach the restaurant. Sure enough, it was my old Voice Actor pal Quinton Flynn. I hadn’t seen him in a long time (probably at a convention somewhere at which we were both appearing) and we stood around chatting and catching up. What a surprise! But again, I don’t believe in coincidences – so…! I went to my box to pick up some packages, and then went to the post office to mail a few things off. I went to Michaels to pick up my framed artwork – two sketches of Laurel and Hardy done by the late, great Chuck McCann, and then I headed to my eye doctor’s office. My new glasses were in. I picked up a few grocery items, and then when I got home I started sorting through several old cans of paint. Many of these have been around since I bought my house 26 years ago! Most of the pails had gotten rusty and leaky! What a mess! I need a specific color for touch-ups in my vanity area, but I can’t locate that can of paint. We must’ve run out. Color matching this lavender/grey color is going to be tough! I went inside to begin rearranging some artwork on my walls so I could hang the new framed piece. I relaxed for a bit, and later took my nightly WOG and spent some time outside in the anti-grav chair admiring the nice, quiet night.
Friday the 31st – YIP YIP YIP…UH HUH, UH HUH! – As I had a mid-afternoon session in Burbank, I headed to the area early to do some shopping. First I stopped in at Foam Mart and picked up a few things, and then I went to Hobby Lobby to look for suitable eye pieces for some new puppets I’m making. I grabbed a burger at Burger King and then headed to Studiopolis to work on a new video game. My old pal Jack Fletcher was directing via Zoom, so it was great catching up with him! I headed home to grab some artwork that needed a new frame. As I was rearranging the art on my walls, I noticed that one of my old frames (which was on one of my cels from “The Groovie Goolies”) was losing the lamination. It had become hard, brittle, and the glue had gone bad. It was cracking off like crazy. I needed to keep the old frame to show the framer the size I needed, but I needed to have a new frame made for the cel. I headed to Michaels to put the order in, and then I went to the hardware store hoping that they could color-match the paint that was in the vanity area of my Tranquility Zone bathroom. No luck. They no longer had that technology. I’ll have to go to a bigger hardware store, but I’m going to need a bigger chunk for the sample in order for them to match it. Not sure where I’m going to find that, exactly. Luckily I had one little chip that came off, but apparently that’s not going to be enough for the machine to match. But we’ll soon find out. In the future, I’m going to need to keep better records of the paint colors I use. Lesson learned. I went home and did some work, and then my puppet seamstress Maggie came over with her boyfriend Jeff. We’re going to start making the Yip Yip Martians from “Sesame Street,” and we were discussing the best way to approach it. The original puppets on the show were made from women’s hats…so I guess it’s best to start by making women’s hats out of the material I bought. We headed over to Paty’s to grab dinner, and the day was cooling off nicely. In fact, it turned into a gorgeous summer night, complete with some fireworks that we could see from nearby Universal Studios! I came home to relax, and later took my nightly WOG. When I spent my time in the anti-grav chair, I also took the opportunity to enjoy a nice cigar. I went back inside determined to have a salad and watch an episode of “The High Chaparral.” I haven’t had a salad in a long time because of the whole “lettuce debacle” happening of late, and I was really looking forward to having one. I read on-line about how to properly wash the head of lettuce before eating, but I washed it too well. I think the water was too hot, and the lettuce immediately got soggy and wilted. It turned into the consistency of sauerkraut. UGH. So I made a sandwich and some chili and watched the episode before bed.
Saturday the 1st – LIKE A WHOLE DIFFERENT FILM! – Since I had nothing going on this weekend, I took the opportunity to get some serious rest to make sure I was completely over my head cold. I rested and relaxed all day, and later I took my nightly WOG and enjoyed another nice cigar in my anti-grav chair. Since it was the first Saturday of the month, it was time for my personal routine I call “Laurel & Hardy Theatre.” The first Saturday of the month I watch an L&H film and make a special meal, including a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box. I LOVE those things! But I have to limit myself to one a month! Otherwise I’d eat one every day! Since I finished all the shorts they filmed last month, I’m starting in on the feature films. They had about 24 of them, so I have my monthly viewing habit set for the next two years! Recently a company called ClassicFlix restored and released two L&H features – “Pardon Us,” and “Pack Up Your Troubles.” Personally, “Pardon Us” has always been tough to watch. And neither Stan nor Ollie are to blame. The film itself had many technical issues which rendered it almost unwatchable. There was lots of flutter, warping, artifacts, and junk in the prints I’ve seen. But ClassicFlix spent over 300 hours researching and restoring this wonderful film, and fixing all the blemishes that had always been inherent in this movie. The results were STUNNING! The film looked like it had been shot last week! The restoration was so amazing it made it seem like a completely different film. It was completely enjoyable. The most breathtaking part was watching the bonus materials, where they showed a side-by-side comparison of the old version versus the new restored version. Night and day! WOW! Unreal!
Sunday the 2nd – …AND THAT’S A WRAP! – The week wound down with a very relaxing day. I stayed inside in air conditioned comfort remaining mostly comatose. I got some good rest. Later I had a bunch of auditions I needed to record. Then I took a WOG and spent some quality time in the anti-grav chair outside looking at the waning full moon. I did a little work in my garage, and then went inside to do some work around the house and plan for the new week. Lots of fun, exciting stuff coming up!
And how was YOUR week??!!
