Jun 12 – June 18 (2023) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Here’s another graphic I lifted from somebody on Instagram. This is STILL making me laugh!

I’ve always liked Rod Stewart and I have a ton of his music on my devices. “Some Guys Have All The Luck” was one of his best!

Monday the 12th – BUSY WEEK AHEAD! – After a quick stop at McDonald’s for some lunch, I headed to Studiopolis in Burbank to work for four hours on a new “Bleach” project. I have to do a total of five 4-hour sessions to get all of the stuff done, and today is session number 4. It’s a lot of work, but I think the “Bleach” fans are going to LOVE it! I got home to relax after the session, and then my friend Angi came over to hang out. She was in a car accident over the weekend and while her car was almost totaled, she wasn’t hurt badly. For that I was thankful. But she’s in a rental car until they can haul her car away for analysis. She was in a bit of physical pain, so we went out to Paty’s for a really nice, relaxing dinner. Our friend Nicolle was serving that night, so we got a chance to chat with her. Later I came home and did my nightly auditions and typed out Wally’s Week.

Tuesday the 13th – IT FELT SO NATURAL! – Taco Bell was the lunch choice of the day, and when I got some food at the drive-thru I headed to Salami Studios in North Hollywood to work in an animated film. I can’t say which one yet, but I’m taking the role over from an actor who passed away in 2020. They didn’t require that I try to sound like him, as they just decided to take the character a completely new direction. I love it when producers send me the script in advance so I can prepare and study the scenes I’m in. That way I have a full understanding of the scenes. It’s especially important in this day and age when we’re all recording by ourselves, and without the benefit of other actors being present to record their parts as well. Those group reads are called “Ensemble Sessions,” but those seem to have gone the way of the Dodo. Though they had me booked for four hours, we only worked for an hour. I did three takes of each line, and they seemed to love everything we were doing. They had a few contextual notes here and there, in regards to emphasizing certain words in the script, but overall it was a very smooth, delightful session. And it was a character that was very easy to perform. I can’t wait to tell you more about it soon. Since I had the majority of the afternoon open I called a few people to meet for an early dinner, but everyone was busy. I expected to be busy for four hours, so getting done early was a bit of a surprise. When I got home I did a little work around the house. I grabbed a short nap, and then later I did my nightly auditions and sent them to my agent. A while back my seamstress Maggie suggested that I apply to be on a show on ME-TV called “Collector’s Call.” It’s a show all about collectors and the collections they’ve amassed, but the tone of the show isn’t really about eclectic people like me. Most of the collectors they’ve featured have been singularly interested in collecting one thing. For example, 3,000 Donald Duck toys, or 5,000 Garfield items. But I collect a lot of different things and I always felt the vibe at Planet Wallywood would be too eclectic for them to create a singular narrative for given their half hour format. In my collecting and displays, I’ve always felt the need to present “something for everybody.” If you have a Donald Duck collection of 3,000 pieces, that’s great. But if a visitor doesn’t like Donald Duck, then you’ve lost them. But at Planet Wallywood I’ve got a little something for everybody. You may not like Andy Kaufman or “Star Trek,” but then I’ve got Muppets and ’66 Batman! But at her urging, I filled out the on-line form and submitted it. They contacted me with interest, and asked me to whittle it down to my 10 favorite screen-used items in my collection. So I created two separate PDF documents for them. One document was about my top ten screen-used or celebrity-related items. And the second document contained information about rare and interesting collectibles I’ve amassed. So I went around the house taking shots of the items, and integrating them into a document format, and sent the documents off to the producers. We’ll see what happens. I’ve had many crews at Planet Wallywood shooting my collection, but I feel this show on ME-TV would be the best exposure the collection has gotten so far.

Wednesday the 14th – A DAY FILLED WITH OLD BUDDIES! – Since 1981 I’ve had a buddy named Dave Baumeister. I met him through his wife in Sioux Falls when she and I worked at the same radio station. He was also into comics and Batman, and we became instant fast friends! With our friend Chris Malmin we formed “The Bat Pack” back then and did all sorts of great “Batman-ish” things. I’m the godfather to his son Sean, who now lives in L.A., so Dave was in town visiting Sean for a week. Today was the day that Dave had some time to come by and say hi, so when he came over we enjoyed the day by walking to the post office, chatting, and then getting lunch at Art’s Deli. We visited the bookstore next door and I picked up a great coffee table book about the making of “The Jungle Book:” my favorite animated film of all time. While we were at the bookstore, it was great being in a world populated with people sitting in chairs reading books, kids on the floor with their parents looking over books, and thousands and thousands of books. In fact, the smell of the store when you walked in was intoxicating! I recently discovered a gift card that had been given to me back in the old “Tonight Show” days that I hadn’t used yet. It was a card for $25 off a book at the store! I relished using it for my new “Jungle Book” purchase. We stopped at the cigar store on the way home to pick up a few nice cigars for his final night in town, and then headed home. Then I drove to Paty’s in the Gran Torino to have dinner with my pal David Woodruff. Since the writer’s strike is on, he was itching to get to work on something. So we tossed around a few ideas. While we were waiting for our food, David directed my attention to somebody who was by my car. I turned around and saw that it was a little old man who was having trouble getting between the Torino and the car in front of me. Then I recognized his frame and his clothes. It was my old pal “Bazooka Joe;” my 104 year old World War II buddy! I ran out to greet him and say hi. It was great catching up and I finally got to show him my Gran Torino, which I had been wanting to do for a long time. When Joe got out of the war he restored cars for a living, so he’s always been a “car guy.” I introduced myself to the two ladies who were with him (Joe is always surrounded by women!) and helped Joe get into their car. It sure was good to see him again, and it was especially nice to see him in such great health! I stopped to get ice cream from Baskin Robbins on the way home, and then headed back to do my nightly auditions. I relaxed a bit, took a short nap, and then later that night I reconciled my bank statements. I got an email from the producers of “Collector’s Call” and they’re VERY interested in talking to me more about the Planet Wallywood collection. They requested a Zoom call on Monday where I could take them all through the house to show them various items. Neat! I made a salad and watched a few episodes of “The Lone Ranger” before bed.

Thursday the 15th – THE FINAL SESSION! – It seems like every time I record at Studiopolis in Burbank, I always hit the McDonald’s on the way there. I hardly ever eat at McDonald’s anymore, so getting a few burgers on the way to a session is always a treat. Today was the final four hour session for “Bleach,” and it went very well. This particular project has exclusive, never-before-seen content that is going to drive the “Bleach” fans wild! Trust me! After the session I hit my box to pick up my packages, and when I got back home I felt that I deserved a pizza. So I ordered a pizza from Domino’s and relaxed. It’s been a busy week. I deserved it! I did my nightly auditions, sent them into my agents, and then got a nap. Later I got up to do some work around the house. Now that the work week is over I can turn my attentions to getting some stuff done around the house. I made a salad and watched a few “Lone Ranger” episodes, followed by a great two-part “Have Gun – Will Travel” episode on the H&I network. I really love that show!

Friday the 16th – MORE FUN WITH GOOD BUDDIES! – With all of the bad eating I’ve been doing, it was time to get back to Paty’s for a nice salad. When I finished my lunch I headed to Alex In Wonderland to start work on a second helmet for my Super Grover replica Muppet. The first helmet was fine, but I wanted it to more closely resemble the one Super Grover wears in the movie “Follow That Bird,” which meant making it a bit higher in profile. I took the first helmet to Alex so she could design the new one based on its sizing, and I also dropped off my “Head Turning Hutch” to her husband Mike for repairs. He’s the one who made my Hutch robot initially (the one who sits in the passenger seat of my Torino and looks around at people) but something had vibrated loose in his neck and his head and gotten very wobbly. I got back home and made up the Puppet Room bed for my buddy Dave. His plane would be leaving on Saturday afternoon, so he’d be staying with me for the night. I kept my Torino out so I could drive him to dinner in it. We headed to Ernie’s Taco House to meet our friend Chris Malmin. It was a great dinner with good friends! Then we headed back to my house, got our cigars out, and took a walk through the complex enjoying our nice cigars. We ended up sitting at a table near the clubhouse at the center of our complex. We had a great time enjoying the cigars and talking about the old days. It was a gorgeous night, and for once the skies were clear! It sure was great to see stars and planets in the sky again. We’ve been almost completely overcast for the past two months! We topped off the cigars with some ice cold Cokes in glass bottles (a tradition of ours) and then Chris bid us adieu. Dave turned in, but I still had some work to do all night around the house.

Saturday the 17th – ATTAINING ONE OF MY LIFETIME “GOELZ”! – My buddy Dave got up at 8:30 and I was able to see him off. He would be meeting his son Sean for breakfast before his flight, but I had lots of prep work to do before a very important appointment later that afternoon. At the beginning of May I put a bid in at a charity auction being held for the Puppetry Arts Center in Atlanta. They had a lot of great packages, but the one I was most interested in was a one-hour Zoom call with Muppet performer Dave Goelz. He’s the last of the original gang who’s still performing, and I’ve been wanting to meet him for a long time. He and I were in touch back in 2019 via email, and it was looking like Dave was going to come tour Planet Wallywood the next time he was in town. But then the world melted town in 2020 and everything changed. So now it seems a Zoom call is the best I’ll get. But it was for a worthy cause, and it was a lifetime goal of mine to meet him (albeit virtually). I got my webcam set up with all the appropriate lighting etc, and when 2pm rolled around I was ready. Our one-hour conversation could have easily turned into a two-hour or three-hour call! Mr. Goelz and I had a LOT in common! Including our obsession at a young age of building replicas of the Muppets we saw on television! At one point I told him that if some genealogist was to track our bloodlines, I’m sure we’d be distantly related somehow! He told me all about the little gizmo inside of Gonzo’s head that manipulates his “wide-eyed” look. He also imparted a lot of other wisdom that I found fascinating. He wanted to hear all about my work in the Voice Over industry and about my work on “The Tonight Show.” He’s originally from the Burbank area, so he had all sorts of great stories about sneaking onto the NBC lot when he was a kid! He even told me that Paty’s (one of my favorite restaurants) used to be called Gaby’s back in the day. I loved hearing him tell me about setting up an ersatz Jungle Ride in his backyard with friends when he was a kid. I told him I did the same thing when I was a kid, but with all of the snow drifts in South Dakota, it was more like the Matterhorn ride! We exchanged email information and I hope we get to stay in touch. He and I seem very much like kindred spirits. I always thought that in some alternate life stream, my life would have been a lot like that of Dave Goelz! Totally charged up, I put on my walking clothes and walked over to CVS to pick up some prescriptions. Then I had a gorgeous lunch at Panera, on the patio enjoying the sunshine. It’s been so long since we’ve seen the sun here in L.A.! Then I got some groceries and headed back home. What a glorious day! I napped all evening, and later I got busy doing random things I needed to get done. When I signed the contract to appear at the Chattanooga Comic Con this October, they requested that I record a video message announcing my appearance. Well, I can never do anything simple. So much like I did when I announced my appearance at Anime Las Vegas a few months back, I did it musically. I downloaded a karaoke version of “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” rewrote the lyrics, and put on a tuxedo and slicked back my hair to look like a big band singer. The video turned out pretty funny, and I edited it and posted it to my social media. Then I changed back into my normal clothes and filmed a Cameo for a fan of the “Street Fighter 6” game I’m in. She loved the character of J.P., so I helped her celebrate her birthday in style. I recorded some Voice Over auditions, worked around the house, and made my Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched an episode of “The Saint” before bed. A truly amazing day! Great to be alive!

Sunday the 18th – SLOPPIES WITH SARA! – Whenever I get the craving for some good old Midwestern sloppy joes, I have my pal Sara come over to cook some up. First, we drove the Gran Torino over to my auxiliary parking, put it to bed, and got out my Mustang convertible. Since we’re looking at some sunny days this coming week, I wanted to get the Mustang out and put the top down to enjoy some long overdue sun! Hard to believe the first day of summer is next week, and our weather is still a little winter-ish. We stopped at the store and got some supplies for dinner, and then we headed back to enjoy some sloppy joes with barbecue chips and dip. YUM! I napped with a delightfully full stomach, and got up later to prep the house for a Zoom call with the producers of ME-TV’s “Collector’s Call” on Monday. It was lots of work to get the house looking like I wanted it for the call, but it was well worth it! I heated up a few sloppy joes before bed and hit the hay!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK