June 22 – June 28 (2026) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

As a kid in the 70’s, the Mego corporation RULED our world!

I’ve been humming this tune all week! It’s “On to the Show,” one of the classic Laurel & Hardy music cues written by LeRoy Shield. The version is by The Beau Hunks, from their 1993 album “The Beau Hunks Play The Original Laurel & Hardy Music”.

Monday the 22nd – SONS OF THE DESERT: SAN DIEGO-STYLE! – After a very restful night in a beautiful room at the Legacy hotel, on the highest floor, all the way to the end of the floor with a balcony, I was hungry. I didn’t get up until noon, so breakfast was no longer an option. I headed to the hotel’s restaurant and had a delicious hamburger. Some of the rest of the Sons had taken a bus tour to Old Town San Diego and the Midway battleship. I have seen both before so I decided to stay on the campus and spend the afternoon in a dark room, eating popcorn and watching Laurel & Hardy films. I figured that Doc and Dolly had gone on the tour, so I was on my own. But soon I found out that they hadn’t gone on the tour. Dolly wanted to spend the afternoon at the pool, and Doc wanted to go with me to watch movies. We went to the movie room and watched “Way Out West,” probably my favorite Laurel & Hardy feature. In fact, it was the very first Laurel & Hardy film I ever saw. It was part of a Saturday matinee film series for kids at the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen, South Dakota when I was in elementary school. I remember seeing it, and though not really knowing who Laurel & Hardy were, thinking it was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time. While I was sitting there watching the movie in the movie room, I got a bit teary-eyed. It brought back such good memories, and reminded me that I was realizing a long-held dream. When I first started getting into Laurel & Hardy as a 12 year old kid I read everything I could get my hands on about them…books, magazines, anything! It’s then I learned of this international fan club called The Sons Of The Desert (their name taken from one of the most popular L&H feature films) and that people from all over the world who loved their films would gather together and watch their movies. Since I was really the only kid I knew of at the time who were into them (with the exception of my good ol’ pal Chris Valle) I thought how nice it would have been to be with others with a similar interest. And now…here I am. With “my people.” But halfway through the film a big guy with very little situational awareness came and sat right directly in front of me, blocking my view. I looked at Doc to my right with a puzzled look on my face. This guy was blocking BOTH of our views. We just laughed and adjusted our seats accordingly. It was really something right out of an L&H film. When the film was over it was time to return to the room to get ready for the dinner cruise around San Diego bay! For those who went on the tour earlier, a bus took them from their location over to the pier for loading. But for those who stayed behind and didn’t go on the tour, a much smaller bus was scheduled to pick up the stragglers. However, more people stayed behind than they had originally planned for, so the bus they had originally hired wasn’t going to be big enough. So NOW what?! There was confusion and a lack of communication. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. People started loading into Ubers to take them to the pier. Were they going to get Ubers for us, or were we on our own, or what?! Nobody seemed to know. Finally Doc and Dolly ordered our own Uber, with the understanding that we would all be reimbursed for it later. Our driver picked us up and we quickly discovered that he didn’t speak English. I was riding shotgun and asked him where the 5 freeway was from here, seeing as how I needed to find it on Thursday to go back home. He didn’t understand a word I said. So I just stayed quiet. Then our driver had no idea where to drop us off. We got to the shore and saw a few guys in SOTD fezzes walking south. I told our driver to stop and let us off here, and we’d follow the guy with the fezzes. But he didn’t understand English, so he kept going around in circles. Fearing that the boat would leave without us, I told everyone to bail out of the Uber the next time we hit a stoplight. BAM! Stoplight, and we all bailed! We had a little bit of walking to do, but before long we were where we were supposed to be. We found the rest of our group and got ready to board the Hornblower dinner cruise. Now, you have to understand the irony of what was going on here. I’ve always have a very analytical mind, and I see funny things in ordinary events. The local San Diego chapter of the Sons Of The Desert is called the Saps At Sea. They took their name from one of L&H’s later feature films, which is absolutely hilarious. The premise of the movie is that Stan & Ollie are working in a horn factory, and the unrelenting sound of horns in their work place was driving Ollie insane. And even into violent rages. So after they’re given some time off to relax, Ollie’s doctor recommends a sea voyage. So they rent a boat for his therapy, which unknowingly has a dangerous stowaway…a convicted criminal named Nick (and his .38 special he calls “Nick Jr.”)! At the end of the film (spoiler alert!) Stan is practicing his trombone, which sends Ollie into a violent rage. This gives Ollie the strength to overpower Nick. But when Stan’s trombone comes apart, Ollie loses his power. Ollie keeps yelling “BLOW THE HORN, STAN! BLOW THE HORN!” Even writing this synopsis now has me laughing hysterically. It’s one funny movie! So keeping all this aforementioned information in mind, what are the chances that we would board a boat called The Hornblower!? Was this on purpose? Was it planned? When I pointed out the irony to Dr. Cowen, he said most likely I was the only one who realized it. But it was a magical evening. We found seats at an available table and waited for instructions. Across from us sat a couple named Dave & Paula. We introduced ourselves and we eventually found that they’re from Connecticut. I told them I would be in Hartford, Connecticut in about a month, and they said they’re just a little ways away! They said they would come to the convention and see me that weekend! There really ARE no coincidences in life! But the magic continued. I went up topside on the ship to get some video of the bay, and to get a few shots of the beautiful San Diego sunset that was happening now that it was sundown. The boat’s speaker system was playing a variety of soft rock for everyone’s enjoyment. As I got topside, the song “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot came on. I mean, really. What are the chances of that? Probably about one in a gazillion. As I always say…God is my DJ. And He’s a very GOOD DJ at that! I just laughed at one more “coincidental” thing that happened. Dinner was amazing, and the company was spectacular. The ship was running L&H films on the monitor while we ate, and it was amazing to see so many of the people actually paying attention to what was happening on the screen. People were actually APPLAUDING for certain well-known scenes. I leaned over and told Doc once again, “I’m with my people!” What a night! I headed back to my room to get ready for the next day’s activities!

Tuesday the 23rd – MY PEOPLE! – Since I hadn’t planned on being up very early, I took advantage of the little door-hanger-menu thingie that was in my room, and ordered breakfast to be delivered to my room around 9:30am. It was a great breakfast and I fully enjoyed it. The first panel of the day was the Author Panel 1. Several people who had written books on L&H were talking about their books that they had for sale in the dealer’s room, and how they went about researching and writing them. It was fascinating. But once again, just like a running gag in a L&H movie, the same big guy from the “Way Out West” screening came into the room and sat right in front of me! I thought Doc was going to lose it! He was laughing hysterically! After the panel was over Doc and I went to the dealer’s room to see what was available. I bought a few books and other items, and took them back to my room. The convention had a catered lunch for us on campus. There were two drink containers for beverages…one had ice water and the other had iced tea. But there was some confusion in the lines for both containers. Some people who wanted iced tea were in the wrong line, so there was a mish-mosh of people crossing over each other to get the drink they wanted. Everyone was very polite in this chaos, but pulling out another line from a L&H movie called “Blockheads” I said to someone, “There’s going to be a fight!” People laughed and laughed. It’s good to be with “my people.” After lunch we went to Author Panel 2 and heard about more great books coming out. We broke to go get ready for dinner, which was going to be a hot dog bar! Everyone just understood that it was going to be a part of our convention ticket. But as people were lining up they broke the news that it was NOT a part of our ticket price, and that they would be charging us for it. And the charge was 20 bucks for a hot dog, a small bag of chips, and a can of soda. 20 BUCKS!?? People were outraged, and left the line to go seek other food arrangements. So Doc, Dolly and I went to the hotel’s restaurant to get a sit-down meal instead. I looked at the menu and noted to Doc that for the price of two of their hot dog packages (40 dollars) I could get a nice steak dinner! Just as we were ordering we saw Rick Green waiting to be seated. Since he was by himself, and we had an extra seat at our table, we invited him to join us. Rick is the Grand Sheik of our Way Out West tent, so it was fun having him with us. I asked him if he knew where the location of the next convention would be in 2028 and he said St. Paul, Minnesota. I couldn’t believe my ears! My ol’ L&H pal Chris Valle LIVES in St. Paul, so I texted him and told him that he and I would be going to the convention together in 2028! Oddly enough, last year I randomly sent him a SOTD fez that I had bought on-line as a gift for him. His response to my text was, “I have JUST the hat for the occasion!” Fantastic! After dinner we went to the hotel’s theatre to watch organist Russ Peck accompany three silent L&H films, “Battle Of The Century,” “We Faw Down,” and the palm-sweating “Liberty.” Then we watched two sound films, “The Music Box,” (probably L&H’s most famous short, and their ONLY Academy Award-winner), and the feature of which our club is the namesake…”The Sons Of The Desert!” Doc and Dolly were seated next to me, and though Dolly admitted she wasn’t much of a Laurel & Hardy fan, she was really enjoying “The Music Box.” By the time we saw “Sons Of The Desert,” I honestly believe she was hooked! She was laughing like crazy! I believe she’s softening up!

Wednesday the 24th – ROYALTY! – The hotel room I had was so comfortable, I ended up sleeping really late. I went downstairs to get another hamburger for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. Then I went to a panel about Laurel & Hardy in animation. It was moderated by a guy named Ken Mitchroney who’s been working in comics and animation for a long time. It was a great panel, and it was really fun to see clips of L&H in various animated films from Disney, Warner, and others! I saw him in the lobby of the hotel later and introduced myself. In all my travels in the animation world, our paths have never crossed. But we chatted, traded stories, and I gave him my card. I went back to my hotel room thinking that this certain “coincidence” could end up being a good contact for me. Someday, Ken and I may work on something together! You just never know. Perhaps we’ll see each other again! I cleaned up and got ready for the final dinner banquet before we all said our goodbyes for this convention. I got dressed in my best L&H shirt, fez and sash, and headed over to get checked in for the banquet. When you check in they tell you which table you’re sitting at. I was given table 5. Doc and Dolly were next to my table at table 7. But as soon as I saw the place card of the person who would be sitting next to me, I just couldn’t believe it! It was KEN MITCHRONEY! Obviously, he and I needed to chat some more and get to know each other better. We had an amazing evening telling stories and making each other laugh. I was happy to have made such a great new contact…as well as a new friend! I mean, seriously. What are the chances? Stan Laurel’s great granddaughter Cassidy Cook was present at the banquet, along with her two twins, who are in their mid-20’s. There was a live orchestra playing vintage music while we ate, and the evening was fantastic. Later, Doc announced to me that he and Dolly were heading back to their room because they wanted to be up early the next day for their drive back to L.A. – so I told him I’d walk them to the hotel. As we left the banquet hall and headed to the hotel, we were joined by Cassidy and her kids. We took the opportunity to thank them for coming to the banquet. I was talking to the Laurel family! ROYALTY! And furthermore, I was making them laugh as we continued talking about random stuff. She thanked us for helping to keep her great grandfather’s memory and work alive. I spoke with her son and asked him if he was an actor. He said he’s in sales, but occasionally he thinks of funny stuff. I told him I just spent a goodly amount of time with my own grandkids, and creative stuff really DOES transfer through the genes! Doc showed the Laurels his tattoo of L&H on his upper arm, and they even took a picture of it! As we all walked over to the hotel’s lobby, I suggested we go into the hotel in the form of a conga line. We all lined up and sang, “Ba-dum-dum da-da-dum HEY! “Ba-dum-dum da-da-dum HEY!” It was literally like something out of a Laurel & Hardy film! A big group of us went into the elevator to make it up the 5 floors to our rooms. Because our group was so big, the elevator stopped at every floor. So as the person got off on floor 1 we all said (ala Stan Laurel) “GOOD BYE!” Of course everyone busted out in laughter. The same thing happened when we stopped at the second floor. “GOOD BYE! We’re going now!” (Again, “my people.”) Dave, my new friend from Connecticut got off at the 4th floor and said, “I’ll see you at the convention in Hartford soon!” I told him I was looking forward to it. This left only Thomas, Cassidy’s son, and I in the elevator. Thomas said, “Are you going to another Laurel & Hardy convention?” I told him that I was going to be a guest at a comic book convention; signing autographs and stuff like that. He asked what I did and I told him I was a Voice Actor. When I told him I did the voice of The Riddler in the “Arkham” games, he couldn’t believe it! He LOVED those games! I thanked him and told him I appreciated it, and maybe our paths would cross again someday. As I unlocked the door to my room I thought to myself how wild it was that Stan Laurel’s great great grandson was a fan of something I’ve worked on. Life is rich! I packed up few things and loaded them out to my car. I figured I could get up early and attend the convention breakfast, and then sit in 4 hours of traffic to get back home. Or I could grab a quick nap, leave in the middle of the night, and be back home in about 2 hours. As a devout night owl, I opted for the latter. After a short nap I checked out of the hotel at 1:00am and was on the road by 1:13am. By 3am I was pulling into my garage. I got back in under 2 hours! Not bad at all! I just had energy left to put a few things away, shower, and then hit the hay. WHAT A WEEK!!!

Thursday the 25th – CATCHING UP! – My pal Chris Malmin and I hadn’t had much of a chance to catch up lately, so we met at Paty’s to grab a nice, long lunch. I grabbed a package at my box, mailed off some checks at the post office, and went home to do some work. I sure was glad that I had decided to travel home in the middle of the night. I most likely would have still been on the freeway had I left San Diego in the morning! Unfortunately my internet was out all afternoon, and it wouldn’t be back on until the evening. So I made myself busy unpacking all my stuff from the L&H convention. My assistant Emily came over later to do some work, and then we went to have dinner at Little Toni’s. I hadn’t had pizza in a long time, so I took advantage of the situation! I got back home and relaxed, recorded some auditions and sent them to my agents, and went out for a nice WOG. I made a salad and watched another episode of “The High Chaparral.” Unlike many of the previous episodes, which were stellar, this episode was kind of dumb and clunky. Oh well.

Friday the 26th – THE WEIRDOS ARE LOOSE! – Having been gone so much I didn’t have many grocery items in my refrigerator. So I went to pick up a few items and noticed that nothing seemed quite right. There were a TON of weirdos out and about, and it was very strange. Plus, the energy didn’t feel right, so I got what I needed and headed home to hide. I needed to do some organizing for my Sunday appearance in Anaheim at Fan Expo. They’d be hosting a big “Invader Zim” reunion panel and I consented to come in for the day, do some signings, take some photos, and participate in the panel. It should be fun. And while it involved some travel again, it wouldn’t require me to spend the night in a hotel. Later, on my nightly WOG, I saw a skunk foraging in our grass for grubs and bugs. He seemed busy, and he obviously didn’t seem bothered by me, but I cut a HUGE swath around him to avoid him! I spent some time in the anti-grav chair just relaxing, and then I came back inside to do some video editing. I made a salad and watched an episode of “Night Gallery.” Though “Night Gallery” is viewing that I normally reserve for my Saturday nights, I made the executive decision to move it to Friday night, since I would have to be in bed early on Saturday for the convention on Sunday.

Saturday the 27th – GOTTA GET ORGANIZED! – After doing a little work around the house, I went to gas up the Grey Ghost. I noticed that the gas station I was at had an automatic car wash. Since the Ghost was pretty filthy from all of our road adventures, I got her washed. When I got home I organized my case of photos for the convention, worked on Wally’s Week, and laid out some clothes I wanted to wear at the Fan Expo convention the next day. Then I retired early.

Sunday the 28th – FAN EXPO! – Right at 7am I got out of bed, got cleaned up, and I hit the road by 7:45am. I stopped at McDonald’s to get some breakfast, and headed to Anaheim. Luckily, the Sunday morning traffic was really good! I made it in less than an hour. I parked at the Anaheim Hilton, where we were told to park, and went inside the lobby to await further instructions. I saw my old pal Neil Ross, so we chatted for a bit. He said the greatest thing, and I’m going to quote it from now on. Like me, Neil started as a radio DJ and later went into Voice Acting. He was in radio all through the 70s and 80s, and he got into Voice Acting in the 80s and 90s. I took the same path but got into it later than Neil…radio in the 80s, and Voice Acting in the 90s and 00s. Neil and I compared stories about the industry and he said very eloquently, “I feel lucky to have been in the ‘sweet spot’ of two great industries.” Given the fact that both radio and Voice Acting aren’t what they used to be in the ‘glory days,’ I thought this was a very astute observation. We were soon joined by Voice Actresses Melendy Britt and B.J. Ward. And soon Voice Acting legend Michael Bell sat down with us. Michael had just been a guest at Voices Against Cancer in Sioux Falls, and he had many great things to say about Sioux Falls and the convention. I was happy he had a great time! We got on the bus to the convention center and we were led inside to our tables. Since I was only going to be there for one day, business was brisk all day long – which made me very happy. As we were waiting to go into our “Invader Zim” photo op area, I spotted my pal Mark Hamill who was just coming out. I said, “HELLO OLLIE!” When he saw it was me I told him I had just come back from a weeklong Laurel & Hardy convention in San Diego. (He’s also a big fan!) He said going to one of those conventions is a ‘bucket list’ item for him! Maybe I can talk him into going to St. Paul with us in 2028! After the “Zim” photo op I went back to my table and signed some more. Then it was time for the “Zim” panel and lunch. The lunch in the green room wasn’t appealing to me, so I went upstairs to the convention floor to grab some good ol’ “con food” – macaroni and cheese with chicken – to be precise. Delicious! I chatted with some more people and closed out a really fun day. I got on the bus back to the hotel, got my car and headed home. I made it back by 7pm…almost exactly 12 hours from when I started my day. Amazing! I relaxed for a bit, and then took my nightly WOG under a glorious full moon! I spent some relaxing time in the anti-grav chair, and then headed inside to go to bed. Now I’ll have several days of r&r before I have to jet off once again. Hartford, Connecticut, here I come!

And now onto the next week!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Doc flies the flag!

A couple of great L&H lookalikes helped make the evening fun and festive.

“BLOW THE HORN, STAN! BLOW THE HORN!”

Doc with “Ollie & Stan!”

I warned Doc I was going to get this photo, and I did. DOC ON THE DOCK!

Sundown…San Diego!

The juxtaposition of this shot was too delicious to pass up!

Laurel and Hardy expert, author and historian Randy Skretvedt breaks out the ukuleles for a verse or two of “Honolulu Baby.”

The closest I’ll ever get to meeting Stan and Ollie – at least in THIS Earthly realm, anyway.

“Stan and Ollie” welcome conventioneers to the banquet hall.

At the beginning of the convention Doc’s wife Dolly wasn’t a Laurel and Hardy fan at all. But when I spotted her getting her picture with “Ollie and Stan” I said to Doc, “WE GOT HER!”