March 10 – March 16 (2025) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

It’s a good day when the Twitter algorithm brings me not one, but TWO of my favorite screen heroes!

With all the rain we’ve had in the L.A. area this past week, this song (always one of my favorites) came to mind. As I drive through the night when it’s raining I always hum this song. “Rainy Night in Georgia” is one great song, sung with a lot of heart and soul by Brook Benton!

Monday the 10th – A NEW WEEK…AGAIN! – Later in the day I finally rousted myself out of bed so I could meet up with my gal Angi and her dog Khloe for dinner. Angi wanted to hit Ernie’s Taco House, so we headed over there to get an early dinner. We started chatting with the lady behind us who was a make-up artist from the UK who had been living in L.A. for 16 years. Though I was unable to add any expertise to the conversation, Angi and this gal started talking about how good the margaritas at Ernie’s were. She seemed like a nice person, and we were glad to have met her. I picked up a package at my box and then headed home to do some work. It will start raining later, so I completed my daily auditions and headed outside to do my nightly WOG (walk/jog) before the sky opened up. Good timing, too! Just as I came back inside it started to rain. I settled in to write Wally’s Week, and then hit the hay.

Tuesday the 11th – RAINY SEASON! – When I woke up I phoned my pal Sam, who had just returned to town for a quick visit, and said it was the perfect day to get a window booth at Bob’s Big Boy and enjoy a tuna melt and some conversation. He agreed and we met at Bob’s for a fun lunch. I hit CVS to pick up some supplies, got a few grocery items, and then went home to put everything away. I recorded an audition and then relaxed for a while. I noted how it’s now March and the industry hasn’t quite awakened from its post-holiday slumber. Usually this time of year we’re back in the groove and swingin’ – but everything seems really slow right now. And I’m not the only one feeling it. It’s a feeling being felt by other friends of mine in the industry. I’m hoping it picks up soon. I relaxed and then got up later to do my WOG. It’s going to be raining on and off over the next few days, so I was happy to be able to slip some quick exercise in during a lull between the two rainstorms. When I came back inside I reconciled my corporate bank statement and went through all my receipts. I did some photo editing, and then made a “Paladin saladin” and watched two more episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” on DVD. This show is amazing. It was shot back in the day when they just set up the camera, turned it on and let the actors act. I miss shows like that.

Wednesday the 12th – WET WEDNESDAY! – Since it was raining periodically throughout the day, it was a perfect day to just stay inside and relax. The heavy stuff is coming later, and apparently it’s really gonna pour! I worked around the house and did some much- needed maintenance work. I recorded several Wally The Elf bits for this year’s “Christmas Across the Lands” radio show. By later in the evening heavy rain started to inundate the whole area. Since it was unrelenting, I didn’t get a chance to take my WOG. These gloomy days and nights make me long for summer so badly!

Thursday the 13th – TA-TA TORINO!? – By mid-morning the rain had tapered off, but everything was so wet and green! It was lovely! I called up my pal Chris Malmin and we agreed to meet at Paty’s for lunch. The sun had actually begun peeking through the clouds and our patio get-together was actually sunny and warm! It felt great! When I got home I did some work, which included writing up a fact sheet about my 1974 Gran Torino. I’m actually preparing to sell it to any interested buyer who would love to pick up an amazing car with a fantastic history. I just haven’t been driving it lately and to be honest, the thrill is gone. It’s been a fantastic car for the 13 years I’ve owned it, but I think it deserves somebody who will give it more attention. It’s in wonderful shape, and I feel its magic is being wasted just sitting in storage in my auxiliary garage. A guy is meeting me on the 28th to look it over and apparently he’s very interested. I did some research on-line as to the going rate for a car in comparable condition, and I saw that the Barrett-Jackson automotive auction house recently sold one from a prestigious collection for $56k. Given the fact that my car has a much more interesting reputation and history my asking price may be for a bit more. I’m really not sure yet. I took my WOG and then started an experiment. Given the fact that my cat Spooky’s backside has been a bit “leaky” of late, I’m going to change up his food a little bit to see if that might be the cause. To be honest, having to wipe his bottom every hour with baby wipes is getting to be a bit tedious, and I’m hoping to find a solution to the “goopy poopy” problem. Granted he’s an older cat (19.5 years!) so that’s to be expected somewhat, but I’m hoping for a good solution to keep everything a bit more tidy. As it is, I’ve laid potty pads down in the areas where he usually sits and relaxes. And they have been a huge help. I’m hoping this change-up of his food routine will affect the results I’m looking for. Senior pets…we love ‘em, but boy are they work!

Friday the 14th – VADER VOILA! – For some odd reason I woke up way too early, and couldn’t get back to sleep. So I rolled out of bed and did some work. My maids were due between 1 and 3, and I was hoping to see Angi before she left to go out of town for her dad’s surprise birthday party, but the timing may not work out. The maids didn’t show up until 3, and Angi had to be at the airport by 9pm, so time was a-wastin’. The maids didn’t finish up until around 5, and after talking to Angi on the phone I determined that trying to squeeze in a visit before she left would be cutting it very close. By the time she would arrive at my house it would be 6, but then she would have to be at the airport by 9 down at LAX. It was not looking good. Plus Mike and Alex from Alex in Wonderland would be bringing my Darth Vader costume over for a fitting at 6, so it was looking like the schedule was just too packed. After the maids left I drove to my box to pick up a package, which included the belt I had purchased for my new Roger M00re James Bond figure I’m working on. Though not an exact match of the belt he wore in “The Man With The Golden Gun,” it looked very “Bond-like” and would be a nice addition to the figure! I stopped at the McDonald’s drive-thru on the way home to get some late lunch and then met up with Mike and Alex at Planet Wallywood. The alterations Alex had done on the Vader costume were perfect! It felt REALLY good to have it on! The bodysuit was now perfect; with the sleeve and leg lengths being spot on! She also put little elastic straps around the bottoms so they would lock in under my feet and between my thumb and forefinger. That way when I put the gloves and boots on the bodysuit won’t slip. The new codpiece she made was perfect, the straps on the shin guards were slick, the Velcro attachments she put on the suit so the belt wouldn’t slip around were wonderful, and the cape attached to the shoulder cups on the breastplate exactly how I wanted them. Having the costume on felt like I always dreamed it would feel! She took some of the costume pieces back to do some further alterations based on the things we had discovered during the fitting. She also showed me how to dress my Kermit the Frog replica in the Frogenstein costume she had made. Once she showed me it all made sense. Dressing a puppet with non-removable arm rods is tricky, but possible if you have the right technique. We headed to Little Toni’s to get some dinner, but I was starting to get a bit tired. When I came home with a tummy full of delicious spaghetti I relaxed for a while, and then did my nightly WOG. During the hard-drive meltdown from last August, and then again last February, I had to do the tedious and arduous task of reassembling some of the video edits I had done. The editing program needed to be re-taught where to find the clips for the assembly edit. I had to import the clips in from different old drives and it was a lot of work, but necessary.

Saturday the 15th – BRING ME THE HEAD OF JAMES BOND! – My pal Kelly Delcambre and his company Blok 4 will be doing some of the elements for the new Roger M00re James Bond figure I’m making for the upcoming Monsterpalooza in late May. I had the facial likeness sculpted by Rubber Larry Torro, the best celebrity likeness sculptor in the business, and the mold of the sculpture was made by my pal Jim Ojala. Once the mold was made, Kelly picked it up and took it back to his shop. First step was to make (what they call in the industry) a “clean-out pull.” This is the first piece that’s made from the new mold. They call it a “clean-out” piece because there is still a little bit of junk and residual clay left in the mold from the molding process. The first head they make from it will eliminate all of those little artifacts, so that the next piece they make will be cleaner. Kelly brought the “clean-out pull” over so I could give it to my hair guy Sergio. He thought it might be handy to have while Sergio is shopping for the perfect wig for the figure. Even the imperfect “clean-out pull” looked pretty darn impressive. In order to get an idea of eye placement, they painted on irises to approximate where the eyeball direction will sit. They also splashed a little bit of color on it to see what shades would work best with the piece. Ultimately, the final head will be cast in a tinted translucent resin, and then painted over with detail to look more life-like. While Kelly was here, he also picked up the original clay sculpture that Larry did. There’s really no good way to preserve an original sculpture, and most of the time the sculpture is partially destroyed during the molding process anyway. Since Larry lives close to Kelly, they’ll meet up so Larry can take possession of the sculpture and recycle the clay he used. After Kelly left I did some work and then walked over to my stylist Andie’s shop to get a touch-up on my color. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and it was great seeing all the wonderful doggies out and about with their humans. After I finished with Andie I walked back home and relaxed. Then I reconciled my personal bank statements and receipts, did some other work, and then got dressed for my nightly WOG. When I came back inside I got the Tranquility Zone readied for my weekly journey into the bizarre with “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” and a delightful salad.

Sunday the 16th – STRIKING SIGNATURES! – Several weeks ago my pal Dan Roebuck told me about a company he does private signings for called Striking Signatures. They travel around and meet up with actors to have them sign a large quantity of collectibles that they sell to fans through various forums. I had agreed to do a signing, but I wasn’t sure where they were set up. By late afternoon Dan texted me the time and the address, so I got cleaned up and headed over. This company does a live broadcast on-line of the signings and sells them right on the spot as we sign them. Think of it as a fan-based QVC kinda thing. It took me a little while to get used to the manic energy of the process, but once I got into the swing of it, it was pretty fun! I signed for two hours, and since I was in the area, I headed over to Wendy’s to get some food before they closed. Since I was close to the only Walmart in my area, I stopped in to see what they had that interested me. Lo and behold, their selection of food items was amazing! I found some great cereals that aren’t available in the regular stores. I also saw that they had the 4 Meat Tombstone pizzas I like. To top it all off they had Rice Krispy treats and strawberry sweet rolls! YUM! It looks like I may need to make a monthly pilgrimage to this Walmart to stock up on stuff! There’s stuff here I can’t find anywhere else! I got back home to do some work and relax. When the usual time arrived to take my nightly WOG I decided I was a bit too tired to go. I didn’t like that, since I had already taken one night off this week because of rain. But I was pretty exhausted. So I called it a night and headed to bed. I’m looking forward to next weekend, as I’m heading to Sacrament for the Sacramento Comic Con again. It’ll be great seeing everyone, and catching up with my old pal Dale Schornack. He’s lived there for years, but he and I used to work together at a couple of radio and TV stations back in South Dakota. It’s always fun seeing Dale!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

It’s rough, but the “clean-out pull” looks amazing. When the pros at Blok 4 do their work on the real pull, this Roger M00re figure is going to look amazing!