March 17 – March 23 (2014) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

Since the Drive-In Movie Theater is going the way of the Dodo, maybe this might be the next best thing???

While at my seamstress’ studio this past week, I heard a song pop up on her iPod that really tweaked me. The artist is Morcheeba and the song is called “Let Me See.” I came home and immediately downloaded this and another song of hers. Good stuff!

Monday the 17th – AFTERSHOCKING! – When I got up at noon I was still noticing things that had fallen over or shifted during the early morning 4.4 earthquake. I tried to get everything back in order before I went to sleep, but I missed a few things. I got on the computer and worked on my “Best of Tonight Show” demo, did some work around the house, walked Roxy, then checked e-mails. I sat down to work on the pattern for my Tin Man bust and before I knew it, it was evening already! Boy does time fly! I went outside to take a dip in the Jacuzzi, then came back inside for a brief nap. When I woke up I did a bunch of auditions in my home studio, e-mailed them into my agents’ offices, and chatted on the phone with the great Mark Evanier for a bit. I think I’ll still be doing the Saturday Voice Actor panel at Wondercon on April 19th! I hope to see you there! I did some more work on the Tin Man bust, wrestling with creating the pattern for his funnel hat, then retired to bed with a Tombstone pizza and another episode of “Search” on DVD. It was another Hugh O’Brien episode, and it featured a very young and attractive Jo Anna Cameron (Isis from the Saturday morning series) and a very young Cheryl Stopplemoor from Huron, South Dakota. Who’s that you ask? Well, she would later marry and become Cheryl Ladd! She had no lines in this episode, but was credited at the end nonetheless! Cool!

Tuesday the 18th – DOGGS, CATS & CAROL BURNETT – Have you ever woken up from a really awesome dream, and in order to preserve it in your memory, jumped out of bed to start your day so you wouldn’t forget it? That happened to me. I didn’t want to go back to sleep after this dream because I didn’t want to lose it. I was in a large soundstage surrounded by audience members in bleachers on all four walls. The stage was in the center of the bleachers. I was sitting on a high platform petting a beige Chihuahua named Mohawk. Since he was so high up, he was nervous. But aren’t Chihuahuas always nervous? But I wasn’t about to let him fall off the platform. I handed him back to his owner, then walked around to another area of the stage where Carol Burnett was talking to the audience about how to laugh during the show. (Apparently this was a taping of a new Carol Burnett afternoon talkshow). In order to show the audience how NOT to laugh, she started chortling a very mechanical, robotic laugh. It was pretty funny. I walked up to her and started opening a can of cat food with a manual can opener. Then she started meowing like a cat. I joined in as well. I was improvising a bit with Carol Burnett! Dreams just don’t get better than this! Once the can was open I pretended to cut my finger on the sharp edge of the lid and I started hissing at the can. Carol joined in and we were clawing at each other like cats. The audience was in hysterics! WOW! I ended the improv by taking a large piece of the catfood out of the can and stuffing it in my mouth. The audience groaned a large “Ewwww!” They applauded and I ran to the prop area to wash out my mouth and spit out the cat food. Anything for comedy, right? I made a mental note to do that bit again, since it worked so well. But next time I’d ask the prop guys to put a cat food label on a can of tuna so I didn’t have to eat cat food every time! As I was washing my mouth out at the sink Carol came up behind me, patted me on the rear and said with a smile, “I hate you!” I replied with, “Well I LOVE you!” Then I went out to the stage to get ready to open the show. I didn’t know exactly where to go, so I spotted a young guy in a maroon suit running toward the bandstand. I asked him what the name of the band was and he said, “Maxx Dogg.” I heard the band start to play Sly & The Family Stone’s “I Wanna Take You Higher.” But I still had no idea where I was supposed to go for the show opening, and just then I woke up. BEST. DREAM. EVER! I walked Roxy and it was a stunningly beautiful day. I hopped in my car, picked up my assistant Sara and headed to Mr. Stitch to get my Ant Man and Captain Action caps embroidered. Then I stopped by Fed Ex to drop off a package. Just then I got a call from my friend Kelli Maroney who was stuck at Firing Line in Burbank. She wanted to shoot a segment for something she was doing, and it involved firing a gun. But since she wasn’t an experienced shooter they wouldn’t let her do it. She asked if I would come over and supervise and I said I would. Firing Line’s position is, if you’re concentrating more on getting a good shot, you probably aren’t concentrating much on gun safety. I agree. But when we got there they found out that Kelli’s video was for commercial purposes and they wouldn’t allow us to shoot video there. Oh well. Live and learn. Since we were in the area, Sara and I went to Coral Café in Burbank for lunch. We saw “Star Trek’s” original series Chekov there…Walter Koenig. We stopped by It’s a Wrap to see what they had. I found some great shirts for my pal Alex Zsolt, who likes very colorful, solid print shirts to play his concerts in. I got back home, checked my e-mails, walked Roxy and fed Roxy and Spook some dinner. Then I sped off to Jerry’s Famous Deli in Studio City to meet up with my pal Pete Tassler, Co-Producer of “Hawaii Five-O” on CBS. We had a great time talking about 1966 Batman and other toy talk. Like a couple of little kids. We saw Seinfeld walking in to get a table, and we also saw my old pal Ann Ryerson from “Caddyshack.” I went home and did my daily auditions, then hit the hay so I could be up early for a Wednesday morning session.

Wednesday the 19th – CHER AND CHER ALIKE! – A rarity! I got up at 8:45 to be at a session by 10! Normally this is the time I’m just getting to bed. But the Underwear Affair producers like to start early. After dodging some road construction, and closed off streets, I finally made it to the studio to do two spots. Underwear Affair is a 10k run and 5k walk up in Canada, and it’s done in your underwear! It benefits the fight against below-the-waist cancers. I’ve been doing spots for them for several years now and it’s always a blast. Talia, the producer, was going to catch a cab back to her office in Hollywood, but I told her I’d give her a ride myself. I popped the top on the Mustang and we drove down Hollywood Boulevard on a beautiful day. It also allowed me the chance to get some Wendy’s drive-thru lunch and get my bearings. I needed to get to my seamstress Karyn’s studio in Cypress Park, and I had no idea how to get there from where I was. I dug out my GPS and plotted the course. It would take me right to her door! I found it without a problem and Karyn and began work on making another cloth costume for the NECA 1966 Batman figure for my pal Pete Tassler. He was the guy who told me about the customizations in the first place, so now is his chance to get his very own! He was like a little kid anticipating Christmas morning. I would text him photos of the progress and I could tell he was getting more and more excited. Karyn had just finished two new Tony Clifton bowling shirts…one for me, and one that I’m giving Mr. Clifton himself at the next Hollywood Collector show on April 12. While Karyn worked away, I played with the amazing Jack the Agility Dog. He’s very affectionate and loves to have you kick tennis balls down the length of the warehouse so he can chase it. It seems like he NEVER gets tired. But then again, he’s only about 1 and a half years old. The way he leaps over things in the studio to get to the ball makes me believe he’s part deer. We finished up and I headed home. On my way back, I got a call from Vinnie my agent. I had book the job of a Circus Ringleader voice. Nice. Then he told me it was for Cher’s new concert tour. Cool! Then he told me the coolest part. Cher wanted to talk to me and give me personal instruction! WOW! He said they’d be calling me in about an hour and putting me on the phone with Cher. I rushed home and got the studio set up to record. But when I returned I saw that Roxy had marked the carpet again! I’m not sure why she’s doing that, and I don’t know how to break her of it. I e-mailed Carol Riggins, the lady from whom I got Roxy, to ask for help. As I was cleaning up the spot, and prepping the studio to record, Pete dropped by to get his finished Batman figure. Cher’s assistant called and e-mailed me the script. I looked them over and in about 20 minutes Cher called and gave me notes on how she wanted it recorded. TOO COOL! I told her I fully understood and she said, “Alright honey, thanks!” I recorded the bits and e-mailed them over to her assistant right away. I took a dip in the Jacuzzi then grabbed a nap. I must’ve been bushed, because I slept for FOUR hours! That’s rare for one of my naps. As I’ve explained before, I sleep 8 hours every day, but I can’t sleep all 8 hours at one time. My mind gets buzzing and I wake up after four or five hours. So I get five here, and another 2 or 3 there. When I got up I noticed that Roxy had marked the carpet AGAIN while I slept! Is it an anger thing? Is she mad at me? I know it’s not a urinary issue, because when I put her in an area without carpet she doesn’t do it. I think she’s mad that I had the carpets cleaned and removed all of the scents she liked. So I put plastic down all over the living room and she’s now confined to the living room. Carol wants me to pen her up in the garage when I’m not home, but that seems extreme. But it may come to that if Roxy doesn’t learn soon. I finished some work around the house then hit the hay to be up for an early audition on Thursday.

Thursday the 20th – AMERICAN HOT WAX! – When I got up at 10:30 I noticed that Roxy hadn’t marked the plastic in the living room. So it’s definitely not a health issue. She only does it on the carpet. I redid an audition for my agent and sent it in. Then I walked Roxy before leaving for leaving for my audition. I got over to Voicecasters in Burbank at 12:30, auditioned at 1pm, then stopped by Guns Direct to buy some .32 caliber ammo for my Walther PP. I bought it awhile ago, but since no gun ranges carry .32, I haven’t been able to try it out. So I’m bringing my own ammo next time. I stopped at Taco Bell to grab some quick lunch then headed home to meet up with Electric Bob to do some work in the Puppet Room. We also did prep work for my new office floor. I worked on a few last-minute auditions, then took some time to clear off my desk. I drove over to Mr. Stitch to drop off the Tony Clifton bowling shirts. They needed to have names embroidered on the front over the pocket. I grabbed a snack at McDonald’s then headed home. I fed Roxy and Spook, worked on my computer for a bit, and then went outside to relax in the Jacuzzi and watch the stars come out one by one. I came back inside to grab a quick nap. Edi and her dog Bunny came by for a visit, but Bunny had hurt her back and was in pain. So they didn’t stay long. I did my auditions and fed Roxy. So far, there hasn’t been any marking on the plastic. But I can’t keep my living room lined in plastic the rest of my life, so I have to figure out a way to break Roxy of her new marking habit. I noticed that a candle I have in my bedroom was missing a piece of glass toward the bottom of the container. I’m glad I discovered it now, because once the candle burned down far enough, the hot wax would have leaked out all over my dresser! But the candle was only about ¼ burned. There was still a lot of good candle left! I remembered keeping the glass container from a previous candle that had depleted. Trying to remember what I learned in candle-making class in shop, back in Junior High School, I heated up some hot water in a pan and put the candle in it. But I blew it. The candle wax mixed with the water and turned into a real mess. Once the candle was completely melted, I took out the wick and put it in the other glass container. I poured the hot wax in carefully while holding the wick vertical. But the wick wanted to lean to the side as soon as I let go. So I took a piece of wire and supported the wick vertically until the wax started to set up. What a pain in the wax this was turning out to be! I should have just thrown it away. But hey, I was learning a new skill through trial and error! Wax was getting everywhere in my kitchen…the stove, my sink, myself, everywhere! But I think I finally had it figured out. I cleaned up the area as best I could and took Roxy for our late night stroll through the neighborhood. I came back inside and did a little work, and when I was finished I noticed that the candle was looking pretty good! I took it upstairs, lit it and enjoyed another episode of “Search” with some pizza rolls.

Friday the 21st – THE CLEANOUT! – When I got up at noon I took Roxy out for a walk. I got a call from my old pal Julie Newmar on my cell phone. She asked me if I had any samples of an electronic chair I could show her. I said I didn’t have any samples of any such thing. She said, “Why not? Don’t you sell them?” I started to realize that maybe she dialed the wrong number. I said, “Julie, this is Wally Wingert.” She said, ”OH! I was calling Windsor Electronics!” I guess Windsor and Wingert were right next to each other on her speed dial, so the mistake was fairly common. But it was good to catch up with her and see what she was up to. I went inside to get ready for the maids who were coming at 1. I picked up the plastic sheeting from the living room and organized a few more things. While the maids worked, I continued working on my new Voice-Over demos. They will be the first new demos I’ve done in over 10 years. I’ve already completed my Videogame demo, and now I’m trying to complete my Commercial Announce and Commercial Character demos. I would get an edit finished, and then send them over to my agents for notes. They would respond, and I would rearrange a few of the elements and send it back to them. You definitely want to have your agents on board with your demos. If they don’t feel confident about them they won’t send them around to producers. So it’s very important to have their input from the get-go. That took all afternoon. I did some more work around the house then grabbed a nap. I got up later and was craving a hamburger. So I picked up Sara and we went to Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake for a late dinner. When I got home I set about the considerable task of tearing apart my office so the new hard wood could be laid on Saturday. The carpet that we pull up from that area will be used as donor carpet for a patch being done elsewhere in my house. A section of my carpet has completely worn down to the mesh in a heavy traffic section in my house. So this was the best solution. But I needed to move my drawing table to the side, my file cabinet, and completely clear off my computer table so the computer could be disassembled and moved. Under my computer table I had hundreds of CDs that had piled up. So I sat cross-legged on the floor and organized them into types for storage in my garage. Some were photo discs, some were audio discs, and some were video discs. And a ton of empty CD cases! I boxed everything up, moved them into the Chaney Room for temporary storage, and moved my desk and file cabinet. I took everything off my computer table and boxed that up too! How did I manage to accumulate so much crap? I was as ready as I could be for Saturday’s big project. Since I was tired and had to be up early, I didn’t watch any DVDs. Plus, I don’t want to burn through “Search” too quickly, as I’m enjoying the heck out of it!

Saturday the 22nd – PLANET WALLY-WOOD! – My contractor Terry and his son Brian arrived around noon. Though Terry’s unable to do much work with his broken ankle, he wanted to come by and supervise the laying of the new hard wood floor in my office. Brian is a computer expert, so I wanted him here to help disassemble the computer, and reassemble it when the flooring was laid. As Brian and I took everything apart and cleaned like crazy (some areas hadn’t been cleaned in about 14 years!) Electric Bob showed up to begin laying the hard wood laminate. The computer area was totally cleared out, and now it was Bob’s turn. So while he worked we went to DuPar’s to grab lunch. When we came back he was almost finished. He laid the final panels and we started putting everything back together again. When we reassembled the computer station it ended up being a lot more streamlined, efficient and pleasing to the eye. Much improved! But my Sound Forge program (the program I use to record my voice-over auditions on) wasn’t working properly. So Brian got on the computer and did a few things and got it working again. Whew! We worked almost non-stop from noon to 6, but it was totally worth it! I had donor carpet for the patch, and new wood flooring in my office area! I took a dip in the Jacuzzi, and then we started movie night. We watched “Saving Mr. Banks” on Blu Ray, and it was fabulous! Edi brought Bunny over to stay through Tuesday while she was out of town. Bunny loves staying here and is right at home. Bunny’s very much a pack animal, and loves hanging out with Roxy and Spook. It turned into a very LOOOOOONG day. When my guests left, I did some work around the house, cleaned up a little, and put the plastic back on the living room floor. During the movie, Roxy was confined to the second level because she was getting in everybody’s faces and trying to eat their food. I discovered another “mark” on my second level carpet. I chastised her for it and she knew she did wrong. But later she made ANOTHER one right next to it. I just don’t know what’s eating that dog, but I’m hoping Carol can come over this week to work with her and try to find out what her problem is. I can’t have plastic all over my house, and I can’t rip out all the carpet in favor of hard wood, because it wouldn’t be good for recording. The hard wood would give my recordings too much of a “roomy” sound. The carpet helps to baffle the sound. Was Roxy mad that I confined her to the second level? I’ll figure it out next week. Shaun the carpet guy is coming on Monday to do the patch, so we should be good to go. I made another awesome salad and even though I was pretty tired, I didn’t want to miss my usual Saturday Night Saint and Salad night. So I watched an episode of “The Saint,” then retired. I had been up almost 20 hours straight by the time I went to sleep!

Sunday the 23rd – AT WEEK’S END! – I was passed out until about 2, and then got up to walk Roxy and Bunny. I came back inside and laid down with Spook on the bed to keep me company. I got up just in time to take Roxy to evening church, which is always fun. Then we walked back home. I called up Sara to have her meet me at Panera for dinner, and then follow me to the Ford dealer so I could drop my car off for early-bird service on Monday morning. She dropped me back home and I grabbed a nap in the Puppet Room. When I woke up I did a ton of auditions, did some work around the house, and called it a night. All in all a VERY productive week!

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

One of my favorite pics of my cat Spooky. He loves to watch TV!

The pattern on my Tin Man bust is complete! Now, my contractor Terry will take apart this cardboard and paper pattern and translate it all to thin copper sheeting. He’ll assemble it and it’ll be painted by my effects guy Jim Ojala.