March 21 – March 27 (2011) – Wally On The Web

This song is by Chris Gaines. It’s called “Lost In You.” Don’t know the name Chris Gaines? OK, how about Garth Brooks? Yup. It’s him singing in a totally different style as his alter ego Chris Gaines. I happened to really love this album, but because it didn’t sound like Garth Brooks people didn’t understand what he was doing. I guess you have to be an Andy Kaufman fan to understand the charm of having an alter ego. This song came on my i-Pod as I was enjoying a very special moment with “the girl with the whimsical star.”

Monday the 21st – VIRUS IN THE SYSTEM! – It’s my daughter Lacey’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Lacey! Today my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and two nieces from South Dakota were at Disney’s California Adventure. The weather was only slightly better than the previous day, but at least they were able to stay a little drier. They reported that everyone was having a great time. I took off to do my announcing part in “The Tonight Show,” and then headed home after the show. Later in the day my effects guy Jim Ojala came over to show me the paint job he did on my Phantom of the Opera mannequin, and it was stellar! The detail he put into it was amazing. I remembered seeing a story on the web earlier in the day about the Texas man who had a face transplant. I got on my computer and found a news site that had the story and the video. But at the end of the story, all of my internet windows shut down and a huge error message came up from Windows XP saying that I had a virus!!! OH NO! I was unable to get on the internet, because this pop-up kept coming up. Being the suspicious type, I immediately called my pal and computer expert webmaster Scott Sebring. He told me about a specific type of virus that’s out there that masquerades as an official Windows error message. Glad I didn’t click on it. And these pop-ups would NOT stop! I thought I had virus protection, but upon closer inspection I realized that when I renewed my virus program, there was some file that didn’t get installed. YIKES! So I’m on the phone with the folks at Make It Work, and since it was after hours I left a panicked message. So much for doing my auditions that night and e-mailing them into my agent. So the rest of the night was a total loss. I spent several hours on the phone with Scott trying to figure it out. Once I installed the missing virus protection files, I ran a scan. Obviously it was too late to erase the virus I already had. Ugh. Technology.

Tuesday the 22nd – NEW CARTOON! – I got a call from Make It Work and they could come over at 9:30am to work on my computer. But I was due to be at a studio to do some new interstitial cartoons from 9-1. So I called my assistant Sara and had her come over and wait for them. She kept in touch with me via text during the morning to let me know their progress. Occasionally during a break, I could call the technician and answer questions he had about my system. After several hours (and hundreds of dollars) he got the virus extricated from my system. So…lesson learned. I didn’t have time to get home since the session went long, so I headed over to “TTS” for the day’s taping. I’ll tell you more about the animation project I worked on when I can, but we did 10 3-minute specials that hopefully will turn into a full series. It’s not being computer animated, it will be done with claymation. When I left the producers told me they’d call me about coming to the set to watch the animation process. That would be FUN! I’m keenly interested in that whole process so it would be fun to observe. My family was coming back to the Hollywood area tonight so they can watch part of the “Scooby Doo” recording session on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, I got an e-mail from Frank Welker later in the day saying that he was sick and wouldn’t be at the session. My nieces were anxious to meet him, but I was more concerned with his health. Since not having a voice as a voice-over artist (or LEGEND, in Frank’s case) is not good news. But Collette the voice director said that Grey and Mindy (who voice Daphne and Velma respectively) would be there. So my nieces would be able to meet them! That will be GREAT!

Wednesday the 23rd – SCOOBY-LICIOUS AND A COMEDY QUEEN! – I met my family early in the morning and they followed me over to the studio where they would be doing the “Scooby Doo” session. Grey DeLisle and Mindy Cohn were wonderful and talked to my nieces and signed posters for them. Voice Director Collette Sunderman let them sit in the studio with the actresses as they were doing their recording. It’s something that very few kids get to see! After the session we went to the Coral Cafe and had some breakfast. Then they were on their way to San Diego to go to Sea World. I went to my chiropractor and got adjusted, then I headed over to “TTS.” I called my Ear Nose and Throat doctor and told him my sinus infection was not getting better, and actually felt like it was going into my right ear! He put me on some stronger anti-biotics which I was to pick up later. On the show that day was the legendary Carol Burnett who looks fabulous and is still amazing. When she walked out on stage to receive her standing ovation, she tugged her ear in her trademark fashion. That was awesome! As I was driving to the drug store to get my prescription, it started raining again. I met my pal Edi at Paty’s for dinner, and then we went to my house for a bit. I got home and walked Sassie but after doing #1 she ran inside. I thought it was because of the rain. But as soon as she got inside she started #2. Why didn’t she do it outside when she had the chance? She’s seen rain before. UGH! Another thing to deal with. And the day was going so well!

Thursday the 24th – 20 HOUR DAY #1 – I was up early and headed to Media City Studios in Studio City to do a commercial for Russel financial. I went next door after the session and got a muffin at Jerry’s Famous Deli. I headed to Voice Trax West to start another day of the IVR stuff. During the long sessions I get hungry and sometimes my stomach growls ruins takes. So I’ve started taking food to the sessions so I can nibble between takes. But thankfully it was a short day. I had some time to go get some groceries, and hit the craft store to pick up some paints to paint the Phantom mask in my new display. Then I went home before “TTS.” After the taping I was walking down the hallway and Jay was right behind me. I told him my folks were coming the next day and he said, “Great! Let’s get a picture!” What a swell guy! I came home to meet my pal Jim again. He had rigged the right hand of the Phantom mannequin to hold the mask. I figured since his paint job on the face was so amazing, why hide it with a mask? The hand was already positioned to look like it was holding something, so why not? Jim had put a few little tabs in the inside of the hand to hold it in place. It looks terrific! Later that night my friends Georgette and Amanda came over and met me for dinner at Panera, along with my assistant Sara. Chuck McCann even came by to say hello. It was great! I got a text from my sister that they had spent the day at Sea World and had a blast! By the time I went to bed I realized that I had been up 20 hours!! i was exhausted!

Friday the 25th – 20 HOUR DAY #2! – I got a call early in the morning from my agent that “TTS” needed me to cut a short bit in my home studio and e-mail it over right away. I went into the IVR session and thankfully, it was again short. Today was the day my family was coming to “TTS” so it was great to have a little extra time between sessions. I met up with my family and Sara at DuPar’s for lunch. I had them follow me over to NBC for the taping, and got them checked in. They enjoyed the taping immensely. Afterwards I took them to the green room to meet Jay. We got a great shot of the family with Jay, but my sister also noticed that Nascar driver Michael Waltrip was there, so she got a shot with him as well! What a great day! That night we had a delicious dinner at Barone’s! At the end of the night I was so tired I didn’t feel sleepy, if that makes any sense. So I decided to work on my Phantom mask. I needed to glue the wire to the inside of the mask by the ear and by the forehead. (That’s how the masks are held on the actor’s head.) There’s a craft glue that’s a lot like Super Glue, and a liquid accelerator called Zip Kicker that you spray on the glue to make it harden in about 2 seconds. It had been awhile since I had done a Phantom mask, so the procedures I used to use were kind of hazy in my memory. I placed the wire on the mask in the position I wanted, and hit it with the glue. A little bit got on my thumb, but without thinking I sprayed the Zip Kicker on the mask. The overspray got on my fingers! Both of my thumbs had this chunky glue on them. And worst of all, when the chemical process occurs, it heats up. So my thumbs were also REALLY hot! I tore my thumbs off the mask as fast as I could, but there was glue all over them. I tried to get the glue off with fingernail polish remover but it was very stubborn. I tried sandpaper and sanded the hardened glue off as best as I could. Then I tried scrubbing the remnants off with fingernail polish remover. It was tough! Note to self…next time get my thumbs out of the way of the glue!! By the time I showered and headed to bed, the glue had mostly come off. But again I was exhausted. And again I realized that I had just put in another 20 hour day! WHEW!

Saturday the 26th- AAAAAAHHHHH SLEEP! – I slept in till early afternoon. I think my family enjoyed sleeping in as well. I met up with them at DuPar’s shortly after I got up, and then took my dad and brother-in-law over to Bodie’s shop in Sun Valley. They got to see my other Gran Torino, as well as many of the other cars Bodie was working on in his shop. They had a great time. I met up with Sara and Scott and Vickie Sebring up there as well. They had been doing a photo shoot that morning and were in the area. Then we headed to my house and got ready for movie night. That night we watched “Frequency” and “The Music Man,” both on Blu Ray. GREAT movies! Later in the night my friends Joe and Zandra drove down from Santa Barbara to watch “Music Man” with us.

Sunday the 27th – TH-TH-TH-THATS ALL FOLKS! – I slept in again while my family went to the Griffith Park Observatory. I was up in time to win some Gran Tornio parts on eBay, including a vintage steering wheel I wanted to put on Torino 2. I got ready for church and met the family there. After church I sped home to meet up with my hair guy Sergio Lopez. I think I need to have some thin strands of hair put on my Phantom mannequin, since it seems to be missing the texture of actual hair. So Sergio looked it over and said he could do it in about a week. We all went over to the Smokehouse for steaks and had a delicious dinner. It was the night before the family went back home, and they seemed tired and ready to go home. It looked like they had a great time. At the Smokehouse I ran into a guy named Mike Starr. He was in “Ed Wood” and I told him how much I enjoyed him in the film. He was very gracious and thanked me. We ended up talking for quite awhile. What a great guy! We got back home, I bid my family a safe trip home, and wound up the week.

And how was YOUR week??!!!

Pics from the Week

My brother-in-law Roger, my sister Bonnie, and my mom and dad meet my boss.

My pal Bob had a birthday last Friday and has always joked about a fictitious TV show featuring several of his favorite actors named Robert. He called it “The Bob Squad.” Robert Conrad, Robert Wagner, Robert Culp and Robert Vaughn. So for a gag birthday gift, my pal Scott Sebring and I put together a “Bob Squad” t-shirt. It turned out so cool that I actually wish there was a show like this!