March 21 – March 27 (2022) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

We all could use some puppy and kitty love!

Though the studio version of “Times Like These” by Foo Fighters is amazing, I discovered a real gem when I found the acoustic version. I’ve been singing it all week.

Monday the 21st – MOVE AHEAD: PART 1! – It’s a good thing I naturally woke up at 11:30, because when I checked my phone I had a text from my agent asking me to move my 2pm session up to 1pm. Luckily it would be no problem, so I hustled and got ready, drove to Weinerschnitzel to get some quick lunch, and made my session by 1. And we were finished for the day by 5. For the next four weeks I’m involved in dubbing the voice of the lead character in a foreign sitcom for a large streaming service. This job will require me to be in the studio five days a week, four hours a day until right around April 20th. They expect close to 100 hours of actual dubbing time. It’s the first “regular job” I’ve had since “The Tonight Show,” where I’ve had to be in a studio every week day. It’s been a bit of an adjustment from the freedom I had as a knock-about-town working Voice Actor, but this project is so fun the hours and the days are just flying by! I can’t wait until I’m allowed to tell you more about it, but this is all I can say about it at this point. On the way home I stopped by my mailbox and picked up a Laurel and Hardy black-and-white still I bought on eBay. It features them with two dogs (perfect!) and it will be framed along with the original Laurel and Hardy autographs I recently purchased as an early birthday gift to myself. I got home and fed the pets, and since the session was moved ahead an hour, I still had some good daylight to go for a walk. I took my Laurel and Hardy photo, along with a 1:1 copy of the Laurel and Hardy autograph page, and walked over to Michael’s to get the framing process started. I made a perfectly sized copy of the signature page for them to use as a “dummy” as they’re cutting the matte and assembling the frame. Then my instructions to them will be to call me on the day they’re going to assemble to frame permanently, and I will come over with the REAL signature page and nervously pace the store while they mount the actual autographs. It’s a lot better than leaving those valuable signatures laying around the store for the 3 weeks it takes them to assemble their components for the finished frame. As I started for home I decided to call Domino’s to order a pizza. Since I’d be walking right by their store I could just pick it up on my way home. But the number to the local store put me into some sort of weird centralized ordering center. I don’t really trust things like this, so I asked to be put over to the local store instead. The lady made the connection, the phone was picked up (I could hear activity in the background so I knew somebody was there) but nobody said anything. I hung up and called back, bypassing the centralized ordering service by pressing 2. But it just rang and rang and rang and rang. I walk so fast the likelihood existed that I would make it to the store before somebody ever picked up the phone. Sure enough, when I got to the store there was one lone guy. I asked him what was up with their phone system, but between the face mask he was wearing and his thick accent, all I got out of him was, “It’s my first day.” Great. One of the delivery guys showed up and it was my buddy Paul, who usually delivers my pizzas. He was frantic. Apparently the centralized ordering service showed that a pizza had been delivered BY HIM, that he never delivered. Then, the centralized ordering system had canceled an order that a lady had been anticipating for nearly two hours. She somehow managed to get through on the phone line and I could tell by Paul’s demeanor that she was yelling like crazy. They had no idea what happened to her order. She was on her way down to the store. Uh oh. I had placed my order with Mr. “First Day” and decided to wait there and haunt their halls until it was finished. The lady showed up and was NOT happy. She demanded her money back AND her order. But her order was never made, so she’d have to wait another hour to get it. They refunded her money, but she left very frustrated. I love Domino’s, but this could put me off ordering from them anymore, to be honest. I got my pizza and cinnamon twists and headed home. Roxy is at the age now where she has periods where she’s not that interested in eating. It makes me sad because I try to entice her with all sorts of yummy stuff (in addition to her regular food) like bread, cheese and chicken. I got home and ate my pizza, relaxed, and later I did my nightly auditions, submitted my story to the Domino’s corporate website, and wrote Wally’s Week.

Tuesday the 22nd – THEY’RE SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE – IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE! – The day started out with lunch on the patio at Paty’s, and then a banana split at Weinerschnitzel (they also have a Foster’s Freeze in their store). I headed over to Igloo studios to do another four hour dubbing job on the foreign sitcom, and during the session we got very close to finishing up the third episode. This means I would need to watch the subtitled version of the fourth episode later tonight in order to prep for Wednesday’s session. When I got home and started watching the fourth episode, it spoke to a certain faction of my personal interests. I can’t say more at this point, but suffice to say that once I can talk about this show, you’ll totally see what I mean! This episode was about stuff I’m really into! And it’s hysterical! I can’t wait to start working on this episode!

Wednesday the 23rd – WHEN ONE OPENS UP – ANOTHER FILLS! – My agent sent me an e-mail that I wouldn’t be needed on the foreign sitcom on Thursday due to a scheduling conflict the director had. So I told my agent that since I was scheduled for a 2 hour video game session on Saturday (the only time I had available to squeeze it into my busy schedule) perhaps we should see if they’d be willing to reschedule it to Thursday instead. They agreed, and my “day off” was very short-lived. I drove to Igloo in Burbank and did four hours of work on the foreign sitcom and had a lot of fun. I came home and took Roxy out, and there was a bit of a dog party out behind my house. It was great visiting with neighbors and petting all the doggies. Strange to think that, at one point in recent history, I doubted that times like these would ever occur again. Thank God we’re almost back to normal! Since the first weekend in April is coming up soon, I sat down and edited together a little intro video for my upcoming “Laurel and Hardy Theatre” presentation. Nobody will ever see these but me, but they make me laugh. I relaxed a bit, and later I walked Roxy on our late-night stroll through the neighborhood under a gorgeous half-moon. Since I didn’t have to be at the video game session until later Thursday afternoon, I made myself a delicious salad and watched a few episodes of “The Lone Ranger” before bed.

Thursday the 24th – THROAT THRASHER! – Once I arose I did a few auditions, and went out to enjoy the gorgeous, warm day! It wasn’t quite Palm Springs warm, but it was VERY pleasant – and very much a hint that summer is well on its way! I loved it! I drove to Jersey Mike’s to get a sandwich, drove over to a grocery store and ate some lunch in my car while I listened to tunes, and got a few grocery items. Just before 4pm I arrived at Rocket Sound in North Hollywood to do a two hour session on a video game. It was a sea creature voice (with a lot of growls and gurgles) and when I wrapped at 6 my throat was definitely feeling the strain. The character was tough on the pipes but the director is an old friend and he went easy on me; using my first takes on lines about 75% of the time. I came home to relax and rest my voice, and later I did some more auditions. It was nice that all of the auditions required my lower register, as the day’s session had left me with a rich, resonant baritone sound. I ate my leftover Jersey Mike’s sandwich, prepped for my Friday session, and planned out the weekend. I’m thinking I may grab my Gran Torino and drive that around for the weekend!

Friday the 25th – MOVE AHEAD: PART 2! – As I checked my e-mail to start the day my agent asked if I could start my session for the foreign sitcom an hour earlier. I agreed and got busy. I grabbed some food at Chik-Fil-A and sat in the parking lot of Igloo and dined before my session. After the session I drove to my auxiliary parking spot, swapped my Mustang for my Gran Torino, and drove home. Since I still had some daylight left I cleaned off my patio, fed the pets and relaxed a bit. Later I paid some bills, reconciled my receipts in my bank accounts, and did some accounting work. I recorded a few auditions, drove to Denny’s to get some food, and ate it while watching a few episodes of “The Lone Ranger” before bed.

Saturday the 26th – UNLICENSED LUCIOUSNESS! – The day was amazingly gorgeous, so I sat outside in the sunshine with Roxy for a little bit. I did a little bit of work, and then I drove the Torino over to Paty’s to have lunch with a good friend. This is the friend who lost their 23 year old son just after the first of the year, and I hadn’t seen them since then. We chatted a bit and got caught up. I picked up my mail at my box and got the hoodie I ordered from a foreign country. This country doesn’t care much about licensing, and they were selling several different prints of “Invader Zim” hoodies. One of the prints featured my Tallest Red character, so licensed or not, I bought it. After all, my “Zim” character isn’t on a lot of merch, so I have to grab it when it’s available. I drove to Al & Ed’s Auto Sound to have them try and ascertain why my iPod connector would work fine with my big iPod, but not my iPod mini. They ordered a different cable that they’ll install in the Torino that will work with the iPod mini as well. Since I was in the area, and rain was expected in the next day or two, I decided to put my Gran Torino back in the auxiliary parking. I don’t like to drive it around on rainy days, because people drive like maniacs and I don’t want them skidding and sliding into my Torino. I got my Mustang out again, and drove it over to the local Foster’s Freeze; an actual free-standing ice cream stand! I ordered a giant half and half ice cream cone (I call it a two-tone cone) of chocolate and vanilla soft serve! I ate it while driving home with my top down. Gorgeous! I had a ton of work to do around the house including vacuuming the carpets and doing laundry. I did some work, relaxed, and later I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched an episode of “The Saint.”

Sunday the 27th – AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! – It sure was nice to rest and relax all day. I did a small bit of work around the house, called a few friends to chat, and did a little prep for the new week. Rain is on the way and I’m looking forward to it!

And how was YOUR week?!!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

As I continue to sort my way through my photo files and catalog their contents, I found a few more gems.

Meeting Larry Hagman was awesome!

When you steal one of Barnabas Collins’ vampire girls, you get the cane!

This is from an old photo shoot I did a while back. Scary!

As I pulled my Gran Torino into its parking spot, I saw this beautiful old gal sitting close to it. I wish I had $20k to spruce this gal up to her former glory!