RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
This past week it was reported that the guy who stole a pair of the famous Ruby Slippers used in “The Wizard of Oz” from a museum had been arrested.
But after seeing the mugshot, this “guy” looked VERY familiar! His name was Rick Ed Rich DeWest.
As I did my speed walk on a sunny, gorgeous afternoon, Joe Walsh’s “Life of Illusion” came up on my phone. Indeed, sometimes I believe I AM living a life of illusion.
Monday the 15th – VISITING AN OLD FRIEND AGAIN! – Since I was hungry, I drove through the Taco Bell drive-thru to get some lunch. Then I headed over to Foam Mart so one of their associates could measure the head of my Grover puppet for the construction of his knight’s helmet to make him Super Grover. But he didn’t measure the actual circumference of his head where the helmet would sit, he simply put a ruler up against his head to get a measurement and he said it would give him the measurement he needed to make up some samples. But in my building experience I didn’t think this would work out very well. But I didn’t want to second guess his process. I hit the cleaners to pick up some dry cleaning, and then I hit my mailbox to get my packages. I headed over to the Warner Brothers studios to work on a video game for a few hours. It was nice getting to voice one of my favorite characters which I consider to be an old friend. Always fun! Speaking of old friends, my pal James in Post Production Services was in his office so I visited him for a bit as well. I headed home and was a bit tired, so I grabbed a short nap. When I got up later I did my nightly auditions and typed out Wally’s Week.
Tuesday the 16th – SNIP SNIP SNIP BY SERGIO! – Just before noon my old reliable pal Sergio came by to give Grover’s head a quick trim. The fur we put on his head looked great, but it was still a bit shaggy. Sergio took excellent care of it and did the proper thinning and shaping that was needed. It was good to see him again, as I hadn’t seen Sergio in quite a long time. He worked for about an hour and a half and Grover looked perfect! Then I headed to Studiopolis to spend the next four hours working on a video game, once again, revisiting an old friend that I love voicing. My character in this upcoming game has TONS of material, so I will be coming back in for several more four-hour sessions over the next few months. After the long session was done I needed to relax, so I headed over to Paty’s to enjoy a salad on the patio. But as the sun started to set it started to get cold. (Isn’t it MID-MAY, for crying out loud?!) As I drove home I started to get tired. Since I had gotten up so early to meet with Sergio, I was working on a very long day. I got home and grabbed a short nap, and then got up later to do an audition and work around the house.
Wednesday the 17th – MORE VISITS WITH MORE OLD FRIENDS! – Since it was a gorgeous day I walked over to Voice Trax West to do a quick session for American Airlines. Hard to believe I’ve been working for airlines voicing their material for over 10 years! I hadn’t been to Voice Trax West in a very long time, and it was good to be back. Engineer Evan and I chatted for a bit to catch up, and the actual session was actually very short; only four short lines. On the way home I stopped by the grocery store to get some supplies, and then headed back to my house. My seamstress Maggie came over to spend the afternoon doing some more work on my Super Grover replica Muppet. She began her visit by apologizing that the birthday gift she had been working on for me was so overdue, but when she unveiled it, I was completely amazed! She had constructed a full-size puppet of the star character from my “Christoween Capers” story series, Donnie Druthers! It was perfect, and I was quite moved by the gesture. I could NOT believe it! It was beautiful! I thanked her profusely and I’m now planning on a very specific display space for him. Unbelievable! It was the first time the lead character from the Christoween series had been realized in a 3-D format. Amazing work! During the past week, in addition to finishing up the Donnie puppet, Maggie had worked on stitching up the arms and tummy piece for Grover. I like to give her homework whenever possible, because I think she likes working at home at her own pace. We patterned out the torso piece, cut it out of the fur, and stitched it together. I began to be concerned whether or not we would have enough of the custom-dyed fur left to complete the puppet. We need to cut VERY conservatively for the remaining pieces we need. Once the torso pieces were cut and pinned together, we pinned it on to the tummy, eyeballed it, and once we were satisfied, she stitched it onto the puppet. Then we pinned on the freshly-trimmed head, and it looked amazing! It was an amazing day of work, but we still have two more full days of work to go. I got ready to have dinner with two MORE old friends; my adopted big brother Rob Richards, and my adopted little brother Alex Zsolt. Rob is a world-renowned theatre organist whom I’ve known since I was 13 years old in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Alex is a world-renowned pianist who has a music ministry and has traveled all over the world. I introduced them several years ago, and now they perform shows together from time to time. Every time Alex visits L.A. for business we all try to meet up for a fun dinner. We met for some yummy food at the Smoke House, which is always fun. The last time I was in the restaurant the manager Christian asked if I was going to bring a puppet again. I asked him who he’d like to see, and his reply was “Oscar!” So this time I made sure to pack Oscar up in my carry-bag and take him with me. But when I arrived I was told that Christian no longer worked there. But as Alex, Rob and I sat there, we heard somebody singing “Happy Birthday” at the table next to us. There were about 15 people, including 3 young boys between the ages of 6 and 10. So, since I had Oscar in the bag who was itching to get out, I decided to bring him out. As I withdrew him from the bag and started unfolding him, the other people in the restaurant started watching. It’s amazing how these iconic puppets always grab everyone’s hearts so reflexively. I took Oscar over to the table and asked whose birthday it was. It was one of the boys. Oscar asked him if he was going to have a dirt pie for his birthday, topped with some mud and sand. Oscar chatted with a few of the other people at the table and wished the kid a “rotten” birthday. As I walked back to my table the birthday group actually applauded! It was amazing. I love being able to use these puppets to bring people joy; much in the same way that they bring ME such joy! I got back home with a tummy full of yummy food and took a short nap. Later I got up for an audition, and then I inventoried the remaining fur we have for Grover. As I sized everything out roughly, I came to the conclusion that we would probably be OK. We still had hands, legs and feet to cut out, but I think we’ll have enough. On the computer I sized and printed the Super Grover chest logo and made a template for when I cut the actual logo out of felt. I reconciled one of my bank accounts and then hit the hay.
Thursday the 18th – DYNAMIC DUMMIES! – When I checked my emails after I woke up, I found that I had an urgent, last-minute audition to record. After I recorded it and sent it to my agent, I sped off to my mailbox to pick up a very special package. Some mint-condition Laurel and Hardy ventriloquist dummies that I bought on eBay had arrived! They’re not that rare on eBay, but what IS rare, is a set in their original boxes, and WITH their original felt bowler hats. Usually, the hats get lost or crushed, and the boxes get thrown away. But these were amazing specimens of the original toys that looked hardly even used. Plus, the price was perfect! These will look GREAT in the Puppet Room! I went to Paty’s to meet with my pal Drew Massey for lunch. It’s always fun talking puppets and Voice Over with Drew, who has been very successful at both. We talked about the upcoming “Puppet Up!” shows that he’ll be involved in, and he teased some great upcoming upgrades to the show! I can’t wait! When I got home I put on my walking clothes and headed over to Michael’s crafts to pick up some supplies. I needed some yellow-gold felt for Super Grover’s chest logo, and some light blue paint. I didn’t find the felt I needed, but I grabbed a small bottle of blue paint. When I got to the checkout counter there wasn’t anybody there. There were only a few checkout kiosks for self-checkout, but it only accepted credit cards and ATM cards. The bottle of paint was only going to cost a little over a buck and I didn’t want to put that measly amount on my card. I preferred to pay cash, but nobody was around to take it. So I put the bottle down and walked out. Bizarre. Oh well, at least I got a good walk in. I walked back home to do some work. I grabbed a small nap, and later my pal Sara came over to do some work for me. I recorded a short session for a recurring client, and uploaded the files to the rep who handles the account. Then I recorded an audition. While I was looking at Grover I noticed that his tummy was looking a little too small. The Grover puppet from the era in which I’m duplicating has a round tummy that’s slightly larger than his head. So I needed to pad my Grover’s tummy just a bit to be in proper scale. I removed his foam rubber tummy piece and cut four pieces out of ¼” foam rubber, and attached them to the outside of his tummy piece. Once the extra pieces were permanently attached, I worked the tummy piece back into the fur covering. It looked GREAT! He’s really coming together nicely, and I can’t wait to unveil him at the upcoming Monsterpalooza in just a few weeks. I took a short nap, and then got up later to finish patterning out Grover’s hands, cape, and legs. Thankfully, it looks like I’ll have enough of the custom-dyed fur to get everything made, with some to spare. I unpacked the Laurel and Hardy dummies and did a little sewing on the straps on their overalls. Then I set them up in the Puppet Room. They look fantastic; super clean and nice! I made a huge salad and watched a few episodes of “The Lone Ranger,” followed by two episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” on the H&I channel before bed.
Friday the 19th – LOVELY LOGO! – The first stop of the day was Foam Mart, where I would be inspecting the templates they created for Super Grover’s knight’s helmet. I took the puppet in, but the two templates they made were way too small for his head. Given the way they took the measurements on Monday, I knew that it wouldn’t give them an accurate representation of his head contours, so I wasn’t all that surprised. They said they would remake the templates and I could see them next week. But with Monsterpalooza starting two weeks from today, I was running short of time and getting a bit nervous about this process. I needed to make a Plan B. I drove over to the local Wendy’s to get lunch, and then drove to Hobby Lobby to get some yellow-gold felt and light blue acrylic paint. I stopped by my box to get my packages and then headed home. I had fully intended to do my daily walk, but I had walked so hard the previous day my muscles were a bit sore and not having it. So I took a quick nap before meeting a friend for dinner at Ernie’s Taco House. After dinner I came home to work on Grover some more. I traced the logo on to the felt, inked the outline, painted the G with blue acrylic paint, and cut it out. It looked pretty sweet! I also cut a small metal piece to test the magnetic strength of the magnets that will hold the logo in place on the puppet. The small metal pieces on the back of the logo will attach to the puppet via small magnets sewn into the body of the puppet. I figured it would be a better way to attach it than using pins, or permanently stitching it to the puppet.
Saturday the 20th – PLAN B! – It was a gorgeous day, and I had toyed with the idea of biking over to Paty’s to meet up with my friend Gracie. But I haven’t been riding my bike much lately, and certainly not on long-distance trips. So until I can get out on my bike and build back my endurance, I decided to drive over instead and do one of my walks later. I definitely need to put in more bike time! It was a fun lunch with Gracie and we talked about her interests in acting, Voice Over and music. I thought that maybe she should get some music coaching from my pal Carmen Grillo, who’s a master guitarist, has a recording studio, and is a great coach. He could teach her a lot. I called him to ask if he was still coaching and he said he was, and he would love to meet Gracie. I also found out that he was doing a show in town THAT NIGHT with Frankie Valli! Carmen is Frankie’s lead guitarist. So I told Gracie if she wanted to see Carmen in action before meeting with him for possible coaching, she should try and get to the show that night. She got on her phone, got tickets and just like that, she was headed to the show! Amazing! I drove back home and put my walking clothes on for a brisk walk to CVS. I got a prescription and some supplies and then headed home. I was set to take some materials for Super Grover over to the Alex in Wonderland studios, but since they were still out on a shoot, I spent some downtime until they could meet. The delay gave me a chance to clean up and rest. Later I hit KFC for dinner, and then I hit Alex’s shop. I brought her the pattern and fabric for Super Grover’s red cape. Since the cape is made from a very thin material, it needs to be hemmed with a very specific setting on Alex’s machine. While I was there I started talking to her husband Mike about the problems I was having with the creation of Super Grover’s helmet. He said he could put it together in about a day, so we agreed on a price and told him to get started on it. Normally the Alex In Wonderland shop is buzzing with activity, but since the writer’s strike is on, no shows are currently in production and everything is pretty quiet. So the Alex in Wonderland crew can squeeze me in during this period of downtime. AWESOME! I also asked Mike’s advice on the piece for Grover’s wrist that would allow me to place and remove his arm rods. Normally I would seat the arm rods into the puppet’s wrist permanently, but because of the way I’m planning on displaying Super Grover this won’t be possible. I got home and grabbed a short nap, and then got up later to work through the night. I did an epoxy test to see if the metal pieces would adhere to the felt sufficiently. I had tried a glue named E6000 earlier, but it just peeled right off. I sketched out Grover’s hand pattern to make the wrist device. Later I tested the epoxy, and again, it just peeled right off. The next test was just standard Super Glue. I let it dry for a while and VOILA! It worked! I made a huge Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and watched an episode of “The Saint.”
Sunday the 21st – AN ATTRACTIVE PROBLEM! – The super-strong magnets I bought for Super Grover were good, but not great. A while back I had bought REALLY super-strong magnets at a local craft store, which is sadly now out of business. I decided to swap out these slightly-weaker magnets with the stronger magnets, which I had been using in various applications around the house. But dealing with many magnets can be troublesome. I got the weaker magnets successfully swapped out with the stronger magnets, but the strong magnets are SO strong, that when they get within a certain proximity of each other they SNAP together very hard and fast. If your finger is in the way…LOOK OUT! I knew this, and should have been conscious of this, but yet the pad of my right index finger became a victim of snapping magnets. OUCH! It pinched a nice blood blister into my finger and it bled like crazy! The strong magnets are quarter-sized, and about 8 of them all stacked up like a roll of quarters. Pulling two magnets apart is relatively easy if you slide them apart sideways, but pulling EIGHT magnets apart takes the strength of the Hulk! I had to find a video on YouTube about how to separate strong magnets, and it finally worked. But never again! I separated the magnets in a little plastic case that has nice divided compartments where each of the magnets will live until we can get them installed into the Super Grover puppet. Yikes! Since the Super Glue test went so well, with joining the felt with the metal pieces, I cut four metal pieces and prepped them. I found out the metal has a super-thin lamination on it, which could explain why none of the other glues worked. But I stripped the lamination off the pieces, and sanded them with large-grit sandpaper to rough up the metal surface. A rough surface on the metal will give the glue something to “bite” into when it’s glued to the fabric. I glued the pieces on the back of the Super Grover logo that will eventually correspond with the strategically-placed magnets. Other than that, it was a fairly lazy day. The first two days of next week will be super busy with long sessions, so I’m marshaling my energy as much as possible to be ready for them.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Here’s the amazing Donnie Druthers puppet made for me by Maggie Roberge for my birthday! Follow her work at wolfbunnycosplay on social media. Fantastic!
Also for my birthday, my pal Mr. Awesome gave me this totally cool Dracula figure, complete with a coffin! He looks great in my display case!
Here are the amazing Laurel and Hardy ventriloquist dummies I bought on eBay. Really nice!
Grover now has a body and arms! He’s coming together nicely!
But he seems distressed that he still has no hands!
Measuring the circumference of the head where his helmet will sit.
The cape and hand patterns are completed!
The felt logo is completed!
Here’s the magnetic system that I’ll be using to attach the logo to the chest without having to puncture the puppet with pins or tacks. I wanted to test it to see if the fur would obstruct the magnet-to-metal attachment, but it didn’t matter at all!
Though he’s just pinned together at this point, and this is a temporary nose (the final one will be a bit bigger) you can really get a sense for how Grover is going to end up. I’m VERY pleased with him so far!
Here’s some grouchy fun with a nice family at the Smoke House!
