RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
This makes me laugh, HARD!
One of the songs the engineer kept playing so I could “reset” myself during the tough Voice Over sessions this past week was this gem…“Tube Snake Boogie” by ZZ Topp. LOVE IT!
Monday the 18th – TOUGH TALK! – It had rained all morning, so by the time I got up everything was nice and wet…and GREEN! I walked over to Voice Trax West for another session, but it was another tough one. For this particular session, I had to read 3 or 4 line paragraphs, and couldn’t make any mistakes. They had to be read all the way through perfectly, as cut-ins and edits weren’t possible. Luckily I had been given the script in advance so I could comb through it and make notes about where to pause, breathe, pronunciations, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be working during this time of uncertainty, but it was some of the hardest stuff I’ve ever had to do. It was a lot of medical terms, and sports names and facts; neither of which I’m very adept at. But after the session I walked home and ate the rest of the sandwich I got from Jerry’s Famous Deli the previous night. I did a little work and then took a nap with the heating pad on my tailbone (read the previous Wally’s Week to find out about that injury). It’s a little bit better, but still hurting. I’m anticipating it will be another few days before it’s completely healed and the pain will be gone. I got up later to do my auditions, type out Wally’s Week, and feed and walk Roxy. I made a pot pie and watched another episode of “The Invaders.” I love most things about the show (the best part is seeing the unending parade of my favorite 60’s character actors in the guest roles) but I really don’t like the lead character. I’m not sure if it’s a miscasting situation or what, but the lead actor has 0 charisma. Unlike Shatner, West, Connors, Glaser, or any of the other lead actors I’ve enjoyed in old TV shows, the lead actor just isn’t very engaging. Plus, he’s angry and brooding constantly, and doesn’t really show very much of a human soft side. I’m wondering if they told him to perform the character that way, or it was his own choice. I keep thinking to myself, “Why would anybody help this @$$hole?” I’m hoping he lightens up as the series goes on and shows more humanity. Otherwise, I’m going to start rooting for the aliens!
Tuesday the 19th – DAY OFF! – I slept all day in hopes of giving my tailbone, elbow and spine a rest. Between the tailbone injury, my chiropractic issue with my spinal column, and the injury to my elbow, I’m a real mess. This inactive lifestyle isn’t doing me any favors. I was much better off when I was living the active life! I got some work done in the afternoon around the house, and napped in the evening with a heating pad on my tailbone, and a cold pack on my elbow. When I got up later I did some script prep for my Wednesday session, and watched the replay of the Muppet Guys Talking webcast. I went to the garage and dug out my old pal the bicycle and got it’s tires pumped up. I think I may ride that over to Voice Trax West for the session instead of walking.
Wednesday the 20th – THE BIKE IS BACK! – The day started with a trip to see my chiropractor in Burbank Dr. C.! Then I slid by Paty’s to get one of my favorite salads to go, and then went home to do some auditions. I hopped on the bike and headed to Voice Trax West for my 3 hour session. I hadn’t been on the bike in a long time and it was nice to be “back in the saddle again!” All the script prep I did really helped move the session along smoothly. That, and the fact that I had the engineer stand by with a few awesome tunes, so when I needed a moment to clear my head and take a breather, he was quick on the button with snippets of great music. I got home later to relax, grabbed a shower and took a nap. Later I got up to do work, record auditions, and I got busy cleaning out a particular cabinet in The Tranquility Zone to prepare for the arrival of my new “Beautiful Day monster” Muppet replica. I moved several items out of it that I no longer needed and put them in storage. I moved my James Bond displays down a few levels, and cleaned the shelves and all the glass. It looked great, and the puppet will look great there when he arrives! I made some soup and a sandwich and watched more “Invaders.”
Thursday the 21st – CLEAN DOG! CLEAN CAR! – A few day ago the powers-that-be in L.A. decided to re-open dog grooming and car wash services in the city. I couldn’t wait, as Roxy was getting pretty mangy. I dropped her off at the groomer’s, then went to get some lunch at the drive-thru, then headed to the car wash to eat my lunch while they cleaned my Mustang. They apologized and said it would take longer than usual because they were short-staffed. Apparently their employees are making more money on unemployment than they would at work. But I had waited 2 months to get my car washed, so another half hour wasn’t going to kill me. The car looked great. I went home to do some work, walked to the groomer’s to get Roxy, and enjoy the gorgeous night with a clean dog and a clean car. I took a short nap, and then got up later to start doing research on my latest puppet project…Green Grover! You may not have known this, but when Grover started out on “Sesame Street” he was green. He previously had the name Gleep, which was given to him on an episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show.” But early into the “Sesame Street” episodes they changed his name to Grover. After a few seasons they made him blue. But I’ve become fascinated with the early Henson Muppets; Mahna Mahna, Beautiful Day, Gleep, etc. Since it looked like they made Gleep aka Green Grover out of lighter fur to begin with, and then lightly brushed a dark green stain of some sort over the topical surface of the fur, it gave his coat a really nice layered, dimensional look. I’ve been asking experts how that was done, and I’ve gotten anything from “it was airbrushed” to “it was brushed on with a toothbrush.” Knowing that the puppet was created in the mid-60’s on a budget, I’m going to go with the latter technique. But the craft store I got to is still closed, so I may have to buy the items over the phone and just take their word for it that it will give me the effect I’ll need. I started taking inventory of all the things I’ll need to make Gleep aka Green Grover. I was surprised to discover that I already had most everything I need in my workspace. I have foam rubber, glue, ABS plastic for the mouth plate, fabric for the mouth and lips, fleece for the nose piece, and Magic Sculpt to make the spoon-shaped eye pieces. I was about to order some light green fur on-line, to use as the base fur, when I realized I already had some of that downstairs in storage. Apparently in the early days of making my Oscar, I ordered some green fur thinking it was the stuff I needed. But it was a different texture and color than what I needed. So I just stored it. A full yard of it! So I went downstairs, dug it out, and added it to the collection of resources. All I really need now is a 2 inch long Styrofoam egg that I can use for the nose piece and the dark green coloring to “stain” the tips of the fur. My pal at Kit Kraft said it looked like they watered down some acrylic fabric paint and brushed it on with a toothbrush, or softer brush that is similar. I agreed, as the topical stain isn’t even or smooth like a factory dye job would have been. It has that very “after the fact” look. I’m guessing that maybe Gleep aka Green Grover was fabricated with the lighter fur, and he wasn’t reading well on camera. Or maybe his color was too close to Kermit’s. So Don Sahlin may have brushed on the darker stain to give his fur more depth for the advent of the ‘new’ color TV cameras. I have no evidence that this is true, but it’s my feeling that it may have been what happened. Either way, his look is really terrific. By the way, the original Gleep aka Green Grover is on display currently at the Smithsonian, and in the first few seasons of “Sesame Street,” after blue Grover had been introduced, they repurposed Gleep aka Green Grover as Grover’s mom in a few sketches. Put a silver wig on it, some glasses, and VOILA! Grover’s mom! Since “Beautiful Day” is at Alex in Wonderland’s getting the pattern for his fur created, I’m going to start on Gleep aka Green Grover so I can get her started on that one next.
Friday the 22nd – A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR BEAUTIFUL DAY! – Late in the afternoon I drove to Del Taco to get a burger and fries (yes, the best drive-thru burger in L.A. is at a Mexican chain restaurant!), and then drive over to see Alex at Alex in Wonderland. She showed me the muslin pattern for the “Beautiful Day monster’s” head covering and body. It looked fantastic, and the only change I made on the pattern was for “less neck.” He was looking a little too “necky,” which was my fault when I made the original cardboard design, but she pinned it up a few inches and he looked terrific! She is going to cut the pattern out of blue fur over the weekend, stitch his body and head covering together, and have it for me early next week. That way I can glue the head covering to the foam head piece, finish up the eyelids and eyebrows, and take him back to her to have the head and body stitched together. I’m VERY excited to get him, because as an early “Sesame Street” fan I’ve always liked that character! My sister Peggy and I always used to refer to him as “fish face” because of his big “fishy-looking” mouth. After seeing Alex I sped off to Dr. C’s to get another adjustment. The treatments had been helping, but he suggested I get a large exercise ball that I could lay over to relax my spine. I’m going to buy one on amazon soon, or if Big 5 opens soon, I’ll get one from my neighborhood store. I wanted to stop by Paty’s and pick up a baked potato and chicken noodle soup for my 93 year old ‘adopted grandma’ Shirley as a surprise, but they only had split pea that day. So I went to Shirley’s living establishment and dropped off 10 more movies for her to watch. I got to see her from a distance and say hi, but I hear that they may start letting visitors in pretty soon. That would be great! I got home and did some more research on Gleep aka Green Grover. I watched all the videos on YouTube and got screenshots of angles that I needed. There’s a great video of Jim Henson and Frank Oz talking about puppets, and Frank has Gleep aka Green Grover on his hand interacting with Jim, but I can’t seem to find it on-line anywhere. Somebody posted it on Twitter once, but I haven’t seen it since. I brought all the components I needed together in one spot and took inventory. The tough part is going to be staining the fur, but I’ll cut off a small portion of the fur fabric and do some tests. I’m a little worried because I’m running low on supplies; Barge glue, foam rubber, ABS plastic, etc. – and I only really have 1 yard of the light green base fur. So I have to be careful and conserve wisely. Normally I would just go to the stores and buy more stuff when I needed it. I cut his mouth out of the ABS plastic and started designing the foam rubber wedges to make his rounded head. I glued the pieces to the mouth plate, but after it all cured I realized that my design was way off. I tore it all apart to start again. I realized that I should have built the foam head FIRST and THEN glued it to the ABS mouth, because now I’ve ruined foam AND plastic. So during the redesign, I’m going to build the foam head to my liking, and when I’ve reached a level of satisfaction I’ll glue it to the new mouth plate. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. I made some hot dogs on the grill, watched “The Invaders,” and hit the hay about mid-Saturday morning. I had been working on the puppet all night with 0 usable results!
Saturday the 23rd – WALLY ON THE WEB(CAM)! – After having slept all day, I woke up in the early evening and chatted with my pal Mark Evanier. He’s been doing webcasts with Voice Actors, and he was elated to hear that I now had a webcam. Once he and I do a test run, I’m going to be joining him for one of his webinars soon! My good friends Joe and Zandra Pendleton drove down from the Santa Barbara area to join me for dinner at Bob’s Big Boy! Zandra and I have birthdays that are very close to one another, so we called it our ‘late birthday dinner.’ Joe also brought down a box he made for me out of wood that will serve as a riser for my Oscar the Grouch replica Muppet display. It looks delightfully old and yucky, even though like the trash can, it’s all brand new! He did a great job on it and it fits the area perfectly! After a delicious dinner we came back home and they headed back up north. I was thinking of taking a quick nap, but I got obsessed with re-designing Gleep aka Green Grover again. I will not be defeated! After reworking the pattern for the head wedges, I assembled them and they looked correct to me! I did the foam pieces first, and THEN attached them to the mouth plate. It looked fabulous and I was very happy. But something was still slightly amiss. I would think about it for a while. I fed and walked Roxy and then made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and went to bed to eat and watch another episode of “Space 1999,” the second season. Shows like this imbue the words “second season” with a modicum of dread. So far I haven’t really liked the second season. In fact, I’ve come to hate it quite badly. Horrible, cheesy scripts, and wandering storylines make me angry. I’m a completionist by nature, but I may end up walking away from this show halfway through the second season if they don’t improve. Unfortunately, just when I thought the episodes couldn’t get any worse, I happened across an embarrassingly bad episode about a galactic trader who wanted to kidnap one of the Alpha Base crew as a cure to his own loneliness. The guest actor was chewing the scenery so badly that it was difficult to understand what he was saying. The character actually made me mad, he was so annoying. Being vastly disinterested, I fell asleep toward the end of the episode, and when I woke up I didn’t really have any interest in replaying the part that I missed. I’m honestly thinking of retiring this show early from my Saturday night viewing schedule and going back to a cool show like “The Saint,” or something similar. I walked Roxy early Sunday morning before we turned in for good, and there was a large black crow that was extremely angry at us. He flew to the branches above Roxy while she did he business, and when we walked back to the house the crow flew overhead and followed us, cawing wildly all the time. It was so loud that some of my neighbors looked out their windows to see what was going on. I honestly thought it was going to be a scene from “The Birds” if we didn’t get out of there! I took Roxy back inside and shut the door. I wonder what that stupid thing’s problem was.
Sunday the 24th – 1/16 OF AN INCH IS SOMETIMES EVERYTHING! – The day was slept away once again, and when I got up early evening I had a good idea about how to adjust the Gleep aka Green Grover head more to my liking. I cut a small 2 inched slit in the seams between the wedges and removed a sliver of 1/16 of an inch. That did EXACTLY what I needed! It now had the curvature I liked! I got the pattern back out of my file cabinet, made the proper adjustments and glued the seams back together. It was looking MUCH better! I just needed to step away from it for a while. I did a podcast interview via Zoom for a few hours, and when it gets posted I’ll publish the link. I couldn’t wait to get back to the puppet and glue in the mouth fabric and his red fleece lips. Unlike the current Grover, whose lip is made from foam, Gleep aka Green Grover’s red lips were made from fabric. I finished it all up and he’s ready to be taken to Alex’s for covering! I had considered going to Denny’s to get some food, and I laid down on the couch at 2am with the intent to wake up at 3. But when I woke up it was 5am. I walked Roxy and then went back inside to do some work around the house. My evening plans were ruined once again by The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe. I spent the rest of the morning engaging in a Twitterstorm, schooling people on the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. Normally I like to watch the President lay the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but given the present circumstances I wasn’t really sure the ceremony was going to go ahead as planned. I eventually went to bed for good about mid-morning.
Monday the 25th – Memorial Day – Though I had considered leaving the house to get food and groceries I decided to delay my outing one more day. I made a pizza and did some things around the house, sketched out the body design for Gleep aka Green Grover so I could take it to Alex in Wonderland on Tuesday, and did a few more things before showering and napping. My tailbone issue was almost completely healed now, and the pain was gone. My elbow still flares up from time to time, but the chiropractic-related numbness in my left hand and foot were still there. Very annoying! I’ve just GOT to get that exercise ball and get on it for at least several periods of 10 minutes a day! I got up later and did a few auditions, and typed out Wally’s Week. Then I fed the pets, and made some food to watch another “Invaders” episode. I’m looking forward to journeying out of the house on Tuesday!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Oscar’s new box fits in nicely in the Planet Wallywood Theater décor!
For research purposes, I found these great shots of Gleep aka Green Grover to being my replication process.
Much higher and pointier than the current Grover’s head, I think my Gleep aka Green Grover is coming along nicely.
Can’t help but post some of the nice blooms that are happening around my house and neighborhood!
This past week, I posted a song on Twitter and Instagram that I had co-written a few years back with a friend of mine. I made a lyric video to go with it so you can enjoy our “girl power” break-up/revenge song for a modern age! Please enjoy “WTF (U.S.O.B.)” sung by Robin Roth!
