RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
My sister Bonnie’s birthday is only a few days after mine, and on her Facebook page she posted this shot of herself as a little girl during one of our visits to Grandma’s house in Mitchell, South Dakota. Ahhhh the good old days!
The haunting riff of William Orbit’s “Swim” has been on my mind all week. LOVE this groove!
Monday the 4th – MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU! – It was around 11am when I finally got to bed. Dosing Roxy with her medicines for her pancreatitis was screwing up my already screwed up schedule. But it had to be done. I got up around 4 in the afternoon, did some auditions, gave Roxy some meds and a snack, and then sat down to write Wally’s Week. I grabbed a dip in the Jacuzzi and then laid down for a brief nap on the most comfortable couch in the world. When I got up I recorded my daily auditions and sent them into my agents. I also set up my kitchen like a photo studio and started photographing some vintage toys to adorn a prop lunchbox for a new webseries I’m working on. (More on that later) The photos and the layout both turned out great. This is fun! I printed the layout on my printer and mounted it on one side of the lunchbox to give the printer an idea of how I wanted them mounted, once I take the files to Fast Signs and have the artwork printed out on colorful vinyl stickers. I made myself a huge salad and watched another episode of “The Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray.
Tuesday the 5th – LUNCHBOX LUNACY! – When I got up at 2 I walked Roxy and gave her some meds. It was a nice, cool and cloudy day so I decided I would go for a bike ride and do some errands. I picked up some more vitamins and supplements at my local vitamin store, and then I biked down to Jersey Mike’s to get a sandwich. As usual, I got a giant so I could enjoy some at lunch, and then save some for later during my nightly TV viewing. When I got back home I worked on some more artwork layouts for my lunchbox. I did an interview with a gal named Jackie at 98.1 The Fan, a podcast that features people in the entertainment world. It was a fun time. When we finished up I continued working on my lunchbox artwork. I had completed one side, which had an action figure theme. But now I had to complete the artwork for the edge, as well as the other side of the lunchbox and the thermos inside. It involved taking toys out of my showcases and posing them in a certain way and snapping some shots. Then I download them into my computer, pick the “money shot” and add the text and graphics. I found a great feature on my photo program called “Time Machine,” which ages the photos to resemble the look of photos of a specific time. I chose the 60’s setting, which bumps up the contrast quite a bit and adds a frame around it that makes it look like it was taken on old fashioned film. Neat! If you’re doing a show about vintage toys, and decorating a lunchbox with photos of those toys, it should look vintage itself! I laid out some more artwork and then grabbed a nap on the couch. I got up for my auditions and worked some more on the lunchbox. The thermos will have a “Funny Face” theme; the classic 60’s drink mix that I loved as a kid. That is, until I found out it was loaded with cyclamates; an artificial sweetener that was known to cause cancer. Yup, cyclamates was pretty much the death knell for Funny Face drink mix. Kook-Aid and all its sugar had the last laugh. I did a little more work around the house and then got the remainder of my Jersey Mike’s sandwich ready and watched another episode of “The Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray. But when I finished up I started working on the computer again to finish the lunchbox art. As morning began breaking, some last-minute, urgent auditions came into my inbox. So I recorded those and sent them in. By the time I got to bed it was NOON on Wednesday!
Wednesday the 6th – WHEN I’M 54! – I can’t believe I made it to 54 years on this planet. But since it was my birthday on this day, I guess that means I’m this close to retirement age. HA! I ended up sleeping until 4 (since I had just gotten to bed at noon it was a measly four hours) and when I got up there were several more last-minute auditions to do. I dosed Roxy up some of her meds, and then got ready for my buddy Jim Ojala’s birthday party. Yup, Jim’s birthday is on May 6th too! No wonder we get along so well! Jim is the Special Effects genius who has created a lot of the amazing displays in Planet Wallywood. I met my assistant Sara at the party and we had some dinner and enjoyed meeting Jim’s friends. When I got home I met up with my pal Brittney who came by for a bit with my birthday gift. I grabbed a nap and then got up to do auditions. I sent out my invites for this Saturday’s movie night and then hit the hay. A pretty sedate birthday all in all, but the real festivities happen this Friday when I gather up my friends for dinner and a movie!
Thursday the 7th – PIPE-EYE! – Shortly after noon I arose to do some work on my computer. Then I headed off to an audition in Burbank for a videogame under the direction of my pal Keythe Farley! It’s always fun with Keythe! Then I met Sara for lunch at Paty’s, picked up the mail at my mailbox and headed off to Fast Signs to proof the new Planet Wallywood signage. In my mail, I received my replacement boots. I had ordered some Midnight Purple suede Beatle boots from a company in the U.K., but when they arrived they were way too small! I returned them and had them replace the pair with the next biggest size. The boots were still tight, but I think they’ll do. The two proof signs Fast Signs had made up were nice, but the darker blue shade was definitely my preference. It popped so much better! I went to Kit Kraft to find a wood dowel that I needed to make a pipe for my vintage talking Popeye puppet. When these toys were released originally in 1964 they came with a bubble pipe in Popeye’s mouth. Kids could remove the pipe and blow bubbles with it, but they rarely made it back into Popeye’s mouth when they were put into storage. So the pipes are very rare. When I got my puppet last week I was bound and determined to find a suitable replacement for his missing pipe. I mean, what’s Popeye without his pipe? The opening in his mouth would accommodate a ¼” dowel. I had some mini corncob pipes on order from eBay, but I spotted some size 14 corks. Those looked a little bit like corn cobs. So with the dowel and the corks I headed home to start making his pipe. FUN! I also sat down at my computer and created the rest of the artwork for the darker blue signage I needed Fast Signs to print. I headed over to Jerry’s Famous Deli to have dinner with my pal Toby, and then came back home to finish the signage. The forecast called for rain for the next day and a half, and around 9 it started to rain. GREAT! I grabbed my towel and swimming suit and headed for the Jacuzzi. One of my favorite things is to sit in the hot Jacuzzi and feel the cool raindrops on my head. But disappointingly, it only rained for about 10 minutes and stopped. No more rain. I often wonder if these weather guys really know what they’re doing, or if they’re just making this stuff up. And I was really looking forward to hearing it rain all night, but no dice. I grabbed a nap and then got up to do my auditions. I received an e-mail with a link to a new interview I participated in for a podcast called “To The Batpoles.” If you’d like to listen to it you can hear it here… https://tothebatpoles.libsyn.com/004-wally-wingerts-wild-wild-west-wonderfulness . I made some hot chili and watched another episode of “Twilight Zone.” Though it wasn’t raining, it sure was a cold night!
Friday the 8th – AVENGERS (AND FRIENDS) ASSEMBLE! – By the time I got up around 2 it was too late to get Roxy to the groomer’s. I had some errands to do, but they would have to wait for another day. I wanted to get this signage stuff finished and get the files to Fast Signs, but I didn’t get them completed in time. I was hosting a dinner for my friends to celebrate my birthday that evening at Barone’s, so I had to hurry and get ready. We had a full crew of 15 people for, what was now becoming, my traditional birthday feed at Barone’s Italian Restaurant. What a great time! Then we all went over to the Sherman Oaks Arclight Theatres and saw the new Avengers film. Afterwards we headed to DuPar’s to get some pie and discuss the film. I got home around 2am and started to do some more work on the computer. By the time I finished up with all that stuff, heated up my leftover Barone’s pizza and watched “Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray, it was 11am Saturday morning!
Saturday the 9th – LOVIN’ THE LAW! DODGE LAW! – At 3pm I rousted myself out of bed and greeted the nice, cool day. I had a bunch of errands to do so I got started. I got some groceries, and then got the Mustang gassed up at a local 76 station. A guy pulled up in a beautiful new Dodge Charger…all black! GORGEOUS! I couldn’t resist so I started asking him questions about how he likes the car. He absolutely loves it. And he should know, because he’s a stunt driver. He introduced himself as Christopher and we started talking cars…Mustangs, Challengers, Chargers, even Gran Torinos! We started taking about the new Dodge Law commercials and he LOVES them! I got home and cleaned up for movie night. My pal James from Warner Brothers said that he pitched the San Diego Comic Con on a panel about me and my Voice-Over work and they accepted it! James and my buddy Officer Mark will both moderate the panel on Saturday July 11 at 6pm. If you’ll be at Comic Con, come by! I was shocked that the panel got accepted, but this will be very cool! We watched the movie “Unbroken” and it was nothing short of amazing. What a story! What a guy Louis Zamperini was! I stayed up the rest of the night editing music, and making more cork pipes for Popeye puppets in case I meet other owners of “pipe-less” Popeyes who need them. I made a huge salad and watched a few episodes of “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” before bed.
Sunday the 10th – ROXY’S 7! – Roxy woke me up around 3, even though I had just gotten to sleep around 11am and wanted to catch up on some sleep. But since it was her 7th birthday I figured it was OK. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and Roxy spent some quality time on the lawn sunbathing. I went inside to call my Mom for Mother’s Day, and then I went to my neighbor’s house to walk their dog Abby the greyhound. They had gone to Disneyland for Mother’s Day and I said I would walk and feed Abby dinner. Roxy and I walked over to evening church, and after the service I saw a friend of mine drinking from a water bottle with a custom label. I thought it was really cool, and got an idea. WALLY WATER! Apparently there are companies who will put your custom label on bottled water, and you hand them out as promotional items. AWESOME! So I rushed home to start designing the label for WONDERFUL WALLY WATER; a personal vocal lubricant! I crashed on the couch around 11pm and got up around 2am to feed Roxy. I was still a bit tired so I laid back down on the couch some more. My wacky sleep schedule throughout Roxy’s illness was finally catching up to me I think. I woke up around 4anm and worked on my auditions until 5:30am. I made some spaghetti and watched “Twilight Zone” on Blu Ray and then settled down to get some more sleep.
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
It’s that time of year again for another birthday dinner gathering at Barone’s Italian Restaurant! YUM!
Seated to my left is my pal and fellow V.O. Artist Secunda Wood.
Good friends Scott, Bob and Teri await their order
The lovely Jasmine seems delighted by her dinner.
That darn paparazzi is everywhere!
Jasmine and I debate about who’s picking up the check
My pal Brian gifted me with an appearance by my favorite 007!
Hey Bond! Get your own spaghetti!
I saw this cool painting once that featured this long haired guy at a table with a bunch of people, and he had this light behind his head. So I figured I’d copy that.
Josh, Sara and Vickie are pleasantly stuffed with good Italian food!
My pal Mark (who also took these photos) gave me a cool, custom-made Wally Lego figure!
Dinner’s done and it’s off to see “Avengers: Age of Ultron!”
After the movie we engage in laughs and “nerd talk” over pie at DuPar’s!
Through the courtesy of my pal Mark Fullerton and his trusty camera, here’s a quick video recap of another amazing birthday dinner at Barone’s!
Whatta ya do when your vintage Popeye puppet needs a pipe? You make one out of a wood dowel and a cork!
With some paint and a little carving with an Exacto knife, it doesn’t look half bad!!
