November 14 – 20 (2016) – Wally On The Web

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I’ve been undergoing a major scanning project that requires me to remove all of my old pictures from the 70’s and 80’s from their decaying albums, scan them, and then put them in new albums. It’s been a huge job, but it’s a lot of fun. This pic of me as Li’l Abner from 1979 made me laugh. We did the musical in Sioux Falls, South Dakota back then at the Community Playhouse. Good memories!

While totally enjoying “The Monkees” on Blu Ray, a lot of their great music is coming back into my consciousness. This song in particular has been buzzing in my brain recently. It’s called “She” and it’s one of their best.

Monday the 14th – SUPER MOON! – I sprang awake at 2 and headed downstairs to check my e-mails. I had a few last-minute auditions to record and send to my agents, and then I sped off to Paty’s to meet my old pal Ken Dennis for lunch. Ken was the Supervising Producer on the first three seasons of “Family Guy” and I’ve known him ever since. We like to get together periodically and chat. I picked up the mail at my mailbox and one of the packages contained two new CDs I had ordered; the “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” soundtrack, and the reissue of the 1966 “Batman” feature film soundtrack. Neat! I got some ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on the way home. I stood outside by my car eating my ice cream and watched the most amazing sunset. This time of year is great, even though it’s odd to have the sun setting at 4:30 in the afternoon. I got back home and worked on Wally’s Week. I was a bit sleepy so I took a nap, and then got up to feed and walk Roxy. During our late-night stroll through the complex I kept looking at the Super Moon that all the media had said was on display. But it didn’t look any bigger or brighter than a normal full moon. Maybe Los Angeles isn’t the best vantage point. I finished up Wally’s Week and then heated up some left over lasagna and watched a few more episodes of “The Monkees” on Blu Ray before bed.

Tuesday the 15th – 3-D TV! – My A/V guy Mark Ackerman came over at 2 to finish setting up the 3-D viewing station in The Puppet Room. I recently bought a very good used 3-D Samsung Smart TV so I could watch “The Wizard of Oz” in 3-D. I’ve had a Samsung portable 3-D Blu Ray player for a long time, and Mark got it integrated into the system nicely. But since it’s older, I think I’ll have Mark pick up a new 3-D Blu Ray player and have that installed. While Mark worked I did bookkeeping and answered some e-mails. When he finished I called my assistant Sara and we went over to Lancers for dinner. Since it was Tuesday, and Tuesday is the day of the week they serve their delicious beef barley soup, we enjoyed soup and a hot beef sandwich. Yum! I got back home and took a short nap, and then got up for my nightly auditions. I fed the pets and walked Roxy, and then came back inside to do some more bookkeeping. I also went through and reconciled all my bank statements, logged and calculated all of my business receipts, and finished up a few odds and ends. Then I hit the hay so I could be up early for an audition in Hollywood at 10am.

Wednesday the 16th – WILD, WILD WEDNESDAY! – The trusty ol’ alarm got me up at 8:30 and I got showered and ready for my drive into Hollywood. I was scheduled for a 10am on-camera audition at a casting service. But the role I’d be playing was a Voice-Over guy, but on-camera. I studied the script on the drive over, but traffic on one of the streets I needed to take was down to single lane, and traffic through Hollywood is always rotten at that time of the day. So I ended up not getting there until 10:15. But they understood, and they said they always enjoy having me in to audition. I did the copy three different ways. Since it was a Voice-Over guy reading a standard disclaimer, they had me read it with a super happy tone, an over the top “infomercial” vibe, and the straight, emotionless and standard disclaimer read. It was a blast. I needed to be at Regenix around 1:30, so I figured I’d go back home for an hour or so and come back over the hill to Beverly Hills. But after seeing the traffic I had just endured, I felt it best to call Sara to have her walk Roxy at 2:00, and I would just stay in the Hollywood and Beverly Hills area and kill time until my appointment. I figured I’d go over to Best Buy and shop around for a little while. Then I killed some time shopping at Target. But it was only 11:15. I had a whole 2 hours to kill! I was hungry so I went to Wendy’s and got some food. Then I knew that going to International Silks and Woolens would be a good way to kill some time. Plus I needed to find some better buttons for my Batman bowling shirts. Not only did I find great buttons, but I also found some “Star Trek” fabric that I bought for two new bowling shirts. Shopping at ISW was good for killing another hour and a half! But I still was about 45 minutes too early for my Regenix appointment at 1:30. So I drove over to Whipp’d L.A. and got myself a Dole Whip (yes, they have it!) with pineapple and coconut shavings. DEELICOIUS! I got to Regenix about 1:15 and sat in the waiting room finishing up my Dole Whip. Gregg at Regenix examined my scalp, I picked up some more supplies, and then drove about six blocks to my next audition at 2:30. It was for the voice of a super-hero and a pirate for an animated TV commercial. After that I was ready to head home and relax! What a day! I checked my e-mails and spent some quality time in the Jacuzzi. I took a brief nap and then got up to record my nightly auditions. I made some food and watched some more “Monkees” episodes before bed. Whew! Crazy day!

Thursday the 17th – WINTER’S HERE???! – Just shortly after 1 my pal Edi came over so we could go to lunch. She was in town from Palm Springs to get a haircut. She had her dog Bunny along with her, so we walked our dogs over to Studio Café to have lunch outside. It was a gorgeous, sunshine-filled day. Sara even drove over to join us. But as we sat there chatting away, we noticed it was getting colder. Sure enough, the sun had begun to set. When that sun goes down, the temp really drops! So we hustled back to my house before it got much colder. When I got home I set about doing some work, while Edi got packed up to head back to Palm Springs. I grabbed a short nap on the couch, but needed an extra blanket! BRRRR! I got up later to do my auditions, feed Roxy and walk her through the complex. With all of her hair Roxy had a great time on our walk. But I was freezing. I got back inside, made some hot tomato soup and a sandwich, turned on the electric blanket to HIGH, and watched a few more “Monkees” episodes!

Friday the 18th – BACK ON NBC! – The week ended on a VERY interesting note! First off, I got up at noon to let my maids in. But at 1 I got a phone call from a production company so we could do a “phone patch” Voice-Over job. It only took about 20 minutes because there wasn’t a lot of copy to read, but it was for the role of the announcer in the upcoming NBC special “Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade 90th Anniversary,” which will air Wednesday night at 8! It’ll be cool to have my voice back on good ol’ NBC after all these years. And in primetime too! The maids had to stop cleaning for the 15 minutes it took me to finish the job, but when we finished they were able to go about their work. Pete from Speedy Air Conditioning came by to check my heater for the winter season. I learned (the hard way) last August that I should have my heating and air conditioning system checked twice a year preventatively. The deal is, you pay one fee and the company will come service you twice a year; in the fall and in the spring. He went on the roof and checked the unit and it was all working very well! Good to know with the cold nights imminent! I spent a few hours writing a piece for my website about the passing of my friend Fred Westbrook. I wanted to spend some time with it to make sure I expressed myself in the exact, precise way I had intended. My on-camera commercial agent called to tell me about a call-back audition I had for Monday. Apparently the on-camera audition I did on Wednesday was fairly well received, and now they wanted me to come back on Monday to be directed by the producers. But when they watched my video audition for the first commercial, they thought I might be right for another commercial that I hadn’t originally auditioned for. They want me to come in and do TWO on-camera commercial auditions. WHAT?!! The character in the second spot is a self-important Voice-Over artist who must endure a rigorous and unprofessional Voice-Over session, with lots of direction and copy changes. (Been there, done that!) They sent me the copy and it’s a very funny spot. I really hope I book it! After I hung up with my agent, I made a few calls and then headed to my mailbox to get my packages. I grabbed my “adopted grandma” Shirley before I left so we could get a sandwich at Jersey Mikes. Then we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few grocery items. I dropped Shirley at home, helped her unload her groceries, and then headed home to put away my own grocery booty. I did a little work around the house and then grabbed a nap. I got up around 2am and drove over to Denny’s to get some food to go. Then I got back home and fed and walked Roxy. I did a little more work around the house, got ready to watch “The Monkees” and eat my Denny’s food, and then headed to bed. It was another REALLY cold night!

Saturday the 19th – C-C-C-CONTINUED C-C-C-COLD! – Did I mention that summer was officially over? Yikes! It’s nice to long for those crisp fall nights when you’re sweltering in the summer heat, but once those cold nights arrive, you quickly change your mind! I spent all day scanning old photos in my impromptu scanning station that I set up in my kitchen. It sure is a hoot to revisit a lot of these old pictures. They sure bring back some memories! I finished with all of my old 70’s and 80’s photo albums, and now I’m in to more recent photos that were “orphaned;” meaning they hadn’t been placed in a photo album yet. Once I get all the photos scanned and in the computer, I’m going to mount every one of them in brand new photo albums that take up less space. Late afternoon I stopped scanning and got the house set up for movie night. We’d be showing the 25th anniversary Blu Ray of “Beauty and the Beast.” It’s always fun seeing that film. Shirley had never seen it before and she loved it. At the end of the evening I took Shirley back to her house, but she was having trouble walking. I think that sitting there in a chair for so long wasn’t good for her legs, and at future movie nights we’ll have to make sure to get her up and walking every couple of hours. I came home and took a short nap, and then got up to clean the house up, organize my photos, and then I made my traditional Saturday night Super Salad and watched another episode of the old BBC show “The New Avengers.” Just as I was heading to bed shortly after dawn Sunday morning I heard some noise on the roof outside. I thought my little squirrel Bucky had come looking for nuts, but when I went to the window I realized…IT WAS RAINING! NICE!

Sunday the 20th – SLEPT LIKE A BABY! – There’s nothing like rain to help you sleep like a baby. In fact, I slept so long I was late for evening church! By the time I got up at 5pm it was coming down pretty good. I decided not to walk Roxy over since it was too wet out. Nobody likes sitting at church smelling wet dog. It was a great service, and afterwards all I wanted to do was to go to DuPars and get my traditional rainy day food; chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese sandwich and fries, and a side of ham. Normally when it rains, I like to get a table by the big window at DuPars so I can watch it rain on the street while I eat. But when I got there that section was closed. Strike One. Then I noticed a sign that said CASH ONLY. Really? Cash only? Who carries cash anymore? So that was strike two. I wasn’t willing to wait for the third strike, so I called my dinner friends and waved them off from DuPars and told them to head to Jerry’s Famous Deli instead. I had a nice dinner with some friends from church, but Shirley wasn’t with us. She was eating dinner with her daughter and son-in-law at the Smokehouse. But they called during our dinner to say that Shirley had choked on some food and they were rushing her to the hospital! I made them promise to keep me apprised of her situation. I got home and set up a nice cozy nest on the couch to nap. I knew that the rain was going to get heaviest around 10pm, so I was ready for it. I had a beautiful nap on the couch while listening to it rain outside. I brought up my little space heater to keep it warm in the living room. Since the front door was open so I could hear the rain, it also made it very cold in the living room. But the space heater did a nice job keeping it toasty! I didn’t actually get up until 3am! I quickly did my nightly auditions, fed Roxy and took her on an abbreviated walk, since it was pouring out. I did a little work and then hit the hay so I could be up early the next day for my double callback audition.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

This is my homemade Elliot Lurie Looking Glass shirt. I made the graphic from their first album, and created his name out of pieces of the lettering in the Looking Glass logo. No easy task, but I think it turned out pretty well! Elliot and his wife Edi are looking for new ideas for merchandise to sell when he’s on the road playing.

HeartBEAST? For the screening of “Beauty and the Beast” during movie night, I put my classic Beast mask on Andy Kaufman’s “Heartbeeps” mannequin.

While combing through my piles of photos, I found the very first picture I ever received from writing “Starsky & Hutch” a fan letter back in 1975! This picture is 42 years old!! Now I need to get Paul and David to sign it!