RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
When I saw this cartoon, I got a very “Christoween” vibe from it. Hilarious!
At the risk of seeming redundant, here’s another Jeff Lynne’s ELO song for this week’s “What’s Wally Humming.” While his original work with the Electric Light Orchestra is legendary, I also enjoy his most recent two albums, “Alone in the Universe” and “From Out of Nowhere.” I love this song called “Ain’t It a Drag,” and I’m thinking what a great song it would have been for The Traveling Wilburys!
Monday the 20th – CREATIVE START! – My pal and pro puppet builder Steve Troop dropped by to hand off the new foam head for The Count he had constructed. I hadn’t been happy with the one I built, so I called in the pros. Through a lot of trial and error he was able to come up with the perfect “trapezoid” shape I needed for the head. This was his last chance to meet before he headed out of town for the Thanksgiving weekend. And I also got to meet his dog Tilly! I worked around the house the rest of the day, and painted the Count’s eyepieces white. Later that evening I got busy finishing the eyepieces by punching out two pupils, and cutting the fleece pieces for his eyelids. Then I glued everything together and let them set overnight to cure. I took my WOG (walk/jog) and spent some time relaxing outside in the anti-grav chair.
Tuesday the 21st – NO SUCH THING AS A COINCIDENCE! – My friend Tuesday was in town and we were supposed to have lunch, but she had to cancel at the last minute. I still had a ton of things to get done, so I started about the day. I stopped by the sign place to pick up my custom Planet Wallywood logo sign. Then I swung by my box to pick up my packages. I stopped by Paty’s for lunch, as I’m trying really hard to keep up with my “salad a day” regimen in preparation for the upcoming TV shot for ME-TV’s “Collector’s Call” show. But since I was such a good boy and had a salad, I couldn’t resist stopping by Baskin-Robbins for a little ice cream. I stopped at the grocery store to dump two jars of coins in the Coinstar machine. It was almost $200 worth! I went to CVS to get a prescription, and the line at the pharmacy counter was pretty long. While I waited I looked over and noticed a guy who walked in that looked very familiar. I instantly recognized him as the lead singer of the band The War On Drugs; a band whom we had just seen two weeks earlier in Chula Vista, CA at the Vets’ Aid concert. I told him we really enjoyed their show and we chatted for a while. I told him it was ironic that I would meet the lead singer of The War On Drugs…at a drugstore! I texted my friend Scott in South Dakota to tell him who I had met and where, and his response was, “Is he there to start a war?” By the time I finished at the counter and turned around, he had left already. I guess he didn’t want to wait in that long line. Either that or he didn’t like my joke. When I went into the grocery store to pick up a few food items I ran into my old pal Tony O, who used to manage Frank Sinatra and Don Rickles! My pal Officer Mark and I were just talking about him on the way back from San Diego last week! Mark said he’d love to meet that guy and hear stories. I originally met Tony O during my time at “The Tonight Show” and for some strange reason I no longer had his number in my phone. So Tony and I agreed to get lunch someday and I could hear a bunch of his fabulous stories! I’m hoping it’ll happen on a day when Officer Mark can join us. What a wild day! I got home to unload the groceries and relax. I noticed that the Planet Wallywood sign had been mounted on something called “coroplast.” It’s a rigid piece of plastic that’s mostly hollow, and made up of tiny little “channels” running down the length of the board. This gave me an idea. I wanted to hang the sign in a certain place, and the channels would provide the perfect infrastructure to do that. I made little “T’s” out of armature wire, tied monofilament into the base of each “T,” and then snaked the monofilament up through two of the channels of the board. The sign is 2 feet high and 2 feet wide, so I found two channels that were equidistant so the sign would hang level. Then I screwed two metal eyes into the underside of the wood overhang which is at the top of my CD rack. I measured everything out perfectly so the sign would “float” a few inches in front of the rack. Then I tied the monofilament to the metal eyes, made sure the sign was level with a contractor’s level, and got off the ladder to have a look. The little upside down “T’s” supported the bottom of the sign nicely, and it looked pretty sweet! I’m not sure why I hadn’t done this sooner. A lot of the changes I’m making to my living room for the ME-TV shoot will most likely become permanent additions to my display, as I’m liking them quite a bit. I took my nightly WOG and spent a little bit of time cooling off and meditating in the anti-grav chair outside.
Wednesday the 22nd – ROYALTY VISITS! – When I got up I did a few last-minute things around the house, and about mid-afternoon I welcomed the legendary Sid Krofft and his assistant Kelly to Planet Wallywood. This coming Sunday I’m going to be the guest on Sid’s Instagram Live show, and he wanted to come by and check out the collection before the show. I had originally met Sid at October’s Son of Monsterpalooza when I moderated his panel. We became instant friends, as I’ve been an admirer of his work for a long time. As I was giving them the tour Sid said, “Your house is like living in a dream!” That was probably one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said about my setup in Planet Wallywood. We couldn’t believe we had been hanging out for two hours, but time flies when you’re having fun with a television legend! We sat and chatted for a while and discussed this Sunday’s show. After Sid and Kelly left I headed over to KFC to get some food, and then over to Alex In Wonderland’s shop to check out the cartoon standees I’m having her make. These have been almost two years in the making, and they’re turning out great. I asked Alex to “front burner” them so I’d have them in time for the ME-TV show. She still has some painting and sanding to do, but they are looking marvelous. When I was a kid, a local live TV show called “Captain 11” showed cartoons after school. He always had a live audience of kids, and if it was your birthday he would let you flick one of the switches on his monstrous control panel full of lights, buttons, dials, knobs and switches. He also had enormous cutouts hanging on his studio wall of some of the cartoon stars he featured on his show. Being a lifelong Popeye fan, I was amazed at the giant Popeye cutout on his wall. He also had Yogi Bear, Augie Doggie and Doggy Daddy, Huckleberry Hound, and Mr. Magoo! I asked Alex to create replicas of two of those pieces for my house – Popeye and Magoo. Even though the color of Mr. Magoo’s coat is olive green, the cutout on the “Captain 11” set had a yellow coat. I’m betting the graphics guy at the TV station did this to make it “pop” on camera, as the dark green may have been too dull for the old TV cameras and TV sets of the day. Earlier in the day, Sid looked around at my collection, and then looked at me and said, “You’re from another planet, aren’t you?” I patted him on the shoulder and told him this story. When I was 4 years old I was on the “Captain 11” show for my birthday. The Captain asked us to raise our hands if we were visiting from out of town. I raised my hand – which was odd since I lived right in the same town where the TV station was located. I could feel mom bristling. When the Captain brought his microphone around he asked me, “Where are you from?” I replied, “Outer space.” According to my mom some of the other moms in the audience chuckled, but the Captain didn’t seem fazed at all. He just moved on. But I’m sure my own mom did a face palm at my awkward television debut. I was too young to remember this story, but my mom takes great delight in retelling it from time to time. So I told Sid, “Yes. As a matter of fact, I most likely AM from outer space.” The foam rubber head for The Count that I received from Steve Troop needed a few minor tweaks before he was ready for covering. Alex masterfully added a few wedges of foam here and there to plump them up to perfect symmetry. (I can be picky, sometimes – so I hear) Later I took my nightly WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. This night I spent extra time in my meditation time being very thankful and grateful for everything in my life – considering it was Thanksgiving Eve. When I came inside I sat down at my table and made an armature hand for my Cookie Monster replica Muppet. Some puppets have hands that are manipulated with rods, while others have “glove” hands where the puppeteer puts his own hands inside the puppet’s hands. The “live hands” Muppets include Ernie, Oscar, Cookie Monster, Fozzie Bear, Beaker, etc. When one puppeteer works a “live hands” puppet, their right hand works the mouth, while their left hand works the puppet’s left hand. This leaves the puppet’s right hand empty and limp. Sometimes I’ll fill them with Poly-fil, a pillow-stuffing material. But Steve suggested I make armature hands for them. This is done by taking some armature wire, making a “skeleton hand” by bending the wire to shape, and gluing the wire mechanism between two pieces of ½” foam rubber. After that sets, the edges of the foam rubber are glued and “pinched” together to make a nice, smooth, tapered edge. Since I have five “live hands” puppets in my collection (Cookie Monster, Oscar, Beautiful Day, Rowlf and The Count) I need to make 5 armature hands. I made my first one tonight and it turned out great. I put it inside Cookie Monster’s right hand, and now he can hold a cookie!
Thursday the 23rd – THANKSGIVING! – Every year, when we gather our “family of friends” together for a Thanksgiving feast, I bring along some index cards and pens. It’s a tradition I’ve been doing for about 20 years. At the end of the Thanksgiving dinner, I ask each person to write down one thing they’re thankful for. It doesn’t have to be the most important thing, or even the least important thing. Just some random thing they’re thankful for. So I packed up my pens and index cards, along with Cookie Monster and some Big Bird slippers I had bought for my friend Scott Sebring’s wife Vickie when I was at “Sesame Place” in San Diego. I hopped in the Gray Ghost and headed to the Smoke House. Most of our group was already there, and Vickie got her Big Bird feet. She loved them and, come to find out, they will most likely figure into a specific costume she’s been working on for a while! It took quite a while to get our table, but it was worth the wait. It was an amazing experience as always! At the end of the meal, for our group photo, I took out that furry food connoisseur himself Cookie Monster! Anytime I bring out a Muppet replica I can feel a lot of eyes drawing their attention to it. Those puppets are so iconic that people can’t help but stare. I forgot that I was wearing my Sesame Street hoodie too! A guy at a nearby table asked if I could shoot a quick video with his wife, and I gladly accommodated them. Then I did a little improvised video at the front desk with one of the girls on the staff who does a great impression of Elmo. I told her she needed to get an Elmo puppet and start puppeteering! Another great Thanksgiving evening was in the history books! When I got home I made another armature hand, this time for Oscar. Now he can grip the edge of his trash can firmly while he sits on display in my living room. But unlike Cookie Monster, who has five fingers, Oscar only has four fingers. These are working out great, and I love making them! I did my nightly WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. Despite the cooler weather, it’s not bad out at all!
Friday the 24th – SLACK FRIDAY! – When I got up I waited for the maids to arrive and did a little work. When the maids finished I started on my errands. First I stopped by the vet’s office to get some more cat fud, and then I went to the hardware store to pick up a few items I needed for repairs around the house. I hit my box to get my packages, and one of them was my new levitating moon lamp! A 3D printed plastic moon lights up and levitates over the base using reverse magnetism. It’s really cool! I got another salad at Paty’s and enjoyed some patio time. Then I got back home and worked around the house. Later I took my nightly WOG and spent a little time in the anti-grav chair. It was gorgeous, because a mostly-full moon was just beginning to set in the western horizon. I came inside and took my weekly blood pressure reading and it was astonishingly wonderful! The exercising and improved diet is really making a difference! I made another four-finger armature hand; this time for Beautiful Day. As I worked in my kitchen, I always have to have the window open because of the strong smell from the Barge glue. It requires very good ventilation when using that glue. I noticed that the moon was getting very low on the horizon, and I got to watch it set. Goodnight, moon. I’ll see you tomorrow. It was a stunning sight! I made a salad and watched an episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” before bed. Boris was actually IN this episode as a character, in addition to hosting it! He was quite the treasure!
Saturday the 25th – SAD FOR SID! – It was time once again to get a touch-up on my color, so I walked to my stylist’s for my appointment. When I got home I got a voicemail from Mark Evanier that Marty Krofft had passed away. Marty was half of the Sid & Marty Krofft production empire that spawned a lot of great shows from my childhood. Sid and I were just talking about Marty when Sid was at my house on Wednesday. I was lucky enough to have met Marty several months ago at his production office. Under these circumstances, both I and Sid’s assistant Kelly felt it best to postpone my appearance on Sid’s Sunday show. How very, very sad. My heart was breaking for Sid, as Marty was Sid’s kid brother. I worked around the house and relaxed. Later I took my WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. I spent hours and hours at my kitchen table creating the pattern for my new Count’s nose and ears. I also made another armature hand; this time for Rowlf the Dog. I cut the Count’s ears out of foam and glued and pinched their edges. Then I cut the pieces for the Count’s nose out of a material called L200, and glued it all together. The nose for the first Count I made was much too wide, but this second try was much better. I spent so much time working in my kitchen, it was NOON on Sunday before I made my Saturday Night Super Saint Salad and slipped off to bed to watch an episode of “The Saint” and eat my dinner. Since I now had no reason to be up on Sunday, I figured I’d just get some rest.
Sunday the 26th – SLEEPATHON! – It sure felt good to sleep all day! I woke up around 8:30 and fed Spook. I saw that I had a text from Alex in Wonderland that the cartoon cutouts of Popeye and Magoo were all finished, and the backing stands had been attached! Wonderful! I headed back to bed to sleep some more. Spook woke me up at 3am, my usual WOG time, but I figured I could take a night off, and went back to sleep. When I woke up Monday morning at 7am I figured I had slept enough and got busy starting a brand new week!
And how was YOUR week?!?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Everything’s coming together nicely for Count 2.0.
The ears are added…
…the nose is added…
…and let’s add the eyes just to get the entire picture!
The new fleece is in and we’re ready to go!
This new sign is…ahem…very well hung.
Popeye and Magoo are ready to visit Planet Wallywood!
Vickie gets her Big Bird slippers and loves them!
Cookie Monster had a great Thanksgiving too, though there were no pumpkin cookies.
Here’s the whole gang from this year’s Thanksgiving feast, from left to right, Bob, Cookie, Aliza, me, Emily, Scott, Sara, Vickie, Blake and Kevin. FUN!
The levitating moon lamp is really cool, once you master placement with the reverse magnetism thing.
When I talk about the Tranquility Zone, I occasionally get messages from people asking more about it. So here it is – all set up with things that make me joyous, relaxed and happy.
