RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
When I was at Denny’s getting my food to go, this guy named Tony walked in with a gorgeous little kitty on his shoulder. Her name is Lea and she just hung out on his shoulder as he walked around. Gorgeous! I think he said she’s only about 11 weeks old.
I’m not exactly sure why I was humming “This Old Heart of Mine” by the Isley Brothers was on my mind all day Thanksgiving, but it’s one of the all-time great songs! Enjoy!
Monday the 23rd – BEAM ME UP! – It sure was nice sleeping in until 2:30! I did a little work around the house and then went over to Burbank to Plastic Depot to pick up a piece they had been working on for me. For my brand new Mr. Spock figure I needed a Transporter pad created. Kyle at Plastic Depot did a terrific job on it. He took a 24” in diameter piece of plexiglass that was 1” thick. On the bottom of the piece he etched in several concentric rings, like the original Transporter pad on the show. But as the rings got closer in to the middle, he made them a fraction of an inch shallower. On the edge of the piece it’s 1”, but by the time it gets to the middle it’s only ½” thick. It gives it a great “dome” effect, even though it’s totally flat on the top. I needed a piece of refracted plastic to put under the pad to simulate the look on the original show. Kyle cut a piece of refracted translucent plastic that would be used in an overhead lighting bay in the ceiling. He cut it so it would fit snugly into the inside of the first ring of the plexiglass piece. It made it more translucent, but you could still see the floor underneath. So I’m getting some glittery, silver mylar to put underneath. Once I put it all together it looked fabulous! I stopped at my mailbox to get my mail, and then I went home to continue working on the new Spock exhibit. It’s really coming together. I’m hoping to unveil it over Thanksgiving weekend, and I’ve been keeping it a secret all the while. Only five people knew I was doing it…Jim my effects guy, Sergio my hair guy, Kyle at Plastic Depot, Karyn my seamstress, and my pal Scott in Sioux Falls. As the day ended I did my auditions and did some work on the computer.
Tuesday the 24th – I’VE BEEN SAPPED! – My hair guy Sergio Lopez came over at noon to put the hair on my Mr. Spock figure. We started by going to Wilshire Wigs in North Hollywood and finding the absolute perfect wig. It was shiny black with bangs. It was a long haired wig, so it would give us lots of extra hair to make eyebrows and fill in the temple hairline. We got lunch and headed back to start working. While Sergio worked using 2 dozen photos of Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock as reference, I did some work on the computer. Then at 2 I went to Voice Trax West to do a quickie session for American Airlines. I stopped by the Post Office to drop off some mail and then headed home to check in with Sergio. It was all going well, but his steamer broke. Luckily I had a steamer of my own that he could use. I loaded up Roxy into my car and we drove to Fast Signs to pick up some signage. I parked my Mustang under a tree next to a parking meter. As I was standing inside the store looking outside waiting my turn, I noticed that the tree by my car was dripping all sorts of liquid. I asked the Fast Signs people if somebody just came by with a sprayer and watered the trees. They said, “No, that’s sap.” SAP!? Nice of them to tell me! What kind of idiot plants a tree that drips sap by a parking meter? Leave it to the morons on the L.A. planning committee. I ran out and moved my car to a treeless spot, but it was too late. It was covered in drops of sticky sap. I sped home and got some super-hot water and scrubbed it down. I got the sap off, but now my car had all sorts of water streaks and stains. And I just had it washed! Sergio continued working and I started working on the base, putting all the pieces together to support the mannequin once it was put together. I typed Wally’s Week and then grabbed a nap on the couch for a bit. I got up to do my auditions, then made some Buffalo Mac and watched “The Addams Family” on DVD. The episodes are getting better as they are getting out of the formula that enslaved them for the first handful of episodes. Just before I went to bed I was grappling with what type of boots to use on my Spock figure. I didn’t want to use my nice leather “Star Trek” boots because they fit me well and I would essentially have to destroy them to put them on the display. Either I would have had to put a 2” cut in the seam running up the back so I could put the support rod in through the boot and into the calf of the mannequin, or I would have had to drill a hole in the heel to use the support up through the mannequin’s foot. Neither sounded like a good idea. I really liked those boots! I also had another pair of boots that I bought at It’s a Wrap several years back that were made at DiFabrizio Boots, a legendary bootmaker in Hollywood. But the calves on those boots weren’t wide enough to accommodate the mannequin. I would have had to have them split up the back by a shoe repair guy, and have a piece of leather sewn in. That’s what they did with the boots I wear, because of my monster calves. I know there are cosplay boots out there that are made out of vinyl that look pretty good. But if I ordered a pair they would never be here in time to unveil the figure by Thanksgiving weekend. So I got curious. I tore through my Chaney Room closet and dug out every pair of boots I own. Several years ago It’s a Wrap had a ton of great high male boots in black leather, and I bought them all. I had boots that go up past my thigh, I have knee-high boots that are made of a stretch fabric that have KISS-like heels on them, I have a set of pirate boots, and I had a pair of vinyl boots that had an extra flap that go up over the knee. Hey! Those might work if I cut off the flap! BINGO! They were even large enough to fit on the mannequin! I e-mailed Jim and told him I would come by later and have him drill the hole in the heel so it would fit on the display. I asked if he could pick up a can of glossy black vinyl spray. It’s so weird! Here I had them all the time and I simply forgot I had them.
Wednesday the 25th – YOU BET YOUR BOOTS! – After about four hours of sleep I got up at 2 and stopped by KFC for lunch to go. I stopped by Fast Signs (and I didn’t park under the sap tree) to pick up a sign before they closed for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Then I stopped by Jim’s to approve the final Spock piece. He was looking good but I did have him make a few paint changes. He drilled the hole in the boots and I was good to go. He said he would stop by later with the finished painted figure, and the finished painted Transporter pad. He had to paint the silver outer rim on the pad to match the look of the original TV show. I went home and started moving stuff around in the Chaney Room to get the unveiling ready. I was very excited because this, because nobody knew I was doing it. The clean-up of Planet Wallywood also commenced because I was expecting a goodly amount of guests after Thanksgiving dinner. Jim came over very late with the Spock mannequin and it looked fabulous. I was going to wait and have my seamstress sew up the seam on the back of the boots to tailor them in to the mannequin’s legs. They were a little roomy. But I wanted that tailored-in look. But then I figured, what the heck! I’ll just get a big needle and some monofilament and sew them up myself! Which I did. I put them on the mannequin’s calves and marked off the excess on the back of the boot with a white grease pencil. Then I stitched up the back quite handily, and they fit perfectly! I really didn’t want to have to wait for my seamstress Karyn to get to them. I wanted them to be perfect for the unveiling. When the stitching was done I took them in the garage and sprayed them. The boots fit nice, but the dull black of the vinyl wasn’t the look I was going for. But once I gave them a quick overspray with the vinyl paint, they looked awesome! I did some final work on the Transporter pad assembling all the pieces, and it was perfect. I put the boots on the mannequin’s bottom half, put it on the peg on the Transporter pad by threading the peg up through his heel, and then put the torso on the bottom half and locked it up. Then I completed the assemblage and moved it into place. It looked amazing! My pal Edi was in town from Palm Springs for Thanksgiving and dropped her dog Bunny off with me so I could watch her for a few days. I went to Denny’s to get some dinner, and then stopped by a grocery store to get supplies. But they were already closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. I went to another store and they were open. BINGO! I came back to enjoy Thanksgiving eve with “The Addams Family” and two dogs and a cat on the bed.
Thursday the 26th – HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2015! – I got up at 1 and walked Bunny and Roxy, then I sent out my Saturday night movie night invites. With all of the Spock and Thanksgiving hubbub, I had totally forgotten to send them! I went back to bed for about an hour, and then got up to give Planet Wallywood one last clean-up. But my vacuum broke down as I was cleaning. Great timing! I took it apart and found that it was completely clogged with dog hair, both on the roller and in the suction chamber. I pulled out all the hair, cut all the hair off the roller, but it still wouldn’t work. Either the motor has burned out, or the belt has broken. Luckily I had a stand-by vacuum cleaner that I finished the job with. Then I got dressed and ready for our Thanksgiving reservations at the Sportsmen’s Lodge for dinner. It was great! We had 23 people all totaled! As is my normal tradition, I passed out index cards and pens to everyone and had them write down one random thing that they were thankful for. It didn’t have to be the most important thing, or the least important thing. Just one random thing. It’s become a cool tradition that we’ve been doing for several years now. After dinner several people came over so I could unveil the Spock figure. I was like a kid and I was anxious to show him off. Then we watched the movie “Love and Mercy” on Blu Ray and it was fabulous! When everyone left I grabbed a short nap, and then I spent the rest of the night doing work around the house. Another great Thanksgiving! And Christmas is just around the corner!
Friday the 27th – THE CHRISTMAS HOUSE! – At 2:30 I woke up to meet my friend Elliot so he could pick up Bunny and take her back to Palm Springs. Then I went back to bed for a little bit. I got up late in the afternoon and fed Roxy and Spook and did some work. I swapped out the Mustang for the Gran Torino and went to go get Sara for dinner at the Coral Café. But first we wanted to stop by “The Christmas House” in Burbank; my favorite holiday indulgence. It was good to see it back in action again. It’s a modest house in Burbank owned by a professional Hollywood lighting guy. He broadcasts six Christmas songs on a small FM station out of his house. Then he programmed the lights on his house to synchronize to the music. It’s great fun and now a personal holiday tradition. I came back and got ready for bed so I could be up early Saturday morning.
Here’s one of the songs seen at “The Christmas House” in Burbank. Gorgeous!
Saturday the 28th – THE KING’S FINAL RIDE! – By 9:30 I was loading up my pal Scott Sebring, and a couple of buddies from the U.K. in my Torino so we could head over to Forest Lawn by Universal Studios. That’s where the funeral for the legendary George Barris; King of the Kustomizers would be held. The organizers asked everyone to drive their hot rods, customs and vintage cars in honor of George. It was a beautiful service, but when it was over I realized I had lost my camera! Luckily my pal Ben helped me find it. Whew! We ran into my pal Ruben Procopio at the funeral, so we decided to meet at Paty’s for lunch. But on the way I stopped at the dry cleaners to drop off a comforter. I ran into my Voice-Over pal Dee Bradley Baker, so we chatted for a bit and got caught up on things. We had a great lunch at Paty’s, and my assistant Sara came by to join us. I picked up my mail and then went home to grab a short nap before movie night, while Scott, Ben and Matt went shopping around Burbank. For movie night we watched the movie “Max” about the military dog. It’s a great movie, and not as sad as you would be led to believe by the trailer. It’s actually an action movie. My old pal Christian Malmin stayed around for a while after the movie to chat and catch up. I’ve been friends with Chris since 1984 in South Dakota, so it’s always good to hang out and chat. I worked on the computer for a while and when I went to the kitchen to make my traditional Saturday night salad I was shocked. With all of the Spock and Thanksgiving chaos going on, I FORGOT TO GET SALAD! YIKES! This was the first time in a long time I didn’t get to enjoy my huge salad on Saturday night while watching TV before bed. I settled for a ham and Swiss sandwich and tomato soup. Sadly, I watched the final episode of “The Persuaders” on DVD. They only made 25 episodes and I had made it through the entire series. I really loved that show. Next, my Saturday night TV viewing will involve the final season of the British show “The Avengers.”
Sunday the 29th – OUT OF SORTS! – As usual, I got up around 4:30 and headed to evening church with Roxy. But when we got there Roxy was too restless and was trying to eat something off the floor. I was feeling rather out of sorts anyway, so we left early and headed home. It was a nice, cool evening with a beautiful moon in the sky, so I went back to bed for about three hours. It was good sleeping weather. When I got up later I felt more in sync. I did some work around the house and got to breathe a huge sigh of relief that the Thanksgiving weekend was over. It was wonderful but it was a lot of work to put everything together. I did some auditions and while I was working on the computer I turned on Christmas music on the satellite. I always know that Christmas is officially here when I randomly hear Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” in passing somewhere. Well, Christmas is official. At 12:32am I heard the song on the satellite. It’s ON, baby! Then I turned in to be up early for a session on Monday morning.
And how was YOUR Thanksgiving week?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
George’s longtime pal Blackie gives a speech that ended in a standing ovation.
The King of Kustomizers takes his final ride in a customized gold metal flake coffin.
As the attendees leave the celebration of George’s life, it a gorgeous line of beautiful cars.
Here’s some video of the many cars
The program for the event was a wonderful tribute to a great guy.
My pal Bunny dons a few items from Maui Bowee, my buddy’s company that specializes in Hawaiian-themed dog clothes.
Roxy loves when Bunny visits, and they love to hang out together.
Here’s how the Spock figure turned out. Amazing! You can see more and read the entire story here soon. Stay tuned!
As the Sportsmen’s Lodge’s Thanksgiving feed starts to wind down at the end of the day, it was a good opportunity to get a couple great shots of our crew. Here are two angles from both sides of the table.
Bunny enjoys a nice warm nap by the fire.
