RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
‘Bout time, Crayola!
“Voyage Libre” by Thievery Corporation demonstrates just how diverse this group is with a variety of sounds. I love their music when I’m chilling, and if you haven’t discovered them, I’d advise delving into their vast catalog of music right away!
Monday the 4th – CHIPS-SKY & HUTCH?! – It was a week off from the current slate of multiple sessions for a regular client, so I made the most of it by getting a lot of things done. I had LOTS to do! First, I hit the post office to mail off some Christoween merch that had been purchased on my Christoween.net website. Then I hit my mailbox, and I was happy to see that my Christoween promo cards had arrived from my printer, Prints Charm’n! I stopped at the cleaners to pick up some dry cleaning, and while I was there the great Erik Estrada walked in! My Gran Torino was parked right outside the main picture window at the cleaners so it was in full view of the entire staff. At first Erik commented on how much he liked my mask, and then we chatted for a bit. He literally looks the exact same as he did back in the 70’s when he did the TV show “CHIPS.” It was a show about the California Highway Patrol. Then he spotted the Torino, and REALLY got a charge out of “Head Turning Hutch!” He’s the robot mannequin that sits in the passenger seat, dressed to look like David Soul’s ‘Hutch’ from the “Starsky & Hutch” TV series. I have a small dial in the center console which makes the robot’s head turn from side to side. The name “Head Turning Hutch” has a double meaning, as his own head turns on command, and he looks so amazing that people in other cars who see him often turn their heads to see him. They’re shocked and amazed when “Head Turning Hutch” looks right back at them! Erik said, “That’s a great car!” I replied, “Not quite as cool as a CHP motorcycle though.” He laughed and said, “I have one of those!” I bet he does! What a nice guy, and what a fun interaction with another 70’s icon! I dropped some of the Christoween cards at a store called Dark Delicacies, which specializes in monster and horror collectibles and literature. And then I went to Blast From The Past to drop some off there as well. Blast is a great store that sells collectibles from all genres. Then I drove to California Pizza Kitchen in Burbank to have a late lunch with my ol’ pal Daniel Roebuck; an amazing, often-seen character actor in many TV shows and movies. I hadn’t seen him in a while so there was a lot of catching up to do. Not the least of which, I wanted to bring him up to speed on Christoween. Dan gave me the brilliant idea that I used in the final story, but I won’t spoil the surprise quite yet. It was a day I’ll never forget. First, so we could talk freely without having to chat over loud music, we asked to be seated on the patio outside. We were the only ones on the patio for two reasons; 1-we found out the patio had been closed and we had been seated there by mistake, and 2-it was a cloudy, cool day and most people didn’t want to be outside. But we enjoyed it immensely. We chatted about monsters, horror movies, and of course, Christoween! Just then it started to rain unexpectedly. But we were totally sheltered by the patio’s roof, so we just relaxed, ate our salads and enjoyed the nice smell. Then the thunder and lightning started up! That was COMPLETELY unexpected, as Southern California hardly EVER gets thunderstorms. We sat there on the patio, facing the street, watching people unprepared for rain scurry in and out of stores hurriedly. All while lightning flashed in the skies overhead. I told Dan I would never, ever forget this magical day! Talkin’ about monsters, in October, in a thunder/lightning storm! Magical! He connected me with a friend of his who is a PR guy that specializes in monster/horror things. We chatted on his phone briefly and agreed to talk later about forming a press release to let the appropriate outlets know about the Christoween stories that were going up on the website weekly now through Christmas Day. By the time our lunch was over and I hopped into the Torino to go home, the rain had stopped. I was still high from the magical day with a good friend. I got home and fed the pets and did some work on-line. I had requested an audio remix on one of the audible Christoween stories because, as I was listening to it again, I thought the background music was a little too prominent in the mix. Voice Trax West sent me the redone audio track, but I got distracted in the moment and lost track of which track was the correct track! It was frustrating, but I finally figured it out! Just then it started to pour rain outside again, and another thunder/lightning storm started up again! I grabbed my camera and ran outside to get some video. I got a perfect shot of a giant crack of lightning in the sky, and I rushed back inside to download it and edit it into the YouTube video version of one of the Christoween stories! I spoke with David the PR guy and we agreed to work together after he looked over the Christoween website. I sat down and typed out a press release, a bio, and other material that he had asked for. He was going to publish the release first thing on Tuesday! I drove to Denny’s later to get some food to go, and ate dinner while I watched a few episodes from the final season of “I Dream Of Jeannie” on DVD.
Tuesday the 5th – YET ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY! – David, the Christoween PR guy released the info to his slate of publications, so we just sit back and see if any of them run with it. I received some nice submissions from aspiring Voice Actors who read a segment of the first Christoween story. I’m accepting submissions from anyone who wants to read, and I’ll compile all the submissions and expose their talents on the Christoween.net website. It might be a good way for a future talent to get discovered! I drove to KFC to get some food, and then I went over to Alex In Wonderland’s to see how she was coming along with my 10% Rowlf replica Muppet, and my Cookie Monster replica Muppet. She had finished the head for Rowlf very nicely, so I gave her my original Rowlf (that I had built back in 2018) so she could do the head transplant. I’ll come back on Wednesday and pick him up. She’s also going to construct the ears and attach them. Since I was close to my auxiliary garage, where I park my Gran Torino, I decided to swap cars and get my Mustang back out. Within a few blocks of the garage, I saw a Foster’s Freez ice cream stand! I hadn’t seen a free-standing ice cream stand in the L.A. area in a VERY long time! So I swung around in the Torino, drove up to the drive thru and ordered a banana split! This was great! It was a lot like the ones I frequented when I was growing up in South Dakota! I drove to the garage, parked, and ate my banana split while listening to great 70’s tunes in my Gran Torino. I put the Torino to bed, got out the Mustang and headed to CVS to get some supplies. By the time I got home a few monster-news outlets had already published the Christoween story! Fantastic! I hope it will drive traffic to the site. It’s my hope that the stories will find an audience, who develops an emotional attachment to the stories and characters, and it will garner the attention of publishers and toy companies. Later I did my nightly auditions, and did some work around the house. I was still having some moderate voice problems, but this week I’d be keeping as quiet as possible to let the inflammation on my vocal cords go down. I made some lasagna and watched another episode of “I Dream of Jeannie.” I’m deep in the final season with just a few episodes to go!
Wednesday the 6th – SUBMISSION MISSION! – It was great waking up, getting on the computer and seeing that more people had submitted their voice demos for the first Christoween story called “Frankie-fied!” My pal Michelle came over in the afternoon and we sped off to Alex In Wonderland’s studio to pick up the almost finished 10% Rowlf! I’ve been waiting for him to get finished so we could also finish Michelle’s Prairie Dawn replica Muppet. My hair guy Sergio resides in Orange County, and I wanted to have both Prairie and Rowlf ready for him to come do the hair work on, so he wouldn’t have to make separate trips over that great distance. Rowlf looks fantastic! Next, it’ll be Cookie Monster. We worked on patterning the body, arms and fingers. He’s going to look fantastic when completed! I’m very excited! I got home to feed the pets, and then Michelle and I sped off to Sherman Oaks to have dinner with our friends Seig and Denise. Denise is the cousin of “Bazooka Joe,” the 102 year old WWII vet I had met recently. After dinner we got back to the house and she helped me film a Cameo video that someone had purchased as a birthday gift. Later I did a bunch of auditions, and downloaded more great Christoween voice over submissions. I’m loving this!
Thursday the 7th – ICONS OF DARKNESS! – Shortly after 2 Michelle returned, and Dan Roebuck came by as well. We all hopped into his car and drove into Hollywood to see the Icons of Darkness exhibit that my good pal Pat “the Batman Fan” Evans helped mount. It’s from the amazing collection of Rich Correll, and as vast as it is, Pat said it’s only about 40% of his entire collection! Amazing! While the exhibit was astonishing, I was truly amazed that Pat had landed the virtual job of his dreams! I was very, very happy for him! Dan, Michelle and I went up to eat lunch at Johnny Rockets, and then we headed back to Planet Wallywood. My pal Bob came by to have me record a voice over bit for a live show he was producing that weekend in San Diego. He even had Michelle record a few bits as well. More submissions came in for the Christoween story, so I compiled them all and got ready to release them on Friday. Everyone did a terrific job, and I was so happy that everyone participated! I recorded my auditions and then made some hot dogs on the grill, and watched the amazing “I Dream Of Jeannie” episode “Hurricane Jeannie.” It’s the one where Dr. Bellows discovers that Jeannie is a genie! Great episode! But it’s the third to the last episode in the series.
Friday the 8th – VOICE VEXXED! – After all the chatting I did the previous day I kind of figured my voice would be a bit rough again. And I was right. It was IMPERATIVE that I shut my mouth over the next three days and get my voice back for a bunch of sessions I had to do in the coming week! I went to my mailbox to get my packages, got some groceries, got some food at Panda Express to go, and then went home to relax and shut up. I spent the night working in the Chaney Room rearranging some things and putting up some life masks and name plates that I’ve had lying around. It was good to finally have them up where I wanted them! And I worked all night without uttering a word!
Saturday the 9th – FRANKEN-CHEF! – After resting all day I decided I’d make a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box and watch “Frankenstein” on Svengoolie. But I slept a bit too long and missed the majority of the movie. However, by the time the pizza was ready it was time for “Star Trek,” so I got into bed with my pizza and Pepsi and watched “Spectre of the Gun,” one of my favorites! The two days of rest had worked wonders on my voice and it was returning nicely. I dusted the “Wizard of Oz” busts in the Puppet Room, and tidied up the display a bit. I put away laundry and dishes, and then made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad, but instead of watching an episode of “The Saint,” I decided to watch the final two episodes of “I Dream of Jeannie.”
Sunday the 10th – 95%, but not 100%! – To start the day I plotted out all of the social media posts I would do for the week for the second Christoween story. I relaxed and did a few auditions. My voice is much improved (the three days of rest really paid off) but it’s only about 95% back to its full potential, not 100%. This sucks. I prepped for the new week, which is promising to be very busy. I went through my corporate bank statement for the month, reconciled all the checks and receipts, paid a few bills, typed out Wally’s Week, and called it a day. I’m ready to attack this monumentally busy week!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
The new 10% smaller head is attached to Rowlf’s body…
…and his pupils are taped on temporarily so I can check out the overall look before making things permanent. He needs to have his ear fur trimmed, but after that I can secure the nose and the eye pieces to the face, and we’re done! I’m VERY happy with how he turned out!
The Icons of Darkness exhibit in Hollywood is fantastic! This is the Creature From The Black Lagoon figure that stood for many years in the grotto of The Playboy Mansion!
Looks like T-Rex had Raptor for lunch! Need a toothpick?
The Rocketeer and Dr. Doom have much to discuss!
This is one of the original Edward Scissorhands costumes worn by Johnny Depp in the film.
The Gran Torino parked out in front of the ice cream stand! Love it!
My pals Daniel Roebuck and Michelle Schulman prepare to enjoy a feast at Johnny Rockets with me
Occasionally I’ll relive my childhood by making a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box! Sometimes people ask me how I make one, so here is a step-by-step. Of course you start by mixing the dough mixture with water and making the dough into a ball and letting it rise in a warm place.
Then I spread it out on to the pan and add the pepperoni…
…the Hickory Farms summer sausage (diced)…
…the sauerkraut (YES! It IS delicious)…
…the parmesan/romano cheese (extra!) and then bake!
Mouth watering. And it’s mine. ALL MINE!!!
I got a very nice pic from a guy who just bought a Christoween Book and Stalking set, and it looks like he’s all ready for Christoween! Thanks Keller!
Roxy wants pizza, but….um…no.
A fantastic lightning crack! WOW!
