October 23 – October 29 (2023)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I’m not sure who did this, but it made me laugh hysterically. (Did you know that the mask in the first two “Halloween” movies was a re-tooled Captain Kirk mask?) Happy Halloween!

“Synchronicity II” from the Police had come up several times over the past week on different devices. It’s one of those songs you’ve forgotten about for a long time, but when you hear it again you realize what a gem it is!

Monday the 23rd – RESTRUNG, REDRESSED AND REDESIGNED! – Still a bit exhausted from the terrific weekend at Chattanooga Comic Con in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I slept fairly late. I did manage to get up and get over to Toyota to get the part I ordered; a rear left fender flare. I had scraped mine at Alex In Wonderland a few weeks ago while I was backing out of a tight parking spot. I went to my box to get my packages, and headed to Paty’s for lunch on the patio. It was amazingly pleasant. I headed over to Michaels to pick up a nice frame for the new Charlie Brown original sketch I had Robert Pope do at the convention. Then I came home and got busy with one of the packages that had arrived. For a long time, Mego action figure collectors who made the horrifying discovery that the rubber band inside their beloved Mego figures had broken with age, they could turn to a guy named Dr. Mego to fix them right up. Before Mego made their triumphant return to the marketplace several years ago, the ONLY place to get replacement parts for your figures was through Dr. Mego, who literally kept the interest in that company alive for decades. When I discovered that the inner rubber bands had broken on several of my figures I reached out to him. Voila! He’s still in business! He said I could send him the figures and he’d restring them…NO CHARGE! I got them back today and the bodies are tight and like new! THANKS, DR. MEGO! I spent some time redressing them and putting them back in their rightful place in their display cases. I continued to unpack from my trip, framed up the Charlie Brown original sketch, and took a count of the prints I had remaining in my inventory for autographed photos. I’m going to need to re-order soon. But I’ve learned so much in the past year about what people’s buying habits are at conventions, I’m thinking of doing a re-design of several of the prints I have for sale. For the new year I’m going to offer several new prints through my on-line store and at my in-person appearances. Stay tuned! I worked around the house, wrote Wally’s Week, took my WOG (walk/jog) and spent some time outside in the anti-gravity chair admiring the stars and relaxing. Beautiful!

Tuesday the 24th – FLARED UP! – After a stop at the McDonald’s drive-thru, I headed to the Toyota body shop to have the left rear fender flare replaced on the Gray Ghost. I ate my lunch while they took the car in for the switcheroo. Luckily it’s a pretty fast job, and by the time I finished my last French fry, the Gray Ghost pulled up! I tried to give the service manager a $20 tip, but he wouldn’t take it. When I insisted, he said he was going to give it to the tech who did the work. Fine by me! They didn’t charge me anything for the service, so I felt I should show my gratitude for the quick turnaround somehow. I drove to my physical therapy appointment, but I was so early I just sat in the parking lot talking to my buddy Maguire in Sioux Falls for about an hour. After the appointment I came home and worked around the house, did an audition, and later took my WOG. I had missed several nights when I was out of town and I need to get back into it! Controlling my blood pressure naturally has worked very well so far! I spent some time in the anti-grav chair and it was an amazing evening. It was completely overcast and quiet. I even felt some light drizzle on my face and it was Heavenly! Very relaxing! I got an email from ME-TV about the items they’ll want to feature on the show “Collector’s Call” when they come to my house to shoot in December. I’m very excited to do this show! I’ve been watching some of the episodes and getting a lot of great ideas. I’ve decided to do some re-design work in my living room, which is where the majority of the items they want to feature normally reside. I want to turn my living room into a collector room/studio. The less it can look like a living room the better. I made a nice salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” on DVD.

Wednesday the 25th – REST & RELAXATION! – The very busy weekend had caught up to me somewhat, so I took almost the entire day to simply relax and recharge. I did a few auditions, and later I hit Denny’s to get some food to go. I took my nightly WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. I need to enjoy the nights while I can as it’s turning colder now. I ate my delicious dinner and watched another “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” episode.

Thursday the 26th – LAME-O LAMP LAD! – A while back I took my “Dark Crystal” lamp to a local lighting store to see if he could convert it from battery power to wall power. It’s a great collector lamp with a base, and a clear plastic rod that supports a 9 inch tall purple crystal, like the Jim Henson movie. I talked to a young guy at the store when I dropped it off several weeks ago and he said he’d work on it. Weeks went by and I heard nothing. I even called the store to try and get a status update, left messages and asked them to return my call. But nothing. So, I just drove over there and took it back. It was sitting in the exact same place in the store where it was when I left it. IT HADN’T EVEN BEEN TOUCHED! Lame. The lamp is a beautiful piece, but it eats batteries like crazy. Luckily I have rechargeable batteries that I use for it, so I’ll just stick to that plan. I got some lunch at the world-famous In-N-Out Burger, and then went to physical therapy. I got back home to do some work and do some more planning for the ME-TV shoot. Though it’s not until early December, I like to start wrapping my brain around these things to allow some time for ideas to hatch. I did my nightly auditions, took my nightly WOG, and spent a little time in the anti-grav chair watching the sky, thinking, praying and meditating. Gorgeous!

Friday the 27th – “MAID” IT TO THE WEEKEND! – The week flew by! The maids came over to do some work, and the rest of the day was beautiful and relaxing. I didn’t do much, just worked around the house a little. But I took the opportunity to relax and recharge some more. Later I did my WOG, but it was much too cold to spend any time outside in the anti-grav chair. Yup, summer is finally over. Darn it. I made a salad and watched another episode of “Boris Karloff’s Thriller” on DVD. I’m not sure if the writers of that show were in an early-first-season rut already, but in the first five episodes, THREE of them feature bed-ridden old ladies. Strange.

Saturday the 28th – NO COINCIDENCES IN LIFE! – Before my hair appointment, I did a little work around the house. Then I walked down to my stylist Andie’s shop to get a touch-up on my color. She was telling me that her son and his family were hoping to move to Tennessee in the next few years and buy a house. I told her I was just in Tennessee last weekend and it was lovely. She also told me that her son was a plumber. I’m no longer surprised by the little “coincidences” that pop up from time to time in life (I don’t really believe in them anyway) but I stopped her and told her that her son needed to call me right away. I looked at the clock and it was 5pm Pacific time. Literally, one week ago at this VERY time (8pm Eastern time) I was having dinner with my friend Alex and his buddy Phil. Phil is a real estate agent! My other dinner companion was Natalie and Sam, and their sons. Sam is a plumber! Yup…no coincidences in life. I truly hope her son calls me so I can hook them all up. It could be pretty sweet, if you ask me. Later my pals Officer Mark and James came by and we drove the Gray Ghost to Little Toni’s for some delicious Saturday night Italian food. What a great time. Later I did my WOG, and I sat outside in the anti-grav chair even though it was only 47 degrees out. But I was feeling well-fed and content, so I hit the hay.

Sunday the 29th – SUNDAY WITH SID! – Since I got to moderate a panel for the great Sid Krofft (of Sid & Marty Krofft fame – if you used to watch Saturday morning TV in the 70’s) I’ve become an even bigger fan. He’s a delightful soul, and every Sunday at 3 he hosts a show on Instagram. His assistant Kelly wanted me to pop on the show to talk about Halloween, but at the last minute she figured it would be better if I was a guest for the full hour in the near future. So November 26th, Thanksgiving weekend, I’ll be Sid’s guest on his show! Amazing! As I’m starting to figure out how to float Super Grover in my living room for display, I’m looking at all the utilities I bought to achieve this. But the metal eyes I purchased a while back are much too big. I’ll need to go back to the hardware store and get smaller ones. Monday it’ll be my goal to get him mounted in the living room once and for all. Since it’s getting colder at night I took my WOG slightly earlier. I tried sitting in the anti-grav chair outside afterwards, but it was much too cold. I came right back inside after only a few minutes. Too bad. Since I didn’t do my traditional thing on Saturday night, I did a Sunday Night Super Saint Salad instead. I also watched my buddy Ralph Garman on an episode of “Collector’s Call” that I had recorded from previously that night. Amazing! I’m SO excited to be on this show! I’m also excited about Halloween coming soon! And I was REALLY excited to see the trailer for the forthcoming film “The Boys In The Boat,” in which I play a 1936 Olympic announcer. I’m in several places in the trailer. SO proud to be a part of this movie, which comes out around Christmas!

And how was YOUR week!

PIX FROM THE WEEK