RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I do my nightly WOGs to maintain muscle mass, and keep my weight and blood pressure down – but walking also helps those who are dealing with depression. Amazing.
As I was sitting in the endodontist’s chair this past week, listening to toonz as he filed away at my #31, “Love Me” by the lovely Yvonne Elliman came on my player – and it soothed my soul. Great sounding song. (Written by Robin and Barry Gibb!)
Monday the 27th – MONDAY…AGAIN! – Because the shirt on my Roger M00re life-size figure had some weird staining going on, I picked up a really cool shirt on eBay that had French cuffs, a groovy 70’s collar, and was already the perfect shade of eggshell that I originally wanted. It had the perfect, vintage look I had been searching for. I had it cleaned at the cleaners and I picked it up today. It’s gorgeous! The tag in the custom-made shirt said that it was made in London and the date was June of 1977. Perfect for the look of the figure! Kelly Delcambre, the artist who built the figure, will be coming over soon to help me re-dress the figure and affix him to his new stand that my pal Joe Pendleton made. It was a gorgeous day, so my pal Chris Malmin joined me for lunch on the patio of Paty’s, and then he followed me home to get a check for the house sitting he did while I was away in South Dakota. I did a little work, rested a bit, and later recorded a ton of auditions to send off to my agents. I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog) and spent some time in the anti-gravity chair cooling off outside. It’s nice, but it’s definitely getting chillier. I came back inside to type out Wally’s Week and called it a day.
Tuesday the 28th – WE LOVE REWRITES! – First I hit the Taco Bell drive-thru for some lunch, and then I headed to Rocket Sound for a brief video game session. A few lines that I had recorded for the game previously had been rewritten, so they called me back in to re-record them. There were only two of them to record, and then off I went. But when you go into a recording session, they still have to pay you the full session fee, whether it’s one line, or 100. So it ended up being a pretty good payday for only two lines! I went to see my dentist about the crown on my #31. (Teeth are numbered 1 through 32, with 16 teeth on the top, and 16 on the bottom – going left to right.) My dentist had been warning me about some decay happening under the crown on the 31 that he had spotted on the X-ray a while back. But I kept procrastinating (given the weird year I’ve had it was very easy to do) and now it’s starting to give me a little discomfort. Dr. Alex suggested that, since I’m not having discomfort, I see an endodontist to have him determine if I need a root canal or not. Luckily my endodontist Dr. Okata is two floors below Dr. Alex’s office! They made a call and I could get right in! He looked at it, tested it, and made some recommendations. But for now, he said he didn’t think I needed a root canal on my 31. I walked back up to Dr. Alex’s office and gave him the information. I already had an appointment with Dr. Alex scheduled for Thursday morning, so we’ll see what happens. I know I need a new crown on that tooth, after everything is cleaned out, but I’ll be going to Kansas City for Planet Anime in a few weeks, plus there’s Thanksgiving and other stuff happening. So it would be great if everything got settled with this before then. Exhausted, I went over to Paty’s to get some sun on the patio and get a salad. Then I went home and made some calls, recorded some auditions, and relaxed for a bit. Though I did my nightly WOG, I didn’t spend any time outside in the anti-gravity chair. There was much too much work to do.
Wednesday the 29th – A DAY OFF…BUT NOT REALLY! – Fully intending to relax and take the day off, I ended up getting involved in a lot of busy work. I made a bunch of phone calls, and started prepping for my dentist appointment on Thursday morning. This could go easy…or this could go hard. I was prepared for both contingencies. I had a TON of auditions to record later, and I took my WOG. Since it was a pretty nice night, I spent some time in the anti-gravity chair enjoying the night.
Thursday the 30th – DOUBLE DENTIST DAY! – Well, this day didn’t go exactly as I had planned. I got up early and headed to Dr. Alex’s to get the crown on my #31 removed. But once he got the crown removed he said the decay had progressed very close to the nerve and I needed to go see Dr. Okata for a root canal. Ugh. I knew I should have had this done earlier. Had I not procrastinated, I could have possibly avoided all this. But it’s been a hell of a year. Luckily, Dr. Okata had an opening for that afternoon. Dr. Alex popped on a temporary crown and I headed over to Chick Fil-A for lunch. Just as I was finishing my meal (which is odd, when half your mouth is numb) I got a call from Dr. Okata’s office saying their previous appointment had finished early and they could see me now. I sped right over and went into the office. The last time I had seen Dr. Okata was about 10 years ago when I was having some trouble with another tooth. I remember him being so adept at his procedure that I actually fell asleep in his chair. But this one wasn’t as easy. This one was MUCH more challenging. He worked on me for about 2 hours, and when he finished he said I’ll need another two sessions to finish up. YIKES! He said the decay was in a very odd place, very close to the gum line, and he was going to have to figure out a way to get it all cleaned up before I could be cast for a new crown. When I finished I sat up and said, “I should have just had the damn thing pulled.” But he pointed out that it could be difficult, since the back root of my #31 was about 12mm, which is very long as tooth roots go. Plus, he said it’s always best to try and preserve the actual biological material if possible. I’m very happy with the implant that I got about 5 years ago, and it’s been virtually maintenance-free. But implants are only a last-resort, apparently. He put some medication in and put the temp crown back on. I’ll have to go in next week for phase 2 of 3. It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting my permanent crown before Thanksgiving, and definitely not before I got to Kansas City. Between having two different dental professionals rooting around in my mouth all day, I was feeling pretty beat up. I headed home to make some calls and relax. I slept for a while, and then got up to do some work. I took my WOG and enjoyed some time in the anti-grav chair. Normally, I chew bubble gum when I take my WOG, as I find it helps my timing when I walk. But since I have a temp crown in, I can’t have anything sticky or chewy – as the glue holding the temporary crown in place could come dislodged. And then it’s PAIN! I came back inside and did some video editing and got ready for the weekend. I’m gonna need some laffs and rest this weekend!
Friday the 31st – HALLOWEEN! – It’s sad, but as one gets older the magic and lure of Halloween becomes less and less important. I was happy to rest and relax all day. My right jaw was definitely feeling the results of being poked and prodded all day Thursday. I took some meds and continued to rest. Later I took my WOG, and then came inside to make some lasagna. Pasta is easy to chew when you have tooth issues. I watched 3 episodes of “Tiger and Bunny” on Netflix while I ate my dinner. This show has so much heart and soul, and I’m very proud to have been involved with it. I really love this show!
Saturday the 1st – TO PULL OR NOT TO PULL!? – Though I was out cold most of the day, my friends Scott and Vickie Sebring came over for a visit. It was nice to hang out and chat, and feel normal. I’m still resting up from the dental dilemma, so I would hit the hay intermittently to relax. As I was resting I was awakened by cheering in my neighborhood coming through my bedroom window. I figured that meant that the Dodgers won the World Series. OK. Back to sleep. Later, after doing some work around the house, I went on my nightly WOG. As I sat watching a gorgeous nearly-full moon in the western sky, I started contemplating the dental ramifications. Should I just have this stupid tooth pulled and save everybody a lot of time and trouble? I can always get an implant down the road and call it good. I’d hate for the endodontist to have to go through a ton of tedious, arduous work, only to end up having to lose the tooth anyway. I decided I’d call my endodontist on Monday and ask him his professional estimation of what the chances were that the tooth could be saved. If he said the chances were above 75% I’d stay the course. If they were below that, I’d go have it yanked and be done with it. I enjoyed a nice cigar as I watched the gorgeous moon dip below the horizon. I’m not really a “cold weather” cigar guy. To me, cigars are best in the heat of the summer. I finished it up and told myself that I probably wouldn’t be having another until next summer. I came inside to do some more work, changed the sheets on my bed, changed the clocks to an hour earlier, and got ready for this month’s “Laurel & Hardy Theater.” The first Saturday of every month I treat myself to an evening of Laurel & Hardy films, and some food that brings back the nostalgia of when I watched them on TV as a kid. I watched “Dirty Work” – which has them as chimney sweeps, and “Me and My Pal,” – which has them engrossed in a jigsaw puzzle on Ollie’s wedding day. Both films are hilarious shorts. It’s always nice to go to bed with a smile on your face!
Sunday the 2nd – THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW! – I really wish the dunderheads in Congress would get their poop in a group and get rid of this ridiculous, superfluous, and aggravating Daylight Saving Time bullcrap. They’re trying, but now they can’t decide on whether to stick to Daylight time or Standard time. If they would do their research they’d discover that permanent Daylight time was tried once, and it was a disaster. Switch to Standard time and leave it…forever! This changing of the clocks twice a year is nutso! I wrote out some questions to ask my endodontist when we spoke on Monday. If it’s determined that the considerable work he needs to do won’t have a high enough percentage of success, I’m going to cancel my remaining appointments and call the oral surgeon for extraction. I planned for the new week upcoming, took my nightly WOG, and spent some chilly time in the anti-grav chair. The moon was beautiful, but I realized why it was chillier than usual. As I always go out at the same time, I realized that it was actually an hour later than I’m used to being out – so the temperature was naturally colder. I’m serious – gotta get rid of Daylight Saving Time! Forever!
And how was YOUR week??!!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
Getting some sun in “the office,” my usual table on the patio at Paty’s.
During my double dentist day, I start out in the chair to see what’s going on with my aggravating #31 tooth!
While watching “Dirty Work” the other night, I noticed what looked like a leaf tattoo on the inside of Ollie’s right forearm. It must have been some other phenomena, as Ollie had no tattoos. But it sure caught my attention!
When I was in Houston at the Nostalgia Con I met the wonderful Riley and her family from Dallas. Inspired by our chats, Riley decided to make The Riddler her costume for this Halloween! Well, well, well…DONE!!!
With all of the congratulatory wishes that were sent to Robert Englund this past week for getting his Star on the Walk of Fame, I dug out this old pic of the two of us back in about 1989. I was representing the Westwood One Radio Network at a Grammys Week celebration at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. The area was set up with a bunch of tables that were filled with equipment from radio stations all over the world who were broadcasting the celebration live. Many different celebs stopped by to do interviews with the stations and promote their projects. A photographer had cleverly set up a camera on a tripod with a remote cable release, and he encouraged people to take selfies (before there even WAS such a word) while they were having fun at the event. Being a Freddy fan, I spotted Robert and asked him if he would take a picture with me. He wrapped the cable around my neck and this is the product of that pose. BEAUTIFUL! When I found out he was going to be at the network a few weeks later for an interview, I phoned the photographer and asked him to print an 8 X 10 of our selfie and send it over. It was there I had him sign it, and it’s been in my autograph book ever since. It was also at this event that I met the legendary Little Richard who was on his way out as I was on my way in. As I passed him I said, “Little Richard…you’re the greatest!” He looked at me and flashed that famous toothy smile and said, “Thank you, baby!” Good times.
