RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK
I came across this photo of the old 1970s cast of “Sesame Street” and just had to download it! I love the look of the Muppets from back then (they’ve changed them a little too much for my liking now), and it’s always great to see the old human cast as well! David, Maria, Luis, Gordon, Susan and Bob! Great stuff!
Here’s the song I mentioned from Andre Popp called “Java.” This is the version of the song they use in the “Spooktacular” show at the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre. The bit in the show features four little silver, boxy robots who are performing to this track. It’s absolutely delightful and makes me smile!
Monday the 29th – NEW CON PIX! – Because I spent most of the day lounging around Planet Wallywood, by the time the evening rolled around, I needed to get out of the house for a while. I phoned my pal Chris Malmin to see if he wanted to meet for pizza at Little Toni’s. When we finished eating I headed over to CVS to pick up a few supplies. My big toe was a bit painful, and I realized I had (for the first time in my life) a “corn.” It’s probably because of all the walking I do, and because my shoes might be ill-fitting from time to time. I got the proper medicine to abolish it, and headed home. At conventions recently I’ve been asked if I have any photos to sign from “Final Fantasy: Advent Children” and “Initial D.” Sadly I didn’t have any with me, so I spent some time on the computer creating some new images. Then I sent them to my printer to get a few prints made that I can take with me to conventions, as well as feature in my on-line store. I’m also doing a cool new “Tiger and Bunny” print that I’ll have on sale this November at Planet Anime in Kansas City. My “T&B” cohort Yuri Lowenthal will also be there, so I wanted to come up with a print that we both could sign at the show. I typed out Wally’s Week, and then went outside to do my nightly WOG (walk/jog). After I was finished I “cooled down” in the anti-gravity chair outside, staring up at the stars. When I came back inside I got busy in the living room putting the supports on the back of the “Man With The Golden Gun” flats that I had created for last May’s Monsterpalooza. They look pretty good! Since I’m changing the Darth Vader talking bust into a Darth Vader talking life-size figure, I now have some available space on the top of my video cabinet where the bust previously sat. I put my Sebastian Bach chainmail tank top on a different mannequin torso and put it up there, along with my little voice-command robot R2D2. They look pretty slick up there!
Tuesday the 30th – “TEAR THIS SHIP APART UNTIL YOU’VE FOUND THOSE PLANS—!” – There are several artists involved in making my Darth Vader life-size, talking mannequin a reality. There’s Roger, who’s working on the electronics, Kelly, who’s helping to build up the figure to the proper specs, Mike, who’s going to be doing a little customization work on the breast plate, and Joe, who will be building a new base upon which the figure will be mounted. In order to keep everyone on the same page as to the overall vision for the project, I sat down at my drafting table and drew up some specific plans. The base will be 4 inches high, will be topped with a cool-looking star field Formica, and have silver metal trim. Since the sound board that contains the breathing sounds and the voice clips will be stored underneath the base (along with its battery pack), I needed to draw up real specific size measurements. On the top of the base there will be two large buttons that trigger the breathing sounds and the voice clips separately. Since they most likely will be triggered by my foot, I want to make sure they’re big and accessible. I finished the drawings, scanned them, and sent them to all the artists concerned. This display is gonna rock! I got ready to ship a few things out the next day, and then I took my nightly WOG. But my time in the anti-grav chair was very chilly! It’s getting to be the time of year where I’m going to have to start limiting my post-WOG time outside!
Wednesday the 1st – NICKEL NODE! – After hitting my box to pick up a few packages, I mailed some stuff off and got lunch at McDonald’s. I sat in the parking lot of Pro Health waiting to go in for my 3pm appointment. The past 2 months I’ve had an inflamed/obstructed salivary gland under my right jaw. It’s not painful, but it’s annoying – particularly when I eat and my salivary gland wants to activate to assist in chewing. I want to get this taken care of soon, but I have to see a specific oral surgeon who specializes in salivary-issues. My ENT suggested I get a CT scan so they can see what’s going on in there. I had the scan done on September 8th, but now I’m back for an ultrasound. Apparently the radiologist saw something else of concern that he wants to get a closer look at. After reviewing the CT scan my ENT said my salivary blockage wasn’t stones. In fact, she wasn’t really sure what it was. But she said the radiologist found a nodule on my thyroid, which is pretty common; particularly in those of an advanced age. So today I’m having the ultrasound done on the right side of my thyroid (ironically it’s just a few inches underneath the blocked salivary gland!) so they can further ascertain if the nodule is of any concern. Once I went in to have it done, the radiologist said that the nodule is 2.15 centimeters. Not being that familiar with the metric system, I had no idea just how big it was. But when I got home and looked at a measuring tape, I was shocked to learn that it was about the size of a nickel! So I started calling it my “nickel node.” I know that some people get nodes on their vocal cords, and a doctor pal told me at a recent Sons of the Desert meeting that he has nodules on his thyroid as well. They’re small, so he refers to them as his “little boys.” He said thyroid nodules are very rarely dangerous. But since mine is of such a considerable size I’m fully anticipating that I’ll have to have a biopsy done. Since I generally don’t believe in coincidences, I’m wondering if the obstructed salivary gland is connected to the thyroid node in any way. My ENT seems to think it’s not, so I guess it’s one of those cases where you go in to see a doctor for one reason, but they discover a much more serious situation in the process. I feel this is going to be a long process down the road. My ENT said she’ll be in touch with me once she goes over my ultrasound results with the radiologist. My doctor pal (whom I met through the Sons of the Desert club) suggested having the node completely removed, whether or not it turns out to be dangerous, just so it won’t be a pain in the neck (pun intended) down the road. I see the logic of that line of thinking. So perhaps I’ll be going under the knife in the near future. On the way home I picked up a few grocery items, and put everything away when I got home. One of the CDs that arrived in my mail that day is an album from a 50’s artist named Andre Popp. He was doing all sorts of wacky, experimental music back in the day; music that my friend Dr. Demento would call “demented!” One of his songs was used in one of my favorite parts of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater show “Spooktacular.” The song “Java” (not to be confused with Al Hirt’s song of the same name) has all sorts of funny vocals and sound effects in it. But for the sake of “theatricality,” the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre has sped it up a little bit – which makes it sound even funnier. It was my goal to edit the song the exact same that it’s heard in the “Spooktacular” show – sped up and everything! I found a version of the full Bob Baker bit on YouTube, so I had a reference track to follow. Once I edited all of the pieces together in the proper order, I painstakingly raised the pitch of the song to match the pitch of the Bob Baker version. Once I locked into the exact pitch ratio, I was finished! Hearing the song makes me smile; thinking of the bit in the “Spooktacular” show. I did some more miscellaneous work around the house, and then took my nightly WOG with subsequent time outside chilling out (and I DO mean “chilling!”) in the anti-grav chair.
Thursday the 2nd – CONFUSED COYOTE! – When I travel to conventions I bring along a sturdy file box that contains my entire photo inventory. I strap it up pretty good so it doesn’t open accidentally during the flight, as I have to put it in with checked luggage. But when I got home from my last convention appearance in Houston, the file box had been almost completely destroyed by the airline. Luckily the straps were still holding everything together, but the box was a total loss. I’ve got to find a better transport system for my photo inventory. So I went to Staples to look at various binders that would keep my photos safe, as they’re tucked away in a second suit bag that I’ll put in with checked luggage. Other actors have various ways of traveling with their inventory, but I’m looking for a new, secure way to take my inventory to shows. I already have one binder that I really like, but it’s not big enough to hold all my photos. I was lucky enough to find a second binder exactly like the first one I bought, so I grabbed it. I believe two binders will be enough to transport my inventory. While I was there I also picked up a new Day Planner for the year 2026. It’s hard to believe we’re almost there already! I stopped over to see my friend Alex In Wonderland so we could chat about the Guy Smiley replica Muppet that we’re making, as well as the new cape and cloak that I’ll be needing for my life-size Darth Vader figure. She’s currently wrapped up in Halloween jobs through the end of the month, so by the first of November we’ll get these two projects underway. I’m not in any rush. I just want them done right. I hit Burger King for dinner, and then headed home to do some work around the house and relax. Later I did my WOG and spent some time in the anti-grav chair. The sky was completely overcast again, and a light drizzle (which I find very pleasant) was starting to get a bit heavier. It didn’t turn into a rain quite yet, but it was a little heavier than the light drizzle I was used to. My track suit was starting to get moist, so I figured I’d better head in. As I sat up in the anti-grav chair I saw something moving out of my right eye. I turned to see a very confused coyote looking at me – as if to say, “Dude. What the hell are YOU doing out here?” He was gorgeous (and clearly very well fed) but very confused. He didn’t know if he should continue doing what he was doing, or if he should run away, or what. I didn’t make any loud noises or sudden movements, but I turned my high-powered flashlight on him. He didn’t like the bright light, so he turned and ran away. But he was absolutely beautiful! Before I went back inside I dug out an old file case I had in the garage, and started putting my photo inventory into it. This will help keep it organized until I can properly transfer some of the inventory to my new binders. Then I went back inside to call it a day.
Friday the 3rd – AND THAT’S A WRAP ON SEASON 2! – It was one of those lazy Fridays. Since the weather was fairly nice, I headed over to Paty’s to enjoy a salad on the patio. I got back home and did some auditions, worked around the house a little bit, and just before bed I turned on Netflix to watch the final episode of “Ersan Kuneri” in season 2. It’s a sitcom from Turkish comedian Cem Yilmaz, and for both seasons I was cast as the English dub voice of the lead character – Ersan Kuneri. Though we recorded the voice tracks for season 2 a year ago, I just now got around to watching the entire season. What a fun show! I’m really hoping that Cem does a third season, but since he’s so wildly creative, I suspect he’s moved on to other projects.
Saturday the 4th – LAYIN’ LOW! – The next two weekends are going to be VERY busy. Next weekend I’ll be at Son of Monsterpalooza on Friday and Saturday, and the weekend after that I decided to book a quick trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to check in my recently-widowed dad, see my eldest daughter Lacey, spend some time with my wonderful grandchildren, and spent some time goofing off with my old pal Scott Maguire. So this weekend I’m marshalling my energy! I got on the internet to buy my airplane tickets to Sioux Falls, and then I did some auditions that are due first thing Monday morning. I did a little video editing and then suited up to take my nightly WOG. Since it’s now dipped below 60 degrees in the middle of the night here (my personal threshold) I have added a turtleneck to my exercise clothing. I haven’t added the wool hat or the leggings under my track pants quite yet, but I fear those days are coming soon. I enjoyed some time after my WOG with an iced tea, and went back inside to do some work. Since it’s the first Saturday of the month, it’s my traditional “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” night. It’s my personal way of enjoying some nostalgia from my early teen years growing up in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I make some special foods that remind me of that time, and draw the titles of two “shorts” to watch that night. I only have 12 shorts left until I run out, and tonight I pulled “Midnight Patrol” (where the boys are inept cops), and “Twice Two,” (where the boys play each other’s wives “Fannie” and “Sis”). VERY funny stuff! After the films finished I got caught up on some of the past “Collector’s Call” episodes I’ve missed. On November 1st I’ll watch 2 more shorts, as well as on December 6th. This November 11th and 12th, two great new Blu-ray sets of Laurel & Hardy films will be released. “Laurel & Hardy: Year 3” (the final year of the silent films they made together before they took the leap into sound films), and the second installment of the Ultimate Restorations will both be released during those days. I can’t wait! The first installment of “Ultimate Restorations” was released several years ago, and they remastered several of their sound shorts for high definition. This set will feature some of their other shorts in their library, which will also be restored to high definition. This will be amazing. But since it’s so late in the year, I figured I’d started them in January of 2026 to kick the year off right!
Sunday the 5th – GARAGE GRUNT! – Later in the evening I headed over to the Smoke House to have dinner with my old pal Bob. He agreed to list some of my stuff on eBay, so we decided to have dinner first before he picked up the junk…um…I mean STUFF! I had a ton of old Playboy magazines stashed in my garage; some from the 70s and some from the 90s, that I wanted to get rid of. I also have a lot of old pants, shirts and jackets that I no longer need. We loaded up the back of Bob’s car and off he went. I needed to go find alternate parking in one of the parking lots in our complex, because this coming week we’re having our driveways repaved. During this time we won’t have garage access, so while it’ll be a bit of a pain in the ass, the new, finished driveways are going to look amazing! Once I found a parking spot I came back into my garage and started sorting through boxes of stuff. It’s nice having my garage totally car-free and spacious to do work like this. Since I’ll have a completely open garage the entire week, I’m going to take advantage of it and do some more reorganizing. I’ve got so much stuff out there – and a lot of it is probably stuff I no longer need! So it’ll be an amazing discovery process. After I relaxed for a bit, I did my nightly WOG and spent some time meditating and praying in the anti-gravity chair outside. But the graders and jackhammers are going to start very early in the morning, so I hit the hay to get as much sleep as I could. I also dug out my ear plugs too – ya know – just in case.
And how was YOUR week?!?!
PIX FROM THE WEEK
As I was walking around the drug store looking for medicine for the corn on my big toe, I saw these in with some liquid. I immediately started singing Elvis’ “Three Corn Patches,” from his “Raised On Rock” album. Though I doubt these were the 3 corn patches he was referring to.
I’m a father again! I adopted! I adopted the Frankenstein Monster puppet at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater! It involves paying a small yearly fee that is used for the puppet’s upkeep. WELL worth the money!
Not sure what I’m looking at, but this is the ultrasound of my thyroid from this past week.
