Wally’s Week

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

I came across this photo over the past week of L.A. in the early 60’s when the 405 freeway was just being built. Had they employed a psychic or crystal ball, they would have known that they should have been making it at least TWICE this size. But who knew?

“Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and seeing it performed in lights was a real treat this past week!

Monday the 8th – A VERY CHALLENGING ONE! – The weather was absolutely fantastic! I did a few things around the house, and then headed over to Rocket Sound to do a two-hour session on a new video game. The director is a good friend with whom I’ve worked on many projects. He brought me in for this character without any sort of audition. In the industry, it’s one of those jobs they call a “gimme;” no audition necessary, they just “gimme” the job. While it seemed like a fun character at first, and not very vocally stressful, it seemed like there were going to be a few hiccups along the way. The species of this particular character was written with a very specific “vocal tic” that we needed to explore more in discussion. The trick was to make it sound like a vocal tic, without being too distracting to the listener. It would be like trying to listen to a character that had a bad case of Tourette’s syndrome. They played me an example that was recorded by one of the other actors who played a character of the same species. But the way it was interpreted in that example sounded more to me like a mistake in the dialogue, as opposed to a specific character tic. It was so underplayed, it sounded like he was mispronouncing a word in the script. We experimented with different levels of expression for the tic, and we finally settled on a protocol for how my character would exclaim that characteristic. My view was to take the intent of the line in which the tic appeared, and perform the tic that was consistent with that. That way it wouldn’t stick out too much. If my character was excited in a particular line, the tic would be more exclamatory. If he was being more conversational the tic would be more restrained. In addition to the vocal characteristics of the character, the world in which they were creating contained a fair amount of made-up words – which sometimes were a bit tough to pronounce and interpret. But, we made it through and by the time the session ended, we were all laughing and pleased with what we had accomplished. But it was far from a breezy session. But sometimes, the ones that are challenging are the most fun, and they really get the creative juices flowing. I drove to my box to pick up some packages, and then headed home. My gal Angi came over so we could go to dinner. Since she’s been out of town performing on the road, I hadn’t seen her in quite a while. Our first stop was to the “Christmas House,” a house in the Burbank area that I’ve become a fan of over the years. The owner is a professional lighting designer and technician for films and TV, and each year he decks his house out with the latest, greatest lighting tech to celebrate the season. He has a small FM station that he broadcasts Christmas music through to your car radio. So when you pull your car up to see the lighting show, you can tune your radio into the accompanying music. Each year Alan likes to add one more song to the program. When I started enjoying the display (and giving it the moniker “The Christmas House”) he only had about 5 songs in the program. Now he has about 9 or 10. When we pulled up I texted him to let him know I was outside, so he came out to enjoy the show with us. But as a special surprise treat, he added a song I had been asking for. He finally programmed a light show to Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime,” a song that I always felt was highly conducive to the kind of presentation he offers. He has a digital screen posted out front that has the name of the song that’s currently playing, along with the name of the artist. But on the “Wonderful Christmastime” screen it read, “WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME” – Paul McCartney (FOR WALLY).” I was elated. It really was fantastic, and I want to see the show many more times before the holidays are over. Then Angi and I headed over to Coral Café to catch up and have dinner. Then we went back to Planet Wallywood to light a fire in the fireplace and catch up on what’s been happening. I showed her all the pics from my Kansas City trip and told her all the fun stories. One day, when our schedules align, I’d like to bring her along to one of the conventions so she can witness all the crazy, fun madness. Later I took my nightly WOG (walk/jog), and it was pretty nice out – slightly warmer than usual. I typed out Wally’s Week and then hit the hay.

Tuesday the 9th – A VERY QUICK ONE! – Roger from Blok4 creations came by to do a little electronics work on my talking, life-size Darth Vader figure. When we originally set it up, he connected a wire from the speaker inside Vader’s mask down the length of his body to a digital voice chip underneath the base. But after we got to thinking about it for a while, we decided that installing a “quick release” connector halfway down the figure’s body. That way, if the helmet ever has to be removed (for repair or whatever) it can be easily disconnected from the rest of the line and separated. When he finished I headed to Skylark Studios for a fun session. It’s for an ongoing video game, but normally the director directs the sessions from his home via Zoom. But this time he was in-studio – and it was great seeing him again. When the session was over I went back home to do some work and relax. I edited some videos from another Christmas gift I’m working on. Later I took my WOG, and relaxed the rest of the night. Wednesday is a day off!

Wednesday the 10th – A VERY WARM ONE! – After finishing the editing I needed to do on one of the Christmas gifts I’m making, I got everything packaged up and ready to ship. I took everything down to my box and shipped them off. I also picked up some packages, and headed to Paty’s to enjoy a gorgeous 80 degree day. I loved having lunch on the patio in the warm sun. When I got home I recorded some auditions, but then I started to think about the gum surgery I was scheduled for the next day. To be frank, I wasn’t very excited about it. But it must be done. I made the mistake of looking up “crown lengthening” surgery on YouTube, and I realized quickly that I shouldn’t have. EEK! I tried to take my mind off it by scanning some checks for the final deposits of the year. I also paid some bills while listening to Christmas music. It was pretty nice. I took my nightly WOG, made a salad and watched another fantastic episode of “The Virginian.”

Thursday the 11th – “CROWN LENGTHENING! UGH!” – When someone has a tooth that needs to be prepped for a permanent crown, certain criteria must be met. If the tooth is still relatively healthy, a root canal isn’t necessary. But if the tooth has diminished to the point where decay has come close to the nerve, a root canal must be performed. After that, the tooth can possibly be molded so a crown can be fabricated. However, if not enough of the original tooth structure remains exposed for a crown to attach to, something called a “crown lengthening” procedure must be performed by a Periodontist. This involves removing a few millimeters of gum line below the tooth to expose more of the tooth structure underneath. Now I’m completely honest when I admit that the tooth madness that I’ve been currently going through is all my fault. When my dentist told me a while ago that the X-rays showed some decay occurring beneath an old crown on my #31 tooth (all the way in the back on the lower right) and it should be replaced, I dragged my feet in getting it done. By the time I went in, the decay had advanced beyond an “easy fix.” It likely would have been much less of a hassle had I attended to this a while back. So yeah, it’s all my fault. Before heading to my late-afternoon appointment I hit the bank to make some end-of-year deposits. I mailed off some stuff at the post office, and then went home to relax. I drove to my Periodontist appointment and checked in. The doctor explained what he was going to do, and then he numbed me up and went to it. There was a lot of hammering and chiseling going on, as if he was sculpting a marble statue of some sort. But it had to be done. At one point he decided to refresh my anesthesia, but since my mouth was numb I really couldn’t tell where my tongue was in my mouth. The needle accidentally hit my tongue because the nurse didn’t move it out of the way. YOWCH! I certainly felt THAT! He put in a few stitches, and gave me some post-op instructions. I headed to CVS to pick up the anti-biotics and painkillers he prescribed. This was going to be a lot longer recovery period than I originally thought. He said the healing that needed to occur before I could be molded for the permanent crown could take up to 6 weeks. So much for having my permanent crown by Christmas. In fact, given the fact that it normally takes 2 weeks for a crown to be fabricated, that puts me at a total of 8 weeks before I can go back to eating and chewing normally! This is a lot like getting an implant! But again, I completely blame myself for all this. I’ve learned not to procrastinate about stuff like this – a very hard, painful lesson indeed! After getting my medication I went over to the grocery store to get some soft food that I could eat over the next few days. While I was shopping I ran into my pal Sara Raftery; who’s no stranger to dental adventures herself. It was lucky, too! She advised me on all the foods I should be buying – yogurt, pasta, pudding, cottage cheese, etc. I got back home, showered, and made myself a soft dinner. I got into bed and watched NBC’s broadcast of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” While it’s great having this masterpiece on video, there’s a special feeling in getting to watch it on broadcast TV! Hard to believe this show is 61 years old! I dunno if it was the drugs, or just the fact that I’m getting old and sentimental, but I found myself getting misty-eyed at several points in the show. I know they’re just a bunch of puppets, but DAMN – I get so invested in this beautifully done story. It’s truly a classic that will never be topped. When it was finished I settled in for a nap, and to let the painkillers do their work. But my eyes shot open exactly at 2am, the usual time I go out for my nightly WOG. But my post-op instructions expressly forbid doing any exercise or strenuous activity for 24 to 48 hours. So I decided to stay in. And auditions were out of the question as it physically hurt to talk. I did a little light work around the house, but by morning the pain started to become bad again. I took some more painkillers, made some soft food and watched another episode of “The Virginian” (this show is EPIC!) and slept.

Friday the 12th – HEAL! HEAL! – It was more sleeping, more drugs, and more sleeping. That’s about it.

Saturday the 13th – AND THEN BOREDOM SET IN! – Sleep and rest are the best ways to insure a rapid healing. So I continued napping as much as I could, and stayed on my anti-biotics and painkillers. But eventually I got bored and had to get up and do something. I reconciled the final corporate bank statement of the year. I was feeling pretty good, and the 24 to 48 hour “no exercise” window has completed, so I went outside for a brisk WOG. It felt great. I made some spaghetti and started in on a new show my friend Kelly Delcambre suggested a show from the 70’s called “Fantastic Journey.” It will be my standard Saturday night viewing for the next several weeks. There are only 10 episodes in the season, so it’ll be a real quick viewing. But the amount of amazing guest stars on this show has me intrigued!

Sunday the 14th – SUNDAY STITCHES! – Over the past day I found it difficult to get to sleep. Perhaps I had slept “too much.” But today I finally caught up on some sleep. Later I noticed that one of my dissolving stitches had come out, so that must mean I’m healing pretty well. I probably swallowed it in my sleep, so I hope those things aren’t toxic! The one toward the very back is loose and will most likely come out soon. I recorded some auditions that were due on Monday, and then took my WOG. I worked on some stuff on the computer and then hit the hay. Hard to believe that Christmas is less than TWO WEEKS AWAY! And 2026 is less than THREE WEEKS AWAY! I’ll be glad to be done with this awful year. 2025 was truly one of the worst!

And how was YOUR week??!!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

While making some macaroni and cheese this past week, I opened the box and realized that it came with some extra protein I hadn’t expected to find. EEK!

More sad news this past week, as I found out we lost my old Voice-Over compatriot Jim Ward. When I was working at the Cutler Comedy Network doing radio comedy in the late 90s, I was part of a cast of actors the network called “the holy trinity of W’s” – Jim Ward, Jim Wise, and Wally Wingert. Between the 3 of us, we could replicate just about any voice the scripts required. What a talented, funny guy.

Watching “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” this past week on NBC took me back to 2001 when our Christmas movie party at the Silent Movie Theatre was graced by the presence of Larry D. Mann, the voice of Yukon Cornelius. His son Danny Mann, also a Voice Actor, helped us set up his surprise appearance. What great days!