{"id":10969,"date":"2021-03-22T06:37:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T13:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/?p=10969"},"modified":"2021-03-30T07:12:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:12:25","slug":"march-22-march-28-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/march-22-march-28-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"March 22 -March 28 (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK<\/h3>\n

I’m the most famous person to ever have the name Wingert? Really? I didn’t even know this was a thing! But hey. At least I’ve got THAT going for me!<\/p>\n

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One of my favorite “chill” artists to listen to when I’m relaxing in Palm Springs is Washed Out. On a whim I did a search to see if he had any new music, and come to find out, he released a new album in late 2020! I bought the CD and it yielded several great new songs for my collection. The best track on the album is “Time to Walk Away,”<\/span> which I’ve been humming ever since I got the CD.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Time-To-Walk-Away.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Monday the 22nd \u2013 MUSCLE-CAR MAKEOVER! \u2013<\/span> The day started early as I needed to have my Mustang into the body shop early so they could start work on it. I have been driving my Gran Torino for the past 3 weeks, giving the Mustang a bit of a rest. But when I went to start the Mustang up it protested a little. The battery might have been a bit low, but once she got going \u2013 all was good. The finish of my car was looking a bit worn, and there was some sun damage on the paint in certain areas. So I took it to a body\/paint shop in the area that specializes in Ford vehicles. This shop is highly recommended by the dealership where I originally bought my Mustang back in 2004. The particular model of Mustang I have is a collector\u2019s edition, and only about 1300 of them were made to celebrate 100 years of Ford. So I try to keep it looking and running as well as possible to maintain its resale value. In addition to some buffing and polishing, they\u2019re also going to do some touch-up painting. And the front and rear bumpers will be completely repainted. It\u2019ll take about a week. I\u2019ve been trying to work out the timing to get it over there for quite a while now. Michelle followed me over to the shop, I dropped the car off, and she drove me back. On the way we stopped at Denny\u2019s and actually had breakfast INSIDE the restaurant! It was good to be inside Denny\u2019s again! While I was in Michelle\u2019s car she had music playing, which was streaming from her phone through her car\u2019s stereo. She (and others) give me a hard time because I\u2019m a bit old-fashioned; in that I like my iPod for my music, and I still have a flip phone. But I only have to charge my phone about once a week, and it seems like Michelle\u2019s battery is constantly close to being empty. (Others I know have this issue too) it\u2019s because they use their phone for virtually everything. So on the way home, certain songs came up that neither she nor I cared for. So she skipped ahead to the next one. She was trying to sell me on the usefulness of a streaming service (like Spotify), but I wasn\u2019t seeing the advantage. I said, \u201cSo you pay money each month for a service that plays songs for you that sometimes you don\u2019t like. And you get the service through your phone and it runs your battery down to almost nothing because Bluetooth really drains your power. OK. I get it.\u201d Then I said, \u201cWhy would I want this? Every song on my iPod is a personal favorite and I never have to jump ahead. And it\u2019s free.\u201d I guess I just don\u2019t grasp the usefulness of streaming music services, as I like to own every song I like. It\u2019s why I just had a 30 pin iPod cable to my Gran Torino, so I can have \u201cRadio Wally\u201d wherever I go; exclusively offering music that I choose, as opposed to some algorithm. Oh well, different strokes I guess. When my iPod stops working I\u2019ll have to figure something else out, but until then, I choose \u201cRadio Wally.\u201d I got back home and took care of the pets and did some more work on my Christoween book. Then I hopped in my Gran Torino and drove to my mailbox to pick up my packages and have a salad on the patio at Paty\u2019s. It felt good to drink in some of that spring sunshine! I got back home and dressed my \u201cBatkid\u201d display in the pair of jeans and boots I just got in the mail from eBay. When I was a kid playing Batman, I had my own homemade Batman costume that I had culled together from various household sources. I\u2019m trying to loosely replicate those days in a display I call \u201cBatkid.\u201d The mannequin is wearing a vintage Ideal Toy Company plastic Batman helmet and cape (the one I had on display at the Hollywood Museum a few years ago), and a vintage Batman t-shirt (exactly like the one I got as a present on my 5th birthday). I used to tuck my jeans into my Wellington boots, and strap a belt around my waist to replicate Batman\u2019s boots and utility belt. I also wore a pair of brown winter gloves on my hands. I found a pair of jeans and boots that would fit my mannequin, but I still need to get a pair of brown jersey gloves and a thin children\u2019s belt. Then the display will be complete. Though I never had the Ideal helmet and cape as a kid (I had a Ben Cooper mask and cape set) it looks very nice and retro in this particular display. I did a few auditions and did some more work on my first Christoween book. I\u2019m using some of the illustrations my artist pal Luke Ski did for the animatic we did a few months ago. But since they\u2019re all in black and white, I needed to download the hi rez images from him and color them all in my graphics program. Some images were easy to color, and some were more challenging. But they should all look terrific in the book when it\u2019s finished. (See last week\u2019s Wally\u2019s Week<\/a>) Later I typed out Wally\u2019s Week, made some stew and watched two more \u201cLone Ranger\u201d episodes. The series started out with a 5 part serialized story, but now they\u2019re going with stand-alone episodes. I\u2019m having a lot of fun watching this show, and it\u2019s bringing back some good memories. Batman & Robin. Starsky & Hutch. Laurel & Hardy. Lone Ranger and Tonto. It seems I\u2019ve always been attracted to great cinematic duos in my life.<\/p>\n

Tuesday the 23rd \u2013 TUESDAY TONSIL TICKLE! \u2013<\/span> There were several errands that needed to be run, so Michelle and I hopped in the Gran Torino and headed to CVS to pick up some supplies, we had lunch at Panera, got a few grocery items, and then headed to Staples to pick up a few things for my office. Then I went home to do some work and later, a TON of auditions. Some of the voices I needed to do were tough on the throat, and I had several songs I needed to learn, so by the end of the audition process I had developed a slight tickle in my throat. So I fed the kids, walked Roxy and turned in.<\/p>\n

Wednesday the 24th \u2013 ORDER PLACED! CHRISTOWEEN LIVES! \u2013<\/span> Two new orders for Cameos had come in, and I tackled the easiest one first. I shot the video, edited it and sent it over to my pal who handles delivery of all that stuff for me. Then my pal Joe Garner came by so we could do a quick session for a podcast he\u2019s working on which recreates certain historical events. After he left I finalized a few things on my Christoween book, and met my pal Sara for dinner at The Smokehouse! It was great being able to eat inside again. I had really missed it! I got back home, put the finishing touches on the book\u2019s layout in Shutterfly and hit the order button. VERY exciting! I\u2019ll get the first copy in, give it a quick QC (quality control) and if everything looks good I\u2019ll order more copies. If not, I\u2019ll make the appropriate adjustments to the layout and order another one. Later I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched two more Lone Ranger episodes. One of them featured a VERY young DeForrest Kelly \u2013 a baby-faced Dr. McCoy from \u201cStar Trek.\u201d I looked at him and said to myself, \u201cBrother, you have no idea what\u2019s about to happen to you in another 15 years.\u201d That\u2019s the great thing about seeing some of these iconic actors in early roles, before they became icons. You can see them at work, completely unaware that their work will be legendary in a few short years. This episode was filmed in 1949, and \u201cStar Trek\u201d hit the air in 1966. It\u2019s fascinating for me to see this, and I love it. It\u2019s like the time I caught a young Harrison Ford in an episode of \u201cLove American Style.\u201d Again, completely unaware at that stage of his life what was going to happen to him someday. Life is fascinating!<\/p>\n

Thursday the 25th \u2013 PINOCCHIO MEETS THE LONE RANGER! \u2013<\/span> One of my partners in the Christoween project is an attorney whose help has been invaluable in obtaining trademarks and parsing out legal advice for the property. I had designed a \u201chang tag\u201d for the sale of the Frankie Christoween Stalking, and she had some comments about the design so it was compatible with the trademarks we own. We have to prove commercial usage of our products to the trademark office, so that\u2019s why we\u2019re getting the books and Stalkings ready for the marketplace, on a limited basis. So I spent the day redesigning the hang tag (it\u2019ll be attached to the top of the Stalking) based on her comments. Later I had a TON of auditions. I drove the Torino over to Denny\u2019s to get some food, and came back to watch two more Lone Ranger episodes and enjoy my dinner. Dickie Jones (the voice of Pinocchio) was in one of the episodes. I had met Dickie several years ago at an autograph show and had him sign a bunch of Pinocchio items, as that\u2019s one of my favorite Disney films.<\/p>\n

Friday the 26th \u2013 UNDER THE WEATHER! \u2013<\/span> Thankfully, not me. But Michelle called to say that she had left work early because she was feeling ill. She had the Wu-Flu back in January, so we knew it couldn\u2019t be that again. I suspected it was just a run-of-the-mill head cold. But in any event, she wasn\u2019t feeling well. Scratchy throat, back ache, and fatigue. I started to \u201cdo the math\u201d and I hearkened back to the tonsil tickle I had last Tuesday. I wondered if the illness had tried to lock its talons into me too, but because of all the supplements I take and all the rest I get, it passed relatively unnoticed. So I just rested and relaxed all day and did a few fun things around the house. After finishing up my nightly auditions, I decided to start making the arm rods for the Prairie Dawn replica Muppets that Michelle and I are making. I had the wood dowels all cut, sanded and ready. I just needed to cut the wire for the rods. This proved to be a real challenge. I bought 2mm music wire for the rods. The bundle came with three 36\u201d lengths of the wire, and needed to be cleaned. They were coated with some sort of oil, so I soaked a paper towel with alcohol and cleaned them up nice and neat. But as I dragged the paper towel along the length of the wire, it gave off a \u201csqueaky\u201d kind of tone. It was cool. It almost sounded like somebody was whistling a note. Music wire. Go figure. Then it came time to cut the 36\u201d lengths in half, but good luck trying to cut this stuff! I have a pretty beefy pair of wire cutters, but it took almost my entire weight bearing down on the cutters to get these wires to separate! I cut two of the wires into 18\u201d lengths. I\u2019d use the third wire in the bundle as a test wire for paint and primer tests. I came up with a pretty slick method for making arm rods. If you\u2019re into puppets, or puppet building, you\u2019ll love what I\u2019m about to write. If not, you will have no interest in any of this. In the wood dowel handle I drilled a hole about halfway down the 4\u201d dowel. Then I took the 18\u201d wires and put a little \u201cL\u201d bend in one end of each wire. I only needed a bend of about \u00bc\u201d to be seated into the hole in the dowel. Then the rest of the length of the wire would run parallel to the length of the wood dowel. Normally I would wrap the dowel and the wire in a piece of suede and glue it, so the wire and dowel are forever married But that means there\u2019s bit of a \u201cspeed bump\u201d on the dowel where the wire protrudes. I laid the wire along the dowel where it would live permanently, hammered the \u201cL\u201d bend into the hole so it\u2019s snug, and hammered the wire against the dowel to make a slight indentation. Then I removed the wire and where the indentation was, I chiseled out a small groove with a hammer and a flathead screwdriver. This would give the wire a little \u201ccanal\u201d to settle into, so once the suede was wrapped around it, the whole thing would be flush, with no wire protrusion! Once the canal was chiseled, I hammered the wire into place on the dowel and it was very snug! I used some Barge glue to attach the suede pieces to the dowel and let it sit for a bit. Then I put some black paint on the tips of the dowel, and capped them off with dome-shaped upholstery tacks to give them a \u201cfinished\u201d look. They looked terrific! Now I just needed to bend in a \u201cV\u201d into the ends, prime the wires, and paint them flat black.<\/p>\n

Saturday the 27th \u2013 PRODUCTIVE DAY! \u2013<\/span> Since the day was so gorgeous I walked over to my stylist to get a touch-up on my color. Then I walked over to get a few supplies for Roxy\u2019s meals at the local pet supply store, and I stopped at Subway to get a sandwich. I came home and enjoyed my lunch, and did some work around the house. Michelle and I chatted quite a bit, though she\u2019s home recuperating. It was important for her to stay home and relax, but she was feeling restless. She got tested Friday for the Wu-Flu, but I don\u2019t see how she could possibly have it again so soon. She\u2019ll probably get her results on Monday. I had some time so I recorded my auditions, which were due on Monday. I did some more work around the house, and later made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and watched an episode of \u201cThe Saint.\u201d Though I\u2019ve seen every episode of this terrific show, it\u2019s been so many years since I had originally seen them, it was like seeing them again for the first time. What a great show!<\/p>\n

Sunday the 28th \u2013 \u201cV\u201d FOR VERY DIFFICULT! \u2013<\/span> Bending the \u201cV\u201d shapes into the tips of the puppet rods proved to be a very difficult task. Music wire must be very dense, which is why I had such a tough time cutting it to size. Well, it\u2019s equally as difficult to bend. I felt like I needed a vice grip to get the \u201cV\u201d shapes bent into this wire, but all I had were pliers. With a lot of elbow grease and pressure, I finally got the \u201cV\u201d shapes bent into the ends of all the rods. I could have done a simple \u201cL\u201d shape, but once they\u2019re sewn into the puppet\u2019s wrists an \u201cL\u201d shape may still come out of the seam. But a \u201cV\u201d shaped bend will ensure that once the wires are stitched into the puppet\u2019s arms, it won\u2019t ever pop out unintentionally. I grabbed the third length of wire that I was keeping for a test, and took it outside to give a portion of the wire a coat of primer. Then I let it sit for a while to dry. It turned out very nicely, so I masked off the puppet rods (covering the suede handles with plastic and cardboard) and primed the wire portions of the rods. Since it was at the end of the day and I was losing sunlight, I decided to let the primed rods sit overnight, and I would hit them with flat black paint on Monday afternoon. I should be seeing my fabricator Alex in Wonderland this coming week to see the progress she made on the fleece coverings for Prairie\u2019s head and body. I\u2019ll take these finished rods to her so she can incorporate them into her arms before she stuffs them with fiber fill. Very exciting!<\/p>\n

And how was YOUR week??!!<\/p>\n

PIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n

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Here is the process of making the puppet rods for our Prairie Dawn replica Muppets. Difficult, but fun!<\/p><\/div>\n

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While randomly checking the weather in Palm Springs, I was delighted to see that it’s starting to get into the temperatures I love! I sense a vacation coming soon to Palm Springs!<\/p><\/div>\n

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My two sleeping buddies…Roxy and Spook.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Out in the Gran Torino, running errands!<\/p><\/div>\n

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But running around so hectically can make me tired!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Sunning myself in the spring sunshine on the patio at Paty’s. It felt GOOD! Summer’s coming!<\/p><\/div>\n

I like digging through my old videos and pulling out short clips to post on my social media. People seem to really like this vintage stuff.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/947-The-Wave.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Here I am doing overnights on 94.7 The Wave back in 1990 – lulling L.A. to sleep with the Smooth Jazz.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Batman-meets-Elvis.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

I’ll bet you never knew that Batman met Elvis! Here’s Adam West at a convention in Las Vegas in 1990 meeting an Elvis impersonator.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Phantom-in-Portland.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

In the 90s I did a fair amount of appearances as The Phantom of the Opera, and I ran across this video from a charity event in Portland, Oregon in October of 1990.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/09_chris_deween_stalking.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Here’s the latest Christoween Stalking video I posted, featuring a lawyer who’s a REAL shark…Chris DeWeen!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK I’m the most famous person to ever have the name Wingert? Really? I didn’t even know this was a thing! But hey. At least I’ve got THAT going for me! One of my favorite “chill” artists to listen to when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wallysweek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}