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Monday the 1st \u2013 D\u2019ANTS WITH THE DEVIL! \u2013<\/span> Later in the afternoon I headed to my mailbox to pick up the new display case I bought for my dad\u2019s 70 year old ukulele. I stopped by Paty\u2019s to get a salad on the patio, and then headed home and worked on doing some editing for a video we\u2019re doing with my Muppet replicas. It was a video I was asked to do a while back, but I wanted to make it special as it\u2019s for a special family in the Midwest whose 9 year old is dealing with some serious health issues. We only need a few more shots and graphics to complete it. But it\u2019s looking pretty good. The stuff that we shot over the weekend didn\u2019t have location sound, so I\u2019m redubbing all of the puppets\u2019 voices in my home studio and putting the better audio on the video. I also decided that I needed an extra scene which utilizes a puppet we hadn\u2019t used yet. He\u2019s a cool looking \u201cleather punk\u201d with a faux leather biker jacket and a green Mohawk. It was much too late to call over another puppet performer, so I set my camera up on the tripod in the Chaney Room, put Kermit the Frog on my right hand, the Leather Punk on my left hand, and acted out the scene between the two. After the first take I got what I needed. I put it in my system, edited it, redid the voices, and cut it into the finished piece. I recorded my nightly auditions and took a short nap. But when I woke up later I noticed more ants in my kitchen! When Spook doesn\u2019t finish all of his dinner, the reconnaissance ants send out the message, and soon I\u2019m overwhelmed! I cleaned the whole area with a Swiffer, typed out Wally\u2019s Week, made some barbecues and watched another episode of \u201cThe Incredible Hulk\u201d while enjoying some of those retro 70\u2019s taco flavored Doritos! I\u2019m glad they\u2019re back!<\/p>\nTuesday the 2nd \u2013 CHEKOV IN THE CHECKOUT! \u2013<\/span> There\u2019s a local lighting place that would be considered a \u201cmom and pop\u201d store that I like to visit from time to time. And since one of the track heads on the north lighting track in my living room has died (bad transformer) I decided to make the switch to LED. I wanted to see if the new LED track heads were compliant with the track I already had installed, or if I\u2019d have to wire in a whole new track. Luckily, I bought six LED track heads that are beautiful (brushed nickel) but also completely compatible with the old halogen track heads! Plus, no transformer! They\u2019re all direct line voltage! NICE! I can\u2019t wait to try them out. For the first time in nearly a decade I hit the local In \u2018N\u2019 Out restaurant by the lighting place. I figured I hadn\u2019t had one in a while, so I\u2019d give it a try again. I\u2019m not entirely sure why people get so addicted to these, because while they\u2019re pretty good, they\u2019re not GREAT. I prefer the burgers at Bob\u2019s Big Boy much more. But hey\u2026I was in the neighborhood so why not? I hit CVS to pick up a few things, print some photo prints of the sign for my dad\u2019s ukulele display, and lo and behold there was Mr. Chekov from the original \u201cStar Trek\u201d series in the checkout with his cart! I said, \u201cHi Walter! Big fan!\u201d He smiled and said hi! Cool. I got home and took a short nap. Later I placed my dad\u2019s ukulele in the display case and it looked like it would display pretty nicely. I designed a little fact sign to display with it; what year he bought, where he got it, etc. I did a little work around the house, and I was dying to see how those new track heads worked. But digging out the tall ladder from the garage and bringing it upstairs was a huge pain in the neck. But I just couldn\u2019t resist. I brought the ladder up, took all of the old halogen track heads out, set them aside, and put all six LED track heads in, locked them into place (it was a VERY tight fit!) and then hit the switch. I felt like Clark Griswold! Voila! The track heads looked magnificent! They were about 30% brighter than the old heads too, and best of all, NO HEAT! They run totally cool! I started thinking about other places in my house where I could replace the halogens with LEDs. But until the old halogens break down and stop working, I\u2019m going to leave well enough alone for now. But boy are they nice! They lit up the whole area nicely! I worked around the house and planned for a \u201cpossible\u201d session on Wednesday. I say \u201cpossible\u201d only because I never received an official confirmation or studio location.<\/p>\nWednesday the 3rd \u2013 CONFIRMATION SNAFU! \u2013<\/span> By the time I got up at noon I had an e-mail from a gal at the studio that had placed me on hold for a session, and it contained the paperwork for the session that day. What session? I never received confirmation. So I wrote back and said I didn\u2019t get a studio location or confirmation. Soon the Casting Director called me on the phone (we\u2019re old friends) and said he thought placing the date \u201con hold\u201d was good enough for a confirmation. Until I reminded him that he never even gave me a studio location. So instead of recording 2 to 6, I asked him if I could get over to the studio by 3 and do 3 hours instead of 4. He said that would help immensely, and to go ahead and confirm the other dates he wanted me to hold initially. I told him we\u2019re confirmed, the studio location was locked in, and we were good to go. On the way to the studio I stopped at Subway to get a sandwich, and then went to the studio and ate quickly before we started the session. Afterwards I got home, worked around the house a bit, napped, and then got up later to do my nightly auditions. I was looking carefully at the lighting array with my new LED track heads and I wasn\u2019t happy with how they were positioned. So I got the tall ladder back up from the garage and refocused the lights on the displays. MUCH better! Sometimes, you just gotta sleep on it! I immediately started designing a small track light system for the Tranquility Zone, but it would have to be in an \u201cL\u201d shape, and I\u2019m not sure they can do that. I have some battery-operated lights up there now, but they eat batteries like crazy. In fact, I\u2019ll hardly even use the lights, and the batteries will STILL drain! So those are going into the dumper very soon. But with this new \u201cL\u201d shaped system I\u2019ll be able to illuminate my Muppet replicas like Kermit, Robin, Animal, Gleep, Beautiful Day and Prairie Dawn, who are in cases against my west wall, as well as Rowlf, Gonzo, Roosevelt Franklin, Mahna Mahna and Baby Java who are in cases against my north wall. Later I spray glued the photo prints of my dad\u2019s uke sign onto foam core, made an awesome salad, and watched another episode of \u201cThe Incredible Hulk.\u201d I didn\u2019t have great expectations for this show early on, but it\u2019s kind of grown on me a little bit.<\/p>\nThursday the 4th \u2013 MOVIN\u2019 MOVIN\u2019 MOVIN\u2019! \u2013<\/span> Now that I\u2019ve decided to display my dad\u2019s 70 year old ukulele in The Puppet Room, I have to move some stuff around to make it happen. When you don\u2019t have one square inch of wall space left in your house (like what\u2019s happening in Planet Wallywood) it takes some real creativity with time and space to accommodate new exhibits. In my Puppet Room, when the door is closed, I have a long, vintage Muppet poster on the left side of the door, and on the right side of the door is a Jay Leno animated cel from the old \u201cDilbert\u201d cartoon, and a framed comic book cover and letter that I wrote my grandma when I was about 10. In the letter I was describing a comic I had just bought where Batman had to help Plastic Man. That letter was given to me after my grandma passed away, as she had kept it in her things all her life. I found a copy of the same comic on eBay and framed the cover with the letter in a two-aperture matte. It\u2019s kind of a nice little family memento. So I moved the Leno cel downstairs and hung it right next to my \u201cTonight Show\u201d cast photo in the living room. I hung the grandma letter in the Chaney bathroom, as I have a lot of framed correspondence in there that people can read while they\u2019re\u2026ahem\u2026doing their business. I moved the long Muppet poster to the right side of the door (where the Leno cel and grandma letter used to be), and that cleared a space on the left side of the door for my dad\u2019s uke. I moved some other things around (animation cels, signs, etc.) in order to clear some more space. A while back my pal Brian bought me a vintage, hand-printed card that was used in a silent movie. This was one of the title cards that explained the narrative of the story. It is a line that was spoken by one of the characters that says, \u201cI\u2019m on a happy errand of my own.\u201d I had it in the Tranquility Zone but it wasn\u2019t very prominently displayed. But now I\u2019m having it rematted and reframed so it can go directly above the door leading to my garage. So yes, every time I got to the garage to go on a happy errand, I\u2019ll see the original silent movie card above the door! Apparently these title cards would get thrown away after the movie was completed, but legend has it that Harry Houdini loved acquiring them to use them as dividers in his filing system. So the title card has a DOUBLY important provenance! I drove to Carl\u2019s Jr. to get some chicken strips and then drove to Michel\u2019s crafts to put the title card in for rematting and reframing. I was looking for some contact paper to put on the wall behind the clear acrylic case that would hold my dad\u2019s uke, because the wall itself is in pretty rough shape. After 22 years of living in Planet Wallywood there are nail holes, paint chips, etc. where I\u2019ve had many photos and pieces of artwork hanging throughout the years. I didn\u2019t think the shabby wall made for a very attractive background. But when I got home I dug through my garage, found a box marked ART PAPER and found a brand new roll of black contact paper! Bingo! I laid the acrylic case on the contact paper, traced it out and even put on marks where the screws would go to hold the case on to the wall. I got my little punch out and punched the screw holes out of the contact paper. Then I held the case up against the wall to mark where the screws would go. It was no easy task, as the case is rather heavy. But I used my body weight to hold it against the wall while I made my marks. Then I got my level out to make sure the case would be level based on those markings. All was good! I remember what my old pal and contractor Terry used to say (may he rest in peace), \u201cMeasure twice, cut once.\u201d Or in this case\u2026DRILL once! I wanted to make sure all the drill holes in the wall would match the holes in the display case perfectly. I drilled each hole carefully, and then attempted to insert the plastic wall anchor. Too small. So I pulled out the next biggest drill bit. Still too small. Then another, then another, then another, and finally I found the right one. The wall anchors went into the wall holes perfectly and seated nicely. I lined up the contact paper backing with the holes and attached the paper to the wall. I smoothed it out nicely, and 3 of the holes I had punched in the paper fit perfectly over the wall holes. The fourth one was about 1\/32\u201d of an inch off. So I took my Xacto knife, widened the hole a bit, and flattened the paper against the wall. Now I was ready to mount the case! I got the screws and washers, screwed all four screws in and the case was solid! Then it was time to put the bracket in the case that would hold the neck of the ukulele. But the manufacturer gave me bolts, instead of screws, and the bracket ended up being a little wonky. But I found longer bolts in my drawer and used those instead. They\u2019re still a little wiggly, but they should work nicely in the long run. I cut the sign out of the foam core, put a little 1 inch spacer on the back, and mounted it to the inside back wall of the case. I put my dad\u2019s original ukulele instruction book on the bottom and finished the display. It looked amazing! Then I took a few pictures to send to my dad. After all that, I really needed a nap! When I got up later I did my nightly auditions, went through my bank account statement to reconcile all my purchases, worked on my computer, and finished the night by doing some other work around the house. Whew! What a day!<\/p>\nFriday the 5th \u2013 PIZZA PIZZA\u2026AND PRESCRIPTIONS! \u2013<\/span> The last time I spoke with my doctor on the phone for our telemedicine visit, he was unable to issue my prescription through the pharmacy\u2019s on-line system. So he suggested that I come to his office and pick up a hand-written prescription and give that a try. The problem is, the pharmacy doesn\u2019t ordinarily stock the medicine I use, so they have to special order it for me. But they don\u2019t special order it until they get a prescription for it. But since the medication isn\u2019t in stock, the store\u2019s algorithm doesn\u2019t allow my doctor to order the prescription, so it\u2019s a bit of a catch 22. Since I had to drive into Burbank to go to my doctor\u2019s office, I figured I\u2019d drive over to Little Caesar\u2019s and get some pizza and Crazy Bread. I drove to the medical complex and ate in my car while listening to some music. Then I went inside, grabbed the RX and was on my way. I stopped off to get my packages at my mailbox, and then I drove to CVS to drop off the RX. (No Mr. Checkov, though) I got some groceries at the store and then went home to meet up with my maids so they could clean Planet Wallywood. I worked on the computer for a bit, took a nap, and then did some work around the house later. On my walk through the complex with Roxy, I found a great location for skywatching. It\u2019s in a darker area where I can sit and enjoy the stars and the sky. I had sat in that same area before, but on the street level. But right by that there are about a dozen stairs that take you to a little elevated area that has a few shrubs. There\u2019s just enough room to put a chair there, and I can put my feet up on the rails and relax. It directly faces the western sky, and directly in my line of sight is an old, dead tree. It\u2019s really rather picturesque! So I call that little area \u201cDead Tree Terrace.\u201d I really like being elevated as I feel I\u2019m that much closer to the sky! I\u2019ll be going out there a lot more in the future, but I had gotten out too late that night. Morning was fast dawning. I finished my walk with Roxy, went inside to prep some hot dogs on the grill, and got ready to watch another episode of \u201cThe Incredible Hulk.\u201d But when I turned on the DVD I realized I had seen the last episode of season 1. I had forgotten that season 1 of \u201cThe Incredible Hulk\u201d was a short season as it was a mid-season replacement series. Rats. I thought and thought about what show I wanted to run instead. I didn\u2019t really want to start another series, as it was Friday night, and Saturday night would be \u201cLaurel and Hardy Theatre Night!\u201d Maybe there was a one-off of some kind that I could watch just for that night. But then I had the realization that I have \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d season 4 and 5 on a flash drive and I haven\u2019t seen them yet! So I made my hot dogs and watched the first two episodes with John Denver and Crystal Gayle from the fourth season. I love that show! I totally forgot I had those episodes, because I was saving to watch them on movie night. But since I haven\u2019t had Saturday night movie night since the world melted down in early 2020, the episodes of \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d have just been sitting around on the flash drive.<\/p>\nSaturday the 6th \u2013 THE HARBINGER OF WINTER! \u2013<\/span> My pal Sabrina came over and we headed to GNC to get some vitamins, the cigar store so I could get a few nice cigars, and eventually to Ernie\u2019s Taco House for dinner. It was so nice hearing live music at the restaurant again! We got back to Planet Wallywood and did some work. I had some complicated auditions to do on Sunday night so I did a little prep work on those. I took her outside and showed her Dead Tree Terrace and we sat out there just staring at the sky for about an hour. VERY peaceful and nice! And the weather at that time of night was perfect\u2026around 76 degrees! And since it was the first Saturday of the month, we prepped for \u201cLaurel and Hardy Theatre!\u201d (The first Saturday of every month I watch a Laurel and Hardy film in Planet Wallywood.) Tonight\u2019s movie was probably one of the funniest films of their later film career\u2026\u201dBlockheads!\u201d Hilarious! So I made my usual Chef Boyardee pizza (light sauce and pepperoni on Sabrina\u2019s half, extra sauce, pepperoni, summer sausage and sauerkraut on my half!) and got ready for the movie! As it got close to dawn, I looked out my bedroom window at the sky. Orion had returned! The Orion constellation is only visible to us here in Southern California in the fall\/winter months because of the planet\u2019s rotation and the times the sun is in the sky. But it was at that perfect time where Orion had just cleared the eastern horizon, and it was still dark enough out to see it. But in literally 30 minutes it would be too light to see it again. So we caught Orion in the sweet spot! You know what that means, right? Winter is coming!<\/p>\nSunday the 7th \u2013 SUMMER\u2026DON\u2019T GO! \u2013<\/span> It was pretty hot out, but I like it that way. Sabrina and I headed to Paty\u2019s in the late afternoon to eat lunch. Nobody was on the patio except us, but in the shade the heat isn\u2019t really that bad. It was delightful! As the evening started to creep in, a nice cool breeze blew over the patio area. It was delightful! When we got back Sabrina took off, and I checked my e-mail to see that my pal Scott Sebring had sent a few clips that I needed for that Muppet video we\u2019re doing for the little kid in South Dakota. I sat down with joy and cut them into the edit. I still have some pieces to get and edit in, but those should be coming this week and I can wrap it up and get it sent over. VERY exciting! I grabbed a short nap and then got up later to tackle the complicated auditions. One included some singing, and the others included some sound-alike voices. Afterwards I grabbed my comfy chair and headed to Dead Tree Terrace. But I caught myself falling asleep! It\u2019s SO relaxing! I\u2019ve got to make the most of it while the weather overnight is so perfect! It was peaceful, calm, and serene. I measured out the dimensions for the \u201cL\u201d shaped track light system in the Tranquility Zone and drew out my plans to show the owner of the lighting store. Based on the nice job I did installing that acrylic display case in the Puppet Room, my confidence is bolstered that I\u2019ll have no problem mounting this new track light system in the Tranquility Zone!<\/p>\nAnd how was YOUR week??!!<\/p>\n
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PIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n
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