{"id":16151,"date":"2024-05-27T06:10:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T13:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/?p=16151"},"modified":"2024-06-05T07:44:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T14:44:30","slug":"may-27-june-02-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/may-27-june-02-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"May 27 – June 02 (2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I saw this on Twitter this past week and almost spit out my iced tea, I was laughing so hard. I’m a big fan of alternative messages being presented because of burned out letters on lighted signs, but this may be the best one ever!<\/p>\n

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As I was walking into the Monsterpalooza convention on Saturday morning the song “Jaded”<\/span> by Aerosmith was in my head, and stayed there for most of the day. What a great sounding song.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jaded.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Monday the 27th \u2013 MEMORIAL DAY! \u2013<\/span> Even on holidays it\u2019s sometimes necessary to work. A video game company was behind on their project so they asked my agent if I would do a one-hour session from my home studio on Memorial Day. I gladly said yes. I didn\u2019t have much else going on anyway on this day, so why not make some dough? When I finished I called my pal Chris Malmin and asked him to meet me for lunch at Paty\u2019s. I\u2019ve known Chris since I was 25 and living in South Dakota. He\u2019s pretty much like the little brother I never had. We had a 3+ hour lunch; laughing, reminiscing, and catching up. I drove back home and did some work around the house, and recorded some auditions that were due Tuesday morning. Later I typed out Wally\u2019s Week, took my nightly WOG (walk\/jog) and spent some time outside in the anti-gravity chair enjoying some relaxation under a gorgeous night sky. Since it\u2019s my Memorial Day tradition, I made some hot dogs on the grill and watched the final episode from the first season of \u201cThe High Chaparral.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday the 28th \u2013 FROGENSTEIN! \u2013<\/span> In anticipation for this weekend\u2019s Monsterpalooza in Pasadena, I had a lot of things to do to prepare for a little project I was doing for the convention. I wanted to do a mash-up of Kermit the Frog and Frankenstein. If you\u2019ve been following Wally\u2019s Week for the past month or so, you\u2019re well aware of the adventures; from the puppet arriving four days late, to all of the other things involved in creating this character. I needed some more Barge glue (a wonderful glue for puppet-making), so I headed over to Foam Mart in Burbank to get some. Right across the street is Hobby Lobby, so I went there to buy some other things I needed for the build. I picked up some special scissors to make his little wrist and leg scars, some elastic, and some \u201cKermit green-colored\u201d Velcro. Perfect! I picked up a few groceries at the store, stopped at Paty\u2019s for a salad, and headed home to do some work. I had an audition I needed to record, and I bought an additional weekend pass for Monsterpalooza for my friend Edi. Later I took my nightly WOG and spent some more time decompressing afterwards in my anti-grav chair outside. When I got back inside I sat down and compiled a detailed list for the things I\u2019d need for this weekend\u2019s convention.<\/p>\n

Wednesday the 29th \u2013 BUCKET HEAD! \u2013<\/span> After a quick stop through the McDonald\u2019s drive-thru for some lunch, I headed over to Atlas Studios in Burbank to do a one-hour session for another video game. I had done several sessions for this project previously, and it\u2019s always fun to revisit it. Hopefully I\u2019ll be in for a few more sessions before the game is officially released, as the producers said the response to my character during Beta testing has been very favorable. When I got back home I did some prep work, as my pal Drew Massey was going to come by later and help me construct the Frogenstein head piece for my Kermit puppet. I was OK making the monster boots myself, but the head piece was a different animal. In order to get an accurate measurement for the piece, my hand had to be INSIDE the puppet\u2019s head. And that\u2019s a little hard to do by myself. Plus having Drew\u2019s expertise would be a fantastic addition to the character. When he arrived later I was amazed that he simply eye-balled what needed to be built, and really never took any measurements! That\u2019s experience for ya! He also suggested adding the typical Frankenstein eyelids, which I hadn\u2019t considered doing, but they looked great! We got the main piece constructed and after he left I continued working on it. I managed to get the fabric attached to the piece, and even applied the fake fur for hair. Because it would take some time (and a lot of hair spray) to get those trademark Frankenstein bangs on his forehead, I just let the hair fly free until after Drew had completed his work on it. I also added little metal clamps and screws to his head to give him that recognizable Frankenstein look. It was turning out very well! Drew will return on Thursday to finish up the head piece by attaching the bulky brow. I recorded my nightly auditions, worked around the house, took my nightly WOG, and relaxed in the anti-grav chair outside before bed.<\/p>\n

Thursday the 30th \u2013 THE \u201cCOUNT\u201d-DOWN IS ON! \u2013<\/span> The day began with my pal Drew Massey helping to complete the Frogenstein headpiece by stitching on a bulky Frankenstein brow. He made it by putting a piece of armature wire inside a piece of L200 (rubbery material) and gluing it together. That way the brow could be bent to the contours of Frogenstein\u2019s eyes. I was supposed to stop by the Alex In Wonderland studios after Drew finished so I could pick up the newly re-done Count Von Count replica puppet, as well as the finished costume for the Frogenstein puppet. I figured I\u2019d stop at Paty\u2019s and get a salad before heading over there. But while I was eating Alex texted me to tell me she wasn\u2019t feeling well and was at the doctor’s. She said to come by later and check the progress. So, I headed back home. My pal Sara came over to do some work, and later my friends Scott and Vickie Sebring stopped by to transfer some newly-tweaked digital copies of the Laurel & Hardy films that weren\u2019t reading on my system last weekend (see last week\u2019s Wally\u2019s Week). I tested them on my system and they all worked perfectly. Now I have all 40 shorts on a hard drive that I can randomly select from anytime I want to see them. We headed over to the Coral Caf\u00e9 to get some dinner, and then we all went to Alex In Wonderland\u2019s shop to check on her progress. She was just in the early stages of building the Frogenstein costume and I started to panic a little. I\u2019d be leaving for the con the next day! The Count looked great with his new nose and monocle. I brought her the wire for the eyebrows, as the wire and the monocle needed to be stitched down to his face before the nose is stitched down. We still had a lot to do, but she promised me that her husband Mike would bring The Count by later that night so I could begin the process of building his eyebrows. Since his eyebrows \u201cfloat\u201d on wires, I needed to have the wires secured to his face under the nose. Then the two ends of the wires come out of spots toward the top of his nose, and that\u2019s where I needed to add the leather backing and the felt eyebrows. With my fingers crossed I headed back home to record my auditions for the night. My pal Kenny Myers called me (he\u2019s one of the top make-up artists in the biz and he made me up as Tony Clifton back in 2022) and asked if I was coming to Monsterpalooza. I told him I was. He said they\u2019d be doing make-ups to celebrate the 50th anniversary of \u201cYoung Frankenstein,\u201d and he asked if I would stop by his booth and do some live announcing. I told him I would be honored, and I would have Frogenstein in tow. He thought it was a terrific idea! FUN! While I waited for Mike to arrive with The Count I did some packing for the weekend. I don\u2019t like driving back and forth to the convention in Pasadena from my house every day, so I get a room at the hotel next door to the convention center. Back in 2022 when I did Tony Clifton for the After Party the producer got me a hotel room. Since then I\u2019ve been spoiled. It helps with the parking problems too, as parking around Monsterpalooza is always a challenge. Later Mike delivered the Count and his new nose and monocle were vast improvements over the other ones. He had two little black wires sticking out the top of his nose and they looked like a bug\u2019s antennae! I sat down in the kitchen and covered the entire puppet with plastic so no glue would drip anywhere I didn\u2019t want it. I drew out the pattern for the eyebrows (which I had done wrong the first few incarnations of this character) and they looked perfect! I traced the pattern onto two pieces of thin leather, and glued it onto the backs of the wires. Then I spray-glued two pieces of black felt together, and cut eyebrows out of that. I glued the leather and wire together with the felt eyebrows. The idea is that the wires will be \u201clocked in\u201d between the leather and the eyebrows and never come apart. They looked fantastic. I got a ton of work done throughout the day and I was very happy. I took my nightly WOG but didn\u2019t spend much time outside afterwards in the anti-grav chair. I needed to do an early session on Friday morning, so I hit the hay to get a little bit of sleep.<\/p>\n

Friday the 31st \u2013 MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 1! \u2013<\/span> First thing in the morning I set up for the Star Wars-related session that I\u2019d be doing in my home studio. I can\u2019t say anything more about it, but it was a very fun hour-long session. I did some last minute packing, and I was still waiting nervously for Frogenstein to be delivered by Alex from Alex In Wonderland. It looked like she might be bringing him over just mere minutes before I was set to leave the convention at 2. I got everything packed and loaded into the Gray Ghost, and got ready to go. Alex and Mike pulled up with Frogenstein and he looked FANTASTIC! She still had a few things to sew, so she stood in my garage and did last minute stitching. I drove to Pasadena and checked into my room \u2013 566. Not 666. But 566. One floor below the devil, I guess. We all had a nice laugh about that. I unpacked and headed to the little restaurant in the hotel lobby. Later Angi dropped by to have dinner with me. The hotel had the silent \u201cHunchback of Notre Dame\u201d with Lon Chaney running on the screen just outside the restaurant, so they really knew how to tap into the Monsterpalooza crowd\u2019s interests. Shortly after 6, Angi and I grabbed my Beautiful Day monster puppet and got in line to get our wristbands. My back was already sore from all of the crazy activity leading up to this weekend. But the line went fairly quickly and we got inside with no problem. As is usual with Monsterpalooza I saw a lot of great friends. While the line was short for the museum, Angi and I headed in. I ran into my pal Casey Wong, a fantastic sculptor and make-up artist, and legendary puppet builder Bill Diamond. We had a great time chatting about puppets, make-up, and Muppets. Angi and I wandered around the convention and she took some great pictures and video on her extravagant camera. It\u2019s amazing to see the look on people\u2019s faces when they see a Muppet from across the room; even if they don\u2019t recognize the character right away. Just the fact that it has the trademark Muppet look is enough to turn even the most hardened person into an immediate softie. We stopped by the Monster Party booth and saw my pals Larry, Matt, James & Shawn. It\u2019s always great to see those guys. Even though the show was open until 11, we took off around 10. I was already pretty exhausted and I was ready to chill and have a bite to eat. We picked up some food in the little store in the hotel lobby and went to my room to eat and hang out with Angi\u2019s little doggie Khloe. In honor of the character in the film \u201cThe Ghost of Frankenstein\u201d named Cloestine (played by my friend, the late Janet Ann Gallow), I refer to Khloe as Khloestine. And she had quite the interest in the Frogenstein puppet, but we had to keep it away lest Khloestine mistake him for a chew toy!<\/p>\n

Saturday the 1st \u2013 MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 2! \u2013<\/span> When I got up in the morning I cut some pieces of sticky-backed black and red vinyl to use as the fingernails and wrist scars for Frogenstein. I figured the vinyl wouldn\u2019t stick to the fleece on Kermit\u2019s skin for very long, but I\u2019d give it a shot anyway. In the future I\u2019m going to use the male side of red and black Velcro, as that will stick to the fleece material very securely. My pal Sara showed up to assist me for the day, taking photos and video, and generally helping out. Unfortunately my pal Edi got sick, and wouldn\u2019t be coming. I had bought a separate weekend pass just for her, so I called my pal Jim Ojala to offer it to him. He said he\u2019d meet me later in the day to pick it up. So at least it didn\u2019t go to waste. Saturdays at Monsterpalooza usually sell out pretty fast, so it\u2019s never difficult to find a taker for a spare wristband. I made contact with Scott at the Premiere Products, Inc. booth and told him I was ready to announce anything he needed. He had me hype up the \u201cYoung Frankenstein\u201d tribute and it was a great presentation. The character make-ups looked fantastic! Frogenstein was a huge hit, and it was great improvising and interacting with the Monsterpalooza fans. Later Sara and I headed back to the hotel to get a late lunch. The restaurant is very convenient, but I wish they had a great selection of food beyond just hamburgers and Mexican food. I remember eating there last year and they had a much wider selection of entrees. Oh well, it was convenient at least. Sara took off and I headed back to the room at the end of the convention to take a nap. By the time I got up it was about 9:30 at night, and I had agreed to meet my pal Perry outside the hotel for some cigar time. We always talk about doing it every year, but something always comes up to prevent me from meeting him. This year we were doing it! It was a \u201cTWO cigar\u201d night (which is rare for me), but we had such a great time chatting and chilling about everything from monsters to Laurel & Hardy, that we talked for about 3.5 hours\u2026until 1 in the morning! I had brought down the ice bucket from my room filled with ice and two Cokes in glass bottles. It was an amazingly fun time! I went back to my room to pack up some stuff I wouldn\u2019t be needing for the rest of the trip. Assuming that bell carts would be hard to come by at 11am checkout time the next morning, I commandeered one at 2am and took the majority of my luggage down to my car and stored it there. That way, when checkout time comes the next morning, I\u2019ll only have two bags with me that I can carry by hand.<\/p>\n

Sunday the 2nd \u2013 MONSTERPALOOZA: DAY 3! \u2013<\/span> After a quick shower, I loaded up my remaining items in two bags and carried them down to my car. I\u2019m sure glad I pre-loaded my car with the majority of the stuff the night before, as bell carts were (as expected) very hard to come by. I got to the convention with only one bag in-hand, and that bag contained The Count. I ran into my pal and seamstress Maggie Roberge (who helped construct The Count) and we walked around the convention floor. She had her original puppet creation Hunter the wolf, and I had The Count. Again, it was fun interacting and improvising with the Monsterpaloozans. My friend and Christoween trademark attorney Stephanie met us to hang out for a while, and we had fun commenting on all of the merchandise and how perfect Christoween would be for Monsterpalooza some year. We took some photos, I shot some videos with people, and it was a great time. It\u2019s amazing to see people\u2019s faces when they spot a Muppet and pass by. But when the puppet moves, looks at them and talks to them in the character voice, they are overcome with delight. It\u2019s so much darned fun! Later my pal Isaiah arrived to hang out with us, and I\u2019m glad I got to introduce him to Stephanie. Isaiah and Maggie will be creating stop-motion Christoween puppets very soon for a 1 minute sizzle reel we\u2019re creating. At the end of the day Maggie, Stephanie and I found ourselves back at the hotel restaurant for lunch. I put the Count in my car and we went back to the convention to do some last-minute shopping. I did some more announcing at the PPI booth, and then PPI\u2019s owner and I hatched a plan to create pre-recorded announcements for future conventions that he could play all weekend-long without me having to be on-site. Brilliant! Right around 3:30 I headed back to my car to head home. I. Was. Exhausted. But happily so. It was a fantastic weekend, but my lower back was killing me! When I got home I did some work and put some stuff away. I knew that if I laid down for a nap I\u2019d never make my dinner engagement later\u2026so I made myself busy. Later I met my pals Alex Zsolt and Rob Richards at the Smoke House for dinner. They had both just attended the funeral for Disney music legend Richard Sherman. I got back home and I had to grab a nap! Later I got up refreshed, and took a nice WOG and spent some VERY relaxing time in the anti-grav chair. It was nice and cool out, and very, very pleasant. I came back inside and put some more stuff away from the weekend. It was a busy night, but eventually I hit the hay and hoped to sleep for a good 7 to 8 hours.<\/p>\n

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

PIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n

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My pal Dr. Lou George (Dr. Doom, to his friends) received the Dr. Doom bust I sent to him as a gift. His daughter Claudia also approves!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Puppet builder, puppeteer, producer & legend Drew Massey checks the fit of the completed Frogenstein head on the Kermit puppet.<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the video game session this past week, I brought along my Voices Against Cancer tote bag filled with cold iced tea! I can’t wait for the next convention this July 20 and 21 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hey! Didn’t I see this guy lurking around the streets of Gotham City recently? It’s an amazing Mark Hamill figure in the Monsterpalooza museum!<\/p><\/div>\n

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It’s always great to see old friends again on the convention floor!<\/p><\/div>\n

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My buddy Kelly DelCambre unveiled his amazing Mummy figure!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Beautiful Day and I can’t believe we’re here!<\/p><\/div>\n

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It’s always fun to run into make-up and sculpting legend Casey Wong!<\/p><\/div>\n

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My hotel room looked like Puppet Central, as I prepare Frogenstein for his debut!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Frogenstein doesn’t seem too creeped out by the twins from “The Shining.”<\/p><\/div>\n

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There’s always time to stop for a selfie…<\/p><\/div>\n

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…or two…<\/p><\/div>\n

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…or three…<\/p><\/div>\n

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…or four…<\/p><\/div>\n

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…or five…<\/p><\/div>\n

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…or MORE!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hey Kermit! We’re here!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Beware of creeping monster frogs!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Frogenstein gives his best monster growl!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Well, if it isn’t the amazing Jim Ojala himself!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Having a laugh (one of MANY) with make-up maestro Kenny Myers!<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the PPI booth, Frogenstein and I await our cue to announce the next presentation.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The terrific actors in the “Young Frankenstein” tribute react to a different kind of monsterful creation!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Meeting the younger monster fans is always a kick!<\/p><\/div>\n

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I never get tired of the smiling faces!<\/p><\/div>\n

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And the growling faces are nice too!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Here with the great Rich Correll from Icons of Darkness!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Time for a much-needed rest!<\/p><\/div>\n

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An astonishing Michael Myers “Halloween 2” cosplay and Count Von Count!<\/p><\/div>\n

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My pal and Christoween attorney Stephanie joins in on the fun!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Maggie Roberge and Hunter, me and The Count!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Hotshot pro photographer Albert Ortega grabbed this shot of The Count and I meeting a young monster fan! What a weekend!<\/p><\/div>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/video\/Monsterpalooza%202024.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Here’s a montage of video clips from another fantastic weekend at the 15th Anniversary of Monsterpalooza!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK I saw this on Twitter this past week and almost spit out my iced tea, I was laughing so hard. I’m a big fan of alternative messages being presented because of burned out letters on lighted signs, but this may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16151","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\/16151","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=16151"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16197,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16151\/revisions\/16197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}