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Monday the 1st \u2013 HALFWAY GONE! \u2013<\/span> It\u2019s so hard to believe that 2024 is half over! Today marks the beginning of the third quarter of the year, and the first half of 2024 has FLOWN by! I stopped at Chick Fil-A for lunch before I resumed work on the foreign dubbing project at Igloo in Burbank. As I was waiting for my food a young lady named Alexa introduced herself as the sister-in-law of my buddy (and fabulous illustrator) Andy Fish, whom I\u2019ve known for quite a while. We chatted for a while, and then our food arrived. As I was leaving with my lunch my pal Dan Roebuck walked in with his daughter Grace! Small world! It got even smaller as I was driving to the studio I saw the Voice Director for our dubbing project Vernon Scott! He had ALSO decided to dine at Chick Fil-A! Wild! Our four-hour dubbing project went by very quickly, and then I went home to feed Spook. I called up my buddy Chris Malmin to see if he wanted to meet me at Little Toni\u2019s for a pizza. After dinner I came back home and did my nightly auditions. Later I wrote out Wally\u2019s Week, took my nightly WOG (walk\/jog) and spent some time relaxing and decompressing outside in the anti-gravity chair \u2013 just looking at the sky and thinking. What a great summer night!<\/p>\nTuesday the 2nd \u2013 LOST MAHNA! \u2013<\/span> Well, it appears that the Mahna Mahna puppet I bought from a builder in Chile is lost. The builder warned me that it would take a while to arrive in America, but as I tracked the package it went from Santiago to Miami, and then to Santa Clarita, California. That was nice, because it was now in my neighborhood. But for some odd reason it went from there to Jersey City, New Jersey. Then it went to Albany, New York \u2013 then to Newburgh, New York, and then back to Albany. And then it went to Springfield, Massachusetts. What the heck was going on? Mahna was taking a tour of the eastern seaboard! I called the USPS helpline and finally chatted with a lady named Ying who said that the package had the wrong address on it. But the sender had my correct eBay address on it, so what was the problem? It occurred to me that the USPS doesn\u2019t actually look at the address on the package, but instead rely on their barcode system. It was pointed out to me by my friend Vickie Sebring later in the week that the Data Entry person who typed out the address in Chile and assigned the barcode probably made a mistake. So while the physical address on the package was correct, the barcode was erroneous. It could be that the person on Santiago had a problem with the English in the American address, or they\u2019re just inept. In any event, I hope eventually they\u2019ll get curious as to why a package is bouncing all around the eastern seaboard, and actually compare the erroneous barcode to the actual address on the package. It doesn\u2019t really do much to imbue confidence in our postal system; a system with which I\u2019ve already had my share of problems. However, the package that DID arrive at my box was the custom Laurel & Hardy fabric that was designed by my pal Scott Sebring. I wanted to get a significant quantity of yardage to make up some cool L&H pajamas. The fabric turned out GREAT! I had time before the dubbing session to grab lunch at Paty\u2019s. As I sat on the patio enjoying a salad, my friends from Alex In Wonderland pulled up! I invited Mike, Alex and their daughter to sit with me so we could chat. What fun! But soon it was time for me to head to Igloo for a fast, fun four hour session dubbing the foreign show for Netflix. We got the first part of episode 4 completed. We\u2019re moving pretty well, and soon we\u2019ll be at the halfway point in the 8 episode series. I headed home to do some work, record some auditions, and then grab a short nap. I\u2019m not used to working five days a week anymore, and it\u2019s quite tiring. When I got up later I took my nightly WOG and spent some quality time outside in the anti-grav chair enjoying my post-workout high. I worked a bit around the house to prep for my buddy Dave\u2019s arrival on Wednesday night. He\u2019s flying in from South Dakota for a week to see me, go to a \u201cDark Shadows\u201d convention, and see his son (and my godson) Sean, who lives in Pasadena. I also made the eye support plate for my \u201cTraveling Cookie\u201d puppet \u2013 a second Cookie Monster puppet that I can travel with. Alex at Alex In Wonderland should be done sewing up the body by Wednesday, and I can pick him up and install his mouth. Her husband Mike will help me install the eyes next week. Very exciting.<\/p>\nWednesday the 3rd \u2013 FOUR DAY WEEKEND! \u2013<\/span> I got a call from Harry\u2019s Camera that my latest order of scanned negatives and companion prints had come in. Just in time, too. I had hoped they would arrive in time for my buddy Dave\u2019s stay at Planet Wallywood. We love looking at pictures from the old days. I guess that means we\u2019re a couple of old men. I stopped over at Harry\u2019s to get my photos, picked up a few filters for my home AC at the hardware store next door, and then headed to my box to pick up some packages. I bought a vintage 60\u2019s Popeye figure on eBay and it arrived. I have vivid memories of being a kid in the toy store looking at all those cool vinyl Dakin figures of my favorite cartoon characters. They all came in a clear plastic bag with a handle at the top. Magical. I also got a third Sons of the Desert deluxe fez from Fez-O-Rama. They only release the Sons of the Desert fezzes twice a year; once during Oliver Hardy\u2019s birthday week (in January), and once during Stan Laurel\u2019s birthday week (in June). But this year they released a limited edition fez made of maroon moleskin-type fabric. They looked really similar to the original fezzes used in the film! I initially ordered two, but they were just a bit too small. Luckily, after pleading with the company via email, they agreed to make me a slightly larger one \u2013 even though the fez promotion had ended. WHEW! This third one arrived and, as the saying goes, third time\u2019s the charm. I\u2019ll stash the first one I bought in storage for posterity, the second one I bought I\u2019ll use as a receptacle for the titles of the \u201c40 Shorties\u201d (the 40 \u201cshorts\u201d they made) for when I do my monthly \u201cLaurel & Hardy Theatre.\u201d I printed out all 40 titles of their shorts, cut them into individual slips of paper, and I put them all in the fez. Then I randomly draw out the titles each month and watch them. It\u2019s fun! And the new, larger third fez is the one I\u2019ll wear to all future Laurel & Hardy fan club meetings. I hit Wienerschnitzel on the way to my dubbing job, and once again, I ran into our Voice Director Vernon! Great minds think alike! I drove over to Igloo to eat before the session began. It was a wild, wacky 4 hour session that ended with a huge party scene. It was a LOT of difficult work, and I was glad to have a four day weekend ahead of me! I was notified via text by my buddy Dave that his flight had been delayed in Phoenix. So he would be arriving about an hour and a half later than expected. I didn\u2019t want to go home and then drive all the way back to Burbank to pick him up, so I just invented things to do in the Burbank area until then. First stop \u2013 the cigar store to pick up some cigars! Then I drove by the post office to mail off some checks, and after that I drove over to Alex In Wonderland\u2019s studio to pick up my finished Cookie Monster body for my \u201cTravel Cookie.\u201d Unfortunately the direction of the fur on the body was wrong, so it had to be redone. I\u2019m glad I bought plenty of fur for this new puppet! So I\u2019ll grab it from her on Friday morning when I drive Dave back to the Burbank area so he can attend his \u201cDark Shadows\u201d convention. But the fabric for his mouth was perfect, so I\u2019ll be putting the mouth plate in that this weekend. I chatted with Alex\u2019s husband Mike for a while, and then headed out to kill more time. I gassed up the Gray Ghost, spun through the Krispy Kreme drive-thru to get a dozen donuts, and headed to the Burbank airport to pick up Dave. But as I approached the airport, it was clear that the holiday weekend rush was on in full force! The traffic was backed up on Hollywood Way and getting into the airport itself was not easy. I texted Dave and told him to walk a little ways toward the main street and meet me at a restaurant there. That way I could avoid driving through the madness. Around 8 he walked over to Panda Express and we had dinner. We drove to Planet Wallywood and I fed Spook. We hung out and chatted. Later, as I was heading out for my nightly WOG, Dave happened to be up. I asked him if he wanted to go along, and he agreed. It was fun taking my WOG with a workout companion. Afterwards he went up to the Puppet Room and turned in, and I sat in the anti-grav chair and meditated and pondered life. Dave said the Puppet Room was hot, which was odd since my AC was on. After more careful inspection we realized that the vent in the Puppet Room was closed. Once we opened it, the problem was solved. I spent all night working on my photo albums to get them ready to be viewed by Dave and our buddy Chris Malmin, who would be joining us for a 4th of July celebration. After working all night I got to bed around noon on Thursday. Dave was just getting up and he came downstairs and said, \u201cI didn\u2019t think you\u2019d be up this early.\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019m not. I\u2019m just going to bed. I\u2019ve been up all night.\u201d But it was worth it, as I got a lot of great work done on the photo albums!<\/p>\nThursday the 4th \u2013 THE 4TH OF JULY! \u2013<\/span> After having just gotten to bed at noon, I took great delight in sleeping until 5pm. Our buddy Chris came over and we chatted. We were soon joined by my friend Emily and we made hot dogs on the grill. It was a nice dinner with good friends, as we listened to all the fireworks going off in the area. Then it was time for our \u201cSmokes & Cokes\u201d celebration. Since I\u2019ve known Chris & Dave (going all the way back to 1986) we\u2019ve had a penchant for Coca Cola in the glass bottles. They\u2019re ice cold and delicious. So for special occasions, we ice up some Cokes and enjoy them together. We also have developed a recent tradition for enjoying some nice cigars together. This is something I\u2019ve dubbed \u201cSmokes & Cokes.\u201d Chris, Dave, Emily & I all walked to the center of my complex and sat in an open area and enjoyed our cigars and Cokes while listening to all the fireworks in the area. Unfortunately we didn\u2019t actually SEE many fireworks, but we definitely heard them. The weather was perfect, and it was an amazing time with good friends. When we were finished we came back inside and looked through photo albums and re-lived some good times from back in the late 80\u2019s and early 90\u2019s. Since Chris, Dave and I were up so late enjoying our time, I didn\u2019t get a nightly WOG in. But hey\u2026it\u2019s a holiday, right?<\/p>\nFriday the 5th \u2013 PUPPET PIX! \u2013<\/span> Dave had to be at the Burbank Marriott to check in for a bus tour around 11:30am, which was part of the \u201cDark Shadows\u201d convention that he\u2019d be attending that weekend. So I drove him over and dropped him off, and then headed over to Alex In Wonderland to get the \u201ccorrected Cookie\u201d puppet. This time the direction of the fur was spot-on. Since I was in the area I took the opportunity to visit Paty\u2019s to have another salad on the patio. It was WONDERFUL! The vibe was amazing. The Yacht Rock music they play on the system is terrific, and the weather was perfect. As I sat there I realized I was enjoying quite an amazing high. I had been notified earlier in the day via email that my Mahna Mahna puppet from Chile had been located and had been redirected to my correct address. They also said that it would likely be delivered on Friday July 5th. Since Paty\u2019s is right by my box, I waited until the very last minute to leave the restaurant in case I was notified via text that the box was in and ready for pick-up. But my maids were due at 1pm, so at 10 minutes to 1 I had to leave. Sure enough, the minute I pulled into my garage my phone went DING! It was a notification that my Mahna Mahna puppet had arrived. Rats. If only it had come 20 minutes earlier it would have saved me a trip back to my box! Oh well. The maids arrived and cleaned up Planet Wallywood, and when they finished I sped off to get groceries. Then I hit my box to get the package, which had been taking its sweet time getting to me during its tour of the US. The box was much smaller than I had imagined it would be. Also, I started to see why the postal service may have been confused by the address. Even though my mailing address WAS correct, the sender had all sorts of other superfluous information on the box, so it looked quite cluttered. In the future, I hope he keeps it \u201clean and mean,\u201d with just the pertinent \u201cTO\u201d and \u201cFROM\u201d info on the box. It might help speed things up a bit during the shipping process. When I pulled out the puppet I saw why the box was so small. The puppet was just a little larger than the size of a child\u2019s toy, and not an actual professional-sized, working puppet. While the craftsmanship on the puppet was gorgeous and impeccable, it was a bit small for my needs. (As Vickie Sebring stated later, \u201cJim Henson would have NEVER gotten his hand in that!\u201d) I think I may contact the builder and see if he will make another one for me, but increase his patterns by about 10%. But I\u2019m keeping this one as it\u2019s simply beautiful. Later in the afternoon my friends Scott & Vickie Sebring brought their photo equipment over to take some updated shots for the Muppet Replica Resource page on my website. While I had my \u201cTravel Kermit\u201d dressed up in a Frankenstein costume to be Frogenstein at the recent Monsterpalooza convention, I wanted to have Alex remove the costume before I took Kermit to Sioux Falls in a few weeks for the upcoming Voices Against Cancer convention. Before his costume is removed, however, I wanted to get some great shots taken of Frogenstein in full regalia. Since I had also upgraded the nose, eyebrows and monocle on my Count replica, we took some new shots of him as well. Scott had just recently constructed a \u201cpuppet wall\u201d out of lightweight, rigid foam insulation. With a little texturing on it, it looked like a concrete wall! While we had the wall set up we also got some great shots of my Kermit 1:1 replica sitting cross-legged on the wall (similar to how he had been seen on \u201cSesame Street\u201d and \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d), as well as the \u201cOG\u201d Kermit that I recently purchased. That replica was designed and fabricated to look like the very first Kermit Jim Henson created back in the 50\u2019s. After the shoot we hit Bob\u2019s Big Boy for dinner. When I got home I was exhausted. Since it was late and I was tired, I took another night off from my nightly WOG. I don\u2019t like to take very many nights off, but I just didn\u2019t have the energy, based on the manic nature of the day\u2019s activities. Later I did spend a little time trimming Mahna\u2019s beard and I stitched the arm rods into his wrists. I also worked on \u201cTravel Cookie\u201d a little bit, and did some random work around the house. I got to bed around noon on Saturday. I was in the middle of a four day weekend, so I wanted to enjoy as much downtime as possible.<\/p>\nSaturday the 6th \u2013 \u201cLAUREL & HARDY THEATRE!\u201d \u2013<\/span> Late in the afternoon I woke up craving Mexican food, so I phoned Chris & Dave to see if they would meet me at Ernie\u2019s Taco House for dinner. We had a splendid evening enjoying fun conversation, great food, and wonderful live music from a guitarist who offered a fantastic selection of songs! I got back home and relaxed for a bit, and later I hit the trail again for a WOG. After some wonderful time outside in the anti-grav chair, I came back inside to do some work on some puppets. I glued the mouth plates to the fabric for \u201cTravel Cookie\u2019s\u201d mouth. And since it was the first Saturday of the month, that meant it was time again for my traditional \u201cLaurel & Hardy Theatre\u201d event. It\u2019s silly and weird, but I like to make a \u201cthing\u201d out of watching L&H movies once a month. It harkens back to when I was 13 years old and watching their films on a local TV station in Aberdeen, South Dakota. In order to tap into the nostalgia element, I like to make a Chef Boyardee pizza (we lived on those things when I was a kid!), have a banana Twinkie (which taste very similar to the old Banana Flips we loved as kids), and drink some ice cold Pepsi in one of the original Laurel & Hardy mugs my mom made for me back in 1973 in her ceramics class. Yes, I still have them \u2013 and I treasure them greatly. Since I had my new deluxe Sons of the Desert fez, I got to wear that too! I drew out the first \u201cshort\u201d that I\u2019d be watching that night\u2026\u201dAnother Fine Mess.\u201d This one was loosely based on a concept from one of their earlier silent films, and is absolutely hysterical. A character named Lord Leopold Plumtree (based on the name of a Shakespeare character apparently) had the most jovial high-pitched giggle. As a kid I recall trying to replicate that laugh for all the kids at school. The next film was \u201cCome Clean.\u201d My favorite line from that film is when Stan asks the ice cream vendor, \u201cDo you have any mustachio?\u201d Absolute hilarity, that never gets old. After the shorts, I got caught up on the \u201cCollector\u2019s Call\u201d episode from last week.<\/p>\nSunday the 7th \u2013 THE FINAL OF FOUR! \u2013<\/span> Since I\u2019ll be back into another five day workweek in the coming week, I really enjoyed my final day off. As is usual with my Sundays, I took full advantage of my weekly \u201cCrash Day\u201d and slept most of the day away. It was my mom\u2019s 84th birthday, so I made sure to get up for a little while and call her with birthday wishes. Later I took my nightly WOG and relaxed in my subsequent time in the anti-grav chair. I\u2019m going to experiment with some leftover fur from the \u201cTravel Cookie\u201d build and see if I can get the fur to look a little coarser. I put a bit of the fur in hot water, and then wrung it out and hung it to try. I hope this will make the grain of the fur less smooth and more textured. Experimenting is fun!
\nAnd how was YOUR week?!!<\/p>\nPIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n
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