{"id":9174,"date":"2020-04-27T15:25:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T15:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/?p=9174"},"modified":"2020-05-05T15:47:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T15:47:17","slug":"april-27-may-3-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/april-27-may-3-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"April 27 – May 3 (2020)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Love this cartoon, on many different levels!<\/p>\n

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With Huntington Beach residents protesting the beach closure by the governor, something was mentioned in an interview about “a line in the sand.” That got me thinking about this great song by Belinda Carlisle called “Circle in the Sand.”<\/span> LOVE this song!<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Circle-In-The-Sand.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monday the 27th \u2013 STIFLING A SNEEZE! –<\/span> My day started by posting my latest parody song \u201cShelter Skelter\u201d on Twitter, Instagram and my YouTube page. (Read the full story in last week\u2019s \u201cWally\u2019s Week.\u201d) Since it seems like Monday is my usual day to go out and run errands, I hit to the road to go get my mail at my mailbox. Then I went to get some groceries. I had my face mask on, obviously, but it\u2019s been very warm and breezy. I have hay fever that always seems to rear its ugly head at the worst times\u2026including this one. While in the store shopping I could tell that a sneeze was coming on. I couldn\u2019t rub my nose through my mask, and I certainly didn\u2019t want to sneeze! Because then I\u2019d get \u201cthe glare.\u201d Luckily I escaped from the store with no sneezing. I headed to my seamstress Shelley\u2019s house with some fur that just came in for my Animal Muppet hat. I stopped by my local Jersey Mike\u2019s to get a sandwich, but they were closed for construction. I guess they figured they\u2019d use the crazy downtime to make some improvements. So I headed to Taco Bell to get some food to go. When I got home I did some more work on my \u201cBeautiful Day monster\u201d puppet, and then grabbed a short nap in the Puppet Room. My left elbow is still sore (I think it\u2019s Tennis Elbow from repetitious movement of some sort) and my left thumb and index finger are still numb from an old chiropractic issue that has reared its ugly head during this time of sloth-dom. I fed the pets and did some auditions. I wrote Wally\u2019s Week, made some chicken nuggets, and hit the hay.<\/p>\n

Tuesday the 28th \u2013 P.M. MEANS\u2026PUMMELED ME? \u2013<\/span> Since my left arm was hurting pretty badly, I took some Advil PM before bed the night before. WOW! It knocked me out! I ended up sleeping all day! I did get up to feed the pets in the evening, but I went back to sleep on the couch for a while. When it comes to drugs I\u2019m a total lightweight! I did manage to get up later and answer some e-mails, and do some more work on \u201cB.D.M.\u201d I carved the snout from a block of foam rubber and it\u2019s turning out quite nicely! Carving foam with a tiny, sharp little scissors is very fun, and a great way to focus and concentrate. Once wrong slip and OOPS! I\u2019d like to find out a magical way to get rid of the snip lines, so I\u2019m asking all my effects friends. I remember carving out of foam as a kid when I was making puppets back then, but doing it with a big pair of dull scissors. And when you cut foam like that, electro static builds up and pieces of foam get everywhere! But it\u2019s fine, and actually fun. I\u2019m going to cut the bottom lip out tomorrow. I continued all working on it most of the night, until it was time to record some more auditions. I fed the pets, and then took Roxy out for a long walk through the neighborhood. There was a gorgeous crescent moon, a bright, shining Venus overhead, and a fair amount of stars. One good thing about this lockdown is the clearer air. I made a Chef Boyardee pizza-in-a-box and watched another episode of \u201cBronk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wednesday the 29th \u2013 SAD SHIRLEY! \u2013<\/span> Shortly after noon I drove by Kit Kraft to pick up an order of spray paints for my \u201cB.D.M\u201d puppet. I call the order in on the phone, give them my credit card number, and it\u2019s waiting for me in a sack at the back door. Then I drove by the residence of my 93 year old \u2018adopted grandma\u2019 Shirley who has been locked in her room for about 6 weeks, unable to even walk in the hallway. She\u2019s going crazy, but I\u2019m trying to keep her entertained with books and a constant flow of movies to watch. She watched the first 10 movies I brought her, so I\u2019m going to drop off 10 more movies, and take the other 10 movies back. At her assisted living center, they allow visitors to come to the door and leave packages, groceries, etc. Then they\u2019re cleaned and taken to the resident. But as I stood there at the front door in my mask and gloves, one of the attendants at the residence pointed upstairs and said, \u201cThere she is.\u201d I looked in and there was Shirley, standing in the hallway, upstairs on the landing. She was waving like crazy. I honestly think it was the first time she was allowed out of her unit in a month and a half! I held out my arms and said, \u201dLong distance hug!\u201d She looked to be in good shape, but I know it\u2019s wearing on her. Later, she called me to thank me for the movies and said after she went back in her unit, she broke down and sobbed. Poor Shirley. This situation sucks so badly. I went over to the post office to mail some things, and then I stopped by Bob\u2019s Big Boy to enjoy their carhop service. Since in-restaurant dining is forbidden, the legendary Bob\u2019s has decided to bring back their carhop service from 9a-9p and serve people in their cars! But I waited for about 15 minutes and was never waited on, so I left. Guess they were overwhelmed and the service was hurting. So I went to Carl\u2019s Jr. and got a barbecue cheeseburger there. When I got home I did some auditions, and then started working on sculpting \u201cB.D.M\u2019s\u201d lower lip. I sculpted well into the evening. Then I took a nap. When I got up later I worked on \u201cB.D.M\u2019s\u201d eyebrow mechanism and I prepped the eyes for painting. When they\u2019re molding in white plastic, it\u2019s a very dull, grayish white. But I like to paint them a slight off-white, and then spray them with dullcote. I did some other work, walked Roxy, and enjoyed the cool, overcast night. Then I went to bed.<\/p>\n

Thursday the 30th \u2013 APRIL SUCKED! \u2013<\/span> On the final day of April, I noted that the lockdown had been going on for exactly six weeks. It was a pretty unremarkable day, which had me thinking that maybe I would suspend writing \u201cWally\u2019s Week\u201d until more interesting things begin happening. I did an audition, e-mailed some people, worked on B.D.M. for a bit, swept out my garage and swept the leaves off my patio, cleaned my kitchen table (which had been my puppet-making bench), made some hot dogs on the grill, and turned in.<\/p>\n

Friday the 1st \u2013 ANOTHER PREDICTION FULFILLED! \u2013<\/span> When this whole lockdown thing started, I made several predictions about what life will be like on the other side of this. One of the things I was very vocal about was that (in my belief) Americans would only give this lockdown until May 1st, and then they\u2019d let it be known to the powers-that-be that they were done with it. At first it was a two-week lockdown so the hospitals wouldn\u2019t get overwhelmed. That didn\u2019t happen generally, but then they asked for another two weeks. And then another two weeks. Just like clockwork, on the first of May, protest and demonstrations began breaking out all over the country. Though we had been seeing it creep in over the past few weeks, this was the day it hit critical mass. It will be interesting, as a person who loves analyzing situations and extrapolating evidence, to see what happens on the other side of this. Much like the events of 9-11, life will change in MANY different aspects after this is over. And much like 9-11, which prior to that the country was basically asleep, this is a major wake-up call to the citizenry. I don\u2019t think the citizens will be as quick to trust the word of the governments, and \u201cexperts\u201d in the future. The old adage \u201cFool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me\u201d comes to mind. The first part of the day I did a podcast interview with a guy named Matt Horn from the UK. My only request was that we stayed away from any talk about the pandemic and focus only on Voice Acting. He said that normally his interviews go about a half hour, but we chatted for about two hours! My maids arrived and began work upstairs while I continued the interview. By the time the maids were finished it was too late to scan checks and walk to the bank, so I took B.D.M.\u2019s snout and lip outside and painted them. Then I glued the fur on to his bottom lip. It\u2019s highly conceivable that his head will be finished by next week and ready to have the pattern drawn up for the fur on his head! WILD! Early in the evening my effects pal Jim Ojala brought the trash can over which will serve as the new home for my Oscar the Grouch replica Muppet! It was gorgeous! I can\u2019t wait to get him finished and on display permanently! I\u2019m very proud of the work we\u2019ve all done on him. I hopped in the Mustang, put the top down, picked up my friend Sara, and headed to Bob\u2019s Big Boy to try their carhop service again. It was a little more organized that a few days ago, so we got parked, I turned on 1260AM and listened to 70\u2019s oldies, and we enjoyed some amazing food! It was good to be out, eating great grub under the stars, listening to wonderful music! It almost seemed like life was normal again! On the way home they played \u201cPop Muzik\u201d by M! I hadn\u2019t heard that song in about 40 years, and it sounded great \u2013 especially on AM. I remember we played the heck out of that song when I was a young D.J. \u2013 about once every 90 minutes! I got home and did some more work, and then napped in the Puppet Room. Then I got up for more work around the house, drew out the measurements for the finger loop placement on the inside of B.D.M.\u2019s mouth, and then took Roxy out for a walk in the cool, clear night. As I stood there looking up at the sky I saw a beautiful star that I fixated on. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was moving. Slow and steady toward the southeast, but it was moving. Obviously it wasn\u2019t a star, but an airplane flying very high up. Then, at a distance behind it, another one; moving at the exact same speed in the exact same direction. Then, equidistantly, a THIRD one right behind it. Somebody was going somewhere in formation, and the amount of space between the three planes was almost exact! Those pilots were masters of their craft! It was fun to see! I\u2019d never seen anything like that before. I came inside and made a pot pie and watched another episode of \u201cBronk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday the 2nd \u2013 HOT! DAMN! \u2013<\/span> When I turned in early Saturday morning I turned on the AC because I knew it was going to be a warm day. But when I woke up around 3:30pm I was pretty toasty. The AC was on, but no air was blowing in! DAMN! Normally when the AC is on a long time it will freeze over and need to be thawed. But in that instance air is still blowing in \u2013 it\u2019s just warm air. But there wasn\u2019t anything coming in at all! I called my AC guy Pete and told him the problem. He said he\u2019d come by Monday and have a look. Luckily the really hot weather wasn\u2019t due to hit until later in the week, so I\u2019m glad this happened now. The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY has a permanent Jim Henson Muppet exhibit. In lieu of having visitors in person, they have taken to doing several interesting Zoom webinars. I signed up for one at 4pm Pacific that featured three former Muppet builders. It was a fascinating presentation, and at an hour in length, MUCH too short! It was fantastic! I turned on the fan and slept on the couch for a little bit, and then my friend Helen came by so we could go to Bob\u2019s Big Boy for more carhop service. Given all of the protests and rebellion going on around the country in response to a seemingly never-ending (and to some, unnecessary) continued lockdown, there was a palpable party atmosphere at Bob\u2019s. People sitting in chairs outside their cars, glad to be out and about, enjoying some food and friendship. Somebody in the neighborhood had some leftover fireworks from last 4th of July, so we were briefly entertained by a few brilliantly bright fireworks in the sky. When one went off the entire group gasped and I shouted, \u201cLockdown\u2019s over!\u201d A guy passing me smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if public pressure is going to force the politicians into opening up aspects of life very soon. I came home and napped on the couch for a bit, and then got up to work all night on perfecting the eye mechanism for B.D.M. It\u2019s going to be quite different than the Oscar mechanism, because Oscar\u2019s eyes were wired for eyebrows independently. B.D.M. has one wire for his entire unibrow. I think I\u2019m going to need a small spring for this one in order to bring the unibrow back into place that my finger can\u2019t achieve. Unlike Oscar, who\u2019s a horizontal puppet, B.D.M. is a vertical puppet. So my middle finger, which works the mechanism, needs a little gravitational help to bring the eyebrow back into place. Animal\u2019s mech is almost the exact same thing, and they use a small spring in that one too. I can pull the mechanism ring down easily enough to open the eyes wide, but pushing it back up vertically is tough to do. I\u2019ll go spring shopping on Monday and see what I can find. When I went upstairs to clean up for TV time, I decided to clear out an area on the floor by my headboard that has a power strip. The strip was overburdened by lots of utilities, so I pulled them all out, cleaned the strip, got rid of the utilities I no longer needed, tidied up the cords and wires, labeled the cords of the utilities I kept, and reorganized. I had a great sense of accomplishment after it was done, but it was dirty work. When Jim Ojala brought over Oscar\u2019s trash can, he loaned me a DVD called \u201cMaking Apes,\u201d about the making of the groundbreaking make-ups for \u201cPlanet of the Apes.\u201d I decided to make that my Saturday night viewing instead of the usual \u201cSpace 1999.\u201d It was amazing. As a lifelong \u2018apes\u2019 fan, it was something I wished I could have seen as a kid!<\/p>\n

Sunday the 3rd \u2013 SPRINGY SUNDAY! \u2013<\/span> I took advantage of the \u201cday of rest\u201d and didn\u2019t wake up until 6pm. Luckily it was still fairly cool and breezy out, so my bedroom didn\u2019t get very hot. I fed the pets and then I plopped back down on the couch and slept until 10. WOW! 10 hours of sleep! I was good on sleep for a while. I got up to do some work around the house, make a pizza, do some editing, do some more work on the B.D.M. eyes, and figured there is basically two ways to do it \u2013 the spring method, and the non-spring method. Given my experimentation I figured that the spring method was going to be the best option. I had anticipated the need for that early on, which is why I put the eye pieces in a hard plate of styrene, as opposed to just attaching them to the foam face. I kind of figured I\u2019d need something solid to drill a bolt into if a spring needed to be attached later. Good thing I did! Pete the AC guy called to let me know he\u2019d be coming at 7am on Monday to get my AC fixed. He said it sounded like the motor died, which will be expensive to replace. But necessary! My system is about 11 years old, and most of those AC systems last from 12 to 15 years. It\u2019s conceivable that I may need a whole new system within the next few years. Ugh. I lounged around some more, had some cereal, and then hit the hay. I could only sleep two hours before I needed to be up early to meet up with Pete the AC guy.<\/p>\n

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

PIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n

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It starts with a block of 3″ thick foam, cut to the dimensions of B.D.’s snout<\/p><\/div>\n

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I place it against the eyes to make sure the dimensions are correct<\/p><\/div>\n

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Then I start snipping away until it starts to take the shape.<\/p><\/div>\n

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With some more finessing it’s taking on the right shape<\/p><\/div>\n

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Then work starts on the lower lip<\/p><\/div>\n

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Messy work table!<\/p><\/div>\n

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The fur is added to his lower lip<\/p><\/div>\n

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Oscar looks right at home in his new can<\/p><\/div>\n

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During this lockdown, Spook has taken a liking to jumping on my lap at the most inopportune times to get his massage.<\/p><\/div>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Big-Boy-Boogie.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

With disco on the radio last Saturday night, our server at Bob’s Big Boy got into the spirit!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Got-anything-cheaper.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

B.D.M. is coming together!<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Im-a-Monster.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

In the early stages of the eyebrow mechanism, I had the principal down, but the execution wasn’t exact yet.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Moon-Venus-Star.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

One night the moon, Venus, and a beautiful star made the night sky stunning.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/roxy-in-the-sunbeam.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

As Roxy laid in the entry way to enjoy some morning sun coming through the door, I thought she looked especially beautiful in the lighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK Love this cartoon, on many different levels! With Huntington Beach residents protesting the beach closure by the governor, something was mentioned in an interview about “a line in the sand.” That got me thinking about this great song by Belinda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9174","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\/9174","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=9174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}