{"id":9199,"date":"2020-05-04T14:53:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T14:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/?p=9199"},"modified":"2020-05-13T15:09:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T15:09:32","slug":"may-4-may-10-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/may-4-may-10-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"May 4 – May 10 (2020)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I saw this picture posted on Twitter recently and had to grab it. I remember these as being the main competitor to Pop Tarts, and they were actually pretty good. But alas, Kellogg’s won the war with Pop Tarts.<\/p>\n

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This song came on my alarm clock the other morning, and my day immediately started with fond memories of the warm, amazing summer of 1999 – when this song came out. It’s by Def Leppard and hearing this song helps me recall one of the best summers ever! It’s called “To Be Alive.”<\/span><\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/To-Be-Alive.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

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Monday the 4th \u2013 AC CHA CHING! \u2013<\/span> After only a few hours of sleep to meet up with Pete from Speedy Air and Heat. He discovered that the motor to my air conditioner had died, so the motor, shaft and wheel all needed to be replaced. And it was VERY expensive, but had to be done. I agreed and he took off to get parts. We agreed to meet back at Planet Wallywood at 11, so I took off to do some errands. The first stop was to my seamstress Shelley\u2019s to drop off the Oscar the Grouch head so he could have his body attached. Then I got my mail at my box, went to the hardware store to buy some springs for the eye-blink mechanism in my Beautiful Day monster replica Muppet, and then I headed home. Pete returned, and while he worked on the roof I wrote up Wally\u2019s Week. Then the bill came. EEK! He said my unit is about 11 years old and most likely will need to be replaced in the next one to three years. Guuhhhh-reat. But by mid-afternoon the AC was working perfectly again! And just in time for some hot days that were expected later in the week! I finished the eye mechanism with the spring and it\u2019s working great! I\u2019m ready to put the top on the head, seal it up and take him over to Alex in Wonderland to have them make the body and head covering! I recorded an audition and sent it in, and then I was starting to get tired again (after only having a few hours of sleep). So I turned on the AC and napped in cool comfort. But when I woke up later I was actually shivering cold! That new motor REALLY works! I got up and finished writing Wally\u2019s Week, did some more work around the house, went to Denny\u2019s to get some food to go, and came home to eat my dinner and watch another episode of \u201cBronk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday the 5th \u2013 BIG OSCAR! \u2013<\/span> I needed to run a few errands again, so I picked up my mail at my box, and went to Shelley\u2019s to pick up Oscar with his new body attached. But he was VERY big. Probably about 40% bigger than he needed to be. I told Shelley I\u2019d take him home and pin him in places where we could tighten up to be more in proportion. I hit McDonald\u2019s for lunch and then went home to do a session in my home studio as the voice of a dog for a Subaru campaign. It was all about a big fundraiser Subaru did for the Humane Society. Fun stuff! Then I laid Oscar out on the floor, traced his body, looked at the drawing and drew lines where he could be tightened up, pinned the cloth body and took him back to Shelley\u2019s for refabrication. I picked up some groceries, and then went home to do some work around the house. I pulled out some fabric for the next phase of my Beautiful Day monster puppet project. I recorded some auditions, and then talked to my \u2018adopted grandma\u2019 Shirley to see how she was doing. She\u2019s almost finished with the 10 movies I loaned her, so I\u2019m going to pull out 10 more and have them ready to take to her when we make the exchange (safely, of course through the management at her living quarters). I grabbed a short nap, and then got up later to enjoy the early stages of my birthday! I sculpted a brand new Oscar tongue, since my foam sculpting skills have improved somewhat since I sculpted the first one. The time I spent sculpting the snout and bottom lip for Beautiful Day made me confident I could do a better Oscar tongue. I\u2019m glad I redid it, because it looked much better. I fed pets and then walked Roxy through the neighborhood on our late-night stroll. It was a gorgeous night, perfect weather! Just before dawn on my birthday, I watched the full moon set in the west, and I watched the sun come up in the east \u2013 literally less than an hour apart! It wasn\u2019t cloudy at all, but just a bit hazy. And the night time sky was filled with chem trails. So even with all that\u2019s going on, they\u2019re still hard at work poisoning us. But not to be dissuaded by that, I still enjoyed a nice birthday cigar on our walk in perfect weather. It actually reminded me a lot of Palm Springs. I walked around in peace and quiet, in meditative reflection; thankful for another year of health and prosperity. I came inside and made some lasagna and watched Bronk. Just before I turned in I turned on the computer to answer back all the nice birthday Tweets, texts and e-mails.<\/p>\n

Wednesday the 6th \u2013 WALLY WEDNESDAY! \u2013<\/span> Right around noon I got to bed after acknowledging all of the nice birthday wishes. I slept until 6:30 and worked some more on my Beautiful Day monster replica Muppet. I did some auditions, answered some more calls, texts, e-mails and Tweets about the birthday. Later in the evening I napped on the couch for a bit, and then got up to feed the pets and glue the black mouth fabric to B.D.\u2019s face. He\u2019s really coming together nicely! Once the bottom lip was attached to the head of the puppet, and I figured out where my index, ring and pinkie fingers rested on the inside of the head, I took out the finger loops I had glued in before, moved them down an inch or so, and reglued them. I took out the ring trigger I had made to make a slightly longer one. Now that my hand was snug inside the head, I realized that the previous ring trigger I made was just about a half inch too short. I\u2019ll dig out some new armature wire and bend a new one soon. I sculpted some foam fangs out of foam rubber and inserted toothpicks in them for stability. Once they were ready, I implanted them into the underside of the snout. But once they were in I realized they were too long, so I hastily pulled them out before the glue completely dried. I trimmed about 1\/16 of an inch off the top of the tooth and placed them back in the snout. They still needed another 1\/16 of an inch. Then they looked perfect! Now that the teeth are in the snout, I\u2019ll let them dry overnight and I only have a few steps left; adhering the snout to the face, and closing the top of the head! I walked Roxy under a gorgeous full moon, then came inside to make a tuna sandwich and some soup and watch the final episode of \u201cBronk.\u201d 70\u2019s TV shows had the annoying habit of devoting one whole episode to a different show concept that they would use as a backdoor pilot. This one had very little Bronk in it, and featured Vic Morrow as a private detective who used to be a Secret Service agent. I was OK, but I really wanted to see Jack Palance as Bronk in the final episode. I always hated when 70\u2019s shows did that. I only need to watch the pilot episode and then I\u2019m moving on to the first season of \u201cThe Invaders!\u201d I got to bed around noon. My hours are ALL messed up!<\/p>\n

Thursday the 7th \u2013 B.D. DONE! \u2013<\/span> Once again I slept the day away and didn\u2019t get up until 6:30! I fed the pets and found some armature wire to make my new trigger ring for B.D.\u2019s eye mechanism. I bent the wire around a glue stick, which made a ring just big enough to lock my finger into, bent the wires accordingly at the proper length, and looped them around the little spring-loaded traveler that makes the eyes blink. Perfect! I did some auditions, answered some texts and e-mails, and napped a bit more on The Most Comfortable Couch in the Universe. I woke up later to do a TON of auditions, and then finish up B.D. for this phase. I attached his snout to his face, put a small piece of fur between his eyes, and cut and adhered the top of his head. Now he goes to Alex in Wonderland (a special effects studio in Burbank) for his head covering and body! I\u2019ll be doing that next week for sure!<\/p>\n

Friday the 8th \u2013 DINGY. DIRTY. DUSTY! \u2013<\/span> The day started with an hour-long call with my accountant, then I got on a Zoom call with my partners in my kid\u2019s book series project. I sped off to my box to get my mail, picked up the finished Oscar from my seamstress Shelley (he was the PERFECT size now!), bought a few supplies to take to my \u2018adopted grandma\u2019 Shirley, and then stopped by her assisted living building to drop them off for her. But this time they let me in the building, and allowed me to stand in the first few feet of the lobby! I saw Shirley from a distance and spoke to her! I picked up the movies she had watched, and dropped off some more movies and some books to keep her occupied during this never-ending lockdown. I got home and found a nice support rod for Oscar. I took him outside, masked off his eyes and mouth, and found some brown spray paint to make him dirty and dingy. But the paint was very old, so I would only get a few sprays out of it before the nozzle would clog. I swapped out nozzles and did it again. Same thing. I went through about 7 different nozzles, and all would clog. I dunked them in a small container of paint thinner. I finally got through doing what I needed to do, and if things were normal, I could have just driven to the local craft store and bought a new can of paint. But I didn\u2019t want to wait another week before one arrived in the mail, so I used what I had. I painted his new tongue (Tongue #3) and it looked pretty good. I set it aside to dry. I sprayed a little more brown on him and then took a paper towel soaked in paint thinner and started wiping off the brown paint. It gave him a really nice \u201cstained\u201d look. I cut 1\u201d pupils out of black velvet and glued them on to his eyeball pieces. I glued the tongue in his mouth, and then he was done! It\u2019s been a long road, but well worth it. I\u2019m VERY proud of him! All that needs to be done now is for his palms to get trimmed by my hair guy Sergio. I was going to do it myself, but I don\u2019t want to screw it up \u2013 now that I\u2019m so close to the finish line. I\u2019m still waiting for the Plexiglas support rod that he\u2019ll rest on to be completed by my pal Kyle at Plastic Depot. And also the prop wooden box that Oscar\u2019s trash can will rest on in the permanent display. I made some food and watched the \u201cBronk\u201d pilot. I\u2019m sad it\u2019s done. I really loved this show!<\/p>\n

Saturday the 9th \u2013 BIG BLOWOUT AT BOB\u2019S! \u2013<\/span> My pals Brittney and Sara and I hopped in the Mustang in the evening and headed to Bob\u2019s Big Boy for some carhop service. We met up with James and his wife Cynthia, and my pal Officer Mark and his girlfriend Connie! We all stayed in our separate cars, but we could walk around and visit and take pictures. It\u2019s the closest thing to normalcy that we\u2019ve had in quite a while. After a fun evening I headed back home to do some work and nap a bit. I got up later and fed the pets, wrote some posts about Mother\u2019s Day and Roxy\u2019s 12th birthday (both of which happened today!) moved some stuff around in the garage and did some organizing, put away the rest of the Oscar fur (since he\u2019s now done) and then came inside to make my Saturday Night Super Salad and watch another episode of \u201cSpace 1999.\u201d I stopped halfway through the episode though, because my sisters were hosting a Zoom call with my mom for Mother\u2019s Day. Though I don\u2019t have a camera, I was able to join in with audio only. It was a great time!<\/p>\n

Sunday the 10th \u2013 ADULTING! \u2013<\/span> Though I slept most of the day, as I usually do on a Sunday, I had to do some adult stuff during the evening \u2013 which is never fun. I scanned some checks for deposit, paid some bills, reconciled my bank statements, walked Roxy, and prepped for a new week, which should be pretty interesting!<\/p>\n

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

PIX FROM THE WEEK<\/p>\n

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One of the meals I enjoyed on my birthday…all the good stuff. Tuna sandwich, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, fresh cut pineapple, a slice of birthday cake, and an ice cold Coke!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Thanks to Officer Mark for making this amazing birthday collage! Good times!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spook jumps up on my lap while I’m on the computer all the time now to enjoy his massage.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A gorgeous full moon sets in the western sky just a short time before the sun rises in the east on my birthday!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spook and Roxy gather for her 12th birthday celebration!<\/p><\/div>\n

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…seriously…Spook REALLY loves his massage!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Not all Spooks come out at night! This one loves the morning sunlight!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Carving the fangs for my Beautiful Day monster replica Muppet out of foam.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The dental implants have been installed!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Here’s the ring trigger configuration I ended up using for the eyebrow mechanism<\/p><\/div>\n

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With the snout attached, and the top of his head added, “B.D.” is ready to go get fitted for his face fur. When that happens. I’ll do the eyebrow, eyelids and pupils to complete him!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Brittney, Sara and I get ready for a Saturday night at Bob’s Big Boy and some much-needed carhop service!<\/p><\/div>\n

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It seems like the whole town is involved in some weird masquerade of some sort! Even Bob himself is getting in the swing!<\/p><\/div>\n

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When paying the check, it’s always advisable to tip your server in the USEFUL currency of the day!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mother’s Day always brings back fun times – like this! Back in 1977, mom would always darken my sideburns with her mascara when I did my Andy Kaufman act on stage. In 2012, when we visited our old house in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the owners allowed us to recreate the photo in the bathroom. They still have the same wallpaper up! An amazing time!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Oscar gets his fur dirtied up for authenticity!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Some prefer May the Fourth (be with you), but I always prefer Revenge of the Si(x)th! For obvious reasons. Here’s a shot of my homemade Darth Vader costume from 1984 – made out of cardboard, wood, vinyl and Christmas lights!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK I saw this picture posted on Twitter recently and had to grab it. I remember these as being the main competitor to Pop Tarts, and they were actually pretty good. But alas, Kellogg’s won the war with Pop Tarts. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9199","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\/9199","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=9199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}