Welcome to Fall

First of all, I forgot to herald yesterday's arrival of the first day of fall! Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is perfect, warm enough to run around in but not too hot or humid. The leaves turn beautiful colors, making the world one big box of crayons and setting my porch a-blaze with half the hues of the rainbow. The farm market is filled with the delights of the autumn harvests - massive orange pumpkins, cute little gourds, fat squash of every shape and size, beautiful little apples, sweet pears, spicy apple cider, purple eggplant and yellow corn and leafy green spinach. No need for air conditioners or heaters in the fall. You can just leave your windows open and take in that smoky, wood-burning-scented air. You can go out of the house in just jeans, a T-shirt, and a windbreaker on cooler days. And don't forget fall holidays - Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving (for the US and Canada)!

The arrival of fall is really the major excitement right now. I spent this morning working on editing our newest Monkees role play story and this evening at work. Work was surprisingly steady for a Tuesday, with no major problems other than a lack of help. (They just didn't assign enough people for today.)

Oh, and I watched That's Entertainment III this morning and started Dancing Lady this evening. Entertainment is one of three documentaries on the history of the MGM musical, this one showcasing cut and dropped numbers and behind-the-scenes sequences. Dancing Lady is one of MGM's two attempts to mimic the Busby Berkley Warner Bros musicals in late 1933. Joan Crawford hurls her way up the show business ladder from burlesque to Broadway stardom, thanks to nervy director Clark Gable and slumming playboy Franchot Tone. Though the film introduced the standard "Everything I Have Is Yours," the other musical numbers are either bizarre or just boring. (Check out the weird large-scale set piece with Crawford and Fred Astaire that begins in a Streamline city and ends in Bavaria.) The supporting cast is the only reason for non-Crawford/Gable fans to watch this one. In addition to Tone, we have the Three Stooges, comedienne Winnie Lightener as Crawford's roommate, Robert Benchley as an acerbic theater critic, and the film debuts of Astaire and Nelson Eddy in that odd finale.