33 1/3 Revolution Per Chocolate Chip

Today was baking day. I spent the morning baking a loaf of Whole Wheat French Bread and working on editing the next Monkees role play. (I've been too busy lately to really work on it, so don't expect to see any Monkees stuff for a while.) I think I added too much water to the loaf. It was really sticky when I put it on the pan, too sticky to make into two loaves. I left it one big loaf...but it ended up being TOO big. I sliced it into three parts and put two parts in the freezer.

Ran the bizarre Monkees special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee while I had breakfast this morning. Revolutions was filmed in November 1968, shortly before Peter Tork quit the group for good (or at least until 1986). The theme is similar to the Monkees' equally bizarre movie Head - two villains capture the Monkees and use them to brainwash the masses, but the guys have their own ideas of how to escape.

It's a shame absolutely nothing makes sense, because there's some nice performances here. Mike Nesmith comes off best of the four solo Monkee efforts with his own "Naked Persimmon (The Only Thing I Believe Is True)," done in a nifty split-screen effect that lets Mike sing with himself. The "Listen to the Band" finale is fun, too, before the disjointed psychedelic climax. For my money, though, I agree with Micky Dolenz's commentary on the DVD - the best sequence is Brian Auger, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis playing all together on stacked pianos. I wish that had lasted longer.

(33 1/3 is on Rhino Video and on the second season Monkee DVD set as an extra.)

While the bread rose, I went downstairs to get my mail...and came back up the last of my birthday presents. Linda Young sent me the cutest mini Beanie Baby bear with an American flag on his breast (I have an American-themed mini Beanie Baby bear, but not that one), two pale-blue wood signs in the shape of the words "wish" and "hope" with little wooden stars, moons, and suns on them, and one of the new KinzKlips, keychains with little WebKinz on them. (Linda sent me the penguin.)

Lauren's newest obsession is the Food Network TV show Good Eats. Goofy cook Alton Brown makes delectable treats while dishing out tidbits on food history, social studies, and science. She sent me two episodes where he's stalked by a slightly crazed fan who wants him to make use of her mountains of potatoes and grains and a "behind the scenes" special that introduces the show's crew, along with another Alton Brown show, "Feasting on Asphault," which has Alton and a crew filming their cross-country trips to find the best local restaurants.

By the time the bread was cooling on a rack and I had edited the second part of the role-play, the rain had returned in torrents. It still wasn't biking weather. I ended up calling Dad for a ride to work.

Work was fun. I mostly bagged the store's fresh chocolate chip cookies in the bakery. (Some of them were so fresh, they were literally hot out of the oven!) I also swept the floor, straightened the counters and baskets of bread, and helped AJ clear out the bread bins and tag the bags of leftover loose rolls. Gina and AJ, the people who were in the bakery with me, are also regularly cashiers. I wonder if most of the regular bakery people went on vacation? I did get called up front for about a half-hour before break when one of the cashiers went home sick, and it served to reinforce what I'd suspected for years. I hate cashiering. I would rather do anything else...and the bakery's a good start. I feel like I really DID something today. I bagged dozens of cookies people will buy in our big cookie sale next week. People will buy something I bagged. That's a good feeling.

Picked up two things I need really quick after work. My toaster is done for. It hasn't really been working right for ages. I've had my toaster since my third year of college, and it was really time I replaced it. I also bought a glass bottle of maple syrup. (I've long given up junky "pancake" syrup. I only use the good stuff nowadays. Tastes better, with fewer calories and chemicals.)

Jodie picked me up in Jessa's massive old Buick and invited me to a roast beef dinner at Dad's house. Fine by me. My only plan for dinner was soup. I had a lovely meal of roast beef, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, and cheddar drop biscuits with Jodie, Jessa, Dad, Dolores, Dolores' grandson Blake, and Uncle Ken, with Spider Man 3 running in the background.