Stormy Balance

Today's yoga class was really, really busy. With kids and teachers out of school and Fourth of July festivities having not yet kicked in, many people have more free time on their hands than usual, resulting in 21 people in the little Yogawood studio today, including the teacher Karin. We worked on "sun salutations" and heart-opening exercises. At one point, we did get to give the person behind us (I was in the very front of the studio facing Haddon Avenue and had no one in front of me) back massages.

The Collingswood Library was much busier than last week. I put DVDs away, then organized the DVD section. It really, really needed it. I probably should have done it last week. There were also lots of non-fiction books to shelve upstairs. Most of the local libraries should be busier now that all the kids are out of school and summer programs are starting.

My next stop was the CVS on the border of Collingswood and Oaklyn after riding through Newton River Park. It was still really, really hot, but the cooling breeze had become a raging wind. I ducked into CVS to avoid the wind and pick up conditioner and a card for my next-door neighbor who is sick. I tried to bring her the last of my Dark Chocolate-Black Raspberry Cake and the card when I got him, but there didn't appear to be anyone home.

I had lunch, then spent the next couple of hours cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen. It's a good thing I did. Clouds began to roll in around quarter after 3, and by 3:30, that huge wind had become a full-bore thunderstorm. There was lightening flashing, thunder noisy enough to be heard on Mars, monsoon rains, winds that could knock a moose over, the whole nine yards. It was kind of cool, and we desperately needed the rain. I don't care what Mother Nature does as long as I'm not out in it.

The storm was gone by 4:30, and I was finished in the kitchen by 5. Since it looked like my neighbors were home by then, I brought the cake and card over. Michael said Miss Nancy was feeling much better, and that the cake and card would be much-appreciated.

I ate salmon with leeks and mushrooms, delicious sweet corn, and a spinach salad for dinner while watching Pink Panther summer-themed cartoons and the bizarre musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Barbara Streisand was at the height of her popularity as a movie star when she appeared in this very strange tale of a French psychologist who hypnotizes a chain-smoker and discovers she has lived multiple lives...and falls for one of them, a 19th-century English self-made lady who possibly had ESP.

This is one of the strangest musicals I've ever seen. It's really a two-person musical with flashes of a spoof period piece. Jack Nicholson and Bob Newhart have small roles; both are underused. (Nicholson supposedly had a duet with Streisand that landed on the cutting room floor.) French actor Yves Montand plays the psychologist who becomes obsessed with Streisand's "Melinda" persona. Really, he has all the personality of a dead fish, and I can understand why he and the equally diva-ish Streisand did not get along. They have zero chemistry, which may be why this is one of the few musicals I've seen where the leads don't get each other in the end and are perfectly happy with that.

Nicholson's not the only one who found himself cut out. Director Vincent Minellei wanted to make this a big, lavish period piece, like Hello Dolly!, Streisand's last musical before this one. Supposedly, it was three hours before studio execs got him to cut it down to two. That's ridiculous. The story is fluffy enough as it is. This is not Fiddler on the Roof. Not to mention, a lot of the modern story, with all the talk about ESP and past lives, comes off as dated. This is definitely for Streisand fans and fans of big and/or strange 60s and 70s musicals only. Others will want to proceed to Dolly or Funny Girl first.