Peace and Quiet

I don't often spend a day at home. I had debated taking a walk over to the Oaklyn Library, but it was once again snowing when I awoke. This time, I didn't get up until 9:30, so it had likely been coming down for a while. It didn't snow hard or fast. We probably only got about three or four more inches, which still doesn't match the foot we got a few weeks ago or the two feet from last February.

Ok, so I probably could have walked in it. My porch still hadn't been cleared by noon, though, and I was still tired from all the running and rushing I did yesterday. I opted to spend the day at the apartment instead. I spent the remaining morning eating Life cereal for breakfast, reading my new books, and watching The Court Jester.

I saw part of this one on TCM when I was in college and enjoyed it, but I never got around to taping it then. Danny Kaye is the title character, a carnival performer who finds himself playing a jester for the King of England in order to aid a lovely female rebel (Glyns Johns) and restore the infant heir to the throne.

By far Danny Kaye's best movie, this is a very funny musical swashbuckler with a great cast - in addition to Johns, we have Basil Rathbone as the villain, Angela Landsbury as the Princess, and Mildred Natwick (of House Without a Christmas Tree) as her spell-casting Maid. Lots of famous tongue twisters floating around, too - see if you can get that "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle" routine down.

I had the last of the leftover baked pasta for a very late lunch after Court Jester ended, then cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom in particular desperately needed it. It was absolutely disgusting. I put off cleaning because of the holidays, but I really couldn't put it off anymore.

Ran Wonder Man while I did the kitchen. Unlike Court Jester, this one was entirely new to me. Kaye plays twins here, one a brash, goofy nightclub comedian, the other an uptight scholar. The comedian is killed by two mobsters who don't want him to testify against a gangster whom he saw murder a fellow performer. His twin has been estranged from him for ten years...but gets involved in a big way when the dead comedian appears to him as a ghost. He gets him to take over his nightclub act, woo his fiancee (Vera-Ellen), and live long enough to testify...if anyone thinks he's sane enough to after he goes around town telling people he's talking to a ghost!

This one was a bit strange. I kind of wish there'd been more to the mystery and the testifying. We don't really learn more about that until the end. It also reminded me a great deal of Secret Life of Walter Mitty, with a lot of people thinking Kaye is telling crazy stories. I suspect this was a way to bring out both the nervous tics of Walter Mitty and the laid-back charm of Hans Christian Anderson. Some nice special effects, too, especially when the "twins" are together.

I switched to That's Entertainment as background music after Wonder Man was done. I'd finally finished off those Peppermint Mocha Cookies from New Year's, so I refilled my cookie canister with Cranberry Drops, using the last of the cranberries from Christmas baking. Had a pleasant dinner of flounder and mushrooms, roasted Brussels sprouts, and apples stewed in cider while accompanied by MGM's finest musical performers.

Oh, and the snow has continued off-and-on throughout the day, but it still hasn't gotten anywhere near as bad as a few weeks ago. My neighbor appeared in the early evening to shovel the snow off my steps and porch as well.