Wonderful Philadelphia

Yes, it was snowing when I got up this morning around 8:30. No, it ultimately didn't amount to much. It may have caused trouble for the morning commute, but by the time I was finally getting dressed at quarter of 10, it was slowing down. For once, it was about the advertised two inches, nothing more, nothing less. By 11, the streets were even clear.

I watched Hans Christian Anderson while having breakfast and waiting out the snow. Unlike most Hollywood "biographies" that present fiction as fact, this one is quite upfront about being a "fairy tale about a spinner of fairy tales." Hans is a sweet-natured cobbler in a small Danish town. He's a laid-back fellow who spends most of his days telling stories to the local kids while the town's schoolmaster and his young apprentice Peter worries about his lack of work and his effect on the kids. When he and Peter are more-or-less run out of town, they head for the bright lights of Copenhagen, where Anderson becomes infatuated with a married ballerina who inspires his most romantic story, The Little Mermaid.

This has long been my favorite by far of Kaye's vehicles. It ran constantly on cable and on local channels in the afternoons when I was a kid. This is the movie that gave me an appreciation for Kaye, Frank Loesseur, and ballet. Loesseur wrote a grand score for this movie between Broadway assignments, including the standards "Wonderful Copenhagen," "Inchworm," and "Anywhere I Wander." Kaye is a wonderfully warm Anderson; ballerina Zizi Jeanmarie makes her film debut as the beautiful dancer. The ballet sequences are fabulous, including the cute "No Two People" and the "Little Mermaid Ballet" in the finale.

Ran to the Acme to pick up my paycheck and do some grocery shopping after Hans Christian Anderson ended. I had no problem coming or going. There was still snow on the ground, but the streets were completely clear, even the back roads. The Acme wasn't that busy, either. Nor did I need much. I mostly just picked up fruit, vegetables, and granola bars. Also needed ground chicken and canned tomato sauce.

I came home, put everything away, had a very quick yogurt lunch, and went back out again. My first stop was a quick one to the bank. After that, I headed for the PATCO to make a Philly trip and use most of my remaining gift cards for Borders and Barnes and Noble. The Borders on the Avenue of the Arts in Philly is the closest free-standing Borders for miles. The Barnes and Noble in Rittenhouse Square doesn't carry DVDs, but that's ok. I've bought a ton of DVDs in the last few weeks and probably don't need more right now.

The Borders wasn't too busy when I arrived. I found something interesting right away - a book on 101 great Hollywood Musicals. To be honest, I was more interested in the pictures and information than the commentary, since it was written by the same guys who wrote my 101 Great Broadway Musicals book and has the same vices...namely, these guys don't seem to like half the movies they call "great," and the other half, no one's heard of. (College Swing? How about the 2007 Hairspray? Or Maytime? Or Hello Dolly?)

Strolled to Rittenhouse Square next. Unlike New Jersey, there wasn't much snow left in downtown Philadelphia. There was just a scattering on the sidewalk to suggest there had been a snow storm this morning at all. The sky was blue, and the breeze was nippy but not freezing. There were quite a few people out and about on Chestnut Street and the Avenue of the Arts around 3PM, including many children walking home from school.

I browsed for much longer here. Eventually bought two American Girl books (Changes for Addy and the Molly mystery Clues In the Shadows), a journal, the second Alton Brown Good Eats book Good Eats 2: The Middle Years, and a TCM book on popular "Golden Age of Hollywood" couples like Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn and Myrna Loy and William Powell. I also had a sparkling blackberry juice in a glass bottle and an apple pastry at the cafe.

It was at least 5:30 by the time I finished at Barnes and Noble. I hadn't planned on being there so late! I hiked down to Market Street, then back around to the Avenue of the Arts. Made a very brief stop at FYE to see if they had something I wanted (they didn't - I'll check again after I get my tax return), then went across the street to Borders again. Actually, I was mainly in Borders to go to the bathroom. I ended up buying the second book in that Candy Shop Mystery series, which I hadn't seen at Barnes and Noble.

It was past 6:30 when I finally hit the PATCO at 13th Street. I was so tired when I got in, I opted to have a Mushroom Cheese Steak at the Oaklyn Manor Bar instead of eating at home. They were noisy and busy, and while the waitress was nice, she took forever. I just wanted to eat and go home.

And when I finally did go home, I had a scare with the carbon monoxide detector, which was going off every five minutes or so. Miss Ellie finally called a man to check it. He didn't detect anything and suggested I put the machine outside to air it. I'll change the batteries tomorrow.

Oh, and I got two packages today. One was the Sailor Moon Season 2 set I've been waiting for from eBay for almost two weeks. The other was from Mom. She sent me a thank-you card for her cookies and a present from Keefe's girlfriend Vicki - a lovely, delicate wooden bookmark. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. It's too fragile to actually use as a bookmark. Maybe I'll hang it somewhere.