Balance and the Windy Day

It was sunny and blustery when I headed out for this week's yoga class. The wind was chillier than yesterday, but the sun felt so nice when you could get out of the breeze. It was nice all day, which I really appreciated. I had many things to do today!

Yoga was hard. We concentrated on handstands and balance moves. I keep trying, but I just can't get those. I wish I could. I've been taking these classes for three years now, and I still can't get on my head.

The Collingswood Library was next after yoga. I shelved some DVDs there, but I couldn't do much with the organizing. There were quite a few people looking for movies today. It wasn't even the usual kids and their families; Collingswood's Storybook Hour was taking the week before Easter and Passover off.

Headed for Haddonfield after I finished at the library. I made a brief stop for water and a pretzel, then rode around in Westmont before finally getting to King's Highway. There was one last thing I needed from the bike shop. I've had my bike basket for probably over fifteen years. It's not only rustier than scrap metal, it's been dented badly in several falls. I can barely get my groceries in it anymore.

I went to the Freestyle Bike Shop again, the same store that fixed my chain last month and my tire in January. I got really lucky. The kid behind the counter said they had a basket like mine...but it didn't have a part to hook it onto the bike. My basket's hook was fine, if a bit rusty. It was the basket itself that was a problem. The kid fit the basket onto the hook, then offered to give it to me for 10 bucks, 15 dollars off the original price because of the lack of the hook part. Sold!

Browsed in Haddonfield a bit after that. I had lunch at the Bistro at Haddonfield this time. It's your basic semi-fancy restaurant, a common sight in Haddonfield. It did have outdoor seating, which was nice on such a pretty day. I had a tasty grilled chicken pannini with Monterrey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. They even had their own home-made sweet potato chips dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

I checked out a few stores, including the Happy Hippo Toy Store. I saw some really nifty recreations of classic Fisher Price baby and toddler toys there, including a record player and the famous Pull Telephone. I debated getting them for my now one-year-old nephew Khai, but they were too expensive. Took a look at the Paper Trail stationary store. Eyed some nice journals, but once again, they were beyond my budget. Bought a cupcake from another cupcake store. It was tasty ("Cinnamon Bun,") but even smaller than the one I bought in Collingswood...and at $1.77 for a tiny cupcake, I won't be going back there, either.

Went back to Oaklyn after a trip through Newton River Park and a brief stop at CVS. I swung by Dad and Uncle Ken's to find out what's going on for Easter. Dad was the only one home. They've drastically changed their Easter plans. I thought we were all going to get together on Sunday, but there's been a lot of problems over there between Dad, Jodie, Uncle Ken, and Dolores, and they scotched the idea. Then they were going to get together with our cousins Karen and Jim...who moved everything up to Saturday because their daughter Taylere is going back to college on Sunday.

Dad said he might do something with Jodie's family on Sunday. You know, I really love all of those guys, but I may end up just going over there to say "hi" and give everyone cards and spending the rest of Easter by myself. I don't have the problems with spending holidays by myself that I used to. I tried calling Rose, but she wasn't home. Maybe I'll get together with her.

It doesn't help that Uncle Ken has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Yes, the type that isn't going to go away. They're hoping they can keep it at bay long enough for him to live a few years more. Poor Dad is a nervous wreck, and the feuding at their place isn't helping.

Finally headed home next. I had two treats waiting for me in the mail box when I arrived. The first was a lovely Easter card from Mom. It depicted the Easter Bunny making his deliveries on a soft, purply spring morning. Like the Art-Deco inspired birthday card Mom sent me a few weeks ago, this probably came from the gorgeous greeting card collection at the Whale's Tale gift shop in Cape May.

The second was a package containing my birthday presents from Lauren. Thanks to the Warner Archive of rare titles from their vast library, I now have digital copies of The Boy Friend and the cute MGM musical Yolanda and the Thief, along with The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Our timing couldn't have been better. The Boy Friend was released just two days before my birthday!

I ran Hollywood Revue while working on a pudding pie for myself. This is the first of several all-star movie revues made during the early talkie era. If you're a fan of the era like me, this is actually pretty cute. It's pretty much what it says on the DVD cover - the MGM roster does what more-or-less amounts to a talent show, circa late 20s.

Jack Benny and then-matinee idol Conrad Nagel are the masters of ceremonies. Jack Benny...did not change in 25 years. At all. Even the skinflint jokes are the same. Heck, he even gets a violin solo (interrupted by comics Karl Dane and George K. Arthur). He gets some decent lines, too. He introduces Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, and Bessie Love as "five lovely girls."

Speaking of those "five lovely girls," they are among the best parts of the show. Marie Dressler started her early 30s comeback with her hilarious performance here. Check out her trying to keep herself from enjoying her "I'm the Queen" number. Bessie Love (after being pulled from Jack Benny's pocket in a neat bit of trick photography) has fun with an acrobatic act; she should have done more comedy. Polly Moran's Al Jolson impression during their trio number was so wild, it supposedly knocked out a few microphones.

Other performers don't fare as well. Charles King is (literally) deflated by Conrad Nagel early on when he sings "You Were Meant For Me" for Anita Page, and then gets the awful "Your Mother and Mine." Gus "Ukulele Ike" Edwards just comes off as whiny in everything but the famous "Singing In the Rain" number. He would make a much better Jiminy Cricket over ten years later. Joan Crawford's so-so Charleston has a fun tune and is rather sweet, in an odd way...and a little eerie if you know anything about Crawford's later career.

Laurel and Hardy have a fun little magic act routine; not their best, but not horrible, either. Likewise Buster Keaton, who does a very odd acrobatic dance number in drag after the Ziegfeld Follies-esque "Tableaux of Jewels" that opens the second act. Marion Davies is one of my favorite performers from the 20s and 30s, but she just looks tired during her "Tommy Atkins On Parade" dance. (She has a legitimate excuse. She and Laurel and Hardy, among others, had to film their sequences during the wee hours so as not to upset their regular shooting schedules.)

The color numbers were in terrible shape, but we're lucky they included them at all. Most movies from this era only exist in black-and-white. The first spotlighted Norma Shearer and John Gilbert in a straight version of "Romeo and Juliet"...which director Lionel Barrymore decided to reshoot in "modern" slang. It comes off as fairly endearing today, especially Gilbert's use of pig latin.

The second color number is a more typical ballet routine. Charles King sings "Orange Blossom Time" as dancers do their thing. There's a bit of a surprise as the camera goes Busby Berkley and gives us a couple of nice overhead shots.

Actually, my favorite number may be the finale. We reprise "Singing In the Rain," this time with most of the MGM lot in raincoats. Marie Dressler goofs off under her umbrella. Bessie Love would glow even in black and white. Marion Davies is beaming; Buster Keaton just looks like he wonders why he's hearing people sing.

Yes, it's all primitive beyond belief. The sound isn't great. The color footage is scratched. Half the performers can't really sing or dance; the other half look uncomfortable. But if you enjoy this era or any of the people involved, it's an invaluable look at a time in Hollywood history when sound turned everything anyone knew about film-making upside-down.

Went for a short walk after Hollywood Revue ended. I needed milk at WaWa. Treated myself to a Coke Zero with chocolate syrup as well. Despite the wind, everyone was out and about. There was a gaggle of kids hanging around in front of Philly's Phatties, Pilar Dance Studio, and (the still-closed for the season) Leo's Yum Yums. Parents and children rode bikes together, or parents pushed little ones in strollers. People walked their dogs and mowed their lawns. It was really lovely after the cold weather we've had.

When I got home, I had steamed asparagus, a sweet potato pancake, and leftover chili for dinner. Ran the second disc of The Three Stooges. My favorite of the three shorts I caught tonight was In the Sweet Pie and Pie. Three ladies marry the Stooges, convicts on death row, in order to earn their inheritance. When they're pardoned at the last moment, the ladies try to embarrass them into divorcing. You've gotta love that hysterical pie fight ending.