Baritones, Beautiful Gowns, and Smart Ladies

Started off a gorgeous day by dubbing off the first two items on one of the many tapes I made in college. I used to tape anything that I really liked, generally off of TCM and AMC (before I stopped watching the latter after their exceedingly poor treatment of Remember WENN). I did get one hour special on Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy off of PBS, and that's what I started with.

I then moved to the next movie on the tape. There's only two tapes I intend to copy as they are - the one I'm currently working on and the one with three Bob Hope movies. I got through Lovely to Look At this morning. A remake of the 1934 stage show and 1935 film Roberta, this one involves three guys from New York (Red Skelton, Howard Keel, and Gower Champion) who travel to Paris, hoping to sell a share in a failing fashion house, Roberta's, that Skelton owns. The owners of the other half of the house turn out to be the very attractive Kathryn Grayson and Marge Champion. The arrival of Keel's girlfriend Ann Miller throws a wrench in the works. So does the backer who may take Keel's original show after all, even with a big fashion show for Roberta's in the works...

Best for fans of dance or fabulous 50s fashion. Costume designer Adrian and director Vincent Minelli went to town on the dazzling finale, with women in slinky suits, glittery lounge wear, and enormous spangled ball gowns posing and posturing amid the Champions' smoky ballet. The Champions also get two wonderful duets to "I Won't Dance" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Red Skelton's largely improvised "Go and Tell Aunt Rhodie" number is still pretty cute. Ann Miller's best moment is "I'll Be Hard to Handle."

I went for a short walk down to the end of Goff Avenue, where the concrete boat launch provides splendid views of the river, Audubon Park across the way, the ramp into Oaklyn, and on clear days like today, the Ben Franklin Bridge. It was a stunning day for a walk. Warm, but not nearly as hot as it has been, windy, bright, and not humid at all.

As I was on my way back, Dad called my cell phone. I called him while Lovely to Look At was on, but he wasn't home. Nope, he was out running errands...and totally forgot we were supposed to take the TV outside today. I ran the Best Buy idea by him. He didn't sound too enthusiastic about hauling a heavy 22-inch tube TV set all the way to Cherry Hill or Deptford. I'd really rather recycle it...but if he's not up to getting it into the van, we'll just leave it on the curb.

It was finally cool enough to make Blueberry Muffins. I did that and ate lunch while watching Danger Mouse. I changed and made dinner quickly, then headed to work.

Work was a pain. The procession of annoying beginning-of-the-month customers continues. Apparently, the current trend is to buy 500 items, then use one coupon for each item in order to bring the price of the order down to nothing. This may look great, but it has its pitfalls. First of all, most of the items you get on coupons are for things that aren't very good for you, like junk food, sugary cereals, and processed items. Second, it takes forever to ring up a pile of 100 coupons for every single item. It's a great way to hold up the line and anger other shoppers, not to mention make you very unpopular with cashiers. Third, I simply don't understand what people are actually going to DO with all this stuff. Where do they keep it all? Are they going to donate it somewhere? How big is their family?

My suggestion? Use coupons only when you truly need the item. Otherwise, shop sales and buy what you need, not what a coupon dictates. Maybe you won't buy a 100 items for a dollar, but in the long run, you'll save room, your diet, and your sanity and those of others around you.