"Thanks for the Memories..."

Started off a gorgeous summer morning with the last two Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoons and the bonus Little Einsteins episode over a tomato and Colby cheese omelet for breakfast. I ended up really liking the very cute Einsteins. Little Einsteins is an offshoot of the Baby Einsteins series for infants. This is a variation on the interactivity format, this time with emphasis on the arts. Annie, a darling little singer, June, a smart dancer, Quincy, a goofy musician, and Leo, the orchestra leader, travel around in their Red Rocket, going on mildly scary "missions" against a backdrop of a painter's works, with a classical composer's music in the background. European castles provided the background for the kids' Halloween show, while Edvard Grieg's music was the score. The kids have to collect candy from four famous castles for their Halloween party...but who are those ghosts after them? Adorable. I've seen DVDs for this show at Haddon Township and Collingswood; I may have to look into them.

Went for a walk after Little Einsteins. This is as lovely as it gets in early August in southern New Jersey, sunny, breezy, and in the mid-80s, with no humidity in sight. Since it was only around 10, I had the playground behind the Oaklyn Public School to myself this time. I was able to slide and run around and play oversized tic-tac-toe to my heart's content. Stopped at Doria's Deli for a special treat of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi and a chat with Mrs. Doria. She loved the weather so much, she rode here on a bike, too.

Spent the rest of the morning at my apartment. Finished the Bob Hope disc with The Big Broadcast of 1938. Hope made his feature film debut as one of the many cast members in Paramount's equivalent of MGM's Broadway Melody movies and the Gold Diggers series at Warners. The location is rather novel, compared to the usual backstage movies - two cruise ships racing each other. Hope is an announcer with a trio of ex-wives. Shirley Ross is the ex he was happiest with. Dorothy Lamour is a passenger in love with the inventor of the radio waves-backed contraption that could help the SS Gigantic to win the race. That is, if the bad-luck curse attached to father-daughter pair Martha Raye and WC Fields doesn't rub off on the ship!

Hope and Ross steal the show with the classic "Thanks for the Memory" number. The two reminisce about old times in a way that seems far more natural than anything else in the movie...or in most musicals, for that matter. They were such a hit together, they were teamed again later that year in a movie called Thanks for the Memory and performed another popular duet, "Two Sleepy People."

Martha Raye comes off best of the remaining all-star cast with her awesome acrobatic dance number with a bunch of rowdy sailors that shows off both her dancing ability and some nice legs. WC Fields' stand-out moments are on the golf course as he runs a group of unfortunate cabbies ragged. Dorothy Lamour has little to do, especially compared to her later Road romps with Hope.

After I finalized the Hope disc, I went straight into the next one. My next DVD is devoted to the first three movies in The Thin Man series. Ran the original film as I organized the video and DVD shelves and made Chocolate Chip Bars. The first Thin Man film is the only one based after the original Dashiel Hammett book. Nick and Nora Charles (and their wire terrier Asta) are a wealthy, debonair pair of society gadabouts who mainly devote their lives to drinking and being witty. When an inventor friend of Nick's disappears under mysterious circumstances, Nick finds himself being involved in the case whether he wants to be or not...and Nora insisting on joining him for the ride.

I forgot how much fun this one is. My favorite part comes right after Nick is shot by a gangster who is trying to find out what he knows. He uses his Christmas present from Nora - a pistol - to shoot the balls off the Christmas tree while she reads the paper.

"You were shot three times in the tabloids," she reports to Nick.

"That's not true," Nick quips. "They didn't get anywhere near my tabloids."

The Thin Man ended with almost no time to spare. I went straight to work. Work was busy all day long, with crazy lines until almost 8PM. There's quite a bit going on right now. First of all, it's still the beginning of the month. Second, many college students will be going back to school this week or next week. Third, quite a few people are going on vacation. Fourth, anyone who isn't going on vacation seems to be taking advantage of the nice weather to hold barbecues and family reunions.

Did some very quick grocery shopping after work ended. Mainly needed to restock baking items and snacks. It took me almost five minutes to find the new Emerald On the Go bagged trail-mix snacks I had a coupon for. I assumed they'd be in the aisle with the nuts, but they turned out to be shelved with granola bars.

I'm not thrilled with my schedule next week. On one hand, I only have two days, Thursday and Friday, that are as long or as late as yesterday. On the other hand, after tomorrow, I don't have another day off until next Saturday! At least five or six people who work on the front end alone went on vacation this week. Now I'm glad I waited until September to take my second week.