The Hippie, the City Cowboy, the Soul Man, and the British Kid

It was a downright insanely warm morning when I headed out for today's library and errands run, already in the lower 60s by quarter of 10. I volunteered at the Collingswood and Haddon Township Libraries first. (I work too early on Thursday to do the library then, though I probably will do yoga that day.) Dropped a huge pile of records off at Collingswood and one last video at Haddon Township, which concludes my donating for the moment. I'm just glad to clear so much out of the back room. I can walk around in there again!

Not surprisingly, on such a lovely day, there wasn't much going on at either library. I organized and shelved DVDs at both places. Shelved a few non-fiction titles at Collingswood; shelved children's books at Haddon Township. I renewed several books and X-Men: First Class and took out two new Strawberry Shortcake titles (the 2003-version-based Berry Brick Road and the 2009 Berry Bloomin' Gardens) and one more movie, the 1979 romantic sci-fi adventure Time After Time, as well as two books on business writing and copy editing.

I made a quick stop at Super Fresh (and forgot what I went in there for, which was peanut butter) and Dollar Tree (needed birthday cards and sponges), then went straight home. Just as I had hoped, there were two large packages waiting for me on Miss Ellie's porch. My two online purchases from last week had finally arrived!

I took them upstairs right away, for I needed one to be able to use the other. The smaller package contained my new Emerson CD/cassette player from Amazon. The CD player finally died on the other one. This one was built quite differently, with no large metal disc on the top to hold the CD...which I believe is what got damaged on the last one. It seems to have come over perfectly in transit. I played the three discs from my other order and my Journey Greatest Hits cassette, and all sounded not only fine, but better than on the old machine.

As you can probably guess by the title of this entry, today's other arrival was the Instant Replay: Deluxe Edition from Rhino Records. Actually, by the time this album came out in 1969, "the Hippie" - Peter Tork - had quit, citing exhaustion but really fed up with infighting and the others not wanting to record as a group. The upheaval is reflected in a fractured and really only so-so album. It wouldn't be until the next record, the underrated Monkees Present, that Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones would find their groove again. Mike and Davy have the best tracks, of both the original and additional material. One of my favorite Davy "missing links," the fun "Look Down," is included here, as is one of Mike's best ballads that would find its way into his solo albums, "Propinquity (I've Just Begun to Care)."

For Monkees fans, probably the most interesting items are at the end of the third CD. Most of what's on there are instrumental backing tracks...but there's some recently unearthed music, both backing and with lyrics, from the Monkees' truly bizarre 1969 special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. I ended up liking Peter's "(Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love" and Davy's "Goldilocks Sometimes" much better without the respectively odd and syrupy lyrics...but Mike's "Naked Persimmon" doesn't make much sense unless you can hear the back-and-forth representation of his dual-sided personality. Although Micky is the only one whose solo number isn't represented (I guess they haven't turned up his soul version of "I'm a Believer" yet), he does get to sing the Neil Sedaka tune "I Go Ape." (The fact that you can't see the ridiculous white ape suits they wore for this number in the special is a vast improvement.)

I spent the next hour trying to work out goals for my business. I didn't get far. My mind woke me up around 6:30, and though I tried to go back to sleep for an hour, my body didn't buy it. I just couldn't concentrate. I got up to trying to figure out how much it would cost me to start a copy editing business before I was ready to either take a nap or tear out my hair. I decided to opt for neither and went for a walk.

By 4PM, it was a jawdropping 71 degrees outside. There were kids out running around in shorts...boys and girls. I really wished the ice cream parlor around the corner from me was open, but I settled for a chilled French Vanilla Cappuccino from WaWa and a pretzel to get my mind working. Everything was in bloom, from sunny yellow daffodils to soft lavender hyacinths to the palest buds on trees. Green grass is sprouting in every lawn. If adults weren't chasing their kids in the playground behind the Oaklyn School, they were washing their vehicles, working in gardens, walking their pets, or chatting with friends and neighbors on their porches, patios, and balconies. It felt more like an afternoon in early summer than one in early spring!

I had baking I couldn't put off when I got home. I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars, then simple Honey Yeast Rolls while running the two Strawberry Shortcake DVDs, then X-Men while eating leftovers for dinner. The Berry Brick Road 2003 set, as you can probably guess, spoofs The Wizard of Oz. The first episode, involving Strawberry's first trip to Oz and her encounter with the Cowardly Lion (cowardly Orange Marmalade), Tin Woodsgirl (ever-insensitive Peppermint Fizz), Scarecrow (fast-talking Ginger Snap), and Wizard (token male character Huckleberry Pie), is fairly cute. The second story, which had Strawberry helping the Berrykins (Munchkins) to save their GlowBerries, got a little too heavy on the environmental messages.

Berry Bloomin' Gardens was entirely different and just as cute. My favorite of these three tales revolving around gardens and growing things was the middle one. Lemon Meringue is proud of her beautiful violets, which she hopes will win first prize at Berry Bitty City's Flower Festival. When her violets start disappearing, however, she throws around wild accusations at everyone, including a kindly Berrykin gardener who wins every year. It takes some creative photography and a little detective work for the girls to literally get to the bottom of this mystery!

I heard really good things about the newest X-Men movie when it came out last summer, even compared to the intense superhero competition. It deserved every bit of praise. Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr are two "mutants" - evolved humans with incredible abilities. Professor Xavier feels they should seek out others like them to help humanity. Lensherr says they're better than those darn humans and should be fighting them, not helping people who treat them like dirt. They both come together for a common goal when the slimy mutant head of the Hellfire Club Sebastian Shaw and his girlfriend Emma Frost do their best to turn the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 into World War III. Xavier has the support of human scientist Moira McTaggart and several promising young mutants, but the troubled Lensherr and Xavier's shape-shifting female pal Raven may throw wrenches into the works...

This was the first of two Marvel comics adaptations from last summer that literally went back to its roots. Like Captain America, the X-Men are literally returned to the era the comics were first written in, and are all the better for it. I especially enjoyed the fun training montage, the relationship between Lensherr and Xavier, and how the Beast came to be a blue fuzzy genius.