In the Heat of the Day

I slept longer than I planned on. Consequently, it was quarter of 12 when I finally got to the laundromat. Despite the continuing heat wave, I really did need to catch up on chores and resume my regular schedule. The laundromat was busy when I got in, much quieter when I finally left. Good thing. I had a huge bag to be done, including towels and the sheet Lauren slept under last week. It was almost 1 when I finished and headed back out.

I was delighted to find the copy of Snow White and the Three Stooges I ordered last week in my mailbox when I got home. I liked it so much when I watched it with Lauren, I ended up buying it, too. I ran that and the last of the second Stooges shorts disc as I put away the laundry and had a quick strawberry-raspberry butter and peanut butter wrap and pear for lunch.

It was past 2:30 when I went out for my second errand run of the day. I didn't have a chance to get to the Haddon Township Library last week and was looking forward to it, if only for the air conditioning. There was quite a bit to do. The DVD stack was especially high; I organized children's DVDs (ignoring the fuss next to me over a printer that was being affected by high humidity) and shelved the adult and non-fiction titles. There were fewer kids' books to shelve today; many parents may not have wanted to bring their kids out in the too-hot weather.

Needed to make a few store runs on the way home. A quick stop in Super Fresh proved fruitless, but I did get sponges and two much-needed bottles of pump hand soap at Dollar Tree. The pump soap in the bathroom just ran out, the one in the kitchen is down to it's last quarter, and I'm out of sponges, too.

Headed straight home after Dollar Tree, avoiding the rush-hour traffic as best I could. I spent the rest of the evening making Chicken Marsala, steamed spring peas, and sauteed carrots, turnips, and celery for dinner while watching two of the cartoon sets I took out of the Haddon Township Library. In fact, this is the first time I've taken books and DVDs out of any library in ages. I think it's time to start cheaply expanding my range again. I grabbed the NickJr series Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, a collection of Warner Bros-owned Dr. Seuss specials, and the second Cartoon Network live action Scooby Doo movie, Curse of the Lake Monster.

Kai-Lan is basically a Chinese variation on Dora the Explorer. Once again, an inquisitive and good-natured young lady and her odd array of animal friends (and one adult guardian) have adorable adventures that encourages audience participation. The big difference with Kai-Lan is unlike Dora, who is vaguely Hispanic, much of Kai-Lan's tales revolve around real-life Chinese festivals and customs, and yes, Chinese is taught instead of Spanish.

The first story was a double-length tale in which the gang's favorite superhero, the Monkey King, took Kai-Lan and her buddies HoHo (a tiny white monkey), Rintoo (a yellowish tiger), and Kolee (a darling koala) to the kingdoms of the Bears and the Foxes. The two kingdoms are feuding, but no one can figure out why or how to unite them. When a baby bear and baby fox want to be friends, Kai-Lan and her crew visit the Fox King and the Bear Queen to find out what the problem is and how to make them talk it out.

The other two episodes were probably closer to the show's regular format. In the first, the gang visit pink girlie rhino LuLu's home in the clouds. HoHo is frightened of all the new sensations, until Kai-Lan convinces him that trying different things isn't so bad. The third episode also revolved around HoHo. He's eager to make a wish on the Moon during the Moon Festival, the first he really remembers. The toddler monkey is bitterly disappointed when a cloud blocks the moon, but Kai-Lan, her grandpa YeYe, and the others find a way to still give HoHo his wish.

Switched to Dr. Seuss after I cleaned up from dinner. One of the last books Seuss wrote was The Butter Battle Book; this was also the basis for one of the final Seuss specials in the late 80s. (The copy on the Best of Dr. Seuss DVD even has the original card saying it was made for TNT.)  This parable on the futility of war has the countries of Zook and Yook up in arms over whether to butter the bread on the bottom or the top. Zook keeps coming up with bigger arms, and Yook keeps one-upping them, until both create a nuclear-charged pill that could destroy the world if dropped. Who drops first? It's left to your imagination, as the special (and apparently, the book as well) end with the standoff.

The good Dr. himself considered Butter Battle Book to be the closest to the actual book of the animated adaptations. Whether it is or isn't, it's really kind of depressing, and the Lady-or-the-Tiger finale lacks the note of hope injected into the other Dr. Seuss special and book with an unhappy ending, The Lorax. As for Kai-Lan, I found her cute enough and a nice introduction to Chinese culture for little guys, not to mention some of the most adorable animated character designs ever. (Even the sun and finally-appearing moon were cute.) She unfortunately has the same big problem as Dora - if you're watching without kids, you'll probably get bored or annoyed with the interaction after a while.