Hot Summer Days

I slept in this morning, then read the latest Daisy Dalyrumple novel Gone West and wrote in my journal in bed until around 10ish. Finished Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation while having yogurt, blueberries, honey, and two slices of cinnamon raisin toast for breakfast. I didn't get going to the Haddon Township Library until past noon!

It was surprisingly busy in Newton River Park as I rode by, maybe because of it being the lunch hour. I figured everyone would be avoiding the heat. There were joggers, mothers pushing their children in the shade, and couples going for a lunchtime walk. While I don't think there's anything that can be done about the dry, brown grass, the recent storms have helped the trees and plants. Most of them aren't drooping anymore, and they look a bit greener.

Despite the library being busy when I arrived, there wasn't a whole lot for me to do. Volunteers had already taken care of the DVDs and most of the kids' books. I organized the kids' DVDs, pulled a few foreign titles, and shelved some picture books. Ended up renting Hollywoodland (a fairly recent movie on the death of 50s TV actor George Reeves), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (which I hope to actually get to watching this time), and A Summer Place (the late 50s-early 60s flip side to Mr. Hobbs' family vacation farce - a family vacation melodrama). Found two videos on the sales racks to dub, the John Wayne 40s vehicle Dark Command and Jeanette MacDonald's first movie at MGM, The Cat and the Fiddle.

Made a very quick stop at Super Fresh for cooking spray (which was on sale there), then went to Friendly's for lunch. I was originally going to ride to the Legacy Diner in Audubon, but it was too hot for going out of my way. I had the same thing I had last time, half of the Super Melt Chicken Sandwich and a salad. It was just as tasty as last time...and just as messy, too.

I debated having ice cream at Friendly's, but I finally decided to stop at Kaya's for a milkshake instead. Had a Pina Colada soft-serve shake. I sat down in the rocker seats, but I wasn't there for long. Not because of water on the canopy. It was just too hot to be drinking anything outside. I slurped the rest of it while riding home.

Spent the next hour and a half dubbing The Cat and the Fiddle and relaxing. This adaptation of the hit 1933 operetta paired MacDonald with occasional musical performer Ramon Navarro. They're composers in Brussels who meet cute when he jumps into her cab, then fall in love and live together (yes, unmarried - this one snuck out before the Production Code kicked in). Her "The Night Is Made For Love" is a big hit, producing friction between her and Navarro, who is struggling to get his operetta off the ground. He's tired of living in her shadow; she's tired of his frivolities. Can these two find a way to make sweet music again?

Alas, MacDonald's first MGM operetta only proved how hard it was to find her an appropriate partner. Novarro had been a star in the late silent and early talkie era, but by 1934, his vogue was waning. He's too small and sweet to work with strong-willed MacDonald (or stage diva Vivianne Segal, for that matter). The big 3-strip Technicolor finale is blurry and too bright, a far cry from the later glories of MGM musicals. What still makes this is Jerome Kern's lovely score, including the ballad that caused all the ruckus and the perky "She Didn't Say Yes."

Around 5, I decided it was time for a swim. I rode over to Dad and Uncle Ken's to hit the pool. Craig and Khai were about to jump in as well. We were joined by Dad and Jodie as Khai showed us how well he could swim. (He's also getting better at talking. He said a clear "please" and "thank you" when Jodie handed him a drink.) Rose was working and couldn't join us, but I still had a nice time there.

When I got in, I made ratatouille to go with my leftover chicken burgers and ran more Three Stooges shorts, this time with Curly. The boys are "Calling All Curs" when they're running an animal hospital and one of the patients is dog-napped. The "Flat Foot Stooges" are firefighters who are in charge of the horses who pull the engine. When man who wants to sell them a firetruck with an engine tries to sabotage the antique fire truck and accidentally sets the fire house ablaze, the boys are really cooking! They're "Three Missing Links" playing (appropriately) cavemen and a gorilla in a movie set in Africa. The fun really gets started when Curly meets a real female gorilla who wrecks havoc on the set. "Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise," a personal favorite of mine, has the trio aiding a widow who was swindled out of her land...which just happens to have oil on it.