Balance on Baking Day

Started today with the end of The Artist and two Three Stooges shorts on making movies. The Stooges invade a studio in "Movie Maniacs," hoping to become stars. They wind up in charge of the newest film when the head executive mistakes them for big shots from back east. "Three Missing Links" takes them to Africa to appear as caveman and a gorilla in jungle movie. The trouble starts when a real gorilla invades the set and wrecks havoc!

I arrived at yoga just as they were beginning. As it turned out, there was no reason to rush. Everyone must have left for the Labor Day Weekend already. There weren't nearly as many people in class as usual. We concentrated on "core" (stomach) exercises and inversions. My sore fingers weren't up to shoving my weight on my head. I did my best with the core work.

Next stop was the Collingswood Library. They were surprisingly busy, considering the holiday and the beautiful weather. I guess everyone wanted to rent movies before the library closes for the weekend. I had lots of DVDs to file, shelve, and organize. There was nothing going on upstairs, though, so I headed out a bit early.

I needed to swing by the Haddon Township Library to return The Artist, Angelina Ballerina, and Shanghai Surprise. The Camden County Library System only allows new DVDs (they call them the "Grab and Go" movies) out for four days. (I'll probably run Picnic over the weekend.) Had just enough money to stop at 7-11 for a Pina Colada/Mango Slurpee and a pretzel on the way there.

I rode home through a bustling Newton River Park. I partially wanted to avoid the lunch hour traffic on Cuthbert Road (the drive-in line for McDonald's stretched around the building), but I mostly wanted to enjoy the gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy, with nary a cloud in the soft blue sky. It was dry, and warm without being too hot, perfect weather for southern New Jersey in late August.

When I arrived at home, I took an hour for a leftovers lunch and watching black-and-white Mickey Mouse cartoons. After that, I made a trip to the gym. I timed it well. There was no one on the cardio equipment when I started a 20 minute run on an elliptical machine, but there were several people in the weight machine area. By the time I was working on my legs, the opposite was (mostly) true.

I was tired, my heel spur hurt, and I wanted to get some baking done. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home. Ran Flash Gordon while making Zucchini Muffins. I picked up the 80s movie version of the ever-popular comic book character when Lauren was visiting in May, and I finally got around to watching it. New York Jets quarterback Flash (Sam Jones), spunky travel agent Dale (Melody Anderson), and semi-mad scientist Zarcov (Topol) find themselves hurled into space when meteors begin raining down on Earth. Turns out the planet is under attack by the dastardly Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydrow, having an awful lot of fun), the ruler of the planet Mongo. Ming wants Dale; his daughter Aura (Ornella Muti) has her eyes on Flash, despite already having a lover in Prince Barrin of Araboria (Timothy Dalton). It'll take every ounce of Flash, Dale, and Zarcov's wit and courage to get past Mongo's amazing technology...not to mention their crazy Technicolor Art Deco sets and costumes.

For all the comparisons to Star Wars, this has a very different feel. The neutral tones and cool blues and reds of George Lucas' epics have here been replaced by wild costumes that look like a cross between a samurai movie and The Adventures of Robin Hood. The amazing sets recreate the feel of old-time comic books nicely, and the cast is having a ball. Special mention to Von Sydrow, enjoyably over-the-top as Ming, and Brian Blessed as the big, bawdy head of the Hawkmen. If you like your action movies bright, campy, and hilarious, this cult favorite is worth digging around for.

Switched to something intentionally goofy as I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and tilapia in lemon sauce with steamed Chinese beans and sliced tomatoes for dinner. Robin Hood: Men In Tights was probably Mel Brooks' last decent spoof. Made in 1993, it mainly pokes fun at the rather stilted Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but does occasionally make cracks at other versions, too, including Errol Flynn's. Cary Elwes makes a hilarious Robin; watch out for the musical number to the title song mid-way through.