Not Quite Spring

I awoke to a day that was windy and chilly, but sunny, and the sun was warm when you were out of the wind. It did make for a bit of a rough ride to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session there, though. (I opted not to wait for my day off on Saturday - they have plenty of school kids who help them on the weekends.)

There was plenty for me to do this week. I organized the children's DVDs, returned a big stack of adult titles, and sifted through the shelved ones to make sure everything was in the right place. I didn't have the time to do the books, though I did take out some movies. They had the new Barbie As special, Barbie and the Pink Shoes, and a new Phineas and Ferb set. The live-action movies were Rock of Ages and the 1929 semi-musical melodrama Applause, one of those early talkies I've only read about and have always wanted to see.

For once, I went straight home after I was done. There wasn't time to run errands or have lunch out, and I had plenty of leftovers, anyway. I had the last of the mussels on a bed of spinach and greens with cornbread while watching The Three Stooges Go Around the World In a Daze. One of the better movies the Stooges did in the 60s when Curly Joe was the third member has the trio joining the great-grandson of Phineas Fog as he travels across the globe, once again to win a bet. This time, the bet isn't legit - a bank robber wants to pin a burglary on him. The adventures are, as Phineas falls for a young American woman traveling in India and the Stooges pit Curly Joe against a sumo wrestler and recreate their "Maharajah" and "music makes Curly Joe go crazy" routines from the shorts.

I started Barbie and the Pink Shoes as I cleaned up lunch and took down the Easter decorations. Here, Kristen is a dedicated dancer who prefers allowing her feet to move to the music instead of performing the choreography as written. This doesn't make her a hit with her perfectionist teacher, nor with the snotty diva who is the school's prima ballerina. When the costume designer gives Kristen a special pair of pink ballet slippers, they whisk her and her best friend Hailey off into the worlds of several popular real ballets, including Giselle and Swan Lake. Kristen's in heaven at first when she realizes she can finally dance the lead...but when she leads the stories astray and the wicked Snow Queen kidnaps Hailey, she realizes she has to do the dances her way to set things right.

Not bad. A fair improvement over last year's two rather dull specials. The animation in particular is colorful and well-done. I will warn you that non-ballet fans, or those of you who don't know much about the two shows they're performing, may be a bit in the dark. If you or your daughter love ballet or know anything about ballet or dancing, leap right in.

It took me longer to get the Easter decorations down than I though it would - I was almost late for work! As it turned out, it didn't matter much. Work was quiet when I arrived, quiet when I left, and only mildly busy in between. There were a few annoying customers, otherwise it was so dead, I spent an hour before break returning carts, and another hour before leaving doing returns.