Summer Harvest

Began a sunny, warmer day with this week's American Top 40 re-run. Casey hopped back a year to 1981, as country, pop, New Wave, and the last vestiges of disco ruled the airwaves. Hits that week included "Boy From New York City" by the Manhattan Transfer, "No Getttin' Over Me" by Ronnie Milsap, "Believe It Or Not (Theme From Greatest American Hero)" by Joey Scarbury, "The One That You Love" by Air Supply, and "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. Air Supply was joined at the top of the chart that week by fellow Aussie Rick Springfield's biggest success on this side of the Pacific, "Jesse's Girl."

I had to work at 11AM, so my farm market run was a quickie. Despite the brighter and more humid weather, people were out in force for the height of the summer harvests. Melons and hot peppers debuted today, but most of them were too big or too spicy for me to haul home. I settled on peaches, blueberries, sugar plums, long Chinese beans, two plump tomatoes, and a small cucumber.

I ran the last Little Einsteins episode on the DVD while I got organized when I arrived at the apartment. Princess Bassoon of the court orchestra has been put to sleep by a grumpy wizard. It's up to the kids to travel to Denmark and through an enchanted forest and dodge the wizard in their Rocket Viking Ship, so Quincy can play his trumpet and awaken the orchestra!

It was still warm and humid (though not as bad as last week) when I headed to work. Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - on and off busy, if a bit less off than on. With the weather gorgeous this week and likely to stay that way next week, many people are probably either going to or coming from vacation. Once again, there were no major problems, and I was able to shut down with no relief.

I picked up a few things I forgot or wasn't able to get at the Westmont Acme yesterday (including the brown rice and Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter - the Westmont Acme was out, and it's on a very rare sale this week), then headed home. I put on another Judy Garland vehicle, In the Good Old Summertime, after I changed into my regular clothes.

This time, Garland is joined by boyish Van Johnson for the second film version and first musical version of the Hungarian play Parfumerie. Originally done by MGM as the non-musical Lubistch-directed The Shop Around the Corner, the 1949 edition moves the story to a music shop in turn-of-the-century Chicago. Garland and Johnson are salespeople in the shop who hate each other, but have no idea they're the authors of the romantic pen pal letters they've been sending each other for months. S.K Sakall is their violin-playing boss. Marcia Van Dyke is Johnson's violinist friend. Spring Byington is Sakall's girl Friday and long-time sweetheart. Buster Keaton, as Sakall's nephew, is among the other employees.

This is, amazingly enough, my first time enjoying this story. I've never seen The Shop Around the Corner or it's 90s update You've Got Mail, nor have I heard the 1963 Broadway musical She Loves Me except for in snatches on "The Dress Circle." I do know that, despite only sort-of being a musical (except for two Garland numbers at a party towards the end and one Christmas number, most of the songs are performed in the shop for customers and hardly advance the plot), this is a very sweet and beautifully-made film. Garland looks ravishing in Technicolor, swaying around in the long gowns and huge flowered hats. Johnson's having his own good time playing a rake who learns to see the light. Oh, and look for a very, very young Liza Minnelli playing (what else?) Garland's daughter in the finale. Very cute movie; recommended for fans of Garland, Keaton, or the big MGM Technicolor musicals of the 40s and 50s.

Switched to The Cat In the Hat Knows A Lot About That! as I made Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip for dinner. School, the seasons, and making changes are the theme as Sally, Nick, and the Cat explore what makes each season special and discover how distinctive eyes or fur can help animals in their environments. The hair one was especially funny; I loved the kids and the Cat likening the Yak's long, wooly coat to a rock star's coiffure.

And I have a pretty decent schedule next week for this time of year. A late night on Monday is the only complaint; otherwise, Tuesday and Thursday off and afternoon hours all week.