Started off a sunny, hot, and muggy day with Brunch With the Beatles and Apple-Peach Pancakes. The theme today was the "Paul is dead" rumor that started somewhere in the mid-60s and apparently lasted through the rest of the decade. I've always wondered what people were smoking then that made them believe things like that. Songs associated with the rumors ranged from "I'm Looking Through You" to "Strawberry Fields Forever" to "I Am the Walrus" and "Glass Onion."
Called Mom after I finished breakfast. She was just getting dressed and cleaned up, and was trying to get my nephew Skylar to do the same. Mom was ok, but Skylar was having a rough time of it. His mother, my younger sister Anny, accidentally dropped his glasses in the bay yesterday, and they couldn't find them even though they searched for an hour. Not a good thing - he starts school Tuesday, and he's blind as a bat without them. Mom said Anny had gone out to see what she could do about getting new ones, even though they wouldn't be there by Tuesday.
I spent the rest of a very quiet afternoon watching movies and finishing a crocheting project. I've been working on a new dish rag for months now. I just haven't had the time for crocheting, or much of anything else. I probably used acrylic yarn that was too heavy...but that turned out to have the advantage of being scratchy enough to get some really caked-on gunk off the old pan I use for pancakes.
The first movie of the day was Summer Rental. One of several mildly pleasant but unremarkable family comedies John Candy did in the mid and late 80s gives us Candy as stressed-out air traffic controller Jack Chester. When his boss finally says he needs a vacation, he packs his family up and takes them to a small shore town in North Florida. They think their new rental home is gorgeous and perfect...until they realize they're in the wrong house. Worse yet, their actual rental house is a dump, the beach it overlooks is notorious for parties, and the local snob (Richard Crenna) insults Candy whenever he can. As in One Crazy Summer, a boat race settles all disputes, this time with the help of the crusty owner (Rip Torn) of a dilapidated vessel remade as a seafood shack.
As I said, this is cute if you're into 80s comedies or Candy, but it's otherwise nothing you absolutely must see (or haven't seen before). Worth a rental if you're a big Candy fan.
Went right into Captain Ron as I made an omelet with Cheddar with Herbs, mushrooms, and the last of the ratatouille for lunch. Here Martin Short is the stressed executive Martin Harvey who wants to take his family on an adventure. He gets his chance when he inherits a boat from an uncle who ran off to the Caribbean. Turns out, the boat is a mess, and the only pilot they're able to hire is the unreliable and very wacky Captain Ron (Kurt Russell). Ron may not be much of a pilot, but he does know enough of his stuff to teach Harvey and his family something about sailing. Ron's antics (including getting lost and inviting revolutionaries on the boat) drives Harvey up the wall...but when pirates attack, it'll take their combined efforts to save Martin's family and the ship!
This is a long-time family favorite. Russell and Short have wonderful chemistry as the harried executive who wants a perfect vacation and the laid-back island bum who is clueless about how badly he's screwing it up. Some references to Cuba and the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 90s makes it a little more dated than the other summer movies I've run this weekend, but otherwise, this is a fun vacation comedy and is recommended, especially for fans of Russell or Short.
Work, on the other hand, was not fun. I don't know if people were upset that we still haven't gotten the rain they've predicted all weekend or what, but I was ready to tear out my hair. People were rude. People were cranky. At least five people misinterpreted the soda sale that allows you to buy four 12 packs of Pepsi, Canada Dry, or Coke...and only those brands. You can't mix and match the brands, only the flavors within the brand. One guy was cool and said he wanted his Diet Coke whether it was on sale or not. Everyone else fussed that they had to get the right thing. I was so happy when it finally quieted down enough by 8 for me to leave without a relief.
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