A Very Fishy Situation

Started today with a couple of Christmas specials and shorts pertaining to the more religious side of the holiday while eating breakfast and making Banana-Chocolate Chip-Coconut Muffins. The Little Drummer Boy of the 1969 Rankin Bass special hates people after bandits destroyed his home, preferring to spend his time with his drum and pets. He changes his views on humanity when only a "king among kings" can help his hurt lamb.

Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is another take on the story of the donkey who may have carried Mary to Bethlehem. The little donkey of the title can't seem to do anything right, thanks to his huge ears...until he has to help a special couple find their way to Bethlehem.

Charlie Brown is tired of all the commercialism around him and wishes he understood Christmas better. Linus finally shows him - and all of the Peanuts - the meaning of the holiday in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

In the Oscar-winning 1941 short A Star In the Night, character actor J. Carroll Naish plays an Italian hotel owner who is tired of the constant complaints from his customers. It takes the arrival of a poor Hispanic youngster with a pregnant wife who need a room to teach Naish a lesson in the true spirit of the season.

Headed out after "A Star In the Night" ended. I had a lot to do today, starting with a quick run to the Oaklyn Library. It was only 10:30 when I arrived. Thanks to the humid, warm, cloudy weather and the road work on Newton Avenue, the place was empty. I was able to organize DVDs and take a look at the kids' section in relative peace.

Cut through a quiet, brown Newton River Park on my way to the Haddon Township Library. They were also very quiet. I had no problems organizing either the kids' or adults' DVD titles. There was a lot to pull from both sides. They seem to have begun to replace some of the older DVDs with better copies...but neglected to remove the older ones. I also pulled foreign films from the regular adult titles and kids and adult DVDs from both sections. I ended up taking out a nice haul myself to make up for renting nothing last week, three movies (Jack the Giant Slayer, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, and the stage version of Shrek: The Musical) and two cartoons (the How to Train Your Dragon holiday special Gift of the Night Fury and the Disney elf shorts Prep & Landing and Naughty & Nice).

Made a quick stop next at Dollar Tree for sponges, scrub pads, and cinnamon (mine's almost done). They were really busy, with lines snaking around to the seasonal section. Thank goodness they opened more registers! After I got out of there, I went to Capitol Pizza for two slices of cheese and broccoli and mushroom and a can of Diet Pepsi. I enjoyed my lunch while watching the tail end of The Chew, and then talk shows.

I spent the rest of the evening at home, crocheting and watching The Incredible Mr. Limpet. Don Knotts plays the fellow of the title, a meek little man who is obsessed with fish and the Navy, much to the annoyance of his wife Bessie. After being hit by lightning and falling in the water at Coney Island, he finds that he's been transformed into a real (well, animated) fish. While he's been learning about his new surroundings, America has joined World War II. Mr. Limpet becomes determined to help his country and prove that no matter what you are, you can still make a difference.

A strange but sweet comedy, best known for its animated underwater sequences done by mostly Warner Bros animators. Might be a little too weird for older kids and teens, but if you can explain the war sequences to the younger guys, you might be able to sell them on this one.

The quiet continued at work. We were dead for most of the night, except during rush hour. There weren't even any returns or shelving to do. They had plenty of boys stocking shelves for the new sales tomorrow, and a new girl bagger did the returns to learn more about where everything is in the store. I was more than happy to head out at 9:30 without a relief.

I got lucky with the weather again. The rain didn't start until well after I got to work, and it was long-gone by the time I finished. I hope my luck sticks around for the weekend. The weather doesn't look good, with rain showers and even a possible bit of snow Sunday and Monday.