Saturday, December 28, 2013

Sooner Or Later, She Always Gets Her Man

Started a sunny, breezy day with the last American Top 40 re-run of the year. Today's special episode covered the first half of the top 100 songs of 1981. Favorites from that year included "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan, "America" and "Hello Again" by Neil Diamond from the soundtrack of his remake of The Jazz Singer, "Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen, "Sweetheart" by Frankie and the Knockouts, "How 'Bout Us?" by Champaign, "For Your Eyes Only" from the James Bond movie of that title by Sheena Easton, "It's My Turn" and "I'm Comin' Out" by Diana Ross, "Hearts" by Marty Balin, "Boy From New York City" by the Manhattan Transfer, and "You Make My Dreams Come True" and the remake of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by Hall & Oates.

I only had one errand to run today, but it was an important one. I had to ride to the PNC branch in Collingswood to deposit the money Dad gave me Christmas Day. Between that and two excellent paychecks coming next week and the week after, I should have more than enough money to pay my Comcast bill and get the rent in at a decent time...and even if my hours go down in January (which they usually do), I should have tax return money coming in late January-early February. Not to mention, February is the single busiest month of the year at the Acme, thanks to everything from bad weather to lots of events and holidays packed into a short month.

It wasn't busy and I was able to deposit the money quickly, but I did have to ride to and from there. That's why I switched to direct deposit after the PNC in Oaklyn shut down. It would just be too much to run there every week to put money in the bank. I hurried around after I got in, preparing for work and eating a fast lunch. I had just enough time for a Backyardigans episode. "International Super Spy" wasn't their first spy spoof. "Secret Mission" from the first season goes the sneakier Mission: Impossible route. Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone infiltrate a museum to find out where a tiny piece belongs and how to get it back to its owner without setting off various alarms.

Work was on-and-off busy all day. There were a few annoying beginning-of-the-month customers (including a few who forgot money and held up lines), but otherwise, there were no major problems besides a lack of help. It did slow down enough by 5 PM for me to leave without a relief.

I went straight home after work. Made salmon in lemon-wine sauce with sauteed mushrooms and broccoli and sliced strawberries from Rose's Christmas party for dinner. Put on Dick Tracy as I ate. This 1990 adaptation of the popular comic strip takes us into the primary-colored world of the rough-and-ready cop of the title (Warren Beatty). Tracy's ready to shake down Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino), but Big Boy keeps evading his grasp. He wants Caprice's moll Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) to testify against him, but she likes her life - and Tracy - a bit too much. Meanwhile, Caprice is trying to get Tracy out of the way, and Tracy is trying to deal with the orphan kid he found who keeps following him around and his girlfriend Tess Trueheart (Glenn Headley) who just wants him to settle down. It all comes to an explosive conclusion on New Year's Eve, when both men confront a third party who seems to be determined to bring down their lives and careers.

Listening to Madonna's Breathless CD this morning before I went to Collingswood inspired me to put on this movie. I've always gotten a kick out of it. Mom took Rose and me to see this when it came out in the summer of 1990, and we played "Dick Tracy" with our buddies for the rest of vacation. For all the fun the cast is having with the script (especially Pacino and Madonna), the best part of this movie by far is the eye candy. It won deserved Oscars for the amazing makeup and sets that recreated Tracy's vibrant comic-strip world. Worth checking out for fans of comic-book movies, the cast, Stephan Sondheim (his original song "Sooner or Later" won another Oscar), or the original Tracy comics or serials.

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