I opened my eyes at 7:30, then closed them for what I thought was a few minutes. When I reopened them, the phone was ringing, and it was almost 9:30! Mom was the caller. She wanted to tell me that her debit card was breached and the Amazon.com gift certificate she gave me for Christmas might not work. Good thing I used it right after I got it and put it towards a new cordless phone.
After I got off with Mom, I finished The Pyrates. This goofy swashbuckler spoof by George MacDonald Fraser is pretty much Pirates of the Caribbean crossed with The Pirate Movie by way of Monty Python. Captain Ben Avery is our designated "hero" (but really something of a gentlemanly jerk) who is supposed to be taking a priceless crown to Madagascar. On the way, he falls for the gorgeous but spoiled rotten Lady Vanity. Also on board is Colonel Tom Blood, a real-life rogue and jewel thief who doesn't care about much besides his own hide, money, and easy women (in that order). The ship is attacked by pirates, who are there to rescue their slinky queen Sheba. The pirates separate the crown into six parts, send them off with their six captains, and turn Vanity over to slavers. Avery becomes determined to recover the crown, rescue his beloved, and defeat the pirates...never mind that Blood thinks he's basically nuts. The duo literally travel from England to South America to the Spanish Main and back again, with a stop in a native jungle village, as they chase the pirates and try to save the crown and the ladies.
I've loved this one since I first encountered it in high school. I used to take it out of Cape May Courthouse's main branch of the Cape May County Library once a summer. It's not for people looking for straight action fare or who don't get the swashbuckler jokes, but if you're a fan of pirate lore like me or just want to read a Mel Brooks-esque satire, this one can be found for a decent price on Amazon.com (which is how I got it several years ago).
I had a quick cereal and grapefruit breakfast before going online to check my PNC accounts. I was able to get my rent together and put a little money in savings. I wasn't happy with how upset the reply to my blog last night was - I posted my response there.
Spent the rest of the afternoon dusting and washing the windows. I ran a couple of rock CDs as I cleaned. Billy Joel's Greatest Hits I & II is a little superfluous for me, as I own a lot of his albums, but it's nice for when I don't feel like digging around for specific songs. I picked up Bruce Springsteen's The Rising right after it came out. I used to listen to it a lot when I lived in Wildwood. Five For Fighting's American Town has one of my favorite (relatively) recent rock numbers, "Superman (It's Not Easy to Be Me)."
I didn't finally finish the dusting until past 3:30. It was starting to mist outside, but I really, really had grocery shopping to do. I wanted to get my schedule, too. It was busy with rush hour people trying to avoid the heavy rain and flooding. I needed a lot, especially meat and produce - grapefruit, bananas, pre-cut asparagus and the Acme's own cabbage slaw in a container, breaded and spiced chicken, shrimp. Restocked crushed pineapple, plain yogurt, butter, milk, and chocolate chips. The clearance racks are laden with Christmas leftovers. I grabbed a box of Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Tea for iced tea and four packets of that Mott's Hot Apple Cider mix, plus a box of Lipton Black Pearl pyramid tea.
I'm not entirely happy with my schedule. On one hand, while I still have a fair amount of hours for this time of year (21) and the latest I work is 7:30 on Monday, I don't have another day off after today until Thursday! On the other hand, I have three days off in a row. While I'm glad to have the extra time to get some things organized here and get a lot of work done, I wish they'd start separating my days off. I have the feeling that this is part of the reason I've been so stressed lately.
The shower was getting heavier as I rode home. I arrived very wet. When I finally got in, I put everything away, then had the shrimp and slaw from the Acme with brown rice for dinner. Ran the 1998 The Man In the Iron Mask as I ate. Louis the 14th (Leonard DiCaprio) is the new king of France, but he's also an arrogant pain and a louse with a taste for other men's women. Aramis (Jeremy Irons) and Porthos (Geraud Depardeu) feel that he's getting out of hand, especially after he gives the starving people of Paris spoiled food and sends the son of Athos (John Malcovitch) to die in battle, just so he can get the lad's fiancee in bed. They rescue Louis' look-alike brother (DiCaprio again) from the Bastille and train him to replace the wayward ruler. Their old friend D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne), however, is devoted to the real king, and will do anything to keep him on the throne.
I saw part of this with Mom in the late 90s after it debuted on cable and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, since I'm not normally a fan of DiCaprio (especially in his early Titanic teen pretty-boy days). While DiCaprio is a bit stiff and out of place, the four lead Musketeers take their rolls with all the relish of veterans, especially French comedian Depardeu as the lovable Porthos. I liked it a lot more than the Richard Chamberlain version I dubbed a few years, especially since the ending feels like an ending and not anti-climatic. High recommended for lovers of the young DiCaprio, swashbucklers, Dumas, or the other lead gentlemen.
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