A Really Big Show

Started off today with breakfast and one of the Sailor Moon "movies," the fourth season's Black Dream Hole. It's right before Valentine's Day, and the Soldiers are preparing baked goodies for their loved ones and recalling their childhoods. The festivities turn sour quickly when they discover that there are children disappearing all over the world. The children are being kidnapped by dream fairies who want them for their mistress, an evil witch who is using their dreams to power her "black dream hole." When Tuxedo Mask is hurt and Rini is kidnapped along with the other kids in Tokyo, even occasional scaredy-cat Serena knows it's time to stop this nasty witch from claiming any more victims.

I did call Rose, but there really wasn't any reason. We only got about two or three inches of snow last night. The back roads were a little messy, but the main streets were perfectly fine. I was able to sweep the porch and steps with no problems at all; the snow was the powdery kind that blows quickly away. My ride to work went fine too, once I got off Manor.

Work was dead for most of the day. I guess everyone got their panicking in yesterday. We may be getting some snow and/or freezing rain on Thursday, but the next two days are supposed to be cold and sunny. As long as it doesn't drop back into the teens, I don't care what else it does. There were no major problems. Though it did pick up during rush hour, I was finally able to leave quickly without a relief.

When I got home, I finally got to dusting and putting up the Valentine's Day decorations while watching the first two Ed Sullivan Show episodes featuring the Beatles. Ed Sullivan had discovered the Beatles when he heard the screaming over them while he was in London. He saw what all the noise was about, and promptly thought he'd found some great publicity for his wildly popular variety show. He couldn't have been more right. This was one of the mostly popular TV show episodes ever.

As much as I enjoy seeing the lads play some of their earliest hits, what's fascinating about these episodes now is the sample of the culture of the early 60s that's on display. I do wish there was more than one sequence from a musical, but the one that's there brings in a bonus for Monkees fans - Davy Jones joins the original Broadway cast of Oliver, performing one of my favorite numbers from that show, "'I'd Do Anything For You." Some acts (Mitzi Gaynor's Miami nightclub numbers) are more fun than others (not all of the comedy skits work today). Worth looking around for if you love the early Beatles or want to see what people were checking out on TV, Broadway, and in nightclubs in the Mad Men era.

(They even include all the original commercials! I especially liked the Pillsbury ones. I wish they still made that creamy lemon cake mix and the pineapple frosting. I may have to see if I can make a variation on that Hawaiian Pineapple Cake...)