Bowery, Gumby, and Beyond

Started a sunny, windy day with more Bowery Boys. Bowery To Bagdad is one of only two Bowery Boys films to feature out-and-out fantasy elements. (Ghost Chasers is the other.) Sach buys an old lamp for Louie's birthday. When he polishes it, he's surprised to discover it's a magic lamp with a genie (Eric Blore) inside. Slip eventually insists on being master for the Genie, too...but a group of none-too-bright gangsters and two Arabian men who have been searching for it for years also want the lamp.

I finally headed out around noon for today's errands. My first stop was at the Oaklyn Library. It was surprisingly busy for a Monday, with several families in and out to take out books. The adult DVDs were fine, but the kids' section was a disaster area, with almost nothing where it belonged. There were a lot of kids' books to shelve, too.

My original thought for today was a bike ride, but it ultimately got too hot. I took a (only slightly late this time) bus to the Market Place and Town Centre at Garden State Park...a long, fancy name for two shopping centers in Cherry Hill attached to condos. Since it was past 2:30 by that point, my first stop was Panera Bread for lunch. I was surprised at how busy they were well past the lunch hour. I was able to get a nice seat by a window, watching the traffic go by as I ate a tasty half of a tomato and mozzarella panini and a cup of French onion soup.

I was mainly at the Market Place to visit their Bed Bath and Beyond. I had a 20 % off coupon that was expiring in a few days. Though I considered buying a new rectangular cake pan, I decided it would be too heavy to carry home. Went with a new dish rack and dish mat instead. I've had my dish rack since I moved here. It was chrome and had rusted badly. Not to mention, the plastic cup that held the silverware broke off early on. I bought a smaller rack that was covered in white vinyl and a clear plastic mat. Easier to clean, and no more rust.

I was in and out of a few stores next. Wanted a wireless mouse at Best Buy. The wired mouse that I bought last year was nothing but a pain. It worked all right, but the wire kept getting in my way, especially on my desk. Also found Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! in the $4.99 family movie DVDs bin. Checked out Nordstrom's Rack in the hope of finding a nice pair of black shorts. My older ones don't fit very well anymore. Alas, I couldn't find anything I liked.

Finished at Barnes and Noble. I debated a couple of books before going with two mysteries, one for little girls, one an adult mystery about a little girl. A Growing Suspicion is an American Girl historical character mystery. Rebecca Rubin, a New York kid in 1915, finds out something strange is going on at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Fadeaway Girl is an adult mystery about Emma Graham, a 12-year-old girl who is a reporter and a waitress at her mother's hotel.

I waited for the bus on a patch of beautifully manicured grass by the bust stop sign. It was a lovely place to have my snack - some sourdough bread that had come with my lunch. What a difference it was from the last time I went to the Market Place in February, when the sidewalks were icy and messy and the grass covered in snow and ice piles from the street. The bus was on time, and there were no problems getting home despite the rush-hour traffic at 5:30.

I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for an Oreo Vanilla Coolatta to cool off, then headed home. Had half of a ham steak and sauteed Chinese beans for dinner while watching Gumby shorts. The highlight was the very strange Gumbasia, apparently Gumby creator Art Clokey's first shot at a claymation short. It was just clay twisting and turning and stacking itself into various shapes in time to catchy jazz music, and almost as odd as Les Escargots despite the scratchy print.

Some of Gumby's later adventures were only slightly less strange. Gumby and his horse buddy Pokey get into a "Robot Ruckus" when the robots they hired to do their chores end up destroying the family's yard instead. "Too Loo" and "Gumby Concerto" involve Gumby befriending two musical notes and first returning them to their home, then creating many versions of himself to play musical instruments. "Baker's Tour" has a rather obnoxious - and perpetually rising - piece of dough leading Gumby and Pokey through a stove. "Gumby Crosses the Delaware" have Gumby and Pokey helping George Washington and his men in Valley Forge out somehow with their very out-of-place walkie-talkies. Gumby's stubborn dog Nopey is "Stuck On Books" when Gumby and Pokey try to teach their pet how to walk through books like the other regulars in the series.