The Boy From Anywhere

Started out a cloudy, cold day with LPs. One of my rarer record finds is the Anne of Green Gables London cast album I picked up a few weeks ago at the big Broad Street FYE in Philadelphia. Originally a Canadian TV musical in the 50s, this was expanded into a full stage show by the mid 60's. Its success in Canada merited it a London engagement. I don't know if it ever showed up on Broadway...and to be honest, it probably would have been a little old-fashioned for the Broadway of 1969, which is when the cast album was recorded. Other than Matthew is still alive at the end, this is pretty much a compressed version of the book. Anne's hilarious apology to Mrs. Lynde in the first act and the first act finale "Ice Cream" were my favorite songs. To my knowledge, this has never been on CD on this side of the pond (at least, I can't find the CD on Amazon). Look around in the used LP stores if you're as big of a fan of 60's musicals or Anne of Green Gables as me.

The girl who played Anne sounded a lot like Alice in my Peter Pan Alice In Wonderland from the early 70's. Since I just finished Through the Looking Glass, I thought the LP was rather appropriate. Children's record company Peter Pan did a series of records based around fairy tales and other popular children's stories in the 70's and 80's. The interesting thing about this book-and-record version of Alice - besides some nice songs - is the very 70's comic-book-style illustrations. It looks more like Alice as told by Marvel Comics, and it's unusual, at the very least.

I went out for a walk around 11:30. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. Once again, there were lots of DVDs to organize there, for children and adults! It was fairly busy for them, with several people on the computers. I hurried out when I got tired of listening to the librarian and some of the women gossiping about celebrities.

My next stop was Family Dollar. I was hoping they'd have either a large, flat plastic bin for my wrapping paper or a soft hanging storage container for my sweaters. Nope, they had neither. I just moved on and went back to my apartment.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting out things in the back room. I went through the dolls' clothes, but other than I removed two of Samantha's home-made outfits, there wasn't much to do there. I just went through them not long ago. Sorting out the boxes I was keeping took longer. They were mainly for dolls, but I also had the box for the Wii, for my new land-line phone, and for my older set of dishes. I kept those for when they start the remodeling and I need a place to put everything. I consolidated several boxes, putting them in other boxes. (I did get rid of Hoppo's box. I'm not planning on selling or getting rid of her, and it just wasn't in very good shape.)

Ran Catch Me If You Can while I worked and had leftovers for lunch. From 1964 to 1967, Frank Abignale Jr. (Leonard DiCaprio) ran a series of scams, making fraudulent checks and passing himself off as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer - all before he turned 21. The FBI (Tom Hanks) are eternally on his tail, and his father (Christopher Walken) wants to cash in. Frank just wants to lead the glamorous life without actually having to work at it...but when it all comes crashing down, it's the FBI agent who finally figures out where he really belongs.

This comedy-drama is loosely based after Abignale's real memoirs (he enthusiastically gave input) and is an unusual turn for Steven Spielburg, a stylish, adult light caper. If you're a fan of the cast, want to see a lighter-than-usual Spielburg, or like the era this is set in, you'll want to give this one a shot.

It finally started to snow around 3 PM. It was fairly hard...but not sticking to the street. I rode my bike to work and had no problems doing so. It was steady when I came in during rush hour, but died very quickly once the traffic did. Despite the managers' fussing, I was able to leave with no relief and no need for one.

When I came out, the grass and sidewalks had a coating of about an inch or two of snow (despite my customers' complaints of it being three inches or more - maybe further north). The streets were wet, but not snow-covered except for on some back roads. Once again, I had no problems getting home.