Kids, Dogs, and Summer Mysteries

It was absolutely gorgeous when I got up today, perfectly sunny and no more than the lower-mid 80's. It was a little humid, but nothing like it was yesterday. I celebrated with more Scooby Doo after I finished The Adventures of Captain Marvel. "A Night of Fright Is No Delight" gives an animated take on an age-old premise. Scooby is one of five heirs called on by the late Colonel Sanders who may get part of a million dollars....if he can survive a night in Sanders' spooky old mansion. There's a pair of green ghosts who are determined to eliminate the heirs one by one, and that includes Scooby.

Spent most of the morning working on my story. It's coming along quite well. It's still too dark to post, but I'm enjoying it. I didn't often get very adult with the WENN characters when I was into the show the first time, so this is something new.

Work was boring as heck for most of the day. The weather was beautiful, it's the week before the end of the month, and we're between holidays. It was mildly steady off-and-on, but I mostly stood around a lot. I did have some problems with a WIC check right before I left, but at least the women were really cool about it.

When I got home, I decided I'd try something a little different for dinner. Instead of pan-frying the chicken sausages, I baked them instead. Yellow squash and onions went in the pan, along with water, seasonings, and chicken stock. I overcooked the squash, which fell apart, but the sausages came out beautifully. Yum, yum, soo tender. I'll have to try them that way again the next time it's cool enough to bake.

Continued with Scooby Doo during dinner. The show's second season brought a few changes. The opening was somewhat reworked, with new scenes added, and there was a slightly more pop-ish version of the theme song. Each show now included a musical number over a chase scene Monkees-style. Honestly, the songs all sound alike, usually have absolutely nothing to do with the scene they're being performed in, and were probably only added because The Partridge Family and Monkees re-runs were huge with kids in 1970.

(Oh, and I skipped "That's Snow Ghost," the first season finale. I have that on my Scooby Doo: Winter Wonderdog DVD.)

Otherwise, things remain pretty much the same...but we could occasionally get a twist, as in "Nowhere to Hyde." The Ghost of Mr. Hyde has been stealing from jewelry stores all over town. After the kids find him in the Mystery Machine, they follow him to the home of the grandson of Dr. Jeckyl. He thinks his potion turned him into Mr. Hyde! The clues all seem to lead to his maid Helga being the culprit, but Velma's not sure...

"Mystery Mask Mix-Up" also plays with a common premise - some innocent tourist buys a souvenir that turns out to have far more significance than originally suspected. In this case, the tourist is Daphne, who purchases a mask from a shop in Chinatown. They're pursued by two Chinese zombies and a ghostly figure in white and green...but the reason they want the mask is a lot more down-to-Earth than the kids think. (And beware of some mild Chinese stereotypes in this episode.)