Stormy Weather

I wasn't up until 9:30 and didn't get going until quarter of 11! The last couple of weeks have really worn me out. When I got up, I ran more Max & Ruby. We return to fairy tales for three kid-takes on famous fables. Ruby tells Max the story of "The Boy Who Cried Lobster" to try to get him to admit to swiping a piece of her Apple Upside-Down Cake. But it turns out that this time, Max might actually be telling the truth.

Max is GoldieMax in "Max & the Three Bears." Ruby, Valerie, and Louise have snacks and cocoa ready for their slumber party, but Max wants some, too. Ruby tells him the tale of the little boy who invaded the home of three bears and stole their snacks. Max, as usual, ignores her reading and just takes what he wants, to the girls' annoyance.

"Little Ruby Hen" wants to make the batter for Grandma's berry sweet rolls. Her brother's helicopter keeps getting in the way. She tells him the Aesop's Fable about the industrious hen and her barnyard friends who goof around and won't help out, at least until it comes time to actually eat the bread. For once, Max learns his lesson and finds a way to use his helicopter to aid his sister.

Ugh. It was incredibly sticky hot and humid when I finally started out around 11:30. I spent an hour volunteering at the air-conditioned Oaklyn Library. The heat must have scared everyone off. There was only one other woman there on the computer in addition to the librarian and me, and even she was gone by the time I left. I organized the kids' DVDs and board books and gave the adult DVDs and picture books a good once-over.

It was too hot to do much more after that than run the few errands I put off yesterday. I was out of toilet paper. I picked it up at Family Dollar. Grabbed eggs there too when I saw that they were $2.25, at least 25 cents cheaper than at WaWa. I wasn't as big on their milk prices, so I did end up getting that at the WaWa across the White Horse Pike, along with a roast beef hoagie for lunch and a Sparkling Ice Blackberry soda.

Even just that short walk left me sweating bullets. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home. Had my hoagie and soda for lunch while finishing out Max & Ruby. Ruby is excited to meet the great dancer Bunny Pavlova and get "Ruby's Autograph." Max just wants a slice of pizza.

Max keeps insisting that a robot is the perfect "Toy For Baby Huffington." Ruby keeps pointing out that most robots make loud noises and have sharp edges and small parts that aren't baby-proof. Max uses odds and ends to finally turn him into the right robot for an infant.

Ruby and Louise are studying paleontology in "Max's Big Dig." They're eager to find bones and other ancient objects in Max's sandbox. Max wants to jump right in, but the girls are more methodical. They show him how a real paleontologist digs slowly, dusts objects, and marks off where they're digging using grids and flags. Max would rather dig up his toys.

Worked on writing for about two and a half hours after that. I'm currently working on a short WENN piece that's a bit different than anything I've ever done for this series. It's far more adult-oriented and a bit personal, too much to post online. This one will be just to see if I can do something more adult than usual and a bit more intense and intimate after that last epic.

When I got offline, I started dubbing The Adventures of Captain Marvel. This classic 1941 serial was actually the first live-action super hero story, predating the arrival of better-known characters like Batman and Superman to the big screen by several years. Billy Batson (Frank Coghlan Jr.) is part of an expedition to track down the Scorpian, an amazing device whose lenses can turn ordinary rock into gold...or melt down solid rock into flowing liquid. Since he refuses to join the scientists in charge of the expedition in taking the Scorpion, he's given the power to turn into Captain Marvel (Tom Tyler), a tall, striking man in a cape blessed with super strength, flight, and incredible speed. Billy finds these powers come in handy when a hooded villain known as "The Scorpian" kills off the members of the expedition one by one and threaten Billy's friends Betty (Louise Currie) and Whitey (Billy Benedict).

I don't know enough about Captain Marvel to tell you how (or if) this has any relation to the original comic books. I do know this is actually pretty well-done for a 40's serial and is still considered to be one of Republic's best serials. If you're a fan of the Golden Age of Super Heroes or love serials, this action-packed fantasy caper is a must-see.

The storm that had been building all afternoon finally broke around 6 PM. It was crazy, with lighting, thunder, 40-miles-an-hour winds, the works. I got lucky. The lights dimmed twice, but I never lost electricity. Some folks were still reporting electrical outages online over an hour or more later.