Tales of Old Arizona

I began a semi-cloudy, humid morning with Fort Apache. Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) and his daughter Philadelphia (Shirley Temple) arrive at the title outpost to whip its troops (including Victor McLauglin and Pedro Armendariz) into fighting shape. He's joined by recent West Point graduate Lieutenant Mickey O'Rourke (John Algar), who falls for Philadelphia. Colonel Thursday disapproves of the match - O'Rourke's father (Ward Bond) is an enlisted man. When Thursday and his second-in-command Captain York (John Wayne) find that Indians have attacked some of their men and gone back on their treaty with their local representative (Grant Withers), he wants to bring their leaders from Mexico and slaughter them all. York, who knows that the Apache genuinely got a raw deal from the drunk and corrupt representative, wants to make peace. Thursday just wants to make war. He discovers the hard way that the Apache have their rights and know a lot more about fighting than he does. Thursday, however, finally opts to go down with his men, becoming a legend for better or for worse.

The first of three movies revolving around the US Calvary that John Ford filmed in Arizona's gorgeous Monument Valley. Fonda gets a rare chance to play against type as a snobbish, racist glory hound; Ward Bond also does well as Algar's dignified father who refuses to allow his superior officer to get to his goat. If you're a fan of Ford's westerns or anyone in the cast, this is a beautifully-shot and fairly mature western that's highly recommended.

Had breakfast and cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen while the movie was on. Neither of them were quite as bad as when I did them last time, but they did need to be done. I figured since I wasn't in a hurry, I might as well get both done in one swoop.

I finally headed out for today's errands around 1 PM. Started at the Oaklyn Library first. There was a little more to do there than there has been. The DVD's weren't too bad, but there was a lot to organize in the kids' section. The board books were in really bad shape. Even with that, I was out in a half and hour. I had to be. The Oaklyn Library closes at 2.

Next on the docket was lunch. I ate at the Westmont Bagel Shop. I hadn't had their Turkey Avocado Sandwich in a while. I had it on an onion bagel with fries. Yum! The avocado spread had been replaced by real avocado. They were still a little slippery, but not as bad as the spread. I listened to The Chew and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire while I ate. It was nearly 2 PM by then. The only other diners were one guy reading the local paper the Retrospect and two chattering women who finished their lunch shortly after I arrived.

The Haddon Township Library was also very busy today. There were piles and piles of DVDs to shelve, both from the adult and the kids' section. Tons of audio books and CDs, too. Once again, the kids' stuff all fit, but the adults' did not. I took some of the burden off the adult shelves and mostly took out new releases I'd wanted to see. I ended up with the animated movie Strange Magic, the comedy A Million Ways To Die In the West, the Disney retelling Maleficent, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. (I'm tired of dark, dreary futures in sci-fi movies too, but I figured, since I'd seen the other two, I might as well finish out the series.)

Stopped at Rite Aid after leaving the Library. I mainly needed contact lens solution. The big size was on sale for $9. Rite Aid already has out its back-to-school sale items. I picked up two tiny USB ports for $7.75 each (25% off). Also bought new dishcloths (mine are probably about four or five years old) and a pencil sharpener (it's about the same age and doesn't seem to sharpen the pencils all that well anymore).

Spent the rest of the evening at home. I worked on my Scott White fanfiction for a few hours. An old peddler woman sells Scott a comb that seems to be harmless. He passes out after using it in his hair. Hilary, Eugenia, and Mr. Foley find him on the floor. While the women revive him, Foley discovers that the comb was poisoned. Hilary swears they'll keep a better eye on him from now on. She can't afford to lose an actor.

Meanwhile, Pruitt now thinks Scott is dead. He can concentrate on Maple, who lied to him about killing Scott, and Betty, who is getting a little too close to the truth about his land-grabbing scheme...

Ran an episode of Moonlighting while making Chicken Legs poached in red wine vinegar sauce and sauteed Chinese beans for dinner. "Maddie Hayes Got Married" when she comes back from Chicago with her new husband Walter Bishop in tow. Walter's a genuinely nice guy whom everyone ends up liking, even David. Dave insists on having a wedding for Maddie and a bachelor's party for Walter. Walter doesn't mind, but Maddie seems rather reluctant to join in.

Maddie's not the only one who's having problems with her wedding. Shemp Howard's not happy about getting married either in the Three Stooges short "Brideless Groom." Shemp has to get hitched by 6 PM or lose an inheritance. At first, he has problems getting women to come near him...but after Moe gets his story in the paper, he has trouble getting them away!