Monday, October 19, 2015

Late Morning Party With Monsters and Meddling Kids

I slept in this morning. It was still so cold in my apartment, and just so warm under my layers of blankets! I started one of my favorite Elizabeth Peters books, too, He Shall Thunder In the Sky. I didn't get moving until past 10:30.

Since I didn't get a chance to make pancakes yesterday, I had them for breakfast today. I ate Cranberry Orange Pancakes (with the last of the Cranberry Medley I had at Lauren's house) while running a fairly spooky episode of Tales of the Gold Monkey. Sarah receives a "Trunk From the Past" that comes with a whole lot of memories she's not ready to discuss. The trunk is from her father, a prominent archaeologist who was killed by a man wearing the head of an Egyptian dog god. Even as Jake, Corky, and Sarah try to figure out what Sarah's father had discovered before his death, a man shows up claiming to be Sarah's fiancee. Then, they discover that the trail leads them right to an island in the Japanese mandates...and it's occupied by a tribe whose Egyptian rituals haven't changed in centuries.

Moved to the original Scooby Doo, Where are You? while I was doing the dishes. "Scooby Doo and a Mummy, Too" has Mystery Inc. fleeing the remains of an ancient Egyptian king who was said to have cursed his tomb. The professor who found the mummy and the one in charge of the museum seem to have been turned to stone...and if the kids aren't careful, Scooby may be next!

I was originally going to get the laundry done this morning, but I just plain ran out of time. I made Feather Nutmeg Muffins for lunch instead while starting Mad Monster Party. The first feature film from Rankin-Bass has most of filmdom's favorite spooks coming together for a huge shindig on the island of Dr. Frankenstein (Boris Karloff). The doctor's retiring, and he intends to leave his entire fortune - including his most recent discovery - to his nerdy nephew Felix Flanken. The monsters, including The Creature's Bride (Phyllis Diller) and the doctor's assistant Francesca, don't that one bit and set out to eliminate Felix.

When a stop-motion Phyllis Diller is the least-strange thing onscreen, you know you're in for a weird movie. They couldn't figure this one out in the mid-60's. It was lost to kiddie matinees until it turned up on video and cable in the 80's and became something of a cult favorite. I give Rankin-Bass some credit. The designs and animation are amazing, especially in the lush island backgrounds. The music's pretty decent, too, and I love Francesca. If you want to check out the weirder, darker, or lesser-known side of Rankin-Bass, this is a pretty good place to start.

Work was steady the entire night. The Eagles were playing the Giants on Monday Night Football at 8:30. A lot of people wanted to get their shopping done before then, or pick up snacks for the game. One woman got upset when the sale she wanted turned out to only be available with our "MyMixx" online coupon clipping program. To be fair, the sign did say it wasn't a regular sale...but the lettering was small. I tried to explain about the program, but I guess I didn't do a very good job of it. She left with nothing.

Oh, and I got my schedule for this week. I'm not overly happy. While two more days off will allow me to get a lot done around the apartment, it also means my hours are low. Most of the days I do have are evening days, with only one afternoon.

I got home just in time to hear the game, and it was a honey. Though the Giants scored a touchdown early in the first quarter, that was the only time they got anything going. There were so many penalties on both sides, I'm surprised anyone was actually able to play. The Eagles finally flattened the Giants 27-7.

Oh, and I did call Miss Willa this morning before breakfast. She and Richard were on their way back from their own vacation. They said they'd look into the heater. They must have. I saw them getting in as I got home. When I got home, the apartment was definitely warmer.

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