Wednesday, February 10, 2016

That's Galactic Entertainment

I was even more surprised to see that it was sunny when I got up this morning, and a bit windy. It looked like it may have snowed a tiny bit overnight, but it was barely a dusting, and nothing on the street. I was able to run the errands I had planned after breakfast with no problems.

The big one was the Oaklyn Library (after peeking at Studio LuLoo to see if they were open - they were not). I returned the DVDs I took out last week and worked on organizing other ones. Maybe the talk of the weather scared people off? I was the only one there the entire half-hour besides the librarian and the Weather Channel.

Hit WaWa for lunch. I opted for a simple turkey hoagie with spinach, pickles, and tomatoes. Tossed in a Chocolate Strawberry Smoothie as well. This was pretty much a strawberry milkshake with chocolate chips and bits mixed in. The strawberry part was tasty enough. The chocolate bits...were a good idea in theory, but in actuality, they kept getting jammed in my straw. It ended up being yummy, but a bit hard to drink.

When I got home, I ate my sandwich while continuing That's Entertainment, which I began during breakfast. This is the original documentary compiling clips from many, many popular MGM musicals of the late 20's through the late 50's. While many of the clips are familiar - Judy Garland in sepia wishing she could go over the rainbow, Gene Kelly singin' in the rain - others are from smaller musicals or ones you might not have heard of, like Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter's charming "Abba Dabba Honeymoon" from the early 20th-century-set Two Weeks With Love and part of Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the Mouse in "The Worry Song" from Anchors Aweigh.

Did writing next. Kathleen does make it into the villa. Darren described the villa as a beautiful place, but to her, it radiates coldness and evil. She's lead to an enormous library where she encounters the stunning, red-headed Lady Sylvia, who claims to own the villa. Sylvia taunts the young woman, calling her plain and wondering how she could ever have a story of any importance. Kathleen stands her ground. She just wants Darren back, and will do anything to get him.

Finally got to finishing the cleaning while Entertainment ended and afterwards. I've been meaning to vacuum and dust for over a week, but I've kept putting it off. Put up the Valentine's Day decorations as well.

Switched to throwing together leftovers for dinner and making Mandarin Orange Muffins while watching Galaxy Quest. Galaxy Quest was a popular Star Trek-style sci-fi show in the early 80's. It's been canceled for decades, but loyal fans keep packing conventions to see the show's original stars. Not that the original stars are happy about it. They feel trapped in their roles, especially the cocky, me-first actor who played the ship captain (Tim Allen) and his alien assistant (the late Alan Rickman). They get a huge surprise when they're recruited by an alien race who thinks their show is a "historical document" and wants them to fight an evil galactic overlord. The crew discovers just how important their relationships with each other and their fans are when it turns out they need some crucial information to save the ship that only their tech-obsessed fans would know...

This love letter to fandom in general and sci-fi fandoms in particular has been a favorite of mine since I saw it twice in the theater back in 1999. Everyone's having a great time, including Tony Shalhoub as the most laid-back sci-fi star you'll ever see, Signorney Weaver as the show's only female star, and Sam Rockwell as a guy along for the ride who keeps worrying about getting killed. If you've ever been involved with a fandom, any fandom, you'll probably get as big a kick out of this one as I do.

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