Friday, July 08, 2016

It's a Heat Wave, Charlie Brown

Started off a very hot, humid, sunny day with breakfast. After I ate, I worked on a collage while watching The Peanuts Movie. Poor Charlie Brown desperately wants to do something, anything to impress that new Little Red Haired Girl. As usual, the entire universe tends to conspire against him. From kite-eating trees to learning to dance to a last-minute book report, Chuck tries his best, but none of it ever goes like he wants it to. Meanwhile, Linus' runaway toy airplane has given Chuck's eccentric beagle Snoopy an idea for a great story. He spends the movie writing the epic tale of a World War I flying ace up against the Red Baron and the beautiful poodle he loves...

Awww. This was so sweet. I loved it. I loved the nods to the specials and comic strips, including whole sections lifted directly from the comics. Though the animation was mostly CGI, there was also some 2-D on it to make it feel more like the Peanuts specials. It kind of looked like a stop-motion movie, which was really cool. It felt closer to the Peanuts' world than the later two 70's-80's movies.

If you're a fan of the Peanuts or unusual animation, this one is a no-brainer. It's also a great way to introduce kids (especially little ones) to the Peanuts' universe outside of the holidays.

Headed out as soon as the Peanuts ended. My first stop of the day was the Oaklyn Library. They were surprisingly busy for a sunny day. Other people must have been escaping the heat as well. I organized DVDs and looked the kids' section over while listening to the sad news in Dallas on CNN.

After taking money out of the ATM at WaWa, I hit Friendly's for lunch. I needed ice cream. It was quarter after 12 when I got in. They were still busy with the lunch crowd, mainly older couples and grandparents treating their grandchildren to lunch. I tried the Grilled Chicken Caeser Wrap from the Combo-Oh! menu. The combos come with sundaes. Mine was butter pecan with marshmallow sauce and a pile of whipped topping.

Next on the list was the Haddon Township Library. They were even busier than the Oaklyn Library, with lots to do. There were a ton of kids' DVDs to organize. When they were done, I dug around for items that the librarians had been asked to put on hold. I did pretty well with that. The librarian seemed rather impressed. I was able to find all but five or six out of thirty or so items on five pages.

Took out more movies myself this week. I enjoyed Air Force One enough to give Patriot Games a shot. I still haven't gotten around to watching Spy. I've only seen the TV show a few times in passing, but The Man From UNCLE sounded like a lot of fun.

Made two quick stops on the way home. I needed toilet paper at Thriftway, who has the cheapest individual rolls I can find locally. They also had strawberries for $1.97. I thought I'd try something. Needed sponges at Dollar Tree. I also bought Propel Water, the only cold drinks they had besides Mountain Dew. Got out of there fast. Their air conditioning was down again, and they were warm as heck in there.

When I finally got in, I worked on writing for a few hours. Leia and Han go out on a balcony that overlooks the ocean. Han tries to flirt with her, but she's having none of it at first. Just as they're finally about to kiss, he sees that the moon is almost at its height. He's about to run off, but Leia doesn't want him to go...

Finished the night with an omelet with cheese and blueberries and some cartoons. Mr. Piper is a series of animated fairy tales, presumably from the 1960's, from the design. The jolly live-action title character begins and ends each story, spinning lesser-known tales from around the world. My favorites are Brave Molly (Molly Whuppie) and Coat O' Rushes. A take on Hans Christian Anderson's The Swineherd called The Proud Princess is also interesting.

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