Monday, November 07, 2016

Star Light, Star Bright

Started the day patriotically with two of the records I didn't get around to yesterday. Yankee Doodle Mickey is a Disney kids' album from presumably the early 80's. I had this on for the Armed Forces Medley that had Mickey singing the themes for the Air Force and Marines, Goofy singing for the Army, and Donald, naturally, representing the Navy.

Did part of the soundtrack for The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band while I got ready for work. The fourth Disney live-action musical and the last of the 60's introduces us to the unique group of the title, a family who plays in a band while continuing to run a farm. Their grandfather, an ardent Democrat, gets them involved in the contested Grover Cleveland/Henry Harrison election of 1888. I remember loving this one when we saw it on the Disney Channel as a kid. The soundtrack has grown on me over the years. I'm especially fond of the big chorus numbers "Ten Feet Off the Ground" and "West O' the Wide Missouri" and the adorable ballad "'Bout Time."

Work was on-and-off busy for most of the afternoon. People are starting to get ready for Thanksgiving, buying their turkey and non-perishables. While we are still doing the "buy a 100 dollars worth of groceries, use a coupon to get a free turkey" promotion, they made it much easier this year by putting the coupons in ALL flyers, not just the ones sent in the mail, and by having coupons at the register. I will admit it does make more sense to spend 100 dollars and ask for a coupon at a register than wait all month to save as much as 400 dollars elsewhere. (Especially if you're like me and you live alone or with a few other people who don't eat 400 dollars worth of groceries in a month.)

Though I ended up in the register more than I would have preferred, I mostly spent the day once again cleaning unused ones. I got 4 and 2 done this time. 5, 3, and 1 were being used for customers. I'll try to get those done on Wednesday and Thursday. And ouch! I banged my upper back into a padded part that juts out of the registers while I was scrubbing under the drawers. It's just badly bruised, but it does hurt.

Went straight home after work and onto the computer. Leia goes to her brother Luke and Tatoonie for help. Luke is a sorcerer, taught by a kindly old magician named Obi-Wan. Luke tells her about a magic flower that is the only thing powerful enough to overcome Vader's magic. It only appears at night...and in dreams. Leia ends up dreaming about the flower. Padme appears in her dream, telling her that she still believes there's good in Anakin. Palpatine took him from her, just like Vader took Han.

Moved onto Barbie: A Star Light Adventure while eating leftovers for dinner and making Chewy Chocolate Cookies to get rid of the leftover evaporated milk. This time, Barbie is a young woman living on a backwater jungle planet with her dad. She and her odd pet Pupcorn (so named because he "pops" into his true form) are called to the capitol planet by the snobbish, by-the-book king. Evidently, the stars have stopped dancing, and may fade out all together unless a fabled someone can get them moving again. The king thinks they can be shocked into obeying, but Barbie knows that's not the way to get anyone to listen. Barbie and a group of young people with special talents are supposed to help the king with his mission. Barbie has her doubts, especially after the king wants her to bring him an alien forcibly for their mission and she can't bring herself to do it. She and the other young people eventually learn the importance of teamwork and having a good leader...and show the king that no one is perfect, and sometimes it can be good to step out of the box.

Not bad. The story is a bit odd (the stars need to dance to shine?), but the other kids in Barbie's group are funny, and for once, the animal sidekick has some bearing on the plot. This is also one of the very few Barbie specials with no real villain. The king may be a snotty jerk, but he really does want to help the stars (even if he's more interested in getting applause and good publicity than in making them shine).

(Speaking of odd plots, from the commercial in the start of the disc, it looks like this spring's Barbie special will have a video game theme. Considering the last time I judged a Barbie special on it's commercial I ended up loving it, I'm going to reserve judgement on this one until it comes out.)

Ended the night with Lego Star Wars. Finally finished out "The Pit of Carkoon," including the red brick, True Jedi, and all the pieces. Got everything but one piece on "Ruin of the Jedi" and "The Battle of Endor."

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