Welcome to the Sunshine

Got a slightly later start this morning. I barely had enough time for corn meal mush and a half of a grapefruit for breakfast. Listened to the second LP in the Beatles Blue Album (the 2-LP greatest hits collection) while I ate. As with the Monkees, I tend to prefer the Beatles' more mature later music to their more pop-ish earlier style. Favorites from this album include "Get Back" from Paul, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" from John, and "Octopus' Garden" from Ringo.

Work wasn't too bad when I got in. I spent the first half-hour or so doing what little cleaning needed to be done in the bathrooms. Cleaned up a very small jar of mustard that rolled off a shelf shortly before break and helped an older woman outside right before I left. Otherwise, I spent most of the day bagging. They had plenty of help, outside and in. I think I should have gone outside and helped later. It got insanely busy starting around 12:30-1 PM. People weren't in the best moods, either. One of the cashiers complained that customers had been on her case all day.

And I don't know how it happened, but someone lost the mechanism that unlocks the carts again. The bagger doing the carts asked me twice about it before I left. The last time I saw it, it was sitting in the office, where it belongs. Evidently, they weren't able to find it later, either. One of the managers called me later and asked me if I'd seen it.

Took the long way home down Nicholson Road, since I was inside all day. I was far from the only one out enjoying the sunshine. Traffic was dense on Nicholson, especially around Wal Mart and the senior center. It was fine once I got into Oaklyn. No wonder it was busy. This was the nicest day we've had in weeks. It was in the lower 50's, sunny and warm despite heavy winds.

Went into writing after I made it home. A defiant Leia goes onstage to partner Luke in his fencing exhibition. She's been taking fencing lessons since childhood and easily defeats the young man. Some in the crowd are shocked; others are amused. Many women are delighted that a woman was able to best a man on his own turf. Han and Uncle Bail are both very proud of her.

Govenor Tarkin organizes a like for a by-invitation-only tour of the Death Star Airship, the new flagship of the Naboo military fleet. Leia and Bail both suspect there's more to the Death Star than transporting troops and joins the line. So do Henry and Luke and their entourage. Leia also sees a mysterious young couple who had been at the exhibition as well. She's a small young woman with light brown hair and intense blue eyes; he's a handsome, swarthy Spanish man with a mustache and wild dark hair.

Broke around 7 for a late leftover dinner. Listened to The Adventures of Marco Polo as I ate and looked over cookbooks for ideas for dinner tomorrow. I found this soundtrack LP at the Voorhees Library Sale back in October, then promptly forgot I had it until today.

Broadway stars Doretta Morrow and Alfred Drake, who had been a hit in Kistmet a few years before, headline this 1956 live TV musical. Drake is the title character, the famous explorer who brought many of the delights of Asia to Europeans who had never even heard of these faraway places before. Even as he evades tartars and a country that wants him to remain permanently (as a ghost), he can never forget the beautiful princess he left behind (Morrow). He sees her in other women, including a temptress he meets in a garden.

I'd only heard of this one through online research. Rimsky-Korsakov is the composer who's adapted this time. While this one tends to get a lot of praise online, I thought the lyrics were only fair. This one might sound better in its original broadcast. According to Amazon, both the soundtrack and the original live production are available, though out of print. Check used or online if you're a big fan of Kismet, operettas, or the more exotic side of 50's musicals.