The weather was absolutely amazing when I awoke this morning. It was sunny, bright, and hot, but a cool wind kept it from feeling unbearable. Did a couple of random movie-related Looney Tunes to celebrate while I ate breakfast. "Daffy In Hollywood" has the kooky duck driving a director crazy on the set of his big romance. Porky and his buddy Beans don't have much more luck trying to get their big break and avoiding a robot that looks like Frankenstein's Monster in "Hollywood Capers."
It was almost 10 before I finally got out the door. Today was not only the day of Oaklyn's Town-Wide Yard Sale. Collingswood's got rained out last Saturday, so they tried again this week. I'd never seen so many yard sales at one time before! Ironically, considering most Oaklyn yard sales tend to be heavy on kids' stuff and knick-knacks, everything I got today I bought within walking distance of my apartment.
The first find of the day was a smaller sale on Landis. They had a big box full of DVDs, mainly comedies and action films. I've wanted to grab Roman Holiday at a decent price for a while now. Also finally picked up three James Bond films I didn't have, The World Is Not Enough, Moonraker, and Connery's 80's Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again.
The Oaklyn Library always has their annual book sale in conjunction with the Town-Wide Yard Sale. No good fiction books, but I did find the 1988 and 1992 Christmas With Southern Living books and The Little Red Writing Book on grammar and syntax.
There was so much going on, I didn't make it to the Collingswood Farm Market until past 11. Cherries and snap peas are out now, just in time for birthday parties, graduation parties, and barbecues. It was still pretty busy there as I dodged elbows and bought mushrooms, cherries, carrots, the small organic red and green romaine lettuce, and bananas.
Stopped at Rite Aid for a quick Dew SA and to peek at the magazine rack. They finally had that Vanity Fair issue with the Star Wars cast on the covers I've been looking for. They even had the Carrie Fisher cover.
Headed over to Oriental and then down to Park Avenue, but didn't see any good sales. Cut through Knight Park to return to Oaklyn. I did stop at a house near CVS and the car wash and buy a flower-shaped Wilton cake pan.
Rode up and down the side streets on Newton, where I found several good sales. The best had rows and rows of collectibles, including bags of loose Sectaurs and He-Man toys from the 80's that Matt from Dinosaur Dracula would have loved. I just bought a set of Sherlock Holmes radio shows featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
I'd looked at a really nice dark wood shelf at a sale two blocks down Manor earlier in the day. It was dirty, but otherwise in really good shape. The old man who owned the house said he'd made it himself. I ended up getting not only that for a dollar, but two small wooden wall shelves, too.
Charlie was there when I got back. I asked him about the air conditioner again, since it's going to get really hot starting tomorrow. Turns out neither he nor his mother are under any obligation to either provide or help with the air conditioning at all, according to the lease agreement. That would explain why the other air conditioner suddenly disappeared. I asked him to help me install it as a neighbor. I really don't know anyone else who can. He said he'd do it tomorrow.
He also told me that he's going to start the heavy work on raising the roof over the door on Monday and Tuesday. Which means everything in the living room is going to have to be covered. Great. I don't know why he wants to do it in 90 degree heat, but that's on him. I guess he's tired of waiting after the rain last week.
Went to work a little early to get this week's schedule. More-or-less the same as last week, only with a later day on Sunday. Tuesday and Friday off again. Other than I wish they'd give me more hours, that's fine. Par for the course at this time of year.
The Acme was fairly busy with people coming in from various events when I arrived. They cleared out fairly quickly after that. I mainly cleaned the bathrooms and did the carts. Wish I had more help with the latter. The teenager they kept sending outside with me would only push two or three carts per round. It takes forever to do it that way. You have to push at least five or six or more.
And after several attempts to try to remember a user name and password I hadn't touched in three years, two managers were able to help me log onto the Acme's system and print out my paycheck stubs for the last 30 days. Now all I need to do is find a place to print out my telephone/internet bill and make copies of a few things, and I'll be able to send out the food stamp application.
Had leftovers and a green salad for dinner when I got in. Made Banana-Chocolate Chip "Old School" Muffins while watching the second half of Moonraker, which I began during lunch. James Bond (Sir Roger Moore) is out of this world...literally...when he investigates the theft of a US space ship. His search leads him to the mysterious astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)...and to Jaws (Richard Kiel), the hulking, metal-toothed killer who is still after him. Bond's search takes him from a wild gondola chase through Venice, to a motorboat romp in the Amazon...and to the farthest reaches of space when it turns out Drax's plans are far more sinister than just stealing space ships.
As a kid, I always thought this was too weird for words, especially that wild finale in space. I kind of like it better now. There were some really nice action chases and set pieces (I liked the second boat chase in the jungle far more than that crazy gondola), and really, outer space isn't that strange for a Bond movie when you think of it. Wish Holly Goodhead was a bit stronger. Her going from scientist to spy for no reason in the middle of the movie seemed kind of random. Drax wasn't much better. His plot was almost identical to Stromberg's in The Spy Who Loved Me, except in space instead of under the ocean.
If this seems like an odd choice for Bond, the next Bond film after the hit The Spy Who Loved Me was supposed to be For Your Eyes Only. Then Star Wars happened, and flashy sci-fi was suddenly the hippest thing going. The change worked, at least at the box office. Moonraker was a massive blockbuster in 1979, the biggest Bond hit of the Moore years and the biggest hit in the franchise until Goldeneye in 1992.
Definitely one of the most "love it or hate it" of the Bond films. If you're a fan of Moore's run or like some of the more out-there Bond films or late-70's sci-fi, this might just be your cup of vodka martini.
Oh, and speaking of camp, a final "POW!" to Adam West, the original TV Batman, who passed away today. I was actually never that big on the 60's show (Rose is more into Batman than I am), but I did appreciate how the guy never took himself or the show seriously, especially in his many later appearances that often spoofed the original show and his "Caped Crusader" persona.
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