The Trouble With Managers

By the time I rolled out of bed this morning, the clouds and humidity were long gone. I opened the window to enjoy the breeze while eating Blueberry Pancakes. Listened to the soundtrack to Footloose while I ate. There's some classic numbers in this very 80's tale of kids fighting to dance in a conservative mid-western town, including "Let's Here It for the Boy," "Holding Out For a Hero," "Almost Paradise," and the title song.

Worked on writing for a little while after breakfast. While Leia and Hank dodge Bobby Fett, Luke's spending time with Ben in the hospital. The youth admits he hasn't had much luck practicing for the surfing competition with Vader on his own, thanks to all the distractions. Ben suggests he looks up his friend Yoda Yamagachi. Once one of the oldest members of the Jedi Knights, he's now living in Dagobah Creek, just outside of Dantoonie by the bay. He also admits that he knows Ahsoka "Fulcrum" Tano, the mysterious DJ at Luke's favorite local station, and may be able to convince her to appear at their block party.

Broke for lunch at 12:30. Put on my Tina Turner greatest hits CD Simply the Best while eating a quick lunch. Turner was one of my favorite singers in my early childhood, and is in fact, the inspiration for Ahsoka Tano in my story.

Work was an absolute pain. One of the managers told me to go outside and do carts as soon as I came in. Which I did...and was pulled back in after ten minutes by the actual head front end manger, who wanted me to take a register. It happened after I came in from my break, too. She saw me coming back and sent me out to do carts again. Not only did they not need to be done, but the actual head manager told me to do the trash when I came back. I did gather carts for about an hour eventually, but one of the teen boys took that over later. 

I hurried home after all that. Listened to Plain & Fancy in honor of Barbara Cook, who passed away a few days ago, while eating leftovers for dinner. This is a very typical 50's musical with an unusual setting - among the Amish in the real-life Pennsylvania town of Bird-In-the-Hand. A sophisticated couple from New York have inherited a farm in the Pennsylvania Dutch country and want to inspect it. Hilda, one of the Amish girls (Cook), falls for the male half. Meanwhile, a young woman is promised to one boy, but loves his brother. When the boy is "shunned" (thrown out) by the community, she can no longer see him. Now the couple has to bring the two together, help the community repair their barn, and fend off Hilda without hurting her feelings.

If you like Cook or the musicals of the 50's and 60's or are interested in Amish culture, you may want to look up this one.

Moved on to Lego Star Wars: Clone Wars after dinner. Tried exploring the main hub for a while. Couldn't get any more red bricks, but I did open a new mission...that I couldn't find on the mission map. Finally went back and re-did "Innocents of Ryloth." Having a wider variety of characters at your disposal was a huge help with this round. The clones could blast through piles of gold rock that hid minikit pieces. C-3PO opened a mini-game that had you trying to make the right number on the blackboard in a school of frightened Twi'leck children in order to get the piece. Jar Jar could jump to high places where studs hid. I was able to get seven pieces and more than three million studs. Started "Weapons Factory," but ran out of time before I wanted to meet Lauren online. 

Tried something different tonight. I've encountered the cast album for Happy Days: The Musical in stores before, but not anywhere else until I found it on YouTube. Yes, this is a musical version of the TV show, taking place around Season 4-5. Richie and the guys (and Chachi) are trying to earn money to save Arnold's. Mr. Cunningham wants Fonzie to wrestle a couple of local hoods, but he chickens out, trying to avoid his ex-girlfriend Pinky. Meanwhile, Mrs. Cunningham is looking for some meaning in her life. Joanie just wants a car and Chachi, in approximately that order.

This is too cheesy for Broadway, but it has been performed in several major regional theaters, including New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, and seems to fairly popular with high schools. Appropriately, it sounds like a typical 50's musical, with "I want" numbers for Mrs. Cunningham, Joanie, and the boys, plot numbers, and big dance numbers that have nothing to do with the rest of the show. 

Despite the blurbs on Wikipedia, this has more in common with Bye, Bye Birdie than Grease. If you're a fan of the show or musicals of the era it's set in, you may find this a pleasant listen.

Happy Days: The Musical