Started off a cloudy morning with corn meal mush and strawberries for breakfast and the first Lost In Boston CD. We kick off with the rousing "An English Music Hall," dropped from Rupert Holmes' musical adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Other good ones here include "When I Went Home" from the Mary Martin Peter Pan, the delectably cynical "Ten Percent" from Chicago, "Where Do I Go From Here?" from Fiorello, "Fibbertigibbet" from 110 In the Shade, and "Take It In Your Stride" from Annie Get Your Gun.
Worked on writing for the rest of the morning. Luke is now in the AtlanticCare hospital in Atlantic City. His hand is fractured, not badly, but enough to be in a cast. Lance has discovered via various contacts that Hank is being kept at Jasper Hutt's Desert Sun Palace Casino at the other end of the boardwalk, just beyond the Golden Nugget (now the closed Atlantic Club/Hilton, which in real life is the last casino on the southern end of the boardwalk). Luke asks Lance about options for men's clothing in the area, while Leia asks about dressing as a bounty hunter. The duo have a plan to save their friend...
The Acme called me while I was writing. Would I consider coming in tomorrow from 12 to 5:30? No, but I accepted anyway. I turned down hours last week to get things done. I have no choice in the matter. I need money.
Broke just after 1 for lunch. Did the first disc of Unsung Irving Berlin while I ate. Pushing beyond the relatively new titles we've heard so far, this set leaps into the Irving Berlin songbook, coming up with tunes cut from movies and Broadway shows, from projects that never came to fruition, from shows that didn't make it to Broadway, and even just old forgotten hits, like two of my favorites, the jaunty "I'm On My Way Home" and touching "Roses of Yesterday." Others I enjoyed included "You're a Sucker For a Dame" from the unproduced Wise Guys, the hysterical "I'm the Guy Who Guards the Harem" from The Ziegfeld Follies of 1919, and two delights from another musical that never got past the planning stages, Stars On My Shoulder, the chorus number "It's a Lovely Day For a Walk" and the lovely ballad "Nothing More to Say."
Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - dead all afternoon. The weather, while hotter and a bit more humid, had cleared up by that point. It was just too nice to be in a grocery store. I did gather trash and baskets and mopped the bathroom floors, but once again, I was mostly outside doing carts.
I got a nasty surprise while doing my first round of carts. The back tire of my bike, which had been feeling low for ages, finally went flat. Someone suggested PepBoys. It was a nice idea, but first of all, they're for cars. Second, I'd have to cross the busy parking lots between the two sides of Audubon Crossings, which are a nightmare to navigate. Third, I had no money on me. I didn't think I'd need any. I didn't know if I'd have to pay for it. I just ended up walking the bike home.
Spent more than an hour when I got in trying to get that wheel off. I screamed and cried and pushed and pulled, but I couldn't move either of the lugnuts. They were just on too tight! I finally gave up and left it there. It was almost 8, and I hadn't had dinner or a shower yet. I may just walk or try to scrounge up money for a cab tomorrow.
Threw on one last collection of "lost" Broadway songs while finally eating tortilla-crusted tilapia and sauteed green beans for dinner. 18 Interesting Songs From Unfortunate Shows is a long name for pretty much the same idea as Unsung Musicals. The LP goes the more intimate route of having the songs performed on piano, with just three performers (former MGM favorites Bobby Van and Betty Garrett, along with then-Broadway ingenue Susan Watson) singing all the music. I'm not as fond of this one as I am of the CD sets, but there are some gems to be found, including "Everybody Leaves You" and "Anywhere the Wind Blows" from the much-maligned Broadway disaster Dr. Jazz, "Isms" from Vintage '60, a revue that never got off the ground, "If I Knew Now" from a reworking of The Blue Angel called Pousse Cafe, and "I Think the World of You," from another major flop (and Judy Holliday's last Broadway vehicle), Hot Spot.
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